Developing experimental skills: A hands-on course in acoustical measurement techniques at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology.

The course "Acoustical Measurement Techniques TTT4250," offered by the Acoustics Group at the Department of Electronic Systems, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, is a fourth-year course in the specialization of acoustics in the five-year master program "Electronics Systems Design and Innovation" or MTELSYS, and the two-year international master program "Electronic Systems Design" or MSELSYS. It is one of the four required courses for MTELSYS and one of the two required courses for MSELSYS. It offers a hands-on approach to acoustics. This paper outlines the topics covered in this course and the involvement of several academic staff members, as well as invited industry and research institute guest speakers, as teachers. The assessment of laboratory reports is described, and general lecture topics, including measurement uncertainty and statistics, the introduction of standards, and programming, are also described. All aspects of the course aim to maximize students' experience with a broad range of acoustic measurements and their interest in acoustics.

Modeling sound scattering using a combination of the edge source integral equation and the boundary element method.

A hybrid method for sound scattering calculations is presented in this paper. The boundary element method (BEM) is combined with a recently developed edge source integral equation (ESIE) [J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 133, 3681-3691 (2013)]. Although the ESIE provides accurate results for convex, rigid polyhedra, it has several numerical challenges, one of which applies to certain radiation directions. The proposed method, denoted ESIEBEM, overcomes this problem with certain radiation directions by applying a similar approach as BEM. First, the sound pressure is calculated on the surface of the scattering object using the ESIE, and then second, the scattered sound is obtained at the receiver point using the Kirchhoff-Helmholtz boundary integral equation, as BEM does. The three methods have been compared for the scattering by a rigid cube. Based on results from several discretizations, ESIE and ESIEBEM results are typically (90% quartile) within 3-4 · 10-4 for a kL-value of 1.83 and 2 · 10-3 for kL = 9.15, L being the cube length, of reference results computed with the BEM. The computational cost of ESIEBEM appears to be lower than BEM.

A rapidly progressing Pancoast syndrome due to pulmonary mucormycosis: a case report.

INTRODUCTION: Pancoast syndrome is characterized by Horner syndrome, shoulder pain radiating down the arm, compression of the brachial blood vessels, and, in long-standing cases, atrophy of the arm and hand muscles. It is most commonly associated with lung carcinoma but rarely is seen with certain infections. CASE PRESENTATION: We present the case of a 51-year-old Caucasian man who had acute myeloid leukemia and who developed a rapidly fulminating pneumonia along with signs and symptoms of acute brachial plexopathy and left Horner syndrome. Also, a purpuric plaque developed over his left chest wall and progressed to skin necrosis. The skin biopsy and bronchoalveolar lavage showed a Rhizopus species, leading to a diagnosis of mucormycosis. This is a rare case of pneumonia due to mucormycosis associated with acute Pancoast syndrome. CONCLUSIONS: According to our review of the literature, only a few infectious agents have been reported to be associated with Pancoast syndrome. We found only three case reports of mucormycosis associated with acute Pancoast syndrome. Clinicians should consider mucormycosis in their differential diagnosis in a patient with pulmonary lesions and chest wall invasion with or without neurological symptoms, especially in the setting of neutropenia or other immunosuppressed conditions. It is important to recognize this condition early in order to target therapy and interventions.