Effects of microphone mounting location and gender on accuracy in speech recognition using a throat microphone.

Speech recognition using air-conduction microphones is less accurate under high noise conditions and when the volume of the speaker's voice is relatively low. In this study, the effect of mounting location of throat microphones (which are less susceptible to ambient noise) on recognition accuracy was experimentally investigated. The results confirmed that mounting position and speaker gender affected recognition accuracy, regardless of any other factor or speech recognition system. In addition, relatively lower recognition accuracy was observed in the upper part of the neck near the mandibular angle for both males and females.

Evaluation of eustachian tube function using a portable device.

The present paper investigates a portable eustachian-tube-function testing device by sonotubometry based on pure-tone sound transmission via the eustachian tube (ET). The measured results obtained by the proposed method were validated through comparison with the existing testing technique based on broadband sound inspection. The measurement results for the ET opening time (Topen) and the sound pressure difference in the ear canal between open and closed ETs (ΔL) obtained using pure-tone sounds with tonal frequency components of 7.0 and 9.5 kHz generally agreed with the results obtained by the existing technique with broadband testing sound.

First report of hepatobiliary Mycobacterium avium infection developing obstructive jaundice in a patient with neutralizing anti-interferon-gamma autoantibodies.

This study describes a patient who experienced hepatobiliary Mycobacterium avium infection associated with neutralizing anti-interferon gamma (IFN-γ) autoantibodies during treatment for disseminated M. avium disease. Hepatobiliary M. avium infection should be considered in jaundiced patients with neutralizing anti-IFN-γ autoantibodies, including those receiving antimycobacterial therapy for disseminated M. avium disease.

Health-related QOL of elderly patients with pulmonary M. avium complex disease in a university hospital.

BACKGROUND: Little is known about the clinical characteristics and health-related quality of life (HQOL) of elderly patients with pulmonary Mycobacterium avium complex (pMAC) disease. OBJECTIVES: To evaluate HQOL using the 36-Item Short-Form Health Survey and St George's Respiratory Questionnaire (SGRQ) and to investigate the predictors of HQOL changes among elderly patients with pMAC disease. METHODS: This prospective cohort registry was conducted at Keio University Hospital, Tokyo, Japan, between May 2012 and July 2015 and included 84 patients with pMAC disease aged 75 years who had completed the HQOL questionnaire and 48 patients with pMAC disease who had been followed up and completed the HQOL questionnaire in cross-sectional and longitudinal analyses, respectively. RESULTS: In cross-sectional analyses, elderly patients with pMAC disease had significantly lower role-physical, general health, vitality, social functioning, role-emotional and role/social component scores than the general Japanese elderly population. Analysis of covariance revealed that patients with cavitary lesions had significantly worse physical functioning and SGRQ scores (P < 0.05). Longitudinal analysis showed that under-treatment, short duration of disease and positive sputum smear at baseline were predictors of worse HQOL at 12 months. CONCLUSIONS: Elderly patients with pMAC disease have reduced HQOL. Further large studies on HQOL are required to refine the use of this parameter in the treatment of these patients.

Prediction of low-frequency structure-borne sound in concrete structures using the finite-difference time-domain method.

Due to limitations of computers, prediction of structure-borne sound remains difficult for large-scale problems. Herein a prediction method for low-frequency structure-borne sound transmissions on concrete structures using the finite-difference time-domain scheme is proposed. The target structure is modeled as a composition of multiple plate elements to reduce the dimensions of the simulated vibration field from three-dimensional discretization by solid elements to two-dimensional discretization. This scheme reduces both the calculation time and the amount of required memory. To validate the proposed method, the vibration characteristics using the numerical results of the proposed scheme are compared to those measured for a two-level concrete structure. Comparison of the measured and simulated results suggests that the proposed method can be used to simulate real-scale structures.

A case of thyroid-type papillary carcinoma derived from ovarian mature cystic teratoma, resected by laparoscopic surgery.

Follicular variant thyroid-type papillary carcinoma (FVTPC) arising from thyroid tissue in mature cystic teratoma of the left ovary is extremely rare, and it is not easy to diagnose preoperatively. However, with reports of an early postoperative death, we must prudently select the strategy for this lesion. A 50-year-old woman had a uterine fibroid with hypermenorrhea and a left ovarian tumor measuring approximately 8 cm diameter. Serum thyroid-stimulating hormone level was within the normal limit. A laparoscopic hysterectomy and left salpingo-oophorectomy were performed. During surgery, there were no signs of invasion or metastasis, and there was no spillage in the abdomen. On histopathological examination of the left ovary, we diagnosed FVTPC arising from thyroid tissue in mature cystic teratoma of the left ovary. FVTPC in ovarian struma is a rare malignant transformation. We must be aware of the possibility of such a rare malignant disease when treating teratoma laparoscopically.

Utilization of oryzacystatin for regulating the ripening of squid shiokara, a traditional Japanese salted and fermented seafood.

Shiokara is a fermented seafood composed of sliced squid mantle muscle ripened with fresh squid liver. Preliminary sensory evaluation by using the ranking test revealed that the hardness of squid muscle in shiokara was reduced within 7 d of ripening. During the process of ripening, muscle proteins were digested by proteinases present in squid liver. The degradation of paramyosin and myosin heavy chain was observed by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. The hardness of squid mantle muscle in shiokara was reduced with the degradation of paramyosin and myosin heavy chain. This degradation was mainly caused by E-64-sensitive cysteine proteinases. To control the hardness of shiokara, we used rice seed oryzacystatin, which suppresses proteolysis by papain-like cysteine proteinases. When oryzacystatin was added 4 d after the start of shiokara ripening, the muscle protein degradation stopped, without further muscle softening. These results show that oryzacystatin is useful to control the ripening of shiokara by regulating its hardness.

Evaluation of injection force of three insulin delivery pens.

OBJECTIVE: Reduced injection force is among the modifications to the Next Generation FlexPen (NGFP). This force was compared with two other prefilled pens: SoloStar (SS) and KwikPen (KP). RESEARCH DESIGN/METHODS: The injection force of the pens was measured, with either a BD Micro-Fine 31G thin-wall needle, or a NovoFine 32G Tip extra thin wall needle attached. Pens of each type were tested with both needles, during injection of 20 U insulin, at speeds 3.3, 5 and 8.3 mm/s. RESULTS: NGFP had a significantly (p < 0.05) lower mean injection force than SS or KP, at all injection speeds, with both needles. Injection forces (mean +/- s.d.) with NGFP and the BD Micro-Fine() 31G thin-wall needle were: 8.1 +/- 0.7, 10.7 +/- 1.4 and 15.6 +/- 0.9 N at the three speeds, respectively. For SS, the corresponding values were: 9.2 +/- 0.5, 13.3 +/- 0.8 and 20.7 +/- 2.4 N. For KP they were: 12.5 +/- 1.6, 16.9 +/- 1.2 and 24.5 +/- 2.6 N. Attached to the NovoFine 32G Tip extra thin wall needle, the NGFP injection forces were: 5.7 +/- 0.4, 8.2 +/- 0.7 and 12.7 +/- 0.5 N; with SS were: 6.7 +/- 0.3, 10.4 +/- 2.1 and 16.3 +/- 1.1 N; and with KP were: 9.1 +/- 1.3, 13.1 +/- 0.8 and 21.6 +/- 2.0 N. The injection force with NGFP was 12 - 25% lower compared with SS and 35 - 41% lower compared with KP. CONCLUSIONS: This study shows that NGFP has a significantly lower injection force than SS or KP.

Insulin delivery with FlexPen: dose accuracy, patient preference and adherence.

The introduction of insulin pens has helped improve adherence in Type 1 or 2 diabetes, and reduce inaccurate dosing, fear of injection, and social embarrassment associated with vial and syringe. This report presents the published evidence base for the accuracy, patient preference and economic evaluation of one prefilled pen, FlexPen (Novo Nordisk A/S, Bagsvaerd, Denmark) and discusses recent changes to the design of this pen. Primary research publications that included the study of FlexPen were identified from various sources. Several studies have shown that FlexPen delivers high, medium and low doses of insulin significantly more accurately than vial and syringe, SoloStar (sanofi-aventis, Paris, France) or OptiClik (sanofi-aventis, Paris, France). Patients have also found FlexPen easier to use than vial and syringe. A Next Generation FlexPen has been developed, which maintains the demonstrated accuracy of FlexPen and is accompanied by a reduced injection force for simpler and more comfortable use, and clear colour scheme for insulin type to avoid medication errors.

Modification of the hepatic mitochondrial proteome in response to ischemic preconditioning following ischemia-reperfusion injury of the rat liver.

BACKGROUND/AIM: Ischemic preconditioning (IPC) may reduce hepatic ischemia-reperfusion (IR) injury, but efficacy of IPC on mitochondrial proteome is not demonstrated. We investigated how IPC modifies the mitochondrial proteome after IR injury. METHODS: Rats were subjected to 25 min of portal triad crossclamping (IR group, n = 8). In the IPC group (n = 8), 10 min of temporal portal triad clamping was performed before 25 min of portal clamping. Samples were obtained after 24 h. The mitochondrial inner-membrane potential was measured by the uptake of a lipophilic cationic carbocyanine probe and mitochondrial proteome was also investigated using 2-dimensional differential in-gel electrophoresis and liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry. RESULTS: Mitochondrial inner-membrane potential and glutathione were lower and serum transaminase was higher in the IPC group than in the IR group. The mitochondrial precursor of aldehyde dehydrogenase 2 and alpha-methylacyl-CoA-racemase were upregulated in the IPC group in comparison to the IR group. In contrast, protein disulfide-isomerase A3 precursor, 60S acid ribosomal protein P0, carbonic anhydrase 3 and superoxide dismutase were significantly more downregulated in the IPC group than in the IR group. CONCLUSIONS: A hepatoprotective effect by IPC was not shown; however, IPC caused significant up- or downregulation of several mitochondrial proteins.

Protective effects of MnM2Py4P and Mn-salen against small bowel ischemia/reperfusion injury in rats using an in vivo and an ex vivo electron paramagnetic resonance technique with a spin probe.

BACKGROUND: Reperfusion of ischemic tissues results in the formation of toxic reactive oxygen species (ROS), such as superoxide anion, hydroxyl radicals, hydroperoxide, and peroxynitrite. ROS are potent oxidizing agents, capable of damaging cellular membranes by lipid peroxidation. In the present study, we applied an in vivo electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR)/spin probe and an ex vivo EPR technique to provide direct evidence of ROS following experimentally induced small bowel ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We used a rat model of small bowel I/R injury to explore the possibility that MnM2Py4P or Mn-salen can prevent the accumulation of ROS species following experimentally induced I/R injury. We examined the ability of MnM2Py4P and Mn-salen to scavenge radicals in living Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats using an in vivo and an ex vivo EPR technique with a spin probe. RESULTS: The CP decay rates in the MnM2Py4P- and Mn-salen-treated rats were significantly higher than those in the untreated rats and almost equal to those in sham group rats. There were no significant differences between the MnM2Py4P-treated group and the Mn-salen-treated group. Superoxide scavenging activities (SSA) in the MnM2Py4P- and EUK-8-treated group were higher than those in the untreated group and almost equal to the sham group. CONCLUSION: The present study suggested that the protective effects of MnM2Py4P and Mn-salen against small bowel IR injury were mediated by the inhibition of O2, H2O2, and NO production.