Hearing Characteristics Research Articles

Distinct audiometric patterns in congenital round window atresia: A comparative study with common congenital middle ear anomalies

ObjectiveLittle is known about the hearing characteristics in patients with congenital round window atresia (CRWA). This study aimed to investigate hearing characteristics in patients with CRWA by comparing them with two relatively common congenital middle ear anomalies: congenital stapedial fixation (CSF) and congenital ossicular discontinuity (COD). MethodsLiterature searches yielded five patients with surgically confirmed CRWA (seven ears), who were included in the CRWA group, along with one of our patients. Air and bone conduction thresholds; air-bone gap (ABG); and presence and depth of the Carhart notch were analyzed. These audiometric variables in the CRWA group were compared with those in the CSF (n = 15) and COD (n = 22) groups, comprising patients identified from our institution's medical database. ResultsAverage bone and air conduction thresholds in the CRWA group were 16.4 (standard deviation [SD]: 2.9; 95 % confidence interval [CI]: 14.6–18.3) and 44.6 (SD: 3.5; 95 % CI: 42.6–47.3) dB hearing level (HL). Bone conduction thresholds at high frequencies (≥2 kHz) were higher than those at low frequencies (<2 kHz), while air conduction thresholds at high frequencies were lower than those at low frequencies: ABGs at high frequencies were significantly smaller than those at low frequencies (2 kHz vs. 0.5 kHz, p = 0.027; 2 kHz vs. 1 kHz, p = 0.041; 4 kHz vs. 0.5 kHz, p = 0.042; 4 kHz vs. 1 kHz, p = 0.027). There were no between-group differences in incidence and depth of the Carhart notch. ConclusionCRWA could manifest as a distinct audiometric pattern with poorer bone conduction and better air conduction at ≥2 kHz, resulting in significantly smaller ABGs at higher frequencies than that at lower frequencies. Our findings indicated that this pattern differed from that of CSF and COD. The unique beer bottle-shaped audiogram associated with CRWA might facilitate its early diagnosis in patients with congenital conductive hearing loss.

A novel coupled ergodic sequential logic-based cochlear model: nonlinear hearing characteristics of two-tone responses and efficient hardware implementation

A novel coupled ergodic sequential logic-based cochlear model: nonlinear hearing characteristics of two-tone responses and efficient hardware implementation

Sudden Sensorineural Hearing Loss Before COVID-19, During COVID-19, and After Inactivated Vaccination: Experience From a Tertiary Referral Center in China.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the incidence rate and audiological characteristics of sudden sensorineural hearing loss (SSHL) before the COVID-19 pandemic, during the COVID-19 pandemic, and after inactivated vaccination, and to analyze whether the novel coronavirus or inactivated vaccination have an impact on hearing loss. The clinical data of all patients who visited the hospital in July 2019 (before pandemic), July 2020 (during pandemic) and July 2021 (after the inactivated vaccination at least the first basic dose of COVID-19 vaccination) were retrospective analyzed. All patients diagnosed with sudden sensorineural hearing loss in these three periods were screened, and their incidence rate, hearing characteristics, and prognosis were compared. Overall, the incidence rates of sudden hearing loss in July 2019, July 2020, and July 2021 were 0.59, 0.60, and 0.52% (25 of 4225, 20 of 3322, 28 of 5432), respectively, without significant difference ( χ2 = 0.372, p = 0.830). A significant difference was noted in the incidence of hypertension ( p = 0.02), whereas no significant difference was noted in age ( p = 0.591, p = 0.66), sex ( p = 0.19, p = 0.08), main symptoms ( p = 0.18, p = 0.15), side ( p = 0.483, p = 0.89), audiogram shape ( p = 0.56, p = 0.989), average hearing threshold of affected frequency ( p = 0.81, p = 0.89), average hearing threshold of normal ear affected frequency ( p = 0.65, p = 0.68), average hearing threshold of affected frequency after treatment ( p = 0.49, p = 0.38), days between symptoms onset and hospital visit ( p = 0.62, p = 0.85), treatment plan ( p = 0.551, p = 0.474), and effectiveness ( p = 0.104, p = 0.050). Our study failed to find a correlation between the novel coronavirus pandemic and inactivated vaccination and SSHL, and there was no direct evidence supporting that COVID-19 or inactivated vaccination had an impact on the incidence rate and prognosis of SSHL patients.

Sudden Sensorineural Hearing Loss in Patients Aged from 15 to 40 Years.

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to investigate the hearing characteristics and causes of sudden sensorineural hearing loss (SSNHL) in patients aged from 15 to 40 years, focusing on audiological outcomes one year after the diagnosis. Methods: The medical records of individuals with SSNHL who were referred to our tertiary-level audiologic center were reviewed. All patients had undergone comprehensive diagnostic evaluations, including high-resolution 3D-FLAIR delayed magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), cone beam computed tomography (CBCT), and screening for coagulation, infectious, and autoimmune diseases. Results: Overall, 56 patients (mean age 28.1 ± 7.6 years) were included in the study. The hearing threshold in the affected ear improved significantly from 56.0 ± 18.0 dB at the diagnosis to 46.9 ± 22.3 dB after one year (p = 0.02). The degree of hearing loss, audiometric configurations, hearing improvements, and adherence to hearing treatments showed considerable variability among patients. Aural fullness, tinnitus, and hyperacusis were the predominant symptoms associated with SSNHL, and their prevalence decreased significantly over time. The diagnostic protocol led to the identification of the specific cause of SSNHL in 75% (42/56) of patients. The known etiology was found to be otological (39.3%), infectious (21.4%), autoimmune (7.1%), vascular (5.4%), or neoplastic (1.8%). In particular, Menière's disease (n = 12), isolated cochlear endolymphatic hydrops (n = 6), HSV-1 (n = 5), and EBV (n = 4) infections were the most frequent causes of SSNHL. Conclusions: The identification of the specific etiology of SSNHL may facilitate a more personalized approach to management and treatment.

Beyond text: ChatGPT as an emotional resilience support tool for Gen Z – A sequential explanatory design exploration

In the digital era, Artificial Intelligence (AI) has arisen as a revolutionary influence with the potential to transform multiple spheres of human life. Chatbots, particularly OpenAI's Chat Generative Pre-trained Transformer (ChatGPT), are increasingly recognised as promising tools in diverse aspects, including mental health. This study delves into ChatGPT's effectiveness as an emotional resilience support tool specifically for Generation Z (Gen Z), a demographic deeply engaged in digital interactions. Employing a sequential explanatory design that integrates quantitative and qualitative analyses, the research investigates Gen Z users' perceptions of ChatGPT's effectiveness, barriers to its utilisation, and impact on emotional resilience. The findings reveal a significant acknowledgement of ChatGPT's role in enhancing emotional well-being and notable concerns regarding privacy and security. Further, qualitative insights underscore the significance of personalised interactions, nonjudgmental space, and active listening characteristics of ChatGPT in fostering emotional resilience. Moreover, the study identifies key areas for improvement, such as expanded topic coverage and cultural representation. Educational stakeholders and mental health professionals are encouraged to utilise these insights to integrate ChatGPT and other AI tools into tailored support frameworks for Gen Z.

Sudden Hearing Loss as an Initial Symptom of Vestibular Schwannoma

This study aims to determine the prevalence of vestibular schwannoma (VS) among patients presenting with sudden hearing loss (SHL) and to characterize the clinical features of individuals diagnosed with both VS and SHL. We conducted an observational retrospective review at a tertiary referral center, spanning a 30-year period, focusing on patients diagnosed with SHL where VS was confirmed as the underlying cause. We included patients meeting these criteria while excluding those lacking imaging or with a pre-existing diagnosis of VS. We evaluated the audiological characteristics at the time of diagnosis and assessed clinical outcomes following treatment. Among the 403 patients presenting with SHL during the study period, 9 (2.2%) were diagnosed with VS, aged between 25 and 72years. Although audiometric profiles varied, high-frequency hearing loss predominated, mostly categorized as mild to moderate. Six patients (66%) had Koos grade I-II schwannomas. Only 2 patients achieved complete hearing recovery post-treatment, while 4 showed no improvement. VS is a rare etiology of SHL, accounting for slightly over 2% of cases. Its symptomatology, severity, and audiometric patterns do not significantly differ from SHL caused by other factors. Tumor size does not correlate with hearing characteristics. Treatment modalities resemble those for other SHL cases, and hearing improvement does not obviate the necessity for follow-up magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans.

Проблемы идентификации сенсорных нарушений и слепоглухоты у современных детей с врожденными патологиями развития

&lt;p style="text-align: justify;"&gt;This review provides an overview of the challenges of identifying dual sensory impairment in children with congenital disabilities. The concept of deafblindness and the special needs of the group with hearing and visual impairments are reviewed. The difficulties of defining this condition due to the heterogeneity of this group are emphasized. The evolution of the etiology of sensory impairment, typical for recent decades, is described, due to the progress of medical science, which makes it possible to keep alive children with severe genetic pathologies and those born considerably prematurely. The characteristics of cerebral hearing and visual impairments, still insufficiently studied but coming to the forefront in terms of prevalence among children in developed countries, as well as the features of their identification are presented. The difficulties in the organization of psychological and pedagogical assessments of children with congenital dual sensory impairment and the interpretation of their results are considered. The conclusion about the importance of the functional approach in the assessment of sensory functions in children with congenital complex disabilities is formulated.&lt;/p&gt;

Auditory stimulus reconstruction from ECoG with DNN and self-attention modules

Auditory stimulus reconstruction is a technique that predicts sound from neural activities. Decoding speech from human brains using neuronal networks allows us to understand auditory information processing and study hearing abilities effectively. However, current approaches produce low-quality reconstruction of speech which is problematic for applications of the reconstruction technology to practical uses such as evaluation of hearing characteristics of individuals or functional preservation during neurosurgical procedures. To tackle this issue, we used a self-attention (SA) module which are showing promising advances in deep neural network studies. We investigated the effect of including neural activity from a longer span on the reconstruction accuracy, and the learning behavior of self-attention modules. Our results showed that self-attention modules that focus on the presence or absence of auditory stimuli used relationships between features over a longer period (over 1000 ms) and produced better reconstructions than a convoluted neural network (CNN) model using features over a shorter period (300 ms) and a multilayer perceptron (MLP) model not using the features and reconstructed with attention to presence and absence of auditory stimuli. These findings imply that long and sparse relationships of time-series information on neural activities derived from SA modules improve the reconstruction performance.

Hearing characteristics and otoradiological abnormalities in three patients with novel pathogenic variants of KMT2D-related Kabuki syndrome.

Kabuki syndrome 1 (KS1; OMIM:147920), which is characterized by distinctive dysmorphic facial features (such as arched eyebrows, long palpebral fissures with eversion of the lower lid, and large protuberant ears), intellectual disability, short stature, and dermatoglyphic and skeletal abnormalities, is brought on by pathogenic variants in KMT2D (OMIM:602113). In this work, three individuals with novel pathogenic KMT2D gene variants had their longitudinal audiological manifestations and ear structural characteristics outlined. The longitudinal audiological data from neonatal hearing screening and a battery of several hearing tests were evaluated. The battery of hearing tests included tympanometry, distortion product otoacoustic emission (DPOAE), click-evoked air-conduction auditory brain-stem response (AC-ABR), click-evoked bone-conduction auditory brain-stem response (BC-ABR), narrow band CE-chirp auditory steady-state response (NB CE-chirp ASSR), and pure-tone audiometry (PTA). Phenotype identification and whole exome sequencing (WES) were performed on recruited individuals. All three patients (two females and on male; last evaluations at 14 months, 11 months, and 5.7 years, respectively) failed the newborn hearing screening, and the audiological follow-up data revealed mild to profound fluctuating hearing loss, which was directly influenced by the incidence and severity of otitis media with effusion (OME). When OME occurred, the AC-ABR thresholds increased from 30-75 dBnHL to 45-90 dBnHL. The threshold for the BC-ABR and BC-PTA was between 25 and 50 dBnHL, indicating mild to moderate sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL). The high-resolution computed tomography (HRCT) pictures indicated that all three patients had middle and inner ear abnormalities. Middle ear anomalies showed as diminished mastoid gasification and ossicle dysplasia. Cochlear dysplasia, a dilated vestibule, fusion of the vestibule with the horizontal semicircular canals, and a short and thick horizontal semicircular canal were visible on images of the inner ear. This study recruited three individuals with three novel pathogenic variants (c.5104C>T, c.10205delA, and c.12840delC) of KMT2D who were identified at ages 27 days, 2 months, and 5.5 years. Hearing characteristics of three individuals with three novel pathogenic variants of KMT2D range from mild to profound fluctuating hearing loss with mild to moderate SNHL. HRCT scans showed that all three individuals had anatomical middle and inner ear abnormalities. KS 1 patients must get clinical therapy for OME, frequent auditory monitoring, and prompt intervention.

Reconfigurable Multiband Dynamic Range Compression-based FRM Filter for Hearing Aid

In this research, we present an innovative method for enhancing the performance of hearing aids using a Multiband Dynamic Range Compression-based Reconfigurable Frequency Response Masking (FRM) Filterbank. First, a unform16-band reconfigurable filter bank, which is reconfigurable, is designed utilizing the FRM scheme. The strategic arrangement of each sub-band within the proposed filter bank is meticulously prepared to optimize the matching performance. Based on the hearing characteristics of patients, the sub-bands can be distributed in low, medium, and high-frequency regions. Also, the gain can be adjusted per the patient's hearing profile from their audiogram for better auditory compensation.&#x0D; Further, the Multiband Dynamic Range Compression (MBDRC) technique is applied to address the specific needs of individuals with different frequency-dependent hearing impairments. It involves using dynamic range compression independently to different frequency sub-bands within a filter bank. In MBDRC, the compression parameters, such as compression threshold and ratio, can be adjusted independently for every subband. It allows for a more tailored approach to address the specific hearing needs of different frequency regions. If an individual has more severe hearing loss in high-frequency regions, higher compression ratios and lower compression thresholds can be applied to those subbands to amplify and improve audibility for high-frequency sounds. Once dynamic range compression is applied to each sub-band, the resultant sub-bands are reassembled to yield the ultimate output signal, which can subsequently be transmitted to the speaker or receiver of the hearing aid. A GUI can be helpful for better visualization and parameter control, including gain adjustment and compression parameters of this entire process. With this aim in mind, a GUI has been developed on MATLAB. Different audio files can be imported, and their frequency response can be generated and observed. Based on a person's audiogram, the control parameters can be set to low, medium, or high. Their sub-band distribution in low, medium, and high-frequency regions can be visualized. Further, the filter bank makes automatic gain adjustments, as seen in the GUI. The gain points for each band can also be manually adjusted according to users' hearing characteristics to minimize the error. Also, the compression parameters can be set separately for each subband as per the hearing requirement of the patient. Further, the processed output can be visualized in the output frequency response tab, and the input and output audio signals can be analyzed.

ПОБУДОВА ЖАНРУ «ПУБЛІЧНА ПРОМОВА ПОЛІТИКА» СУЧАСНОГО АНГЛОМОВНОГО ДИСКУРСУ

The article examines the structure of modern English political discourse's «public speech of a politician» genre. Nowadays, one of the urgent issues of modern linguistics is the study of discourse in terms of the speech behavior of a person in the broad context of his life activities in society. Directly, "discourse" is multifaceted and is used with different meanings. In the study, the authors used President Volodymyr Zelenskyi's speeches to the legislative bodies of other countries and online appeals to the world community regarding the Russian-Ukrainian war. The research proves that compositional clarity is essential in constructing the «public speech of a politician» genre. According to many researchers, the addressee needs to have a sense of proportion in the volume: the speech should be the topic and facts required at most. In particular, three blocks can be distinguished in the composition: – greetings to the audience; – the main part, and the summary. Each block differs in the corresponding graphic and linguistic stylistic embodiment. Attention is focused on convincing the audience and taking into account socio-cultural and historical factors, professional characteristics of listeners, and regional differences. The authors note that in each block, the president of Ukraine carefully chooses words to emphasize the importance of what he said. Using repetitions in his speeches, he expresses respect for the countries' leaders, appeals to the world community, and strives to build close associative ties between Ukraine and the states, to which he addresses and outlines the tragic nature of the current situation.

Investigation of Machine Learning Model Flexibility for Automatic Application of Reverberation Effect on Audio Signal

This paper discusses an algorithm that attempts to automatically calculate the effect of room reverberation by training a mathematical model based on a recurrent neural network on anechoic and reverberant sound samples. Modelling the room impulse response (RIR) recorded at a 44.1 kHz sampling rate using a system identification-based approach in the time domain, even with deep learning models, is prohibitively complex and it is almost impossible to automatically learn the parameters of the model for a reverberation time longer than 1 s. Therefore, this paper presents a method to model a reverberated audio signal in the frequency domain. To reduce complexity, the spectrum is analyzed on a logarithmic scale, based on the subjective characteristics of human hearing, by calculating 10 octaves in the range 20–20,000 Hz and dividing each octave by 1/3 or 1/12 of the bandwidth. This maintains equal resolution at high, mid, and low frequencies. The study examines three different recurrent network structures: LSTM, BiLSTM, and GRU, comparing the different sizes of the two hidden layers. The experimental study was carried out to compare the modelling when each octave of the spectrum is divided into a different number of bands, as well as to assess the feasibility of using a single model to predict the spectrum of a reverberated audio in adjacent frequency bands. The paper also presents and describes in detail a new RIR dataset that, although synthetic, is calibrated with recorded impulses.

On the auditory identifiability of Asian American identity in speech: The role of listener background, sociolinguistic awareness, and language ideologies

The current study examined the auditory identifiability of Asian American ethnoracial identity, including the role of listener characteristics and ideologies. Results of an identification experiment showed that the overall accuracy of ethnoracial identification on (East and Southeast) Asian talkers was low, but not the lowest among talker groups and not significantly different from accuracy on Black talkers. There were also significant effects of listeners' ethnoracial identity, gender, and linguistic chauvinism (i.e., disfavoring linguistic diversity in the US). In particular, being Asian or a woman was associated with a higher likelihood of accuracy, whereas greater linguistic chauvinism was, to an extent, associated with a lower likelihood of accuracy. Results of a discrimination experiment additionally showed an effect of listeners' awareness of ethnoracially-based language variation: having this awareness was associated with a higher likelihood of accuracy on discrimination trials with one or more Asian talkers. Taken together, these findings converge with previous results showing an effect of the listener's background on ethnoracial perception and further implicate the listener's sociolinguistic awareness and ideologies.

Soundscape experiences of vulnerable groups in the pandemic and post-pandemic era: Acoustic environments are diverse but not inclusive

People perceive sound environments in diverse ways. Experiencing substantial changes in soundscapes due to disruptions of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic was relatively adaptable for some people but painfully unacceptable for other people, especially physically, mentally, or socially disadvantaged persons (i.e., vulnerable groups). This talk presents soundscape experiences of those vulnerable groups during the COVID-19 pandemic and highlights their adverse and heterogeneous perceptions to the pandemic-related changes in acoustic environments. Reviewing a collected COVID-19 pandemic-related studies shows that people from socially vulnerable groups found their surrounding soundscapes detrimental and bothersome. Highly heterogeneous experiences of the acoustic environments were observed among people with atypical hearing characteristics such as hearing impairments and tinnitus. While extreme acoustic environments (i.e., being in silence or exposed to excessive noise) were found as unfavorable for all listeners, there are too many non-auditory confounding factors influencing the soundscape experiences in their real-life situations. The findings would advance knowledge on their diverse auditory experiences and support resilient post-pandemic soundscapes for broader individuals, which will potentially contribute to designing inclusive sound environments for human well-being.

Predicting Speech Intelligibility for People with a Hearing Loss: The Clarity Challenges

Objective speech intelligibility metrics are used to reduce the need for time consuming listening tests. They are used in the design of audio systems; room acoustics and signal processing algorithms. Most published speech intelligibility metrics have been developed using young adults with so-called 'normal hearing', and therefore do not work well for those with different hearing characteristics. One of the most common causes of aural diversity is sensorineural hearing loss. While partially restoring perception through hearing aids is possible, results are mixed. This has led to the Clarity Project, which is running an open series of Enhancement Challenges to improve the processing of speech-in-noise for hearing aids. To enable this, objective metrics of speech intelligibility are needed, which work from signals produced by hearing aids for diverse listeners. For this reason, Clarity is also running Prediction Challenges to improve speech intelligibility models. Competitors are given a set of audio signals produced by hearing aid algorithms, and challenged to predict how many words a listener with a particular hearing characteristic will achieve. Drawing on the learning from the challenge, we will outline what has been learnt about improving intelligibility metrics for those with a hearing impairment.

Комплексный подход к лечению тиннитуса у пациентов старшей возрастной группы

To date, the problem of treating elderly patients with subjective tinnitus is gaining momentum, and there is no single universal approach to its solution. A personalized approach to the patient, including an assessment of the state of tone of the autonomic nervous system, can help identify and correct sympathicotonia in patients as one of the causes of tinnitus. The aim of the study was to evaluate the effectiveness of auricular percutaneous electrical stimulation of the vagus nerve for the treatment of tinnitus in patients of older age groups with sympathicotonia. The study involved 55 people (aged 60 to 85 years), of which 25 patients underwent physiotherapy in combination with drug therapy (main group), and 30 patients, exclusively drug treatment (control group). The assessment of the strength of subjective ear noise, the tone of the autonomic nervous system, the results of the THI (Tinnitus Handicap Inventory) questionnaire, the qualitative characteristics of hearing according to the Russian version of the ESIT-SQ (European School for Interdisciplinary Tinnitus Research Screening Questionnaire) in the study groups showed that patients of the main group were 60% more likely to have a positive effect of treatment according to the studied indicators.

Vulnerable frequency as an independent prognostic factor for sudden sensorineural hearing loss.

ObjectivesSudden sensorineural hearing loss (SSNHL) is a common otology emergency in the practice. Its severe hearing impairment and prognosis impair the quality of life. Given that cochlear hair cell vulnerability is not consistent across frequencies, this study aims to investigate the impact of frequency-specific hearing loss on prognosis in SSNHL.MethodsThe study included 255 patients with full-frequency SSNHL. The baseline, clinical, and hearing characteristics, as well as possible cardiovascular predictors in blood, were collected for analysis.ResultsThe 4,000 and 8,000 Hz hearing levels in the responder group were significantly lower than those in the non-responder group (p = 0.008, p < 0.001), while the average hearing was not (p = 0.081). Logistic regression showed that only vertigo (OR, 95% CI, 0.265, 0.102–0.684, p = 0.006) and 8,000 Hz hearing level (OR, 95% CI, 0.943, 0.916–0.971, p < 0.001) were strongly associated with treatment outcome.ConclusionsCompared with other frequencies, 8,000 Hz hearing level was closely related to prognosis in SSNHL. In an adjusted model, our study did not find an effect of mean hearing on prognosis in SSNHL. However, further multicenter prospective studies are needed for validation.

CONSTRUCTION OF MULTIMODAL HEALING SPACE BASED ON INDIVIDUAL EMOTIONAL BEHAVIOR CHANGES

BackgroundIn the current era of changing crises, various catastrophic events pose a threat to world civilization and human health and survival. For human beings, in addition to dealing with external natural crises, there are also spiritual crises from the level of individual consciousness. More and more people fall into anxiety, fear, anxiety and depression. Aiming at the negative emotional state of ordinary people, this paper attempts to effectively construct the rehabilitation space of multimodal vision, hearing, touch and smell by studying individual psychology and personality. This paper aims to study individual psychology and personality, effectively build a multimodal rehabilitation space of vision, hearing, touch and smell, and conduct targeted research on individual psychological rehabilitation methods across disciplines.Subjects and MethodsBy observing the current development trend of design, we find that caring design has become an important trend. Design needs to be considered from the perspective of human needs to meet the original intention of people-oriented design. Using psychological research methods, this paper observes and analyzes the relationship between emotion and personality from the perspective of human sample subjects, and divides the population base through MBTI type indicators, so as to determine the multimodality of rehabilitation research and multi-directional construction, so as to form a more flexible and more matching customized rehabilitation space construction scheme. Multi-sensory experience integrates the characteristics of vision, hearing, touch and smell, so that participants can quickly enter the state of cardiac flow and achieve better and stronger rehabilitation functions. In order to test the effect of emotional behavior, this study adopts, we selected 120 students, including 48 males and 12 females. We used the anxiety scale designed by Kim as the measurement scale, and used Likert scoring method to evaluate the scale. Pearson correlation, standard deviation and statistical significance are combined to illustrate the correlation. T-test of independent samples was used to verify the difference between high anxiety group and low anxiety group. According to the statistical value of anxiety, participants were divided into three groups: low, medium and high anxiety groups. The questionnaire includes two kinds of anxiety, namely debilitating anxiety and promoting anxiety. Through t-test, univariate and multivariate analysis of variance and regression analysis, we investigated the relationship between anxiety and self-efficacy of students of different majors and genders.ResultsWith the changes of the times, the application of media has reached a new height. From the perspective of art, there are many forms of interactive media: immersive interactive technology, virtual reality technology, augmented reality technology and so on. The support of these existing technologies provides a new breakthrough for the proposal of psychotherapy. This technology enhancement process is accompanied by the continuous exploration of the correlation between graphics, space and human psychology and emotion. Starting from the psychological personality classification of the healing audience, analyze and determine the effective healing space corresponding to different psychological dimensions, and build a multi-sensory atmosphere space complex. Cure the public's psychology through the methods of visual design and spatial element adjustment, classify and analyze the possibility of the project in combination with the existing spatial design cases, and put forward the specific design improvement direction at the same time.ConclusionIndividual psychotherapy should be a multidisciplinary and all-round design. If we realize the integration of multi-mode innovation, we can obtain a more complete and comprehensive cognitive experience. The visual system constructed by the multimodal healing space is more significant than the simple visual language healing effect or the simple auditory healing effect, and has a better and more positive impact on the audience in terms of mitigation and adjustment.In short, medical workers should be fully aware of the important position of patients' emotional elements in rehabilitation, actively improve the surrounding environment and the respective roles of both sides, pay special attention to their own virtual technology language and behavior, and change from single display to multi-dimensional management, coordinator and collaborator. In the process of rehabilitation, actively present personalized psychology to patients, flexibly organize rehabilitation activities, strive to build a relaxed and harmonious rehabilitation atmosphere, create a friendly and mutual aid emotional treatment relationship, encourage and guide patients, and truly focus on patients, so as to reduce patients' rehabilitation anxiety and psychological adjustment to the best state.AcknowledgmentsResearch results of Zhejiang Federation of social sciences research project “Research on visual design strategy of immersion therapy in post epidemic period” (project number:2022N11).

Hearing characteristics and cochlear implant effects in children with Waardenburg syndrome: a case series.

BackgroundWaardenburg syndrome (WS) has high clinical and genetic heterogeneity. We aimed to investigate the clinical characteristics of children with WS, and to analyze the effect of cochlear implantation in children with WS who had severe sensorineural hearing loss.MethodsThe clinical characteristics of children with WS diagnosed and treated in the past 5 years in the Department of Otolaryngology, Shanghai Children’s Hospital were retrospectively analyzed. The 5 WS cases, including 2 males and 3 females, had bilateral severe sensorineural hearing loss. Cochlear implantation was performed between 8 and 21 months old. Audiology tests were conducted, including otoacoustic emissions (OAEs), auditory brainstem response (ABR), and multiple auditory steady-state evoked responses (ASSR). Preoperative computerized tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) were performed to evaluate the development of the inner ear and brain. All WS cases were evaluated for hearing and speech abilities before cochlear implantation and at 1 month, 6 months, 12 months, and 24 months after implantation.ResultsAmong the 5 cases, 3 were WS1, 1 was WS2, and 1 was WS4. All 5 cases received cochlear implantation, and postoperative CT showed that the implant position was good. The infant toddler meaningful auditory integration scale (IT-MAIS) and meaningful use of speech scale (MUSS) scores of all cases increased with hearing age, and IT-MAIS scores were lower than those of normal hearing children of the same age.ConclusionsChildren with WS usually have hearing loss. In WS cases with severe sensorineural hearing loss, early cochlear implantation can achieve better hearing and speech development.

Training speech pathology students in the perceptual evaluation of speech in patients with cleft palate: Reliability results and the students' perspective

IntroductionListener training is necessary to achieve agreement between perceptual ratings. However, evidence is limited regarding the effect of a training in the perceptual evaluation of cleft palate speech on the reliability of students in speech pathology. The aim of this study was to evaluate the short-term and longer-term effect of a training using the Belgian Dutch outcome tool for cleft palate speech on reliability and the students' experiences. MethodsA 2-h training was provided during a specialist course for 31 first year master students in speech pathology. Information regarding listener characteristics, speech documentation and speech analysis (speech parameters and rating scales) was discussed. This last part focused on the Belgian Dutch outcome tool for speech in patients with cleft palate, including reference samples and consensus listening exercises. Pre training (T1) and post-training reliability (immediately following the training (T2) and one month later (T3)) were collected for the speech variables speech understandability, speech acceptability, hypernasality, hyponasality, nasal emission and nasal turbulence that were rated by means of ordinal scales. Inter-rater reliability was determined with interclass correlation coefficients whereas percentages of agreement were calculated for the intra-rater reliability. ResultsQualitative inter-rater ICC categories improved for hyponasality and speech acceptability at T2 and T3, whereas the inter-rater reliability of the other variables remained stable regarding their interpreted categories. All ICC values quantitatively improved at T2, except hypernasality and nasal emission. At T3, three of those variables showed a small drop one month later. Regarding intra-rater reliability, a significant decrease for hypernasality and nasal turbulence was found at T2, whereas a significant increase was observed for nasal turbulence and speech acceptability at T3. All variables, except hypernasality, had improved intra-rater reliability at T3 in comparison with T1. Students experienced fewer difficulties with most variables after training. Evaluation of nasal emission and nasal turbulence remained however difficult and required, in the students’ opinion, more attention. Discussion & conclusionOverall a positive training effect was noted, especially regarding the inter-rater reliability and the students’ confidence in perceptual ratings. However, it remains a challenge to achieve a positive training effect for all target variables that is maintained over-time.