Effect of hearing aids on body balance function in non-reverberant condition: A posturographic study

Objective The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of hearing aids on body balance function in a strictly controlled auditory environment. Methods We recorded the findings of 10 experienced hearing aid users and 10 normal-hearing participants. All the participants were assessed using posturography under eight conditions in an acoustically shielded non-reverberant room: (1) eyes open with sound stimuli, with and without foam rubber, (2) eyes closed with sound stimuli, with and without foam rubber, (3) eyes open without sound stimuli, with and without foam rubber, and (4) eyes closed without sound stimuli, with and without foam rubber. Results The auditory cue improved the total path area and sway velocity in both the hearing aid users and normal-hearing participants. The analysis of variance showed that the interaction among eye condition, sound condition, and between-group factor was significant in the maximum displacement of the center-of-pressure in the mediolateral axis (F [1, 18] = 6.19, p = 0.02). The maximum displacement of the center-of-pressure in the mediolateral axis improved with the auditory cues in the normal-hearing participants in the eyes closed condition (5.4 cm and 4.7 cm, p < 0.01). In the hearing aid users, this difference was not significant (5.9 cm and 5.7 cm, p = 0.45). The maximum displacement of the center-of-pressure in the anteroposterior axis improved in both the hearing aid users and the normal-hearing participants.

Foam Rubber Pica and Cautopyreiophagia in a Highly Educated Woman: A Clinical Case Study

Pica, the developmentally and culturally-inappropriate eating of non-nutritive and non-food substances, is most often documented in people with developmental disabilities and children, frequently in institutional and residential settings. To date, there are no randomized clinical trials on pica-specific treatments, and very little literature is available regarding the characteristics or treatment of pica in adults with no intellectual or social deficits, and co-morbid disorders. This case study addresses this gap, and involves a highly educated 30 year-old American woman with foam rubber pica and burned match consumption (cautopyreiophagia) behaviors, along with co-morbid depressive, anxiety, and obsessive-compulsive symptoms, who received treatment in a general intensive outpatient program for adults in a large urban community psychiatry setting. The case study describes how the Biosocial Theory and Transtheoretical Model of Health Behavior Change were used to conceptualize this woman’s symptoms and guide a treatment team of clinicians who did not specialize in pica. Providers in non-specialty clinic settings would benefit from reflecting on ways to adapt evidence-based techniques to the treatment of uncommon symptoms.

Discrimination of standing postures between young and elderly people based on center of pressure

Posturography is utilized to assess the influence of aging on postural control. Although this measurement is advantageous for finding group-level differences between the young and the elderly, it is unclear whether it has the potential to differentiate elderly individuals who are affected by various impacts of aging. The purpose of this study was to determine the utility of posturography to discriminate elderly individuals from young adults. We investigated the performances of the random forest classifiers constructed from center of pressure (COP) indices for discriminating standing postures between healthy elderly and young people. Postural sways in 19 young and 31 community-dwelling elderly participants were measured using force plates in 4 standing conditions: bipedal standing, standing on a narrow base, standing on foam rubber, and standing with eyes closed. We further verified the informative predictors that contributed to the prediction model. As the results, the classifier based on the COP indices for standing on foam rubber showed the best performance (accuracy: 93.4%, sensitivity: 94.4%, specificity: 93.6%, area under the curve of receiving operator characteristics: 0.95), followed by the classifier for standing with eyes closed. The informative predictors varied depending on the postural conditions. Our findings demonstrated the potential of posturography for identifying elderly postures. The evaluation of sensory re-weighting using the appropriate COP indices would be a useful clinical tool for detecting the progress of aging on postural control.

Hydraulic fracture propagation in high porosity media

&lt;p&gt;&amp;#160; &amp;#160; &amp;#160; &amp;#160; In the present work, a foam rubber sheet installed between two transparent thick flat glasses was used as a physical model of a permeable oil reservoir. The elastic properties of foam rubber and its coefficient of friction on glass are supposed to be measured in separate experiments. In the center of the foam sheet there is a round hole, which is a model of the end face of the well in the oil reservoir. Before the experiment, cuts are made from the hole in opposite directions and to a certain length, simulating a previously closed crack.&amp;#160;Using a vacuum pump it is possible to change the pressure of glasses per layer and thereby simulate the increase in &quot;rock pressure&quot; on a productive oil reservoir . A fluid is pumped through the hole in the end of the well. Under the action of fluid filtration, the surface of the walls along the cut of the foam layer are moved apart, forming a gap.The dependence of the pressure gradient on the length of the crack formed was obtained. The overall picture of the growth of hydraulic fracturing is recorded by camera. Continuous physical observations of the formation of a fracture in time allow subsequently predict the optimal fracture geometry.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The reported study was funded by RFBR, project number &amp;#8470;. 20-35-80028 and state task 0146-2019-0007&lt;/p&gt;

Noisy galvanic vestibular stimulation has a greater ameliorating effect on posture in unstable subjects: a feasibility study

Ameliorating effect of noisy galvanic vestibular stimulation (nGVS) on posture varies among subjects. In this feasibility study, we investigated the association between original postural instability and the ameliorating effect of nGVS on posture. Data were collected in a previously published study. Thirty healthy elderly were recruited. Two nGVS sessions (30 min or 3 h) were performed in a randomised order. The optimal intensity of nGVS, the most effective intensity for improving posture, was determined before each session. Posture was measured for 30 s during and after nGVS in the eyes-closed/foam rubber condition. The velocity, envelopment area, and root mean square of the centre of pressure movement without nGVS were significantly larger in the group with an optimal intensity than those in the group without an optimal intensity. There was a significant positive correlation between these values and the long-term ameliorating effects. The ratio of the values in the eyes-closed/foam rubber condition to those in the eyes-open condition was significantly larger in the group with an optimal intensity, and had a significant correlation with the long-term ameliorating effects. The ameliorating effects are greater in subjects who were originally unstable and in those whose postural stability was relatively independent of vestibular input.

Foam rubber from centrifuged and creamed latex

The main aim of this work is to produce foam rubber using the Dunlop process from in-house creamed latex and compare it with commercial centrifuged latex. The dry rubber content of creamed latex is higher than that of fresh natural latex and traditional centrifuged latex. The creaming agent plays a major role during the preparation of foam rubber and therefore defines the density as well as the elastic and mechanical properties of the final product. Scanning electron microscopy images show lower porosity in rubber foam made from creamed latex compared to that from centrifuged latex. This methodology should have a highly positive impact on the rubber community in both upstream and downstream rubber industries.