Displaying publications 41 - 60 of 191 in total

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  1. Evaluation of early hearing damage in personal listening device users using extended high-frequency audiometry and otoacoustic emissions
    Sulaiman AH, Husain R, Seluakumaran K
    Eur Arch Otorhinolaryngol, 2014 Jun;271(6):1463-70.
    PMID: 23812554 DOI: 10.1007/s00405-013-2612-z
    Although sound exposure from personal listening devices (PLDs) could potentially lead to noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL), the actual hearing risk associated with the use of these devices is still unclear. In this study, early hearing effects related to PLD usage were evaluated in 35 young adult PLD users (listening for >1 h/day, at >50% of the maximum volume setting of their devices) and their age- and sex-matched controls using a combination of conventional and extended high-frequency audiometry as well as transient-evoked otoacoustic emission (TEOAE) and distortion product of otoacoustic emission (DPOAE) measurements. The mean listening duration of the PLD users was 2.7 ± 1.0 h/day while their estimated average listening volume was 81.3 ± 9.0 dBA (free-field corrected). Typical signs of NIHL were not detected in the audiogram of PLD users and their audiometric thresholds at most of the conventional test frequencies (0.25-8 kHz) were comparable with those obtained from controls. However, compared with the controls, mean hearing thresholds of PLD users at many of the extended high-frequencies (9-16 kHz) were significantly higher. In addition, TEOAE and DPOAE amplitudes in users were reduced compared with controls. The deterioration of extended high-frequency thresholds and the decrease in DPOAE amplitudes were more evident in the users' right ears. These results indicate the presence of an early stage of hearing damage in the PLD user group. Preventive steps should be taken as the initial hearing damage in these users could eventually progress into permanent NIHL after many years of PLD use.
    Matched MeSH terms: Hearing Loss, Noise-Induced/diagnosis*
  2. Auditory attentional filter in the absence of masking noise
    Anandan ES, Husain R, Seluakumaran K
    Atten Percept Psychophys, 2021 May;83(4):1737-1751.
    PMID: 33389676 DOI: 10.3758/s13414-020-02210-z
    Signals containing attended frequencies are facilitated while those with unexpected frequencies are suppressed by an auditory filtering process. The neurocognitive mechanism underlying the auditory attentional filter is, however, poorly understood. The olivocochlear bundle (OCB), a brainstem neural circuit that is part of the efferent system, has been suggested to be partly responsible for the filtering via its noise-dependent antimasking effect. The current study examined the role of the OCB in attentional filtering, particularly the validity of the antimasking hypothesis, by comparing attentional filters measured in quiet and in the presence of background noise in a group of normal-hearing listeners. Filters obtained in both conditions were comparable, suggesting that the presence of background noise is not crucial for attentional filter generation. In addition, comparison of frequency-specific changes of the cue-evoked enhancement component of filters in quiet and noise also did not reveal any major contribution of background noise to the cue effect. These findings argue against the involvement of an antimasking effect in the attentional process. Instead of the antimasking effect mediated via medial olivocochlear fibers, results from current and earlier studies can be explained by frequency-specific modulation of afferent spontaneous activity by lateral olivocochlear fibers. It is proposed that the activity of these lateral fibers could be driven by top-down cortical control via a noise-independent mechanism. SIGNIFICANCE: The neural basis for auditory attentional filter remains a fundamental but poorly understood area in auditory neuroscience. The efferent olivocochlear pathway that projects from the brainstem back to the cochlea has been suggested to mediate the attentional effect via its noise-dependent antimasking effect. The current study demonstrates that the filter generation is mostly independent of the background noise, and therefore is unlikely to be mediated by the olivocochlear brainstem reflex. It is proposed that the entire cortico-olivocochlear system might instead be used to alter the hearing sensitivity during focus attention via frequency-specific modulation of afferent spontaneous activity.
    Matched MeSH terms: Noise*
  3. Fulltext Multi-frequency ultrasound imaging: phantom study
    Siti Nur Masturah Abdul Malek, Sayed Inayatullah Shah
    International Journal of Allied Health Sciences, 2018;2(2):304-309.
    MyJurnal
    In ultrasound imaging there is compromise between the penetration of signal at certain depths into the object and image resolution as the ultrasound probe only can transmit single frequency signals in one transmission. Using curvilinear ultrasound probe with 2 to 5 MHz frequency bandwidth, this study investigated the use of multi-frequency imaging to enhance the quality of phantom images.
    Methods: Siemen Acuson X150 with curvilinear ultrasound transducer was used to scan the organs of interest (kidney, gallbladder and pancreas) of the ultrasound abdominal phantom. Different images at the different selected frequencies (2.5, 3.6 and 5.0 MHz) were created by fixing the position and the orientation of the transducer in each of the scanning process. Different-frequency images were generated and combined to produce composite (multi-frequency) image. Results: In this study, the quality of the composite image was evaluated based on signal-to noise ratio (SNR) and the obtained results were compared with the single frequency images. Besides, the comparison was also made in terms of overall image quality (noise and sharpness of organ outline) through perceived image quality analysis. Based on calculated SNR, the composite image of the kidney, gallbladder and pancreas recorded higher SNR value as compared to the single frequency images. However, through perceived image quality, most of the observers viewed that the quality of the composite image of the kidney, gallbladder and pancreas is poor as compared to the single frequency image. Conclusions: Image quality of ultrasound imaging is improved by combining multiple ultrasound frequency images into a single composite image. This is achieved as high SNR is obtained in the composite image. However, through perceived image quality, the overall image quality of the composite image was poor.
    Matched MeSH terms: Signal-To-Noise Ratio
  4. Fulltext Overview of occupational noise management in Malaysia
    Noraidah Ismail, Sarah Rahmat
    International Journal of Allied Health Sciences, 2018;2(3):445-458.
    MyJurnal
    This paper aims to synthesize available literature on occupational noise in Malaysia and to relate this to the current noise management practices and control. The review focuses on several main
    scopes; i) history of occupational noise management in Malaysia; ii) legislative developments and legal precedents of occupational noise in Malaysia ; and iii) the hearing conservation programs (HCP) and hearing loss prevention programs (HLPP). Narrative review and synthesis. Related publications and references were identified through several ways: i) by structured searches in PubMed, Google scholar, Web of Knowledge and Science Direct using the combinations of ‘occupational noise’, ‘noise induced hearing loss; ‘hearing’, ‘knowledge’, awareness’, ‘hearing conservation program’, ‘hearing protection devices’ as key words ii) by inspecting the reference lists of relevant articles. The number of publications within the audiology which address this topic, is rather limited. All the above mentioned scopes were discussed and synthesis of literature from other related fields such as medical, health and occupational safety and health were also referred to facilitate the discussion. This paper concludes that there are an emerging trend for the studies of occupational noise Malaysia in the literature. However, the effectiveness of HCP in Malaysia, and to what extent it is accepted and being implemented is yet to be investigated.
    Matched MeSH terms: Hearing Loss, Noise-Induced; Noise, Occupational
  5. Fulltext Communication systems melioration by employing fast frequency hopping spread spectrum with low-density parity-check codes
    Yahya, A., Sidek, O., Salleh, M.F.M.
    ASM Science Journal, 2010;4(1):48-54.
    MyJurnal
    Frequency hopping spread spectrum (FHSS) systems with partial band interference require appropriate compounding of spread spectrum modulation, error correcting code, diversity and decoding method to receive improved transmission signal. In this paper, a fast FHSS system with regular low-density parity-check codes was employed to cater some anti-jamming competence by using good waterfall and error floor performance. The performance evalution of the previously mentioned system was conducted in the presence of partial band noise jamming. The best possible design of the system was achieved with the combination of diversity level L=2 with a probability rate of at 0.7 dB which showed the robustness of the system.
    Matched MeSH terms: Noise
  6. Fulltext Optimization of Thermal and Structural Design in Lithium-Ion Batteries to Obtain Energy Efficient Battery Thermal Management System (BTMS): A Critical Review
    Fayaz H, Afzal A, Samee ADM, Soudagar MEM, Akram N, Mujtaba MA, et al.
    Arch Comput Methods Eng, 2021 Apr 26.
    PMID: 33935484 DOI: 10.1007/s11831-021-09571-0
    Covid-19 has given one positive perspective to look at our planet earth in terms of reducing the air and noise pollution thus improving the environmental conditions globally. This positive outcome of pandemic has given the indication that the future of energy belong to green energy and one of the emerging source of green energy is Lithium-ion batteries (LIBs). LIBs are the backbone of the electric vehicles but there are some major issues faced by the them like poor thermal performance, thermal runaway, fire hazards and faster rate of discharge under low and high temperature environment,. Therefore to overcome these problems most of the researchers have come up with new methods of controlling and maintaining the overall thermal performance of the LIBs. The present review paper mainly is focused on optimization of thermal and structural design parameters of the LIBs under different BTMSs. The optimized BTMS generally demonstrated in this paper are maximum temperature of battery cell, battery pack or battery module, temperature uniformity, maximum or average temperature difference, inlet temperature of coolant, flow velocity, and pressure drop. Whereas the major structural design optimization parameters highlighted in this paper are type of flow channel, number of channels, length of channel, diameter of channel, cell to cell spacing, inlet and outlet plenum angle and arrangement of channels. These optimized parameters investigated under different BTMS heads such as air, PCM (phase change material), mini-channel, heat pipe, and water cooling are reported profoundly in this review article. The data are categorized and the results of the recent studies are summarized for each method. Critical review on use of various optimization algorithms (like ant colony, genetic, particle swarm, response surface, NSGA-II, etc.) for design parameter optimization are presented and categorized for different BTMS to boost their objectives. The single objective optimization techniques helps in obtaining the optimal value of important design parameters related to the thermal performance of battery cooling systems. Finally, multi-objective optimization technique is also discussed to get an idea of how to get the trade-off between the various conflicting parameters of interest such as energy, cost, pressure drop, size, arrangement, etc. which is related to minimization and thermal efficiency/performance of the battery system related to maximization. This review will be very helpful for researchers working with an objective of improving the thermal performance and life span of the LIBs.
    Matched MeSH terms: Noise
  7. Fulltext The noise exposed factory workers: the prevalence of sensori-neural hearing loss and their use of personal hearing protection devices
    Maisarah SZ, Said H
    Med J Malaysia, 1993 Sep;48(3):280-5.
    PMID: 8183139
    A total of 524 industrial workers were studied. They consisted of 442 noise exposed and 82 non-noise exposed workers. The purpose was to compare the prevalence of sensori-neural hearing loss among the noise exposed and the non-noise exposed workers, to study their knowledge on the hazard of noise to hearing and the workers' attitude towards the hearing protection devices. The prevalence of sensori-neural hearing loss was significantly higher among the noise exposed workers, i.e., 83% versus 31.7% (p < 0.01). However, the prevalence of hearing impairment was much lower for both groups, being 30.1% for the noise exposed and 3.7% for the non-noise exposed group. Although hearing protection devices were provided to 80.5% of the workers, only 5.1% were wearing them regularly. The possibility of developing hearing loss due to exposure to excessive noise was only known by 35.5% of the noise exposed workers. This awareness was found to have a positive correlation with the workers' compliance to the hearing protection devices. Our findings highlight the need for workers to be educated on the hazards of excessive noise exposure to hearing.
    Matched MeSH terms: Hearing Loss, Noise-Induced/epidemiology*
  8. Fulltext Quantitative assessment on coronary computed tomography angiography (CCTA) image quality: comparisons between genders and different tube voltage settings
    Chian TC, Nassir NM, Ibrahim MI, Yusof AK, Sabarudin A
    Quant Imaging Med Surg, 2017 Feb;7(1):48-58.
    PMID: 28275559 DOI: 10.21037/qims.2017.02.02
    BACKGROUND: This study was carried out to quantify and compare the quantitative image quality of coronary computed tomography angiography (CCTA) between genders as well as between different tube voltages scan protocols.

    METHODS: Fifty-five cases of CCTA were collected retrospectively and all images including reformatted axial images at systolic and diastolic phases as well as images with curved multi planar reformation (cMPR) were obtained. Quantitative image quality including signal intensity, image noise, signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR) of right coronary artery (RCA), left anterior descending artery (LAD), left circumflex artery (LCx) and left main artery (LM) were quantified using Analyze 12.0 software.

    RESULTS: Six hundred and fifty-seven coronary arteries were evaluated. There were no significant differences in any quantitative image quality parameters between genders. 100 kilovoltage peak (kVp) scanning protocol produced images with significantly higher signal intensity compared to 120 kVp scanning protocol (P<0.001) in all coronary arteries in all types of images. Higher SNR was also observed in 100 kVp scan protocol in all coronary arteries except in LCx where 120 kVp showed better SNR than 100 kVp.

    CONCLUSIONS: There were no significant differences in image quality of CCTA between genders and different tube voltages. Lower tube voltage (100 kVp) scanning protocol is recommended in clinical practice to reduce the radiation dose to patient.

    Matched MeSH terms: Signal-To-Noise Ratio
  9. Fulltext Acoustic comfort in industrial office: a preliminary study at a manufacturing company in Malaysia
    Farah Elida Selamat, Rozli Zulkifli
    Malaysian Journal of Public Health Medicine, 2016;16(101):7-14.
    MyJurnal
    Acoustics issues such as noise in the workplace remains one of the most prevalence occupational hazard especially in
    the manufacturing industry with heavy machineries. Increasing mechanization in all industries and most trades has
    since proliferated the noise problem. In Malaysia, much has been studied and is known about the auditory effects of
    noise. However less attention has been given to the non-auditory effects of noise such as annoyance, stress, and work
    performance, and concern about such effects is a relatively recent phenomenon. In view of this, this study aims to
    determine the level of noise from different type of machines and tools in a manufacturing plant and also the effects
    of noise to the employees. A structured questionnaire was used to assess the effects of noise on the workers and
    sound level meter was used to measure the noise level at selected work areas. The results of this study showed that
    nearly all the identified work areas exceeded the action level of 85 dB(A) and four of these areas noise levels’ are
    more than 90 dB(A) which is the permissible exposure limit according to the Factories and Machinery (Noise
    Exposure) Regulations 1989. For the questionnaire, it was found that annoyance topped the noise effects list with
    51.4%, followed by stress with 40.0%, hearing deterioration (14.3%) and job performance deterioration (2.9%). As a
    conclusion, noise control or preventive measures are suggested in order to minimize the health risks from noise
    exposure.
    Matched MeSH terms: Noise
  10. Fulltext Receiver diversity combining using evolutionary algorithms in Rayleigh fading channel
    Akbari M, Manesh MR, El-Saleh AA, Reza AW
    ScientificWorldJournal, 2014;2014:128195.
    PMID: 25045725 DOI: 10.1155/2014/128195
    In diversity combining at the receiver, the output signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) is often maximized by using the maximal ratio combining (MRC) provided that the channel is perfectly estimated at the receiver. However, channel estimation is rarely perfect in practice, which results in deteriorating the system performance. In this paper, an imperialistic competitive algorithm (ICA) is proposed and compared with two other evolutionary based algorithms, namely, particle swarm optimization (PSO) and genetic algorithm (GA), for diversity combining of signals travelling across the imperfect channels. The proposed algorithm adjusts the combiner weights of the received signal components in such a way that maximizes the SNR and minimizes the bit error rate (BER). The results indicate that the proposed method eliminates the need of channel estimation and can outperform the conventional diversity combining methods.
    Matched MeSH terms: Signal-To-Noise Ratio
  11. Computer assisted diagnostic system in tumor radiography
    Faisal A, Parveen S, Badsha S, Sarwar H, Reza AW
    J Med Syst, 2013 Jun;37(3):9938.
    PMID: 23504472 DOI: 10.1007/s10916-013-9938-3
    An improved and efficient method is presented in this paper to achieve a better trade-off between noise removal and edge preservation, thereby detecting the tumor region of MRI brain images automatically. Compass operator has been used in the fourth order Partial Differential Equation (PDE) based denoising technique to preserve the anatomically significant information at the edges. A new morphological technique is also introduced for stripping skull region from the brain images, which consequently leading to the process of detecting tumor accurately. Finally, automatic seeded region growing segmentation based on an improved single seed point selection algorithm is applied to detect the tumor. The method is tested on publicly available MRI brain images and it gives an average PSNR (Peak Signal to Noise Ratio) of 36.49. The obtained results also show detection accuracy of 99.46%, which is a significant improvement than that of the existing results.
    Matched MeSH terms: Signal-To-Noise Ratio
  12. Fulltext Target detection in forward scattering radar
    Mohamed Khalaf alla Hassan Mohamed, Raja Syamsul Azmir Raja Abdullah, Rasid, M.F.A.
    Pertanika Journal of Science & Technology, 2009;17(2):-.
    MyJurnal
    This paper analyses electromagnetic signal scattered from the target crossing the Forward Scattering
    Radar (FSR) system baseline. The aim of the analysis was to extract the Doppler signal of a target under the influence of high ground clutter and noise interference. The extraction was used for the
    automatic target detection (ATD) in the FSR system. Two extraction methods, namely Hilbert Transform and Wavelet Technique, were analyzed. The detection using the Hilbert Transform is only applicable for some conditions; however, the detection using the Wavelet Technique is more robust to any clutter and noise level. From 55 sets of signal, only 4% of false alarm was detected or occurred when the Wavelet Technique was applied as a detection scheme. Two sets of field experimentation were carried out and the target’s signal under the influence of high clutter had successfully been detected using the proposed method.
    Matched MeSH terms: Noise
  13. Overcoming Limitations of LoRa Physical Layer in Image Transmission
    Jebril AH, Sali A, Ismail A, Rasid MFA
    Sensors (Basel), 2018 Sep 27;18(10).
    PMID: 30262793 DOI: 10.3390/s18103257
    As a possible implementation of a low-power wide-area network (LPWAN), Long Range (LoRa) technology is considered to be the future wireless communication standard for the Internet of Things (IoT) as it offers competitive features, such as a long communication range, low cost, and reduced power consumption, which make it an optimum alternative to the current wireless sensor networks and conventional cellular technologies. However, the limited bandwidth available for physical layer modulation in LoRa makes it unsuitable for high bit rate data transfer from devices like image sensors. In this paper, we propose a new method for mangrove forest monitoring in Malaysia, wherein we transfer image sensor data over the LoRa physical layer (PHY) in a node-to-node network model. In implementing this method, we produce a novel scheme for overcoming the bandwidth limitation of LoRa. With this scheme the images, which requires high data rate to transfer, collected by the sensor are encrypted as hexadecimal data and then split into packets for transfer via the LoRa physical layer (PHY). To assess the quality of images transferred using this scheme, we measured the packet loss rate, peak signal-to-noise ratio (PSNR), and structural similarity (SSIM) index of each image. These measurements verify the proposed scheme for image transmission, and support the industrial and academic trend which promotes LoRa as the future solution for IoT infrastructure.
    Matched MeSH terms: Signal-To-Noise Ratio
  14. Fulltext Hearing loss and contributing factors among airport workers in Malaysia
    Nasir MH, Rampal KG
    Med J Malaysia, 2012 Feb;67(1):81-6.
    PMID: 22582554 MyJurnal
    Sensorineural hearing loss is a common and important source of disability among the workers and often caused by occupational noise exposure. Aims of the study were to determine the prevalence and contributing factors of hearing loss among airport workers. A cross-sectional study was carried out at an airport in Malaysia. This study used stratified sampling method that involved 358 workers who were working in 3 different units between November 2008 and March 2009. Data for this study were collected by using questionnaires eliciting sociodemographic, occupational exposure history (previous and present), life-style including smoking habits and health-related data. Otoscopic and pure-tone audiometric tests were conducted for hearing assessment. Noise exposure status was categorize by using a noise logging dosimeter to obtain 8-hour Time-Weighted Average (TWA). Data was analyzed by using SPSS version 12.0.1 and EpiInfo 6.04. The prevalence of hearing loss was 33.5%. Age >40 years old (aOR 4.3, 95%CI 2.2-8.3) is the main risk factors for hearing loss followed by duration of noise exposure >5 years (aOR 2.5, 95%CI 1.4-4.7), smoking (aOR 2.1, 95%CI 1.2-3.4), duration of service >5 years (aOR 2.1, 95%CI 1.1-3.9), exposure to explosion (aOR 6.1, 95%CI 1.3-29.8), exposure to vibration (aOR 2.2, 95%CI 1.1-4.3) and working in engineering unit (aOR 5.9, 95%CI 1.1-30.9). The prevalence rate ratio of hearing loss for nonsmokers aged 40 years old and younger, smokers aged 40 years old and younger, non-smokers older than 40 years old and smokers older than 40 years old was 1.0, 1.7, 2.8 and 4.6 respectively. This result contributes towards better understanding of risk factors for hearing loss, which is relatively common among Malaysian workers.
    Matched MeSH terms: Hearing Loss, Noise-Induced/etiology*; Hearing Loss, Noise-Induced/epidemiology
  15. Fulltext Two-Level Scheduling for Video Transmission over Downlink OFDMA Networks
    Tham ML, Chow CO, Xu YH, Ramli N
    PLoS One, 2016;11(2):e0148625.
    PMID: 26906398 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0148625
    This paper presents a two-level scheduling scheme for video transmission over downlink orthogonal frequency-division multiple access (OFDMA) networks. It aims to maximize the aggregate quality of the video users subject to the playback delay and resource constraints, by exploiting the multiuser diversity and the video characteristics. The upper level schedules the transmission of video packets among multiple users based on an overall target bit-error-rate (BER), the importance level of packet and resource consumption efficiency factor. Instead, the lower level renders unequal error protection (UEP) in terms of target BER among the scheduled packets by solving a weighted sum distortion minimization problem, where each user weight reflects the total importance level of the packets that has been scheduled for that user. Frequency-selective power is then water-filled over all the assigned subcarriers in order to leverage the potential channel coding gain. Realistic simulation results demonstrate that the proposed scheme significantly outperforms the state-of-the-art scheduling scheme by up to 6.8 dB in terms of peak-signal-to-noise-ratio (PSNR). Further test evaluates the suitability of equal power allocation which is the common assumption in the literature.
    Matched MeSH terms: Signal-To-Noise Ratio
  16. Fulltext A Heuristic Approach for Optical Transceiver Placement to Optimize SNR and Illuminance Uniformities of an Optical Body Area Network
    Masroor K, Jeoti V, Drieberg M, Cheab S, Rajbhandari S
    Sensors (Basel), 2021 Apr 22;21(9).
    PMID: 33922288 DOI: 10.3390/s21092943
    The bi-directional information transfer in optical body area networks (OBANs) is crucial at all the three tiers of communication, i.e., intra-, inter-, and beyond-BAN communication, which correspond to tier-I, tier-II, and tier-III, respectively. However, the provision of uninterrupted uplink (UL) and downlink (DL) connections at tier II (inter-BAN) are extremely critical, since these links serve as a bridge between tier-I (intra-BAN) and tier-III (beyond-BAN) communication. Any negligence at this level could be life-threatening; therefore, enabling quality-of-service (QoS) remains a fundamental design issue at tier-II. Consequently, to provide QoS, a key parameter is to ensure link reliability and communication quality by maintaining a nearly uniform signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) within the coverage area. Several studies have reported the effects of transceiver related parameters on OBAN link performance, nevertheless the implications of changing transmitter locations on the SNR uniformity and communication quality have not been addressed. In this work, we undertake a DL scenario and analyze how the placement of light-emitting diode (LED) lamps can improve the SNR uniformity, regardless of the receiver position. Subsequently, we show that using the principle of reciprocity (POR) and with transmitter-receiver positions switched, the analysis is also applicable to UL, provided that the optical channel remains linear. Moreover, we propose a generalized optimal placement scheme along with a heuristic design formula to achieve uniform SNR and illuminance for DL using a fixed number of transmitters and compare it with an existing technique. The study reveals that the proposed placement technique reduces the fluctuations in SNR by 54% and improves the illuminance uniformity up to 102% as compared to the traditional approach. Finally, we show that, for very low luminous intensity, the SNR values remain sufficient to maintain a minimum bit error rate (BER) of 10-9 with on-off keying non-return-to-zero (OOK-NRZ) modulation format.
    Matched MeSH terms: Signal-To-Noise Ratio
  17. 3 Tesla magnetic resonance imaging noise in standard head and neck sequence does not cause temporary threshold shift in high frequency
    Lim EY, Tang IP, Peyman M, Ramli N, Narayanan P, Rajagopalan R
    Eur Arch Otorhinolaryngol, 2015 Nov;272(11):3109-13.
    PMID: 25205300 DOI: 10.1007/s00405-014-3232-y
    High acoustic noise level is one of the unavoidable side effects of 3 T magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). A case of hearing loss after 3 T MRI has been reported in this institution and hence this study. The objective of this study was to determine whether temporary threshold shift (TTS) in high frequency hearing occurs in patients undergoing 3 T MRI scans of the head and neck. A total of 35 patients undergoing head and neck 3 T MRI for various clinical indications were tested with pure tone audiometry in different frequencies including high frequencies, before and after the MRI scan. Any threshold change from the recorded baseline of 10 dB was considered significant. All patients were fitted with foamed 3 M earplugs before the procedure following the safety guidelines for 3 T MRI. The mean time for MRI procedure was 1,672 s (range 1,040-2,810). The noise dose received by each patient amounted to an average of 3,906.29% (1,415-9,170%). The noise dose was derived from a normograph used by Occupational Noise Surveys. This was calculated using the nomograph of L eq, L EX, noise dose and time. There was no statistically significant difference between the hearing threshold before and after the MRI procedures for all the frequencies (paired t test, P > 0.05). For patients using 3 M foamed earplugs, noise level generated by 3 T MRI during routine clinical sequence did not cause any TTS in high frequency hearing.
    Matched MeSH terms: Hearing Loss, Noise-Induced/etiology*; Noise*
  18. Beamforming technique for investigation of lateral variability at geotechnical sites
    Norfarah Nadia Ismail, Joh SH, Raja Hassanul Musa Raja Ahmad
    Sains Malaysiana, 2012;41:1621-1627.
    A beamformer in seismology is a signal receptor with a series of geophones, in which a beam of elastic waves is formed like a light beam by adjusting signal delays at individual geophones. Recently, beamforming has extended its applications to surface-wave measurement. In surface-wave measurement, beamforming provides unique advantages over other surface-wave methods, such as full automation in data analysis as well as directional signal reception to minimize scattered noise and multiple reflections in signals. However, certain defects depreciate the value of beamforming in terms of its practicality and feasibility. These include the requirement of having many receivers and the loss of small wavelength data due to spatial aliasing. It leads to insensitivity in identification of lateral variability, which creates the problem of having to smooth out geologic features and complexities like folding, faults and fractures. In this paper, advances in the refinement of beamforming were described on two counts: improvement of sensitivity in identification of lateral variability and recovery of aliased wave numbers, which enables evaluation of shallow material. On the passage to refinement, synthetic waveforms for typical layering systems were generated to figure out characteristics of beamformer velocities in comparison with SASW velocities and theoretical normal-mode velocities.
    Matched MeSH terms: Noise
  19. Fulltext Birdsong Denoising Using Wavelets
    Priyadarshani N, Marsland S, Castro I, Punchihewa A
    PLoS One, 2016;11(1):e0146790.
    PMID: 26812391 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0146790
    Automatic recording of birdsong is becoming the preferred way to monitor and quantify bird populations worldwide. Programmable recorders allow recordings to be obtained at all times of day and year for extended periods of time. Consequently, there is a critical need for robust automated birdsong recognition. One prominent obstacle to achieving this is low signal to noise ratio in unattended recordings. Field recordings are often very noisy: birdsong is only one component in a recording, which also includes noise from the environment (such as wind and rain), other animals (including insects), and human-related activities, as well as noise from the recorder itself. We describe a method of denoising using a combination of the wavelet packet decomposition and band-pass or low-pass filtering, and present experiments that demonstrate an order of magnitude improvement in noise reduction over natural noisy bird recordings.
    Matched MeSH terms: Noise; Signal-To-Noise Ratio
  20. Pesticide applicators questionnaire content validation: A fuzzy delphi method
    Manakandan SK, Rosnah I, Mohd Ridhuan J, Priya R
    Med J Malaysia, 2017 08;72(4):228-235.
    PMID: 28889134 MyJurnal
    BACKGROUND: The most crucial step in forming a set of survey questionnaire is deciding the appropriate items in a construct. Retaining irrelevant items and removing important items will certainly mislead the direction of a particular study. This article demonstrates Fuzzy Delphi method as one of the scientific analysis technique to consolidate consensus agreement within a panel of experts pertaining to each item's appropriateness. This method reduces the ambiguity, diversity, and discrepancy of the opinions among the experts hence enhances the quality of the selected items. The main purpose of this study was to obtain experts' consensus on the suitability of the preselected items on the questionnaire.

    METHODS: The panel consists of sixteen experts from the Occupational and Environmental Health Unit of Ministry of Health, Vector-borne Disease Control Unit of Ministry of Health and Occupational and Safety Health Unit of both public and private universities. A set of questionnaires related to noise and chemical exposure were compiled based on the literature search. There was a total of six constructs with 60 items in which three constructs for knowledge, attitude, and practice of noise exposure and three constructs for knowledge, attitude, and practice of chemical exposure. The validation process replicated recent Fuzzy Delphi method that using a concept of Triangular Fuzzy Numbers and Defuzzification process.

    RESULTS: A 100% response rate was obtained from all the sixteen experts with an average Likert scoring of four to five. Post FDM analysis, the first prerequisite was fulfilled with a threshold value (d) ≤ 0.2, hence all the six constructs were accepted. For the second prerequisite, three items (21%) from noise-attitude construct and four items (40%) from chemical-practice construct had expert consensus lesser than 75%, which giving rise to about 12% from the total items in the questionnaire. The third prerequisite was used to rank the items within the constructs by calculating the average fuzzy numbers. The seven items which did not fulfill the second prerequisite similarly had lower ranks during the analysis, therefore those items were discarded from the final draft.

    CONCLUSION: Post FDM analysis, the experts' consensus on the suitability of the pre-selected items on the questionnaire set were obtained, hence it is now ready for further construct validation process.

    Matched MeSH terms: Noise, Occupational/adverse effects
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