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Biomedical subjects

D Byrne

Publications and source records attributed to D Byrne.

At least 109 records · Page 6Linked to original sources
PubMed1979

Hearing aid selection. An analysis and point of view.

Hearing aid selection and hearing aid evaluation are related, but separate, processes. Adequate selection must precede evaluation, which can only be applied to a few of the limitless amplification possibilities. I discuss the theoretical principles of aid selection and illustrate their application by reference to aid selection procedures developed in the National Acoustic Laboratories, Australia. Unless selection is arbitrary, a theoretical method is being used even if not recognized or applied consistently. It is argued that casual methods cannot be adequate and should be replaced by the adoption of theoretical procedures that are explicit, systematic, comprehensive, and subject to critical examination and refinement.

Acoustics↗
PubMed1978

Selection of hearing aids for severely deaf children.

Procedures are described for selecting the gain and frequency response of hearing aids for deaf children and for evaluating aided hearing. These include a comparison of aided thresholds with the speech spectrum to determine how much of the frequency range is functional for each child. This provides a basis for deciding whether to select an aid having a "conventional" (C) response, which de-emphasises the low frequencies, or a low frequency (LF) response which provides more low frequency gain, although not necessarily low frequency emphasis. It is concluded that, for optical aid fitting, some children require "C" responses for both ears, others "LF" responses for both ears and others a "C" response for one ear and an "LF" response for the other. These three possibilities are all required sufficiently commonly that exclusive use of any one would inevitably result in relatively ineffective amplification for many deaf children.

Audiology↗
PubMed1977

The speech spectrum--some aspects of its significance for hearing aid selection and evaluation.

A spectral analysis of Australian speech is reported for 30 speakers, 15 males and 15 females. When expressed in one-third octave band levels, or critical band levels, the spectrum is essentially flat from 1kHz to 8KHz and shows approximately 15dB greater energy at 0.5kHz and lower frequencies. Although the results of this study agree substantially with other published data, the use of the average spectrum obtained, rather than the idealised speech spectrum, would be significant for aid selection and evaluation purposes. The common practice, in hearing aid literature, of showing the speech spectrum expressed in spectrum levels, rather than one-third octave band levels, may lead to a different, and possibly misleading, conceptualisation of the relative energy of high and low frequency components. Considering that speech spectra differ greatly from one individual to another, it would seem desirable that speech with a known, preferably average, spectrum be used in hearing aid evaluation procedures which involve setting the volume control of a hearing aid to deliver speech at a comfortable listening level.

Female↗
PubMed1977

Towards a method for assessing social support systems.

Man is committed by his biological and cultural evolution to a social existence. While the social environment is the source of many stressors, it may also be protective. This latter function is called 'support'. Social bonds are to be found universally, but some cultural groups have the integrity of these bonds conspicuously endangered. The application of the affective component of the social network to psychiatry promises to be useful, but cannot progress further until an instrument is developed for assessing the support available to an individual. We have gone some way towards a method for assessing the components of primary group interaction. The task now is to determine if low social support, such as is seen in Western suburban wives, some migrant groups and some women in the Middle East and Asia, is causally related to some psychiatric disorders The principal appeal of this area is that we may be tapping something very fundamental about human social organisation, something which, unlike adversity, is subject to modification.

Community Psychiatry↗
PubMed1976

Effect of para-aminohippurate on renal glutamine metabolism in the rat.

After para-aminohippurate (PAH) infusion into rats, urine pH decreased and urine ammonium excretion increased. Because augmented urine flow and decreased urine pH could not explain entirely the enhanced ammonium excretion, an increased ammonia production was postulated as a contributing influence. This was supported by the in vitro findings that PAH could increase slice ammoniagenesis from glutamine. The ability of PAH to stimulate ammoniagenesis in vitro was attributed to enhanced phosphate-dependent glutaminase activity. We conclude that PAH infusions at certain concentrations in vivo can alter ammonium excretion through increased renal ammonia production. The latter may be secondary to enhanced phosphate-dependent glutaminase activity.

Aerobiosis↗