Search PubMed⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

F Brandt

Publications and source records attributed to F Brandt.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

Speech-cue enhancement for the hearing impaired: amplification of burst/murmur cues for improved perception of final stop voicing.

A further study is reported from a program of research exploring the improvement of speech perception by hearing-impaired persons via enhancement of acoustic features of consonants (10,11). Enhancements were applied to certain acoustic segments of consonants, segments known to be useful in consonant perception by normal-hearing persons but often not for persons with severe/profound hearing losses. The consonants were /k/, /t/, /g/, and /d/ located as the final phoneme in /baeC/ words; the voicing feature difference of /k/ versus /g/ and /t/ versus /d/ was the focus of study. The results showed that stop voicing perception improved to at least 90 percent for 3/4 of the listeners when the voiced murmur segments during /d/ and /g/ and the release bursts of /t/ and /k/ were amplified above their natural levels. The audibility of the enhanced segments generally explained differences between the listeners who showed large versus minimal improvements. One training session for stop voicing perception with the cue-enhanced words seemed sufficient to effect maximum performance improvement.

Auditory Threshold↗

Speech cue enhancement for the hearing impaired: I. Altered vowel durations for perception of final fricative voicing.

Hearing-impaired persons with reduced voicing perception for final fricatives were studied for improvement in perception via training or enhancement of the vowel duration cue. Ten utterances each of the syllables /baef, baes, baev, baez/ composed three stimulus sets that were graded for the magnitude of the vowel duration cue. These sets were used differentially among 25 hearing-impaired listeners to train and test voicing perception. When enhanced, the vowels of the utterances were lengthened before voiced fricatives and shortened before voiceless fricatives. Training for the utterances with unmodified vowels yielded a small performance improvement for a subgroup of 14 listeners. In comparison, this subgroup showed considerably more improvement for the utterances with vowel duration enhancements. Another subgroup of 5 listeners displayed good fricative voicing perception independent of training or the vowel duration enhancements. A remaining subgroup of 6 listeners manifested poor use of the maximum unmodified vowel duration cues, even subsequent to training. This group showed a significant improvement in perception only for the voiced fricatives when extra duration enhancement and further training were used. This subgroup also demonstrated the poorest performance for a measure of vowel duration discrimination. Among the auditory variables examined, the listeners' tone thresholds at 250 Hz showed the highest relation to perception of fricative voicing.

Auditory Threshold↗

Serotonin release in human cerebral cortex and its modulation via serotonin receptors.

Human cerebral cortex slices were prepared from brain tissue which had to be removed in order to gain access to deep-seated tumours. Subsequent to incubation with [3H]serotonin, the slices were superfused with physiological salt solution containing paroxetine, and 3H overflow was evoked by electrical field stimulation. The evoked tritium overflow (86% of which was accounted for by unmetabolized [3H]serotonin) was abolished by tetrodotoxin or omission of calcium from the superfusion fluid. Unlabelled serotonin decreased, and the serotonin receptor antagonist metitepin increased, the evoked overflow. The inhibition produced by serotonin was antagonized by metitepin. It is concluded that serotonin release in human cerebral cortex is modulated by inhibitory serotonin receptors, which may be localized presynaptically on the serotoninergic nerve fibers themselves. There are marked similarities between human and rat brain cortex with respect to action potential-induced, Ca2+-dependent serotonin release and its modulation via serotonin receptors.

Calcium↗

Epidemiology and serology of Giardia lamblia in a developing country: Bangladesh.

The age-specific prevalence of Giardia lamblia was determined in two Bangladeshi villages and malnourished children in hospital in Dhaka City. Age-specific acquisition rates, the duration of infection and age-specific sero-positivity to (immunofluorescent assay) G. lamblia trophozoites were determined. Infection was acquired early (less than one year) and in 16% of infected children persisted for longer than three months. Prevalence was higher in 5 to 10-year-old village children (21%) and one to five-year-old malnourished children (51%). Over 40% of the children much less than 7 years acquired G. lamblia within 18 months; acquisition rates did not change with age. Positive antibody titres were acquired between six months and one year and the prevalence of sero-positivity remained high in all age groups No association was found between positive antibody titres and positive stool examinations. In developing countries serum antibodies are useful epidemiologically, but are not diagnostic in the individual patient.

Adolescent↗

[Differential light perception threshold of the visual field and ERG following operatively attached retinal detachment].

After surgical treatment of retinal detachment with a spontaneously pigmented demarcation line the visual fields of twelve patients were tested. The increment threshold of all positions (determined with the Octopus automatic perimeter system) was compared with the reduction in the scotopic and photopic ERG amplitudes (determinated with the CEMIDA system). This reduction in the ERG amplitudes was evaluated using the difference between the amplitude of the ERG waves of the eye with cured retinal detachment and of the healthy fellow eye. No great correlation between the two parameters was found, but it appeared that a reduced mean increment threshold correlated with a reduction in the a-wave amplitude.

Adolescent↗

[Lagophthalmos and posterior synechiae of the iris during treatment of leprosy with diaminodiphenylsulfone].

Four years after controlled and standardized chemotherapy with diaminodiphenylsulfone (DDS), 316 patients in the leprosarium at Khokana, Nepal were re-examined for ophthalmological findings. Patients who, 4 years earlier, had not had lagophthalmos in either eye, nor posterior synechiae of the iris, had only developed these complications in the meantime if they were suffering from DDS-resistant leprosy. New posterior synechiae of the iris were only found in patients with inactive leprosy who had already had a posterior synechia in the fellow eye four years previously. In cases of inactive leprosy there was also a tendency for existing posterior synechiae to increase. It is emphasized that the development of lagophthalmos or posterior synechiae of the iris indicates that a previously inactive leprosy may have become reactivated in spite of treatment with DDS.

Adult↗

[Results of operative couching of the lens (a study from Nepal)].

In Southern Nepal 100 eyes were examined on which a couching operation (reclination of the lens) had been performed by "quacks". The postoperative period extended from 1 month to more than 10 years. At the time of the examination 42 eyes were found to be blind; 26 of these were still blind immediately after the operation or went blind again during the following 6 months. In the eyes in which vision was preserved throughout the first postoperative year, subsequent loss of vision was less than 10% a year. These surgical results may not appear desirable but they are at least acceptable considering that the couching had been performed in regions of Nepal where modern ophthalmic care is not yet available.

Adult↗

[Not Available].

Explore the source record for details and available documents.

Germany↗

The value of metrizamide CT cisternography in the diagnosis of CSF fistulae.

Post-traumatic CSF fistulae and those affiliated with tumours on the skull base have so far been investigated by isotope cisternography, fluoresceine tests and polytomography. 12 patients have recently been studied by metrizamide CT cisternography. In acute post-traumatic cases difficulties arise in the differentiation between blood clots and the stream of contrast medium. The method was found to be useful in delayed CSF fistulae and tumour-associated cases.

Brain↗

[Late results of thermocoagulation in Gasser's ganglion in tic douloureux].

257 patients with facial neuralgia (idiopathic trigeminal neuralgia, symptomatic trigeminal neuralgia, atypical facial pain) have been treated by percutaneous selective thermorhizotomy. 115 patients have been followed up 1-13 years after operation. In 71% we found excellent and good results. Preoperative symptoms, postoperative results of pain arrest, complications and cutaneous sensibility will be analyzed. The results are compared with data from the literature.

Follow-Up Studies↗

[Neurosurgical management of gunshot injuries to the head].

The article describes the pathophysiological mechanisms of injuries caused by shots in the head. In particular, the effect exercised on the cerebral tissue by the impact of rapid projectiles is explained. The review is based on 23 patients treated by the authors. These cases are discussed and critically assessed, using the results communicated in other papers as basis. The requisite surgical measures are considered; the need for effecting complete cleansing of the path of the bullet is viewed with some reserve.

Brain Injuries↗

Blindness from cataract formation in leprosy.

Of 744 leprous patients, 61 (8.2%) had cataract-induced blindness; 46 patients (6.2%) were unilaterally blind and 15 (2.0%) were bilaterally blind. The mean age of patients with cataracts was 63.4 years in the tuberculoid-type leprosy and 56.4 years in the lepromatous type. The appearance of cataracts in lepromatous patients at an earlier age than in tuberculoid patients is significant (p less than 0.005). Of 41 cataractous eyes with posterior iris synechiae, 42.1% were observed in patients with tuberculoid-type leprosy and 59.1% in patients with the lepromatous type. Histopathological examination of 24 lenses showed that irregularities of the lens epithelium were present in 79.2%. Posterior iris synechiae were seen in 66.7% and fibrous pseudometaplasia in 41.7%. Posterior migration of the lens epithelium in the posterior subcapsular area was observed in 54.2%. In view of these clinical and histopathological findings, we discuss the probability that most cataracts in leprous patients are complicated in nature.

Adult↗

The incidence of lagophthalmus and posterior synechiae of the iris during chemotherapy of leprosy (morbus Hansen).

In the Green-Pastures-Leprosy-Hospital in Pikhara/Nepal 340 outpatients with leprosy were examined to evaluate the incidence of lagophthalmus and posterior synechiae of the iris. Patients who had already received chemotherapeutical treatment during the first 5 years following the onset of the disease developed fewer cases of lagophthalmus in both types of leprosy than patients who remained untreated for longer than 5 years. A comparable positive influence of early chemotherapy on the incidence of posterior synechiae of the iris could not be proven. The possible causes were discussed.

Adult↗

Incidence of cataracts in the mobile eye hospitals of Nepal.

The incidence of cataract in Nepal was determined from data collected in 14 mobile eye hospitals (called 'eye camps'). Of a total of 12,217 patients examined in the out-patient department (OPD), cataract surgery was performed on 2,163. The percentage of cataract patients in the OPD was less in the mountains (13.8%) than in the Tarai plains (19.8%). In the inhabitants of the mountains, the majority of whom belong to the Tibeto-Birman race, cataracts appeared at a significantly later age in both males and females compared to the people of the plains, who are mostly Indo-Aryan. Cataracts were discovered in both groups at a younger age in women than in men.

Adult↗