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At least 433 records · Page 24Linked to original sources
PubMed2003

A conceptual framework for intelligence-based public health nutrition workforce development.

OBJECTIVE: This paper describes a conceptual framework and associated intelligence requirements for problem-based workforce development for public health nutrition. METHODS: A conceptual framework for public health nutrition workforce development was constructed based on a review of the literature and consideration of the intelligence needs to inform workforce development planning. RESULTS: A cyclical conceptual framework including five intelligence-linked components including public health nutrition problems and priorities, solutions and best buys, work needed, capacity to do the work and workforce development needs. This framework applied to the Australian situation illustrates its applications in workforce development research and planning. Although the existing availability of workforce development intelligence in each of these components varies, the framework does provide a systematic approach for workforce development research and planning directly related to public health nutrition problem resolution. CONCLUSIONS: This framework highlights deficiencies in the existing public health nutrition workforce development intelligence and the need for further research to inform workforce development strategy planning.

Australia↗
PubMed2002

Active and intelligent packaging: applications and regulatory aspects.

Changes in the way foods are produced, distributed, stored and retailed, reflecting the continuing increase in consumer demands for improved quality and extended shelf-life for packaged foods, are placing ever-greater demands on the performance of food packaging. Consumers want to be assured that the packaging is fulfilling its function of protecting the integrity, quality, freshness and safety of foods. To provide this assurance and help improve the performance of the packaging, innovative active and intelligent packaging concepts are being developed and applied in various countries. In Europe, however, the development and application of active and intelligent packaging systems have been limited thus far. The main reasons are legislative restrictions and a lack of knowledge about consumer acceptance, the efficacy of such systems, and the economic and environmental impact they may have. Therefore, in 1999, a European study was started within the framework of the EU FAIR R&D programme. It aims to initiate amendments to European legislation for food-contact materials to establish and implement active and intelligent systems within the current relevant regulations for packaged food in Europe. This paper presents an overview of existing active and intelligent systems and their current and future food-related applications. In addition, developments and trends in active and intelligent food packaging are discussed. The objectives and the work programme of the European project are reviewed and the results obtained so far are presented. The benefits for both the European consumer and the European food and food-packaging industries are highlighted.

Europe↗
PubMedDate not supplied

A diagnostic marker for speech delay associated with otitis media with effusion: the intelligibility-speech gap.

The goal of this study was to determine if notably reduced intelligibility is a potential diagnostic marker for children with speech delay and histories of early recurrent otitis media with effusion (SD-OME). Intelligibility was assessed in one 5-10 minute conversational speech sample from each of 281 speakers. The OME histories of 148 of these children with normal speech acquisition were described in two prior reports. OME histories of 85 additional children with speech delay were obtained from case history reports. For both groups, the children with positive OME (OME+) histories had significantly lower intelligibility scores but significantly higher speech production scores than children with negative OME (OME-) histories. Findings for a diagnostic marker to discriminate speech delayed children with OME+ versus OME- histories were promising, considering that the data were obtained retrospectively and did not include audiological information characterizing children's concurrent fluctuant hearing loss. The formula for the diagnostic marker, termed the Intelligibility-Speech Gap, was identified by a machine learning routine. Diagnostic accuracy findings for the marker were as follows: positive predictive value = 74%, negative predictive value = 86%, sensitivity = 79%, specificity = 83%, positive likelihood ratio = 4.6 and negative likelihood ratio = 0.25. Discussion considers speech processing perspectives on the source of the intelligibility-speech gap in children with suspected SD-OME, and methodological perspectives on its development as a diagnostic marker of one etiological subtype of speech delay.

Child↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Contributions of monotic intelligibility to dichotic performance.

The contributions of monotic intelligibility to the right ear advantage for speech presented dichotically were examined in 3 experiments. The first experiment was mainly a replication of an earlier study by Speaks and Bissonette. Signal level in the right ear (RE) was attenuated and, separately, signal level in the left ear was amplified relative to 4 different reference intensities. Dichotic performance was not sensitive to absolute interaural-intensitive differences, but rather to something approaching an absolute sound pressure level. Thus, the RE advantage was affected only when signal level in one ear was sufficiently low (less than 60 dB SPL) to be near or below the "knee" of the monotic intelligibility function. That contention received support from the second experiment in which RE attenuation was introduced in both quiet and noise. Noise shifted the monotic intelliagibility function, and, as a consequence, less RE attenuation was required to cancel the RE advantage in noise than in quiet. The third experiment was conducted on a listener whose monotic intelligibility functions for the 2 ears were separated by 20 dB. The size and direction of the dichotic ear advantage, even though assessed at intensities that yielded 100% monotic intelligibility for both ears, depended on the proximity of the test intensity to the knees of the 2 monotic intelligibility functions. The results of all 3 experiments suggest that performance on a dichotic task does not involve central-level interactions exclusively.

Adult↗
PubMed2002

Effects of multi-channel compression time constants on subjectively perceived sound quality and speech intelligibility.

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to determine the influence of the compression time constants in a multi-channel compression hearing aid on both subjectively assessed speech intelligibility and sound quality in realistic binaural acoustical situations for normal-hearing and hearing-impaired listeners. DESIGN: A nonlinear hearing aid with 15 independent compression channels of approximated critical bandwidth was simulated on a personal computer. Various everyday life situations containing different sounds such as speech and speech in noise were recorded binaurally through original hearing aid microphones placed in BTE hearing aid cases. Two experiments were run with normal hearing and hearing-impaired subjects. For each subject, hearing thresholds were established using in situ audiometry. The static I/O-curve parameters in all channels of the hearing aid were then adjusted so that normal speech received an insertion gain corresponding to the NAL-R formula (Byrne & Dillon, 1986). The compression ratio was kept constant at 2.1:1. In the first experiment with six normal-hearing and six hearing-impaired subjects, the hearing aid was programmed to four different settings by changing only the compression time constants while all the parameters describing the static nonlinear Input/Output-curve were kept constant. The compression threshold was set to a very low value. In the second experiment with seven normal-hearing and eight hearing-impaired subjects, the hearing aid was programmed to four settings by changing the release time constants and the compression threshold while all other remaining parameters were kept constant. Using a complete A/B pair comparison procedure, subjects were presented binaurally with the amplified sounds and asked to subjectively assess their preference for each hearing aid setting with regards to speech intelligibility and sound quality. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS: In Experiment 1, all subjects showed a significant preference for the longest release time (4 sec) over the two shorter release times (400 msec and 40 msec), pertaining to quality and intelligibility. In combination with the long release time, the attack time (1 msec or 100 msec) was of less importance. Larger inter-individual differences were observed among all subjects with regard to the perceived sound quality of musical and nonspeech signals. In Experiment 2 the hearing-impaired subjects showed a significant preference for the hearing aid setting with a long release time (4 sec) and a low compression threshold (20 dB SPL), both with regard to sound quality and speech intelligibility. With a short release time (40 msec), a lower compression threshold (20 dB SPL) was preferred over a higher threshold (50 dB SPL). Among normal-hearing subjects, the same settings were also preferred for speech intelligibility. However, no significant differences were observed in these subjects regarding the assessment of sound quality. Again, more individual variability was found during the assessment of music and nonspeech signals. In sum, the preference of a rather long release time raises the question of whether a compression system with a very short time constant is the optimal means to compensate for the sensory recruitment phenomenon.

Acoustic Stimulation↗
PubMed2000

Receiver operating characteristic analysis for intelligent medical systems--a new approach for finding confidence intervals.

Intelligent systems are increasingly being deployed in medicine and healthcare, but there is a need for a robust and objective methodology for evaluating such systems. Potentially, receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis could form a basis for the objective evaluation of intelligent medical systems. However, it has several weaknesses when applied to the types of data used to evaluate intelligent medical systems. First, small data sets are often used, which are unsatisfactory with existing methods. Second, many existing ROC methods use parametric assumptions which may not always be valid for the test cases selected. Third, system evaluations are often more concerned with particular, clinically meaningful, points on the curve, rather than on global indexes such as the more commonly used area under the curve. A novel, robust and accurate method is proposed, derived from first principles, which calculates the probability density function (pdf) for each point on a ROC curve for any given sample size. Confidence intervals are produced as contours on the pdf. The theoretical work has been validated by Monte Carlo simulations. It has also been applied to two real-world examples of ROC analysis, taken from the literature (classification of mammograms and differential diagnosis of pancreatic diseases), to investigate the confidence surfaces produced for real cases, and to illustrate how analysis of system performance can be enhanced. We illustrate the impact of sample size on system performance from analysis of ROC pdf's and 95% confidence boundaries. This work establishes an important new method for generating pdf's, and provides an accurate and robust method of producing confidence intervals for ROC curves for the small sample sizes typical of intelligent medical systems. It is conjectured that, potentially, the method could be extended to determine risks associated with the deployment of intelligent medical systems in clinical practice.

Algorithms↗
PubMed2001

The effect of intensity perturbations on speech intelligibility for normal-hearing and hearing-impaired listeners.

Hearing-impaired listeners are known to suffer from reduced speech intelligibility in noise, even if sounds are above their hearing thresholds. This study examined the possible contribution of reduced acuity of intensity coding to this problem. The "distortion-sensitivity model" was used: the effect of reduced acuity of auditory intensity coding on intelligibility was mimicked by an artificial distortion of the speech intensity coding, and the sensitivity to this distortion for hearing-impaired listeners was compared with that for normal-hearing listeners. Stimuli (speech plus noise) were wavelet coded using a Gaussian wavelet (1/4-octave bandwidth). The intensity coding was distorted by multiplying the modulus of each wavelet coefficient by a random factor. Speech-reception thresholds (SRTs) were measured for various degrees of intensity perturbation. Hearing-impaired listeners were classified as suffering from suprathreshold deficits if intelligibility of undistorted speech was worse than predicted from audibility by the speech intelligibility index model [ANSI, ANSI S3.5-1997 (1997)]. Hearing-impaired listeners without suprathreshold deficits were as sensitive to the intensity distortion as the normal-hearing listeners. Hearing-impaired listeners with suprathreshold deficits appeared to be less sensitive. Results indicate that reduced acuity of auditory intensity coding may be a factor underlying reduced speech intelligibility in noise for the hearing impaired.

Adult↗
PubMed1986

Effects of frequency response characteristics on speech discrimination and perceived intelligibility and pleasantness of speech for hearing-impaired listeners.

Frequency response characteristics were selected for 14 hearing-impaired ears, according to six procedures. Three procedures were based on MCL measurements with speech bands of three bandwidths (1/3 octave, 1 octave, and 1 2/3 octaves). The other procedures were based on hearing thresholds, pure-tone MCLs, and pure-tone LDLs. The procedures were evaluated by speech discrimination testing, using nonsense syllables in noise, and by paired comparison judgments of the intelligibility and pleasantness of running speech. Speech discrimination testing showed significant differences between pairs of responses for only seven test ears. Nasals and glides were most affected by frequency response variations. Both intelligibility and pleasantness judgments showed significant differences for all test ears. Intelligibility in noise was less affected by frequency response differences than was intelligibility in quiet or pleasantness in quiet or in noise. For some ears, the ranking of responses depended on whether intelligibility or pleasantness was being judged and on whether the speech was in quiet or in noise. Overall, the three speech band MCL procedures were far superior to the others. Thus the studies strongly support the frequency response selection rationale of amplifying all frequency bands of speech to MCL. They also highlight some of the complications involved in achieving this aim.

Adult↗
PubMed1995

Temporal envelope and fine structure cues for speech intelligibility.

This paper describes a number of listening experiments to investigate the relative contribution of temporal envelope modulations and fine structure to speech intelligibility. The amplitude envelopes of 24 1/4-oct bands (covering 100-6400 Hz) were processed in several ways (e.g., fast compression) in order to assess the importance of the modulation peaks and troughs. Results for 60 normal-hearing subjects show that reduction of modulations by the addition of noise is more detrimental to sentence intelligibility than the same degree of reduction achieved by direct manipulation of the envelope; in some cases the benefit in speech-reception threshold (SRT) is almost 7 dB. Two crossover levels can be defined in dividing the temporal envelope into two equally important parts. The first crossover level divides the envelope into two perceptually equal parts: Removing modulations either chi dB below or above that level yields the same intelligibility score. The second crossover level divides the envelope into two acoustically equal peak and trough parts. The perceptual level is 9-12 dB higher than the acoustic level, indicating that envelope peaks are perceptually more important than troughs. Further results showed that 24 intact temporal speech envelopes with noise fine structure retain perfect intelligibility. In general, for the present type of signal manipulations, no one-to-one relation between the modulation-transfer function and the intelligibility scores could be established.

Adolescent↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Increased instrument intelligence--can it reduce laboratory error?

Recent literature has focused on the reduction of laboratory errors and the potential impact on patient management. This study assessed the intelligent, automated preanalytical process-control abilities in newer generation analyzers as compared with older analyzers and the impact on error reduction. Three generations of immuno-chemistry analyzers were challenged with pooled human serum samples for a 3-week period. One of the three analyzers had an intelligent process of fluidics checks, including bubble detection. Bubbles can cause erroneous results due to incomplete sample aspiration. This variable was chosen because it is the most easily controlled sample defect that can be introduced. Traditionally, lab technicians have had to visually inspect each sample for the presence of bubbles. This is time consuming and introduces the possibility of human error. Instruments with bubble detection may be able to eliminate the human factor and reduce errors associated with the presence of bubbles. Specific samples were vortexed daily to introduce a visible quantity of bubbles, then immediately placed in the daily run. Errors were defined as a reported result greater than three standard deviations below the mean and associated with incomplete sample aspiration of the analyte of the individual analyzer Three standard deviations represented the target limits of proficiency testing. The results of the assays were examined for accuracy and precision. Efficiency, measured as process throughput, was also measured to associate a cost factor and potential impact of the error detection on the overall process. The analyzer performance stratified according to their level of internal process control The older analyzers without bubble detection reported 23 erred results. The newest analyzer with bubble detection reported one specimen incorrectly. The precision and accuracy of the nonvortexed specimens were excellent and acceptable for all three analyzers. No errors were found in the nonvortexed specimens. There were no significant differences in overall process time for any of the analyzers when tests were arranged in an optimal configuration. The analyzer with advanced fluidic intelligence demostrated the greatest ability to appropriately deal with an incomplete aspiration by not processing and reporting a result for the sample. This study suggests that preanalytical process-control capabilities could reduce errors. By association, it implies that similar intelligent process controls could favorably impact the error rate and, in the case of this instrument, do it without negatively impacting process throughput. Other improvements may be realized as a result of having an intelligent error-detection process including further reduction in misreported results, fewer repeats, less operator intervention, and less reagent waste.

Autoanalysis↗
PubMed2003

Correlational analysis of MicroCog: Assessment of Cognitive Functioning with the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-III for a clinical sample of veterans.

With rapid advances in technology and an emphasis in efficiency in psychological testing, there is a need to investigate the relation between a computerized cognitive examination and a traditional individually administered intelligence test. The current study provided correlations of intelligence scores from MicroCog: Assessment of Cognitive Functioning and intelligence scores from WAIS-III. MicroCog is a single computerized test measuring intelligence and the WAIS-III is a single traditionally administered test measuring intelligence. The study included 30 participants referred for psychological testing at a Veterans Medical Center in Tennessee as part of the standard intake process. Half of the participants were administered MicroCog first and half the WAIS-III first. Analysis indicated scores on the two tests were positively correlated. Index scores measuring similar constructs also were positively correlated. However, MicroCog was significantly more difficult than the WAIS-III in that scores were, on average, lower on MicroCog.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Most comfortable listening for the loudness and intelligibility of speech.

The effect of instructional set upon most comfortable listening (MCL) was investigated among normal listeners. MCL level and range were determined (method of limits) in relation to listening for comfortable speech loudness versus comfortable speech intelligibility. The results indicate that instructional set does influence listener performance. the mean MCL level for comfortable speech intelligibility was significantly higher (4.96 dB) than the mean level for comfortable speech loudness; the mean MCL range for comfortable speech intelligibility was higher by 7.33 dB and wider by 7.10 dB than the mean range for speech loudness. Ascending stimulus presentation obtained comparable MCL levels for both listening conditions, whereas descending presentation obtained a mean MCL level almost 10 dB higher for comfortable speech intelligibility than for comfortable speech loudness. Males achieved slightly higher MCL levels than did females for both loudness (4.32 dB) and intelligibility (4.96 dB) criteria. It was concluded that the nature of the instructional set be taken into account when interpreting comfortable listening measures.

Adolescent↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Speech intelligibility and the use of hearing protectors.

On theoretical grounds, it is usually assumed that the use of hearing protectors in a noisy working environment has no influence upon speech intelligibility - in fact, may even increase it. In practice, however, people often do not wear hearing protectors, since these are widely believed to reduce speech intelligibility. In the present article, a description is given of an investigation, carried out among 537 subjects, into the influence of hearing protectors upon the speech intelligibility of people suffering from noise-induced hearing loss. From this analysis, it has become clear that the use of ear-muffs only leads to an improvement in speech intelligibility in persons who, according to their pure-tone audiogram, suffer from relatively small hearing losses. In general, it may be said that an increase in the severity of hearing losses will result in a reduced speech intelligibility.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2003

[Intelligent materials in regenerative medicine and the use].

Intelligent material is one of the most important concepts in the area of material technology. Intelligent materials have functions including those of sensors, processors and actuators. In short, intelligent materials have the potential to respond to changes in the surrounding environment. For example, the material can change its conformation and/or release various factors as its environment changes. Intelligent material is well known as a material for use in drug delivery systems(DDS). A material that releases insulin in well controlled amounts has been used in the treatment of diabetes. There is also a great need for new materials that function as the scaffold of bio-artificial organs. In addition, the technology of intelligent materials will play an important role in the area of tissue engineering and regenerative medicine.

Biocompatible Materials↗
PubMed2003

[The evaluation of the Chinese intelligibility of patients with velopharyngeal incompetence].

OBJECTIVE: To study the Chinese intelligibility of patients with velopharyngeal incompetence (VPI). METHODS: 100 patients with VPI and 32 normal students were selected for this study. Of 10 patients, 15 with cleft palate, 21 with congenital velopharyngeal incompetence, 56 with post-palatoplasty VPI and 8 with post-pharyngoplasty VPI. Chinese intelligibility was measured by three speech pathologists and relation between degree of abnormal articulation and Chinese intelligibility were studied. RESULTS: Chinese intelligibility of the controls was 99.0% and the patients with VPI were 35.2%. Of the patients, the cleft palate was 19.9%, the congenital velopharyngeal incompetence was 32.8%, the post-palatoplasty VPI was 40.3% and the post-pharyngoplasty VPI was 35.2%. The data showed obvious difference among the controls and sub-types of VPI (P < 0.01). CONCLUSIONS: (1) Chinese intelligibility of VPI accompanied with hypernasality is worse. (2) Of misarticulation of VPI, the cleft palate is the worst, in turn the others are the congenital velopharyngeal incompetence, the post-pharyngoplasty VPI and the post-palatoplasty VPI.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1986

Handedness concordance and intelligence discrepancies in identical twins.

The purpose of this study was to determine if the discrepancy in measured intelligence between identical twins concordant for handedness differed measureably from the discrepancy between identical twins discordant for handedness. If handed concordant and discordant twins did differ in terms of the between twin discrepancy in measured intelligence, then one could infer that congenital factors had caused dissociation of handedness and measured intelligence within a twin set. This finding would support Nagylaki and Levy's contention that the found discordance rates for handedness in identical twins is a function of "pathogenic" congenital factors disrupting the genetically determined handedness pattern. More generally, this finding would also support Satz's model with respect to pathological shifts in handedness due to brain insult either in utero or perinatally. However, in the current study, eight sets of identical twins were examined and no evidence was found to support these hypotheses. Instead, in one set where there was a marked discrepancy in measured intelligence, handedness could not be determined precisely for the twin with the lower intelligence quotient.

Journal Article↗
PubMed2004

The differential effect of conation on intelligence test scores among brain-damaged and control subjects.

Conation, or the ability to apply effective effort in completing a task over time, has been shown to be impaired in brain-damaged subjects. Various intelligence tests differ in the apparent extent to which they require conative ability. In this study we compared results earned by brain-damaged and control groups on three measures of intelligence: Wechsler Verbal IQ (VIQ), Wechsler Performance IQ (PIQ), and the Henmon-Nelson Test (HNT) of Mental Ability. Test scores were converted to T-score distributions for the combined groups in order to delete possible effects of differences in standardization procedures and the normative samples on which IQ scores were generated. The degree of impairment shown by the brain-damaged subjects was in direct relationship to the extent to which the three intelligence measures appear to require conation. The results support a generalization that intelligence tests that require a greater conative ability tend to produce lower scores for brain-damaged persons, as compared to controls, than do intelligence tests that are less demanding of conation.

Adult↗
PubMed1982

The effects of high-pass and of low-pass filtering upon the intelligibility of speech in white noise.

This paper studied with trained, normal-hearing, young adults the effects of high-pass and also low-pass filtering on the intelligibility of speech mixed at S's ear with additive white noise at 4 S/N. Before each filter--S/N combination Ss were encouraged to adjust overall gain so as to yield seemingly optimum speech intelligibility. Gain chosen was relatively independent of S/N, being primarily a function of speech level. Results provided information on the contribution to intelligibility of various frequency ranges of the speech spectrum. Data were examined in relation also to the articulation index (AI). The intelligibility scores were in good agreement with the AI and yielded an improved understanding of the intelligibility of speech in noise.

Adult↗