Objectives: The aim of the study was to evaluate the hearing status of operators of low-frequency ultrasonic devices compared to employees exposed to audible noise at a similar A-weighted sound pressure level (SPL) but without ultrasonic components.
Material And Methods: Standard pure-tone audiometry, extended high-frequency audiometry (EHFA), transient-evoked otoacoustic emissions (TEOAE), and distortion-product otoacoustic emissions (DPOAE), as well as questionnaire surveys were conducted among 148 subjects, aged 43.1±10.8 years, working as ultrasonic device operators for 18.7±10.6 years. Their exposure to noise within the ultrasonic and audible frequency range was also evaluated. The control group comprised 168 workers, adjusted according to gender, age (±2 years), tenure (±2 years), and the 8-hour daily noise exposure level (L) of ±2 dB.
Results: The ultrasonic device operators and the control group were exposed to audible noise at L of 80.8±3.9 dB and 79.1±3.4, respectively. The Polish maximum admissible intensity (MAI) values for audible noise were exceeded in 16.8% of the ultrasonic device operators, while 91.2% of them were exposed to ultrasonic noise at SPL>MAI values. There were no significant differences between the groups in terms of the hearing threshold levels (HTLs) up to 3 kHz, while the ultrasonic device operators exhibited significantly higher (worse) HTLs, as compared to the control group, in the range of 4-14 kHz. The results of the DPOAE and TEOAE testing also indicated worse hearing among the ultrasonic device operators. However, the differences between the groups were more pronounced in the case of EHFA and DPOAEs.
Conclusions: The outcomes of all hearing tests consistently indicated worse hearing among the ultrasonic device operators as compared to the control group. Both EHFA and DPOAE seem to be useful tools for recognizing early signs of hearing loss among ultrasonic device operators. nt J Occup Med Environ Health. 2022;35(3):309-25.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.13075/ijomeh.1896.01816 | DOI Listing |
J Vis Exp
January 2025
Faculty of Dentistry, Department of Periodontology, Marmara University;
Dental ultrasonic scalers are commonly employed in periodontal treatment; however, their ability to roughen tooth surfaces is a worry since roughness may increase plaque production, a key cause of periodontal disease. This research studied the influence of a piezoelectric ultrasonic scaler on the roughness of two distinct flowable composite filling materials. To do this, 10 disc-shaped samples were generated from each of the two flowable composite materials.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMicrosc Res Tech
January 2025
Faculty of Dental Medicine, Grigore T. Popa University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Iasi, Romania.
One area of technological advancement has been the shift from stainless steel hand tools to nickel-titanium (Ni-Ti) rotary tools. This paper aims to perform an in vitro comparative study to evaluate the efficacy of five endodontic manual and rotary instruments such as Kerr files, Orodeka Plex V, ProTaper Flydent NiTi super files, and ProTaper Flydent NiTi super files in combination with an ultrasonic endodontic E3D Diamantata EMS scaler used for root canal shaping. The following aspects were highlighted: effective removal of smear layer (SL) from the dentinal tubules in the coronal 1/3, middle 1/3, and apical 1/3 of the root canal, appearance of cracks in the dentinal walls by SEM analysis, and highlighting of dentin mineral content and remnant debris by EDX analysis.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBMC Cardiovasc Disord
January 2025
Department of Medical Ultrasonics, the First Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, China.
Background: Transcatheter valve-in-valve replacement (TMViVR) is an alternative option for patients with bioprosthetic valve failure (BVF) who are at high surgical risk. Although infective endocarditis (IE) after transcatheter mitral valve-in-valve replacement is unusual, it is associated with significantly high mortality.
Case Presentation: An 81-year-old male patient was admitted with intermittent thoracic tightness, chest pain persisting for 3 years, and shortness of breath with nausea for 1 week.
J Neurointerv Surg
January 2025
Department of Neurosurgery, University at Buffalo Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, Buffalo, New York, USA
Background: Early literature on the Woven EndoBridge (WEB) device reported 80-90% adequate aneurysm occlusion but low complete occlusion (40-55%). It is uncertain whether residual or recurrent aneurysms require re-treatment to prevent future rupture.
Objective: To systematically review the literature to meta-analyze occlusion and complication rates after re-treatment of these aneurysms.
ACS Appl Mater Interfaces
January 2025
Department of Physics, School of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, SASTRA Deemed to be University, Thanjavur 613 401, Tamil Nadu, India.
This study presents the fabrication of highly conducting Au fabric electrodes using a layer-by-layer (LBL) approach and its application toward energy storage. Through the ligand-exchange mechanism, the alternating layers of tris(2-aminoethyl)amine (TREN) and gold nanoparticles (Au NPs) encapsulated with tetraoctylammonium bromide (TOABr) ligands (Au-TOABr) were deposited onto the fabric to achieve a highly conducting Au fabric (0.12 Ω/□) at room temperature in just two LBL cycles.
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