APEX/SPIN: a free test platform to measure speech intelligibility.

Objectives: Measuring speech intelligibility in quiet and noise is important in clinical practice and research. An easy-to-use free software platform for conducting speech tests is presented, called APEX/SPIN.

Design: The APEX/SPIN platform allows the use of any speech material in combination with any noise.

An Analysis of Reliability and Accuracy of Muscle Thickness Ultrasonography in Critically Ill Children and Adults.

Background: Muscle wasting starts already within the first week in critically patients and is strongly related to poor outcome. Nevertheless, the early detection of muscle wasting is difficult. Therefore, we investigated the reliability and accuracy of ultrasonography to evaluate skeletal muscle wasting in critically ill children and adults.

Exercise performance and training in patients with implantable cardioverter-defibrillators and coronary heart disease.

The aim of this preliminary study was to compare exercise performance and the effect of exercise training in cardiac patients with and without an implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD). There are few data on exercise performance and on the effect of exercise training in patients with an ICD. Data in patients with an ICD (n = 8) were compared with those from a matched control group (n = 16).