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Biomedical subjects

Tom Frank

Publications and source records attributed to Tom Frank.

3 recordsLinked to original sources

Practical considerations of new drugs: new choices for old problems.

As drug therapy experts, pharmacists are often called upon for facts and opinions about recently introduced drugs. New drugs are introduced at a rate that exceeds the reading time of many busy practitioners. This article is intended to provide an objective information and broad-based discussion about new drug options that have particular relevance for the elderly. Drugs that will be reviewed include: acamprosate, darifenacin, eszopiclone, exenatide, ibandronate, nitazoxanide, pramlintide, pregabalin, ramelteon, tigecycline, tinidazole, trospium, and solifenacin.

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Speech production in noise with and without hearing protection.

People working in noisy environments often complain of difficulty communicating when they wear hearing protection. It was hypothesized that part of the workers' communication difficulties stem from changes in speech production that occur when hearing protectors are worn. To address this possibility, overall and one-third-octave-band SPL measurements were obtained for 16 men and 16 women as they produced connected speech while wearing foam, flange, or no earplugs (open ears) in quiet and in pink noise at 60, 70, 80, 90, and 100 dB SPL. The attenuation and the occlusion effect produced by the earplugs were measured. The Speech Intelligibility Index (SII) was also calculated for each condition. The talkers produced lower overall speech levels, speech-to-noise ratios, and SII values, and less high-frequency speech energy, when they wore earplugs compared with the open-ear condition. Small differences in the speech measures between the talkers wearing foam and flange earplugs were observed. Overall, the results of the study indicate that talkers wearing earplugs (and consequently their listeners) are at a disadvantage when communicating in noise.

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