It really sucks to know I'm capable of so much when I can't even get started because I'm so stressed out.
My technique is lists. They help a lot, but I can't list-away the distraction of a boyfriend.
Oh, life. Why must you be so ironic?
Sunday, October 17, 2010
Friday, September 17, 2010
The Story So Far
I've been working on my grant outline for the last week or so and managed to flesh out a couple of the sections. These are ultimate first drafts and need serious editing but I can't edit if I don't have something written down, right?
Objective
The main purpose of this project is to explore the possibility of alternative noise exposure in young adults. Much attention has been paid to personal digital media and music consumption, but we have not been so diligent with occupational noise and the effects of cumulative exposure to sources not labeled harmful by OSHA. If we can identify possible sources or a true cumulative effect, we can warn those young adults who feel monitoring their music consumption is all they need to do to protect their hearing.
Statement of Importance and Relation
Points of Importance:
Abstract
Procedures/Methods
Timeline for Completion
Cooperation/Collaboration
Dissemination of Results
Literature Cited (This just needs to be brought together, the grunt work is already done.)
Budget and Justification
I will try to flesh out the Procedures and Timeline sections this weekend. I'll need Dr. Brockett's help for fleshing out the Dissemination of Results section... Maybe a videoconference is in order?
Objective
The main purpose of this project is to explore the possibility of alternative noise exposure in young adults. Much attention has been paid to personal digital media and music consumption, but we have not been so diligent with occupational noise and the effects of cumulative exposure to sources not labeled harmful by OSHA. If we can identify possible sources or a true cumulative effect, we can warn those young adults who feel monitoring their music consumption is all they need to do to protect their hearing.
Statement of Importance and Relation
Points of Importance:
- Young adults often fall through the cracks of audiologic assessment. Loss that begins after elementary school may go undetected until it has caused a significant disparity or delay in a student's coursework.
- Young adults who feel they are protecting their ears may be falling short in areas other than music consumption (wind noise in the car, noisy work environment, etc.).
- People of all ages could benefit from a study of non-occupational, non-leisure noise exposure; wind on a car window, traffic noise, etc.
- This research opens the door to refute the idea of presbycusis in facor of sociocusis, which would be a more accurate term in many cases.
- Broaching the topic of young adults and hearing loss would help to remove the stigma from both hearing loss and misunderstandings during conversations, and hopefully allow high schools students to seek help with hearing their professors (through assistive listening devices) when they enter college.
- This study would give people the opportunity to adjust their work and home environments to be safer. For instance, if a restaurant owner is unaware that the average SPL in their establishment is 70dB, he or she cannot take measures to reduce noise exposure for the employees. If the owner of the establishment is warned of the dangers of noise exposure, he or she can take measures to reduce the noise, by turning down music, monitoring the levels of 'walkey-talkies', etc.
How does this research fit with your educational and career goals?
I approached Dr. Brockett last semester because I was frustrated with a lack of direction. I have known for a year, now, that research is the place for me but I was unsure how to pursue such a goal in my undergraduate education. I explained my desire to apply for an undergraduate research grant as a way to practice for my future career, and he graciously agreed to help me out. This grant would be instrumental in helping me to achieve invaluable experience for my graduate education and the rest of my life.
Sections Remaining:
Abstract
Procedures/Methods
Timeline for Completion
Cooperation/Collaboration
Dissemination of Results
Literature Cited (This just needs to be brought together, the grunt work is already done.)
Budget and Justification
I will try to flesh out the Procedures and Timeline sections this weekend. I'll need Dr. Brockett's help for fleshing out the Dissemination of Results section... Maybe a videoconference is in order?
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
And more!
Survey of College Students' MP3 Listening: Habits, Safety Issues, Attitudes and Education Alicia Hoover, Sridhar Krishnamurti. American Journal of Audiology (2010)
This piece was about a short survey of college students at San Diego State University. A third of the students surveyed reported using their MP3 players 5-7 days per week, and two-thirds reported they used them at least 3 days a week. Only half of the respondents reported their volume was set at or less than half. Nearly 20% and 25% reported listening to the MP3 players while riding in a car and on the bus (respectively). Over 90% of the students reported turning the volume up to overpower background noise, and more than a third reported sometimes listening to their MP3 players at full volume in certain situations.
Also, over half of the students expressed irritation with being advised to reduce their listening volume and less than half were aware of their ability to limit the maximum volume on their MP3 players. Nearly 70% of the students were willing to turn down the volume on their MP3 players to protect their hearing.
The authors concluded that, "There is a need for more organized public education on safety issues associated with MP3 player use," and I totally agree! Not only do we need to warn teenagers about the hazards of incredibly loud MP3 players, but also educate them about signs of hearing loss, and overexposure.
Stress Pathways in the Rat Cochlea and Potential for Protection from Acquired Deafness Richard A Altschuler, et. al. Audiology & Neuro-Otology (2002)
This article was another scientific one, so I didn't understand it as much as I would have liked, but the basic idea is a discussion of Hsp70, the heat shock protein induced by noise, hyperthermia, and ototoxic drugs. It is produced, "...in response to stress and provides for protection, recovery and repair..." but, "...there can be a delicate balance between protection/survival and cell death pathways..."
I guess it boils down to the idea that our bodies try to protect themselves but can go a little overboard.
Comparison of Audiometric Screening Criteria for the Identification of Noise-Induced Hearing Loss in Adolescents Deanna K Meinke & Noel Dice (2007)
This article addressed some interesting changes to the 'standard' school of thought regarding young adults and noise-induced hearing loss. In younger children (6-11 years old), only 8.5% had noise-induced threshold shift as opposed to the older children (12-19) who showed a NITS in 15.5% of children.
The authors mentioned two studies regarding the noise notch beginning at 6kHz instead of 4kHz: Salmivalli (1979), who found that the 6kHz notch appeared twice as often as the 4kHz notch, and Axelsson (1979) who found that, "earliest audiometric changes can often be found at 6000 Hz" before they generalize to 4kHz. Since we don't screen at 6kHz (or sometimes even 4kHz, for that matter), we don't typically notice.
The importance of screening adolescents comes from some frightening statistics, including, "...37% of children with mild sensorineural hearing loss failed at least one grade." For older students, the feeling of invincibility can result in failing to get help and therefore suffering in lectures. I know this because I have experienced it firsthand.
The authors also listed a couple ideas for 'fixing' the problem, including the possibility of using a video game to test the hearing of the students. "Perhaps," the authors wrote, "the game could be designed to educate the student about NIHL while screening for the disorder at the same time." Way to multitask! :) The other recommendation the authors included was standardizing the screening techniques used for early identification, something I feel is long overdue.
Susceptibility of the Noise-Toughened Auditory System to Noise-Induced Trauma Roger P Hamernik & William A Ahroon. Hearing Research (1999)
I never really thought about 'toughening' the auditory system but after I found the article I was incredibly intrigued. The idea that we could potentially toughen our ears to protect us during onslaughts of noise is encouraging. Unfortunately, the authors found that there may be a 'toughening' effect, but only because a permanent threshold shift means that the ear isn't receiving as much signal. There was no protective effect from the 'toughening' exposure.
There are three other similar articles which arrived at approximately the same conclusion, they are:
Conditioning the Auditory System With Continuous vs. Interrupted Noise of Equal Acoustic Energy: Is Either Exposure More Protective? Ruth A Skellett, et. al. Hearing Research (1998)
Noise-Induced Hearing Loss in the Noise-Toughened Auditory System. William A Ahroon & Roger P Hamernik. Hearing Research (1999)
Effect of an Initial Noise Induced Hearing Loss on Subsequent Noise Induced Hearing Loss. Ronen Perez, et. al. Hearing Research (2004)
Last, but not least...
Presbycusis, Sociocusis and Nosocusis. Karl D Kryter. Journal of the Acoustic Society of America (1983)
Through several population-based studies, this article explains the basics of presbycusis, sociocusis and nosocusis in our country. According to the article, presbycusis starts at age 20, possibly earlier. (My belief is that it is sociocusis at this age, not presbycusis.) Boys were found to have more prevalent/severe presbycusis than girls, presumably due to their preferred social habits (guns, trucks, etc.). The authors mention that, "Hearing sensitivity is increasing with maturation up to the age of roughly 16 years." and that sociocusis begins soon after that. So basically, the age at which teens are using their iPods the most is the age that sociocusis begins... Hmm...
The authors also explain the study of the Mabaan tribe in Sudan, which is hailed as a 'noise-free' population study. Unfortunately, there were inconsistencies with the method which call the results into question. If the error was in calibration, the results could still stand that there were no gender differences in hearing sensitivity, and that, "Presbycusis progresses at a slower rate in a noise-free society than it does in industrialized, relatively noisy societies." (Ultimately, this is sociocusis!)
This piece was about a short survey of college students at San Diego State University. A third of the students surveyed reported using their MP3 players 5-7 days per week, and two-thirds reported they used them at least 3 days a week. Only half of the respondents reported their volume was set at or less than half. Nearly 20% and 25% reported listening to the MP3 players while riding in a car and on the bus (respectively). Over 90% of the students reported turning the volume up to overpower background noise, and more than a third reported sometimes listening to their MP3 players at full volume in certain situations.
Also, over half of the students expressed irritation with being advised to reduce their listening volume and less than half were aware of their ability to limit the maximum volume on their MP3 players. Nearly 70% of the students were willing to turn down the volume on their MP3 players to protect their hearing.
The authors concluded that, "There is a need for more organized public education on safety issues associated with MP3 player use," and I totally agree! Not only do we need to warn teenagers about the hazards of incredibly loud MP3 players, but also educate them about signs of hearing loss, and overexposure.
Stress Pathways in the Rat Cochlea and Potential for Protection from Acquired Deafness Richard A Altschuler, et. al. Audiology & Neuro-Otology (2002)
This article was another scientific one, so I didn't understand it as much as I would have liked, but the basic idea is a discussion of Hsp70, the heat shock protein induced by noise, hyperthermia, and ototoxic drugs. It is produced, "...in response to stress and provides for protection, recovery and repair..." but, "...there can be a delicate balance between protection/survival and cell death pathways..."
I guess it boils down to the idea that our bodies try to protect themselves but can go a little overboard.
Comparison of Audiometric Screening Criteria for the Identification of Noise-Induced Hearing Loss in Adolescents Deanna K Meinke & Noel Dice (2007)
This article addressed some interesting changes to the 'standard' school of thought regarding young adults and noise-induced hearing loss. In younger children (6-11 years old), only 8.5% had noise-induced threshold shift as opposed to the older children (12-19) who showed a NITS in 15.5% of children.
The authors mentioned two studies regarding the noise notch beginning at 6kHz instead of 4kHz: Salmivalli (1979), who found that the 6kHz notch appeared twice as often as the 4kHz notch, and Axelsson (1979) who found that, "earliest audiometric changes can often be found at 6000 Hz" before they generalize to 4kHz. Since we don't screen at 6kHz (or sometimes even 4kHz, for that matter), we don't typically notice.
The importance of screening adolescents comes from some frightening statistics, including, "...37% of children with mild sensorineural hearing loss failed at least one grade." For older students, the feeling of invincibility can result in failing to get help and therefore suffering in lectures. I know this because I have experienced it firsthand.
The authors also listed a couple ideas for 'fixing' the problem, including the possibility of using a video game to test the hearing of the students. "Perhaps," the authors wrote, "the game could be designed to educate the student about NIHL while screening for the disorder at the same time." Way to multitask! :) The other recommendation the authors included was standardizing the screening techniques used for early identification, something I feel is long overdue.
Susceptibility of the Noise-Toughened Auditory System to Noise-Induced Trauma Roger P Hamernik & William A Ahroon. Hearing Research (1999)
I never really thought about 'toughening' the auditory system but after I found the article I was incredibly intrigued. The idea that we could potentially toughen our ears to protect us during onslaughts of noise is encouraging. Unfortunately, the authors found that there may be a 'toughening' effect, but only because a permanent threshold shift means that the ear isn't receiving as much signal. There was no protective effect from the 'toughening' exposure.
There are three other similar articles which arrived at approximately the same conclusion, they are:
Conditioning the Auditory System With Continuous vs. Interrupted Noise of Equal Acoustic Energy: Is Either Exposure More Protective? Ruth A Skellett, et. al. Hearing Research (1998)
Noise-Induced Hearing Loss in the Noise-Toughened Auditory System. William A Ahroon & Roger P Hamernik. Hearing Research (1999)
Effect of an Initial Noise Induced Hearing Loss on Subsequent Noise Induced Hearing Loss. Ronen Perez, et. al. Hearing Research (2004)
Last, but not least...
Presbycusis, Sociocusis and Nosocusis. Karl D Kryter. Journal of the Acoustic Society of America (1983)
Through several population-based studies, this article explains the basics of presbycusis, sociocusis and nosocusis in our country. According to the article, presbycusis starts at age 20, possibly earlier. (My belief is that it is sociocusis at this age, not presbycusis.) Boys were found to have more prevalent/severe presbycusis than girls, presumably due to their preferred social habits (guns, trucks, etc.). The authors mention that, "Hearing sensitivity is increasing with maturation up to the age of roughly 16 years." and that sociocusis begins soon after that. So basically, the age at which teens are using their iPods the most is the age that sociocusis begins... Hmm...
The authors also explain the study of the Mabaan tribe in Sudan, which is hailed as a 'noise-free' population study. Unfortunately, there were inconsistencies with the method which call the results into question. If the error was in calibration, the results could still stand that there were no gender differences in hearing sensitivity, and that, "Presbycusis progresses at a slower rate in a noise-free society than it does in industrialized, relatively noisy societies." (Ultimately, this is sociocusis!)
Monday, September 13, 2010
Wrapping Up The Summaries
As I was choosing which articles I'll use for my outline, I realized that I have several articles I read and forgot to summarize. Here they are!
Mechanisms of noise-induced hearing loss indicate multiple methods of prevention. Colleen G Le Prell et al. Hearing Research (2007)
This article outlines a lot of different methods for prevention of noise-induced hearing loss, including studies of antioxidants, steroids, and vasodilators (among others I couldn't understand). Although most of the article was beyond my comprehension level, I did gather that scientists are coming close to finding prevention methods for noise-induced hearing loss both immediately and up to weeks after exposure.
In terms of antioxidants, the idea came after Halliwell, Gutteridge, and Evans discovered "...that intense metabolic activity alters cellular redox state and drives the formation of free radicals... In excess, [free radicals] damage cellular lipids, proteins, and DNA, and upregulate apoptotic pathways." So essentially, the noise is over-energizing the metabolic activity which causes breakdown of the auditory system. Using an antioxidant helps to reduce or eliminate the permanent threshold shift in a noise-exposed system. Interestingly enough, the temporary threshold shift is not affected by use of antioxidants.
I found it fascinating that the authors explained, "The finding that dietary supplements reduce NIHL is of particular interest given their easy over-the-counter accessibility; however, therapy with any single micronutrient may need to be initiated days to week in advance of noise exposure to obtain clinically meaningful results." That's alright! We should all be getting more nutrients to begin with. I never thought that vitamins could reduce the effects of harmful noise. No wonder our society is becoming more affected by noise pollution; we're getting less healthy, too! This is an important factor to keep in mind for young children whose diets are still determined by their parents.
It's not directly related to the topic of this research, but the authors made the point that, "...[Neurotropic factors] have been shown to be extremely effective at preserving neural survival in the absence of surviving hair cells." This screams cochlear implant application to me and would be a good point to remember when that time comes in class!
Effect of Long-Term Noise Exposure on the Developing and Developed Ear in the Rat. Sharon Freeman, et, al. Audiology & Neuro-Otology (1999)
This article was fascinating! I have always thought that young ears are more sensitive than fully-developed and 'toughened' ears. This article (and its sources) proved that idea to be false. As the authors wrote, "...exposure caused greater long-term changes in hearing in the adult compared to the young noise-exposed rats, although histology showed greater damage to hair cells in the younger animals." This floored me! What causes less functional loss but more cellular damage? Is the younger ear just more able to adjust and compensate?
Also blowing my preconceptions out of the water was the response to the idea that babies in the womb are protected from sound. The authors wrote, "...more recent measurements in humans and sheep, using a hydrophone, showed that lower frequencies were not attenuated at all and may even be enhanced by about 5 dB, whilst higher frequency sounds are attenuated by 10-20 dB only." Very interesting!
More to come this evening. I hit a wall!
Mechanisms of noise-induced hearing loss indicate multiple methods of prevention. Colleen G Le Prell et al. Hearing Research (2007)
This article outlines a lot of different methods for prevention of noise-induced hearing loss, including studies of antioxidants, steroids, and vasodilators (among others I couldn't understand). Although most of the article was beyond my comprehension level, I did gather that scientists are coming close to finding prevention methods for noise-induced hearing loss both immediately and up to weeks after exposure.
In terms of antioxidants, the idea came after Halliwell, Gutteridge, and Evans discovered "...that intense metabolic activity alters cellular redox state and drives the formation of free radicals... In excess, [free radicals] damage cellular lipids, proteins, and DNA, and upregulate apoptotic pathways." So essentially, the noise is over-energizing the metabolic activity which causes breakdown of the auditory system. Using an antioxidant helps to reduce or eliminate the permanent threshold shift in a noise-exposed system. Interestingly enough, the temporary threshold shift is not affected by use of antioxidants.
I found it fascinating that the authors explained, "The finding that dietary supplements reduce NIHL is of particular interest given their easy over-the-counter accessibility; however, therapy with any single micronutrient may need to be initiated days to week in advance of noise exposure to obtain clinically meaningful results." That's alright! We should all be getting more nutrients to begin with. I never thought that vitamins could reduce the effects of harmful noise. No wonder our society is becoming more affected by noise pollution; we're getting less healthy, too! This is an important factor to keep in mind for young children whose diets are still determined by their parents.
It's not directly related to the topic of this research, but the authors made the point that, "...[Neurotropic factors] have been shown to be extremely effective at preserving neural survival in the absence of surviving hair cells." This screams cochlear implant application to me and would be a good point to remember when that time comes in class!
Effect of Long-Term Noise Exposure on the Developing and Developed Ear in the Rat. Sharon Freeman, et, al. Audiology & Neuro-Otology (1999)
This article was fascinating! I have always thought that young ears are more sensitive than fully-developed and 'toughened' ears. This article (and its sources) proved that idea to be false. As the authors wrote, "...exposure caused greater long-term changes in hearing in the adult compared to the young noise-exposed rats, although histology showed greater damage to hair cells in the younger animals." This floored me! What causes less functional loss but more cellular damage? Is the younger ear just more able to adjust and compensate?
Also blowing my preconceptions out of the water was the response to the idea that babies in the womb are protected from sound. The authors wrote, "...more recent measurements in humans and sheep, using a hydrophone, showed that lower frequencies were not attenuated at all and may even be enhanced by about 5 dB, whilst higher frequency sounds are attenuated by 10-20 dB only." Very interesting!
More to come this evening. I hit a wall!
Saturday, September 11, 2010
Good News and Bad News
The bad news first: I've found it incredibly difficult to find anything directly related to my research topic. Of course there is plenty of research on noise exposure and music exposure in young adults, but I have not been able to find anything which suggests that presbycusis is really sociocusis in disguise. I'm not sure how I will handle this, but I know it will work out.
The good news: I was struggling with a lack of structure for my outline over the past month. Every time I sat down to write, all I could think about was how open it was. Do I start by making up a conclusion, listing my methods, reviewing my literature or what? So, in a fit of angst, I revisited the application papers for the Undergraduate Research Grant and discovered that an outline structure was already provided! All that's left, now, is to fill it in. I can do that.
I feel confident once again. It's going to be a good semester. :)
The good news: I was struggling with a lack of structure for my outline over the past month. Every time I sat down to write, all I could think about was how open it was. Do I start by making up a conclusion, listing my methods, reviewing my literature or what? So, in a fit of angst, I revisited the application papers for the Undergraduate Research Grant and discovered that an outline structure was already provided! All that's left, now, is to fill it in. I can do that.
I feel confident once again. It's going to be a good semester. :)
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
Great News!
I started college as an ASL major and had a vested interest in learning as much as possible, so I came into ISU with quite a knowledge base of Deaf Culture and American Sign Language. I was able to petition out of the Deaf Culture 100-level course but was encouraged by my advisor to take Deaf Culture 256: Culture and Community.
But after half the semester, I felt I had learned nothing new and decided to drop the course and petition it.
My first petition was denied due to lack of documentation of my knowledge, so I re-petitioned with an essay I'd written on the juxtaposition between Disabled and Non-Disabled status in the Deaf Community, especially in relation to the Americans With Disabilities Act. Apparently it was still not enough and Dr Turner asked me to take the final exam from the course.
I was livid after taking the exam, because so much of the information was proprietary -- it was not in the textbook (Journey Into the DEAF-WORLD by Ben Bahan et. al) and therefore not readily available to me. I felt like I had been cheated somehow.
But today I received news that Dr Turner has accepted my petition and I won't have to take the course. This is great news! Now I'll have that extra room in my schedule to fill with psychology courses and research. This fall, I'm in a research methods psychology course and I'm very excited about it.
Anyway, just thought I'd share my excitement! I feel vindicated, almost.
But after half the semester, I felt I had learned nothing new and decided to drop the course and petition it.
My first petition was denied due to lack of documentation of my knowledge, so I re-petitioned with an essay I'd written on the juxtaposition between Disabled and Non-Disabled status in the Deaf Community, especially in relation to the Americans With Disabilities Act. Apparently it was still not enough and Dr Turner asked me to take the final exam from the course.
I was livid after taking the exam, because so much of the information was proprietary -- it was not in the textbook (Journey Into the DEAF-WORLD by Ben Bahan et. al) and therefore not readily available to me. I felt like I had been cheated somehow.
But today I received news that Dr Turner has accepted my petition and I won't have to take the course. This is great news! Now I'll have that extra room in my schedule to fill with psychology courses and research. This fall, I'm in a research methods psychology course and I'm very excited about it.
Anyway, just thought I'd share my excitement! I feel vindicated, almost.
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
More Bad News
I wore the dosimeter for a full day. Drive to work, work-day, and drive home. I didn't even hit 25% dose. I'm beginning to think the dosimeter is broken.
It might be important to note that when I was wearing headphones at work (during my music listening/PBS viewing) and at home (during my Modern-Warfare 2-ing), I couldn't use the dosimeter. This is good and bad -- it is good because it allows for any significant findings to be attributed to work conditions, bad because I can't factor everything in and get the true picture.
I will be purchasing a Sound Level Meter in the near future so as to have as much information about my auditory surroundings as possible. Until then, I will be putting the dosimeter on the shelf and buckling down on my secondary research so I can meet my deadline.
It might be important to note that when I was wearing headphones at work (during my music listening/PBS viewing) and at home (during my Modern-Warfare 2-ing), I couldn't use the dosimeter. This is good and bad -- it is good because it allows for any significant findings to be attributed to work conditions, bad because I can't factor everything in and get the true picture.
I will be purchasing a Sound Level Meter in the near future so as to have as much information about my auditory surroundings as possible. Until then, I will be putting the dosimeter on the shelf and buckling down on my secondary research so I can meet my deadline.
Sunday, July 18, 2010
I'm Not Broken!
I've known about Jung's personality test for a while, but the last time I took it was in high school. I don't remember what I got, but I reckon it was different than it is now. I feel like I've grown into myself over the last several years and the results I got are almost spot-on.
I turned out to be an INTJ. An Introverted iNtuitive Thinking Judging personality. I've included my favorite parts of what that means below. The relationships part is what surprised me the most and made me very happy to discover. I'm not broken, I'm just an INTJ!
"When it comes to their own areas of expertise -- and INTJs can have several -- they will be able to tell you almost immediately whether or not they can help you, and if so, how. INTJs know what they know, and perhaps still more importantly, they know what they don't know."
"Personal relationships, particularly romantic ones, can be the INTJ's Achilles heel. While they are capable of caring deeply for others (usually a select few), and are willing to spend a great deal of time and effort on a relationship, the knowledge and self-confidence that make them so successful in other areas can suddenly abandon or mislead them in interpersonal situations. This happens in part because many INTJs do not readily grasp the social rituals; for instance, they tend to have little patience and less understanding of such things as small talk and flirtation (which most types consider half the fun of a relationship). ... Perhaps the most fundamental problem, however, is that INTJs really want people to make sense. This sometimes results in a peculiar naivete', paralleling that of many Fs -- only instead of expecting inexhaustible affection and empathy from a romantic relationship, the INTJ will expect inexhaustible reasonability and directness."
"Decisions come easily to them; in fact, they can hardly rest until they have things settled and decided. But before they decide anything, they must do the research. Masterminds are highly theoretical, but they insist on looking at all available data before they embrace an idea, and they are suspicious of any statement that is based on shoddy research, or that is not checked against reality."
As an INTJ, I highly value accurate truths, even if they don't benefit me. I remember as a kid even correcting my friends because they tailored the truth to benefit themselves. Ugh.
More journals are coming. I found some interesting pieces on potential conditioning and toughening of the auditory system in lab animals but I want to read all of it before commenting and summarizing.
I turned out to be an INTJ. An Introverted iNtuitive Thinking Judging personality. I've included my favorite parts of what that means below. The relationships part is what surprised me the most and made me very happy to discover. I'm not broken, I'm just an INTJ!
"When it comes to their own areas of expertise -- and INTJs can have several -- they will be able to tell you almost immediately whether or not they can help you, and if so, how. INTJs know what they know, and perhaps still more importantly, they know what they don't know."
"Personal relationships, particularly romantic ones, can be the INTJ's Achilles heel. While they are capable of caring deeply for others (usually a select few), and are willing to spend a great deal of time and effort on a relationship, the knowledge and self-confidence that make them so successful in other areas can suddenly abandon or mislead them in interpersonal situations. This happens in part because many INTJs do not readily grasp the social rituals; for instance, they tend to have little patience and less understanding of such things as small talk and flirtation (which most types consider half the fun of a relationship). ... Perhaps the most fundamental problem, however, is that INTJs really want people to make sense. This sometimes results in a peculiar naivete', paralleling that of many Fs -- only instead of expecting inexhaustible affection and empathy from a romantic relationship, the INTJ will expect inexhaustible reasonability and directness."
"Decisions come easily to them; in fact, they can hardly rest until they have things settled and decided. But before they decide anything, they must do the research. Masterminds are highly theoretical, but they insist on looking at all available data before they embrace an idea, and they are suspicious of any statement that is based on shoddy research, or that is not checked against reality."
As an INTJ, I highly value accurate truths, even if they don't benefit me. I remember as a kid even correcting my friends because they tailored the truth to benefit themselves. Ugh.
More journals are coming. I found some interesting pieces on potential conditioning and toughening of the auditory system in lab animals but I want to read all of it before commenting and summarizing.
Saturday, July 17, 2010
Diversions
When I make a list of the few non-necessities that I couldn't live without, one of them is always 'diversions'. By that, I mean the things that make me a multidimensional person.
I've been taking photos part-time as a self-sufficient hobby since Sophomore year of high school, and while my work isn't as artsy as I would like it to be, it's definitely commercial which works in my favor. I mostly do senior portraits, but in anticipation of doing my first paid wedding gig outside of my family, I volunteered my services at my wedding-partner's friend's wedding.
The results reminded me once again that I can't let myself get too sucked into one thing. I need to keep photography around as a nice diversion and to prove I'm more than just my collapsible file folder.
I've been taking photos part-time as a self-sufficient hobby since Sophomore year of high school, and while my work isn't as artsy as I would like it to be, it's definitely commercial which works in my favor. I mostly do senior portraits, but in anticipation of doing my first paid wedding gig outside of my family, I volunteered my services at my wedding-partner's friend's wedding.
The results reminded me once again that I can't let myself get too sucked into one thing. I need to keep photography around as a nice diversion and to prove I'm more than just my collapsible file folder.
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
Some Answers! (Hopefully.)
So I have grown up in an interesting financial situation. My family makes plenty of money, but most of it gets spent on medical bills despite our great insurance. My father had at least one surgery on his neck and I've had two separate surgeries for my tonsils and my adenoids (thank you, Dr. Van der Graaf, for providing cold, faceless, incomplete surgeries), along with medications and such along the way and my year+ of therapy for my arachnophobia.
In short, my parents didn't have any money saved up for me to go to college, but they make too much for me to get any free government assistance, so they've been taking out Parent Plus loans to pay for my tuition and living expenses. The thing about Parent Plus loans is that they tack on lots of interest.
I'm mostly independent. My parents still help out with my gas and give me a small allowance each month, but I work and live on my own, and I have since moving out in 2007. So lately, I've been wondering about declaring independent status on my tax forms, because it may help me out with getting legit aid from the government.
Because I have no idea who to ask, I decided to ask "Judge Josh" from www.givemescholarships.com what he thinks the pros and cons of declaring independent status would be.
One obvious one is that I don't think I'd be able to be on my parents' insurance, but even at that point I'm not positive. I'm still young enough to count, and I'm in school. I need some guidance from someone who knows the system.
In short, my parents didn't have any money saved up for me to go to college, but they make too much for me to get any free government assistance, so they've been taking out Parent Plus loans to pay for my tuition and living expenses. The thing about Parent Plus loans is that they tack on lots of interest.
I'm mostly independent. My parents still help out with my gas and give me a small allowance each month, but I work and live on my own, and I have since moving out in 2007. So lately, I've been wondering about declaring independent status on my tax forms, because it may help me out with getting legit aid from the government.
Because I have no idea who to ask, I decided to ask "Judge Josh" from www.givemescholarships.com what he thinks the pros and cons of declaring independent status would be.
One obvious one is that I don't think I'd be able to be on my parents' insurance, but even at that point I'm not positive. I'm still young enough to count, and I'm in school. I need some guidance from someone who knows the system.
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
Hard At Work
Here is the second dose (get it?) of my summaries. This puts me up to date for all the articles I have read so far. Time to gather more! :)
1. Recreational noise exposure and its effects on the hearing of adolescents. Part II: Development of hearing disorders. Ester C Biassoni et al. Int'l Journal of Audiology (2005)
This study was a follow-up to the one in Argentina looking at the undue amount of hearing loss in young adults. As much as has been found about NIHL, the author writes, “...the auditory system is much more adaptable than currently assumed, therefore it recognizes the danger of intensive sound and adapts to the situation by reducing its sensitivity.” Even so, the research shows that young adults are exposing themselves to extreme noise in settings such as discotheques and concerts.
An interesting point that this study raised was that there is data which indicates, “...that the supersonic components of the music spectrum may have substantially contributed to the damaging effects of the exposure.” Sound we aren't even measuring could be greatly-affecting how much we're damaging our hearing. This allows for the possibility of sub-damaging levels of noise to still affect us.
Later on, the authors explain that the group with the worst thresholds (those deemed to have 'tender ears') exhibited elevated thresholds in the 8000-16000Hz range, extending lower into the conventional range of hearing. This, the authors state, “...could act as an early predictor of future development of hearing loss in the speech-understanding frequency range,” which is of most concern to clients.
Knowing that this loss happened between ages 14 and 17, this study provides evidence for the need to test students before they are pushed out into the 'real world,' when they can still gain help through the school system. There is also evidence for a hearing conservation (hearing loss prevention) program in the schools, perhaps blended into biology courses. It would also be helpful to limit the noise level in loud places, such as concerts, 'discos'/bars, etc. Even reducing noise levels at rock concerts from 117 dBA (equivalent to the discotheques in the other studies) down to 106 or 103 dBA would be helpful, due to the 3 dB exchange.
2. Characteristics of the audiometric notch as a clinical sign of noise exposure. David McBride and Sheila Williams. Scandinavian Audiology (2001)
This study was an evaluation of 1,600 audiograms (634 noise-exposed employees, each with two ears), the purpose of which was to investigate variability in the noise-induced hearing loss 'notch'. Traditionally, the first sign of noise-induced hearing loss is at approximately 4KHz, where the audiogram develops a small notch that gets deeper and wider as the damage continues. The authors chose three raters (an otolaryngologist, and audiometrician, and an occupational physician) to interpret the audiograms and determine whether or not the dip is related to noise exposure. The three features the interpreters looked for were the frequency at which it occurred, the depth, and the shape of the curve.
I found an unexpected piece of information while reading this article. The first rater (the ENT) classified 26% of the audiograms as NIHL, whereas the occupational physician classified 68% as NIHL, with more notches identified at every frequency and no specific criterion for depth or shape in mind as he/she rated. This is evidence for why occupational audiologists are needed as opposed to unrelated professions which are slated for an audiologist's job. I think this would be an important statistic to show in advocacy situations. Not only are we better-trained, we can save the companies money by not over-referring!
Either way, the high variability suggests that audiometric shape cannot be used as a method for diagnosing noise-induced hearing loss. As Alberti (1997) states (as quoted by the authors), “This supports the contention of Alberti, who has long been of the opinion that audiometric shape may only be a guide, and not a major diagnostic factor for, for NIHL.”
3. Supplement: Program for the Conservation and Promotion of Hearing Among Adolescents. Mario R Serra et al. American Journal of Audiology (2007)
This supplement was another piece in the “Recreational Noise Exposure and Its Effects...” done in Cordoba, Argentina and involving 14-year-old students in a semi-longitudinal study over three years. As the authors state, there were two noticeable findings: “1. There was a higher tendency of more sensitive ears to be affected at an early age... 2. The efficacy of audiometry in the extended high-frequency range was an early predictor of hearing loss.” The latter is probably the most important clinically, but the former is important to keep in mind as we discuss the issue of noise exposure in young adults. Some sources state that young ears are less fragile, and others state that fragile ears are more susceptible while young.
This article taught me a few things about noise exposure that I hadn't quite learned yet. Namely, the authors explain, “While TTS typically resolves within a few hours or a day after exposure, there is no agreement among researchers whether repeated TTS bears a risk of permanent threshold shift.”
4. Effect of a hearing protection campaign on the discotheque attendance habits of high-school students. Viktor Weichbold, Patrick Zorowka. Int'l Journal of Audiology (2003)
This was an ambitious study with high hopes that unfortunately failed to deliver. The goal was to pilot a hearing loss prevention program in six high schools in the Italy/Austria area called “PROjectEAR” and hope that it changed young people's opinions about hearing protection and loud noise. There were four 45-minute sessions spread over 3 days which presented several different approaches to protecting one's hearing. An interview was conducted post-campaign with 136 students although all of the students in the schools participated.
While the percentage of students who attended discotheques frequently lowered from 34% to 24% after the campaign, statistical analysis does not support the idea that there was a significant change. The authors state that, “..the changes observed in our sample may be due to the random variation rather than to a systematic effect of the hearing protection campaign.” In addition to that discouraging finding, less than 4% of the students took the advice to use ear plugs or other hearing protection in the discos.
The authors explain that there is no control group for this study because there was too much information-sharing between students participating and those were not. Also, although, “...the campaign had no important effect in inducing hearing-protective behaviors in pupils when attending a discotheque,” one of the other studies found that students were willing to take more 'regeneration breaks' after the program and have the discotheques reduce their sound floor, so perhaps that is an area to target.
A quote I really liked that I wanted to include for the sake of aesthetics is, “At this point, a tragic irony becomes obvious. The pupils experienced the negative effect of bad hearing on communication when they tested earplugs for hearing protection in the discotheque. Being annoyed about the impaired communication, they dismissed the earplugs.”
5. Noise exposure levels from personal stereo use. Warwick Williams. Int'l Journal of Audiology (2005)
This study aimed to look at worst-case scenarios of personal media players, such as listening in the presence of relatively loud background noise. In this case, the background noise was approximately 73.2 dB, but varied from 71.1 to 76 dB. Fifteen females and forty males were asked to participate in the study (mean age 23.6 years), which meant allowing their headphone output to be measured and filling out a short survey of their listening habits. The average volume turned out to be only 79.8 dB, but approximately 25% of the population was still estimated to be “at-risk,” by listening to music over 85 dB.
Also of note is that the males (the larger group) listened to their music at 80.6 dB on average as opposed to females ,who listened at 75.3 dB. Perhaps if more people were studied, this average would sneak up?
The authors state in the conclusion that, “While some individuals do expose themselves to significant risk of noise injury by using earphone levels at high settings, the data collected in this study does not indicate that for the majority of typical users there is a significantly increased risk of hearing loss due to PSP (personal stereo player) use alone.” Unfortunately, those people who may lie on the boundary line are at risk in other areas of their lives because people who listen to their music loudly are more likely to listen to their television loudly, etc.
6. Effects of Exercise and Noise on Auditory Thresholds and Distortion-Product Otoacoustic Emissions. Shannon Hooks-Horton et al. Journal of American Academy of Audiology (2001)
This study isn't totally connected to the research I'm doing, but I found it hilarious that the authors actually address, “It is also the case that ovarian and contraceptive cycles may play an additional role in TTS shift in females, however this factor was not controlled in the present study,” and that the TTS shift for ovarian cycles was actually investigated by two different studies: Petiot and Parrot (1984) and Hori et al (1993). How funny is that!
Oh, and by the way, the authors found that there is no significant connection between exercise and noise-susceptibility.
It Begins...
So for the last 6 years or so, I have struggled with an unidentified infection which runs on a cycle. At first, it was a 3-4 week cycle and included very significant strep-like symptoms. In 2008, I underwent a tonsillectomy which was supposed to 'fix' me. It did for 6 weeks, but then my infection returned on a 6-week cycle. The symptoms weren't always as bad, and if I slept 10 hours a night for several nights prior to the infection, I could delay it a day or two and speed up my recovery but they were always inevitable. My third (or fourth?) otolaryngologist decided to go ahead and take my adenoids, which had somehow been left by my first otolaryngologist. I'm not surprised. I saw him once and couldn't pick him out of a lineup. It was an assembly-line tonsillectomy. The adenoidectomy made for an awful recovery but I made it, and this time my infections weren't even delayed. They still happen every 6 weeks, almost to the day. My last infection ran from May 23 through May 31 and it looks like Day 1 is here since I popped a 99.6-degree fever over lunch.
I found it important to share because it explains why I will probably take tomorrow off and spend it sleeping/reading/updating.
Now, the much-anticipated summary of several of my articles so far...
1. Estimated Leisure-Time Noise Exposure, Hearing Thresholds, and Hearing Symptoms of Finnish Conscripts. Lt Col (Med) Toivonen. Military Medicine (2005)
This article didn't provide a whole lot of useful information aside from a formula for weighted weekly and lifetime exposure to noise. Over 1000 young adults were in the study (obligatory military service) and the most frequent activities were, "watching television, listening to a home stereo, and going to night clubs and pubs." In addition, "The conscripts considered festivals and concerts, shooting firearms, playing in a band, and using tools indoors and outdoors to be the 'loudest' leisure-time activities." What's unfortunate about this is that those activities are more frequently outdoors and done on a more short-term basis as opposed to home stereo systems and television sets which are more frequently indoors and still set to a relatively high level.
Another scary statistic is that, "When the group with actual hearing loss was compared with the self-reported hearing loss, 79% of the conscripts with hearing loss did not know or disclaimed their hearing loss, and only 18% knew their hearing was not normal." For this study, 'loss' was defined as beginning at thresholds elevated at least 20dBHL.
One other thing I felt worth mentioning was that the author stated, "On a whole, the young adults were more active in several noisy activities and used more hours during the week in noise activities than the adults did." As the other articles have pointed out, young ears are less fragile than 'old' ears, so if the young ears are those exposed to this extra noise, then it shouldn't affect them much. But where does it end? At what point do we say, "That's just wanton disrespect for your ears"?
2. Can a hearing education campaign for adolescents change their music listening behavior? Viktor Weichbold and Patrick Zorowka. Int'l Journal of Audiology (2007)
This article, another foreign one based in Austria, was aimed at educating young adults. The subjects were those who attend discotheques, rock concerts, noisy pubs/parties, and those who listen to loud music or play in a band. They held classes for the students, "...four 45-minute sessions spread over three days and includ[ing] a variety of didactic approaches to make the topic of hearing conservation as attractive as possible: multimedia presentations... demonstrations of ear protection devices and hearing aids, role-play, questionnaire survey, creative group work... and a discussion with a hearing-impaired person or tinnitus sufferer."
The program offered Regeneration Breaks as an option instead of dampening ear protection... just taking a break and sitting in a quiet area before returning to the noise. Those breaks seemed to be much more popular than wearing earplugs. After the campaign, the majority of students had changed their opinion about the loudness levels in the discotheques, and believed they should be reduced, whereas the minority then regarded them as fine. The authors explained, "This is an im0portant result of the campaign (hopefully) -- not because it will motivate adolescents to go to the discotheques less frequently or to use earplugs from now on -- but because it will make them open-minded towards sound level reduction in discotheques." And then later, the authors suggested possible financial subsidies be offered to clubs which will voluntarily limit their sound level. I thought that was a fantastic idea!
3. Age and noise-induced hearing loss. Esko Toppila et. al. Scandinavian Audiology (2001)
This study looked at age and noise exposure as factors in high-risk occupational noise environments. The goal was to determine significant factors to susceptibility. What the researchers found was that age is the most-correlated factor, but also significant were the factors of elevated cholesterol levels and use of analgesics (greater than 20 pills per month). Unfortunately (or maybe fortunately in the larger picture), the article states that, "The inner ear in older subjects seems to be more vulnerable to noise than those in younger ones." This is good for young people in the larger picture but it puts a cramp in the style of this research because it insinuates that young people can afford to ravage their ears when they simply can't!
4. Young people: Their noise and music exposures and the risk of hearing loss. Thais C Morata. Int'l Journal of Audiology (2007)
This editorial piece discussed both sides of the young adults and noise exposure argument. On the one hand, noise is everywhere and it's only getting louder. Morata states, "...ever increasing intensity levels during concerts and at nightclubs has made music exposure the most studied source of excessive sound exposure to children and youths in several countries." But Morata also intimates that some researchers believe that there is a, "...possibility of a toughening protective effect of such exposures..." (Fleisher and Muller, 2005, an article I'd love to read).
Morata cites another study by Fleisher and Muller that found that, "...orchestra musicians, despite their exposure, had the best hearing thresholds among several occupations and non-exposed groups."
But I wonder, are good thresholds the chicken or the egg? It could be that people who are in orchestra are more likely to have better thresholds in the first place and/or tougher, more responsive ears which bolsters their talent. The author also mentions that, "The prevalence of high frequency hearing loss has decreased over the twenty-year period, while the prevalence of audiometric 'notches' remained constant... Is it too soon to detect the effects of more recent technology? Possibly yes, since the findings from the study do not demonstrate any systematic, measurable effect on entrance audiograms."
I agree that it's too soon to tell. Twenty years is a long time, I wonder what the statistics would show if the author had looked at only the last five or ten years, when the 'bigger, badder, louder' culture started to arise. Lastly, a positive finding, "This evidence suggests that long term school-based programs can effectively increase the use of hearing protection among students, and sheds some light on approaches that ought to be considered for increasing awareness of the value of hearing and means of preventing disorders." This gives me hope that if we discover something that can be utilized in a long-term prevention program, students may be affected!
5. Music exposure and Audiological findings in Brazilian disc jockeys. Lorayne Santos et. al. Int'l Journal of Audiology (2007)
This article was mildly distressing. Forty Brazilian disc jockeys were studied in their work environments, which happened to be 93.2-109.7 dBA for approximately 8 hours at a time. 74% of the DJs reported tinnitus, and only 33% indicated that they used hearing protection at all. 27% of the participants already had thresholds above 25 dB and TEOAE testing showed that their exposure was dangerous. However, despite the information, the authors reported, "Even when the DJs learned about the test results, they indicated that they did not think the situation needed any change. They indicated they would like to learn more about flat attenuation ear plugs, but did not anticipate starting to use them." That is distressing because one would imagine that in an environment where hearing is so important to the occupation, employees would take steps to preserve what they have left. Will young adults feel the same way about their exposure, seeing that they are not exposed to quite as much noise as Brazilian disc jockeys?
6. Influence of music and music preference on acceptable noise levels in listeners with normal hearing. Susan Gordon-Hickey and Robert E Moore. Journal of American Academy of Audiology (2007)
This article described the ANL (Acceptable Noise Level) as the "maximum level of background noise that an individual is willing to accept while listening to speech." A previous article had listed music as the least-accepted noise, requiring 14.47 dB of gain for speech before listeners reported being comfortable with listening to a long narrative without getting lost. For this study, however, participants reported being comfortable at a significantly higher level of music (lower S:N ratio) at 6.25 dB gain of speech over music.
Some of the discussion hinted that the ANL may differ across genres based on preference or lyrical content, or other factors. The previous study (Nabalek et al, 1991) had used Muzak whereas the present study used contemporary rock music. Also worth mentioning is that the present study utilized young adults (mean age 23.54 years) and stated, "This group may be less distracted by and more accepting of background noise composed of music," because they're more likely to encounter background music in their lives. However, it's important to note that, "The results of this ANOVA (removing participants who recognized the music's artist/song name and redoing the statistical analysis) were the same, suggesting that familiarity may not influence ANL to music."
I found it important to share because it explains why I will probably take tomorrow off and spend it sleeping/reading/updating.
Now, the much-anticipated summary of several of my articles so far...
1. Estimated Leisure-Time Noise Exposure, Hearing Thresholds, and Hearing Symptoms of Finnish Conscripts. Lt Col (Med) Toivonen. Military Medicine (2005)
This article didn't provide a whole lot of useful information aside from a formula for weighted weekly and lifetime exposure to noise. Over 1000 young adults were in the study (obligatory military service) and the most frequent activities were, "watching television, listening to a home stereo, and going to night clubs and pubs." In addition, "The conscripts considered festivals and concerts, shooting firearms, playing in a band, and using tools indoors and outdoors to be the 'loudest' leisure-time activities." What's unfortunate about this is that those activities are more frequently outdoors and done on a more short-term basis as opposed to home stereo systems and television sets which are more frequently indoors and still set to a relatively high level.
Another scary statistic is that, "When the group with actual hearing loss was compared with the self-reported hearing loss, 79% of the conscripts with hearing loss did not know or disclaimed their hearing loss, and only 18% knew their hearing was not normal." For this study, 'loss' was defined as beginning at thresholds elevated at least 20dBHL.
One other thing I felt worth mentioning was that the author stated, "On a whole, the young adults were more active in several noisy activities and used more hours during the week in noise activities than the adults did." As the other articles have pointed out, young ears are less fragile than 'old' ears, so if the young ears are those exposed to this extra noise, then it shouldn't affect them much. But where does it end? At what point do we say, "That's just wanton disrespect for your ears"?
2. Can a hearing education campaign for adolescents change their music listening behavior? Viktor Weichbold and Patrick Zorowka. Int'l Journal of Audiology (2007)
This article, another foreign one based in Austria, was aimed at educating young adults. The subjects were those who attend discotheques, rock concerts, noisy pubs/parties, and those who listen to loud music or play in a band. They held classes for the students, "...four 45-minute sessions spread over three days and includ[ing] a variety of didactic approaches to make the topic of hearing conservation as attractive as possible: multimedia presentations... demonstrations of ear protection devices and hearing aids, role-play, questionnaire survey, creative group work... and a discussion with a hearing-impaired person or tinnitus sufferer."
The program offered Regeneration Breaks as an option instead of dampening ear protection... just taking a break and sitting in a quiet area before returning to the noise. Those breaks seemed to be much more popular than wearing earplugs. After the campaign, the majority of students had changed their opinion about the loudness levels in the discotheques, and believed they should be reduced, whereas the minority then regarded them as fine. The authors explained, "This is an im0portant result of the campaign (hopefully) -- not because it will motivate adolescents to go to the discotheques less frequently or to use earplugs from now on -- but because it will make them open-minded towards sound level reduction in discotheques." And then later, the authors suggested possible financial subsidies be offered to clubs which will voluntarily limit their sound level. I thought that was a fantastic idea!
3. Age and noise-induced hearing loss. Esko Toppila et. al. Scandinavian Audiology (2001)
This study looked at age and noise exposure as factors in high-risk occupational noise environments. The goal was to determine significant factors to susceptibility. What the researchers found was that age is the most-correlated factor, but also significant were the factors of elevated cholesterol levels and use of analgesics (greater than 20 pills per month). Unfortunately (or maybe fortunately in the larger picture), the article states that, "The inner ear in older subjects seems to be more vulnerable to noise than those in younger ones." This is good for young people in the larger picture but it puts a cramp in the style of this research because it insinuates that young people can afford to ravage their ears when they simply can't!
4. Young people: Their noise and music exposures and the risk of hearing loss. Thais C Morata. Int'l Journal of Audiology (2007)
This editorial piece discussed both sides of the young adults and noise exposure argument. On the one hand, noise is everywhere and it's only getting louder. Morata states, "...ever increasing intensity levels during concerts and at nightclubs has made music exposure the most studied source of excessive sound exposure to children and youths in several countries." But Morata also intimates that some researchers believe that there is a, "...possibility of a toughening protective effect of such exposures..." (Fleisher and Muller, 2005, an article I'd love to read).
Morata cites another study by Fleisher and Muller that found that, "...orchestra musicians, despite their exposure, had the best hearing thresholds among several occupations and non-exposed groups."
But I wonder, are good thresholds the chicken or the egg? It could be that people who are in orchestra are more likely to have better thresholds in the first place and/or tougher, more responsive ears which bolsters their talent. The author also mentions that, "The prevalence of high frequency hearing loss has decreased over the twenty-year period, while the prevalence of audiometric 'notches' remained constant... Is it too soon to detect the effects of more recent technology? Possibly yes, since the findings from the study do not demonstrate any systematic, measurable effect on entrance audiograms."
I agree that it's too soon to tell. Twenty years is a long time, I wonder what the statistics would show if the author had looked at only the last five or ten years, when the 'bigger, badder, louder' culture started to arise. Lastly, a positive finding, "This evidence suggests that long term school-based programs can effectively increase the use of hearing protection among students, and sheds some light on approaches that ought to be considered for increasing awareness of the value of hearing and means of preventing disorders." This gives me hope that if we discover something that can be utilized in a long-term prevention program, students may be affected!
5. Music exposure and Audiological findings in Brazilian disc jockeys. Lorayne Santos et. al. Int'l Journal of Audiology (2007)
This article was mildly distressing. Forty Brazilian disc jockeys were studied in their work environments, which happened to be 93.2-109.7 dBA for approximately 8 hours at a time. 74% of the DJs reported tinnitus, and only 33% indicated that they used hearing protection at all. 27% of the participants already had thresholds above 25 dB and TEOAE testing showed that their exposure was dangerous. However, despite the information, the authors reported, "Even when the DJs learned about the test results, they indicated that they did not think the situation needed any change. They indicated they would like to learn more about flat attenuation ear plugs, but did not anticipate starting to use them." That is distressing because one would imagine that in an environment where hearing is so important to the occupation, employees would take steps to preserve what they have left. Will young adults feel the same way about their exposure, seeing that they are not exposed to quite as much noise as Brazilian disc jockeys?
6. Influence of music and music preference on acceptable noise levels in listeners with normal hearing. Susan Gordon-Hickey and Robert E Moore. Journal of American Academy of Audiology (2007)
This article described the ANL (Acceptable Noise Level) as the "maximum level of background noise that an individual is willing to accept while listening to speech." A previous article had listed music as the least-accepted noise, requiring 14.47 dB of gain for speech before listeners reported being comfortable with listening to a long narrative without getting lost. For this study, however, participants reported being comfortable at a significantly higher level of music (lower S:N ratio) at 6.25 dB gain of speech over music.
Some of the discussion hinted that the ANL may differ across genres based on preference or lyrical content, or other factors. The previous study (Nabalek et al, 1991) had used Muzak whereas the present study used contemporary rock music. Also worth mentioning is that the present study utilized young adults (mean age 23.54 years) and stated, "This group may be less distracted by and more accepting of background noise composed of music," because they're more likely to encounter background music in their lives. However, it's important to note that, "The results of this ANOVA (removing participants who recognized the music's artist/song name and redoing the statistical analysis) were the same, suggesting that familiarity may not influence ANL to music."
Sunday, July 11, 2010
I hate it when news is good and bad at the same time.
First of all, my write-ups for those 7 articles (and more) are coming. I've just been spending more time reading than writing, since I have an August 15 deadline for secondary sources. I have some of them written but don't want to update too often. These write-ups are mostly for my benefit anyway.
For now, I want to address something I discovered over the weekend.
I took my (borrowed) dosimeter to the theater and elected to watch The A-Team. It was a good movie overall with a few technical errors that didn't affect how much I enjoyed it. Unfortunately, during a 117-minute film, my dosimeter registered less than 25% dose. Granted, I was in the rear-most row, but seeing how this was an action movie, I expected to reach at least 25%. Next time, I will sit in one of the forward-most rows and see what happens there. But as of now, it's looking like theaters are not a significant-enough source of noise to warrant inclusion in the study.
The good news is that these theater employees who spend all day in such an environment are not risking their ears. And like Dr. Brockett (and several other people) say, lack of significant noise exposure is just as good a result as discovering significant sources. What if music really is the largest contributor to young adults' hearing loss? Is technology the problem? (More on this when I update my articles.)
Also, I wanted to post my essay as it stands. I think I'm getting close to finishing it. You can find the file here, and a video of me reading it (albeit not the best inflection) is below.
For now, I want to address something I discovered over the weekend.
I took my (borrowed) dosimeter to the theater and elected to watch The A-Team. It was a good movie overall with a few technical errors that didn't affect how much I enjoyed it. Unfortunately, during a 117-minute film, my dosimeter registered less than 25% dose. Granted, I was in the rear-most row, but seeing how this was an action movie, I expected to reach at least 25%. Next time, I will sit in one of the forward-most rows and see what happens there. But as of now, it's looking like theaters are not a significant-enough source of noise to warrant inclusion in the study.
The good news is that these theater employees who spend all day in such an environment are not risking their ears. And like Dr. Brockett (and several other people) say, lack of significant noise exposure is just as good a result as discovering significant sources. What if music really is the largest contributor to young adults' hearing loss? Is technology the problem? (More on this when I update my articles.)
Also, I wanted to post my essay as it stands. I think I'm getting close to finishing it. You can find the file here, and a video of me reading it (albeit not the best inflection) is below.
Sunday, July 4, 2010
7 more! (I've been busy.)
I read seven more articles tonight.
1. Young people: Their noise and music exposure and the risk of hearing loss. Thais C Morata. Int'l Journal of Audiology. (2007)
2. Can a hearing education campaign for adolescents change their music listening behavior? Viktor Weichbold and Patrick Zorowka. Int'l Journal of Audiology. (2007)
3. Program for the Conservation and Promotion of Hearing Among Adolescents. Mario R Serra et. al. American Journal of Audiology. (2007)
4. Recreational noise exposure and its effects on the hearing of adolescents. Part II: development of hearing disorders. Ester C Biassoni et. al. Int'l Journal of Audiology (2005)
5. Characteristics of the audiometric notch as a clinical sign of noise exposure. David McBride and Sheila Williams. Scandinavian Audiology (2001)
6. Noise exposure levels from personal stereo use. Warwick Williams. Int'l Journal of Audiology. (2005)
7. Effects of exercise and noise on auditory thresholds and distortion-product otoacoustic emissions. Shannon Hooks-Horton et. al. Journal of the American Academy of Audiology. (2001)
I will summarize and pick out important excerpts soon. I'm on information overload after so many articles in a row!
1. Young people: Their noise and music exposure and the risk of hearing loss. Thais C Morata. Int'l Journal of Audiology. (2007)
2. Can a hearing education campaign for adolescents change their music listening behavior? Viktor Weichbold and Patrick Zorowka. Int'l Journal of Audiology. (2007)
3. Program for the Conservation and Promotion of Hearing Among Adolescents. Mario R Serra et. al. American Journal of Audiology. (2007)
4. Recreational noise exposure and its effects on the hearing of adolescents. Part II: development of hearing disorders. Ester C Biassoni et. al. Int'l Journal of Audiology (2005)
5. Characteristics of the audiometric notch as a clinical sign of noise exposure. David McBride and Sheila Williams. Scandinavian Audiology (2001)
6. Noise exposure levels from personal stereo use. Warwick Williams. Int'l Journal of Audiology. (2005)
7. Effects of exercise and noise on auditory thresholds and distortion-product otoacoustic emissions. Shannon Hooks-Horton et. al. Journal of the American Academy of Audiology. (2001)
I will summarize and pick out important excerpts soon. I'm on information overload after so many articles in a row!
Discotheques?!
Last night, I read the first three articles of the 30 I just printed off. I've still got plenty of online journals to search, but I think this is a good start.
One of the three was just a simple article in Audiology Today, and didn't yield anything worthwhile.
However, the other two were:
"Recreational noise exposure and its effects on the hearing of adolescents. Part I: An interdisciplinary long-term study." Mario R Serra, et. al International Journal of Audiology (2005)
and
"Position Statement of the American Academy of Audiology: Preventing Noise-Induced Occupational Hearing Loss" Elliott Berger, et, al Audiology Today (2004)
The position statement provides a lot of baseline standards and data for noise exposure. A few choice experts are:
"According to the National Institutes of Health, approximately one third of all hearing loss can be attributed to noise exposure..."
I would venture to guess that this number will increase as my generation ages. I've noticed that even when my peers are made aware of the repercussions, they remain passive.
Audiologists should, "...think in terms of hearing loss prevention rather than hearing conservation."
I wasn't aware that this was the position of AAA. I like it, and I think it fits with the spirit of the research.
"The success or failure of a hearing loss prevention program, including employee buy-in, depends up on effective education and training (Berger, 2001)."
Now to the core. This excerpt will support the idea that creative implementation of the information will determine its efficacy. As I mentioned in my statement of purpose, it's not enough to just know the facts. (See next quote.)
"...education and training must consist of more than showing a film and passing out a pamphlet or it will be ineffective."
The Recreational Noise Exposure article was a semi-longitudinal study conducted over four years in Argentina with (63) male and (43) female subjects ages 14-17. The participants underwent a battery of audiological tests every year for four years, and common activities were analyzed. The study found that:
1. Their participation in musical recreational activities increased yearly.
2. The favorite musical activity for both groups was attendance at discos, especially during the last years of the study.
3. Conversely, use of personal music players was not so important.
4. Attendance at live concerts increased during the last year of the study, but it was not as frequent as attendance at discos.
The measurements inside the discotheques ranged from 104.3 dBA to 112.4 dBA, with peaks as high as 11.5 dBA. At even the lowest value, a dosimeter was used and a dose of 1600% was obtained, although the authors did not mention how long the dosimeter was used inside the building. Either way, if young people are attending those discos on a regular basis, they're sure to feel the effects.
The authors mentioned that it was, "...clear that the exposure of the adolescents to equivalent sound levels of music above 100 dBA at discos exceeds, in all the cases, the most recent international recommendations for hearing conservation in occupational environments. The difference between a worker and an adolescent attending discos once or twice a week is the recovery time between exposures. However, meanwhile, the adolescents also participate in other noisy entertainments, which must be added to the music exposure at discos."
This excerpt is essential to the exigence in our research topic. Sure, young adults may have a week between their exposure to live concert-style music (at coffee shops, bars, clubs, etc.) but during that week they're listening to loud music in their car, through headphones, going to sporting events, potentially working in noisy environments, attending movies in loud theaters, and the list goes on.
One point made in the article is that young people in Argentina were not listening to portable music on a regular basis, which I believe is directly counter to the reality in America. I would venture to guess that American teenagers are more likely to listen to portable music players than they are to attend anything equivalent to discotheques, particularly because of a lack of expendable cash these days.
Anyway, these are just the beginning of gobs of research I've got to read! I'll be reading again tonight and have an update soon.
One of the three was just a simple article in Audiology Today, and didn't yield anything worthwhile.
However, the other two were:
"Recreational noise exposure and its effects on the hearing of adolescents. Part I: An interdisciplinary long-term study." Mario R Serra, et. al International Journal of Audiology (2005)
and
"Position Statement of the American Academy of Audiology: Preventing Noise-Induced Occupational Hearing Loss" Elliott Berger, et, al Audiology Today (2004)
The position statement provides a lot of baseline standards and data for noise exposure. A few choice experts are:
"According to the National Institutes of Health, approximately one third of all hearing loss can be attributed to noise exposure..."
I would venture to guess that this number will increase as my generation ages. I've noticed that even when my peers are made aware of the repercussions, they remain passive.
Audiologists should, "...think in terms of hearing loss prevention rather than hearing conservation."
I wasn't aware that this was the position of AAA. I like it, and I think it fits with the spirit of the research.
"The success or failure of a hearing loss prevention program, including employee buy-in, depends up on effective education and training (Berger, 2001)."
Now to the core. This excerpt will support the idea that creative implementation of the information will determine its efficacy. As I mentioned in my statement of purpose, it's not enough to just know the facts. (See next quote.)
"...education and training must consist of more than showing a film and passing out a pamphlet or it will be ineffective."
The Recreational Noise Exposure article was a semi-longitudinal study conducted over four years in Argentina with (63) male and (43) female subjects ages 14-17. The participants underwent a battery of audiological tests every year for four years, and common activities were analyzed. The study found that:
1. Their participation in musical recreational activities increased yearly.
2. The favorite musical activity for both groups was attendance at discos, especially during the last years of the study.
3. Conversely, use of personal music players was not so important.
4. Attendance at live concerts increased during the last year of the study, but it was not as frequent as attendance at discos.
The measurements inside the discotheques ranged from 104.3 dBA to 112.4 dBA, with peaks as high as 11.5 dBA. At even the lowest value, a dosimeter was used and a dose of 1600% was obtained, although the authors did not mention how long the dosimeter was used inside the building. Either way, if young people are attending those discos on a regular basis, they're sure to feel the effects.
The authors mentioned that it was, "...clear that the exposure of the adolescents to equivalent sound levels of music above 100 dBA at discos exceeds, in all the cases, the most recent international recommendations for hearing conservation in occupational environments. The difference between a worker and an adolescent attending discos once or twice a week is the recovery time between exposures. However, meanwhile, the adolescents also participate in other noisy entertainments, which must be added to the music exposure at discos."
This excerpt is essential to the exigence in our research topic. Sure, young adults may have a week between their exposure to live concert-style music (at coffee shops, bars, clubs, etc.) but during that week they're listening to loud music in their car, through headphones, going to sporting events, potentially working in noisy environments, attending movies in loud theaters, and the list goes on.
One point made in the article is that young people in Argentina were not listening to portable music on a regular basis, which I believe is directly counter to the reality in America. I would venture to guess that American teenagers are more likely to listen to portable music players than they are to attend anything equivalent to discotheques, particularly because of a lack of expendable cash these days.
Anyway, these are just the beginning of gobs of research I've got to read! I'll be reading again tonight and have an update soon.
Friday, June 11, 2010
The Iowa Trip
I figured I might as well add this in here just in case I delete everything on my Facebook profile in a fit of rage. Here are my highlights from my visit to the University of Iowa. I don't have any photos of the faculty I met because I was so nervous. I completely forgot to shake Dr Turner's hand, but at least I didn't ask him to birth my children.
The day started with a drive to the airport, complements of my father. I really only included this photo to show his hearing aids, just in case he springs for the Dots later.
We got to the hotel pretty darn late (like after midnight), so I was incredibly exhausted but took
the time to snap a photo. The hotel was actually very nice, and only ten minutes or so from the University. This was a Thursday night, and my interviews were early the next morning. By this point, I had labored over a ridiculous amount of questions to ask. And when I say 'labored', I mean I sat at Red Robin for two hours, nearly breaking out in a cold sweat.
Luckily, I clean up pretty nice! The next morning, all made up and in a cute touring outfit (although admittedly the wrong shoes), I headed off to a day full of interviews. I swear my heart was about to pound out of my chest when I was waiting for Dr Turner to arrive. I've never seen my hands shake so much. Some people get giddy when meeting celebrities. I get giddy when meeting amazing intellectuals. I wanted to get a photo with him but I was just so starstruck my mind went completely blank.
Next time, I'll be buying a new point and shoot camera before I go, too. My old one was angry that I left it in my car for so long and didn't crap out until I got to Iowa. I ended up with several photos that were corrupted, and then the batteries died halfway through the day. I did have my phone with me but I totally spaced that it had a camera until we were already gone from the university.
One of the highlights of the tour was visiting the giant anechoic chamber in the basement. There was a guy down there doing speech-in-noise experiments with hearing aids. I presume he's studying under Dr Ruth Bentler, who I was unable to meet because she was in Paris (I think). In any case, it was fascinating. I walked in the room and immediately leaned towards whoever was talking. It was the closest to "zero sound" I've ever experienced. I'm not particularly interested in hearing aid research but I might have to fabricate an interest just so I can play around in this room all the time! The dummy torso is human-sized and under the metal grating is another 10 feet or so of padding. It was really one of the coolest experiences I've ever been lucky enough to have!
We visited in March, so everything was dead, but the whole trip, I kept thinking about how beautiful this place looks in the spring and fall with all those trees blooming and shedding their leaves. I know the winters are bad but I think it'll be worth it to experience that kind of beauty. Come on, that many trees stuffed into one place? AUGH. So excited.
I also learned that Iowa drivers are kind of pushy but mostly logical, and when someone does something stupid, everyone else lets them know it. Iowa is my idea driving territory! :)
While we were driving around, I found this place. It looks like a tabletop gaming center, where you can bring your friends and attend tournaments and such. I spent a lot of my undergraduate time hanging out at a LAN center where I played video and computer games, so seeing that there's a place like this makes me very happy! They were closed, so I couldn't investigate, but I will definitely check it out when I get back. I say when because there is no way I'm failing at this!
We went downtown for dinner at Chiptole (another selling point), and I snapped a couple quick photos. The downtown area is bustling because it's a college town, and there were several restaurants of different ethnic food types. I saw this kiosk and had to get a photo, because it shows how active the culture is there. I admit I'm a homebody most of the time, but it's great to know there are options if I suddenly become a social butterfly!
You can also see from the dude in the background that people have good style sense and I could learn a thing or two! No People of WalMart there! ;)
This is the medical sciences library. Probably half of my photos from the trip are in this library. I was so excited to see their research collection. There is an entire FLOOR for print journals, and I'm sure twice as many available online. There's just something about sitting in a quiet room surrounded by knowledge that makes my heart go pitter patter!
I'll just post the photos below without much explanation, as they pretty much explain themselves.
The day started with a drive to the airport, complements of my father. I really only included this photo to show his hearing aids, just in case he springs for the Dots later.
We got to the hotel pretty darn late (like after midnight), so I was incredibly exhausted but took
the time to snap a photo. The hotel was actually very nice, and only ten minutes or so from the University. This was a Thursday night, and my interviews were early the next morning. By this point, I had labored over a ridiculous amount of questions to ask. And when I say 'labored', I mean I sat at Red Robin for two hours, nearly breaking out in a cold sweat.
Luckily, I clean up pretty nice! The next morning, all made up and in a cute touring outfit (although admittedly the wrong shoes), I headed off to a day full of interviews. I swear my heart was about to pound out of my chest when I was waiting for Dr Turner to arrive. I've never seen my hands shake so much. Some people get giddy when meeting celebrities. I get giddy when meeting amazing intellectuals. I wanted to get a photo with him but I was just so starstruck my mind went completely blank.
Next time, I'll be buying a new point and shoot camera before I go, too. My old one was angry that I left it in my car for so long and didn't crap out until I got to Iowa. I ended up with several photos that were corrupted, and then the batteries died halfway through the day. I did have my phone with me but I totally spaced that it had a camera until we were already gone from the university.
One of the highlights of the tour was visiting the giant anechoic chamber in the basement. There was a guy down there doing speech-in-noise experiments with hearing aids. I presume he's studying under Dr Ruth Bentler, who I was unable to meet because she was in Paris (I think). In any case, it was fascinating. I walked in the room and immediately leaned towards whoever was talking. It was the closest to "zero sound" I've ever experienced. I'm not particularly interested in hearing aid research but I might have to fabricate an interest just so I can play around in this room all the time! The dummy torso is human-sized and under the metal grating is another 10 feet or so of padding. It was really one of the coolest experiences I've ever been lucky enough to have!
We visited in March, so everything was dead, but the whole trip, I kept thinking about how beautiful this place looks in the spring and fall with all those trees blooming and shedding their leaves. I know the winters are bad but I think it'll be worth it to experience that kind of beauty. Come on, that many trees stuffed into one place? AUGH. So excited.I also learned that Iowa drivers are kind of pushy but mostly logical, and when someone does something stupid, everyone else lets them know it. Iowa is my idea driving territory! :)
While we were driving around, I found this place. It looks like a tabletop gaming center, where you can bring your friends and attend tournaments and such. I spent a lot of my undergraduate time hanging out at a LAN center where I played video and computer games, so seeing that there's a place like this makes me very happy! They were closed, so I couldn't investigate, but I will definitely check it out when I get back. I say when because there is no way I'm failing at this!
We went downtown for dinner at Chiptole (another selling point), and I snapped a couple quick photos. The downtown area is bustling because it's a college town, and there were several restaurants of different ethnic food types. I saw this kiosk and had to get a photo, because it shows how active the culture is there. I admit I'm a homebody most of the time, but it's great to know there are options if I suddenly become a social butterfly!
You can also see from the dude in the background that people have good style sense and I could learn a thing or two! No People of WalMart there! ;)
This is the medical sciences library. Probably half of my photos from the trip are in this library. I was so excited to see their research collection. There is an entire FLOOR for print journals, and I'm sure twice as many available online. There's just something about sitting in a quiet room surrounded by knowledge that makes my heart go pitter patter!I'll just post the photos below without much explanation, as they pretty much explain themselves.
Transition
A lot has changed since I last updated. I've fully come to terms with the fact that I won't be attending the University of Canterbury for my graduate program. I'm alright with that. I've found a better school.
The University of Iowa is the home of some of the best minds of my generation and adjacent generations as well. I read Dr Christopher Turner's research on hybrid cochlear implants which use a shorter electrode array than traditional cochlear implants, with the goal of preserving low-frequency residual hearing. When I first picked up the articles, I was still interested in studying under Dr Greg O'Beirne, whose research interested me but not to the point of circumlocution.
I can't really explain what interests me so much in cochlear implants. My dad asked me if my family history has any part to play in my interest in audiology and in cochlear implants and certain hearing aid research, and I replied, "I wish!" Life would be so much easier if I had some sort of pathos like that. Instead, all I have is my arachnophobia, which is a good story but not really connected to audiology.
In any case, I visited the University of Iowa and was a little skeptical. I kind of expected Dr Turner to be the only smartie-pants there and the other people would kind of ignore me and be on their way. Not so. I met with Dr Christopher Turner, Dr Carolyn Brown, Dr Karen Kirk, Dr Lenore Holte, Dr Stephanie Flickenstein, and I got a chance to chat quickly with Dr Shawn Goodman who is doing some fascinating research with otoacoustic emissions. Every single person with whom I visited was doing some kind of research. I was thrilled.
My idea of grad school is admittedly undeveloped, but I had kind of pictured a couple research-oriented professors and then the clinical faculty who look down on the research faculty because they're not actually doing anything "worthwhile." But I didn't get a sense of any of that when I visited. The environment was positive and diverse. The resources available (including the large anechoic chamber) were amazing. The campus is large but the audiology stuff is all in one location, so I won't have to feel overwhelmed.
By the time my day of interviews was over, I was ready to come home. Dr Turner intimated that the two most important numbers on a student's application are GPA and GRE scores. Because of my difficulty during that 18 months when my arachnophobia was its worst, I venture to guess that a 3.5GPA will be what I end up with. That's simply not good enough.
Luckily, my GRE scores are much better. I got a 550V, 710Q and 5.0AWA. That puts me in the 75th, 73rd, and 81st percentiles, respectively. I think that will help balance out my grades. Now I just have to write the perfect personal statement!
So, now on to the reason for this title. I'll be doing some research with one of my favorite professors from last semester, Dr Jeff Brockett. He suggested I post my findings regularly on this blog so that instead of getting several emails from me, he can receive updates via RSS feed. So instead of building a whole new blog, I'm just going to include it in this one so that I won't lose either train of thought. Sound like a plan? It does to me.
Until next time...
The University of Iowa is the home of some of the best minds of my generation and adjacent generations as well. I read Dr Christopher Turner's research on hybrid cochlear implants which use a shorter electrode array than traditional cochlear implants, with the goal of preserving low-frequency residual hearing. When I first picked up the articles, I was still interested in studying under Dr Greg O'Beirne, whose research interested me but not to the point of circumlocution.
I can't really explain what interests me so much in cochlear implants. My dad asked me if my family history has any part to play in my interest in audiology and in cochlear implants and certain hearing aid research, and I replied, "I wish!" Life would be so much easier if I had some sort of pathos like that. Instead, all I have is my arachnophobia, which is a good story but not really connected to audiology.
In any case, I visited the University of Iowa and was a little skeptical. I kind of expected Dr Turner to be the only smartie-pants there and the other people would kind of ignore me and be on their way. Not so. I met with Dr Christopher Turner, Dr Carolyn Brown, Dr Karen Kirk, Dr Lenore Holte, Dr Stephanie Flickenstein, and I got a chance to chat quickly with Dr Shawn Goodman who is doing some fascinating research with otoacoustic emissions. Every single person with whom I visited was doing some kind of research. I was thrilled.
My idea of grad school is admittedly undeveloped, but I had kind of pictured a couple research-oriented professors and then the clinical faculty who look down on the research faculty because they're not actually doing anything "worthwhile." But I didn't get a sense of any of that when I visited. The environment was positive and diverse. The resources available (including the large anechoic chamber) were amazing. The campus is large but the audiology stuff is all in one location, so I won't have to feel overwhelmed.
By the time my day of interviews was over, I was ready to come home. Dr Turner intimated that the two most important numbers on a student's application are GPA and GRE scores. Because of my difficulty during that 18 months when my arachnophobia was its worst, I venture to guess that a 3.5GPA will be what I end up with. That's simply not good enough.
Luckily, my GRE scores are much better. I got a 550V, 710Q and 5.0AWA. That puts me in the 75th, 73rd, and 81st percentiles, respectively. I think that will help balance out my grades. Now I just have to write the perfect personal statement!
So, now on to the reason for this title. I'll be doing some research with one of my favorite professors from last semester, Dr Jeff Brockett. He suggested I post my findings regularly on this blog so that instead of getting several emails from me, he can receive updates via RSS feed. So instead of building a whole new blog, I'm just going to include it in this one so that I won't lose either train of thought. Sound like a plan? It does to me.
Until next time...
Sunday, January 31, 2010
I realized something this weekend.
1) I'm bound to at least four more years of school once I graduate next May.
I do not have the option to just stop here. You can't do anything with a bachelor's degree in communication disorders, besides what you could do with any other generic 4-year degree. In order to be able to pay back my copious amounts of loans, I'm going to have to at least have my AuD. PhD is optional.
2) If I do my "dream plan" and wait to find a mate until I find my "dream job" in my "dream location," I will be 28 before I start seriously dating.
Not that that's altogether out of the 'dating zone,' but really? I don't want to wait until I'm 28 to START looking for my future husband. But at the same time, I don't want to meet my future husband in Idaho and be stuck here forever. I've never thought about this side of the story before, and it's very depressing. David, my friend who is in the same program, already found the love of his life, and she's willing to go wherever he goes. Unfortunately, it's usually the girl who's expected to be that way. What if I don't want to be the one following? What if I want to move to Germany and my significant other would need to join me? I don't want to set myself up for heartache that way, but I also don't want to be alone for the rest of my life.
I'm done thinking about this, I'm getting really depressed.
I do not have the option to just stop here. You can't do anything with a bachelor's degree in communication disorders, besides what you could do with any other generic 4-year degree. In order to be able to pay back my copious amounts of loans, I'm going to have to at least have my AuD. PhD is optional.
2) If I do my "dream plan" and wait to find a mate until I find my "dream job" in my "dream location," I will be 28 before I start seriously dating.
Not that that's altogether out of the 'dating zone,' but really? I don't want to wait until I'm 28 to START looking for my future husband. But at the same time, I don't want to meet my future husband in Idaho and be stuck here forever. I've never thought about this side of the story before, and it's very depressing. David, my friend who is in the same program, already found the love of his life, and she's willing to go wherever he goes. Unfortunately, it's usually the girl who's expected to be that way. What if I don't want to be the one following? What if I want to move to Germany and my significant other would need to join me? I don't want to set myself up for heartache that way, but I also don't want to be alone for the rest of my life.
I'm done thinking about this, I'm getting really depressed.
Bad News
This is a partial transcript of an email I recently received from Erin Maloff, a student at Vanderbilt University.
Hi Ashley,
THIS DOES NOT SIT WELL.
Essentially, what this means is that New Zealand is out of the question unless I can work it in during my internship year. The program at UCanterbury only has a Master's in audiology because that's the requirement for certification there. The requirement here is a four-year AuD. In order to pay back the copious amount of student loans I'll have upon my graduation, I'm going to need lots of credentials on my side.
So, with tears in my eyes, I begin my search for another program.
My top choices are University of Iowa, Vanderbilt, and University of Texas at Dallas.
Hi Ashley,
It sounds like you are interested in the audiology field (as opposed to neuroscience or engineering), so pursuing a doctoral degree in this area makes sense. I would strongly encourage you to consider applying for a program that combines the AuD and PhD degrees for a couple of reasons. First, you will gain a much better sense of the issues and areas of research within the field if you have some clinical experience. Even if you don't have any interest in seeing patients in the clinic, having some clinical experience will help you to develop ideas and frame out designs for projects much better. Second, holding both degrees will make you much more marketable when it comes time to find a job. Most of the jobs and/or post-doc positions I found in the field of audiology clearly stated that it was preferable to have some clinical experience and to hold a state license to practice (this is not always the case for other fields like neuroscience). One person I interviewed with just recently for a job in a university told me that doing research in her lab would be much more difficult for someone who did not have any clinical experience. Many audiology professors I interviewed with for jobs in university settings have had some sort of clinical experience. You mentioned a potential interest in working for hearing aid or cochlear implant companies. I have several friends with Ph.D. degrees who work for these type of companies and I know that they were hired in part because of the clinical experience they had before they started working toward their PhDs, even though they were hired for primarily research-based positions.
THIS DOES NOT SIT WELL.
Essentially, what this means is that New Zealand is out of the question unless I can work it in during my internship year. The program at UCanterbury only has a Master's in audiology because that's the requirement for certification there. The requirement here is a four-year AuD. In order to pay back the copious amount of student loans I'll have upon my graduation, I'm going to need lots of credentials on my side.
So, with tears in my eyes, I begin my search for another program.
My top choices are University of Iowa, Vanderbilt, and University of Texas at Dallas.
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
Quick Semester Update
I ended up dropping Planets and Astrobiology, the 4-credit physical science class I didn't need. I'm glad I did, too, because BSU ended up giving me a lot of trouble this semester and it's less than a week old! They never sent my transcript over, so ISU thought I was still on academic probation. Got it all worked out, though, thankfully!
I was worried about my classes this semester, since last semester was such a drag, but they've been fantastic so far! I am really looking forward to class every day, and it's maintaining my motivation to read more research articles. Both are very positive outcomes!
My father has presented me with a challenge: find five first-hand anecdotes of people who accomplished their PhD and ask them the following questions...
1. How did you finance your postgraduate education?
2. How much student-loan debt did you have upon graduation?
3. What was your salary in your first job after graduation?
4. How long did it take to pay off your loans?
We'll see how it all works out. I'm hoping positively. :)
I was worried about my classes this semester, since last semester was such a drag, but they've been fantastic so far! I am really looking forward to class every day, and it's maintaining my motivation to read more research articles. Both are very positive outcomes!
My father has presented me with a challenge: find five first-hand anecdotes of people who accomplished their PhD and ask them the following questions...
1. How did you finance your postgraduate education?
2. How much student-loan debt did you have upon graduation?
3. What was your salary in your first job after graduation?
4. How long did it take to pay off your loans?
We'll see how it all works out. I'm hoping positively. :)
Sunday, January 10, 2010
This Semester's Schedule
Is up for debate.
I have 19 credits at present, but 4 are unnecessary and happen to be in the worst time-block possible (making it impossible for me to work in the evening and also pushing my sleep cycle later). Unfortunately, I really enjoyed Stars and Cosmology last semester and this is the second section. I was always happy to have the unrelated class break up my day, but I'm not sure I want to suffer through 19 credits to do it. I have to think about my cumulative GPA if I'm really going to do this New Zealand thing.
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
The Beginning of the List
Here's what I have at this time.
° Mission Statement: "There is no reason you shouldn't be able to pass this class." But not necessarily because the tests are easy or the material is basic.
° Create simple slides (less than 3 elements per slide)
° TEXTBOOK OPTIONAL. All pertinent information will be in lectures or the occasional reading, to be uploaded or found online (no more than 15 pages if possible).
° Tests and quizzes will be strictly lecture-oriented.
° Class input encouraged whenever discussion would be beneficial.
° Offer optional quizzes after each chapter/section for extra credit.
° Organize class material with a building-block paradigm.
° Provide plenty of interesting, extra-curricular (optional) links/activities to enhance understanding or interest in the topic.
° NO HOMEWORK. Minimal paper-writing.
° Explore the idea of pod-casting lectures, and whether it would enhance understanding or simply cause low or nonexistent attendance. Maybe offer by specific request.
° Mission Statement: "There is no reason you shouldn't be able to pass this class." But not necessarily because the tests are easy or the material is basic.
° Create simple slides (less than 3 elements per slide)
° TEXTBOOK OPTIONAL. All pertinent information will be in lectures or the occasional reading, to be uploaded or found online (no more than 15 pages if possible).
° Tests and quizzes will be strictly lecture-oriented.
° Class input encouraged whenever discussion would be beneficial.
° Offer optional quizzes after each chapter/section for extra credit.
° Organize class material with a building-block paradigm.
° Provide plenty of interesting, extra-curricular (optional) links/activities to enhance understanding or interest in the topic.
° NO HOMEWORK. Minimal paper-writing.
° Explore the idea of pod-casting lectures, and whether it would enhance understanding or simply cause low or nonexistent attendance. Maybe offer by specific request.
Some Catch-Up
I started this as a blog on my Myspace page, but since I never log on there anymore, I figured it'd be best to have it in its own medium. As far as purpose is concerned, I will be using this blog to update myself. More importantly, it will keep track of my train of thought at each stage of my graduate school saga. That's where the title came from.
And.... begin!
And.... begin!
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