Introduction: The term ‘voice' is the acoustic energy generated from the vocal tract that are characterized by their dependence on vocal fold vibratory pattern. Teachers as professional voice users are afflicted with dysphonia and are discouraged with their jobs and seek alternative employment. Loud speaking and voice straining may lead to vocal fatigue and vocal fold tissue damage. Methods: Sixty teachers from various schools, volunteered to participate in this study. Acoustic analysis Doctor Speech Tiger Electronics, USA was used to assess the voice quality of the school teachers before and after teaching practice. The data were collected and analyzed using Doctor Speech Tiger Electronics, USA. Analysis was performed in terms of perturbation (jitter and shimmer), fundamental frequency, harmonic to noise ratio and maximum phonation time. Results: We found statistically significant difference in all the four parameters except the Jitter value. The fundamental frequency and shimmer value has significantly increased (P<0.001) and (P=0.002) respectively after teaching practice. Unlikely, there was significant decrease in harmonic to noise ratio value (P<0.001) and maximum phonation time value (P<0.01) after teaching practice. Conclusions: Vocal abuse, overuse, or misuse in teaching practice over a long period of time can result in inadequate phonatory pattern due to vocal fold tissue damage, which ultimately results in vocal nodules or polyps. So voice evaluation is particularly important for professional voice users and for the people who are concerned about their quality of voice.
The marbled cat Pardofelismarmorata is a Near Threatened small felid. The cat’s presence in Nepal is based on an anecdote. A camera trap-based study to access diversity and abundance of terrestrial mammals in eastern Nepal accumulated 3,014 camera trap days and resulted in 5,176 photographs of 17 medium-large sized mammal species. Amongst them, a marbled cat was captured at a single camera trap station in January 2018. The camera trap-capturing the marbled cat was located in the secondary forest at an altitude of 2,750 m a.s.l., dominated by free-ranging cattle close to a permanent human settlement (1.4 km) and a temporary cattle herding camp (0.4 km). This is the first photographic evidence of a marbled cat in Nepal. In this survey, we also recorded three other felid species: common leopard Pantherapardus, Asiatic golden-cat Catopumatemminckii and leopard cat Prionailurusbengalensis. We recommend detailed year-round camera trap surveys in the mid-hills of eastern Nepal along with research on adaptation of the small felids to human-dominated areas and assessment of immediate threats for preparing sound conservation management plans of the marbled cat and its sympatric species. Initiation of conservation programmes engaging local dokpa (herders) is necessary.
Introduction: Noise-induced hearing loss is a type of sensorineural hearing loss caused by long-term exposure to loud noise. This study provides insight into hearing loss problems the general population faces. The study aimed to find out the prevalence of noise-induced hearing loss among patients needing pure tone audiometry evaluation in a tertiary care centre. Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted from 1 January 2021 to 30 July 2021 among patients requiring pure tone audiometry evaluation in the outpatient Department of Otorhinolaryngology in a tertiary care centre. The study was conducted after ethical approval from Institutional Review Committee (Reference number: 2812202001). Pure tone audiometry was used to diagnose noise-induced hearing loss. Convenience sampling was done. Point estimate and 95% Confidence Interval were calculated. Results: Out of 690 patients, 14 (2.02%) (0.97-3.06, 95% Confidence Interval) were diagnosed with noise-induced hearing loss. Conclusions: The prevalence of noise-induced hearing loss among patients requiring pure tone audiometry evaluation was similar to other studies conducted in similar settings.
Objective: To study the effect of early versus delayed treatment of Sudden Sensorineural Hearing Loss (SSNHL) in hearing outcome.Material and Methods: A retrospective study of patients with SSNHL was done from October 2012 to October 2014 to study the effect of early versus late treatment in hearing outcome in ENT department of Manipal Teaching Hospital, Pokhara, Nepal. Patients receiving treatment within 3 days of onset of symptoms were placed in early treatment group (ET) and those receiving treatment after 3 but within 7 days were placed in late treatment group (LT). Hearing outcome was assessed using pure tone average (PTA) and was carried out at presentation and then at 3,7,14 and 30 days after treatment. A mixed between and within- subject design ANOVA test was used to analyze the results using SPSS 20.0.Results: There were 29 patients in ET group and 25 patients in LT group. Mean age of the study population was 36.37 years (SD=7.868). The M:F ratio was 0.39:1. There was a significant interaction between time and treatment group, Wilk’s Lambda= 0.382, F (1.52, 79.196) = 19.83, p <0.001, partial eta squared =0.541. There was a substantial main effect of time, F (1.52, 79.196)= 180.36, p <0.001, partial eta squared = 0.776 suggesting significant improvement of hearing levels with time. The main effect comparing early and late treatment groups was also significant, F (1,52)= 5.799, p=0.02, partial eta squared = 0.100 suggesting significant difference in hearing levels in between the two treatment groups.Conclusion: Onset of treatment after the initial symptom significantly affects the outcome of hearing improvement in SSNHL. There are higher chances of improving if treatment is started within 3 days of onset of symptoms.
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