Tympanosclerosis middle ear. Whilst hearing loss is a common symptom in many diseases of the ear, for example in otosclerosis (abnormal bone growth in the ear), the white, chalky patches on the tympanic membrane are fairly characteristic of tympanosclerosis. Cholesteatoma is similar in appearance but the whiteness is behind the tympanic membrane, rather than inside. Hearing aids are a common treatment for hearing loss disorders. A more specific treatment is surgical, involving excision of the sclerotic areas and then further repair of the ossicular chain. There are several techniques, sometimes involving two surgeries; success rates are, however, variable. Damage to the
Membrane gas separation when the pores in the polymer membrane appear and disappear faster relative to the movement of the particles. In a typical membrane system the incoming feed stream is separated into two components: permeant and retentate. Permeant is the gas that travels across the membrane and the retentate is what is left of the feed. On both sides of the membrane, a gradient of chemical potential is maintained by a pressure difference which is the driving force for the gas molecules to pass through. The ease of transport of each species is quantified by the permeability, P. With the assumptions of