Kit per audiometria vocale prassica

Un kit per audiometria vocale prassica comprende una pluralit\ue0 di oggetti aventi forma di anello ciascuno di un colore diverso scelto dal gruppo comprendente il giallo, il blu, il verde, il rosso e l\u2019arancione, una pluralit\ue0 di oggetti aventi forma diversa da un anello, ciascuno di un colore diverso scelto dal gruppo comprendente il giallo, il blu, il verde, il rosso e l\u2019arancione ed una serie di comandi (9) definenti una serie di azioni che un soggetto deve svolgere interagendo con detta pluralit\ue0 di oggetti a forma di anello e detta pluralit\ue0 di oggetti aventi forma diversa da un anello

Electromyographic activity of sternocleidomastoid and masticatory muscles in patients with vestibular lesions

This study evaluated the electromyographic characteristics of masticatory and neck muscles in subjects with vestibular lesions. Surface electromyography of the masseter, temporalis and sternocleidomastoid muscles was performed in 19 patients with Ménière's disease, 12 patients with an acute peripheral vestibular lesion, and 19 control subjects matched for sex and age. During maximum voluntary clenching, patients with peripheral vestibular lesions had the highest co-contraction of the sternocleidomastoid muscle (analysis of covariance, p=0.02), the control subjects had the smallest values, and the patients with Ménière's disease had intermediate values. The control subjects had larger standardized muscle activities than the other patient groups (p=0.001). In conclusion, during maximum voluntary tooth clenching, patients with vestibular alterations have both more active neck muscles, and less active masticatory muscles than normal controls. Results underline the importance of a more inclusive craniocervical assessment of patients with vestibular lesions

VTMR, a new speech audiometry test with verbal tasks and motor responses

Objectives: The aim of this study was to design a complementary speech audiometry test using verbal tasks and motor responses (VTMR) to assess the ability of a subject to understand and perform simple motor tasks with 3-dimensional objects, to describe its construction, and to show the preliminary results of a pilot study on the Italian version of the test. Methods: The items used in the test setting included 1 base, 1 hammer, 1 wooden structure with 4 sticks, and 5 rings of different colors and 20 lists with 5 verbal tasks per list. The VTMR test and bisyllabic speech audiometry were evaluated in normal-hearing subjects with and without cognitive impairment and in subjects with sensorineural hearing loss. Results: All normal-hearing subjects without cognitive impairment performed the VTMR tasks (100%) correctly at 35 dB sound pressure level. In subjects with sensorineural hearing loss, the percentage of correct answers was significantly higher for the VTMR test than for bisyllabic speech audiometry above 50 dB sound pressure level. This percentage was higher for the VTMR also in normal-hearing subjects with poor cognitive skills. Conclusions: The VTMR might make it easier to check patients\u2019 ability to understand verbal commands than does traditional speech audiometry, in particular in those patients with poor test-taking skills

Genetic background of semen parameters in Italian Simmental bulls

The aim of this study was to estimate genetic parameters and investigate the genomic background of scrotal circumference and semen parameters in the Italian Simmental bulls. Scrotal circumference, number of normal spermatozoa, ejaculate volume, spermatozoa motility, and total spermatozoa were measured on 622 bulls, of which 603 had genotypes for 42,141 SNP. Variance components of scrotal circumference were estimated with an animal model that included the fixed effects of birth year, animal age, and measurement method, and the random effects of day of measurement and animal. In the model for the other traits, the scrotal circumference was added as a covariate to account for its influence on the semen parameters. A genome-wide association study was carried out using the ssGBLUP-approach. Heritabilities ranged from 0.07 +/- 0.05 (spermatozoa motility) to 0.50 +/- 0.14 (scrotal circumference). A total of 13 SNP passed the Bonferroni correction threshold and the number of significantly associated markers ranged from 1 (ejaculate volume and spermatozoa motility) to 5 (total spermatozoa). Genes already associated with reproduction parameters were retrieved close to the significant SNP. Results of the present study gave preliminary insights about the genetic determinism of semen quality in Italian Simmental bulls

Effect of eye lateralization on contralateral suppression of transient evoked otoacoustic emissions

Several studies have previously demonstrated that postural changes modify evoked otoacoustic emission. In order to evaluate a possible interaction between eye muscles and ciliated cells in the inner ear, we studied the effects of eye lateralization on the contralateral suppression of transient evoked otoacoustic emissions (TEOAEs). Thirty-eight normal hearing subjects with TEOAEs were recruited. Their TEAOEs at threshold level were recorded with contralateral suppression (white noise) via straight ahead fixation and right or left lateral fixation. Eye lateralization in the same direction of the white noise significantly decreased the suppression at 4 kHz (p = 0.003). The signal-to-noise ratio in the suppression condition with straight ahead was 1.54 (± 4.610) dB, while the ratio was 3.48 (± 4.631) dB in the suppression condition with gaze toward the white noise. Eye lateralization seems to reduce the contralateral suppression effect of TEOAEs at 4 kHz. However, further studies are necessary to investigate the possible mechanisms of this phenomenon