Prevalence and risk factors for sensorineural hearing loss: Western Sicily overview

The objective of this work was to evaluate the prevalence of sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL) and distribution of the main risk factors associated to it focusing on their role in the development of deafness and their interaction. We performed a global audiological assessment (through TEOAE, tympanometry and ABR) in 508 infants at risk studying the main risk factors reported by Joint Committee on Infant Hearing (2007). Fifty-one infants (10.03 %) were diagnosed with SNHL (45 bilateral and 6 unilateral) with a mean hearing threshold of 87.39 \ub1 28.25 dB HL; family history of hearing impairment (HI) and TORCH infections indicated independent significant risk factors (P < 0.00001 and P = 0.024, respectively). High SNHL percentages were evidenced also in NICU babies, due to the various pathologies and risk factors presented by these infants, and among newborns who suffered from hyperbilirubinemia (11.97 and 9.52 %, respectively). The mean degree of hearing loss for children with family history of HI (>100 dB HL) emphasizes the necessity of an early diagnosis to avoid the consequences of auditory deprivation. Craniofacial abnormalities and syndromes associated to HI showed an important relationship (P < 0.00001) with conductive hearing loss. A progressive increase was evidenced in SNHL incidence as the number of risk factors rises (from 5.12 for 2 risk factors to 28.5 % for 5 or more) with a significant difference among the groups (P = 0.049); multiple risk factors showed an additional cofactor for HL (r2 = 0.93). Considering the high SNHL prevalence (10.03 %) in infants at risk, this study highlights the necessity to implement a neonatal hearing screening program in Western Sicily

Clinical evolution of asthma from early childhood to development age

The aim of study was to conduct evaluation over twenty years on patients with relapsing wheezing breathing since their early years of life. The research included a period of observation started in 1978 up to 2002. The follow-up included 381 patients. The enrolment was carried out during the first 15 years, after being evaluated during outpatient or/ and hospitalization the children with a clinical picture resembling asthma (at least three episodes of dyspnea for a year, at least 2 years prior to our first observation). During follow-up the rhole of some risk factors in childhood able to affect the persistency of asthma in adulthood was considered. An early onset of symptoms resulted to be a favourable prognostic sign. At the end of study 294 (77.16%) patients at 18 year of age already had a remission of the disease. Patients with normal IgE levels and negative Rast and Prick skin tests presented a higher clinical remission: the rate were statistically significant. A symptomatic and preventive therapy practised regularly resulted to be a favourable factor for remission. The severity of symptoms result to be an unfavourable prognostic factor. In conclusion, if asthma is recognized precocity can mitigate and remove symptoms and so improved adulthood lifestyle

A parallel-plate flow chamber to study initial cell adhesion on a nanofeatured surface

Cells in the human body come across many types of information, which they respond to. Both material chemistry and topography of the surface where they adhere have an effect on cell shape, proliferation, migration, and gene expression. It is possible to create surfaces with topography at the nanometric scale to allow observation of cell-topography interactions. Previous work has shown that 100-nm-diameter pits on a 300-nm pitch can have a marked effect in reducing the adhesion of rat fibroblasts in static cultures. In the present study, a flow of cell suspension was used to investigate cell adhesion onto nanopits in dynamic conditions, by means of a parallel-plate flow chamber. A flow chamber with inner nanotopography has been designed, which allows real-time observation of the flow over the nanopits. A nanopitted pattern was successfully embossed into polymethylmethacrylate to meet the required shape of the chamber. Dynamic cell adhesion after 1 h has been quantified and compared on flat and nanopitted polymethylmethacrylate substrates. The nanopits were seen to be significantly less adhesive than the flat substrates (p<0.001), which is coherent with previous observations of static cultures

The role of atopy in otitis media with effusion among primary school children: audiological investigation

Objective of this study is to value the role of atopy in otitis media with effusion (OME) in children attending primary school in Western Sicily focusing on the audiological characteristics among atopic and non atopic subjects suffering from OME. 310 children (5-6 years old) were screened by skin tests and divided into atopics (G1) and non atopics (G2). The samples were evaluated for OME by pneumatic otoscopy, tympanogram and acoustic reflex tests. The parameters considered were: documented persistent middle ear effusion by otoscopic examination for a minimum of 3 months; presence of B or C tympanogram; absence of ipsilateral acoustic reflex and a conductive hearing loss greater than 25 dB at any one of the frequencies from 250 Hz through 4 kHz. 56 children (18.06%) resulted atopics while 254 were non atopics. OME was identified in 24 atopic children and in 16 non atopic children for a total number of 40 children; the overall prevalence rate was 12.9% (42.85% for G1 and 6.30% for G2). OME was bilateral in 28 children (70%), with a significative difference between G1 (79.17%) and G2 (56.25%). The prevalence of B tympanogram was 70.59%, corresponding to 79.07% for G1 and 56% for G2. The mean air conduction pure tone was respectively 31.97 dB for G1 and 29.8 dB for G2. The prevalence value of OME in atopics children, also supported by the higher predominance of bilaterality, B tympanogram and hearing loss among this group, could suggest the important role of allergy in the pathogenesis of OME

Profilo familiare ed individuale come fattore predittivo delle performances verbo-acustiche pre impianto cocleare: esperienza personale

RAZIONALE L\u2019impianto cocleare \ue8 oramai il trattamento di scelta in tutti quei casi di sordit\ue0 preverbale severa/profonda permettendo di ottenere a distanza di 12 mesi una soglia uditiva amplificata integralmente all\u2019interno dello spettro acustico del parlato. Se ci\uf2 \ue8 dimostrato ampiamente dalla letteratura, \ue8 comunque vero che le aspettative familiari e le performances verbo/acustiche sono altamente variabili. Lo scopo del presente lavoro \ue8 quello di identificare tramite un accurato studio del profilo familiare ed individuale, tutte le possibili variabili in grado di influenzare i risultati. MATERIALI E METODI Le variabili oggetto del presente studio sono state suddivise in familiari ed individuali; tra le prime si \ue8 valutato: numero di familiari, titolo di studio, livello economico, attivit\ue0 lavorativa, aspettativa familiare; tra i fattori individuali: et\ue0 al momento della diagnosi di sordit\ue0, lunghezza della sordit\ue0, patologie associate, utilizzo delle protesi acustiche, terapia riabilitativa (sanitaria/privata), et\ue0 al momento dell\u2019impianto, tipo di impianto, strategia utilizzata, uso quotidiano dell\u2019impianto cocleare, stimolazione mono/bimodale. RISULTATI Le risposte ottenute dai tracciati audiometrici e dai questionari sulle capacit\ue0 percettive verbali messe in relazione con il profilo familiare ed individuale hanno evidenziato una correlazione significativa tra alto livello economico, terapia riabilitativa privata, uso quotidiano dell\u2019impianto cocleare e IT-MAIS, CAP e SIR (p>0.05). Di contro, a queste variabili familiari ed individuali sono corrisposte le aspettative familiari pre-impianto pi\uf9 elevate con il rischio pertanto di \u2018false aspettative\u2019. CONCLUSIONI Lo studio del profilo familiare e le caratteristiche individuali di un candidato all\u2019impianto cocleare possono essere uno strumento in pi\uf9 da utilizzare come fattori predittivi per non creare delle false aspettative in termini di performance uditive e di intelligibilit\ue0 nelle famiglie dei soggetti affetti da ipoacusia neurosensoriale bilaterale severa/profonda e candidati all\u2019impianto cocleare

DO AGRICULTURAL MARKET ADVISORY SERVICES BEAT THE MARKET? EVIDENCE FROM THE CORN AND SOYBEAN MARKETS OVER 1995-1998

The purpose of this paper is to address two basic performance questions for market advisory services: 1) Do market advisory services, on average, outperform an appropriate market benchmark? and 2) Do market advisory services exhibit persistence in their performance from year-to-year? Data on corn and soybean net price received for advisory services, as reported by the AgMAS Project, are available for the 1995, 1996, 1997 and 1998 crop years. Performance test results suggest that, on average, market advisory services exhibit a small ability to "beat the market" for the 1995 through 1998 corn and soybean crops. It is debatable whether the performance of advisory services also is economically significant. The predictability results provide little evidence that future advisory service pricing performance can be predicted from past performance.Marketing,