The intelligibility of speech produced by young children with cochlear implants

Objective: The purpose of the current study was to examine the intelligibility of speech produced by young children with cochlear implants. Specifically the questions posed was, does intelligibility vary across different sampling methods, by post-implantation age, and by listener familiarity? Participants: Six preschool children participated in the study. These children were selected because they met the following criteria: 1) had pre-lingual deafness; 2) had severe to profound binaural hearing loss; 3) fitted with either a Clarion or Nucleus-24 multi-channel cochlear implant; 4) used verbal communication rather than signing during treatment; 5) had a receptive vocabulary within 2 standard deviations of the mean according to their age; 6) were implanted before age 4 years; and 7) had postimplantation age of at least 18 months. Method: Data was gathered through a conversational speech sample, the Children\u27s Speech Intelligibility Measure (CSIM), and rating scales. To assess percent intelligible in conversational speech, a thirty-minute language sample was collected and audio taperecorded. Two experienced listeners, who were unfamiliar with the speakers, listened to each tape individually and orthographically transcribed the samples. The listeners then developed one final transcription per child through a consensus method. Percent intelligible in conversation was then determined using a procedure described by Shriberg (1986). The CSIM was used to obtain percent intelligible in single words. Each child imitated 50 words. Their utterances were audio taped and played back to a panel of 3 inexperienced listeners. There were 18 listeners (3 per sample) total. The listeners were asked to identify the word they thought the child said. In addition, rating scales were filled out by both parents and the primary clinician of each child. These individuals reported how much they understood and how much they believed others understood of the child\u27s speech. Data Analysis: Spearman Rank-Order Correlation Coefficients were used to determine relationships among the variables. Results: The only factor to reach statistical significance was post-implantation age. The failure to find other statistically significant correlations may have been due to the small sample size used in the current study

Time-lapse 3-D measurements of a glucose biosensor in multicellular spheroids by light sheet fluorescence microscopy in commercial 96-well plates

Light sheet fluorescence microscopy has previously been demonstrated on a commercially available inverted fluorescence microscope frame using the method of oblique plane microscopy (OPM). In this paper, OPM is adapted to allow time-lapse 3-D imaging of 3-D biological cultures in commercially available glass-bottomed 96-well plates using a stage-scanning OPM approach (ssOPM). Time-lapse 3-D imaging of multicellular spheroids expressing a glucose Förster resonance energy transfer (FRET) biosensor is demonstrated in 16 fields of view with image acquisition at 10 minute intervals. As a proof-of-principle, the ssOPM system is also used to acquire a dose response curve with the concentration of glucose in the culture medium being varied across 42 wells of a 96-well plate with the whole acquisition taking 9 min. The 3-D image data enable the FRET ratio to be measured as a function of distance from the surface of the spheroid. Overall, the results demonstrate the capability of the OPM system to measure spatio-temporal changes in FRET ratio in 3-D in multicellular spheroids over time in a multi-well plate format

Caracterização molecular dos isolados 344 e 1644 de Bacillus thuringiensis (Berliner), eficazes no controle da lagarta-do-cartucho Spodoptera frugiperda (J.E. Smith).

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Molecular characterization of the Bacillus thuringiensis (BERLINER) strains 344 and 1644, efficient against fall armyworm Spodoptera frugiperda (J. E. SMITH).

Bacillus thuringiensis (Berliner) strains 344 and 1644 belonging to the CNPMS/Embrapa (Maize and Sorghum National Research Center) Microorganism Bank, located in Sete Lagoas, MG, showed to be highly efficient in controlling fall armyworm, Spodotpera frugiperda (J.E. Smith). Strains 344 and 1644 were isolated from soil samples originated from Iguassu Falls and Rolândia, respectively, Paraná State, Brazil. While strain 344 harbors cry1Ab, cry1B, cry1E and cry1Fb genes, strain 1644 showed cry1B, cry1C, and cry1D and cry1Fb genes. The strain 344 crystal has bipyramidal shape and showed LC50 equal to 8.21 x 106 spores/mL. Strain 1644 has cuboid crystal and showed LC50 equal to 2.07 x 106 spores/mL. Comparative analysis of protein profile, plasmid and amplification with primers ERIC allowed the differentiation of the evaluated strains

Sugar In School Breakfasts: A School District\u27s Perspective

A recent series of emails and phone calls from parents concerned about the sugar content of Houston Independent School District’s school breakfasts revealed that a new issue had risen to the surface. This prompted us to look closely at the sugar content of our breakfast items. School districts participating in the National School Breakfast Program follow a strict set of nutritional regulations set forth by the USDA under the Healthy Hunger Free Kids Act (HHFKA) of 2010 in response to the childhood obesity epidemic. HHFKA made significant changes to the breakfast meal pattern, but did not set standards for the sugar content. Whether this is an oversight or the authors of the law intentionally did not limit sugar, the result is the same: lower fat, higher carbohydrate school breakfast meals. Herein, we would like to provide the perspective of a school food service organization concerning sugar in breakfast, and present the challenges and efforts made to provide students with healthy, well-balanced school breakfasts

PENERAPAN TEKNOLOGI PENGOLAHAN MANISAN BUAH PADA KELOMPOK IBU-IBU WKRI DI KELURAHAN TAAS KECAMATAN TIKALA KOTA MANADO

Manisan adalah salah satu jenis makanan ringan dari buah-buahan dan sayuran yang diolah menggunakan gula pasir. Produk manisan buah sangat disukai oleh masyarakat karena rasanya yang manis bercampur asam dengan rasa khas buah. Teknologi pengolahan manisan buah merupakan salah satu bentuk usaha yang diterapkan selain untuk pengawetan juga untuk menambah penganekaragaman bentuk penyajian dan meningkatkan nilai tambah buah dari segi ekonomi.Tujuan Program Kemitraan Masyarakat di kelurahan Taas ini adalah untuk memberikan pengetahuan mengenai teknologi tepat guna pengolahan buah-buahan seperti tomat,nenas, dan pepaya menjadi manisan. Juga mendorong peserta dalam meningkatkan kreativitas dan meningkatkan ekonomi keluarga dengan ketrampilan yang diperoleh dari kegiatan ini. Pelaksanaan kegiatan program kemitraan masyarakat berupa penyuluhan dan pelatihan Teknologi Tepat Guna Pengolahan Manisan Buah. Pada kegiatan ini peserta diberikan materi pengetahuan tentang proses pengolahan manisan buah. Khalayak sasaran dari kegiatan ini adalah ibu-ibu WKRI kelurahan Taas kecamatan Tikala kota Manado. Target luaran yang dicapai dalam kegiatan ini yaitu: peserta mampu menerapkan teknologi pengolahan manisan buah dan mampu menghasilkan produk olahan yang bernilai ekonomi. Teknologi pengolahan manisan buah dapat dilakukan dalam skala kecil ataupun besar sehingga dapat dikembangkan menjadi wirausaha.______________________________________________________________________________Kata kunci: manisan buah, ibu-ibu kelurahan Taa

The influence of a silvopastoral system on carbon stocks in the Brazilian Savanna

Climate changes have caused wide ranges of adversities. The deforestation process, resulting in degradated pastures, is one of the main sources of greenhouse gases. Trees in pastures, constituting silvopastoral systems, have the potential to reduce greenhouse gases levels in the atmosphere. Aimed at evaluating trees’ contribution to carbon sink, the present experiment was conducted in Lagoa Santa, Minas Gerais State, Brazil. The system has been under development since 1984, through the natural regeneration of pioneer trees of the species Zeyheria tuberculosa Vell. Bur, a native species of the Brazilian savanna. Tree density was 160 ha-1 and the grass forage chosen was Brachiaria brizantha cv. Marandu. The total carbon stocked in the silvopastoral systems was 69,536.42 kg ha-1: 13,995.04 kg, in the trees, 2,430.78 kg in the annual trees litterfall, and 53,110.60 kg in a depth of 0 to 40 cm of soil. Soil carbon stock in the monoculture was 61,081.25 kg ha-1 of carbon. The apparent increase in the silvopastoral systems carbon stocks demonstrates the possibility of conciliation between animal production and greenhouse gases reduction.Universidad Nacional de La Plat