Audiovisual integration in children listening to spectrally degraded speech

Purpose The study explored whether visual information improves speech identification in typically developing children with normal hearing when the auditory signal is spectrally degraded. Method Children (n = 69) and adults (n = 15) were presented with noise-vocoded sentences from the Children’s Co-ordinate Response Measure (Rosen, 2011) in auditory-only or audiovisual conditions. The number of bands was adaptively varied to modulate the degradation of the auditory signal, with the number of bands required for approximately 79% correct identification calculated as the threshold. Results The youngest children (4- to 5-year-olds) did not benefit from accompanying visual information, in comparison to 6- to 11-year-old children and adults. Audiovisual gain also increased with age in the child sample. Conclusions The current data suggest that children younger than 6 years of age do not fully utilize visual speech cues to enhance speech perception when the auditory signal is degraded. This evidence not only has implications for understanding the development of speech perception skills in children with normal hearing but may also inform the development of new treatment and intervention strategies that aim to remediate speech perception difficulties in pediatric cochlear implant users

Isotopic insight into the Proterozoic crustal evolution of the Rudall Province, Western Australia

© 2018 The Authors The Proterozoic assembly of Australia involved the convergence of three main Archean cratonic entities: the North, West and South Australian Cratons, and is recorded in the Proterozoic orogenic belts surrounding these continental nuclei. The Rudall Province of northern Western Australia is the sole exposure of a Paleo- to Mesoproterozoic orogen lying between the North and West Australian Cratons, and may record the effects of their amalgamation. We present new zircon O, U–Pb and Lu–Hf isotope data from magmatic rocks across the Rudall Province, to which we add existing isotope data to yield a crustal evolution overview. Hf evolution trends for the ca. 1804–1762 Ma Kalkan Supersuite, the ca. 1589–1549 Ma Krackatinny Supersuite and the ca. 1310–1286 Ma Camel Suite, indicate a significant input of Archean East Pilbara Basement material, albeit as a mix with more juvenile material, including a possible ca. 1900 Ma component. Zircon d18O data suggest a contribution from supracrustal material into the magmatic source of the Kalkan Supersuite, which may have been emplaced in an extensional setting. In contrast, the Krackatinny Supersuite and Camel Suite have mantle-like d18O which may reflect partial melting of deeper Archean sources. Geochemical data for the Krackatinny Supersuite shows geochemical trends implying that melting of thickened mafic crust progressed from deeper to shallower levels, possibly in a rift setting. Camel Suite K-rich leucogranites may also have been emplaced in an extensional setting towards the end of high-P metamorphism. All terranes of the Rudall Province are para-autochthonous with respect to the Pilbara Craton, with no requirement for arc-related magmatism. We outline two potential scenarios for the Paleo- to Mesoproterozoic geodynamic evolution of the Rudall Province: an early cratonic amalgamation between the West and North Australian Cratons ca. 1680 Ma followed by Mesoproterozoic intraplate events; or a later assembly ca. 1377–1275 Ma. We lean towards this later amalgamation scenario

Investigating tinnitus subgroups based on hearing-related difficulties

Purpose Meaningfully grouping individuals with tinnitus who share a common characteristics (ie, subgrouping, phenotyping) may help tailor interventions to certain tinnitus subgroups and hence reduce outcome variability. The purpose of this study was to test if the presence of tinnitus subgroups are discernible based on hearing-related comorbidities, and to identify predictors of tinnitus severity for each subgroup identified. Methods An exploratory cross-sectional study was used. The study was nested within an online survey distributed worldwide to investigate tinnitus experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic. The main outcome measure was the tinnitus Handicap Inventory- Screening Version. Results From the 3400 respondents, 2980 were eligible adults with tinnitus with an average age of 58 years (SD = 14.7) and 49% (n = 1457) being female. A three-cluster solution identified distinct subgroups, namely, those with tinnitus-only (n = 1306; 44%), those presenting with tinnitus, hyperacusis, hearing loss and/or misophonia (n = 795; 27%), and those with tinnitus and hearing loss (n = 879; 29%). Those with tinnitus and hyperacusis reported the highest tinnitus severity (M = 20.3; SD = 10.5) and those with tinnitus and no hearing loss had the lowest tinnitus severity (M = 15.7; SD = 10.4). Younger age and the presence of mental health problems predicted greater tinnitus severity for all groups (beta <= -0.1, P <= .016). Conclusion Further exploration of these potential subtypes are needed in both further research and clinical practice by initially triaging tinnitus patients prior to their clinical appointments based on the presence of hearing-related comorbidities. Unique management pathways and interventions could be tailored for each tinnitus subgroup

Geochronology of metasedimentary and igneous rocks in the Lamboo Province, Kimberley region: reassessing collisional geodynamic models

ISBN : 978-1-74168-964-8 / ISSN : 1834-2280U–Pb and Lu–Hf isotope data for detrital zircons from metasedimentary rocks of the Lamboo Province have been used to test collisional and intraplate geodynamic models for the Paleoproterozoic development of the Kimberley region. The 1870–1840 Ma turbiditic metasedimentary rocks deposited across the Western, Central and Eastern Zones of the Lamboo Province have remarkably consistent detrital zircon age signatures, with a dominant 1875–1860 Ma age component and a subsidiary c. 2500 Ma age component. These age components have similar Lu–Hf isotope values across all three zones, consistent with a common source for the sedimentary protoliths. The close similarities in provenance suggest that all three zones of the Lamboo Province developed in a continental intraplate setting prior to the 1837–1808 Ma Halls Creek Orogeny, which has previously been considered to represent a collision between an exotic Kimberley Craton and the proto- North Australian Craton. Comparable provenance signatures of coeval metasedimentary rocks across the broader North Australian Craton suggest that assembly of the main craton elements was complete prior to c. 1885 Ma

Geochronology of metasedimentary and igneous rocks in the Lamboo Province, Kimberley region: reassessing collisional geodynamic models

ISBN : 978-1-74168-964-8 / ISSN : 1834-2280U–Pb and Lu–Hf isotope data for detrital zircons from metasedimentary rocks of the Lamboo Province have been used to test collisional and intraplate geodynamic models for the Paleoproterozoic development of the Kimberley region. The 1870–1840 Ma turbiditic metasedimentary rocks deposited across the Western, Central and Eastern Zones of the Lamboo Province have remarkably consistent detrital zircon age signatures, with a dominant 1875–1860 Ma age component and a subsidiary c. 2500 Ma age component. These age components have similar Lu–Hf isotope values across all three zones, consistent with a common source for the sedimentary protoliths. The close similarities in provenance suggest that all three zones of the Lamboo Province developed in a continental intraplate setting prior to the 1837–1808 Ma Halls Creek Orogeny, which has previously been considered to represent a collision between an exotic Kimberley Craton and the proto- North Australian Craton. Comparable provenance signatures of coeval metasedimentary rocks across the broader North Australian Craton suggest that assembly of the main craton elements was complete prior to c. 1885 Ma

High grade metamorphism of sedimentary rocks during palaeozoic rift basin formation in Central Australia

Exhumation of middle and lower crustal rocks during the 450–320 Ma intraplate Alice Springs Orogeny in central Australia provides an opportunity to examine the deep burial of sedimentary successions leading to regional high-grade metamorphism. SIMS zircon U–Pb geochronology shows that high-grade metasedimentary units recording lower crustal pressures share a depositional history with unmetamorphosed sedimentary successions in surrounding sedimentary basins. These surrounding basins constitute parts of a large and formerly contiguous intraplate basin that covered much of Neoproterozoic to early Palaeozoic Australia. Within the highly metamorphosed Harts Range Group, metamorphic zircon growth at 480–460 Ma records mid-to-lower crustal (~ 0.9–1.0 GPa) metamorphism. Similarities in detrital zircon age spectra between the Harts Range Group and Late Neoproterozoic–Cambrian sequences in the surrounding Amadeus and Georgina basins imply that the Harts Range Group is a highly metamorphosed equivalent of the same successions. Maximum depositional ages for parts of the Harts Range Group are as low as ~ 520–500 Ma indicating that burial to depths approaching 30 km occurred ~ 20–40 Ma after deposition. Palaeogeographic reconstructions based on well-preserved sedimentary records indicate that throughout the Cambro–Ordovician central Australia was covered by a shallow, gently subsiding epicratonic marine basin, and provide a context for the deep burial of the Harts Range Group. Sedimentation and burial coincided with voluminous mafic magmatism that is absent from the surrounding unmetamorphosed basinal successions, suggesting that the Harts Range Group accumulated in a localised sub-basin associated with sufficient lithospheric extension to generate mantle partial melting. The presently preserved axial extent of this sub-basin is > 200 km. Its width has been modified by subsequent shortening associated with the Alice Springs Orogeny, but must have been > 80 km. Seismic reflection data suggest that the Harts Range Group is preserved within an inverted crustal-scale half graben structure, lending further support to the notion that it accumulated in a discrete sub-basin. Based on palaeogeographic constraints we suggest that burial of the Harts Range Group to lower crustal depths occurred primarily via sediment loading in an exceptionally deep Late Cambrian to Early Ordovician intraplate rift basin. High-temperature Ordovician deformation within the Harts Range Group formed a regional low angle foliation associated with ongoing mafic magmatism that was coeval with deepening of the overlying marine basin, suggesting that metamorphism of the Harts Range Group was associated with ongoing extension. The resulting lower crustal metamorphic terrain is therefore interpreted to represent high-temperature deformation in the lower levels of a deep sedimentary basin during continued basin development. If this model is correct, it indicates that regional-scale moderate- to high-pressure metamorphism of supracrustal rocks need not necessarily reflect compressional thickening of the crust, an assumption commonly made in studies of many metamorphic terrains that lack a palaeogeographic context.D.W. Maidment, M. Hand, I.S. William