The Listening Network and Cochlear Implant Benefits in Hearing-Impaired Adults

Older adults with mild or no hearing loss make more errors and expend more effort listening to speech. Cochlear implants (CI) restore hearing to deaf patients but with limited fidelity. We hypothesized that patient-reported hearing and health-related quality of life in CI patients may similarly vary according to age. Speech Spatial Qualities (SSQ) of hearing scale and Health Utilities Index Mark III (HUI) questionnaires were administered to 543 unilaterally implanted adults across Europe, South Africa, and South America. Data were acquired before surgery and at 1, 2, and 3 years post-surgery. Data were analyzed using linear mixed models with visit, age group (18–34, 35–44, 45–54, 55–64, and 65+), and side of implant as main factors and adjusted for other covariates. Tinnitus and dizziness prevalence did not vary with age, but older groups had more preoperative hearing. Preoperatively and postoperatively, SSQ scores were significantly higher (¿0.75–0.82) for those aged <45 compared with those 55+. However, gains in SSQ scores were equivalent across age groups, although postoperative SSQ scores were higher in right-ear implanted subjects. All age groups benefited equally in terms of HUI gain (0.18), with no decrease in scores with age. Overall, younger adults appeared to cope better with a degraded hearing before and after CI, leading to better subjective hearing performance.

Being a Self-Employed Older Woman: From Discrimination to Activism

This article presents an autobiographical account of an older woman’s lived experience of self-employment. Little is known about women who experience ongoing self-employment into their 50s and beyond. Shoshanna’s personal narrative describes her experiences and the challenges she has faced as she reflects upon her attempts to grow and sustain her business and the implications of ageism and gender inequality in laying a claim to entrepreneurship. The narrative proceeds to reflect on her activist work, as it is constructed through the creation of a social enterprise to support older people. Shoshanna’s narrative provides valuable insights into the intersection of age and gender in self-employment moving from discrimination to active support

Lithium suppression of tau induces brain iron accumulation and neurodegeneration

Lithium is a first-line therapy for bipolar affective disorder. However, various adverse effects, including a Parkinson-like hand tremor, often limit its use. The understanding of the neurobiological basis of these side effects is still very limited. Nigral iron elevation is also a feature of Parkinsonian degeneration that may be related to soluble tau reduction. We found that magnetic resonance imaging T2 relaxation time changes in subjects commenced on lithium therapy were consistent with iron elevation. In mice, lithium treatment lowers brain tau levels and increases nigral and cortical iron elevation that is closely associated with neurodegeneration, cognitive loss and parkinsonian features. In neuronal cultures lithium attenuates iron efflux by lowering tau protein that traffics amyloid precursor protein to facilitate iron efflux. Thus, tau- and amyloid protein precursor-knockout mice were protected against lithium-induced iron elevation and neurotoxicity. These findings challenge the appropriateness of lithium as a potential treatment for disorders where brain iron is elevated (for example, Alzheimer’s disease), and may explain lithium-associated motor symptoms in susceptible patients

Investigating the firm life-cycle theory - Australian SMEs in the ICT sector

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The growth of SMEs in the ICT sector in Australia and Hungary - initial analysis of empirical results

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The stage model of firm development: A conceptualization of SME growth

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External auditory canal atresia - Our methods to speed up procedure with maximal safety and efficacy

Introduction: External auditory canal atresia is a rare congenital disorder which affects one or both ears. With a conductive haring loss of 60 dB, even unilateral atresia affects hearing related social skills. Reconstruction surgery is difficult and hazardous and functional results may be insufficient thus making bone-conduction hearing aids the first-line therapy nowadays.Methods: Two 6-year-old children with unilateral cartilaginous and bony external auditory canal atresia were enrolled. Investigation involved physical examination, pure-tone and speech audiometry, and high-resolution computed tomography with three dimensional reconstructions. Reconstruction surgery from retroauricular approach comprised maximal enlargement of the tympanic and mastoid cavities while the facial nerve canal was preserved. The cavities were closed with an adapted conchal cartilage, the medial part of which was made thinner to serve as a tympanic membrane.Results: Postoperative period and facial nerve function were normal. Hearing improvement reached the level above the social threshold, with which the subjects were absolutely satisfied. The reconstructed auditory canal remained stable and widely patent during the follow-up period of 1 year. Conclusion: The authors highlight that surgical reconstruction of the external auditory canal is safe and effective and involves reasonably short surgical time. Stable audiological benefits improve patients' satisfaction and quality of life without the necessity of hearing aids. The procedure is essentially assisted by careful preoperative imaging techniques and intraoperative facial nerve monitoring. Further improvement in hearing levels can be reached in a second sit by thinning down and readapting the conchal cartilage which serves as a tympanic membrane.Supported by: clinical associatesDer Erstautor gibt keinen Interessenkonflikt an

Effect of different doses of prostaglandin on the area of corpus luteum, the largest follicle and progesterone concentration in the dairy cow

Lactating dairy cows with a mature corpus luteum (CL) (diameter of greater than or equal to17 mm determined by ultrasonography) and having a follicle with a diameter of 10 mm (n = 49) were randomly assigned to three groups. The first group was treated with a single dose of exogenous prostaglandin (25 mg), while the second group was treated with 35 mg on day 0, and the third group served as control in order to evaluate the effect of rectal manipulation on the CL during ultrasonographic examination. Blood samples were collected daily for analysing progesterone (P4) concentrations. In group 1 the incidence of oestrus and artificial insemination (AI) in 10 days after treatment was 95% (19 of 20). The conception rate was 31.6%, and the average time to oestrus after treatment was 3.7 day. In group 2 the incidence of oestrus and A.I. was 84.2% (16/19). The conception rate was 31.2%, and the average time to oestrus after treatment was 2.8 day. In the untreated group only two cows (2/10) exhibited oestrus during the examined period and none of them became pregnant. There were no significant differences between the two treated groups in terms of reduction in the area of CL and P4 concentrations and of an increase in the area of the dominant follicles. At the same time, the decrease in the percentage changes relative to the area of CL and to the concentrations of P4 were statistically significant in both treated groups