Frequency reallocation based on cochlear place frequencies in cochlear implants: a pilot study

Purpose: The aim of this study is to evaluate speech perception outcomes after a frequency reallocation performed through the creation of an anatomically based map obtained with Otoplan®, a tablet-based software that allows the cochlear duct length to be calculated starting from CT images. Methods: Ten postlingually deafened patients who underwent cochlear implantation with MED-EL company devices from 2015 to 2019 in the Tertiary referral center University Hospital of Verona have been included in a retrospective study. The postoperative CT scans were evaluated with Otoplan®; the position of the intracochlear electrodes was obtained, an anatomical mapping was carried out and then it was submitted to the patients. All patients underwent pure tonal and speech audiometry before and after the reallocation and the audiological results were processed considering the Speech Recognition Threshold (SRT), the Speech Awareness Threshold (SAT) and the Pure Tone Average (PTA). The differences in the PTA, SAT and SRT values before and after the reallocation were determined. The results were statistically processed using the software Stata with a significance value of α < 0.05. Results: The mean values of SRT (61.25 dB versus 51.25 dB) and SAT (49 dB versus 41 dB) were significantly lower (p: 0.02 and p: 0.04, respectively) after the reallocation. No significant difference was found between PTA values (41.5 dB versus 39.25 dB; p: 0.18). Conclusions: Our preliminary results demonstrate better speech discrimination and rapid adaptation in implanted postlingually deaf patients after anatomic mapping and subsequent frequency reallocation

A 10-year experience in preoperative ultrasound imaging for parotid glands’ benign neoformations

Salivary gland neoplasms represent less than 4% of all head and neck lesions, being 80% in the parotid gland and usually benign. Imaging plays a key role in the evaluation of parotid gland masses. Ultrasound is cheap, with an excellent resolution and a safe real time assessment making it an ideal first evaluation option. Conversely, MRI is considered a second-line pre-surgery exam used to determine the location, the extension and the signal features of a parotid lesion. Both US and MRI are poorly reliable for predicting histology, therefore a fine-needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) is usually needed. In our retrospective study, we examined 263 patients with parotid diseases and a FNAC positive for a benign neoplasm, who underwent surgery between 2010 and 2020, in the departments of Otorhinolaryngology and Maxillofacial surgery in Verona. We compared a group of 126 patients preoperatively evaluated with ultrasound and a control group of 137 patients studied through third level imaging (usually MRI). In our case series, both third level imaging and US were used in equal measure, despite the lesion size. We found the recurrence rate to be almost the same between the two diagnostic methods and we saw that the patients studied through third level preoperative imaging had a higher complication rate and a worse facial nerve outcome. In our opinion, for patients with a FNAC positive for benign lesion the exclusive use of ultrasound imaging provides enough information to study the neoplasm while allowing for a faster and cheaper preoperative evaluation

Directive Ultra-Wideband Planar Antennas

Two different techniques for Directive Ultra-Wideband Planar Antennas were presented throughout chapter 1: the operation of a novel bow-tie antenna with high front-to-back ratio and directivity and a differential planar UWB antenna characterized by higher gain (more than 11 dB around 7 GHz) with respect to conventional printed radiators has been demonstrated

Modeling of enhanced field confinement and scattering by optical wire antennas.

We describe the application of full-wave and semi-analytical numerical tools for the modeling of optical wire antennas, with the aim of providing novel guidelines for analysis and design. The concept of antenna impedance at optical frequencies is reviewed by means of finite-element simulations, whereas a surface-impedance integral equation is derived in order to perform an accurate and efficient calculation of the current distribution, and thereby to determine the equivalent-circuit parameters. These are introduced into simple circuits models, directly borrowed from radio frequency, which are applied in order to model the phenomena of enhanced field confinement at the feed gap and light scattering by optical antennas illuminated by plane waves

Effect of feed restriction timing on live performance, breast myopathy occurrence, and muscle fiber degeneration in 2 broiler chicken genetic lines

During recent years, research on meat quality in poultry has aimed to evaluate the presence and consequences of breast myopathies as well as the factors which can affect their occurrence by modifying the growth rate. A total of 900 broiler chickens were reared until slaughter (48 D) to evaluate the effect of 2 genetic lines (A vs. B) and feeding plans (ad libitum [AL], early restricted [ER], from 13 to 23 D of age, and late restricted [LR], from 27 to 37 D of age; restriction rate: 80%) on performance, meat quality, and breast muscle myopathies. Calsequestrin and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) expressions, and muscle fiber degeneration (MFD) were recorded at 22, 36, and 48 D. Chickens in the AL treatment had greater final live (P < 0.01) and carcass weights and proportion of pectoralis major muscle (P = 0.04) compared to chickens in the LR treatment, whereas chickens in the ER treatment had intermediate final live (3,454 g) and carcass weights, and proportion of pectoralis major muscle (25.6%). Chickens of line A were heavier than chickens of line B (P < 0.001), and had a greater feed conversion rate. Chickens of line A also had a greater dressing out percentage (P < 0.001), but a lower proportion of pectoralis major muscle (P = 0.04), as well as a greater meat pH (P < 0.001), meat cooking losses (P < 0.01), and shear force of the pectoralis major muscle (P = 0.03). Calsequestrin and VEGF mRNA were significantly lower in ER and LR chickens compared to AL chickens after feed restriction and during refeeding (P < 0.05). MFD scores increased with chicken age (P < 0.001) and differed between genetic lines (P < 0.001). Neither feeding plan nor genetic line affected the occurrence of white striping or wooden breast condition

Repairing folding-defective \u3b1-sarcoglycan mutants by CFTR correctors, a potential therapy for Limb Girdle Muscular Dystrophy 2D

Limb Girdle Muscular Dystrophy type 2D (LGMD2D) is a rare autosomal-recessive disease, affecting striated muscle, due to mutation of SGCA, the gene coding for \u3b1-sarcoglycan. Nowadays more than 50 different SGCA missense mutations have been reported. They are supposed to impact folding and trafficking of \u3b1-sarcoglycan because the defective polypeptide, although potentially functional, is recognized and disposed of by the quality control of the cell. The secondary reduction of \u3b1-sarcoglycan partners, \u3b2-, \u3b3- and \u3b4-sarcoglycan, disrupts a key membrane complex that, associated to dystrophin, contributes to assure sarcolemma stability during muscle contraction. The complex deficiency is responsible for muscle wasting and the development of a severe form of dystrophy.Here, we show that the application of small molecules developed to rescue \u394F508-CFTR trafficking, and known as CFTR correctors, also improved the maturation of several \u3b1-sarcoglycan mutants that were consequently rescued at the plasma membrane. Remarkably, in myotubes from a patient with LGMD2D, treatment with CFTR correctors induced the proper re-localization of the whole sarcoglycan complex, with a consequent reduction of sarcolemma fragility. Although the mechanism of action of CFTR correctors on defective \u3b1-sarcoglycan needs further investigation, this is the first report showing a quantitative and functional recovery of the sarcoglycan-complex in human pathologic samples, upon small molecule treatment. It represents the proof of principle of a pharmacological strategy that acts on the sarcoglycan maturation process and we believe it has a great potential to develop as a cure for most of the patients with LGMD2D

Research ethics in an unethical world: the politics and morality of engaged research

This article explores ethical dilemmas in researching the world of work. Recent contributions to WES have highlighted challenges for engaged research. Based on the emancipatory epistemologies of Bourdieu, Gramsci and Burawoy, the authors examine moral challenges in workplace fieldwork, question the assumptions of mainstream ethics discourses and seek to identify an alternative approach. Instead of an ethics premised on a priori, universal precepts that treasures academic neutrality, this article recognises a morality that responds to the social context of research with participation and commitment. The reflection in this study is based on fieldwork conducted in the former Soviet Union. Transformation societies present challenges to participatory ethnography but simultaneously provide considerable opportunities for developing an ethics of truth. An approach that can guide engaged researchers through social conflict’s ‘messy’ reality should hinge on loyalty to the emancipation struggles of those engaged in it