Preoperative factors influencing the rate and speed of available communication ability in prelingual paediatric cochlear implantation recipients.

BACKGROUND: Few studies have assessed factors influencing the rate and speed of good outcomes in cochlear implantation (CI) children. OBJECTIVE: To analyse the factors influencing the rate and speed of available communication in CI children. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The study involved 316 children. The categories of auditory performance (CAP) and speech intelligibility rating (SIR) were used to evaluate outcomes. Multivariable proportional Cox regression models were established to analyse the effect of preoperative factors. RESULTS: Five variables were entered into the three multivariable models of CAP ≥6, SIR ≥4 and concurrent CAP ≥6 and SIR ≥4. Older age at implantation was a significant poor factor in the three models with estimated hazard ratios (HRs) of .541, .629, and .554, respectively. Another negative factor was poor parental literacy for the three outcomes (HR .639, .638, and .542, respectively). More than 3 months of rehabilitation from institutes had a positive effect on CAP ≥6 and concurrent CAP ≥6 and SIR ≥4 (HR 1.626 and 1.667, respectively). CONCLUSIONS AND SIGNIFICANCE: Older age at implantation and poor parental literacy were negative factors. Receiving regular rehabilitation from institutes pre-CI could help the children gain available communication ability earlier on.

Developmental Auditory and Speech-Language Performance in Pediatric Cochlear Implantation Recipients with Stable White Matter Lesions.

To analyze the association between stable asymptomatic white matter lesions (WMLs) and the cochlear implantation (CI) effect in congenitally deaf children, 43 CI children with stable asymptomatic WMLs determined via preoperative assessments and 86 peers with normal white matter were included. Outcome measurements included closed-set Mandarin Chinese (tone, disyllable, and sentence) recognition tests; categories of auditory performance (CAPs); and speech intelligibility rating (SIR) scales at 1, 12, and 24 months post-CI. Generalized estimating equation (GEE) models were used to analyze the association between WML and outcomes. In the WML group (control group), median CAP and SIR scores were 5 (5) and 4 (4) with mean rates of tone, disyllable, and sentence recognition of 84.8% (89.0%), 87.9% (89.7%), and 85.8% (88.0%) at 24 months post-CI, respectively. Auditory and speech performance improved significantly with implant use. Compared to their peers in the control group, for the participants with stable asymptomatic WMLs, auditory and speech abilities were not significantly different (p > 0.05). Stable asymptomatic WMLs might not be associated with poor auditory and speech intelligibility post-CI, which indicates that it is feasible to use comprehensive assessments to screen suitable candidates with WMLs who are likely to present with a good prognosis.

[Research advances on mechanism and lesion location of vertical nystagmus].

Vertical nystagmus is a vertical nystagmus caused by structural abnormalities and/or dysfunction of the central vestibular system and observed in situ in the center of the eyeball. There are two kinds of nystagmus （UBN） and downbeat nystagmus （DBN） according to the direction of nystagmus. The diagnosis of UBN is mainly made by naked eye or electronystagmography/viewer. It is a common neuro-ophthalmologic sign in the field of vestibular medicine. In this paper, the mechanism of vertical nystagmus formation and the location of lesions were briefly introduced, in order to provide help for the diagnosis and treatment of Vertigo.

Sulfur (VI) Fluoride Exchange Polymerization for Large Conjugate Chromophores and Functional Main-Chain Polysulfates with Nonvolatile Memory Performance.

Sulfur (VI) fluoride exchange (SuFEx) reactions can be applied not only in organic click synthesis, but also in the preparation of functional main-chain polymers. In this work, four functional main-chain polysulfates (PNT-PS, NPNT-PS, PHF-PS, and TPE-PS) are synthesized in high yield using the SuFEx reaction at room temperature. The polysulfates exhibit satisfactory thermal stability and solution processability. They are used as the active layer for memory devices (ITO/PNT-PS/Al, ITO/NPNT-PS/Al, ITO/PHF-PS/Al, and ITO/TPE-PS/Al). I-V measurements show that ITO/PNT-PS/Al and ITO/NPNT-PS/Al exhibit stable flash-memory (write-read-erase) behavior, while ITO/PHF-PS/Al and ITO/TPE-PS/Al exhibit WORM (write once read many) behavior. Our studies provide a feasible and efficient synthetic methodology for the preparation of new memory materials.

Increase of circulating cholesterol in vitamin D deficiency is linked to reduced vitamin D receptor activity via the Insig-2/SREBP-2 pathway.

SCOPE: Individuals deficient in vitamin D are more likely to have higher circulating cholesterol levels and cardiovascular diseases. However, the underlying mechanisms are still unclear. METHODS AND RESULTS: A cross-sectional survey, animal study, and in vitro experiments were conducted to investigate the effect and mechanisms of vitamin D deficiency on endogenous cholesterol metabolism. We demonstrated that vitamin D deficiency was positively associated with an increase of total serum cholesterol and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels in northern Chinese individuals. The vitamin D deficiency-induced increase of cholesterol concentration was mainly due to enhanced cholesterol biosynthesis rather than reduced catabolism. Under vitamin D deficiency, the transcriptional activity of vitamin D receptor (VDR) was decreased, leading to the downregulation of insulin-induced gene-2 (Insig-2) expression and thus its inhibitory role on sterol regulatory element-binding protein 2 activation; 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-coenzyme A reductase expression was accordingly increased. Vitamin D3 was protective against vitamin D deficiency-induced cholesterol increase by maintaining the transcriptional activity of VDR and Insig-2 expression. CONCLUSION: Vitamin D deficiency is associated with the increase of circulating cholesterol in the people of northern China by enhancing hepatic cholesterol biosynthesis, which was linked to the reduction of transcriptional activity of VDR.