Application of Patient Reported Outcome Measures in Cochlear Implant Patients: Implications for the Design of Specific Rehabilitation Programs.

INTRODUCTION: Cochlear implants (CI) have been developed to enable satisfying verbal communication, while music perception has remained in the background in both the research and technological development, thus making CI users dissatisfied by the experience of listening to music. Indications for clinicians to test and train music abilities are at a preliminary stage compared to the existing and well-established hearing and speech rehabilitation programs. The main aim of the present study was to test the utility of the application of two different patient reporting outcome (PRO) measures in a group of CI users. A secondary objective was to identify items capable of driving the indication and design specific music rehabilitation programs for CI patients. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A consecutive series of 73 CI patients referred to the Audiology Unit, University of Padova, was enrolled from November 2021 to May 2022 and evaluated with the audiological battery test and PRO measures: Musica e Qualità della Vita (MUSQUAV) and Nijmegen Cochlear Implant Questionnaire (NCIQ) Italian version. RESULTS: The reliability analysis showed good consistency between the different PRO measures (Cronbach's alpha = 0.873). After accounting for the epidemiological and clinical variables, the PRO measures showed a correlation with audiological outcomes in only one case (rho = -0.304; adj. p = 0.039) for NCIQ-T with the CI-pure tone average. A willingness for musical rehabilitation was present in 63% of patients (Rehab Factor, mean value of 0.791 ± 0.675). CONCLUSIONS: We support the role of the application of MUSQUAV and NCIQ to improve the clinical and audiological evaluation of CI patients. Moreover, we proposed a derivative item, called the rehab factor, which could be used in clinical practice and future studies to clarify the indication and priority of specific music rehabilitation programs.

Thermo-Mechanical Behaviour of Flax-Fibre Reinforced Epoxy Laminates for Industrial Applications.

The present work describes the experimental mechanical characterisation of a natural flax fibre reinforced epoxy polymer composite. A commercial plain woven quasi-unidirectional flax fabric with spun-twisted yarns is employed in particular, as well as unidirectional composite panels manufactured with three techniques: hand-lay-up, vacuum bagging and resin infusion. The stiffness and strength behaviours are investigated under both monotonic and low-cycle fatigue loadings. The analysed material has, in particular, shown a typical bilinear behaviour under pure traction, with a knee yield point occurring at a rather low stress value, after which the material tensile stiffness is significantly reduced. In the present work, such a mechanism is investigated by a phenomenological approach, performing periodical loading/unloading cycles, and repeating tensile tests on previously "yielded" samples to assess the evolution of stiffness behaviour. Infrared thermography is also employed to measure the temperature of specimens during monotonic and cyclic loading. In the first case, the thermal signal is monitored to correlate departures from the thermoelastic behaviour with the onset of energy loss mechanisms. In the case of cyclic loading, the thermoelastic signal and the second harmonic component are both determined in order to investigate the extent of elastic behaviour of the material.

Tinnitus aurium in persons with normal hearing: 55 years later.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of silence on the appearance of auditory phantom perceptions in normal-hearing adults, with specific emphasis on the influence of suggestion. STUDY DESIGN: Cross-sectional survey. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: Fifty-three normal-hearing young Caucasian adults were subjected to two 4-minute sessions in an anechoic sound chamber. In the first session the chamber was empty; in the second session the chamber contained a nonfunctioning loudspeaker. At the end of each session, subjects had to indicate which sounds they perceived from a list of 23 different sounds. RESULTS: When the loudspeaker was not present, 83 percent of the participants reported that they experienced at least one sound, and the percentage increased to 92 percent when the loudspeaker was present. CONCLUSION: These results confirm the emergence of tinnituslike perceptions in a nonclinical population in a silent environment and indicate that suggestive mechanisms play only a minor role in their generation.

The treatment of fusion and supernumerary maxillary central incisors: a case report.

Changes in tooth form may result from heredity, disease, or trauma. Fusion is a union of one or more teeth during development. Gemination means that two separate morphological units are created by division of the tooth germ. Many studies have attempted to discuss the prevalence of double teeth (fusion and gemination) among the persons tested by examining gender, distribution (maxilla or mandible), and whether the anomaly occurred bilaterally or unilaterally. This article describes a case in which one individual was diagnosed with both a supernumerary maxillary central incisor and fusion of a maxillary central incisor.

Salvaging a porcelain/metal bridge with a bonded porcelain-fused-to-metal overcasting.

Porcelain fractures from ceramo-metal fixed bridges often are troublesome for both dentist and patient, especially when problems occur in the anterior region. Repairing these fractures can be a challenge because the repair must be not only durable but also pleasing esthetically. While repair can be achieved with a composite resin material, matching the color and texture with the surrounding intact porcelain often is difficult and the bonding between the resin and porcelain is susceptible to marginal leakage, which may result in esthetic failure. This article reviews a technique designed to salvage a fractured porcelain-fused-to-metal bridge and return it to form and function by utilizing a porcelain-fused-to-metal overcasting.