Exploring the Hearing Improvement and Parental Stress in Children with Hearing Loss Using Hearing Aids or Cochlear Implants.

This study aims to describe the stress levels experienced by parents of children with hearing loss who use conventional hearing aids or cochlear implants, and to assess the correlation between parental stress and the auditory skills acquired by the children. The study was conducted at the Policlinic "Gaetano Martino" in Messina, evaluating data from 42 pairs of parents of children using hearing aids or cochlear implants. Parents completed the LittlEARS Auditory Questionnaire (LEAQ) and the Parental Stress Scale (PSS) 18 months after the initial device (hearing aid or cochlear implant) had been activated.

Role of the Medial Posterior Parietal Cortex in Orchestrating Attention and Reaching.

The interplay between attention, alertness, and motor planning is crucial for our manual interactions. To investigate the neural bases of this interaction and challenge the views that attention cannot be disentangled from motor planning, we instructed human volunteers of both sexes to plan and execute reaching movements while attending to the target, while attending elsewhere, or without constraining attention. We recorded reaction times to reach initiation and pupil diameter and interfered with the functions of the medial posterior parietal cortex (mPPC) with online repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation to test the causal role of this cortical region in the interplay between spatial attention and reaching.

Enhancing biochar production: A technical analysis of the combined influence of chemical activation (KOH and NaOH) and pyrolysis atmospheres (N/CO) on yields and properties of rice husk-derived biochar.

The production of biochar from biomass has received considerable interest due to its potential in environmental applications; however, optimizing biochar properties remains a major challenge. The objective of the present study was to investigate the synergistic effects of pyrolysis atmospheres (N and CO) and chemical activation (pre- and post-pyrolysis) with NaOH and KOH on the properties of biochar useful for its environmental applications. In this study rice husk and biochar were impregnated with KOH and NaOH before and after pyrolysis, which was carried out at 600 °C under N₂ and CO₂ atmosphere.

Investigation of Deficits in Auditory Emotional Content Recognition by Adult Cochlear Implant Users through the Study of Electroencephalographic Gamma and Alpha Asymmetry and Alexithymia Assessment.

Background/objectives: Given the importance of emotion recognition for communication purposes, and the impairment for such skill in CI users despite impressive language performances, the aim of the present study was to investigate the neural correlates of emotion recognition skills, apart from language, in adult unilateral CI (UCI) users during a music in noise (happy/sad) recognition task. Furthermore, asymmetry was investigated through electroencephalographic (EEG) rhythm, given the traditional concept of hemispheric lateralization for emotional processing, and the intrinsic asymmetry due to the clinical UCI condition.

Methods: Twenty adult UCI users and eight normal hearing (NH) controls were recruited.

Immediate versus conventional loading in short and ultra-short implants: a protocol design.

Background: After tooth extraction, inevitable resorption of the postextraction socket occurs. Placing an immediate implant does not fully preserve the bone integrity of the socket. Preservation techniques cannot avoid alveolar resorption.