Otoacoustic Estimate of Astronauts' Intracranial Pressure Changes During Spaceflight.

Purpose: To investigate the potential correlation between prolonged exposure to microgravity on the International Space Station and increased intracranial fluid pressure, which is considered a risk factor for the astronauts' vision, and to explore the feasibility of using distortion product otoacoustic emissions as a non-invasive in-flight monitor for intracranial pressure changes.

Methods: Distortion product otoacoustic emission phase measurements were taken from both ears of five astronauts pre-flight, in-flight, and post-flight. These measurements served as indirect indicators of intracranial pressure changes, given their high sensitivity to middle ear transmission alterations.

Artificial Intelligence in Breast Imaging: A Special Focus on Advances in Digital Mammography & Digital Breast Tomosynthesis.

Breast cancer accounts for 30% of female cancers and is the second leading cause of cancerrelated deaths in women. The rate is rising at 0.4% per year.

Hearing attention and quality of listening in children with unilateral hearing loss with and without hearing aid.

Objective: To analyse hearing attention and quality of listening in a cohort of children affected by moderate to severe unilateral hearing loss, comparing a group of hearing aid users to children with no hearing aid.

Methods: Twenty-four children (12 hearing aid users, and 12 without hearing rehabilitation) underwent audiological evaluation with speech audiometry in quiet and noise, hearing attention tests, and the speech, spatial and quality of hearing questionnaire in the version for parents.

Results: Concerning speech audiometry in noise, in the most difficult condition no one in the unaided group achieved a normal speech recognition threshold score (0% 11.

The safety of sublingual immunotherapy, can the rare systemic reactions be prevented?

: The safety of subcutaneous immunotherapy (SCIT), and particularly the dramatic issue of fatal reactions, has been an obstacle that limited the implementation of a therapy with unique characteristics of action on the causes of allergy. The introduction of sublingual immunotherapy (SLIT) was aimed at solving safety problems while maintaining clinical efficacy.: For more than 20 years, SLIT has been based on allergen extracts in drops at low average doses.

Hyperacusis in Children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder: A Preliminary Study.

The association between hyperacusis and developmental disorders such as autism spectrum disorders has been extensively reported in the literature; however, the specific prevalence of hyperacusis in attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) has never been investigated. In this preliminary study, we evaluated the presence of hyperacusis in a small sample of children affected by ADHD compared to a control group of healthy children. Thirty normal hearing children with a diagnosis of ADHD and 30 children matched for sex and age were enrolled in the study.

Isolated auditory neuropathy at birth in congenital cytomegalovirus infection.

Background: Congenital cytomegalovirus (cCMV) infection is the most frequent non-genetic cause of sensorineural hearing-loss (SNHL) (i.e., hearing loss due to a cochlear and/or auditory nerve damage).

Genetic diversity of Candida albicans isolates recovered from hospital environments and patients with severe acquired brain injuries.

Although the epidemiology of pathogenic Candida species causing invasive human diseases is changing, Candida albicans still remains the most common cause of bloodstream infections worldwide. The propensity of this pathogen to cause infections is undoubtedly the result of its unique genetic plasticity that allow it to adapt and respond quickly to a myriad of changing conditions both in the host and in the environment. For this reason, we decided to investigate the genetic diversity of this important fungal pathogen in a particular category of patients with severe neurological deficits including the hospital environments where they are hospitalized.

Digestibility of Insect Meals for Nile Tilapia Fingerlings.

Insects are a valuable source of nutrients for fish, but little is known about their nutritional value for Nile tilapia fingerlings. To evaluate the nutritional value and energy apparent digestibility coefficient (ADC) of five insects for Nile Tilapia male fingerlings, 900 fish were distributed in 18 fiberglass conic tanks, in a completely randomized design, with six dietary treatments (control, meal (NCM) (Blattodea), larvae meal (ZMM) (Coleptera), meal (GPM) (Blattodea), meal (GAM) (Orthoptera) and larvae meal (TMM) (Coleptera)) and three replicates (tanks), each containing 50 fish. The control diet had no insect meal included and the other five treatments comprised 80% commercial diet and 20% test ingredient with 0.

[Atypical presentation of Spondylodiscitis by Kingella Kingae: a case report].

Infectious Spondylodiscitis is a rare infection in children. It is more frequent in patients under 6 years of age. We report the case of an 8-year-old patient with lumbar pain for 2 months, without fever.

Universal newborn hearing screening in the Lazio region, Italy.

Background: The introduction of Universal Newborn Hearing Screening (UNHS) programs has drastically contributed to the early diagnosis of hearing loss in children, allowing prompt intervention with significant results on speech and language development in affected children. UNHS in the Lazio region has been initially deliberated in 2012; however, the program has been performed on a universal basis only from 2015. The aim of this retrospective study is to present and discuss the preliminary results of the UNHS program in the Lazio region for the year 2016, highlighting the strengths and weaknesses of the program.

Multilocus Sequence Typing Reveals a New Cluster of Closely Related Genotypes in Italian Patients With Neurological Disorders.

is a pathogenic yeast that has emerged as an important cause of candidemia especially in elderly patients with hematological malignancies. Infections caused by this species are mainly reported from Latin America and Asian-Pacific countries although recent epidemiological data revealed that accounts for 6-16.4% of the bloodstream infections (BSIs) in Italy by representing a relevant issue especially for patients receiving long-term hospital care.

Development and Maintenance of Standardized Cross Setting Patient Assessment Data for Post-Acute Care: Summary Report of Findings from Alpha 1 Pilot Testing.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) contracted with the RAND Corporation to identify and/or develop standardized items to include in the post-acute care patient assessment instruments. RAND was tasked by CMS with developing and testing items to measure seven areas of health status for Medicare beneficiaries: (1) vision and hearing; (2) cognitive status; (3) depressed mood; (4) pain; (5) care preferences; (6) medication reconciliation; and (7) bladder and bowel continence. This article presents results of the first Alpha 1 feasibility test of a proposed set of items for measuring each of these health status areas.

Ultrastructure of neurovascular changes in human diabetic retinopathy.

The previous concept regarding diabetic retinopathy assigned a primary role to hyperglycemia-induced microvascular alterations, while neuronal and glial abnormalities were considered to be secondary to either ischemia or exudation. The aim of this study was to reveal the potential role of neuronal and glial cells in initial and advanced alterations of the retinopathy in human type 2 diabetes. Electron microscopy and histochemical studies were performed on 38 surgically removed human eyes (28 obtained from diabetic patients and 10 from non-diabetic patients).

Somatosensory Tinnitus: Correlation between Cranio-Cervico-Mandibular Disorder History and Somatic Modulation.

In a subpopulation of patients, tinnitus can be modulated by movements of the jaw or head and neck due to complex somatosensory-auditory interactions. In some of these subjects, tinnitus could be related to an underlying temporomandibular (TMJ) or craniocervical (NECK) dysfunction that, if correctly identified, could streamline treatment and increase chances of tinnitus improvement. However, it is still unclear whether somatic modulation of tinnitus could be used as a screening tool for identifying such patients.

Age and diabetes related changes of the retinal capillaries: An ultrastructural and immunohistochemical study.

Normal human aging and diabetes are associated with a gradual decrease of cerebral flow in the brain with changes in vascular architecture. Thickening of the capillary basement membrane and microvascular fibrosis are evident in the central nervous system of elderly and diabetic patients. Current findings assign a primary role to endothelial dysfunction as a cause of basement membrane (BM) thickening, while retinal alterations are considered to be a secondary cause of either ischemia or exudation.

Tinnitus Holistic Simplified Classification (THoSC): A New Assessment for Subjective Tinnitus, With Diagnostic and Therapeutic Implications.

Objective: One of the most debated topics in tinnitus is its standard and practical classification. The most popular classification distinguishes subjective from objective tinnitus. Other classifications are based on different features.

Audiological and radiological characteristics of a family with T961G mitochondrial mutation.

Objective: The aim of this study was to describe audiological and radiological characteristics, and other secondary aspects, in a family carrying a T961G mutation in the 12S rRNA mitochondrial gene.

Design: Case report.

Study Sample: Six members of a family participated in an audiological evaluation that included pure-tone audiometry, immittance tests, auditory brainstem responses (ABR), and otoacoustic emissions (OAE).

Modifications of auditory brainstem responses (ABR): observations in full-term and pre-term newborns.

Objective: In this study, we have evaluated by means of auditory brainstem responses (ABR), in a population derived from a newborn hearing screening protocol, some aspects of maturation of the auditory pathways in the first months after birth, and the possible repercussions on early treatment.

Materials And Methods: In this retrospective study newborns were recruited through our hearing screening program, and an ABR evaluation was performed on 339 newborns, that had risk factors or had failed the screening, or both. Such population was divided in two groups for statistical analysis purposes: full-term and pre-term.

A 2-year prospective follow-up study of the course of obsessive-compulsive disorder.

Background: Surprisingly little is known about the long-term course of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). This prospective study presents 2-year course findings, as well as predictors of course, from the Brown Longitudinal Obsessive Compulsive Study, the first comprehensive prospective investigation of the observational course of OCD in a large clinical sample.

Method: The sample included 214 treatment-seeking adults with DSM-IV OCD at intake who identified OCD as the most problematic disorder over their lifetime.

The health value and cost of care for major depression.

Background: Trade-offs between costs and outcomes are a reality of health-care decisions. Cost-effectiveness analyses can guide choices toward interventions with the most health benefit for the least cost but are limited because generic measures of health value are infrequently available in the literature and are expensive to collect.

Objective: We report on the application of a new approach to estimate the health value of alternative treatment patterns.

Are prisoner characteristics associated with therapeutic community treatment process?

The relationship between prisoner client characteristics and Therapeutic Community treatment process was examined in a male program (N = 164) and a female program (N = 195). Analyses were based on client reports on a multidimensional measure of treatment process and administrative data. Prisoner clients who are older or are poly-substance users had better Community Environment scores.

Affective and behavioral responses to health-related social control.

Social control has the potential to encourage engagement in a healthy lifestyle, but its effectiveness may depend on the nature of the influence attempt. Participants (N = 282) described a situation in which someone attempted to influence their health-related behavior. Experiencing positive social control was associated with a greater tendency to change the behavior and less ignoring/doing nothing, whereas negative social control was associated with a lesser tendency to change the behavior and more hiding of unhealthy behavior.

The dimensions of change in therapeutic community treatment instrument.

In this article, the authors describe the refinement and preliminary evaluation of the Dimensions of Change in Therapeutic Community Treatment Instrument (DCI), a measure of treatment process. In Study 1, a 99-item DCI, administered to a cross-sectional sample of substance abuse clients (N = 990), was shortened to 54 items on the basis of results from confirmatory factor analyses and item response theory invariance tests. In Study 2, confirmatory factor analyses of the 54-item DCI, completed by a longitudinal cohort of 993 clients, established and validated an 8-factor solution across 2 subpopulations (adults and adolescents) and 2 time points (treatment entry and 30-days postentry).

Cigarette smoking from adolescence to young adulthood: women's developmental trajectories and associates outcomes.

Objectives: This study aimed to compare 1,442 women with distinct developmental trajectories of smoking from ages 13-23 on important young adult outcomes at age 29 (e.g., education, income, mental and physical health, arrest history, drug and alcohol abuse), as well as early transitions to sexual intercourse, parenthood, and marriage.