Experimental Study for the Sorption and Diffusion of Supercritical Carbon Dioxide into Polyetherimide.

Supercritical carbon dioxide (SCCO) is a non-toxic and environmentally friendly fluid and has been used in polymerization reactions, processing, foaming, and plasticizing of polymers. Exploring the behavior and data of SCCO sorption and dissolution in polymers provides essential information for polymer applications. This study investigated the sorption and diffusion of SCCO into polyetherimide (PEI).

Instruments for evaluating the parental emotional status and ecological support systems among parents who considered cochlear implantation for their children with hearing loss: A scoping review.

Objectives: Parents of children diagnosed with severe-to-profound sensorineural hearing loss may experience a range of emotions owing to a lack of knowledge and experience in dealing with such children. However, most audiology clinics only attend to children with deaf and hard of hearing (DHH) and not their parents. Thus, parents' emotional and support needs are frequently excluded from the intervention sessions, making their own needs invisible.

Cross-modal digit span and vocabulary proficiency in deaf or hard-of-hearing children.

This study aims to examine the relationship between vocabulary proficiency and short-term memory capacity in deaf or hard-of-hearing (DHH) children. We test the hypothesis that the relationship between vocabulary skills and digit span performance could be strengthened when the digit span task encompasses cross-modal integration processes. A group of DHH children performed two types of auditory digit span tasks.

Impact of Hearing Aids on Language Outcomes in Preschool Children With Mild Bilateral Hearing Loss.

This study aimed to investigate the role of hearing aid (HA) usage in language outcomes among preschool children aged 3-5 years with mild bilateral hearing loss (MBHL). The data were retrieved from a total of 52 children with MBHL and 30 children with normal hearing (NH). The association between demographical, audiological factors and language outcomes was examined.

Effect of sample length on MLU in Mandarin-speaking hard-of-hearing children.

This study investigated the impact of language sample length on mean length of utterance (MLU) and aimed to determine the minimum number of utterances required for a reliable MLU. Conversations were collected from Mandarin-speaking, hard-of-hearing and typical-hearing children aged 16-81 months. The MLUs were calculated using sample sizes ranging from 25 to 200 utterances.

Hearing aid wear time and its impact on vocabulary in preschoolers with moderately severe to profound hearing loss.

Objective: This study aimed to explore how the consistency of hearing aid (HA) use impacts vocabulary performance in children with moderately severe to profound hearing loss and determine the amount of HA use time associated with better vocabulary outcomes.

Design: Personal wear time percentage (WTP) was an indicator of HA use consistency, and the information on HA wear time was collected from both parent reports and datalogs. Pearson's correlations were performed to investigate the associations between hearing loss severity, WTP and vocabulary performance.

Bio-Based PLA/PBS/PBAT Ternary Blends with Added Nanohydroxyapatite: A Thermal, Physical, and Mechanical Study.

The physical and mechanical properties of novel bio-based polymer blends of polylactic acid (PLA), poly(butylene succinate) (PBS), and poly (butylene adipate-co-terephthalate) (PBAT) with various added amounts of nanohydroxyapatite (nHA) were investigated in this study. The formulations of PLA/PBS/PBAT/nHA blends were divided into two series, A and B, containing 70 or 80 wt% PLA, respectively. Samples of four specimens per series were prepared using a twin-screw extruder, and different amounts of nHA were added to meet the regeneration needs of bone graft materials.

Does the duration matter? Effect of cochlear implantation on language development in Mandarin-speaking children with hearing loss.

Objective: Several studies have shown that cochlear implantation (CI) can influence language development in children with severe-to-profound hearing loss. However, whether the age of implantation and duration of CI use influence language development remains unclear, particularly in Mandarin-speaking children with hearing loss. Therefore, this study investigated the effects of CI-related variables on language development in these children.

Perspectives and performance changes of parents in aural-oral rehabilitation: From in-person to telepractice.

Introduction: The coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic has reinforced the necessity and importance of telepractice. Although studies suggest frameworks to facilitate telepractice implementation, how parents learn related therapeutic skills via telepractice remains unexplored. The purpose of this study was to explore the perspectives and performance changes of parents with children enrolled in aural-oral rehabilitation who transition from in-person sessions to telepractice.

Children With Unilateral Hearing Loss After Newborn Hearing Screening in Taiwan.

Purpose: We explored the intervention characteristics and language outcomes of children with unilateral hearing loss (UHL) in Taiwan after the implementation of universal newborn hearing screening (UNHS) to highlight changes in attitudes and actions toward hearing-related treatments.

Method: Data of 132 children with UHL in birth cohorts from 2012 to 2019 were included. This retrospective study examined differences in age at identification, hearing aid (HA) fitting, and seeking supportive services.

Determination of language performance by discriminant function analysis in Mandarin-speaking preschoolers with auditory neuropathy spectrum disorder.

Objective: Characteristics of the audiological performance of children with auditory neuropathy spectrum disorder (ANSD) have been identified; however, studies regarding factors influencing their language development, especially those related to aural-oral rehabilitation, are relatively few. This study aimed to investigate classification functions among the factors regarding audiological, interventional (rehabilitation) and demographic variables that can help determine group membership in language performance for Mandarin-speaking preschoolers with ANSD.

Methods: Children with ANSD aged 3-6 years (n = 27) enrolled in an auditory-verbal therapy were recruited.

Intestinal microbiota modulates adrenomedullary response through Nod1 sensing in chromaffin cells.

The intestinal microbiota closely interacts with the neuroendocrine system and exerts profound effects on host physiology. Here, we report that nucleotide-binding oligomerization domain 1 (Nod1) ligand derived from intestinal bacteria modulates catecholamine storage and secretion in mouse adrenal chromaffin cells. The cytosolic peptidoglycan receptor Nod1 is involved in chromogranin A (Chga) retention in dense core granules (DCGs) in chromaffin cells.

Measurement of intact quantal packet of transmitters released from single nerve terminal by loose-patch amperometry.

Neuronal information is majorly encoded chemically at synapses and the elementary unit of synaptic transmission is the contents of neurotransmitter released from single vesicle. However, the contents of quantal neurotransmitter have never been precisely estimated at synapses, which largely prevent our understanding the nature of quantal neurotransmitter release and its impact on neuronal information processing. In order to break through the technical bottleneck of precisely counting quantal neurotransmitter molecules, we developed a new approach in combination of electrophysiology and electrochemistry to measure intact quantal content of single vesicles.

Developing new scales for assessing parents' aural and oral rehabilitation skills to interact with children with hearing loss.

Objective: Scales for evaluating the teaching and behavioural skills of parents enrolled in aural and oral rehabilitation programs for children with hearing loss are lacking. This study developed and validated scales for assessing parental teaching and behavioural skills of those parents for use in guiding their child to develop language and communication skills.

Design: Scales were constructed and evaluated using exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis.

Loss of Dysbindin Implicates Synaptic Vesicle Replenishment Dysregulation as a Potential Pathogenic Mechanism in Schizophrenia.

The schizophrenia-susceptibility gene, dystrobrevin-binding protein 1 (DTNBP1), encodes the dysbindin protein and mediates neurotransmission and neurodevelopment in normal subjects. Functional studies show that DTNBP1 loss may cause deficient presynaptic vesicle transmission, which is related to multiple psychiatric disorders. However, the functional mechanism of dysbindin-mediated synaptic vesicle transmission has not been investigated systematically.

Newborn hearing screening and early auditory-based treatment in Taiwan: action trends of families with children who are hearing impaired.

Objective: To explore the trends in actions and factors influencing families of children with hearing loss, regarding early treatment following the implementation of a newborn hearing screening (NHS) in Taiwan.

Design: A retrospective study was conducted by extracting data from the treatment histories of families with children who had hearing loss and who were contacted and assessed by the non-profit organisation (NPO). Children born between 2012 and 2018 were included.

Auditory memory span in Mandarin-speaking preschoolers with congenital hearing loss: Impact of task structure.

The current research was conducted to test the prediction that children who have hearing loss and are developing spoken language can perform at the same level as hearing children in an auditory memory span task if actual production of speech is excluded from task requirement. A listen-and-point digit span task and two sub-tests of Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-IV (Verbal Digit Span and Matrix Reasoning) were administered to thirty hearing children and thirty-three children with hearing loss. A language assessment instrument for Mandarin-speaking preschool children was also administered to the participants with hearing loss.

Comparison of prognosis between emergency and scheduled hemodialysis.

Background: The survival rate of patients undergoing hemodialysis and other renal replacement therapies has been extensively studied, but comparative studies of emergency and scheduled hemodialysis are limited.

Methods: This study included 312 patients who underwent emergency hemodialysis and 274 who received scheduled hemodialysis. We investigated the prognostic differences between these two groups of patients, including the short-term and long-term survival rates.

Impact of timing of initiation of dialysis on long-term prognosis of patients undergoing hemodialysis.

There are a lot of controversies pertaining to correctness of timing for the initiation of dialysis in chronic kidney disease (CKD) patients. The present study was conducted to examine the potential association of initiation timing of dialyses with long-term prognosis in CKD patients. In total, 294 patients confirmed as end-stage renal disease (ESRD) were included as study subjects.

Screening and Evaluation of Yeast Antagonists for Biological Control of on Strawberry Fruits.

Gray mold () is one of the most common diseases of strawberries ( × Duchesne) worldwide. Although many chemical fungicides are used for controlling the growth of , the risk of the fungus developing chemical resistance together with consumer demand for reducing the use of chemical fungicides have necessitated an alternative method to control this pathogen. Various naturally occurring microbes aggressively attack plant pathogens and benefit plants by suppressing diseases; these microbes are referred to as However, screening of potent biocontrol agents is essential for their further development and commercialization.

Should We Stop Developing Heuristics and Only Rely on Mixed Integer Programming Solvers in Automated Test Assembly? A Rejoinder to van der Linden and Li (2016).

This rejoinder responds to the commentary by van der Linden and Li entiled "Comment on Three-Element Item Selection Procedures for Multiple Forms Assembly: An Item Matching Approach" on the article "Three-Element Item Selection Procedures for Multiple Forms Assembly: An Item Matching Approach" by Chen. Van der Linden and Li made a strong statement calling for the cessation of test assembly heuristics development, and instead encouraged embracing mixed integer programming (MIP). This article points out the nondeterministic polynomial (NP)-hard nature of MIP problems and how solutions found using heuristics could be useful in an MIP context.

Diabetes classification model based on boosting algorithms.

Background: Diabetes mellitus is a common and complicated chronic lifelong disease. Hence, it is of high clinical significance to find the most relevant clinical indexes and to perform efficient computer-aided pre-diagnoses and diagnoses.

Results: Non-parametric statistical testing is performed on hundreds of medical measurement index results between diabetic and non-diabetic populations.

Screening and Identification of Yeasts Antagonistic to Pathogenic Fungi Show a Narrow Optimal pH Range for Antagonistic Activity.

Microbes have evolved ways of interference competition to gain advantage over their ecological competitors. The use of secreted antagonistic compounds by yeast cells is one of the prominent examples. Although this killer behavior has been thoroughly studied in laboratory yeast strains, our knowledge of the antagonistic specificity of killer effects in nature remains limited.