Tropical peat composition may provide a negative feedback on fire occurrence and severity.

Loss of peat through increased burning will have major impacts on the global carbon cycle. In a normal hydrological state, the risk of fire propagation is largely controlled by peat bulk density and moisture content. However, where humans have interfered with the moisture status of peat either via drainage, or indirectly via climate change, we hypothesise that its botanical composition will become important to flammability, such that peats from different latitudes might have different compositionally-driven susceptibility to ignition.

Characterizing Cochlear Implant Trans-Impedance Matrix Heatmaps in Patients With Abnormal Anatomy.

Objective: To characterize transimpedance matrix (TIM) heatmap patterns in patients at risk of labyrinthine abnormality to better understand accuracy and possible TIM limitations.

Study Design: Retrospective review of TIM patterns, preoperative, and postoperative imaging.

Setting: Tertiary referral center.

Evaluation of a Slim Modiolar Electrode Array: A Temporal Bone Study.

Hypothesis: Evaluation of the Slim Modiolar (SM) electrode in temporal bones (TB) will elucidate the electrode's insertion outcomes.

Background: The SM electrode was designed for atraumatic insertion into the scala tympani, for ideal perimodiolar positioning and with a smaller caliber to minimize interference with cochlear biological processes.

Methods: The SM electrode was inserted into TBs via a cochleostomy.

Boosting Gas-Phase TiO Photocatalysis with Weak Electric Field Strengths of Volt/Centimeter.

Among semiconductor nanomaterials, titanium dioxide is at the forefront of heterogeneous photocatalysis, but its catalytic activity greatly suffers from the loss of photoexcited charge carriers through deleterious recombination processes. Here, we investigate the impact of an external electric field (EEF) applied to conventional P25 TiO nanopowder with or without Au nanoparticles (NPs) to circumvent this issue. The study of two redox reactions in the gas phase, water splitting and toluene degradation, reveals an enhancement of the photocatalytic activity with rather modest electric fields of a few volt/centimeters only.

Auditory brainstem implantation: surgical experience and audiometric outcomes in the pediatric population.

Objective: Pediatric data regarding treatment via an auditory brainstem implant (ABI) remains sparse. The authors aimed to describe their experience at their institution and to delineate associated demographic data, audiometric outcomes, and surgical parameters.

Methods: An IRB-approved, retrospective chart review was conducted among the authors' pediatric patients who had undergone auditory brainstem implantation between 2012 and 2021.

Salvage Microsurgery Following Failed Primary Radiosurgery in Sporadic Vestibular Schwannoma.

Importance: Management of sporadic vestibular schwannoma with radiosurgery is becoming increasingly common globally; however, limited data currently characterize patient outcomes in the setting of microsurgical salvage for radiosurgical failure.

Objective: To describe the clinical outcomes of salvage microsurgery following failed primary stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) or fractionated stereotactic radiotherapy (FSRT) among patients with sporadic vestibular schwannoma.

Design, Setting, And Participants: This was a cohort study of adults (≥18 years old) with sporadic vestibular schwannoma who underwent salvage microsurgery following failed primary SRS/FSRT in 7 vestibular schwannoma treatment centers across the US and Norway.

Early cochlear implantation for children with single sided deafness.

Objectives: Single-sided deafness (SSD) can have consequences for a child's language, educational, and social development. A cochlear implant (CI) is the only device which can restore true binaural hearing, yet they are only approved for children with (SSD) over the age of five in the United States. Reports on speech perception outcomes for children implanted at a younger age are limited.

Effect of Return Electrode Placement at Apical Cochleostomy on Current Flow With a Cochlear Implant.

Objectives: A method for stimulating the cochlear apex using perimodiolar electrode arrays is described. This method involves implanting an electrode (ECE1) into the helioctrema in addition to standard cochlear implant placement. One objective is to verify a suitable approach for implanting ECE1 in the helicotrema.

Mortality-related risk factors of inpatients with diabetes and COVID-19: A multicenter retrospective study in Belgium.

Background And Aims: We describe mortality-related risk factors of inpatients with diabetes and coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in Belgium.

Methods: We conducted a multicenter retrospective study from March to May, 2020, in 8 Belgian centers. Data on admission of patients with diabetes and COVID-19 were collected.

Stratifying Risk of Future Growth Among Sporadic Vestibular Schwannomas.

Objective: In certain cases, clinicians may consider continued observation of a vestibular schwannoma after initial growth is detected. The aim of the current work was to determine if patients with growing sporadic vestibular schwannomas could be stratified by the likelihood of subsequent growth based on initial growth behavior.

Study Design: Slice-by-slice volumetric tumor measurements from 3,505 serial magnetic resonance imaging studies were analyzed from 952 consecutively treated patients.

Acceptance and Benefit of Electroacoustic Stimulation in Children.

Objective: Children with high-frequency severe-to-profound hearing loss and low-frequency residual hearing who do not derive significant benefit from hearing aids are now being considered for cochlear implantation. Previous research shows that hearing preservation is possible and may be desirable for the use of electroacoustic stimulation (EAS) in adults, but this topic remains underexplored in children. The goal of this study was to explore factors relating to hearing preservation, acceptance, and benefits of EAS for children.

Bilateral cochlear implantation after immunotherapy-related profound hearing loss: A case report.

Objectives: Immune-checkpoint inhibitors (ICI) are being utilized with increasing frequency and may be linked to neurologic and audiovestibular toxicities. This report aimed to describe a case of ICI-induced sensorineural hearing loss ultimately requiring bilateral cochlear implantation.

Methods: A 42-year-old female with stage IV metastatic melanoma of the perianal skin was treated with ipilimumab (blocker of cytotoxic T-lymphocyte associated protein 4 [CTLA-4]) and nivolumab (anti-programmed cell death protein 1 [PD1]).

COVID-19 vaccination in people living with HIV: current data and perspectives.

There is no correlation between HIV per se and other risk factors for severe COVID-19 disease. Pivotal studies have shown that vaccination is one of the effective ways to prevent severe COVID-19 illness in the general population. Studies on people living with HIV (PLWH) are scarce.

Slim Modiolar Electrode Placement in Candidates for Electroacoustic Stimulation.

Objectives: To determine rates of hearing preservation and performance in patients who met candidacy for electroacoustic stimulation (EAS) and were implanted with a slim modiolar electrode (CI532 or CI632).

Design: Adult patients meeting Food and Drug Administration criteria for electroacoustic stimulation (preoperative low-frequency pure-tone average [LFPTA] less than 60 dB at 125, 250, and 500 Hz and monosyllabic word scores between 10% and 60% in the ear to be implanted), who received a slim modiolar electrode were included. Main outcome measures included rates of hearing preservation, defined as a LFPTA ≤80 dB at 125, 250, and 500 Hz, as well as postoperative low-frequency pure-tone threshold shifts, consonant-Nucleus-Consonant (CNC) word scores and AzBio sentences in noise scores.

HiRes ultra series cochlear implant field recall: failure rates and early outcomes.

Objective: Evaluate rates of Advanced Bionics Ultra 3D/Ultra cochlear implant failure in the setting of a worldwide device recall and report surgical and auditory outcomes after revision.

Methods: Retrospective chart review was performed for adult and pediatric patients implanted with at risk devices at our center from 2016 to 2020. Device failure rates, surgical, and auditory outcomes were recorded and analyzed.

Cochlear Implantation Outcomes in Patients With Retrocochlear Pathology: A Systematic Review and Pooled Analysis.

Objective: To review the current literature regarding cochlear implantation in patients with retrocochlear pathologies and extract speech perception scores between 6 months and 1 year after surgery.

Databases Reviewed: PubMed/MEDLINE, Embase and Cochrane CENTRAL via Ovid, CINAHL Complete via Ebsco, and Web of Science.

Methods: The review was conducted according to Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines.

Predictive Value of Transimpedance Matrix Measurements to Detect Electrode Tip Foldover.

Objective: To evaluate the ability of the transimpedance matrix (TIM) measurement to detect cochlear implant electrode tip foldover by comparing results to a "gold standard," the intraoperative plain film radiograph.

Study Design: Retrospective case series.

Setting: Tertiary referral hospital.

Recent climate change has driven divergent hydrological shifts in high-latitude peatlands.

High-latitude peatlands are changing rapidly in response to climate change, including permafrost thaw. Here, we reconstruct hydrological conditions since the seventeenth century using testate amoeba data from 103 high-latitude peat archives. We show that 54% of the peatlands have been drying and 32% have been wetting over this period, illustrating the complex ecohydrological dynamics of high latitude peatlands and their highly uncertain responses to a warming climate.

Matched Comparison of Hearing Outcomes in Patients With Vestibular Schwannoma Treated With Stereotactic Radiosurgery or Observation.

Background: Previous studies comparing hearing outcomes in patients managed with stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) and a watch-and-wait strategy were limited by small sample sizes that prevented controlling for potential confounders, including initial hearing status, tumor size, and age.

Objective: To compare hearing outcomes for patients with vestibular schwannomas (VS) managed with observation and SRS while controlling for confounders with propensity score matching.

Methods: Propensity score matching was used to compare 198 patients with unilateral VS with initial serviceable hearing (99 treated with SRS and 99 managed with observation alone) and 116 with initial class A hearing (58 managed with SRS and 58 with observation), matched by initial hearing status, tumor volume, age, and sex.

Spontaneous Volumetric Tumor Regression During Wait-and-Scan Management of 952 Sporadic Vestibular Schwannomas.

Objective: Spontaneous tumor shrinkage during wait-and-scan management of sporadic vestibular schwannoma is generally considered an uncommon phenomenon. However, most data informing this understanding stem from single-slice linear tumor measurements taken in the axial imaging plane. The objective of the current work was to characterize the regression capacity of sporadic vestibular schwannomas using volumetric tumor measurements.

Modern Hearing Preservation Outcomes After Vestibular Schwannoma Stereotactic Radiosurgery.

Background: For patients with vestibular schwannoma (VS), stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) has proven effective in controlling tumor growth while hearing preservation remains a key goal.

Objective: To evaluate hearing outcomes in the modern era of cochlear dose restriction.

Methods: During the years 2013 to 2018, 353 patients underwent Gamma knife surgery for VS at our institution.