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OBJECTIVE To determine speech perception,tone perception and the subjective preferences of mandarin-speaking adults who received the fine structure processing(FSP) coding strategy,at upgrade from the continuous interleaved sampling(CIS+) coding strategy.METHODS Thirteen mandarin-speaking subjects were tested at switch-over from CIS+ to FSP coding strategy approximately 1-,2-,and 3-month after switch-over with the mandarin hearing in noise test(M-HINT),the mandarin tone identification in noise test(M-TINT),and a visual analogue scale assessing sound and speech assessment(SSA).RESULTS Tone perception improved significantly over time with the FSP coding strategy.There were no significant differences in the MHINT over time,nor when compared to the CIS+ coding strategy.Subjects rated the FSP coding strategy with the OPUS 2 as significantly more "full" and "rich" than with the CIS+ coding strategy after 3-months.CONCLUSION Mandarin-speaking adults can use the FSP coding strategy as well as CIS+ coding strategy.Loss in performance was not observed after switch-over.Tone identification improves over time with the FSP coding strategy,which is beneficial to tonal-language users.
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Objective To explore the protective effect of external use of isoflavone cream on ultraviolet radiation induced skin injuries of mice and its mechanisms.Methods A total of 48 male ICR mice were randomly assigned to vehicle (control),ultraviolet radiation (UV),2％ isoflavone+UV and 3％ isoflavone+-UV groups,with 12 mice in each group,and the naked skin of mice in the four groups were treated with sesame oil (15 min),sesame oil (15 min) in combined UV (first radiation with 1.55 J/cm2 long-wave ultraviolet [UVA] for 18 min,and then with 0.95 J/cm2 middle-wave ultraviolet [UVB] for 11 min),2％ isoflavone (15 min) in combined UV and 3％ isoflavone (15 min) in combined UV,respectively.After radiation for 7 days,the UV-exposed skins were obtained to observe the morphological and histological changes using H-E staining.The contents of interleukin (IL)-1β,IL-6,tumor necrosis factor α (TNF-α),malondialdehyde (MDA),superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase (CAT) in the skins were determined using ELISA or corresponding kits.Results (1) UV irradiation caused erythema and crusting in skin,and inflammatory cell infiltration in the dermis and fractured elastic fiber were observed microscopically.Isoflavone pretreatment effectively ameliorated these damages in mice skin.(2) Compared with the control group,contents of IL-1β,IL-6 and TNF-α in the UV group were significantly increased (P＜0.05);however,the contents of IL-1β,IL-6 and TNF-α were significantly reversed by isoflavone pretreatment (P＜0.05,P＜0.01).(3) Compared with the control group,the skin MDA content in the UV group was significantly increased (P＜0.05),SOD and CAT contents were significantly decreased (P＜0.05);however,the isoflavone pretreatment significantly reversed the alterations of MDA,SOD and CAT (P＜0.05,P＜0.01).Conclusion Isoflavone exerts protective effects against the ultraviolet induced skin damage in mice through alleviating lipid peroxidation,oxidative stress and inflammatory response.
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OBJECTIVE@#The present study was aimed to assess the ability of tone recognition performance for postlingually deafed cochlear implanted adults using no-duration tone test materials.@*METHOD@#Sixteen cochlear implanted users have used their devices at least six months. Ten monosyllabic syllables were selected, and combined with four lexical tones which were made up of 40 tone tokens. Then, these original words were recorded using one adult male and one adult female native Beijing Mandarin speaker. The speakers were asked to record these 40 monosyllabic words multiple times, and the 80 tokens in which the durations of four tones in each monosyllabic word were within 5 ms precision were chosen as the original tone tokens. The subjects were asked to perform a four alternative forced-choice study and select the tone they had heard.@*RESULT@#The mean score of lexical tone perception tasks for 16 cochlear implanted users is (70.7 ± 22.0)%, and Tone 4 was the easiest to perceive, while Tone 2 was the hardest for cochlear implanted subjects to perceive. Tone 1 was more often misperceived as Tone 2 relative to other tones. Tone 2 was more often misperceived as Tone 1 and 3. Tone 3 was more often misperceived as Tone 2. The tone perception performance was positively correlated with duration of hearing aid use.@*CONCLUSION@#Duration cues may impact on the ability of tone recognition performance for cochlear implant subjects, especially for tone 3. Due to the limited ability for cochlear implant subjects on pitch perception, tone l and tone 2, and tone 2 and tone 3 are most often confused with each other without duration cues. The experience of hearing aid use may benefit for postlingual deafness cochlear implant recipients on tone perception performance.
Subject(s)
Adult , Female , Humans , Male , Asian People , Cochlear Implantation , Cochlear Implants , Hearing , Hearing Aids , Language , Pitch Perception , Speech Perception , TongueABSTRACT
A cochlear implant (CI) is a kind of surgically implanted electronic device that provides a sense of sound to a person who has severe to profound sensorineural hearing impairment. However, studies have shown that the performance in music perception for CI users has not been achieved to an ideal level. It is important to evaluate the ability to perceive music using well designed music perception test materials, in order to improve the quality of life for cochlear implant users. This paper reviewed the studies on assessing music perception ability for adult cochlear implant users from the existing literature.