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Purpose The purpose of this study was to compare the language, cognitive, and speech in noise (SiN) perception abilities of children with cochlear implants (CIs) to those of their peers with NH by grouping them according to their implantation period (12–18 months/19–24 months) and unilateral/bilateral CI use. Methods The sample comprised 50 children with cochlear implants (CIs) and 20 children with normal hearing (NH), ages 6–9 years. Children’s language, cognitive, and speech in noise (SiN) perception skills were assessed. Results Children with CIs between 12 and 18 months and 19 and 24 months performed more poorly than children with NH on language, verbal memory (VM), verbal-short-term memory (V-STM), verbal working memory (V-WM), rapid naming, and speech in noise (SiN) perception abilities measures ( p  < 0.001). In addition, children with CIs between 19 and 24 months performed worse on rapid naming and V-WM tasks than children with CIs between 12 and 18 months ( p  < 0.017). Children with unilateral and bilateral CI performed more poorly than children with NH on language, VM, V-STM, V-WM, rapid naming, and SiN perception abilities assessments ( p  < 0.001). Additionally children with unilateral CI users performed poorly than children with bilateral CI users on SiN perception ( p  < 0.017). Conclusions In children with congenital hearing loss (CHL), cochlear implantation between 12 and 18 months or sequential bilateral implantation is not sufficient for these children to perform like their NH peers in language, cognitive, and SiN perception abilities. In addition, intervention approaches should focus not only on increasing language skills, but also on cognitive abilities.

Purpose This study aimed to evaluate attention, memory, and language skills in children with auditory brainstem implants and cochlear implants. Methods This study included 20 children with auditory brainstem implants (ABI) and 20 cochlear implanted (CI) children between the ages of 6 years and 8 years 11 months and their families. “Test of Language Development: Primary (TOLD-P:4)” was used to assess language skills, \"STROOP Test, Visual-Aural Digit Span (VADS) test, and Cancellation Test\" were used to evaluate attention and memory skills. In addition, the functional outcomes of hearing skills in daily life were scored by “Auditory Behavior in Everyday Life (ABEL) scale”. The significance level was determined as 0.05. Results Children with ABI showed lower language skills than children with CI in terms of TOLD-P:4 language test scores, STROOP sub-test completion times, and the VADS and Cancellation test scores ( p  < 0.05). In addition, statistically significant correlations were found between language, attention, memory skills, and auditory behavior scale. Conclusions This study is one of the limited numbers of studies investigating cognitive processes in children with ABI. Since attention and memory are correlated with language skills, it is recommended that the development of cognition should be considered in follow-up and intervention approaches of children with ABI and/or CI.

Although it is known that auditory training is essential for hearing-impaired individuals, patients do not willingly participate in auditory training sessions, because individual training is a time-consuming and costly process. Computer-based auditory training programs are under development for reducing the cost and time. The aim of this study is to develop a computer-based auditory training program and to evaluate the usability of the program by applying it to adults with normal hearing indifferent age groups and professions. The developed auditory training program consists of nine modules: identification, discrimination, recognition, auditory closure, comprehension, auditory sequencing, phonological awareness, auditory memory, and attention. Forty adults (age ranges of 25–34, 35–44, 45–54, and 55–65 years), nine audiologists, and one software engineer were included in this study. The computer-based auditory training program was applied to all individuals. An evaluation form was filled out by the participants to evaluate the usability of and satisfaction with the program, and the average performances of the individuals were calculated for each module. The form measures five usability subscales: ease of use, comprehensibility, design, satisfaction, and motivation. The professionals evaluated the program and found it to be quite positive in terms of design, ease of use, motivation, and comprehensibility, and positive in terms of the satisfaction subscale. The participants evaluated all factors and found them to be quite positive. There were no statistically significant differences between the gender, age, and computer use groups in terms of the average performance value of the modules (p > 0.05). However, a significant difference was found in the average performance for the auditory sequencing module considering the educational status of individuals (p = 0.019). Furthermore, it was determined that computer experience (> 5 years) and having a personal computer have a significant effect on auditory memory (p = 0.049) and identification (p = 0.027). These results show that the instructions and information used in the program are clear and understandable, the colors and texts used in the program are readable, the program is easy to use, and the individuals are not disturbed by the sounds used in the program. However, it would be valuable to apply it to individuals with hearing losses to evaluate the efficacy of the program.

Purpose The purpose of this study was to investigate the relations between functional hearing, language, social, bilateral coordination and manual dexterity skills in children with early cochlear implants (CIs). Methods Thirty children with CIs were included in this study. The manual dexterity and bilateral coordination development of the participants were evaluated with Manual Dexterity and Bilateral Coordination subtests of Bruininks-Oseretsky Motor Proficiency-2 (BOT-2). Their language skills were assessed by the Test of Early language Development-3. To assess the functional hearing of participants the Functioning After Pediatric Cochlear Implantation scale (FAPCI) was administered their caregivers. Also, the Social Skills Evaluation Scale was administered to participants’ teachers to asses their social skills. Results There were significant correlations between participants’ receptive and expressive language skills, Manual Dexterity, and FAPCI scores ( p  < 0.05). There were also significant relationships between the SSES and FAPCI scores of the participants ( p  < 0.05). However, the Bilateral Coordination subtest did not show any significant correlation with any of the measurements ( p  > 0.05). Conclusion The results suggest that the language, manual dexterity and functional hearing abilities of children with CIs are closely related. Although, there were no significant correlations between all of the measurement, it is important to look beyond hearing and speech evaluations to assess the whole child.

ABSTRACT Purpose This study aimed to revise and investigate the validity and reliability of the Children's Auditory Perception Test (CIAT), which was developed to evaluate auditory perception skills. Methods The study included 100 cochlear implant (CI) users between the ages of 2 and 15, and 80 individuals with normal hearing. In the first session, participants underwent the Turkish Early Language Development Test (TELD‐3) and audiometric assessments. The second session involved administering age‐appropriate subtests from the CIAT battery. Subtest reliability was evaluated using internal consistency and test–retest methods. We measured the construct validity by examining the relationships between subcategories. Also, we evaluated known‐group validity and predictive validity. Results The reliability analysis of the CIAT indicated high internal consistency, with a Cronbach's alpha coefficient of 0.913 for all 17 tests. Subcategories demonstrated reliability ranging from acceptable to excellent (α = 0.741–0.973). Significant differences were observed in auditory perception scores between children with CI and those with normal hearing (p < 0.005), demonstrating the known‐group validity of the test across different age groups. Multiple linear regression analysis revealed that factors such as age group, gender, special education duration, receptive and expressive language ages, CI duration, and usage status accounted for 78% of the variability in auditory perception scores (R2 = 0.78), thus testing the predictive reliability of the model. Conclusion A valid and reliable test battery that evaluates auditory perception skills at different difficulty levels across a wide age range (2–15 years) has been introduced to the literature. However, a notable limitation is that this battery does not include auditory processing assessments, such as speech‐in‐competition (noise/babble) tests, which could enhance the comprehensiveness of the evaluation. The CIAT distinguishes between children with cochlear implants and normal‐hearing peers in auditory perception. Scores are influenced by age, CI usage duration/status, and language development, with CI duration being most significant. CIAT is a validated, reliable tool assessing auditory skills like detection, recognition, and comprehension for ages 2–15.

This study was conducted to obtain a clear product and enhance the product quality by reducing or preventing the formation of tea cream, one of the most critical problems in ready to drink (RTD) tea production. Thus, the tannase enzyme was applied to the Turkish black tea extracts at by different brewing temperatures (50 and 70 °C), times (5, 10, and 20 min), and tea:water ratios (1:100, 5:100, 10:100). Total phenolic, tea cream and catechin analysis were performed on the extracts. The amount of tea cream was in the range of 0.37–0.74 g/100 g black tea in the enzyme-treated samples and 1.23–2.19 g/100 g black tea in the untreated control sample. Moreover, a decrease in the cream in black tea extracts obtained using the classic extraction method was observed at around 65.89–74.55% with the tannase enzyme application.

ObjectiveChronic spontaneous urticaria (CSU) is a common skin disorder that is considered to be an autoimmune disorder in a subset of patients. Because it is not always possible to find a trigger in CSU cases, it may be thought that various cytokines may play a role in the inflammatory processes associated with CSU. One of these markers is interleukin-17 (IL-17).MethodsIn this case-control study, serum IL-17 levels were measured in 50 patients with CSU and 35 healthy control subjects. Urticaria activity score (UAS-7) was used to assess disease activity.ResultsSerum levels of IL-17 in patients with CSU were not significantly different from those in healthy controls [mean and median: 3.98±3.88 (3.1) vs. 4.85±2.96 (3.9) pg/mL, p=0.063]. Serum levels of IL-17 in mild CSU patients did not differ significantly from those in moderate-severe CSU patients [mean and median: 4.24±4.33 (3.3) vs. 3.1±1.13 (3) pg/mL, p=0.30]. No significant differences in IL-17 levels were observed between autologous serum tests (ASST) (+) and ASST (-) patients with similar UAS, and serum IL-17 levels of patients did not significantly differ according to sex and antinuclear antibody positivity.ConclusionThis is the first study to examine serum IL-17 levels in children with CSU. Further studies with a larger number of patients are needed to elucidate the role of IL-17 in the pathogenesis of childhood CSU.

Purpose This study aims to evaluate school-age language skills and auditory performance in different listening situations in children with cochlear implants and auditory brainstem implants. Method The study included 60 children between the ages of 5 and 9 years with cochlear implants (CI) and auditory brainstem implants (ABI). The volunteer children were divided into two groups: bimodal CI-ABI and bilateral CI users. Test of Language Development: Primary (TOLD-P:4), which assesses components of language such as phonology, morphology, syntax and semantics, was used to evaluate school-age language skills. Children’s Auditory Performance Scale (CHAPS) was used to measure their listening performance in quiet, noisy, multi-stimulus environments and their auditory attention and memory skills in daily life. The correlations between language and auditory performance were analyzed and compared between the two groups. Results Children with ABI showed poorer performance in school-age language skills and auditory performance in different listening environments ( p  < 0.05). Significant correlations were between school-age language skills and auditory performance ( p  < 0.05). Conclusion Improved auditory performance is crucial for the development of school-age language skills. To improve auditory performance in children with ABI in different listening environments, assistive listening devices, acoustic environmental arrangements, informative activities, etc., should be used.

Background Information about the development of cognitive skills and the effect of sensory integration in children using auditory brainstem implants (ABIs) is still limited. Objective This study primarily aims to investigate the relationship between sensory processing skills and attention and memory abilities in children with ABI, and secondarily aims to examine the effects of implant duration on sensory processing and cognitive skills in these children. Methods The study included 25 children between the ages of 6 and 10 years (mean age: 14 girls and 11 boys) with inner ear and/or auditory nerve anomalies using auditory brainstem implants. Visual‐Aural Digit Span Test B, Marking Test, Dunn Sensory Profile Questionnaire were applied to all children. Results The sensory processing skills of children are statistically significant and positive, and moderately related to their cognitive skills. As the duration of implant use increases, better attention and memory performances have been observed (p < .05). Conclusion The study demonstrated the positive impact of sensory processing on the development of memory and attention skills in children with ABI. It will contribute to evaluating the effectiveness of attention, memory, and sensory integration skills, and aiding in the development of more effective educational strategies for these children. This study primarily aims to investigate the relationship between sensory processing skills and attention and memory abilities in children with ABI, and secondarily aims to examine the effects of implant duration on sensory processing and cognitive skills in these children.

PurposeRecently, a new form of congenital neutropenia that is caused by germline biallelic loss-of-function mutations in the SMARCD2 gene was described in four patients. Given the rarity of the condition, the clinical spectrum of the disease has remained elusive. We here report a new patient with a novel frameshift mutation and compare our patient with the previously reported SMARCD2-mutant patients, aiming to provide a more comprehensive understanding of the natural course of the disease.MethodsClinical and laboratory findings of all reported patients were reviewed. Next-generation sequencing was performed to identify the causative genetic defect. Data on the hematopoietic stem cell transplantation including stem cell sources, conditioning regimen, engraftment, graft-versus-host disease, and infections were also collected.ResultsAn 11-year-old female patient had a variety of infections including sepsis, deep tissue abscesses, otitis, pneumonia, gingivitis, and diarrhea since infancy. A novel homozygous mutation in SMARCD2 (c.93delG, p.Ala32Argfs*80) was detected. Bone marrow examination showed hypocellularity and decreased neutrophils with diminished granules and myeloid dysplasia, but no blast excess as in previously reported patients. The neutropenia was non-responsive even to higher doses of granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF); therefore, the patient was transplanted at 10 years of age from a HLA-A allele–mismatched unrelated donor using a reduced toxicity conditioning regimen and recovered successfully. Compared with the previous four cases, our patient showed longer survival before transplantation without blastic transformation.ConclusionDistinctive myeloid features and long-term follow-up including therapy options are presented for the newly described case of SMARCD2 deficiency. This disorder is apparent at infancy and requires early transplantation due to the unrelenting disease course despite conventional therapy.