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Drawing on person-job fit theory, we theorize and empirically analyze the effects of host country language skills on two work-related outcomes: workplace social support and perceived overqualification. We further examine how these outcomes are related with job satisfaction. Empirically, we analyze these relationships using data from three sub-studies of foreign academics in the Nordic region. The first is a survey filled in by 496 foreign academics working at 18 universities in Finland, Sweden, and Norway. The second is an interview study of 41 foreign academics employed by a large international university in Finland. The third consists of nine interviews across Finland, Sweden, and Norway where we followed up on the analysis of the data from the first two sub-studies. Whilst we use the quantitative dataset to test our hypotheses, our qualitative data allows us to dig deeper into how making investments in local language skills does not necessary lead to positive work-related outcomes as perceived by foreign academics, and what HR implications these perceptions have for international organizations, such as universities. Overall, our findings provide important insights into the complex and contextual nature of host country language skills' role and effects in international organizations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Research has minimally focussed on the music listening habits and preferred sound volumes among adolescents with severe to profound congenital HL. Listening to music played at loud sound volumes and for a long duration of time could imply risks of worsening the HL. Therefore, it is important to investigate the listening habits in adolescents with HL. The aim of the present study was to describe the use of personal music devices, subjective estimated sound levels, measured sound levels, listening habits, and hearing symptoms in adolescents with severe to profound hearing loss compared with adolescents with normal hearing. Design: The study was conducted in two steps. First, a questionnaire was given to students with or without hearing loss. In step two, hearing and sound level measurements were made in a subsample from both groups. Study sample: The study sample were based on 112 seventeen-year-old students with severe to profound hearing loss and 279 adolescents with normal hearing. Hearing thresholds and listening levels was measured on two subsamples based on 29 adolescents with severe to profound hearing loss and 50 adolescents from the group with normal hearing. Results: The results showed that adolescents with severe to profound hearing loss listened to significantly louder sound levels for longer periods. For both groups, those listening at louder sound levels had poorer hearing thresholds. This finding is especially alarming for subjects with hearing loss. Among those listening above 85 dB per occasion, the sound level ranged between 85.8 dB up to 109 dB for those with hearing loss, whereas the sound level ranged between 85.5 dB and 100 dB for those with normal hearing. Conclusions: Adolescents with congenital hearing loss used portable music devices in the same manner as adolescents with normal hearing. However, adolescents with hearing loss listened to louder sound volumes most likely to compensate for their hearing loss, which significantly increases the risk of further damage to their hearing. From a hearing rehabilitation perspective it could be concluded that aspect of music listening habits should be focussed in order to prevent noise induced hearing loss among individuals with congenital hearing loss. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: The Tinnitus Functional Index (TFI) is a recent self-report instrument for tinnitus with potential advantages over other existing instruments, including a demonstrated high responsiveness. The objectives of this study were to translate and cross-culturally adapt the TFI into Swedish and to investigate its validity and reliability.Design: The development of the Swedish version (TFI-SE) followed published guidelines on cross-cultural adaptation of health questionnaires. Validity and reliability was investigated by correlating responses on the TFI-SE with other tinnitus measures [Tinnitus Handicap Inventory (THI) and visual analogue scale (VAS)] and a scale measuring anxiety and depression (HADS).Study sample: Consecutively recruited tinnitus patients (n = 100) from four Swedish clinics completed the questionnaires. The mean age of the sample was 51 years (SD =17).Results: The internal consistency of the TFI-SE was good (α = 0.95) and the test–retest reliability was high (ICC =0.93). Our results supported the eight-factor structure proposed for the original TFI, and a high correlation between the TFI-SE and the THI (r = 0.8;p < 0.01) and lower correlations between the TFI-SE and the HADS-D (r = 0.60;p < 0.01) and HADS-A (r = 0.59;p < 0.01) confirmed satisfactory convergent and discriminant validity.Conclusions: We found that the Swedish translation and cross-cultural adaptation of the TFI is valid and reliable for use with adult tinnitus patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Investigate hearing function and headphone listening habits in nine-year-old Swedish children.Design: A cross-sectional study was conducted and included otoscopy, tympanometry, pure-tone audiometry, and spontaneous otoacoustic emissions (SOAE). A questionnaire was used to evaluate headphone listening habits, tinnitus, and hyperacusis.Study sample: A total of 415 children aged nine years.Results: The prevalence of a hearing threshold ≥20 dB HL at one or several frequencies was 53%, and the hearing thresholds at 6 and 8 kHz were higher than those at the low and mid frequencies. SOAEs were observed in 35% of the children, and the prevalence of tinnitus was 5.3%. No significant relationship between SOAE and tinnitus was found. Pure-tone audiometry showed poorer hearing thresholds in children with tinnitus and in children who regularly listened with headphones.Conclusion: The present study of hearing, listening habits, and tinnitus in nine-year old children is, to our knowledge, the largest study so far. The main findings were that hearing thresholds in the right ear were poorer in children who used headphones than in children not using them, which could be interpreted as headphone listening may have negative consequences to children’s hearing. Children with tinnitus showed poorer hearing thresholds compared to children without tinnitus. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to share the lessons that were learned about the process of implementing an Internet-based, randomized controlled trial (RCT) in general clinical practice (GCP) and to address some of the advantages of using the Internet as a tool to implement a RCT in GCP. The RCT implemented focused on investigating Internet-based aural rehabilitation (AR) in addition to hearing aid (HA)-fitting supplemented with telephone support, and it was applied in a clinical setting. The results of this RCT and the questionnaires chosen will be presented in an article elsewhere. Procedure: Here, the procedure of the implemented trial is presented, and the implementation challenges are presented and discussed. Specifically, we describe the trial research question, recruitment strategy, patient eligibility criteria, the questionnaires, clinician participation, funding and time (for the clinicians), and risks and benefits (for the participants). Discussion: The trial implementation showed that AR in addition to HA-fitting can be carried out in GCP using the Internet. Using an Internet-based RCT overcomes some of the challenges of implementing a trial in GCP. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using pure tone audiometry in 1995, a hearing reassessment was made in 56 classical musicians who participated in Axelsson & Lindgren’s study 16 years earlier, in 1979. This study focuses on hearing development in these classical orchestra musicians, active in Göteborg, Sweden. The aim of the study is to evaluate the risk of progressive hearing loss during work in a classical orchestra. Another aim is to study possible hearing differences in females and males and to compare the high frequency pure-tone average values found in the study with two normal materials. The main findings were that the male, compared to the female musicians, showed a tendency toward a more pronounced, although not significant, hearing reduction in the high frequency region and higher threshold distribution within the 90th percentile than the females. This was found most often in the left ear. The median audiogram for all females showed a notch configuration at 6 kHz, compared to the males who had a high-tone sloping configuration. When comparing high frequency pure-tone average (HFPTA) values with ISO 7029, the females are distributed around the ISO 7029 median and well within the 90th percentile. The average among the males was equal with the median. Comparison with Davis normal population “all the sample, overall occupational group” showed a more even distribution of the HFPTA values around the median for both females and males on both occasions. This follow-up study showed no extended negative progress of the pure-tone hearing threshold values in spite of an additional 16 years of musical noise exposure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Short-axis (SA) magnetic resonance (MR) images are commonly planned parallel to the left atrioventricular valve. This orientation leads to oblique slices of the right ventricle (RV) with subsequent difficulties in separating the RV from the right atrium in the SA images. The insertion points of the tricuspid valve (TV) in the myocardium can be clearly identified in the right ventricle long axis (RVLA) and four-chamber (4CH) views. The purpose of this study was to develop a method that transfers the position of the tricuspid plane, as seen in the RVLA and 4CH views, to the SA images to facilitate the separation of the RV from the atrium. This methodology, termed Dissociating the Right Atrium from the Ventricle Volume (DRAW), was applied in 20 patients for calculations of right ventricular stroke volume (RVSV). The RVSV using DRAW (RVSV(DRAW)) was compared to left ventricular stroke volumes (LVSV) obtained from flow measurements in the ascending aorta. The RVSV was also determined using the conventional method (RVSV(CONV)) where the stack of images from the SA views are summarized, and a visual decision is made of the most basal slice to be included in the RV. The mean difference between RVSV(DRAW) and LVSV was 0·1 ± 12·7 ml, while the mean difference between RVSV(CONV) and LVSV was 0·33 ± 14·3 ml. Both the intra- and interobserver variability were small using the DRAW methodology, 0·6 ± 3·5 and 1·7 ± 2·7 ml, respectively. In conclusion, the DRAW method can be used to facilitate the separation of the RV and the atrium., (© 2011 The Authors. Clinical Physiology and Functional Imaging © 2011 Scandinavian Society of Clinical Physiology and Nuclear Medicine.)