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Background: A limited number of single institutions have published retrospective cohort studies on transoral laser microsurgery for supraglottic laryngectomy (TLM-SGL). These studies have shown that the oncologic outcomes of TLM-SGL are comparable to those of open SGL. However, there is limited information available regarding swallowing rehabilitation and quality of life (QoL)., Patients and Methods: SUPRATOL is a prospective, multicenter trial assessing the functional outcomes of TLM-SGL +/- adjuvant radio-(chemo)-therapy. The primary endpoint was aspiration-free swallowing at 12 months, as established using fibreoptic endoscopic evaluation of swallowing (FEES) and defined as a grade < 6 on the penetration-aspiration scale. Secondary endpoints were swallowing- and voice-related QoL, the prevalence of temporary and permanent tracheostomy and percutaneous gastrostomy, local control, laryngectomy-free survival, overall survival, and disease-free survival, as well as the influence of treatment centers on outcomes., Results: From April 2015 to February 2018, 102 patients were recruited from 26 German Otorhinolaryngology (ORL) hospitals. All patients had TLM-SGL and 96.1% underwent uni- or bilateral, mostly selective neck dissection. To 47.0% of patients, adjuvant radio-(chemo)-therapy (R(C)T) was administered. The median follow-up period was 24.1 months. At 12-month follow-up, completed by 84.3% of patients, 98.2%, 95.5%, and 98.8% were free of aspiration when tested with saliva, liquid, or pulp. Adjuvant R(C)T, pT category, and type of resection had no significant influence on swallowing rehabilitation. A total of 40.2% of patients had been tracheotomized, and in 46.1% of patients, a PEG tube was inserted. At the 24-month follow-up, 5.3% of patients still required a tracheostomy, and 8.0% continued to use a percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy (PEG) tube. Deterioration of swallowing- and voice-related QoL was observed immediately after treatment, but patients recovered, and baseline values were reached again. The Kaplan-Meier 2-year rates for local control, laryngectomy-free survival, overall survival, and disease-free survival were 88%, 92%, 93%, and 82%, respectively., Conclusions: Our prospective multicenter trial shows that, at 12 months post-TLM-SGL +/- R(C)T, 95.5%-98.8% of patients achieved aspiration-free swallowing. Morbidity was higher than previously reported. The rates of permanent tracheostomy and gastrostomy tube placement correspond to previous cohort studies. The 2-year oncologic outcomes are within the reported range., Clinical Trial Registration: https://drks.de/search/en/trial/DRKS00004641, identifier (DRKS00004641)., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest. The author(s) declared that they were an editorial board member of Frontiers, at the time of submission. This had no impact on the peer review process and the final decision., (Copyright © 2024 Ambrosch, Meuret, Dietz, Fazel, Fietkau, Tostmann, Schroeder, Lammert, Künzel, Jäckel, Boeger, Scherl, Deitmer, Breitenstein, Delank, Hilber, Vester, Knipping, Harreus, Scheich, Bartel, Plontke, Koscielny, Veit, Greve, Schilling, Linxweiler, Weiß, Psychogios, Arens, Wittekindt, Oeken, Grosheva and Borzikowsky.)

Objective: Despite cochlear implantation, CI users experience difficulties in challenging listening situations. In German-speaking countries, there are no interventions to promote specific coping strategies for such situations. The present study examines persistent everyday limitations and the relevance of potential intervention content in order to develop a self-help program for CI rehabilitation., Material and Methods: 56 CI users from three German CI centers were recruited and completed an online survey on demographic data, hearing biography, hearing handicap and potentially relevant intervention content. The intervention content presented included the following categories: Medical Aspects, Communication Improvement Aspects, Psychosocial Aspects, Technical Aspects, Specific Aspects., Results: The hearing handicap was moderate to severe in this sample. The content categories presented for the design of a self-help program were all rated as "important". The duration of CI provision correlated significantly negatively with the assessment of the relevance of psychosocial aspects. Further significant correlations were found between the severity of the hearing handicap and the rating of the relevance of aspects for improving communication, psychosocial and technical aspects., Conclusion: A self-help program that takes into account the contents examined could provide promising support for the CI rehabilitation process and will be developed and evaluated subsequently., Competing Interests: Die Autorinnen/Autoren geben an, dass kein Interessenkonflikt besteht., (Thieme. All rights reserved.)

The European Larynx Organ Preservation Study (ELOS; NCT06137378) is a prospective, randomized, open-label, two-armed parallel group controlled, phase II multicenter larynx organ preservation (LOP) trial in locoregionally advanced (LA) stage III, IVA/B head and neck squamous cell carcinoma of the larynx or hypopharynx (LHSCC) amenable for total laryngectomy (TL) with PD-L1 expression within tumor tissue biopsy, calculated as CPS ≥ 1. Induction chemotherapy (IC) with docetaxel and cisplatin (TP) followed by radiation will be compared to TP plus PD-1 inhibition by pembrolizumab (MK-3475; 200 mg i.v. starting day 1 q3w for 17 cycles). After a short induction early response evaluation (ERE) 21 ± 3 days after the first cycle of IC (IC-1), responders achieving endoscopic estimated tumor surface shrinkage (ETSS) ≥30% will get an additional two cycles of IC followed by intensity-modulated radiotherapy 70-72 Gy (EQD2/α/β = 10) aiming at LOP. Nonresponders (ETSS < 30% or progressing disease) will receive TL and bilateral neck dissection followed by postoperative radiation or chemoradiation as recommended by the clinic's multidisciplinary tumor board. Pembrolizumab treatment will be continued in the intervention arm regardless of ETSS status after IC-1 in both responders and laryngectomized nonresponders, independent of subsequent decisions on adjuvant therapy after TL., Clinical Trial Registration: clinicaltrials.gov, identifier NCT06137378., Competing Interests: Some of the authors disclosed potential conflicts of interest. GW discloses honoraria for lectures from Merck KGaA, outside the submitted work; OG-L declares financial Interests, Personal, Invited Speaker: Novartis, Merz, and MedEL; Financial Interests, Personal, Advisory Board: Merz; Financial Interests, Personal and Institutional, Research Grant: MedEL; Financial Interests, Personal and Institutional, Funding: MedEL. JK reports personal fees from Merck KGaA, outside the submitted work. SW declares remuneration for scientific presentations or participation on Advisory Boards for MSD, BMS, Merck Serono, Roche, AstraZeneca, Sanofi, and GSK. AD reports remuneration for scientific presentations and participation on Advisory Boards for Merck Serono, Roche, AstraZeneca, MSD, BMS, Sanofi, Norgine, Nanobiotix and GSK and research support from Roche, Merck Serono, and MSD. The remaining authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest. The author(s) declared that they were an editorial board member of Frontiers, at the time of submission. This had no impact on the peer review process and the final decision., (Copyright © 2024 Wichmann, Wald, Pirlich, Napp, Münter, Asendorf, Tostmann, Vogt, Vogel, Meuret, Stoehr, Zebralla, Nicolay, Kuhnt, Hambsch, Guntinas-Lichius, Klußmann, Wiegand and Dietz.)

Objective: Teachers are subject to exceptionally high vocal stress throughout their lives and have an increased prevalence of voice disorders. The aim of this study was to evaluate the long-term efficiency of voice training in student teachers during their lifelong career as a teacher. In addition, we investigated the relationship between vocal aptitude tests and teachers' vocal health., Methods: In a multicentre case-control study, 202 teachers (median age: 48 years, 165 women, 37 men) were examined. The examination consisted of a standardised anamnesis, analysis of the voice, laryngostroboscopy and audiometry. Subjects were attributed to the case group if at least two of the following criteria were met: pathological videolaryngostroboscopic findings, pathological analysis of the voice, subjective vocal complaints., Results: 65/202 teachers were categorised as cases. Comparing the groups, cases were older (p=0.001), worked more often in primary schools (p=0.008) and had more problems with reflux (p=0.002). 63.8% of the controls had completed a vocal aptitude test before starting their studies, compared to 47.6% of the cases (p=0.031). A multivariate analysis showed an OR of 1.6 for developing dysphonia if neither voice training nor a vocal aptitude test has taken place during the course of study., Conclusion: Many risk factors associated with dysphonia in teachers are often difficult or impossible to change. Vocal aptitude tests and voice training during the studies represent a primary prevention of occupational dysphonia in the teaching profession., Competing Interests: Die Autorinnen/Autoren geben an, dass kein Interessenkonflikt besteht., (Thieme. All rights reserved.)

Introduction: Spatial hearing is most accurate using both ears, but accuracy decreases in persons with asymmetrical hearing between ears. In participants with deafness in one ear but normal hearing in the other ear (single-sided deafness [SSD]), this difference can be compensated by a unilateral cochlear implant (CI). It has been shown that a CI can restore sound localization performance, but it is still unclear to what extent auditory spatial discrimination can be improved., Methods: The present study investigated auditory spatial discrimination using minimum audible angles (MAAs) in 18 CI-SSD participants. Results were compared to 120 age-matched normal-hearing (NH) listeners. Low-frequency (LF) and high-frequency (HF) noise bursts were presented from 4°, 30°, and 60° azimuth on the CI side and on the NH side. MAA thresholds were tested for correlation with localization performance in the same participants., Results: There were eight good performers and ten poor performers. There were more poor performers for LF signals than for HF signals. Performance on the CI side was comparable to performance on the NH side. Most difficulties occurred at 4° and at 30°. Eight of the good performers in the localization task were also good performers in the MAA task. Only the localization ability at 4° on the CI side was positively correlated with the MAA at that location., Conclusion: Our data suggest that a CI can restore localization ability but not necessarily auditory spatial discrimination at the same time. The ability to discriminate between adjacent locations may be trainable during rehabilitation to enhance important auditory skills., (© 2023 The Author(s). Published by S. Karger AG, Basel.)

Purpose: Detection of cochlear nerve deficiency (CND) is usually straightforward using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). In patients in whom MRI cannot be performed or imaging provides equivocal findings, computed tomography (CT) of the temporal bone might offer indirect evidence of CND. Our study aimed to derive a cut-off value for the diameter of the cochlear nerve canal (CNC) and internal auditory canal (IAC) in temporal bone CT to predict CND., Materials and Methods: This retrospective study included 70 children with sensorineural hearing loss (32 with CND and 38 control patients). The height, width, and cross-sectional area of the IAC and diameter of the CNCs were determined using temporal bone CT. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) and Student's t-tests were performed for each parameter., Results: The mean diameter of the CNCs was significantly smaller in children with CND than in the control group (1.2 mm versus 2.4 mm, p < .001). The optimal threshold for CNC for separation of the two groups was 1.9 mm, resulting in a sensitivity of 98.7 % and specificity of 89.2 %. The IAC dimensions could not distinguish between children with CND and controls., Conclusion: A CNC diameter of less than 1.9 mm is a reliable predictor of CND in children with sensorineural hearing loss., Key Points: · A small cochlear nerve canal predicts cochlear nerve deficiency (CND). · The size of the internal auditory canal cannot predict CND. · Whenever MRI is impossible or ambigous, CT can rule out CND., Citation Format: · Sorge M, Sorge I, Pirlich M et al. Diameter of the Cochlear Nerve Canal predicts Cochlear Nerve Deficiency in Children with Sensorineural Hearing Loss. Fortschr Röntgenstr 2022; 194: 1132 - 1139., Competing Interests: The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest., (Thieme. All rights reserved.)

Objective: Controlled and randomized study to analyze longitudinal voice data of boys and girls aged 8-12.5, to describe their physiological development and to evaluate the influence of a one-year music pedagogical interventional program focused on the singing voice., Methods: Singing voice profiles of 116 children (52 boys, 64 girls) aged 8-12.5 years were collected longitudinally at the beginning and the end of the third school year and the end of the fourth school year. 64 of the 116 children received a music pedagogical program during their third school year (interventional group). Maximum and minimum voice intensity, highest and lowest frequency, maximum phonation time (MPT) and Jitter were investigated., Results: In two years' time highest frequency increased on average by 100.23 Hz from G1 up to A1 for boys and for girls. Lowest frequency decreased by 18.36Hz from Gis-1 to G-1 (boys: Gis-1-Fis-1; girls: A-1-G-1). There was no clinically relevant development of the intensity parameters for both sexes. However, after the interventional year, minimum voice intensity significantly decreased in the interventional group compared to the control group. The MPT increased by 2.41 seconds from 10.67 seconds up to 13.09 seconds in two years. Here the increase was higher for boys (+3.2 seconds) than for girls (+1.77 seconds). Jitter was found to be 0.84%-1.11%, showing no clinically relevant changes in two years., Conclusion: To the best of our knowledge, for the first time this study presents longitudinal data on singing voice parameters of the voice range profile of boys and girls aged 8-12.5 years. While frequency and intensity parameters develop equally for boys and girls, the MPT is found to develop more distinctly within boys. A music pedagogical intervention of a small extent has a positive effect on the ability to sing as soft as possible., (Copyright © 2020 The Voice Foundation. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Background: A healthy voice serves us as a basis for communication and an indispensable tool in a modern society with a growing number of vocal-intensive professions. There are indications that the average frequency of the speaking voice of women has decreased in recent years and is approaching that of men in the sense of sociophony. An epidemiological prospective cohort study will investigate the influences of age, personality traits and socio-demographic factors on the speaking voice of women., Material and Methods: Within the framework of a standardized examination procedure, the speaking voice of 2478 voice-healthy female participants between 5 and 83 years of age was registered in 4 different intensity levels (softest voice, conversational voice, classroom voice and shouting voice). Subsequently, the collected values for frequency and loudness of the different intensity levels were examined for correlation with age and results from questionnaires on personality (FFFK and BFI-10), on (mental) health (Patient-Health-Questionnaire - PHQ) and on socio-economic status (SES)., Results: Significant age-related influences on the speaking voice could be demonstrated for all voice intensities. For the personality traits investigated, significant positive correlations between the volume of the calling and speaking voice and extraversion were found. For the frequency of the softest voice and speaking voice, significant correlations were found for the personality traits of extraversion and tolerance. While no significant associations were found between the voice parameters of the speaking voice and the PHQ, it was found that the SES has a significant influence on both frequency and intensity., Conclusion: In addition to age-related changes, relevant influences of personality traits and the SES on speaking voice parameters in women were confirmed, which should be considered in clinical care of dysphonia., Competing Interests: Die Autorinnen/Autoren geben an, dass kein Interessenkonflikt besteht., (Thieme. All rights reserved.)

Objectives: The voice range profile (VRP) is composed of the speaking VRP (spVRP) and the singing VRP (siVRP). Different examination methods of VRP and effects of interobserver variability were evaluated to define a standard operating procedure (SOP) suitable for the specific use in epidemiological studies. Subsequently the feasibility of the SOP was investigated in a larger number of participants., Study Design: Cross-sectional study., Methods: In a first phase both the spVRP and the siVRP of 51 female students were measured by four differently experienced examiners. Using a cross-over study design the effects of two different recording methods (manual vs automatic) and three different types of instructions given by the examiner (none vs before vs during recording) were investigated. In a second phase, the SOP for VRP recording was tested in the framework of a feasibility study in 110 (55 female and 55 male) participants., Results: The average total investigation time was significantly (P = 0.001) higher for the manual recording method (6.1 minutes ± 1.0) in comparison to the automated (5.5 minutes ± 0.7) recording method. The manual recording method led to significantly lower values of minimum frequency (F0min) (P = 0.013) and minimum intensity (SPLmin) (P < 0.001) and higher values of the maximum frequency (F0max) (P = 0.005) of the siVRP. The maximum phonation time, F0max, SPLmax of the siVRP and the frequency and intensity of the shouting voice (Level IV) of the spVRP showed significantly (P < 0.001) higher values when the examiner was allowed to give instructions and advise during the recording. Voice parameters of the siVRP did not show significant associations with the experience of the examiner., Conclusions: Standardization of VRP measurements is important to obtain correct and reproducible data in a reasonable examination time. The SOP proposed here proved to be feasible in the setting of an epidemiological study., (Copyright © 2020 The Voice Foundation. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Spatial hearing is crucial in real life but deteriorates in participants with severe sensorineural hearing loss or single-sided deafness. This ability can potentially be improved with a unilateral cochlear implant (CI). The present study investigated measures of sound localization in participants with single-sided deafness provided with a CI. Sound localization was measured separately at eight loudspeaker positions (4°, 30°, 60°, and 90°) on the CI side and on the normal-hearing side. Low- and high-frequency noise bursts were used in the tests to investigate possible differences in the processing of interaural time and level differences. Data were compared to normal-hearing adults aged between 20 and 83. In addition, the benefit of the CI in speech understanding in noise was compared to the localization ability. Fifteen out of 18 participants were able to localize signals on the CI side and on the normal-hearing side, although performance was highly variable across participants. Three participants always pointed to the normal-hearing side, irrespective of the location of the signal. The comparison with control data showed that participants had particular difficulties localizing sounds at frontal locations and on the CI side. In contrast to most previous results, participants were able to localize low-frequency signals, although they localized high-frequency signals more accurately. Speech understanding in noise was better with the CI compared to testing without CI, but only at a position where the CI also improved sound localization. Our data suggest that a CI can, to a large extent, restore localization in participants with single-sided deafness. Difficulties may remain at frontal locations and on the CI side. However, speech understanding in noise improves when wearing the CI. The treatment with a CI in these participants might provide real-world benefits, such as improved orientation in traffic and speech understanding in difficult listening situations., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2021 Ludwig, Meuret, Battmer, Schönwiesner, Fuchs and Ernst.)

Thermal properties have an outsized impact on efficiency and sensitivity of devices with nanoscale structures, such as in integrated electronic circuits. A number of thermal conductivity measurements for semiconductor nanostructures exist, but are hindered by the diffraction limit of light, the need for transducer layers, the slow scan rate of probes, ultrathin sample requirements, or extensive fabrication. Here, we overcome these limitations by extracting nanoscale temperature maps from measurements of bandgap cathodoluminescence in GaN nanowires of <300 nm diameter with spatial resolution limited by the electron cascade. We use this thermometry method in three ways to determine the thermal conductivities of the nanowires in the range of 19-68 W/m·K, well below that of bulk GaN. The electron beam acts simultaneously as a temperature probe and as a controlled delta-function-like heat source to measure thermal conductivities using steady-state methods, and we introduce a frequency-domain method using pulsed electron beam excitation. The different thermal conductivity measurements we explore agree within error in uniformly doped wires. We show feasible methods for rapid, in situ , high-resolution thermal property measurements of integrated circuits and semiconductor nanodevices and enable electron-beam-based nanoscale phonon transport studies.

Photon bunching in incoherent cathodoluminescence (CL) spectroscopy originates from the fact that a single high-energy electron can generate multiple photons when interacting with a material, thus, revealing key properties of electron-matter excitation. Contrary to previous works based on Monte Carlo modeling, here we present a fully analytical model describing the amplitude and shape of the second order autocorrelation function ( g (2) (τ)) for continuous and pulsed electron beams. Moreover, we extend the analysis of photon bunching to ultrashort electron pulses, in which up to 500 electrons per pulse excite the sample within a few picoseconds. We obtain a simple equation relating the bunching strength ( g (2) (0)) to the electron beam current, emitter decay lifetime, pulse duration, in the case of pulsed electron beams, and electron excitation efficiency (γ), defined as the probability that an electron creates at least one interaction with the emitter. The analytical model shows good agreement with the experimental data obtained on InGaN/GaN quantum wells using continuous, ns-pulsed (using beam blanker) and ultrashort ps-pulsed (using photoemission) electron beams. We extract excitation efficiencies of 0.13 and 0.05 for 10 and 8 keV electron beams, respectively, and we observe that nonlinear effects play no compelling role, even after excitation with ultrashort and dense electron cascades in the quantum wells., Competing Interests: The authors declare the following competing financial interest(s): T.C. is an employee and A.P. is the co-founder and co-owner of Delmic BV, a company that produces the cathodoluminescence system that was used in this work., (© 2021 The Authors. Published by American Chemical Society.)

Objective: Auditory localisation is part of central auditory processing. The study examined the impact of hearing aids on the auditory localisation ability of non-linguistic stimuli in hearing impaired schoolchildren., Patients and Methods: Above threshold acoustic signals were presented to 20 children (7-17 years) in a free field condition with 45 loudspeakers placed on a semicircular array. All participants had a bilaterally symmetric moderate sensorineural hearing loss (WHO grade 2) and used behind the ear style (BTE) hearing aids with conventional earmolds. The children had to indicate the position of the signal by a laser pointer. Both high- and low-frequency noise bursts were employed in the tests to separately address spatial auditory processing based on interaural time differences and interaural intensity differences. The examination was performed with and without BTE hearing aids., Results: There was no significant difference between results in the aided and the unaided condition: neither for the different frequency bands nor for the signal positions. The auditory localisation of the hearing impaired children was reduced by 3°-4° for frontal and 5°-11° for lateral positions compared to normal-hearing children. There was no age-relation., Conclusions: In our experimental setting, BTE hearing aids could not compensate the impaired auditory localisation ability of children with sensorineural hearing loss., Competing Interests: Die Autorinnen/Autoren geben an, dass kein Interessenkonflikt besteht., (Thieme. All rights reserved.)

Background: Patients with cleft palate often suffer from recurrent otitis media chronica with effusion during infancy. The consecutive binaural conductive hearing loss is seen as a risk factor for developing auditory processing disease. Since there are just a few studies examining auditory processing in this population this study aimed to investigate on an own patient cohort with different cleft manifestations in terms of auditory processing disorders in context to given studies., Material and Methods: This study included 48 patients (5-16 years): all patients had a non-syndromic cleft palate and normal peripheral hearing at the time of examination. The protocol included otoscopy, pure tone audiogram, speech intelligibility in noise, dichotic speech discrimination, auditory short-term memory and a parental questionnaire., Results: The majority of the parents did not indicate problems in the parental questionnaire. 69 % of the participants showed conspicuous results in the speech intelligibility in noise, whereas the dichotic speech discrimination and the auditory short-term memory were suspicious in 16.7 % only. The results in both tests proved mainly a problem in younger children. Noticeable results in speech intelligibility in noise were found in all age groups., Conclusion: Children and adolescents with cleft palate are at risk to develop auditory processing disorders. In this study population speech intelligibility in noise was the most common problem. 90 % of the children had received a speech therapy which could have already compensated problems concerning dichotic speech discrimination and the auditory short-term memory but not problems in speech intelligibility in noise., Competing Interests: Die Autorinnen/Autoren geben an, dass kein Interessenkonflikt besteht., (Thieme. All rights reserved.)

Background: In Germany, there are specialized vocational training units (BBW) for adolescents and young adults with special needs. The BBW Leipzig for people with disorders in hearing, language and communication registers a rising number of adolescents with auditory processing disorder (APD). However, test material to diagnose APD at this age is sparse. This study investigates auditory processing in adolescents with normal hearing but communication impairment with the available test material., Materials and Methods: 35 normal hearing adolescents (26 male, 9 female, mean age: 18.1 years) were included. All were trained at BBW Leipzig. Dichotic listening, understanding of speech in noise, accelerated speech, differentiation and analysis of phonemes were examined. In addition, non-verbal general intelligence, concentration, figural retentivity, and linguistic abilities were assessed., Results: 25 participants showed conspicious results concerning APD; 5 had never been diagnosed with APD so far. In 9/25 adolescents, there was no hint of top-down disorders. These participants had problems in accessing auditory information and holding and manipulating information in working memory, although both linguistic and intellectual abilities were normal or even above average., Conclusions: The study has shown that adolescents can be conspicuous according to the APD criteria of the DGPP and that an APD diagnosis from childhood is not necessarily already present. It also became clear that multi-professional diagnostics remains important beyond childhood. Standardized tests with corresponding age norms are needed., Competing Interests: Die Autorinnen/Autoren geben an, dass kein Interessenkonflikt besteht., (The Author(s). This is an open access article published by Thieme under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonDerivative-NonCommercial License, permitting copying and reproduction so long as the original work is given appropriate credit. Contents may not be used for commecial purposes, or adapted, remixed, transformed or built upon. (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).)

Nitrogen-vacancy (NV) centers in diamond are reliable single-photon emitters, with applications in quantum technologies and metrology. Two charge states are known for NV centers, NV 0 and NV - , with the latter being mostly studied due to its long electron spin coherence time. Therefore, control over the charge state of the NV centers is essential. However, an understanding of the dynamics between the different states still remains challenging. Here, conversion from NV - to NV 0 due to electron-induced carrier generation is shown. Ultrafast pump-probe cathodoluminescence spectroscopy is presented for the first time, with electron pulses as pump and laser pulses as probe, to prepare and read out the NV states. The experimental data are explained with a model considering carrier dynamics (0.8 ns), NV 0 spontaneous emission (20 ns), and NV 0 → NV - back transfer (500 ms). The results provide new insights into the NV - → NV 0 conversion dynamics and into the use of pump-probe cathodoluminescence as a nanoscale NV characterization tool., Competing Interests: The authors declare no competing financial interest., (Copyright © 2019 American Chemical Society.)

Patients treated for head and neck cancer (HNC) often suffer from severe and visible loss of function as the cancer itself and the side effects of aggressive treatments have the potential to severely affect quality of life. Therefore, the aim of follow-up is not only the early detection of potentially curable recurrences and second primary tumors but also the diagnosis and rehabilitation of functional impairments. Clear guidelines determining the frequency of follow-up visits are missing, and the impact of follow-up visits on patient's prognosis is unclear. An intensive post-treatment follow-up is needed to detect functional impairments and to initiate their treatment. The aim is an optimal rehabilitation of the patients. This article focusses on goals of aftercare treatment and describes the spectrum of long-term sequelae, and the impact of Patient Reported Outcome (PRO) instruments of which three will be introduced.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to establish normative data concerning the speaking voice of children and adolescents for clinical diagnostics., Study Design: Population-based mixed cross-sectional and longitudinal childhood cohort study., Methods: Normative data measuring the speaking voice profile of 1352 male and 1274 female participants aged 6 to 17 years were collected. To evaluate the voice range, five different intensity levels as the quietest voicing speaking voice (Level I), conversational voice (Level II), classroom voice (Level III), shouting voice (Level IV), and again the quietest speaking voice (Level V) were investigated. Multivariable analyses were performed to describe the effects of body mass index, Tanner stage, and singing activity on the outcome variables., Results: A clear distinction in frequencies and sound pressure levels between the five different voice levels can be found in both genders. In females the mean fundamental frequency of the conversational voice lowers from 223.3 to 205.8 Hz. In male participants it lowers from 223.3 to 102.3 Hz. The most substantial decrease in the fundamental frequency of the speaking voice in boys occurs at 13.5 years. Girls show an almost continuous decline in their fundamental frequency. Only the Tanner stage showed significant positive relationships with the grade of lowering of the fundamental frequency in both sexes., Conclusions: It was shown that the investigation of the speaking voice using predefined intensity-levels represents a feasible examination for children and adolescents. This study provides reference data on the range and age-adjusted normative values of the speaking voice., (Copyright © 2018 The Voice Foundation. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

The present study investigated spatial hearing in children aged 6-12 years diagnosed with Auditory Processing Disorders (APD) and compared their results to those of a group of control children matched in age. Sound source localization accuracy was quantified using an absolute localization task and sound source discrimination by measuring the minimum audible angle. Low- and high-frequency noise bursts were presented from eight loudspeaker positions in the left and right hemifields (0°, 30, 60°, and 90° azimuth). Median absolute localization accuracy did not differ between children with APD and control children. However, the intra-individual variability of pointing behavior was higher for children with APD. In contrast, children with APD had significantly higher minimum audible angle thresholds than control children. These findings show that APD impairs sound source discrimination, but does not affect the median relationship between actual and judged sound source locations., (Copyright © 2019 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

We investigate the nanoscale excitation of Ag nanocubes with coherent cathodoluminescence imaging spectroscopy (CL) to resolve the factors that determine the spatial resolution of CL as a deep-subwavelength imaging technique. The 10-30 keV electron beam coherently excites localized plasmons in 70 nm Ag cubes at 2.4 and 3.1 eV. The radiation from these plasmon modes is collected in the far-field together with the secondary electron intensity. CL line scans across the nanocubes show exponentially decaying tails away from the cube that reveal the evanescent coupling of the electron field to the resonant plasmon modes. The measured CL decay lengths range from 8 nm (10 keV) to 12 nm (30 keV) and differ from the calculated ones by only 1-3 nm. A statistical model of electron scattering inside the Ag nanocubes is developed to analyze the secondary electron images and compare them with the CL data. The Ag nanocube edges are derived from the CL line scans with a systematic error less than 3 nm. The data demonstrate that CL probes the electron-induced plasmon fields with nanometer accuracy., Competing Interests: The authors declare the following competing financial interest(s): A.P. is co-founder and co-owner and T.C. is employee of Delmic BV, a company that produces the cathodoluminescence system that was used in this work.

Relativistic electron beams create optical radiation when interacting with tailored nanostructures. This phenomenon has been so far used to design grating-based and holographic electron-driven photon sources. It has been proposed recently that such sources can be used for hybrid electron- and light-based spectroscopy techniques. However, this demands the design of a thin-film source suitable for electron-microscopy applications. Here, we present a mesoscopic structure composed of an array of nanoscale holes in a gold film which is designed using transformation optics and delivers ultrashort chirped electromagnetic wave packets upon 30-200 keV electron irradiation. The femtosecond photon bunches result from coherent scattering of surface plasmon polaritons with hyperbolic dispersion. They decay by radiation in a broad spectral band which is focused into a 1.5 micrometer beam waist. The focusing ability and broadband nature of this photon source will initiate applications in ultrafast spectral interferometry techniques.

Cathodoluminescence (CL) spectroscopy provides a powerful way to characterize optical properties of materials with deep-subwavelength spatial resolution. While CL imaging to obtain optical spectra is a well-developed technology, imaging CL lifetimes with nanoscale resolution has only been explored in a few studies. In this paper we compare three different time-resolved CL techniques and compare their characteristics. Two configurations are based on the acquisition of CL decay traces using a pulsed electron beam that is generated either with an ultra-fast beam blanker, which is placed in the electron column, or by photoemission from a laser-driven electron cathode. The third configuration uses measurements of the autocorrelation function g (2) of the CL signal using either a continuous or a pulsed electron beam. The three techniques are compared in terms of complexity of implementation, spatial and temporal resolution, and measurement accuracy as a function of electron dose. A single sample of InGaN/GaN quantum wells is investigated to enable a direct comparison of lifetime measurement characteristics of the three techniques. The g (2) -based method provides decay measurements at the best spatial resolution, as it leaves the electron column configuration unaffected. The pulsed-beam methods provide better detail on the temporal excitation and decay dynamics. The ultra-fast blanker configuration delivers electron pulses as short as 30 ps at 5 keV and 250 ps at 30 keV. The repetition rate can be chosen arbitrarily up to 80 MHz and requires a conjugate plane geometry in the electron column that reduces the spatial resolution in our microscope. The photoemission configuration, pumped with 250 fs 257 nm pulses at a repetition rate from 10 kHz to 25 MHz, allows creation of electron pulses down to a few ps, with some loss in spatial resolution., (Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier B.V.)

Background: Hearing-impairment can lead to a reduced quality of life and thus represents a vulnerability factor for mental disorders., Objective: This study represents the first psychiatric analysis of subjective quality of life and depression in people with hearing-impairment in Germany., Materials and Methods: The patient group included 30 hearing-impaired participants (27 women, 3 men) with a current or previous mental disorder and/or psychiatric/psychotherapeutic treatment (age: mean, M = 49.67 years; standard deviation, SD = 13.54 years). The control group consisted of 22 hearing-impaired participants (16 women, 6 men) without mental disorders or treatment (age: M = 52.41 years, SD = 17.30 years). Besides sociodemographic variables, we registered onset/extent of the various hearing-impairments and hearing aid provision. Both groups underwent extensive diagnostic assessment comprising subjective functional impairment (Sheehan Disability Scale, SDS), health-related quality of life (SF-36 Health Survey), and depressive symptoms (Beck Depression Inventory, BDI-II)., Results: Groups did not differ significantly in terms of sociodemographic variables such as age, gender, or intelligence. Participants of the patient group had a significantly greater subjective impairment, a lower quality of life, and more pronounced symptoms of depression. The invasiveness of the hearing aid (i. e., cochlear implant) as well as the timepoint of hearing-impairment onset (postlingually) appear to serve as vulnerability factors for mental health problems in this group., Conclusion: Our results indicate that besides delivering high-quality acoustic care, practitioners should continuously check patients' requirements for psychosocial treatment due to a loss of quality of life. The development of a specific psychotherapeutic treatment for hearing-impaired clients requires additional research focused on protective and vulnerability factors which may influence the emergence of mental disorders in these patients.

Biological and bio-inspired mineralization processes yield a variety of three-dimensional structures with relevance for fields such as photonics, electronics and photovoltaics. However, these processes are only compatible with specific material compositions, often carbonate salts, thereby hampering widespread applications. Here we present a strategy to convert a wide range of metal carbonate structures into lead halide perovskite semiconductors with tunable bandgaps, while preserving the 3D shape. First, we introduce lead ions by cation exchange. Second, we use carbonate as a leaving group, facilitating anion exchange with halide, which is followed rapidly by methylammonium insertion to form the perovskite. As proof of principle, pre-programmed carbonate salt shapes such as vases, coral-like forms and helices are transformed into perovskites while preserving the morphology and crystallinity of the initial micro-architectures. This approach also readily converts calcium carbonate biominerals into semiconductors, furnishing biological and programmable synthetic shapes with the performance of artificial compositions such as perovskite-based semiconductors.

Direct band gap III-V semiconductors, emitting efficiently in the amber-green region of the visible spectrum, are still missing, causing loss in efficiency in light emitting diodes operating in this region, a phenomenon known as the "green gap". Novel geometries and crystal symmetries however show strong promise in overcoming this limit. Here we develop a novel material system, consisting of wurtzite Al x In 1- x P nanowires, which is predicted to have a direct band gap in the green region. The nanowires are grown with selective area metalorganic vapor phase epitaxy and show wurtzite crystal purity from transmission electron microscopy. We show strong light emission at room temperature between the near-infrared 875 nm (1.42 eV) and the "pure green" 555 nm (2.23 eV). We investigate the band structure of wurtzite Al x In 1- x P using time-resolved and temperature-dependent photoluminescence measurements and compare the experimental results with density functional theory simulations, obtaining excellent agreement. Our work paves the way for high-efficiency green light emitting diodes based on wurtzite III-phosphide nanowires.

Cathodoluminescence (CL) imaging spectroscopy provides two-dimensional optical excitation images of photonic nanostructures with a deep-subwavelength spatial resolution. So far, CL imaging was unable to provide a direct measurement of the excitation and emission probabilities of photonic nanostructures in a spatially resolved manner. Here, we demonstrate that by mapping the cathodoluminescence autocorrelation function g (2) together with the CL spectral distribution the excitation and emission rates can be disentangled at every excitation position. We use InGaN/GaN quantum wells in GaN nanowires with diameters in the range 200-500 nm as a model system to test our new g (2) mapping methodology and find characteristic differences in excitation and emission rates both between wires and within wires. Strong differences in the average CL intensity between the wires are the result of differences in the emission efficiencies. At the highest spatial resolution, intensity variations observed within wires are the result of excitation rates that vary with the nanoscale geometry of the structures. The fact that strong spatial variations observed in the CL intensity are not only uniquely linked to variations in emission efficiency but also linked to excitation efficiency has profound implications for the interpretation of the CL data for nanostructured geometries in general.

We present the surface plasmon resonance modes in three-dimensional (3D) upright split ring resonators (SRR) as studied by correlative cathodoluminescence (CL) spectroscopy in a scanning electron microscope (SEM) and electron energy loss spectroscopy (EELS) in a transmission electron microscope. We discuss the challenges inherent in studying the plasmon modes of a 3D nanostructure and how meeting these challenges benefits from the complementary use of EELS and SEM-CL. With the use of EELS, we detect a strong first order mode in the SRR; with comparison to simulations, we are able to identify this as the well-known magnetic dipole moment of the SRR. Combining the EELS spectra with SEM-CL on the same structure reveals the higher order modes present in this 3D nanostructure, which we link to the coupling and hybridization of rim modes present in the two upright hollow pillars of the split ring.

Competing Interests: Disclosure The authors report no conflicts of interest in this work.

In case of audiological and/or anatomical limitations in the provision of conventional hearing aids, semi- or fully-implantable hearing systems represent a modern therapy alternative. These hearing systems are divided according to their mode of action into active middle ear implants when stimulating the auditory ossicles or the round window, into bone conduction devices while stimulating the skull directly, into cochlear implants with direct acoustic stimulation to the cochlea with its auditory nerve and finally into auditory brainstem implants by bridging the peripheral auditory structures. Taking careful criteria of indications and anatomical specificities into account, significant improvements can be achieved in comfort, speech understanding and thus quality of life for a large number of patients., (© Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New York.)

The present study investigated two measures of spatial acoustic perception in children and adolescents with sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL) tested without their hearing aids and compared it to age-matched controls. Auditory localization was quantified by means of a sound source identification task and auditory spatial discrimination acuity by measuring minimum audible angles (MAA). Both low- and high-frequency noise bursts were employed in the tests to separately address spatial auditory processing based on interaural time and intensity differences. In SNHL children, localization (hit accuracy) was significantly reduced compared to normal-hearing children and intraindividual variability (dispersion) considerably increased. Given the respective impairments, the performance based on interaural time differences (low frequencies) was still better than that based on intensity differences (high frequencies). For MAA, age-matched comparisons yielded not only increased MAA values in SNHL children, but also no decrease with increasing age compared to normal-hearing children. Deficits in MAA were most apparent in the frontal azimuth. Thus, children with SNHL do not seem to benefit from frontal positions of the sound sources as do normal-hearing children. The results give an indication that the processing of spatial cues in SNHL children is restricted, which could also imply problems regarding speech understanding in challenging hearing situations., (© 2018 S. Karger AG, Basel.)

To date, quantum sources in the ultraviolet (UV) spectral region have been obtained only in semiconductor quantum dots. Color centers in wide bandgap materials may represent a more effective alternative. However, the quest for UV quantum emitters in bulk crystals faces the difficulty of combining an efficient UV excitation/detection optical setup with the capability of addressing individual color centers in potentially highly defective materials. In this work we overcome this limit by employing an original experimental setup coupling cathodoluminescence within a scanning transmission electron microscope to a Hanbury-Brown-Twiss intensity interferometer. We identify a new extremely bright UV single photon emitter (4.1 eV) in hexagonal boron nitride. Hyperspectral cathodoluminescence maps show a high spatial localization of the emission (∼80 nm) and a typical zero-phonon line plus phonon replica spectroscopic signature, indicating a point defect origin, most likely carbon substitutional at nitrogen sites. An additional nonsingle-photon broad emission may appear in the same spectral region, which can be attributed to intrinsic defects related to electron irradiation.