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The Oticon Medical Neuro cochlear implant system includes the modes Opti Omni and Speech Omni, the latter providing beamforming (i.e., directional selectivity) in the high frequencies. Two studies compared sentence identification scores of adult cochlear implant users with Opti Omni and Speech Omni. In Study 1, a double-blind longitudinal crossover study, 12 new users trialed Opti Omni or Speech Omni (random allocation) for three months, and their sentence identification in quiet and noise (+10 dB signal-to-noise ratio) with the trialed mode were measured. The same procedure was repeated for the second mode. In Study 2, a single-blind study, 11 experienced users performed a speech identification task in quiet and at relative signal-to-noise ratios ranging from -3 to +18 dB with Opti Omni and Speech Omni. The Study 1 scores in quiet and in noise were significantly better with Speech Omni than with Opti Omni. Study 2 scores were significantly better with Speech Omni than with Opti Omni at +6 and +9 dB signal-to-noise ratios. Beamforming in the high frequencies, as implemented in Speech Omni, leads to improved speech identification in medium levels of background noise, where cochlear implant users spend most of their day. Funding Agencies|Oticon Medical; Coordenacao de Aperfeicoamento de Pessoal de Nivel Superior (Coordination for the Improvement of Higher Education Personnel) from the Ministry of Education of Brazil

Taxonomy of Geastrum species in the neotropics has been subject to divergent opinions among specialists. In our study, type collections were reassessed and compared with recent collections in order to delimit species in Geastrum, sect. Myceliostroma, subsect. Epigaea. A thorough review of morphologic features combined with barcode and phylogenetic analyses (ITS and LSU nrDNA) revealed six new species (G. neoamericanum, G. rubellum, G. brunneocapillatum, G. baculicrystallum, G. rubropusillum and G. courtecuissei). In additon, the presence of hairs on the exoperidium, a commonly used feature to diagnose Geastrum species, proved to be ineffective because it is a derived character within subsect. Epigaea., This work was supported by: (TA and JS) Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES—Brazil) for the PhD scholarships awarded to Thiago Accioly and Julieth Sousa (PDSE-2017); (IGB and MPM) Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq—Brazil, Projeto Pesquisador Visitante Especial PVE/407474/2013–7, María P. Martín and Iuri G. Baseia); (PAM, MR and MG) The French Laboratories of Excellence Labex TULIP (ANR-10-LABX-41; ANR-11-IDEX-0002-02) and Labex CEBA (ANR-10-LABX-25-01), the National Forest Office (ONF, France), the program ANR E-TRICEL (National Research Agency, France) and the DREAL Martinique (France) provided financial support for this study.

International audience; Forces et faiblesses dans la gouvernance des Indications Géographiques (IG) à Bahia et des IG des Farines de Manioc du Brésil