Thèse d'exercice : Chirurgie dentaire : Université de Nantes : 2007. / Bibliogr.

Mémoire d'orthophonie : Médecine : Université de Nantes : 2007. / Bibliogr.

Reproduction de : Thèse d'exercice : Chirurgie dentaire : Nantes : 2008. / Bibliogr.

Reproduction de : Thèse d'exercice : Chirurgie dentaire : Nantes : 2009. / Bibliogr.

Reproduction de : Thèse d'exercice : Médecine : Nancy 1 : 2003. / Titre provenant de l'écran-titre.

Diss. (sammanfattning) Göteborg : Göteborgs universitet, 2008. / Härtill 4 uppsatser.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2000. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 286-298). Available also in a digital version from Dissertation Abstracts.

The purpose of this thesis is to provide a review and discussion of the current literature on auditory processing, speech discrimination, word recognition, and early lexical representations in children with normal hearing and those with hearing impairment in addition to identifying areas in which current research is lacking. This information is needed to consider potential interactions between various factors affecting the development of spoken word recognition. This will also provide a starting point for identifying further research needs. Since children with hearing loss do not receive the same amount of exposure to speech and language as typically developing children, it can be expected that the development of speech and word recognition in this population may progress differently. If we can identify differences in auditory processing and phonological development in children with hearing impairment, we can modify speech and language therapy to focus on more specific and effective targets. The subsequent chapters will provide a critical review of the current literature on the aforementioned topics. In Chapters 2 and 3, studies assessing differences in processing, attention to sound, intersensory perception, and sound discrimination abilities in children with normal hearing and hearing impairment will be discussed. Chapters 4 and 5 focus on word recognition skills, and early lexical representations. Chapter 6 will synthesize results of available studies and suggest areas in which more research is needed. Together, these chapters will help us gain a better understanding of the complex interactions between auditory processing, executive functioning, phonological development and later word recognition outcomes. By identifying which avenues have the greatest effect on outcomes in cochlear implant users, we can modify speech and language therapy in order to address the unique needs of this special population. / text

The currently used biomaterials for surgical implantation include stainless steel, titanium and its alloys. However, due to the non-degradability and the mismatch of the mechanical properties between these metallic implants and human bone, there maybe a long-term adverse effect of inflammation or stress shielding effect. This may lead to bone loss which brings with a higher risk of implant failure. To avoid this problem, implants made of biodegradable materials are the alternatives. Due to the poor mechanical properties of biodegradable polymer especially for load-bearing area, biodegradable metal is used instead. Magnesium is the potential candidate since it is degradable with mechanical properties similar to human bone whilst magnesium ion is an essential element to human bodies. With the advantages of using magnesium for implantations, it can be potentially used for fracture fixation implant and bone substitutes. However, its rapid degradation and release of hydrogen gas may inhibit its use. Hence, modification is required. In this project, plasma immersion ion implantation and deposition (PIII&D) using aluminium oxide as the plasma source was conducted on the magnesium alloys. The corrosion resistance properties of the plasma-treated magnesium alloy were found to display significant improvement in immersion test especially at early time points. The plasma-treated sample was compatible with osteoblasts. Cells attached and grew on the treated sample but not the untreated sample. The animal study showed consistent results with the cell study, and there was a significant increase in bone formation around the treated sample when compared to the untreated sample. The other potential application of magnesium is its usage as a bone substitute. Due to the limitations of autografts and allografts, synthetic bone substitutes are developed. The ideal bone substitutes should have similar properties to those found with autografts. However, no such bone substitutes presently exist; hence, a novel hybrid material is fabricated in this project through the addition of magnesium granules into a biodegradable polymer polycaprolactone (PCL). The immersion test showed that an apatite layer composed of magnesium, calcium, phosphate and hydroxide was formed on the hybrids but not on pure PCL, which suggested that the hybrids were osteoinductive and osteoconductive. The compression test showed that the mechanical properties were enhanced with the incorporation of magnesium granules into pure PCL and were still maintained after 2 months of immersion. Osteoblasts grew well on the PCL-Mg hybrids. The addition of smaller amounts of magnesium granules (0.1g PCL-Mg) resulted in higher ALP activity and up-regulation of different bone markers when compared to the pure PCL. Finally, the animal studies showed that more new bone formation was found around the 0.1g PCL-Mg hybrids especially at early time points, which suggested that the healing time could be shortened. In conclusion, fracture fixation implants and novel bone substitutes based on magnesium were developed in this project. The aluminium oxide coating was able to improve the corrosion resistance properties of magnesium alloy by suppressing the release of magnesium ions. The PCL-Mg hybrids were found to be biodegradable, biocompatible, osteoconductive, osteoinductive and mechanically matched to human bone properties. / published_or_final_version / Orthopaedics and Traumatology / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

published_or_final_version / Orthopaedics and Traumatology / Master / Master of Philosophy