Cochlear hearing loss is sometimes associated with complete destruction of the inner hair cells (IHCs) within the cochlea (Schucknecht 1964, 1974; Engström 1983). For reviews, see Schucknecht (1974) and Borg, Canlon and Engström (1995). Sometimes the IHCs may still be present, but may be sufficiently abnormal that they no longer function. The IHCs are the transducers of the cochlea, responsible...

Buus and Florentine (ISP meeting 2001) presented evidence that basilar-membrane velocity growth functions are proportional to the square root of loudness functions derived from temporal and spectral integration. Although it is not possible to directly measure basilarmembrane activity in humans, it is likely that tone-burst otoacoustic emission input-output functions, at least at low and moderat...

Research in the area of robotics has made available numerous possibilities for further innovation in the education of children, especially in the rehabilitation of thosewith learning difficulties and/or intellectual disabilities. Despite the scientific evidence, there is still a strong scepticism against the use of robots in the fields of education and care of people. Here we present a study on...

It is long been known that cancer and non-cancer cells can be distinguished on the basis of their nucleolar morphologies. As early as the 19 th century, it was reported that cancer cells have larger and more irregularly shaped nucleoli. Since then, pathologists have used nucleolar morphology to predict the clinical outcome [1]. Nucleolar morphology is altered due to the up-regulation of ribosom...

Stem cells occur in very small numbers in adult tissues, in higher numbers in the fetus and its annexes and they can be derived from whole embryos or parts thereof. For a couple of years, stem cells can also be derived straight from somatic cells by retrovirus-mediated transfer of selected genes in culture. Stem cells have varying capacities for self-renewal and differentiation according to the...

The term Self-injurious Behavior (SIB) represents behavioral characteristics that can damage body tissue. Persons with Intellectual Disability (ID) have a greater probability of developing inadequate behavior such as SIB. Literature indicates the presence of SIB in different syndromes. In the Prader-Willi Syndrome (PWS) the most frequent physical manifestation is skin-picking, which involves th...

Matstoms, VTI, for their invaluable support and advices. Many thanks also to Mikael Adlers, VTI, who I have been working with during the integration and testing within the VTI Driving simulator III. He has a great part in that integration went successfully. Thanks also to the Swedish Road Administration (SRA), Ruggero Ceci, for funding this work. I would also like to show appreciation to my oth...

Loudness matching functions for tones for persons with one shifted-threshold ear (hearing loss and noise-shifted thresholds) and one ear within normal limits were used to derive the presumed basilar membrane (BM) input-output (I/O) function in a normal ear. The comparison was made by assuming that the BM I/O function for the ear with the cochlear threshold shift has a slope of one (a linearized...

All rights reserved iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I enjoy doing research that is different. Being different means not inheriting the definitions and solutions of existing problems but striving to recognize and address new problems. This notion of being different is imparted to me by my advisor Prof. Pietro Perona, to whom I am deeply grateful. I have consulted Pietro for basically everything: the meanin...