Objectives The objectives were to characterize the effects of wearing face coverings on: 1) acoustic speech cues, and 2) speech recognition of patients with hearing loss who listen with a cochlear implant. Methods A prospective cohort study was performed in a tertiary referral center between July and September 2020. A female talker recorded sentences in three conditions: no face covering, N95 mask, and N95 mask plus a face shield. Spectral differences were analyzed between speech produced in each condition. The speech recognition in each condition for twenty‐three adult patients with at least 6 months of cochlear implant use was assessed. Results Spectral analysis demonstrated preferential attenuation of high‐frequency speech information with the N95 mask plus face shield condition compared to the other conditions. Speech recognition did not differ significantly between the uncovered (median 90% [IQR 89%–94%]) and N95 mask conditions (91% [IQR 86%–94%]; P = .253); however, speech recognition was significantly worse in the N95 mask plus face shield condition (64% [IQR 48%–75%]) compared to the uncovered ( P < .001) or N95 mask ( P < .001) conditions. Conclusions The type and combination of protective face coverings used have differential effects on attenuation of speech information, influencing speech recognition of patients with hearing loss. In the face of the COVID‐19 pandemic, there is a need to protect patients and clinicians from spread of disease while maximizing patient speech recognition. The disruptive effect of wearing a face shield in conjunction with a mask may prompt clinicians to consider alternative eye protection, such as goggles, in appropriate clinical situations. Level of Evidence Level 3 Laryngoscope , 2021

There has been little research on the role of translation memory (TM) in practitioners' working practices, apart from reviews and a survey into ownership and rates issues. The present study provides a comprehensive snapshot of the perceptions of UK-based professional translators with regard to TM as a tool in their working environment. Moore and Benbasat's instrument for measuring perceptions with regard to the adoption of an information technology innovation was adapted and used to investigate three hypotheses: that translators who are relatively new to the translation industry have a more positive general perception of TM than experienced translators; that translators who use TM have a more positive general perception of it than translators who do not; and, finally, that translators' perception of the value of TM is not linked with their perceived IT proficiency. The study found that younger translators took a positive general view of TM irrespective of actual use, in particular attributing esteem to more experienced translators using (or perceived to be using) TM. Non-users at all experience levels, however, had a negative general view of TM irrespective of actual use. Both findings point to the significance of adequate knowledge in adoption decisions. Perceived IT proficiency, finally, was found to play a key role in translators' perceptions of the benefits of TM. These findings are discussed in the light of recent trends in the translation industry, including Continuing Professional Development, quality assurance and regulation.

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Objectives/Hypothesis Speech recognition with a cochlear implant (CI) tends to be better for younger adults than older adults. However, older adults may take longer to reach asymptotic performance than younger adults. The present study aimed to characterize speech recognition as a function of age at implantation and listening experience for adult CI users. Study Design Retrospective review. Methods A retrospective review identified 352 adult CI recipients (387 ears) with at least 5 years of device listening experience. Speech recognition, as measured with consonant‐nucleus‐consonant (CNC) words in quiet and AzBio sentences in a 10‐talker noise masker (10 dB signal‐to‐noise ratio), was reviewed at 1, 5, and 10 years postactivation. Results Speech recognition was better in younger listeners, and performance was stable or continued to improve through 10 years of CI listening experience. There was no indication of differences in acclimatization as a function of age at implantation. For the better performing CI recipients, an effect of age at implantation was more apparent for sentence recognition in noise than for word recognition in quiet. Conclusions Adult CI recipients across the age range examined here experience speech recognition benefit with a CI. However, older adults perform more poorly than young adults for speech recognition in quiet and noise, with similar age effects through 5 to 10 years of listening experience. Level of Evidence 3 Laryngoscope, 131:2106–2111, 2021

Objectives: To characterize the relationship between cochlear duct length (CDL) and initial hearing preservation among cochlear implant recipients of a fully inserted 31.5 mm flexible lateral wall electrode array. Study Design: Retrospective review. Setting: Tertiary academic referral center. Patients: Adult cochlear implant recipients who presented preoperatively with unaided hearing detection thresholds of 65 dB HL at 125 Hz and underwent cochlear implantation with a 31.5 mm flexible lateral wall array. Intervention: Cochlear implantation with a hearing preservation surgical approach. Main Outcome Measures: Computed tomography was reviewed to determine CDL. Hearing preservation was characterized by the shift in low-frequency pure-tone average (LFPTA; 125, 250, and 500 Hz), and shift in individual unaided hearing detection thresholds at 125, 250, and 500 Hz.Results: Nineteen patients met the criteria for inclusion. The mean CDL was 34.2 mm (range: 30.8-36.5 mm). Recipients experienced a mean LFPTA shift of 27.6 dB HL (range: 10-50 dB HL). Significant, negative correlations were observed between CDL and smaller threshold shifts at individual frequencies and LFPTA ( p 0.048). Conclusion: A longer CDL is associated with greater likelihood of preserving low-frequency hearing with long arrays. Low-frequency hearing preservation is feasible with fully inserted long flexible arrays within the initial months after cochlear implantation. Preoperative measurement of CDL may facilitate a more individualized approach in array selection to permit optimal cochlear coverage while enhancing hearing preservation outcomes.