The present results suggest that the majority of prelingually deaf children with cochlear implants did not master Mandarin tone production. However, a small group of participants demonstrated nearly perfect skills of Mandarin tone production in addition to tone perception. Thus, it is necessary to consider factors other than the device's limitations to explain these high levels of performance in the perception and production of Mandarin lexical tones.

Diabetes mellitus was significantly associated with an increased risk of developing SSHL. Coronary heart disease or retinopathy comorbidities in diabetic patients seemed to be associated with an increased risk of developing SSHL. The risk of developing SSHL increased with the severity of diabetes.

SSHL may confer an independent risk of MI. This observation may prompt the early detection and timely treatment of patients at a high risk of MI.

Comorbid diabetes or hypercholesterolemia may indicate a smaller probability of major or moderate PTA improvement for patients with ISSNHL.

The complication rate for COM remained steady in the past 10 years, regardless of the overall reduction in the prevalence of COM with use of antibiotics. A high index of suspicion and imaging studies for early identification are recommended. Pneumococcal vaccination is recommended, particularly for the elderly patients who are treated conservatively because of relatively poor general health conditions.

Biomarkers of chronic kidney disease-mineral and bone disorder (CKD-MBD) correlate with morbidity and mortality in dialysis patients. However, the comparative roles of each CKD-MBD biomarker remained undetermined on long-term peritoneal dialysis (PD) patients. This retrospective study, employing a population-based database, aimed to evaluate the performance and provide the best evidence of each biomarker of CKD-MBD as predictor of all-cause mortality. Throughout the 8-year study period, total 12,116 PD patients were included in this study. Cox proportional regression and Kaplan-Meier method were used for survival analysis. For Cox regression model, baseline measurements and time-varying covariates were used for analysis. In Cox regression model using time-dependent covariates, serum calcium level of ≧9.5 mg/dL was associated with increased mortality. For phosphorus, serum levels of either ≧6.5 mg/dL or <3.5 mg/dL were associated with increased mortality. For parathyroid hormone (PTH), higher serum levels were not associated increased mortality. For alkaline phosphatase (ALP), mortality increased at levels ≧100 IU/L. Our findings suggested that the detrimental effect of ALP on survival was more consistent, while serum calcium, phosphorus and PTH may have a less prominent effect on mortality. This study provided additional information for manipulating CKD-MBD biomarkers in PD patients.

A diagnosis of HCh may indicate an independent risk for ISSNHL. This finding suggests that an underlying vascular mechanism contributes to the development of ISSNHL. We suggest that physicians counsel patients with HCh to seek medical attention if they have hearing impairments, because they may also have an increased risk of developing ISSNHL.

SLE was significantly associated with an increased risk of developing RVO.