Vergleich des Sprachverstehens im Störgeräusch bei Cochlea Implantat Trägern mit unterschiedlichen Mikrophonen

Einleitung: Es wurden die Leistungen beim Verstehen im Störgeräusch von CI-Patienten mit unterschiedlichen Implantattypen verglichen. Der TEMPO+ Sprachprozessor (MED-EL, Implantat C40+) verwendet ein Mikrophon mit Kugelcharakteristik, während der ESPrit 3G Prozessor (COCHLEAR, Implantat CI24R(CA)) mit einem frontal ausgelegten Richtmikrophon ausgestattet ist. Methode: Von den zwei untersuchten Patientengruppen (n=20) war eine mit einem C40+ Implantat (MED-EL, Innsbruck), die andere mit dem CI24RCA Implantat (Cochlear, Melbourne) versorgt. Es wurde die S0N180 Lautsprecheranordnung im Freifeld für den HSM-Test (Hochmair, Schulz und Moser, 1997) und die S0N0 Anordnung für den Oldenburger Satztest (Wagener, Kühnel und Kollmeier, 1999) verwendet. Der OLSA wurde mit festem Sprachpegel (65 dB SPL) und adaptivem Störgeräusch durchgeführt. Der HSM-Satztest wurde bei Signal-/ Rauschverhältnissen von 15 dB, 10 dB, 5 dB, 0dB sowie ohne Störgeräusch durchgeführt. Ergebnisse: Im HSM-Satztest (S0N180) wurden signifikant bessere Leistungen beim Verstehen im Störgeräusch für die Gruppe mit dem Richtmikrophon nachgewiesen. Im Oldenburger Satztest zeigten sich keine signifikanten Unterschiede. Schlussfolgerungen: Im Vergleich zu einem Mikrophon mit Kugelcharakteristik verbessert ein Richtmikrophon das Sprachverstehen in Situationen, in denen die Sprache frontal und der Störschall von hinten dargeboten werden

Participation in club sport in childhood is associated with mental health in preterm and term born adolescents

Preterm born individuals have an increased risk for mental health problems. Participation in club sport is associated with better mental health but the causal direction is unclear. It is not known whether this association could also be found in preterm children. Data from term born (N = 10,368), late preterm (N = 630), and very to moderately preterm born (N = 243) children from the Millennium Cohort Study at the ages of 3, 5, 7, 11, and 14 years were used. Longitudinal associations between the parent-reported Strengths and Difficulties questionnaire (SDQ) and club sport participation (days per week) were analysed using multigroup structural equation modelling, adjusting for gender, maternal depression, parental education; motor problems and attrition were controlled for. Multi-group structural equation modelling showed that children with more peer relationship problems, emotional symptoms, conduct problems or hyperactivity-inattention were less likely to participate in club sport at subsequent assessment time points. More days with club sport participation was associated with lower levels of emotional symptoms and peer relationship problems but not conduct problems or hyperactivity-inattention at subsequent ages. Results were similar in all gestational age groups. Club sport participation predicts lower levels of peer relationship and emotional problems in subsequent waves while it is also predicted by lower levels of emotional problems, peer relationship problems, conduct problems and hyperactivity-inattention in preceding waves. Since no differences in the relationship between SDQ subscales and club sport participation were seen with regard to gestational age groups, club sport should be encouraged in all children

ZyFISH: A Simple, Rapid and Reliable Zygosity Assay for Transgenic Mice

Microinjection of DNA constructs into fertilized mouse oocytes typically results in random transgene integration at a single genomic locus. The resulting transgenic founders can be used to establish hemizygous transgenic mouse lines. However, practical and experimental reasons often require that such lines be bred to homozygosity. Transgene zygosity can be determined by progeny testing assays which are expensive and time-consuming, by quantitative Southern blotting which is labor-intensive, or by quantitative PCR (qPCR) which requires transgene-specific design. Here, we describe a zygosity assessment procedure based on fluorescent in situ hybridization (zyFISH). The zyFISH protocol entails the detection of transgenic loci by FISH and the concomitant assignment of homozygosity using a concise and unbiased scoring system. The method requires small volumes of blood, is scalable to at least 40 determinations per assay, and produces results entirely consistent with the progeny testing assay. This combination of reliability, simplicity and cost-effectiveness makes zyFISH a method of choice for transgenic mouse zygosity determinations

Electric Vehicles with Range Extenders : Evaluating the Contribution to the Sustainable Development of Metropolitan Regions

Electric vehicles play a key role in strategic development plans of urban regions in Europe because they are seen as a promising technology to promote environmental quality, livability, and sustainability. Studies on electric mobility mostly concentrate on battery electric cars and disregard hybrid technologies which could address the weakness of range limitations. Therefore, this paper studies the impact of extended range electric vehicle (EREV) solutions on travel behavior, energy demand, environment, and overall sustainable development in the greater Stuttgart region in Germany. An integrated large-scale simulation approach merging different models is applied for future scenarios in 2025. The results show that with EREVs (1) most travel patterns can be fulfilled, (2) the impact on electricity generation is marginal, and (3) there is a high potential to reduce local emissions in areas with high traffic density. Overall, electric mobility is evaluated as one component toward sustainable development in the study area. This study demonstrates the complexity of the topic and highlights the importance of addressing this issue with a multidisciplinary approac

Experimental evidence for temporal uncoupling of brain Aβ deposition and neurodegenerative sequelae

Brain A beta deposition is a key early event in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer ' s disease (AD), but the long presymptomatic phase and poor correlation between A beta deposition and clinical symptoms remain puzzling. To elucidate the dependency of downstream pathologies on A beta, we analyzed the trajectories of cerebral A beta accumulation, A beta seeding activity, and neurofilament light chain (NfL) in the CSF (a biomarker of neurodegeneration) in A beta-precursor protein transgenic mice. We find that A beta deposition increases linearly until it reaches an apparent plateau at a late age, while A beta seeding activity increases more rapidly and reaches a plateau earlier, coinciding with the onset of a robust increase of CSF NfL. Short-term inhibition of A beta generation in amyloid-laden mice reduced A beta deposition and associated glial changes, but failed to reduce A beta seeding activity, and CSF NfL continued to increase although at a slower pace. When short-term or long-term inhibition of A beta generation was started at pre-amyloid stages, CSF NfL did not increase despite some A beta deposition, microglial activation, and robust brain A beta seeding activity. A dissociation of A beta load and CSF NfL trajectories was also found in familial AD, consistent with the view that A beta aggregation is not kinetically coupled to neurotoxicity. Rather, neurodegeneration starts when A beta seeding activity is saturated and before A beta deposition reaches critical (half-maximal) levels, a phenomenon reminiscent of the two pathogenic phases in prion disease. The poor correlation between brain A beta deposition and clinical symptoms in Alzheimer ' s disease remains puzzling. Here, the authors show a temporal dissociation of A beta deposition and neurodegeneration

DNA-Methylome based Tumor Hypoxia Classifier Identifies HPV-negative Head & Neck Cancer Patients at Risk for Locoregional Recurrence After Primary Radiochemotherapy

BACKGROUND Tumor hypoxia is a paradigmatic negative prognosticator of treatment resistance in Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma (HNSCC). The lack of robust and reliable hypoxia classifiers limits the adaptation of stratified therapies. We hypothesized that the tumor DNA methylation landscape might indicate epigenetic reprogramming induced by chronic intratumoral hypoxia. METHODS A DNA methylome-based tumor hypoxia classifier (Hypoxia-M) was trained in the TCGA-HNSCC cohort based on matched assignments using gene expression-based signatures of hypoxia (Hypoxia-GES). Hypoxia-M was validated in a multicenter DKTK-ROG trial consisting of Human Papilloma Virus (HPV)-negative HNSCC patients treated with primary radiochemotherapy (RCHT). RESULTS While hypoxia-GSEs failed to stratify patients in the DKTK-ROG, Hypoxia-M was independently prognostic for local recurrence (LR, HR=4.3, p=0.001) and overall survival (OS, HR=2.34, p=0.03) but not distant metastasis (DM) after RCHT in the both cohorts. Hypoxia-M status was inversely associated with CD8 T-cells infiltration in both cohorts. Hypoxia-M was further prognostic in the TCGA-PanCancer cohort (HR=1.83, p=0.04), underscoring the breadth of this classifier for predicting tumor hypoxia status. CONCLUSIONS Our findings highlight an unexplored avenue for DNA Methylation-based classifiers as biomarkers of tumoral hypoxia for identifying high-risk features in patients with HNSCC tumors. TRIAL REGISTRATION Retrospective observational study from the German Cancer Consortium (DKTK-ROG), not interventional

Functionally Relevant Domains of the Prion Protein Identified In Vivo

The prion consists essentially of PrPSc, a misfolded and aggregated conformer of the cellular protein PrPC. Whereas PrPC deficient mice are clinically healthy, expression of PrPC variants lacking its central domain (PrPΔCD), or of the PrP-related protein Dpl, induces lethal neurodegenerative syndromes which are repressed by full-length PrP. Here we tested the structural basis of these syndromes by grafting the amino terminus of PrPC (residues 1–134), or its central domain (residues 90–134), onto Dpl. Further, we constructed a soluble variant of the neurotoxic PrPΔCD mutant that lacks its glycosyl phosphatidyl inositol (GPI) membrane anchor. Each of these modifications abrogated the pathogenicity of Dpl and PrPΔCD in transgenic mice. The PrP-Dpl chimeric molecules, but not anchorless PrPΔCD, ameliorated the disease of mice expressing truncated PrP variants. We conclude that the amino proximal domain of PrP exerts a neurotrophic effect even when grafted onto a distantly related protein, and that GPI-linked membrane anchoring is necessary for both beneficial and deleterious effects of PrP and its variants

Testing Atmospheric Oxidation in an Alabama Forest

The chemical species emitted by forests create complex atmospheric oxidation chemistry and influence global atmospheric oxidation capacity and climate. The Southern Oxidant and Aerosol Study (SOAS) provided an opportunity to test the oxidation chemistry in a forest where isoprene is the dominant biogenic volatile organic compound. Hydroxyl (OH) and hydroperoxyl (HO_2) radicals were two of the hundreds of atmospheric chemical species measured, as was OH reactivity (the inverse of the OH lifetime). OH was measured by laser-induced fluorescence (LIF) and by taking the difference in signals without and with an OH scavenger that was added just outside the instrument’s pinhole inlet. To test whether the chemistry at SOAS can be simulated by current model mechanisms, OH and HO_2 were evaluated with a box model using two chemical mechanisms: Master Chemical Mechanism, version 3.2 (MCMv3.2), augmented with explicit isoprene chemistry and MCMv3.3.1. Measured and modeled OH peak at about 10^6 cm^(−3) and agree well within combined uncertainties. Measured and modeled HO_2 peak at about 27 pptv and also agree well within combined uncertainties. Median OH reactivity cycled between about 11 s^(−1) at dawn and about 26 s^(−1) during midafternoon. A good test of the oxidation chemistry is the balance between OH production and loss rates using measurements; this balance was observed to within uncertainties. These SOAS results provide strong evidence that the current isoprene mechanisms are consistent with measured OH and HO_2 and, thus, capture significant aspects of the atmospheric oxidation chemistry in this isoprene-rich forest

PTX3 Polymorphisms and Invasive Mold Infections After Solid Organ Transplant

Donor PTX3 polymorphisms were shown to influence the risk of invasive aspergillosis among hematopoietic stem cell transplant recipients. Here, we show that PTX3 polymorphisms are independent risk factors for invasive mold infections among 1101 solid organ transplant recipients, thereby strengthening their role in mold infection pathogenesis and patients' risk stratificatio