Follow-up in newborn hearing screening – a systematic review

Introduction The quality and efficiency of newborn hearing screening programs (NHS) rely heavily on appropriate follow-up. The Joint Committee on Infant Hearing recommends a follow-up rate of more than 95% of infants who fail the initial hearing screening. However, a 70% benchmark is considered to be more feasible. This high loss to follow-up (LTF) rate acts as a threat to the overall success of NHS programs. The objective of the study was to identify and examine the reported rates of LTF, attributed reasons for LTF and strategies undertaken to reduce LTF. Methods Using a systematic search, articles published between 2005 to December 2015 were identified from PubMed/Medline, Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL), Educational Resources Information Center (ERIC), Scopus, Ovid, ProQuest, and Cochrane Library. To be included in the review, the study should be exploring the loss to follow-up or drop-out rate in newborn hearing screening programs and be published in an indexed peer-reviewed journal in the English language. The main outcome measures were overall rate of LTF, factors leading to LTF and measures adopted to overcome LTF. Results 53 articles were short-listed for data extraction. Out of these, 27 were single-centre studies, 19 were multi-centre, 3 compared multiple databases, and 4 used survey-based methods. Overall LTF rates of 20% in single-centre and 21% in multiple-centre studies were observed. Educational disparity and lack of adequate knowledge among parents were associated with LTF. The most commonly used strategy to overcome LTF suggested by studies was the use of an adequate data management system. Conclusion This review is a novel attempt to explore the LTF among NHS studies, reasons for LTF and strategies to reduce LTF. This review can act as a basis for planning and execution of effective NHS programs

Breast Diseases: Role of Gynaecologist Present and Future - An Indian Scenario

During the life period of a female, female breast as organ is undergo constant physical and physiological changes that are related to puberty, the menstrual cycle, pregnancy, lactation, and menopause. It has always been an emblem of womanhood, an important part of female reproductive system that influences Body image & Sexual function. Either benign or malignant, any breast lesion is a cause of concern for patients even talking about the breast related conditions is considered a taboo in Indian society, that’s why As compared to developed world where 70% cases diagnosed in early stage, in India only 30% cases reported in early stages.\ud In the context of the Indian scenario, Indian women feel comfortable talking about reproductive organs and relating queries including the breast related ones to obstetricians and gynaecologists irrespective of the gender of the treating physician, and in return, women expect to have their treating physician expert in, evaluation diagnosis, and management of breast problems that arise from selfexamination, routine mammography, any unusual breast symptoms, or any unusual breast lump during routine gynaecology examinations

Knowledge and perceptions of teleaudiology among audiologists: a systematic review

The knowledge and perception of teleaudiology among audiologists will determine the acceptance and success of teleaudiology practice. This systematic review was conducted to review the published literature on knowledge and perceptions of teleaudiology application among audiologists.Five studies exploring knowledge and perceptions of teleaudiology application among audiologists published in the English language up to May 2017 were included.Positive attitudes was observed across the studies regarding acceptance towards application of teleaudiology. The most common sources of knowledge were on the job, graduate studies, and continuing education programs. The major barriers to the uptake of application of teleaudiology were in terms of limitations in infrastructure, reimbursement, and licensure.The study sheds light on the existing knowledge and perceptions of teleaudiology applications among audiologists. This will help in improving the existing teleaudiology services as well as overcome the challenges faced

Stacking-dependent electronic properties of aluminene based multilayer van der Waals heterostructures

Aluminene, one of the group III elemental monolayers, is predicted to be stable in the honeycomb configuration with metallic characteristics. In this paper, we consider aluminene-based heterostructures, investigating their stability, structural and electronic properties. The results based on density functional theory find that the interaction between aluminene and BN or graphene monolayers is weak, and is dominated by the van der Waals forces. The electronic structures calculated using the HSE06 functional show aluminene/graphene and aluminene/BN bilayers to be metallic. Likewise, graphene/aluminene/graphene trilayers are predicted to be metallic. However, BN/aluminene/BN trilayers are predicted to be semiconducting in nature with finite gaps. The results suggest that the interaction of Al atoms with N atoms facilitates the opening up of the gap in trilayer heterostructures, unlike the graphene/BN heterostructures, where inequivalence of the carbon lattice leads to the bandgap. The stacking-dependence of the electronic structure is affirmed by the electron tunneling characteristics calculated for the trilayer heterostructures. The predicted relationship between topology and electronic structure can, therefore, be exploited to tailor the electronic properties of aluminene-based heterostructures

Speech Language Pathologist’s Knowledge of Genetics – An Indian Perspective

Background and Objectives: The aim of the present study was to examine the knowledge, attitudes and confidence levels about genetics among speech-language pathologists (SLPs) working in India; and further to identify the relationship between knowledge, attitudes and confidence levels. Methods: A cross-sectional study design was implemented to carry out an email-based survey to assess the knowledge, attitudes and confidence levels about genetics among SLP’s in India. Results: Responses from 121 SLP’s working with pediatric population were analyzed. Results suggested that 70.3% of responses were correct for the genetic knowledge based questions. The confidence levels and attitudes were in the medium categories. The primary sources of learning were from school lesson as reported by the professionals. There existed a positive correlation between knowledge index and the mean attitude and confidence levels. Conclusion: The findings of the present study add valuable information to international literature and provides suggestions towards increasing more topics related genetics into the curricula

Voice disorder recognition using machine learning: a scoping review protocol

Introduction Over the past decade, several machine learning (ML) algorithms have been investigated to assess their efficacy in detecting voice disorders. Literature indicates that ML algorithms can detect voice disorders with high accuracy. This suggests that ML has the potential to assist clinicians in the analysis and treatment outcome evaluation of voice disorders. However, despite numerous research studies, none of the algorithms have been sufficiently reliable to be used in clinical settings. Through this review, we aim to identify critical issues that have inhibited the use of ML algorithms in clinical settings by identifying standard audio tasks, acoustic features, processing algorithms and environmental factors that affect the efficacy of those algorithms.Methods We will search the following databases: Web of Science, Scopus, Compendex, CINAHL, Medline, IEEE Explore and Embase. Our search strategy has been developed with the assistance of the university library staff to accommodate the different syntactical requirements. The literature search will include the period between 2013 and 2023, and will be confined to articles published in English. We will exclude editorials, ongoing studies and working papers. The selection, extraction and analysis of the search data will be conducted using the ‘Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses extension for scoping reviews’ system. The same system will also be used for the synthesis of the results.Ethics and dissemination This scoping review does not require ethics approval as the review solely consists of peer-reviewed publications. The findings will be presented in peer-reviewed publications related to voice pathology