Evaluating Pennsylvania’s Newborn Hearing Screening Program

Scope: Pennsylvania’s Newborn Hearing Screening (NBHS) program is a critical state-run program that is imperative for the goal of early identification of children with hearing loss. The purpose of this study was to evaluate Pennsylvania’s administration of the NBHS, as well as analyze Pennsylvania’s adherence to the JCIH 1-3-6 Guidelines. Methodology: Records from 131,832 newborns born in 2018 were analyzed for this study. Descriptive statistics were utilized to determine outcomes related to the JCIH guidelines. Prevalence of hearing loss and odds ratios were calculated to determine risks of hearing loss in the 2018 newborn population. Conclusions: The findings suggest that Pennsylvania has a strong adherence to the 1-3-6 guidelines, with an average timeframe of 3.04 days from birth to screening, 75.39 days from birth to diagnosis, and 174.2 days from birth to early intervention enrollment. The information from this study will be used for future program development, as well as to identify areas of improvement within the Commonwealth

Metal Transport in the Developing Plant Seed

Healthy plant growth depends on a balanced metal homeostasis at the organ, tissue and sub-cellular levels, which is mediated principally by plasma and vacuolar membrane metal transporters. The genetic bases of metal acquisition in developing seeds has long remained poorly understood. Recent technical advances have helped circumvent the difficulties of conducting metal nutrient research on the extremely small seeds of Arabidopsis thaliana. The review presents recent advances in our understanding of seed metal homeostasis focussing on this model plant. Metals are loaded from phloem to the seed coat and must pass through the endosperm to reach the embryo. The embryo comprises several apoplastic and symplastic pathways that strictly depend on the changing physiology of the developing seed organs. Metals that reach the developing embryo fuel immediate cellular processes or accumulate in vacuoles to support forthcoming germination. In the mature embryo, metal distribution is homogeneous, with the exception of iron and manganese which localize to distinct cell layers. These metal localizations are strictly dependent on expression of specific tonoplast transporters, with putative functions that go beyond the storage of metals. Accumulating evidence indicates that they can control the timing of metal entry into the embryo