South Dakota Early Hearing Detection and Intervention Program: Using Teleaudiology to Conduct Infant Diagnostic Assessments

Teleaudiology allows patients and providers to bypass several economic and geographic barriers that impede the delivery and accessibility of audiological services. The South Dakota Early Hearing Detection and Intervention (EHDI) program recognized this benefit and created a teleaudiology infrastructure for the diagnostic assessment of infants. Using a hub-and-spoke model, a certified pediatric audiologist at the hub site assesses infants located at two spoke sites in South Dakota. Remote control software applications are used to provide a synchronous method of service delivery. The audiologist’s test battery includes video otoscopy, tympanometry, and auditory brainstem response (ABR) testing. Since establishing the teleaudiology program, nine infant assessments have been completed. The South Dakota EHDI program will continue improving the teleaudiology project to ensure all infants in the state have access to pediatric audiological services

Improving South Dakota Parents’ Knowledge of Congenital Cytomegalovirus

Introduction: Congenital cytomegalovirus (cCMV) is the most common infectious condition present at birth and the leading non-genetic cause of sensorineural hearing loss in children. Despite CMV being common and preventable, knowledge of CMV remains low among individuals in the United States (Doutre et al., 2016). Sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) is also common among infants in the United States, but unlike cCMV, several studies have researched which educational methods have been most effective for improving parents’ knowledge of safe sleep practices. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether educational methods shown to be most effective for improving parents’ knowledge of SIDS could also be used to improve parents’ knowledge of cCMV. Methods: Forty-five participants completed an online study consisting of a pre-education survey on cCMV, written and verbal education on cCMV, and a post-education survey. Methods were based off a SIDS education study conducted by Dufer et al. (2017). Results: Results of this study revealed that the provision of verbal and written education resulted in a significant increase in South Dakota parents’ knowledge of cCMV (p\u3c0.05). Conclusion: Educational methods used to improve parents’ knowledge of SIDS can also be used to improve South Dakota parents’ knowledge of cCMV

South Dakota Parents’ Knowledge of Congenital Cytomegalovirus, Its Long-Term Health Effects, and Methods for Minimizing Exposure

Congenital CMV (cCMV) is acknowledged as one of the most common causes of nonhereditary sensorineural hearing loss and an important cause of neurodevelopmental delay in children. Despite the danger cCMV poses, many parents are unaware of the virus, its sequelae, mode of transmission, and preventative behaviors. The purpose of the study was to determine South Dakota parents’ knowledge of cCMV, its sequelae, and ways to minimize exposure. An electronic survey was utilized for data collection. Parents of children born in South Dakota from 2011 to 2018 were asked about their knowledge of CMV and cCMV, including common sequelae and ways to minimize exposure. Flyers were sent to randomly selected daycares and the link was posted on social media pages to advertise the electronic survey to South Dakota parents. After completing the survey, participants were directed to cCMV educational resources. Respondents were more knowledgeable regarding the sequelae of cCMV rather than its transmission process or ways in which viral exposure can be minimized. Results show that there remains a need for cCMV awareness in South Dakota, particularly with a large focus on preventative measures

The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Newborn Hearing Screening Programs in Western States

The primary objective of this study was to determine the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on newborn hearing screening guideline adherence and the respective rates of screening, diagnosis, and intervention. This was a review of newborn hearing screening data compiled from the Departments of Health of six states for the time periods of March-September 2019 and March-September 2020. Endpoints included the numbers of live births as well as the numbers and timeframes of screening, diagnostic, and intervention events. Two-tailed paired t-tests were performed to determine statistical significance. 181,662 births in six states were assessed. Compared to March-September 2019, March-September 2020 had a significantly lower mean rate of screening before 1 month of age (97.3% vs. 96.2%, p \u3c 0.001) and mean screen rate overall (98.9% vs. 98.0%, p \u3c 0.001). Additionally, the 2020 time period had a significantly higher mean rate of patients lost to follow up for referral to early intervention (14.7% vs. 28.9%, p = 0.005). The COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on the newborn hearing screening programs of several states in the Western US. This information holds significant implications for the current evaluation of these newborn hearing screening programs

Detection and discrimination of brief increments

The ability to detect a brief increment in intensity in a longer duration stimulus is often used as a measure of the intensity resolution of the auditory system, but it is unclear how listeners actually perform the task. Early investigators suggested that the decision as to the presence or absence of an increment was based on the overall energy within the critical band centered on the signal frequency. The use of signal energy falling outside of the critical band is often limited by introducing a noise masker. However, facets of the noise may impact increment detection beyond this intended purpose. Recent findings indicate that performance in increment detection can be impaired by envelope fluctuations in a masker. This interaction suggests an alternate decision process to energy detection based on detection or discrimination of envelope modulation. An energy-based decision device can be evaluated by comparing performance in a task where a listener is asked to detect a change in intensity to performance in a task where the listener is asked to identify the direction of the change. An energy-based decision process would predict better performance in identification than in detection. A modulation-based decision device can be evaluated by adding irregularity to the envelope through addition of a noise masker of varying bandwidth. The purpose of the current study was to evaluate the decision process underlying increment detection by comparing performance for detection and identification, and by evaluating the effect of noise on detection. Results indicate that listeners are better able to detect a change in intensity than to identify the direction of that change, where performance is virtually at chance. Thresholds for increment detection increase with increasing bandwidth for an on-frequency noise masker. While an off-frequency noise masker can produce masking at certain signal frequencies, there is no effect of bandwidth. A decision device based on energy detection cannot account for these results. A model that includes a modulation filter bank analysis of envelope modulation can account for observed data, but a model based on discrimination of spectral patterns does equally well

Etniškumas, kalba ir skurdas prognozuoja atsiskaitomojo Nebraskos valstijos skaitymo testo (NeSA-R) rezultatus

Background. Ethnicity, language and poverty have all been linked to the academic achievement of children within our educational system. Purpose. The purpose of this study was to determine if ethnicity, ELL and poverty are indicative of third, fourth, and fifth grade performance on the Nebraska State Accountability Reading Test (NeSA-R). Methods and Results. An archival data set was volunteered by an elementary school in a small Midwestern town. The data set for the ethnicity portion included 347 students from two schools combined, while the data set for the poverty/ELL subset included 197 students from only one of the schools as the other did not have poverty/ELL data. An analysis of the data concluded that ethnicity is not a significant factor in the performance scores on the NeSA reading test among the three ethnic groups (p> .05). Additional analysis of the data set concluded that there is a significant difference between students who receive free and reduced lunch and are ELL and students who only receive free and reduced lunch (t(195)=6.551, p0,05). Papildoma duomenų analizė atskleidė reikšmingus skirtumus tarp mokinių, kuriems teikiami nemokami ar pigesni priešpriečiai ir kurie mokosi anglų kalbos, bei tų, kuriems tik teikiami nemokami ar pigesni priešpiečiai (t (195)=6,551; p>0,05). Išvados. Tyrimo rezultatai parodė, kad vien etniškumas neturi reikšmingos įtakos NeSA-R rezultatams. Paaiškėjo, jog žemiausiais skaitymo testo balais įvertinti mokiniai, kurie mokosi anglų kalbos ir valgo nemokamus ar pigesnius priešpiečius. Tyrimo rezultatai skatina atkreipti dėmesį, kaip šio standartizuoto testo rezultatai naudojami atsižvelgiant į mokinius, turinčius skirtingą socialinį / kultūrinį pagrindą

Cochlear Implantation for Children and Adults with Severe-to-Profound Hearing Loss

Cochlear implants (CIs) have proven to be a useful treatment option for individuals with severe-to-profound hearing loss by providing improved access to one\u27s surrounding auditory environment. CIs differ from traditional acoustic amplification by providing information to the auditory system via electrical stimulation. Both postlingually deafened adults and prelingually deafened children can benefit from a CI; however, outcomes with a CI can vary. Numerous factors can impact performance outcomes with a CI. It is important for the audiologist to understand what factors might play a role and impact performance outcomes with a CI so that they can effectively counsel the recipient and their family, as well as establish appropriate and realistic expectations with a CI. This review article will discuss the CI candidacy process, CI programming and postoperative follow-up care, as well as considerations across the lifespan that may affect performance outcomes with a CI

Supramolecular Polymer Hydrogels for Drug-Induced Tissue Regeneration.

Supramolecular polymers self-assemble into nanofibers, micelles, and other nanostructures through weak noncovalent interactions between subunits. Such systems possess attractive properties for use in a variety of practical settings such as energy, sustainability, and healthcare. In regenerative medicine, a common approach involves implanting a supramolecular material containing cell and growth factor binding motifs directly into a diseased or traumatized tissue defect, whereupon it interacts with and/or recruits components of the biological system to induce tissue healing. Here we introduce a supramolecular therapeutic in which tissue regeneration is orchestrated by a supramolecular polymer prodrug implanted subcutaneously in a remote tissue. Our approach exploits a hydrophobic small-molecule inhibitor of prolyl hydroxylase enzyme as both a regeneration-inducing therapeutic and a structure-directing agent in a supramolecular polymer that forms shear-thinning nanofiber hydrogels. Subcutaneous injection of the supramolecular hydrogel in the back of mice wounded with a critical-sized defect in the ear led to transient upregulation of hypoxia inducible factor-1α and regeneration of ear tissue in a manner reminiscent of epimorphic regeneration. This drug-induced regeneration strategy utilizes a simple and translatable supramolecular design, eliminates the need for delivery of biologics ( e. g., growth factors, cells), and avoids implantation of a foreign material directly in a tissue defect