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

Adult cochlear implant users versus typical hearing persons: an automatic analysis of acoustic–prosodic pparameters

Purpose: The aim of this study was to investigate the speech prosody of postlingually deaf cochlear implant (CI) users compared with control speakers without hearing or speech impairment. Method: Speech recordings of 74 CI users (37 males and 37 females) and 72 age-balanced control speakers (36 males and 36 females) are considered. All participants are German native speakers and read Der Nordwind und die Sonne (The North Wind and the Sun), a standard text in pathological speech analysis and phonetic transcriptions. Automatic acoustic analysis is performed considering pitch, loudness, and duration features, including speech rate and rhythm. Results: In general, duration and rhythm features differ between CI users and control speakers. CI users read slower and have a lower voiced segment ratio compared with control speakers. A lower voiced ratio goes along with a prolongation of the voiced segments' duration in male and with a prolongation of pauses in female CI users. Rhythm features in CI users have higher variability in the duration of vowels and consonants than in control speakers. The use of bilateral CIs showed no advantages concerning speech prosody features in comparison to unilateral use of CI. Conclusions: Even after cochlear implantation and rehabilitation, the speech of postlingually deaf adults deviates from the speech of control speakers, which might be due to changed auditory feedback. We suggest considering changes in temporal aspects of speech in future rehabilitation strategies

Cochlear implantation impairs intracochlear microcirculation and counteracts iNOS induction in guinea pigs

IntroductionPreservation of residual hearing remains a great challenge during cochlear implantation. Cochlear implant (CI) electrode array insertion induces changes in the microvasculature as well as nitric oxide (NO)-dependent vessel dysfunction which have been identified as possible mediators of residual hearing loss after cochlear implantation.MethodsA total of 24 guinea pigs were randomized to receive either a CI (n = 12) or a sham procedure (sham) by performing a cochleostomy without electrode array insertion (n = 12). The hearing threshold was determined using frequency-specific compound action potentials. To gain visual access to the stria vascularis, a microscopic window was created in the osseous cochlear lateral wall. Cochlear blood flow (CBF) and cochlear microvascular permeability (CMP) were evaluated immediately after treatment, as well as after 1 and 2 h, respectively. Finally, cochleae were resected for subsequent immunohistochemical analysis of the iNOS expression.ResultsThe sham control group showed no change in mean CBF after 1 h (104.2 ± 0.7%) and 2 h (100.8 ± 3.6%) compared to baseline. In contrast, cochlear implantation resulted in a significant continuous decrease in CBF after 1 h (78.8 ± 8.1%, p < 0.001) and 2 h (60.6 ± 11.3%, p < 0.001). Additionally, the CI group exhibited a significantly increased CMP (+44.9% compared to baseline, p < 0.0001) and a significant increase in median hearing threshold (20.4 vs. 2.5 dB SPL, p = 0.0009) compared to sham after 2 h. Intriguingly, the CI group showed significantly lower iNOS-expression levels in the organ of Corti (329.5 vs. 54.33 AU, p = 0.0003), stria vascularis (596.7 vs. 48.51 AU, p < 0.0001), interdental cells (564.0 vs. 109.1 AU, p = 0.0003) and limbus fibrocytes (119.4 vs. 18.69 AU, p = 0.0286).ConclusionMechanical and NO-dependent microvascular dysfunction seem to play a pivotal role in residual hearing loss after CI electrode array insertion. This may be facilitated by the implantation associated decrease in iNOS expression. Therefore, stabilization of cochlear microcirculation could be a therapeutic strategy to preserve residual hearing

The effect of protective covers on pollinator health and pollination service delivery

Protective covers (i.e., glasshouses, netting enclosures, and polytunnels) are increasingly used in crop production to enhance crop quality, yield, and production efficiency. However, many protected crops require insect pollinators to achieve optimal pollination and there is no consensus about how best to manage pollinators and crop pollination in these environments. We conducted a systematic literature review to synthesise knowledge about the effect of protective covers on pollinator health and pollination services and identified 290 relevant studies. Bees were the dominant taxon used in protected systems (90%), represented by eusocial bees (e.g., bumble bees (Bombus spp.), honey bees (Apis spp.), stingless bees (Apidae: Meliponini)) and solitary bees (e.g., Amegilla spp., Megachile spp., and Osmia spp.). Flies represented 9% of taxa and included Calliphoridae, Muscidae, and Syrphidae. The remaining 1% of taxa was represented by Lepidoptera and Coleoptera. Of the studies that assessed pollination services, 96% indicate that pollinators were active on the crop and/or their visits resulted in improved fruit production compared with flowers not visited by insects (i.e., insect visits prevented, or flowers were self- or mechanically pollinated). Only 20% of studies evaluated pollinator health. Some taxa, such as mason or leafcutter bees, and bumble bees can function well in covered environments, but the effect of covers on pollinator health was negative in over 50% of the studies in which health was assessed. Negative effects included decreased reproduction, adult mortality, reduced forager activity, and increased disease prevalence. These effects may have occurred as a result of changes in temperature/humidity, light quality/quantity, pesticide exposure, and/or reduced access to food resources. Strategies reported to successfully enhance pollinator health and efficiency in covered systems include: careful selection of bee hive location to reduce heat stress and improve dispersal through the crop; increased floral diversity; deploying appropriate numbers of pollinators; and manipulation of flower physiology to increase attractiveness to pollinating insects. To improve and safeguard crop yields in pollinator dependent protected cropping systems, practitioners need to ensure that delivery of crop pollination services is compatible with suitable conditions for pollinator health

Defective Lipid Droplet-Lysosome Interaction Causes Fatty Liver Disease as Evidenced by Human Mutations in TMEM199 and CCDC115

BACKGROUND &amp; AIMS: Recently, novel inborn errors of metabolism were identified because of mutations in V-ATPase assembly factors TMEM199 and CCDC115. Patients are characterized by generalized protein glycosylation defects, hypercholesterolemia, and fatty liver disease. Here, we set out to characterize the lipid and fatty liver phenotype in human plasma, cell models, and a mouse model.METHODS AND RESULTS: Patients with TMEM199 and CCDC115 mutations displayed hyperlipidemia, characterized by increased levels of lipoproteins in the very low density lipoprotein range. HepG2 hepatoma cells, in which the expression of TMEM199 and CCDC115 was silenced, and induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC)-derived hepatocyte-like cells from patients with TMEM199 mutations showed markedly increased secretion of apolipoprotein B (apoB) compared with controls. A mouse model for TMEM199 deficiency with a CRISPR/Cas9-mediated knock-in of the human A7E mutation had marked hepatic steatosis on chow diet. Plasma N-glycans were hypogalactosylated, consistent with the patient phenotype, but no clear plasma lipid abnormalities were observed in the mouse model. In the siTMEM199 and siCCDC115 HepG2 hepatocyte models, increased numbers and size of lipid droplets were observed, including abnormally large lipid droplets, which colocalized with lysosomes. Excessive de novo lipogenesis, failing oxidative capacity, and elevated lipid uptake were not observed. Further investigation of lysosomal function revealed impaired acidification combined with impaired autophagic capacity.CONCLUSIONS: Our data suggest that the hyperchole-sterolemia in TMEM199 and CCDC115 deficiency is due to increased secretion of apoB-containing particles. This may in turn be secondary to the hepatic steatosis observed in these patients as well as in the mouse model. Mechanistically, we observed impaired lysosomal function characterized by reduced acidification, autophagy, and increased lysosomal lipid accumulation. These findings could explain the hepatic steatosis seen in patients and highlight the importance of lipophagy in fatty liver disease. Because this pathway remains understudied and its regulation is largely untargeted, further exploration of this pathway may offer novel strategies for therapeutic interventions to reduce lipotoxicity in fatty liver disease.</p

Minimal Reporting Standards for Active Middle Ear Hearing Implants.

There is currently no standardized method for reporting audiological, surgical and subjective outcome measures in clinical trials with active middle ear implants (AMEIs). It is often difficult to compare studies due to data incompatibility and to perform meta-analyses across different centres is almost impossible. A committee of ENT and audiological experts from Germany, Austria and Switzerland decided to address this issue by developing new minimal standards for reporting the outcomes of AMEI clinical trials. The consensus presented here aims to provide a recommendation to enable better inter-study comparability

Retrospective evaluation of whole exome and genome mutation calls in 746 cancer samples

Funder: NCI U24CA211006Abstract: The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) and International Cancer Genome Consortium (ICGC) curated consensus somatic mutation calls using whole exome sequencing (WES) and whole genome sequencing (WGS), respectively. Here, as part of the ICGC/TCGA Pan-Cancer Analysis of Whole Genomes (PCAWG) Consortium, which aggregated whole genome sequencing data from 2,658 cancers across 38 tumour types, we compare WES and WGS side-by-side from 746 TCGA samples, finding that ~80% of mutations overlap in covered exonic regions. We estimate that low variant allele fraction (VAF < 15%) and clonal heterogeneity contribute up to 68% of private WGS mutations and 71% of private WES mutations. We observe that ~30% of private WGS mutations trace to mutations identified by a single variant caller in WES consensus efforts. WGS captures both ~50% more variation in exonic regions and un-observed mutations in loci with variable GC-content. Together, our analysis highlights technological divergences between two reproducible somatic variant detection efforts