Critical appraisal of speech in noise tests: a systematic review and survey

Speech in noise tests that measure the perception of speech in presence of noise are now an important part of audiologic tests battery and hearing research as well. There are various tests available to estimate the perception of speech in presence of noise, for example, connected sentence test, hearing in noise test, words in noise, quick speech-in-noise test, bamford-kowal-bench speech-in-noise test, and listening in spatialized noise-sentences. All these tests are different in terms of target age, measure, procedure, speech material, noise, normative, etc. Because of the variety of tests available to estimate speech-in-noise abilities, audiologists often select tests based on their availability, ease to administer the test, time required in running the test, age of the patient, hearing status, type of hearing disorder and type of amplification device if using. A critical appraisal of these speech-in-noise tests is required for the evidence based selection and to be used in audiology clinics. In this article speech-in-noise tests were critically appraised for their conceptual model, measurement model, normatives, reliability, validity, responsiveness, item/instrument bias, respondent burden and administrative burden. Selection of a standard speech-in-noise test based on this critical appraisal will also allow an easy comparison of speech-in-noise ability of any hearing impaired individual or group across audiology clinics and research centers. This article also describes the survey which was done to grade the speech in noise tests on the various appraisal characteristics

Effect of Alcohol on Clinical Outcomes and Its Relationship with Semen Parameters

Background: The incidence of infertility is 10-15% globally and this has risen in recent years. Alcohol has been consumed in India for centuries, both in rural and urban areas, with prevalence rates ranging from 20% to 38% in males, according to various reports. Studies in northern India found the 1 year prevalence of alcohol use to be between 25% and 40%. In southern India, the prevalence of current alcohol use varies between 33% and 50%, with a higher prevalence among the lesser educated and the poor. Aim: To determine the effect of alcohol on seminal parameters. Design: Retrospective study. Setting: Morpheus Lucknow Fertility Center, Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh. Time duration: From January 2017 to December 2020. Sample size: Total 130 patients consisting of 57 patients as nonalcoholic control and 73 patients as alcoholic. Main outcome measure(s): The outcome of interest was seminal parameters, including count, motility, volume and morphology. Method: The study included two subject groups, controls and alcoholics. Subjects in the control group were volunteers who were free from any disease and who had never consumed alcoholic drinks and who had never smoked. Subjects in the alcoholic group were nonsmokers who had consumed a minimum of 180 mL of alcohol (brandy and whisky, both 40-50% alcohol content) per day for a minimum of 5 days per week in the past year. Semen samples were collected after at least 48 hours but no more than 7 days of sexual abstinence. Semen parameters - volume, count, motility and morphology - were analyzed. Results: In the alcoholic group, volume (p < 0.005), count (p < 0.005), percentage of rapid progressively motile sperm (p < 0.005), were statistically significantly decreased, while percentage of nonprogressive sperm and percentage of immotile sperm (p < 0.005) were statistically significantly increased, compared with the control group. The percentages of slow progressively motile sperm and morphology were not statistically significant. Conclusions: The present study found statistically significant results that chronic alcoholism suppresses semen quality, at the seminiferous tubular level. Alcohol decreases semen volume, total sperm concentration, motility of sperm and viability of sperm. This study has proved beyond doubt that chronic alcohol consumption has a detrimental effect on the quality of semen, which in turn, may have effect on their reproductive outcomes

Multiorgan MRI findings after hospitalisation with COVID-19 in the UK (C-MORE): a prospective, multicentre, observational cohort study

Introduction: The multiorgan impact of moderate to severe coronavirus infections in the post-acute phase is still poorly understood. We aimed to evaluate the excess burden of multiorgan abnormalities after hospitalisation with COVID-19, evaluate their determinants, and explore associations with patient-related outcome measures. Methods: In a prospective, UK-wide, multicentre MRI follow-up study (C-MORE), adults (aged ≥18 years) discharged from hospital following COVID-19 who were included in Tier 2 of the Post-hospitalisation COVID-19 study (PHOSP-COVID) and contemporary controls with no evidence of previous COVID-19 (SARS-CoV-2 nucleocapsid antibody negative) underwent multiorgan MRI (lungs, heart, brain, liver, and kidneys) with quantitative and qualitative assessment of images and clinical adjudication when relevant. Individuals with end-stage renal failure or contraindications to MRI were excluded. Participants also underwent detailed recording of symptoms, and physiological and biochemical tests. The primary outcome was the excess burden of multiorgan abnormalities (two or more organs) relative to controls, with further adjustments for potential confounders. The C-MORE study is ongoing and is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT04510025. Findings: Of 2710 participants in Tier 2 of PHOSP-COVID, 531 were recruited across 13 UK-wide C-MORE sites. After exclusions, 259 C-MORE patients (mean age 57 years [SD 12]; 158 [61%] male and 101 [39%] female) who were discharged from hospital with PCR-confirmed or clinically diagnosed COVID-19 between March 1, 2020, and Nov 1, 2021, and 52 non-COVID-19 controls from the community (mean age 49 years [SD 14]; 30 [58%] male and 22 [42%] female) were included in the analysis. Patients were assessed at a median of 5·0 months (IQR 4·2–6·3) after hospital discharge. Compared with non-COVID-19 controls, patients were older, living with more obesity, and had more comorbidities. Multiorgan abnormalities on MRI were more frequent in patients than in controls (157 [61%] of 259 vs 14 [27%] of 52; p<0·0001) and independently associated with COVID-19 status (odds ratio [OR] 2·9 [95% CI 1·5–5·8]; padjusted=0·0023) after adjusting for relevant confounders. Compared with controls, patients were more likely to have MRI evidence of lung abnormalities (p=0·0001; parenchymal abnormalities), brain abnormalities (p<0·0001; more white matter hyperintensities and regional brain volume reduction), and kidney abnormalities (p=0·014; lower medullary T1 and loss of corticomedullary differentiation), whereas cardiac and liver MRI abnormalities were similar between patients and controls. Patients with multiorgan abnormalities were older (difference in mean age 7 years [95% CI 4–10]; mean age of 59·8 years [SD 11·7] with multiorgan abnormalities vs mean age of 52·8 years [11·9] without multiorgan abnormalities; p<0·0001), more likely to have three or more comorbidities (OR 2·47 [1·32–4·82]; padjusted=0·0059), and more likely to have a more severe acute infection (acute CRP >5mg/L, OR 3·55 [1·23–11·88]; padjusted=0·025) than those without multiorgan abnormalities. Presence of lung MRI abnormalities was associated with a two-fold higher risk of chest tightness, and multiorgan MRI abnormalities were associated with severe and very severe persistent physical and mental health impairment (PHOSP-COVID symptom clusters) after hospitalisation. Interpretation: After hospitalisation for COVID-19, people are at risk of multiorgan abnormalities in the medium term. Our findings emphasise the need for proactive multidisciplinary care pathways, with the potential for imaging to guide surveillance frequency and therapeutic stratification

Critical appraisal of speech in noise tests: a systematic review and survey

Speech in noise tests that measure the perception of speech in presence of noise are now an important part of audiologic tests battery and hearing research as well. There are various tests available to estimate the perception of speech in presence of noise, for example, connected sentence test, hearing in noise test, words in noise, quick speech-in-noise test, bamford-kowal-bench speech-in-noise test, and listening in spatialized noise-sentences. All these tests are different in terms of target age, measure, procedure, speech material, noise, normative, etc. Because of the variety of tests available to estimate speech-in-noise abilities, audiologists often select tests based on their availability, ease to administer the test, time required in running the test, age of the patient, hearing status, type of hearing disorder and type of amplification device if using. A critical appraisal of these speech-in-noise tests is required for the evidence based selection and to be used in audiology clinics. In this article speech-in-noise tests were critically appraised for their conceptual model, measurement model, normatives, reliability, validity, responsiveness, item/instrument bias, respondent burden and administrative burden. Selection of a standard speech-in-noise test based on this critical appraisal will also allow an easy comparison of speech-in-noise ability of any hearing impaired individual or group across audiology clinics and research centers. This article also describes the survey which was done to grade the speech in noise tests on the various appraisal characteristics

A new sub-pathway of long-patch base excision repair involving 5 ' gap formation

Base excision repair (BER) is one of the most frequently used cellular DNA repair mechanisms and modulates many human pathophysiological conditions related to DNA damage. Through live cell and in vitro reconstitution experiments, we have discovered a major sub-pathway of conventional long-patch BER that involves formation of a 9-nucleotide gap 50 to the lesion. This new sub-pathway is mediated by RECQ1 DNA helicase and ERCC1-XPF endonuclease in cooperation with PARP1 poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase and RPA. The novel gap formation step is employed during repair of a variety of DNA lesions, including oxidative and alkylation damage. Moreover, RECQ1 regulates PARP1 auto-(ADP-ribosyl)ation and the choice between long-patch and single-nucleotide BER, thereby modulating cellular sensitivity to DNA damage. Based on these results, we propose a revised model of long-patch BER and a new key regulation point for pathway choice in BER

Congenital rubella syndrome surveillance in India, 2016–21: Analysis of five years surveillance data

Background: In India, facility-based surveillance for congenital rubella syndrome (CRS) was initiated in 2016 to estimate the burden and monitor the progress made in rubella control. We analyzed the surveillance data for 2016–2021 from 14 sentinel sites to describe the epidemiology of CRS. Method: We analyzed the surveillance data to describe the distribution of suspected and laboratory confirmed CRS patients by time, place and person characteristics. We compared clinical signs of laboratory confirmed CRS and discarded case-patients to find independent predictors of CRS using logistic regression analysis and developed a risk prediction model. Results: During 2016–21, surveillance sites enrolled 3940 suspected CRS case-patients (Age 3.5 months, SD: 3.5). About one-fifth (n = 813, 20.6%) were enrolled during newborn examination. Of the suspected CRS patients, 493 (12.5%) had laboratory evidence of rubella infection. The proportion of laboratory confirmed CRS cases declined from 26% in 2017 to 8.7% in 2021. Laboratory confirmed patients had higher odds of having hearing impairment (Odds ratio [OR] = 9.5, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 5.6–16.2), cataract (OR = 7.8, 95% CI: 5.4–11.2), pigmentary retinopathy (OR = 6.7, 95 CI: 3.3–13.6), structural heart defect with hearing impairment (OR = 3.8, 95% CI: 1.2–12.2) and glaucoma (OR = 3.1, 95% CI: 1.2–8.1). Nomogram, along with a web version, was developed. Conclusions: Rubella continues to be a significant public health issue in India. The declining trend of test positivity among suspected CRS case-patients needs to be monitored through continued surveillance in these sentinel sites