Hearing aid fitting and unilateral auditory deprivation: behavioral and electrophysiologic assessment

The phenomenon of Late-Onset Unilateral Auditory Deprivation was first reported in 1984. However, a high number of unilateral hearing aid fittings are still carried out in cases of bilateral hearing loss, justified by non-auditory factors such as cost, vanity, misinformation and public health policies. OBJECTIVE: To carry out behavioral and electrophysiological assessment of the auditory performance of adults using unilateral amplification compared with individuals exposed to bilateral symmetric auditory stimulation. METHOD: Thirty five adults, all with symmetric bilateral sensorineural hearing loss, regular users of unilateral hearing aid, bilateral hearing aids and not users of hearing aids, were assessed on behavioral and electrophysiological tests. RESULTS: Variance analysis revealed that in the unilaterally fitted group, P300 latency was significantly greater in ears with auditory deprivation compared with those fitted with the hearing aid (p < 0.05). This same group also had poorer performance on the Sentence Recognition Test in Noise held in free field. CONCLUSION: These results corroborate findings in the literature showing that unilateral auditory deprivation can lead to physiological and perceptual changes.O fenômeno da Privação Auditiva Unilateral de Início Tardio foi reportado em 1984. No entanto, ainda se observa um expressivo número de adaptações de próteses auditivas unilaterais, nos casos de perdas auditivas bilaterais, justificadas por fatores não auditivos, tais como custo, vaidade, desinformação ou políticas públicas de saúde. OBJETIVO: Investigar, por meio de avaliação comportamental e eletrofisiológica, o desempenho auditivo de adultos que fazem uso de amplificação unilateral, comparados àqueles expostos à estimulação auditiva simétrica bilateral. MÉTODO: Participaram deste estudo 35 indivíduos adultos com perda auditiva sensorioneural bilateral simétrica, usuários regulares de prótese auditiva unilateral, bilateral e não usuários de prótese auditiva por meio de testes de avaliação comportamental e eletrofisiológica. RESULTADOS: A análise de variância revelou que, no grupo usuário de amplificação unilateral, a latência do P300 foi significantemente maior na orelha que sofreu a privação auditiva comparada a orelha com prótese auditiva (p < 0,05). Também foi encontrado desempenho significantemente pior deste grupo no reconhecimento de sentenças no ruído (LSP) realizado em campo livre. CONCLUSÃO: Os resultados reforçam os achados da literatura de que a privação auditiva unilateral pode levar a mudanças fisiológicas e perceptuais.Santa Casa de São Paulo Faculdade de Ciências MédicasUniversidade Federal de São Paulo (UNIFESP)UNIFESPSciEL

Proteomic Analysis Identifies NDUFS1 and ATP5O as Novel Markers for Survival Outcome in Prostate Cancer

Simple Summary Due to the heterogeneity of prostate cancer (PCa), it is still difficult to provide risk stratification. Metabolic changes in PCa tissue have been described during tumor progression at genetic and transcriptomic level, but these have not yet clearly contributed to improved diagnosis and therapy. The aim of our study was to identify novel markers for aggressive prostate cancer in a proteomics-derived dataset by immunohistochemical analysis and correlation with transcriptomic data. Here, we provide potential new markers-NDUFS1 and ATP5O-for risk stratification in PCa. Additionally, we reveal for the first time a concordant increase of NDUFS1/ATP5O of mRNA expression in transcriptomic datasets and at protein level. We aimed to identify novel markers for aggressive prostate cancer in a STAT3-low proteomics-derived dataset of mitochondrial proteins by immunohistochemical analysis and correlation with transcriptomic data and biochemical recurrence in a STAT3 independent PCa cohort. Formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded tissue (FFPE) sample selection for proteomic analysis and tissue-microarray (TMA) generation was conducted from a cohort of PCa patients. Retrospective data analysis was performed with the same cohort. 153 proteins differentially expressed between STAT3-low and STAT3-high samples were identified. Out of these, 46 proteins were associated with mitochondrial processes including oxidative phosphorylation (OXPHOS), and 45 proteins were upregulated, including NDUFS1/ATP5O. In a STAT3 independent PCa cohort, high expression of NDUFS1/ATP5O was confirmed by immunocytochemistry (IHC) and was significantly associated with earlier biochemical recurrence (BCR). mRNA expression levels for these two genes were significantly higher in intra-epithelial neoplasia and in PCa compared to benign prostate glands. NDUFS1/ATP5O levels are increased both at the mRNA and protein level in aggressive PCa. Our results provide evidence that NDUFS1/ATP5O could be used to identify high-risk PCa patients

Evidence is backbreaking work. An interview with Günter Hefler and Michael Sturm

Beruhen bildungspolitische Entwicklungen im Bereich der Erwachsenenbildung auf Evidenz oder ist die Politik in erster Linie durch Ideologie motiviert? Günter Hefler, Evaluator und Bildungsforscher im Bereich Lebenslanges Lernen, und Michael Sturm, Geschäftsführer des BFI Österreich und Interessensvertreter von Erwachsenenbildungseinrichtungen, antworteten im Interview auf Fragen zum Verhältnis von Forschung und Politik in der Erwachsenenbildung. Fazit: Evidenzen durch Forschungsarbeiten konnten in den letzten 20 Jahren die Überzeugung festigen, dass Erwachsenenbildung strukturelle Probleme mildern und soziale Brennpunkte entschärfen kann. Das stärke das Selbstbewusstsein der Erwachsenenbildung, nicht nur kurzfristige und individuelle, sondern durchaus langfristige und strukturelle Effekte zu haben. Der Bedarf an weiteren Evidenzen sei aber sowohl für die Bildungspolitik als auch für die Bildungspraxis nach wie vor groß. (DIPF/Orig.)Are educational policy developments in the field of adult education based on evidence or is policy primarily motivated by ideology? Günter Hefler, evaluator and educational researcher in the field of lifelong learning, and Michael Sturm, managing director of BFI Austria and lobbyist for adult education institutions, respond to questions on the relationship between research and politics in adult education during an interview. The author‘s conclusion: Evidence from research was able to strengthen the conviction that adult education can alleviate structural problems and defuse social flashpoints. This should boost the self-confidence of adult education by showing that it has not just shortterm and individual effects but long-term and structural ones. There is still a great need for further evidence for educational policy as well as educational practice. (DIPF/Orig.

Freier Eintritt in die Geisteswissenschaft

Seit zehn Jahren gibt es die "Public Library of Science": frei zugängliche Zeitschriften im Internet zu Naturwissenschaften und Medizin. Eine davon - "PLOS ONE" - ist mittlerweile in Sachen veröffentlichter Studien pro Jahr die größte Zeitschrift der Welt. An diesen Erfolg will nun ein Projekt in den Geistes- und Kulturwissenschaften anschließen. Über Ähnlichkeiten und Unterschiede zwischen "PLOS" und der neuen "Open Library of Humanities" erzählen die beiden Projektleiter und Literaturwissenschaftler Martin Paul Eve und Caroline Edwards im Interview. So soll die Finanzierung anders verlaufen und auch Bücher Open Access erscheinen können