Protocol for Audiological Surveillance of Children at Risk for Permanent Hearing Loss

This document addresses procedures for the audiological surveillance of hearing of infants and young children at risk for late onset or progressive permanent hearing loss (PHL). It is closely linked with the Ontario Infant Hearing Program (IHP) Protocol for Universal Newborn Hearing Screening Auditory Brainstem Response Assessment (ABRA) Protocol, and the IHP protocol for Audiometric Assessment for Children Aged 6 to 60 Months with respect to risk indicators, hearing screening technology applied, screening bypass, and audiological assessment procedures

Protocol for Universal Newborn Hearing Screening in Ontario

This document describes the Ontario Infant Hearing Program’s (IHP) protocol for universal newborn hearing screening (UNHS) of newborns and infants. It overrides all previous protocols on this subject provided by the IHP. The primary audience for this protocol is those who conduct newborn hearing screening within the IHP. All newborn and infant hearing screening funded by the Ontario Ministry of Children, Community and Social Services (MCCSS) must be carried out in full accordance with this protocol. It is based on continuous review of the best available scientific and clinical evidence and expert consultation complemented by consultation and collaboration with other major Early Hearing Detection and Intervention (EHDI) programs in Canada and worldwide

Protocol for Auditory Brainstem Response-Based Audiological Assessment (ABRA)

This protocol document includes a tabular synopsis of all key protocol elements, followed by expanded sections that may include additional details, rationale, challenges,and solutions for each topic area,plus appendices with selected references and further technical or procedural specifications.There are numerous changes from the 2016 Infant Hearing Program Audiologic Assessment document; the most important areas of change or emphasis are indicated by shading of the topic section number.The following synopsis can stand alone as a summary of the current ABRA protocol including all changes from previous versions.Areas within the 2008 IHP Assessment Protocol that relate to the protocol for Visual Reinforcement Audiometry (VRA) and Conditioned Play Audiometry(CPA) are included in the Protocol for Audiometric Assessment for Children Aged 6 to 60 months

Protocol for the Provision of Amplification

This Protocol addresses the provision of amplification (hereafter: \u27Amplification\u27) to infants and pre-school children who are receiving services from the Ontario Infant Hearing Program (IHP). Providing amplification includes the process of prescribing a hearing aid based on appropriate assessment information, verification that the specified acoustical performance targets have been achieved, fitting the device on the child, and evaluation of device effectiveness in daily life

Protocol for the Provision of Amplification v 2023.01

This Protocol addresses the provision of amplification (hereafter: \u27Amplification\u27) to infants and children who are receiving services from the Ontario Infant Hearing Program (IHP). For the purposes of this protocol, providing amplification includes the processes of prescribing a hearing aid (air or bone conduction) and/or other hearing assistance technologies based on appropriate assessment information, verification that the specified acoustical performance targets have been achieved, fitting the device on the child, and ongoing evaluation of device effectiveness in daily life. Amplification within the IHP does not include the provision of cochlear implants

New scientific discoveries : plants and fungi

Scientific discovery, including naming new taxa, is important because without a scientific name, a species is invisible to science and the possibilities of researching its ecology, applications and threats, and conserving it, are greatly reduced. We review new scientific discoveries in the plant and fungal kingdoms, based largely on new names of taxa published in 2019 and indexed in the International Plant Names Index and Index Fungorum. Numbers of new species in both kingdoms were similar with 1942 new species of plant published and 1882 species of fungi. However, while >50% of plant species have likely been discovered, >90% of fungi remain unknown. This gulf likely explains the greater number of higher order taxa for fungi published in 2019: three classes, 18 orders, 48 families and 214 genera versus one new family and 87 new genera for plants. We compare the kingdoms in terms of rates of scientific discovery, globally and in different taxonomic groups and geographic areas, and with regard to the use of DNA in discovery. We review species new to science, especially those of interest to humanity as new products, and also by life‐form. We consider where future such discoveries can be expected. We recommend an urgent increase in investment in scientific discovery of plant and fungal species, while they still survive. Priorities include more investment in training taxonomists, in building and equipping collections‐based research centers for them, especially in species‐rich, income‐poor countries where the bulk of species as yet unknown to science are thought to occur

Comparison of measured and modelled residual stresses in a welded P91 steel pipe undergoing post weld heat treatment

The process of fusion arc welding of steel pipes in power generation plants induces residual stresses which may be detrimental to the integrity and endurance of plant pipelines. P91 is high-grade steel used in the construction of pipelines carrying hot steam at high pressure, conditions which cause creep during service. Welded P91 pipes are usually subjected to post-weld heat treatment (PWHT) to mitigate the magnitude of residual stresses and temper the material, hence improving its resistance to creep. In this paper, the finite element (FE) method of modelling residual stresses due to PWHT in a circumferentially butt-welded P91 pipe is presented. The PWHT hold temperature is 760 °C. The paper describes the X-Ray Diffraction (XRD) and Deep-Hole Drilling (DHD) experimental techniques and how they are applied to measure residual stresses in the welded P91 pipe after PWHT. The material property data, necessary for the FE simulation of PWHT, has been obtained from stress-relaxation tests on P91 uniaxial tensile specimens at 760 °C. Good agreements have been achieved between the results of the FE method and the two sets of experimentally-measured residual stresses

Continuous catalytic upgrading of ethanol to n-butanol and >C-4 products over Cu/CeO2 catalysts in supercritical CO2

n-Butanol (BuOH) often has superior properties as a bio-fuel compared to ethanol (EtOH). However finding sustainable sources of BuOH is proving difficult. In this paper, direct production of BuOH from EtOH is compared over custom-synthesized six Cu catalysts, supported on different solid acids. These catalysts were tested in a continuous flow supercritical CO2 (scCO2) reactor, and were found to catalyse the dehydrogenation, aldol condensation and hydrogenation steps of the so-called Guerbet reaction converting EtOH to BuOH. BuOH yields and selectivities were significantly different over the four catalysts. Cu on high surface area CeO2 showed the best activity for BuOH formation, with yields above 30% achieved with good selectivity. In addition high pressure CO2 is shown to have a positive effect on the reaction, possibly due to the redox cycle of Ce2O3 and CeO2

Remote-controlled experiments with cloud chemistry

Developing cleaner chemical processes often involves sophisticated flow-chemistry equipment that is not available in many economically developing countries. For reactions where it is the data that are important rather than the physical product, the networking of chemists across the internet to allow remote experimentation offers a viable solution to this problem