A critical review of audiological outcome measures for infants and children

Outcome evaluation is an important stage in the pediatric hearing aid fitting process, however a systematic way of evaluating outcome in the pediatric audiology population is lacking. This is in part due to the need for an evidence-based outcome evaluation guideline for infants and children with hearing loss who wear hearing aids. As part of the development of a guideline, a critical review of the existing pediatric audiology outcome evaluation tools was conducted. Subjective outcome evaluation tools that measure auditory-related behaviors in children from birth to 6 years of age were critically appraised using a published grading system (Andresen, 2000). Of the tools that exist, 12 were appraised because they met initial criteria outlined by the Network of Pediatric Audiologists of Canada as being appropriate for children birth to 6 years of age who wear hearing aids. Tools that were considered for the guideline scored high in both statistical and feasibility criteria. The subjective outcome evaluation tools that were ultimately chosen to be included in the guideline were the LittlEARS Auditory Questionnaire (Tsiakpini et al., 2004) and the Parents\u27 Evaluation of Aural/Oral Performance of Children (PEACH) Rating Scale (Ching & Hill, 2005b) due to the high grades they received in the critical review and their target age ranges. Following this critical review of pediatric outcome evaluation tools, the next step was for the Network Clinicians to evaluate the guideline (Moodie et al., 2011b)

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

Analysis of unresolved complex mixtures of hydrocarbons extracted from Late Archean sediments by comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography (GC×GC)

Author Posting. © Elsevier B.V., 2008. This is the author's version of the work. It is posted here by permission of Elsevier B.V. for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Organic Geochemistry 39 (2008): 846-867, doi:10.1016/j.orggeochem.2008.03.006.Hydrocarbon mixtures too complex to resolve by traditional capillary gas chromatrography display gas chromatograms with dramatically rising baselines or “humps” of coeluting compounds that are termed unresolved complex mixtures (UCMs). Because the constituents of UCMs are not ordinarily identified, a large amount of geochemical information is never explored. Gas chromatograms of saturated/unsaturated hydrocarbons extracted from Late Archean argillites and greywackes of the southern Abitibi Province of Ontario, Canada contain UCMs with different appearances or “topologies” relating to the intensity and retention time of the compounds comprising the UCMs. These topologies appear to have some level of stratigraphic organization, such that samples collected at any stratigraphic formation collectively are dominated by UCMs that either elute early- (within a window of C15-C20 of n-alkanes), early- to mid- (C15-C30 of n-alkanes), or have a broad UCM that extends through the entire retention time of the sample (from C15-C42 of n-alkanes). Comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography time-of-flight mass spectrometry (GC×GC-MS) was used to resolve the constituents forming these various UCMs. Early- to mid- eluting UCMs are dominated by configurational isomers of alkyl-substituted and non substituted polycyclic compounds that contain up to six rings. Late eluting UCMs are composed of C36-C40 mono-, bi-, and tricyclic archaeal isoprenoid diastereomers. Broad UCMs spanning the retention time of compound elution contain nearly the same compounds observed in the early-, mid-, and late retention time UCMs. Although the origin of the polycyclic compounds is unclear, the variations in the UCM topology appear to depend on the concentration of initial compound classes that have the potential to become isomerized. Isomerization of these constituents may have resulted from hydrothermal alteration of organic matter.This project was supported by NASA Exobiology grant #NAG5-13446 to Fabien Kenig. GC×GC analysis was supported by NSF grant IIS-0430835 and the Seaver Foundation to Christopher M. Reddy. Preparation of the archaeal biphytane standard was supported by NSF grant ARC-0520226 to Benjamin Van Mooy

Estimation and application of the thermodynamic properties of aqueous phenanthrene and isomers of methylphenanthrene at high temperature

Estimates of standard molal Gibbs energy (ΔGf°) and enthalpy (ΔHf°) of formation, entropy (S°), heat capacity (Cp°) and volume (V°) at 25 °C and 1 bar of aqueous phenanthrene (P) and 1-, 2-, 3-, 4- and 9-methylphenanthrene (1-MP, 2-MP, 3-MP, 4-MP, 9-MP) were made by combining reported standard-state properties of the crystalline compounds, solubilities and enthalpies of phenanthrene and 1-MP, and relative Gibbs energies, enthalpies and entropies of aqueous MP isomers from published quantum chemical simulations. The calculated properties are consistent with greater stabilities of the β isomers (2-MP and 3-MP) relative to the α isomers (1-MP and 9-MP) at 25 °C. However, the metastable equilibrium values of the abundance ratios 2-MP/1-MP (MPR) and (2-MP + 3-MP)/(1-MP + 9-MP) (MPI-3) decrease with temperature, becoming <1 at ~375–455 °C. The thermodynamic model is consistent with observations of reversals of these organic maturity parameters at high temperature in hydrothermal and metamorphic settings. Application of the model to data reported for the Paleoproterozoic Here’s Your Chance (HYC) Pb–Zn–Ag ore deposit (McArthur River, Northern Territory, Australia) indicates a likely effect of high-temperature equilibration on reported values of MPR and MPI-3, but this finding is contingent on the location within the deposit. If metastable equilibrium holds, a third aromatic maturity ratio, 1.5 × (2-MP + 3-MP)/(P + 1-MP + 9-MP) (MPI-1), can be used as a proxy for oxidation potential. Values of log aH2(aq) determined from data reported for HYC and for a sequence of deeply buried source rocks are indicative of more reducing conditions at a given temperature than those inferred from data reported for two sets of samples exposed to contact or regional metamorphism. These results are limiting-case scenarios for the modeled systems that do not account for effects of non-ideal mixing or kinetics, or external sources or transport of the organic matter.Nevertheless, quantifying the temperature dependence of equilibrium constants of organic reactions enables the utilization of organic maturity parameters as relative geothermometers at temperatures higher than the nominal limits of the oil window

Calculation of the relative metastabilities of proteins using the CHNOSZ software package

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Proteins of various compositions are required by organisms inhabiting different environments. The energetic demands for protein formation are a function of the compositions of proteins as well as geochemical variables including temperature, pressure, oxygen fugacity and pH. The purpose of this study was to explore the dependence of metastable equilibrium states of protein systems on changes in the geochemical variables.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>A software package called CHNOSZ implementing the revised Helgeson-Kirkham-Flowers (HKF) equations of state and group additivity for ionized unfolded aqueous proteins was developed. The program can be used to calculate standard molal Gibbs energies and other thermodynamic properties of reactions and to make chemical speciation and predominance diagrams that represent the metastable equilibrium distributions of proteins. The approach takes account of the chemical affinities of reactions in open systems characterized by the chemical potentials of basis species. The thermodynamic database included with the package permits application of the software to mineral and other inorganic systems as well as systems of proteins or other biomolecules.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Metastable equilibrium activity diagrams were generated for model cell-surface proteins from archaea and bacteria adapted to growth in environments that differ in temperature and chemical conditions. The predicted metastable equilibrium distributions of the proteins can be compared with the optimal growth temperatures of the organisms and with geochemical variables. The results suggest that a thermodynamic assessment of protein metastability may be useful for integrating bio- and geochemical observations.</p

Quality Indicators for the Management of Barrett’s Esophagus, Dysplasia, and Esophageal Adenocarcinoma: International Consensus Recommendations from the American Gastroenterological Association Symposium

The development of and adherence to quality indicators in gastroenterology, as in all of medicine, is increasing in importance to ensure that patients receive consistent high-quality care. In addition, government-based and private insurers will be expecting documentation of the parameters by which we measure quality, which will likely affect reimbursements. Barrett’s esophagus remains a particularly important disease entity for which we should maintain up-to-date guidelines, given its commonality, potentially lethal outcomes, and controversies regarding screening and surveillance. To achieve this goal, a relatively large group of international experts was assembled and, using the modified Delphi method, evaluated the validity of multiple candidate quality indicators for the diagnosis and management of Barrett’s esophagus. Several candidate quality indicators achieved >80% agreement. These statements are intended to serve as a consensus on candidate quality indicators for those who treat patients with Barrett’s esophagus