Making a racket in America's fastest growing sport: Evaluation of noise exposure in pickleball.

Objective: To measure noise exposure present on pickleball courts and assess the risk of noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL) per guidelines put forward by the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH).

Methods: Observational study measuring noise levels at multiple recreational pickleball courts in the Richmond, VA area, documenting LAeq, LASmax, and LCpeak at courtside and waiting areas of pickleball courts. Measurements were completed using the NIOSH SLM application on an iPhone 13 with iMM-6 Calibrated Measurement Microphone (equivalent to IEC 61672-1 Class II) that was calibrated using ND-9 Sound Level Calibrator (IEC942 Class I).

IL-8 correlates with nonresponse to neoadjuvant nivolumab in HPV positive HNSCC via a potential extracellular vesicle miR-146a mediated mechanism.

Therapy using anti-PD-1 immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICI) has revolutionized the treatment of many cancers including head and neck squamous cell carcinomas (HNSCC), but only a fraction of patients respond. To better understand the molecular mechanisms driving resistance, we performed extensive analysis of plasma and tumor tissues before and after a 4-week neoadjuvant trial in which HNSCC patients were treated with the anti-PD-1 inhibitor, nivolumab. Luminex cytokine analysis of patient plasma demonstrated that HPV nonresponders displayed high levels of the proinflammatory chemokine, interleukin-8 (IL-8), which decreased after ICI treatment, but remained higher than responders.

Inpatient Otolaryngology Consultations and COVID-19: The Surge and Lasting Effects at an Urban, Academic Institution.

This study aims to examine the lasting effects of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic on inpatient otolaryngology consultations. In a retrospective analysis, inpatient otolaryngology consultations at an urban, academic tertiary care center were reviewed over the course of 2 years (Jun 2019-Jun 2021). The consultations were categorized by time period based on the local data for COVID-19 hospitalizations and deaths as follows: pre-COVID (Jun 2019-Feb 2020), Surge 1 (Mar 2020-May 2020), Surge 2 (Oct 2020-Jan 2021), and Post Surge (Mar 2021-Jun 2021).

Symptomatic Lingual Thyroglossal Duct Cyst in Children: A Laryngomalacia Phenotype.

Objectives: Patients with lingual thyroglossal duct cyst (TGDC) can present as symptomatic with obstructive airway and feeding difficulties.

Methods: We present 3 cases of symptomatic lingual TGDC.

Results: All 3 patients were diagnosed with laryngomalacia and underwent further concurrent or delayed airway intervention, in addition to cyst removal.

Multi-Institutional Study Validates Safety of Intraoperative Cesium-131 Brachytherapy for Treatment of Recurrent Head and Neck Cancer.

Introduction: Surgery is the primary treatment for resectable, non-metastatic recurrent head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC). We explore the safety and oncologic benefit of intraoperative Cesium-131 (Cs-131) brachytherapy combined with salvage local and/or regional surgical resection.

Methods And Materials: Findings were reported from a single arm multi-institutional prospective phase 1/2 trial involving surgery plus Cs-131 (surgery + Cs-131) treatment.

Laryngeal cleft: A literature review.

Introduction: Laryngeal cleft is a congenital condition in which an opening in the posterior laryngotracheal wall allows food and liquid to pass from the esophageal lumen to the airway and causes aspiration. The severity of a laryngeal cleft is measured using the Benjamin-Inglis system, and can be managed conservatively or with a variety of surgical options With increased awareness, higher suspicion among primary physicians, advanced technology and improved intensive neonatal care services, more babies with laryngeal clefts survive in the modern era. Therefore, the focus has shifted from infant survival to treatment of laryngeal clefts and the challenging, complex medical conditions they create.

Utility of Audiometry in the Evaluation of Patients Presenting with Dysphonia.

Objectives: Hearing loss has been implicated in dysphonia secondary to voice misuse, although the data supporting this claim are scant. Determining the prevalence of hearing loss in patients with dysphonia and correlating it with self-perception of vocal handicap may help clarify the value of audiometry in evaluation of patients with dysphonia.

Methods: This is a retrospective chart review of all new voice patients (n = 405) presenting with dysphonia to the primary investigator between 2015 and 2018.

Optimization of a series of heterocycles as survival motor neuron gene transcription enhancers.

Spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) is a neurodegenerative disorder that results from mutations in the SMN1 gene, leading to survival motor neuron (SMN) protein deficiency. One therapeutic strategy for SMA is to identify compounds that enhance the expression of the SMN2 gene, which normally only is a minor contributor to functional SMN protein production, but which is unaffected in SMA. A recent high-throughput screening campaign identified a 3,4-dihydro-4-phenyl-2(1H)-quinolinone derivative (2) that increases the expression of SMN2 by 2-fold with an EC = 8.

Discovery of a Small Molecule Probe That Post-Translationally Stabilizes the Survival Motor Neuron Protein for the Treatment of Spinal Muscular Atrophy.

Spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) is the leading genetic cause of infant death. We previously developed a high-throughput assay that employs an SMN2-luciferase reporter allowing identification of compounds that act transcriptionally, enhance exon recognition, or stabilize the SMN protein. We describe optimization and characterization of an analog suitable for in vivo testing.

Small Molecules in Development for the Treatment of Spinal Muscular Atrophy.

Spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) is an autosomal recessive neurodegenerative disease resulting from pathologically low levels of survival motor neuron (SMN) protein. The majority of mRNA from the SMN2 allele undergoes alternative splicing and excludes critical codons, causing an SMN protein deficiency. While there is currently no FDA-approved treatment for SMA, early therapeutic efforts have focused on testing repurposed drugs such as phenylbutyrate (2), valproic acid (3), riluzole (6), hydroxyurea (7), and albuterol (9), none of which has demonstrated clinical effectiveness.

Soil components mitigate the antimicrobial effects of silver nanoparticles towards a beneficial soil bacterium, Pseudomonas chlororaphis O6.

Silver nanoparticles (Ag NPs) are widely used for their antimicrobial activity and consequently the particles will become environmental contaminants. This study evaluated in sand and soil matrices the toxicity of 10nm spherical Ag NPs (1 and 3 mg Ag/L) toward a beneficial soil bacterium, Pseudomonas chlororaphis O6. In sand, both NP doses resulted in loss in bacterial culturability whereas in a loam soil, no cell death was observed.

Responses of a soil bacterium, Pseudomonas chlororaphis O6 to commercial metal oxide nanoparticles compared with responses to metal ions.

The toxicity of commercially-available CuO and ZnO nanoparticles (NPs) to pathogenic bacteria was compared for a beneficial rhizosphere isolate, Pseudomonas chlororaphis O6. The NPs aggregated, released ions to different extents under the conditions used for bacterial exposure, and associated with bacterial cell surface. Bacterial surface charge was neutralized by NPs, dependent on pH.

Interaction of silver nanoparticles with an environmentally beneficial bacterium, Pseudomonas chlororaphis.

This study explores the potential antimicrobial mechanisms of commercial silver nanoparticles (Ag NPs) in the environmental bacterium, Pseudomonas chlororaphis O6. The 10nm size NPs aggregated in water, as demonstrated by atomic force microscopy. Solubility of the NPs at 10mg/L was 0.