A Multi-Center Study of Ossiculoplasty Hearing Outcomes and a Grading Scale of Ear Environment Risk.

Objective: To determine which ear environment risk factors impact ossiculoplasty hearing outcomes and to generate a statistically-valid grading system for ossiculoplasty outcome reporting.

Study Type: Retrospective case series.

Methods: A multi-institutional database was generated from cases performed between 2011 and 2019.

COVID-19 Incidence and Death Rates Among Unvaccinated and Fully Vaccinated Adults with and Without Booster Doses During Periods of Delta and Omicron Variant Emergence - 25 U.S. Jurisdictions, April 4-December 25, 2021.

Previous reports of COVID-19 case, hospitalization, and death rates by vaccination status indicate that vaccine protection against infection, as well as serious COVID-19 illness for some groups, declined with the emergence of the B.1.617.

Defining Food Safety Inspection.

 Food safety inspections are a key health protection measure applied by governments to prevent foodborne illness, yet they remain the subject of sustained criticism. These criticisms include inconsistency and inadequacy of methods applied to inspection, and ineffectiveness in preventing foodborne illness. Investigating the validity of these criticisms represent important areas for further research.

Degree of preoperative hearing loss predicts time to early mobilization following vestibular schwannoma microsurgery.

Objective: To test the hypothesis that severe to profound preoperative hearing loss predicts less acute postoperative vestibulopathy following microsurgical removal of vestibular schwannoma (VS) allowing for earlier postoperative mobilization and hospital discharge.

Methods: Patients with VS who underwent microsurgery and were found to have preoperative severe to profound hearing loss (pure tone average [PTA] > 70 dB HL) were matched 1:1 by age and tumor size to a group of randomly selected controls with preoperative serviceable hearing.

Results: A total of 57 patients met inclusion criteria and were matched to controls.

Impact of Treatment on Vestibular Schwannoma-Associated Symptoms: A Prospective Study Comparing Treatment Modalities.

Objective: The degree to which various treatment modalities modify vestibular schwannoma (VS)-associated symptoms has received limited attention. The purpose of this study was to determine how different treatment modalities affect subjective symptoms in those presenting with VS.

Study Design: Prospective survey.

Subcutaneous Air Around Receiver-Stimulator Causing Open-Circuit Failures: An Uncommon But Readily Treatable Condition Related to CPAP Use After Cochlear Implant Surgery.

Objective: To raise awareness of a unique complication associated with continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) use after cochlear implantation to improve early detection, prevent unnecessary testing, and facilitate treatment.

Study Design: Case series.

Setting: Tertiary referral center.

Audiometric Profile of Cochlear Implant Recipients Demonstrates Need for Revising Insurance Coverage.

Objectives/hypothesis: To describe the pre-implant audiometric profile of adult cochlear implant (CI) recipients to investigate whether current binaural candidacy requirements prevent access to patients who could benefit from CI.

Study Design: Retrospective case series.

Methods: Retrospective review from 2016 to 2018 evaluating preoperative pure-tone thresholds and speech perception scores in the ipsilateral and contralateral ear.

Clinical Utility of Intraoperative Electrocochleography (ECochG) During Cochlear Implantation: A Systematic Review and Quantitative Analysis.

Objective: To evaluate the utility of intraoperative electrocochleography (ECochG) as a predictive tool for preservation of residual acoustic hearing after cochlear implantation.

Data Sources: A systematic review employing a multi-database search strategy (Ovid MEDLINE, Embase, EBM Cochrane, and Scopus) was conducted from inception to August 1, 2019. English language studies in humans were included.

Prospective Study of Disease-Specific Quality-of-Life in Sporadic Vestibular Schwannoma Comparing Observation, Radiosurgery, and Microsurgery.

Background: Previous cross-sectional studies analyzing quality of life (QOL) outcomes in patients with sporadic vestibular schwannoma (VS) have shown surprisingly little difference among treatment modalities. To date, there is limited prospective QOL outcome data available comparing baseline to posttreatment scores.

Study Design: Prospective longitudinal study using the disease-specific Penn Acoustic Neuroma Quality of Life (PANQOL) scale.

Elevated Urine Leukotriene E4 Is Associated With Worse Objective Markers in Nasal Polyposis Patients.

Objectives: Urine leukotriene E4 (uLTE4) is a biomarker of leukotriene synthesis and is elevated in patients with aspirin-exacerbated respiratory disease (AERD). It can also be useful to help delineate aspirin-tolerant chronic rhinosinusitis with nasal polyposis (CRSwNP) patients from AERD patients. The purpose of this study is to determine if uLTE4 biomarker levels are associated with objective and subjective markers of disease severity in patients with CRSwNP.

Creation of a New Educational Podcast: "Headmirror's ENT in a Nutshell".

Podcasts are online digital audio programs that are disseminated via online subscription that are easily accessible through computers or smartphones. Increasingly, residents and medical students are prioritizing podcasts for asynchronous medical education due to ease of use, convenience (eg, use while exercising or commuting), and repeatability. Some trainees have found podcasts more useful than traditional didactic lectures.

Cardiothoracic Patients with Unilateral Vocal Fold Paralysis: Pneumonia Rates Following Injection Laryngoplasty.

Objective: Recurrent laryngeal nerve injury is a potential complication of cardiothoracic surgery and cause of unilateral vocal fold paralysis (UVFP). Injection laryngoplasty (IL) is an intervention offered to patients with UVFP to alleviate symptoms including dysphagia, dysphonia and weak cough. There is no definitive evidence that IL prevents pneumonia.

Protein Stability in Titan's Subsurface Water Ocean.

Models of Titan predict that there is a subsurface ocean of water and ammonia under a layer of ice. Such an ocean would be important in the search for extraterrestrial life since it provides a potentially habitable environment. To evaluate how Earth-based proteins would behave in Titan's subsurface ocean environment, we used molecular dynamics simulations to calculate the properties of proteins with the most common secondary structure types (alpha helix and beta sheet) in both Earth and Titan-like conditions.

Obliquity Evolution of the Potentially Habitable Exoplanet Kepler-62f.

Variations in the axial tilt, or obliquity, of terrestrial planets can affect their climates and therefore their habitability. Kepler-62f is a 1.4 R planet orbiting within the habitable zone of its K2 dwarf host star.

Temporary bronchial stenting for airway compression in the interstage palliation of functional single ventricle.

The Norwood procedure is the first of three palliative surgical procedures offered for hypoplastic left heart syndrome (HLHS). Due to the small size of the thorax and proximity of airway and vascular structures, compression of the airway is possible following the Norwood procedure. We describe the management of an infant with HLHS following Stage I surgical palliation who developed refractory respiratory failure secondary to severe left bronchial compression.

Strategies for Detecting Biological Molecules on Titan.

Saturn's moon Titan has all the ingredients needed to produce "life as we know it." When exposed to liquid water, organic molecules analogous to those found on Titan produce a range of biomolecules such as amino acids. Titan thus provides a natural laboratory for studying the products of prebiotic chemistry.

A novel method to measure the external auditory canal: Normative data and practical implications.

Purpose: To accurately measure external auditory canal (EAC) dimensions by high resolution computed tomography (CT), and compare results with a traditional method of EAC measurement.

Methods: Using an advanced multidimensional open source digital imaging and communications in medicine (DICOM) analysis program (OsiriX, Pixmeo, Geneva, Switzerland) 91 adult EACs were analyzed on a previously obtained temporal bone CT scan. Tympanometric data were also recorded for each ear.

Microplastic pollution is widely detected in US municipal wastewater treatment plant effluent.

Municipal wastewater effluent has been proposed as one pathway for microplastics to enter the aquatic environment. Here we present a broad study of municipal wastewater treatment plant effluent as a pathway for microplastic pollution to enter receiving waters. A total of 90 samples were analyzed from 17 different facilities across the United States.

Obliquity Variability of a Potentially Habitable Early Venus.

Unlabelled: Venus currently rotates slowly, with its spin controlled by solid-body and atmospheric thermal tides. However, conditions may have been far different 4 billion years ago, when the Sun was fainter and most of the carbon within Venus could have been in solid form, implying a low-mass atmosphere. We investigate how the obliquity would have varied for a hypothetical rapidly rotating Early Venus.

/VIMS observes rough surfaces on Titan's Punga Mare in specular reflection.

/VIMS high-phase specular observations of Titan's north pole during the T85 flyby show evidence for isolated patches of rough liquid surface within the boundaries of the sea Punga Mare. The roughness shows typical slopes of 6°±1°. These rough areas could be either wet mudflats or a wavy sea.