Newborn screening for common genetic variants associated with permanent hearing loss: Implementation in Ontario and a review of the first 3 years.

Purpose: Universal newborn hearing screening (UNHS) programs using audiometric techniques alone are limited in ability to detect non-congenital childhood permanent hearing loss (PHL). In 2019, Ontario launched universal newborn screening (NBS) for PHL risk factors: congenital cytomegalovirus (cCMV) and 22 common variants in GJB2 and SLC26A4. Here we describe our experience with genetic risk factor screening.

Outcomes of a Population-Based Congenital Cytomegalovirus Screening Program.

Importance: Detection of congenital cytomegalovirus (cCMV) infection has previously relied on targeted screening programs or clinical recognition; however, these approaches miss most cCMV-infected newborns and fail to identify those infants who are asymptomatic at birth but at risk for late-onset sensorineural hearing loss.

Objective: To determine the feasibility of using routinely collected newborn dried blood spots (DBS) in a population-based cCMV screen to identify infants at risk for hearing loss and describe outcomes of infants screened.

Design, Setting, And Participants: This diagnostic study of a population-based screening program in Ontario, Canada, took place from July 29, 2019, to July 31, 2023.

Correction Factor Evaluation and Between-System Comparison of Behavioral Threshold Predictions From Auditory Brainstem Response Measures in Infants.

Purpose: Auditory brainstem response (ABR) thresholds are corrected to estimate behavioral thresholds in infants. Corrections were validated, and a comparison of behavioral threshold estimates between systems was conducted to inform equipment transition and protocols in Ontario, Canada.

Method: In Study 1, a retrospective file review was conducted.

The Impact of COVID-19 Health Measures on Adults With Multiple Chemical Sensitivity: Cross-Sectional Study.

Background: Multiple chemical sensitivity (MCS) develops in response to repeated small-level chemical exposures or a major exposure in a subset of people, who then experience symptoms that can range from mild to debilitating when exposed to chemicals. The arrival of the COVID-19 pandemic and the stringent health measures put in place may have increased the burden for those living with MCS, as it became more challenging to avoid chemicals that trigger their condition.

Objective: This study aimed to better understand the lived experience of Canadians living with MCS during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Mass Gathering Event Medical Preparedness and Response: A Review of Canadian Legislation and Guidelines.

Introduction: The mass gathering event (MGE) industry is growing globally, including in countries such as Canada. MGEs have been associated with a greater prevalence of injury and illness when compared with daily life events, despite most participants having few comorbidities. As such, adequate health, safety, and emergency medical planning is required.

Analysis of Military-Civilian Patient Handoff at Vista Forge Multi-Agency Nuclear Disaster Exercise 2022.

Introduction: The leadership of Vista Forge 2022 requested evaluation of the handoff process between military assets and civilian emergency medical services (EMS) providers by the Beth Israel Deaconess Fellowship in Disaster Medicine (BIDMF). Vista Forge was a multi-agency military-civilian full-scale disaster exercise coordinated by the U.S.

Trajectory of hearing loss in children with unilateral hearing loss.

Introduction: The aim of this study was to quantify the amount of deterioration in hearing and to document the trajectory of hearing loss in early identified children with unilateral hearing loss (UHL). We also examined whether clinical characteristics were associated with the likelihood of having progressive hearing loss.

Methods: As part of the Mild and Unilateral Hearing Loss Study, we followed a population-based cohort of 177 children diagnosed with UHL from 2003 to 2018.

Self-perceived role and knowledge of community pharmacists in organ donation.

Background: Although a majority of North Americans is in favor of organ donation, registration remains challenging. Community pharmacists are highly accessible frontline health care professionals that could contribute to a new common registration donation consent system.

Aim: The objective of the study was to assess self-perceived professional role and organ donation knowledge of community pharmacists in Quebec.

Exercise testing and postoperative complications after minimally invasive lung resection: A cohort study.

Peak oxygen uptake ( ) during cardiospulmonary exercise testing (CPET) is used to stratify postoperative risk following lung cancer resection but peak thresholds to predict post-operative mortality and morbidity were derived mostly from patients who underwent thoracotomy. We evaluated whether peak or other CPET-derived variables predict post-operative mortality and cardiopulmonary morbidity after minimally invasive video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS) for lung cancer resection. A retrospective analysis of patients who underwent VATS lung resection between 2002 and 2019 and in whom CPET was performed.

A Smart Archive Box for Museum Artifact Monitoring Using Battery-Less Temperature and Humidity Sensing.

For the first time, this paper reports a smart museum archive box that features a fully integrated wireless powered temperature and humidity sensor. The smart archive box has been specifically developed for microclimate environmental monitoring of stored museum artifacts in cultural heritage applications. The developed sensor does not require a battery and is wirelessly powered using Near Field Communications (NFC).

Cytomegalovirus-A Risk Factor for Childhood Hearing Loss: A Systematic Review.

Objective: Permanent hearing loss is an important public health issue in children with consequences for language, social, and academic functioning. Early hearing detection, intervention, and monitoring are important in mitigating the impact of permanent childhood hearing loss. Congenital cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection is a leading cause of hearing loss.

The Feasibility of Magnetic Resonance Imaging Without General Anesthesia Using the "Bundle and Scan" Technique for Infants With Sensorineural Hearing Loss.

Objective: The purpose of this study is to determine the feasibility of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) without general anesthesia (GA) for infants being evaluated for sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL) using the bundle and scan technique.

Study Design: Retrospective study.

Setting: Pediatric tertiary care hospital.

Lung cancer resection and postoperative outcomes in COPD: A single-center experience.

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) increases postoperative morbidity and is associated with diminished long-term survival after lung cancer resection. Whether this is also true for mild-to-moderate COPD is uncertain. We conducted a retrospective analysis of all the patients who underwent lung cancer surgery between 2002 and 2012 in a university-affiliated hospital.

A Wristwatch-Based Wireless Sensor Platform for IoT Health Monitoring Applications.

A wristwatch-based wireless sensor platform for IoT wearable health monitoring applications is presented. The paper describes the platform in detail, with a particular focus given to the design of a novel and compact wireless sub-system for 868 MHz wristwatch applications. An example application using the developed platform is discussed for arterial oxygen saturation (SpO) and heart rate measurement using optical photoplethysmography (PPG).

Very high-dose methylprednisolone for treatment of nivolumab-induced limbic encephalitis: A case report.

Introduction: Nivolumab is a programmed death 1 (PD-1) inhibitor approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the treatment of eight different cancers including metastatic melanoma. Immune checkpoint blockade may lead to a range of neurologic immune-related adverse events (irAEs) with severity varying from mild to life-threatening, including encephalitis.

Case Report: We describe a case of a 68-year-old man who developed alteration in mental status, physical weakness and fatigue after nine cycles of nivolumab 3 mg/kg every two weeks.

Risk factors for hearing loss in children: a systematic literature review and meta-analysis protocol.

Background: Hearing loss in newborns and children is a public health concern, due to high prevalence and negative effects on their development. Early detection and intervention of childhood hearing loss may mitigate these negative effects. Population-based newborn hearing screening programs have been established worldwide to identify children at risk for congenital hearing loss and to follow children at risk for late onset or progressive hearing loss.

Comprehensive Assessment of PD-L1 Staining Heterogeneity in Pulmonary Adenocarcinomas Using Tissue Microarrays: Impact of the Architecture Pattern and the Number of Cores.

Checkpoint inhibitors directed against programmed death receptor 1 (PD-1) and its ligand (PD-L1) changed the treatment of advanced lung non-small cell carcinomas. The decision to treat patients is influenced by PD-L1 expression by tumor cells, but evidence indicates that this staining is heterogenous within a tumor. As PD-L1 staining is tested mostly on biopsies, false negative results can occur due to sampling issues.

Translational research: precision medicine, personalized medicine, targeted therapies: marketing or science?

Personalized medicine is based on: 1) improved clinical or non-clinical methods (including biomarkers) for a more discriminating and precise diagnosis of diseases; 2) targeted therapies of the choice or the best drug for each patient among those available; 3) dose adjustment methods to optimize the benefit-risk ratio of the drugs chosen; 4) biomarkers of efficacy, toxicity, treatment discontinuation, relapse, etc. Unfortunately, it is still too often a theoretical concept because of the lack of convenient diagnostic methods or treatments, particularly of drugs corresponding to each subtype of pathology, hence to each patient. Stratified medicine is a component of personalized medicine employing biomarkers and companion diagnostics to target the patients likely to present the best benefit-risk balance for a given active compound.

Medico-economic evaluation of healthcare products. Methodology for defining a significant impact on French health insurance costs and selection of benchmarks for interpreting results.

Decree No. 2012-1116 of 2 October 2012 on medico-economic assignments of the French National Authority for Health (Haute autorité de santé, HAS) significantly alters the conditions for accessing the health products market in France. This paper presents a theoretical framework for interpreting the results of the economic evaluation of health technologies and summarises the facts available in France for developing benchmarks that will be used to interpret incremental cost-effectiveness ratios.

Viability of ectomycorrhizal fungi following cryopreservation.

The use of ectomycorrhizal (ECM) fungi in biotechnological processes requires their maintenance over long periods under conditions that maintain their genetic, phenotypic, and physiological stability. Cryopreservation is considered as the most reliable method for long-term storage of most filamentous fungi. However, this technique is not widespread for ECM fungi since many do not survive or exhibit poor recovery after freezing.

Comparison of determinants of research knowledge utilization by practitioners and administrators in the field of child and family social services.

Background: An important gap exists between research production and its utilization. Few studies have examined the factors affecting knowledge utilization in the field of child and family social services.

Methods: The objectives of the study are to describe knowledge utilization by child protection administrators and practitioners (N = 477) and to compare factors related to knowledge utilization by these two occupational groups.