Analysis of Postoperative Outcomes and Economic Behavior Trends of Tympanoplasty and Mastoidectomy With Expansion of High Deductible Health Plans.

Hypothesis: With rising deductibles, patients will delay ear surgeries toward the end of the year, and there will be an increase in postoperative complications.

Background: The Affordable Care Act (ACA), passed on March 23, 2010, expanded high deductible health plans. The deductible can provide support for patients with high medical costs, but high deductibles deter patients from seeking necessary preventive health care and having elective procedures.

Evaluation of Disturbances in Hearing, Tinnitus, and Dizziness as Signs of COVID-19 Infection.

Background: There have been reports and studies indicating audiovestibular disturbances in COVID-19 patients with variations in the percentage of sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL). The purpose of this study is to compare the incidence of newly diagnosed SNHL, sudden idiopathic hearing loss (SIHL), tinnitus, and vestibular disturbances between infected and uninfected patients, as well as to identify population groups at risk.

Methods: This study used TriNetX to obtain statistics on COVID-19 (+) and COVID-19 (-) patients from 61 healthcare organizations.

Gamification in otolaryngology: A narrative review.

Introduction: The medical field has incorporated gamification elements into education platforms over the past decade. The standard definition for gamification that has been adopted by most research studies is the addition of game elements and game mechanics within a platform to enhance user engagement. In this review, seven established, consolidated components, as well as an additional new or novel component, will be evaluated: a point system/leaderboards, question banks or gradable content, social interaction with other participants, leaderboards, progress or levels, immediate feedback, badges/icons or a reward system, and the novel component, a story line.

Bisphosphonate therapy in otosclerosis: A scoping review.

Objective: Otosclerosis, a leading cause of deafness in adults, results from defective bone remodeling of the otic capsule. Bisphosphonates have been used to decrease bone remolding in many diseases, including otosclerosis. This study analyzes whether current literature supports bisphosphonate therapy as an effective treatment for otosclerosis.

A Universal Stress Protein That Controls Bacterial Stress Survival in Micrococcus luteus.

Bacteria have remarkable mechanisms to survive severe external stresses, and one of the most enigmatic is the nonreplicative persistent (NRP) state. Practically, NRP bacteria are difficult to treat, and so inhibiting the proteins underlying this survival state may render such bacteria more susceptible to external stresses, including antibiotics. Unfortunately, we know little about the proteins and mechanisms conferring survival through the NRP state.

A color-based competition assay for studying bacterial stress responses in Micrococcus luteus.

Competition assays measure differences between populations of bacteria after stress adaptation, populations of different bacteria and mutations in antibiotic resistance genes. We have developed a competition-based assay to evaluate if genes upregulated under starvation are important for bacterial survival. Stress responses are critical for survival in non-pathogenic and pathogenic bacteria alike including Mycobacterium tuberculosis, Enterococcus fecaelis, Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus.