Aligning Hearing Aid and Cochlear Implant Improves Hearing Outcome in Bimodal Cochlear Implant Users.

OBJECTIVE: Patients with unilateral deafness and residual hearing on the contralateral ear can benefit from a cochlear implant (CI) on one side and a hearing aid (HA) on the other. However, hearing improvement among these patients is heterogenous. Interindividual differences in bimodal benefit may be caused by a mismatch of CI and HA. The aim of this study was to clinically apply a HA fitting strategy and to evaluate hearing outcome with and without a dedicated bimodal fitting formula. STUDY DESIGN: Prospective non-randomized study. SETTING: Tertiary referral center. PATIENTS: Twelve patients using a CI processor and a conventional HA were enrolled. Before and after the new HA had been adjusted to the patient and linked to the CI, pure-tone audiometry and localization tests were performed. Speech perception was determined in quiet and noise. Tests were repeated after 6 and 12 weeks. To evaluate the subjective listening comfort two questionnaires (Oldenburg Inventory and HISQUI19) were assessed. INTERVENTION: Therapeutic. RESULTS MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: Word recognition in quiet, sentence recognition in noise. Speech perception in noise improved significantly: directed suppression of noise helped to segregate the target speech signal from a mixture of sounds or competing speakers. Evaluation of the questionnaires revealed a positive subjective hearing experience compared with patients' initial settings of the devices. CONCLUSION: By linking CI and HA hearing and speech perception can be improved. However, good counselling at the outset is essential to obtain enhanced outcome.

Fate of transgenic DNA from orally administered Bt MON810 maize and effects on immune response and growth in pigs.

We assessed the effect of short-term feeding of genetically modified (GM: Bt MON810) maize on immune responses and growth in weanling pigs and determined the fate of the transgenic DNA and protein in-vivo. Pigs were fed a diet containing 38.9% GM or non-GM isogenic parent line maize for 31 days. We observed that IL-12 and IFNγ production from mitogenic stimulated peripheral blood mononuclear cells decreased (P<0.10) following 31 days of GM maize exposure. While Cry1Ab-specific IgG and IgA were not detected in the plasma of GM maize-fed pigs, the detection of the cry1Ab gene and protein was limited to the gastrointestinal digesta and was not found in the kidneys, liver, spleen, muscle, heart or blood. Feeding GM maize to weanling pigs had no effect on growth performance or body weight. IL-6 and IL-4 production from isolated splenocytes were increased (P<0.05) in response to feeding GM maize while the proportion of CD4(+) T cells in the spleen decreased. In the ileum, the proportion of B cells and macrophages decreased while the proportion of CD4(+) T cells increased in GM maize-fed pigs. IL-8 and IL-4 production from isolated intraepithelial and lamina propria lymphocytes were also increased (P<0.05) in response to feeding GM maize. In conclusion, there was no evidence of cry1Ab gene or protein translocation to the organs and blood of weaning pigs. The growth of pigs was not affected by feeding GM maize. Alterations in immune responses were detected; however, their biologic relevance is questionable.