Identification Scores Research Articles

Effects of Maturation and Chronological Aging on Auditory Spatial Processing: A Cross-Sectional Study Across Life Span

The primary aim of the research was to document spatial acuity changes across the life span using a battery of psychoacoustical and perceptual tests. The secondary aim was to identify the optimal metric for measuring spatial processing changes across the life span (ages 10-70 years). A cross-sectional study comprising 115 participants with clinically normal hearing was conducted. Purposive sampling was adopted to recruit participants in the study, who were divided into six groups based on their chronological age. Temporal, intensity, spectral, and composite correlates of spatial acuity were assessed using psychoacoustic measures and perceptual questionnaires. The temporal (interaural time difference [ITD]) and intensity correlates (interaural level difference [ILD]) of spatial perception were obtained using a MATLAB (v 2020a), whereas the composite correlate (virtual auditory space identification scores [VASIs]) and perceptual ratings of spatial processing were measured using Paradigm software and speech spatial and qualities in Kannada (SSQ-K). Results across all tests (multivariate analyses variance: 6 age groups × 4 tests, followed by post hoc tests) consistently demonstrate poor ITD and ILD thresholds and overall lower spatial accuracy (VASI, SSQ-K) with increasing age. Discriminant function analyses (DFAs) revealed that VASI had a higher predictive power in capturing age-related changes in auditory spatial processing. The group segregation on spatial performance in DFA became evident after 50 years. This study provides evidence of gradual change in all three correlates of spatial processing, with statistically demonstrable deficits appearing from fourth decade of life on VASI and fifth decade of life on binaural processing.

Sensor-based continuous user authentication on smartphone through machine learning

With the rapid development of hardware and software technology, many end-users have often stored their data on smartphones through several in-built sensors. Thus, the security of stored data on smartphones has become a significant concern. This has fueled the importance of entry-point authentication methods on smartphones. Many entry-point authentication methods have failed to offer security due to insider or side-channel attacks. This article introduces a sensor-based continuous user authentication approach on the smartphone through multi-modal behavioral biometrics and a machine learning model to tackle the aforementioned issues. The proposed approach captures the touch and motion-based behavioral biometrics through the touchscreen and inertial sensors of the device. Then, the proposed approach extracts several features from captured behavioral data and selects the best set of features through a filter-based feature selection technique. Further, we implement a nonlinear support vector machine with optimized hyperparameters for training and predicting the features to generate the scores. We apply score-level fusion on generated scores of several sensors to compute the final score for identification of the genuine user. In this article, we systematically evaluate the proposed approach with the most commonly used behavioral activities of the smartphone user in our daily life. The experiment results on all behavioral activities show that the proposed approach obtained the best authentication score compared to the other machine learning models, and state-of-the-art methods. Finally, we conclude our article by addressing the limitations of the proposed approach and practical research issues for future exploration.

No borders on a fragile planet: Introducing four lay models of social psychological precarity to support global human identification and citizenship.

Measures such as Identification with all humanity (IWAH) and global identification and citizenship (GHIC) are positivity correlated with measures of humanitarianism, cosmopolitanism and environmental concern. Research using these measures suggests that most citizens have low-global identification scores. This article sheds light on this finding by investigating how global identification relates to precarity and migration (neither of which are measured in the IWAH/GHIC). The study conducted in England, Scotland and Sweden introduces a qualitative dialogical approach to GHIC. This involves measuring migration-mobility in dialogical interviews and controlling and removing borders on world maps-using an interactive world mapping task (N=23). Participants articulate four social representations relating to a fragile earth, enduring colonial settler/native conflict, ingroup/outgroup conflict or, in contrast, a cooperative plentiful planet where borders are unnecessary. Such social representations demonstrate the importance of planetary consciousness and relate to four lay models of social psychological precarity related to intergroup competition, global conflict, economic rationality and human-made borders. In conclusion, all participants employ lay models of social psychological precarity when discussing sovereignty, migration and belonging. We recommend psychologists investigating GHIC include measures of social psychological precarity and migration-mobility.

A multicenter real-life study to determine the efficacy of corticosteroids and olfactory training in improving persistent COVID-19-related olfactory dysfunction.

No definitive treatment exists to effectively restore function in patients with persistent post-infectious olfactory dysfunction (OD). Corticosteroids have been considered as a therapeutic option in post-infectious OD but their benefit in COVID-19-related OD remains unexplored. We aim to determine the role of the combination of corticosteroids plus olfactory training (OT) in improving persistent COVID-19-related OD. A multicenter real-life cohort study was conducted between December 2020 and April 2022 on patients with reported COVID-19-related OD. Only patients with confirmed OD at Sniffin' Sticks (S'S) and those who attended their 6-month follow-up were included. Patients were started on a combined treatment of corticosteroids and OT. Patients refusing corticosteroids or not doing any treatment formed the control groups. Visual analogue scale (VAS) for sense of smell and SNOT-22 were used to assess patients reported symptoms. Sixty-seven subjects with reported COVID-19-related OD were initially seen. Normosmic patients at S'S (n=14) and those not attending their follow-up (n=9) were excluded. Of the 44 patients included in the analysis, 19 patients had the combined treatment (group A), 16 patients refused to take corticosteroids and did the OT alone (group B) whereas 9 patients did not do any treatment (group C). An improvement of threshold + discrimination + identification (TDI) score (p=.01) and VAS for smell (p=.01) was found in group A whereas only the TDI score improved in group B (p=.04). Presence of comorbidities, age, sex (male), and length of OD negatively influenced olfactory recovery. Our study confirms the importance of OT in long-term OD suggesting that the addition of corticosteroids may give a benefit in terms of patient's perceived olfaction. 2b.

Associations of Olfaction With Longitudinal Trajectories of Brain Volumes and Neuropsychological Function in Older Adults.

Olfactory function declines with aging, and olfactory deficits are one of the earliest features of neurodegenerative diseases, such as Parkinson disease and Alzheimer disease. Previous studies have shown that olfaction is associated with brain volumes and cognitive function, but data are exclusively cross-sectional. We aimed to examine longitudinal associations of olfaction with changes in brain volumes and neuropsychological function. In the Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging, we chose the first assessment of olfaction to examine the associations with retrospective and prospective changes in neuropsychological performance and brain volumes in participants aged 50 years or older using linear mixed-effects models, adjusted for demographic variables and cardiovascular disease. Olfaction was measured as odor identification scores through the 16-item Sniffin' Sticks. We analyzed data from 567 (58% women, 42% men, 27% Black, 66% White, and 7% others) participants who had data on odor identification scores and brain volumetric MRI (n = 420 with retrospective repeats over a mean of 3.7 years, n = 280 with prospective repeats over a mean of 1.2 years). We also analyzed data from 754 participants (56% women, 44% men, 29% Black, 65% White, and 6% others) with neuropsychological assessments (n = 630 with retrospective repeats over a mean of 6.6 years, n = 280 with prospective repeats over a mean of 1.5 years). After adjustment, higher odor identification scores were associated with prior and subsequent slower brain atrophy in the entorhinal cortex (β ± SE = 0.0093 ± 0.0031, p = 0.0028 and β ± SE = 0.0176 ± 0.0073, p = 0.0169, respectively), hippocampus (β ± SE = 0.0070 ± 0.0030, p = 0.0192 and β ± SE = 0.0173 ± 0.0066, p = 0.0089, respectively), and additional frontal and temporal areas (all p < 0.05). Higher odor identification scores were also associated with prior slower decline in memory, attention, processing speed, and manual dexterity and subsequent slower decline in attention (all p < 0.05). Some associations were attenuated after exclusion of data points at and after symptom onset of cognitive impairment or dementia. In older adults, olfaction is related to brain atrophy of specific brain regions and neuropsychological changes in specific domains over time. The observed associations are driven, in part, by those who developed cognitive impairment or dementia. Future longitudinal studies with longer follow-ups are needed to understand whether olfactory decline precedes cognitive decline and whether it is mediated through regionally specific brain atrophy.

Study protocol for a randomised controlled trial evaluating the benefits from bimodal solution with cochlear implant and hearing aid versus bilateral hearing aids in patients with asymmetric speech identification scores

IntroductionCochlear implant (CI) and hearing aid (HA) in a bimodal solution (CI+HA) is compared with bilateral HAs (HA+HA) to test if the bimodal solution results in better speech intelligibility and...

Impact of Heart Rate at Diagnosis on Clinical Outcomes in Patients With Acute Pulmonary Embolism

Data on the impact of heart rate (HR) at diagnosis on clinical outcomes in patients with acute pulmonary embolism (PE) remain scarce. The present study population consisted of 1,532 patients with PE; the patients were divided into 4 groups, including (1) HR <80 beats/min (n=451, 29%), (2) 80 ≤HR <100 beats/min (n=620, 40%), (3) 100 ≤HR <110 beats/min (n=215, 14%), and (4) HR ≥110 beats/min (n=246, 16%). The cumulative 30-day incidences of all-cause death were significantly higher in the 100 ≤HR <110 and HR ≥110 beats/min groups than in the HR <80 beats/min group. Incidences were 2.7%, 3.6%, 6.6%, and 5.7% (p=0.04) in the HR <80 beats/min, 80 ≤HR <100 beats/min, 100 ≤HR <110 beats/min, and HR ≥110 beats/min groups, respectively. With the HR <80 beats/min group as reference, the 100 ≤HR <110 and HR ≥110 groups, but not the 80 ≤HR <100 group, were significantly associated with an increased risk of 30-day all-cause death. Hazard ratio was 2.53 (95% confidence interval [CI] 1.17 to 5.56, p=0.02) for the 80 ≤HR <100 beats/min group, 2.20 (95% CI 1.02 to 4.84, p=0.046) for the 100 ≤HR <110 beats/min group, and 1.34 (95% CI 0.67 to 2.79, p=0.41) for the HR ≥110 beats/min group. The cumulative 30-day incidences of all-cause death in patients with simplified Pulmonary Embolism Severity Index score=0 were 0.6%, 0.3%, and 0.7% when based on cut-off values of HR ≥110 beats/min, HR ≥100 beats/min, and ≥80 beats/min, respectively. Patients with moderate tachycardia (100 ≤HR <110) seemed to be at comparable risk of 30-day all-cause death to those with HR ≥110 beats/min and at higher risk of 30-day all-cause death than those with HR <80 beats/min; this may suggest a potential benefit of the alternative cut-off value of HR ≥100 beats/min in the simplified Pulmonary Embolism Severity Index score for identification of low-risk patients.

Study on Bio-film forming bacterial pathogens in diabetic foot ulcer

Actinomycetes due to their unique repertoire of antimicrobial secondary metabolites can be a good source to control human pathogens. In our research plan, soil samples were collected from Bhilai, India. The strains were isolated using yeast extract-malt extract agar medium and identified based on their morphological, physiological, and biochemical characteristics. The antifungal activity of isolates was examined by the perpendicular streak plate as well as the agar well diffusion method. Out of 14 isolates, only 4 isolates (28.5%) showed antifungal activity. Further, one isolate showed the highest antifungal activity and was identified as Streptomyces antibioticus A8 based on PIB-Win software and the identification score was 0.99. Antifungal activity of new isolate Streptomyces antibioticus A8 against the T. rubrum MTCC 296, with a zone of inhibition 28±0.0 mm, whereas minimum activity was recorded against A. niger MTCC 872 with the zone of inhibition 9±0.0 mm. antifungal activity against C.albicans ATCC10231, C.albicans ATCC90028, C. albicans ATCC24433, C.albicans MTCC183, C.tropicalis MTCC184, A.alternata MTCC 1779 was recorded as 20±0.0mm, 17±0.0 mm, 17±0.0 mm, 15±0.5 mm, 14±0.0 mm and 11±0.0 mm respectively by agar well diffusion method. Further, discovering new antimicrobial-producingmicrobes probably will be helpful for uncovering novel therapeutic agents against a broad range of pathogenic organisms.

Antifungal Potential of Actinomycetes Isolated from Region of Bhilai, Chhattisgarh, India

Actinomycetes due to their unique repertoire of antimicrobial secondary metabolites can be a good source to control human pathogens. In our research plan, soil samples were collected from Bhilai, India. The strains were isolated using yeast extract-malt extract agar medium and identified based on their morphological, physiological, and biochemical characteristics. The antifungal activity of isolates was examined by the perpendicular streak plate as well as the agar well diffusion method. Out of 14 isolates, only 4 isolates (28.5%) showed antifungal activity. Further, one isolate showed the highest antifungal activity and was identified as Streptomyces antibioticus A8 based on PIB-Win software and the identification score was 0.99. Antifungal activity of new isolate Streptomyces antibioticus A8 against the T. rubrum MTCC 296, with a zone of inhibition 28±0.0 mm, whereas minimum activity was recorded against A. niger MTCC 872 with the zone of inhibition 9±0.0 mm. antifungal activity against C.albicans ATCC10231, C.albicans ATCC90028, C. albicans ATCC24433, C.albicans MTCC183, C.tropicalis MTCC184, A.alternata MTCC 1779 was recorded as 20±0.0mm, 17±0.0 mm, 17±0.0 mm, 15±0.5 mm, 14±0.0 mm and 11±0.0 mm respectively by agar well diffusion method. Further, discovering new antimicrobial-producingmicrobes probably will be helpful for uncovering novel therapeutic agents against a broad range of pathogenic organisms.

Effect of Use of N-95 Mask on Aided Speech Identification Scores in Older Adults with Hearing Loss.

The present study aimed to investigate the effect of use of N-95 masks on aided speech identification scores (SIS) in older adults with hearing loss. A total of 35 older adults in the age range of 60 years to 79 years (mean age of 64.97 years) participated in the present study. All the participants were diagnosed with moderate to severe sensorineural hearing loss. A prospective pre-test post-test study design was used in the present study with purposive convenient sampling method. The study was carried out in two phases. Phase 1 included the hearing aid fitting and verification. Phase 2 included measuring the speech identification scores (SIS) with and without N- 95 mask. The results of the present study showed that aided SIS scores obtained in without mask condition was significantly better than with N-95 mask condition. Thus is can be concluded that wearing of mask has detrimental effect of SIS in older adults. Hence audiologists can use this as a condition to counsel during hearing aid fitting and also to counsel about the decreased clarity issues due to wearing of mask.

Olfactory Sensitivity Is Associated with Body Mass Index and Polymorphism in the Voltage-Gated Potassium Channels Kv1.3.

Smell strongly contributes to food choice and its hedonistic evaluation. A reduction or loss of smell has been related to malnutrition problems, resulting in excessive weight loss or gain. Voltage-gated potassium channels Kv1.3 are widely expressed in the olfactory bulb, and contribute mainly to the value of the resting membrane potential and to the frequency of action potentials. Mutations in the Kv1.3 gene are associated with alterations in glycemic homeostasis and olfactory sensitivity. We evaluated the olfactory performance in 102 healthy subjects and its association with BMI and polymorphism in the human Kv1.3 gene. Olfactory performance, based on the olfactory threshold, discrimination and identification scores and their summed score (TDI), was measured using the “Sniffin’ Sticks” test. Subjects were genotyped for the rs2821557 polymorphism of the Kv1.3 gene, whose major allele T was associated with a super-smeller phenotype, lower plasma glucose levels and resistance to diet-induced obesity as compared with the minor allele C. Based on the Kv1.3 genotype, the TDI and I olfactory scores obtained by the subjects were the following: TT > TC > CC. Subjects who were TT homozygous or heterozygous exhibited lower BMIs and reached higher olfactory scores than those with the CC genotype. The results were sex-dependent: heterozygous females performed better than heterozygous males. These findings show an inverse relationship between olfactory function and BMI, and a significant effect of the Kv1.3 genotypes on the olfactory functions and on the BMIs of the subjects. Finally, they suggest that the sex-related differences in the olfactory function can be partially ascribed to the Kv1.3 gene’s polymorphism.

Development and validation of a novel cosmetics safety assessment scale (CSAS): Factual understanding of cosmetic safety and fostering international awareness

Falsified cosmetics are increasingly common especially online through social media networks and mobile applications. This study developed and validated a novel tool to evaluate the safety of cosmetics and personal care products in the United Araba Emirates (UAE). This is methodological validation study and the data were derived from a cross-sectional study conducted on students and staff at Ajman University (AU) in the UAE. The study sample was selected via simple random sampling. The link to the survey was sent to potential respondents via email, and the responses were analysed using SPSS version 26. Content validity, factor analysis, and known group validity were employed to construct and validate an instrument that will enable the identification of cosmetics safety. The instrument's reliability was evaluated using test-retest reliability, internal consistency, item internal consistency (IIC), and intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs). The study sample included 978 participants. The content validity index for the final 24-item scale was 0.84. The Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin value was 0.959 with a statistically significant Bartlett's test of sphericity (p &lt;0.001). Factor analysis presented a three-component model. PCFA analysis found good fit values with 0.960 for the normed fit index, 0.977 for the comparative fit index, and 0.987 for the Tucker Lewis Index. All values were in excess of 0.95, and the root mean square error of approximation was below 0.06 (0.03); thus, the model had a good fit. Cronbach's alpha also showed good consistency of the overall instrument (0.963), and all factors had a Cronbach's alpha above 0.70. Each item on the instrument met the IIC correlation standard of ≥ 0.40, and there were good overall ICC statistics of 0.963 (0.959-0.966) for the instrument as a whole with statistical significance (p &lt; 0.001). The instrument's test-retest reliability was assessed by correlating the respondents' identification scores at two time points with a four-week gap revealing a correlation coefficient of 0.870 (p-value &lt;0.01). Participants holding a bachelor's degree were more likely to be able to identify safe and authentic cosmetics than those with a high-school educational level (p = 0.015). This study developed a novel validated instrument to determine the safety of cosmetics. The final questionnaire uses 24 items on three dimensions (13 items on hazard information, eight items on product identity, and three items on product handling and storage). The tool is concise and easy to complete, and it is suitable for use among the general population. The use of this instrument can promote greater collaboration between the consumer health regulatory authorities and inspection authorities thus increasing consumer satisfaction and public participation.

OR02-2 The Relationship of Lipoprotein Fractions as Assessed by Ion Mobility and Insulin Resistance as Measured by the Insulin Suppression Test

Abstract Insulin resistance (IR)/compensatory hyperinsulinemia exert effects on the type and nature of blood lipids that contribute to the increased risk of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD). Direct measurement of IR is labor-intensive and cannot be performed in a clinical setting. Previously, we modeled the utility of fasting insulin and C-peptide measurements (IR score) to inform the degree of insulin resistance in a large cohort of individuals without diabetes who had undergone direct measurement of whole-body IR. In the current study, we examined the associations of lipoprotein subfractions with IR and determined the usefulness of lipoprotein subfractions to identify insulin resistant individuals. A total of 527 persons (median age 50 years, 65% women, 93% non-Hispanic, and 70% white) underwent measurements of BMI, lipid panel, and lipoprotein subfractions by ion mobility (IM) as well as direct measurement of IR by steady-state plasma glucose (SSPG) concentration during the insulin suppression test. Individuals in the top tertile of SSPG concentration were defined as being insulin resistant. A stepwise linear regression model was used to select a combination of lipoprotein subfractions that remained associated with SSPG after adjusting for BMI, age, sex, ethnicity, race, and triglyceride to HDL cholesterol ratio (TG/HDL-C). An IM score was calculated using linear combinations of the regression coefficients for IM lipoprotein subfractions. Similarly, scores were calculated for TG/HDL-C, the full model excluding the IM lipoprotein subfractions, and the full model that included all variables. The scores were evaluated for predicting the top tertile of SSPG by using area under the receiver operator characteristic curve (AUC) analysis and the positive predictive value (PPV) calculations where the highest 5% value of a score was considered a positive test. Several of the IM lipoprotein sub-fractions were associated with SSPG in a linear regression model after adjusting for BMI, age, sex, ethnicity, race, and TG/HDL-C. When predicting individuals in the top tertile of SSPG, the IM score and TG/HDL-C were similar (AUC=0.68 and 0.70 respectively; PPV=.59 and .59 respectively); however, when used together, they significantly improved the prediction of IR (AUC=0.73; PPV=0.70). Similarly, the score derived from the full stepwise model that included the IM score significantly improved the AUC and PPV when compared with the score from the model that excluded the IM score (AUC=0.84 vs. 0.81; PPV=0.89 vs 0.85). In conclusion, the IM score and TG/HDL-C are comparable in identifying insulin resistant individuals and their combination improves prediction of IR when combined with BMI and demographic data. Among patients who have undergone ion mobility testing, the IM score may assist prioritization of subjects for further testing by the IR score and aid in identification of persons at increased risk of ASCVD associated with IR. Presentation: Saturday, June 11, 2022 11:45 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.

Anosmia/hyposmia differences between severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 variants; objective olfactory function evaluation

Objectives: This study aimed to investigate whether the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) variants cause more or less loss of smell than the wild type variant as a clinical finding that may guide physicians in addition to the increased mortality feature. Patients and Methods: In the prospective study, Connecticut Chemosensory Clinical Research Center (CCCRC) odor testing was performed on patients hospitalized for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) between May 2021 and December 2021, and variants of SARS-CoV-2 isolated from patients were analyzed. A total of 51 patients (30 males and 21 females; mean age 59.3±14.2 years; range, 29 to 88 years) were included in the study. Age, sex, and COVID-19 vaccine status of the patients were recorded. The patients were asked whether they had new-onset odor or taste complaints and whether they differently perceived smells they knew. Results: The delta variant was detected in 14 patients, the alpha variant was detected in 20 patients, and no variant of concern was detected in 17 patients. Odor disorders were present in 79.4% of all patients (13.73% anosmia, 15.69% severe hyposmia, 13.7% moderate hyposmia, and 37.2% mild hyposmia). There was no statistically significant difference between sex, age, smoking habits, presence of parosmia, degree of smell disorder, and Vicks definition results according to the variants (p&gt;0.05). A statistically significant difference was found between alpha and delta variants in terms of patients' complaints of decreased smell and taste, mean olfactory threshold value, and mean olfactory score variables (p&lt;0.05). There was no difference in terms of age and identification score. The complaints of smell and taste disorders, the mean threshold value of odor, and the mean odor score were found to be significantly lower in the delta variant than in the alpha variant. Conclusion: SARS-CoV-2 variants differ significantly in olfactory dysfunction. Future clinical and laboratory studies may show the diagnostic, clinical, and prognostic significance of olfactory nerve injury.

The effect of phoneme-based auditory training on speech intelligibility in hearing-aid users

Objective Hearing loss commonly causes difficulties in understanding speech in the presence of background noise. The benefits of hearing-aids in terms of speech intelligibility in challenging listening scenarios remain limited. The present study investigated if phoneme-in-noise discrimination training improves phoneme identification and sentence intelligibility in noise in hearing-aid users. Design Two groups of participants received either a two-week training program or a control intervention. Three phoneme categories were trained: onset consonants (C1), vowels (V) and post-vowel consonants (C2) in C1-V-C2-/i/ logatomes from the Danish nonsense word corpus (DANOK). Phoneme identification test and hearing in noise test (HINT) were administered before and after the respective interventions and, for the training group only, after three months. Study sample Twenty 63-to-79 years old individuals with a mild-to-moderate sensorineural hearing loss and at least one year of experience using hearing-aids. Results The training provided an improvement in phoneme identification scores for vowels and post-vowel consonants, which was retained over three months. No significant performance improvement in HINT was found. Conclusion The study demonstrates that the training induced a robust refinement of auditory perception at a phoneme level but provides no evidence for the generalisation to an untrained sentence intelligibility task.

Olfactory training assists in olfactory recovery after sinonasal surgery.

Olfactory dysfunction is a common complaint in patients with chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS). The study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of olfactory training (OT) in patients with CRS after sinonasal surgery. We enrolled 111 patients with CRS who underwent sinonasal surgery. Prior to surgery and 3months after starting OT, the participants were assessed by both an olfactory function test and endoscopy. The Korean version of the Sniffin' Stick II (KVSS-II) was used to perform the olfactory function test. Over the course of 3months, five odorants were used in OT (rose, lemon, cinnamon, orange, and peach). Over a 12-week duration, 37% of the participants in the OT group showed clinically relevant increase in olfactory function. The OT group had significantly higher olfactory outcomes for the total KVSS-II and identification scores than the non-OT group between the initial and follow-up assessments. The initial score influenced the degree of olfactory improvement after OT. Patients with OT exhibited significantly higher total KVSS-II scores compared with non-OT patients following sinonasal surgery; in particular, the odor identification score was different between the two groups. The results of this study demonstrated that a 12-week period of repeated short-term exposure to various odors could be useful in enhancing olfactory activity in patients who underwent sinonasal surgery for the improvement of sensory-neural olfactory impairment. 2c.

The ability of critical care nurses to identify pressure injury and incontinence-associated dermatitis: A multicentre cross-sectional survey.

To investigate the ability of critical care nurses to identify pressure injury and incontinence-associated dermatitis and analyse the possible influencing factors. Cross-sectional survey. This study was conducted at 24 hospitals across 12 provinces in China. A self-made electronic questionnaire was used. Nurses identified and judged injuries according to the information provided. The average identification score for pressure injury and incontinence-associated dermatitis was 9.00 ± 3.51 points, and only 2.16% of nurses scored ≥16 points. The average correct identification rate for pressure injury and incontinence-associated dermatitis was 45%. The correct identification rate for stage 1 pressure injury was the highest, while those for stage 3, stage 4, deep tissue pressure injury and unstageable pressure injury were all lower than 50%; incontinence-associated dermatitis was also easily misjudged. Nurses' educational backgrounds, professional titles, job positions, hospital levels and learning frequency were the factors that affected their ability to identify pressure injury and incontinence-associated dermatitis.

Evaluation of an inflammation-based score for identification of appropriate patients for comprehensive genomic profiling

Performance status (PS) is widely used as an assessment of general condition in patients before performing comprehensive genomic profiling (CGP). However, PS scoring is dependent on each physician, and there is no objective and universal indicator to identify appropriate patients for CGP. Overall, 263 patients were scored using the modified Glasgow prognostic score (mGPS) from 0 to 2 based on the combination of serum albumin and c-reactive protein (CRP): 0, albumin ≥ 3.5 g/dl and CRP ≤ 0.5 mg/dl; 1, albumin < 3.5 g/dl or CRP > 0.5 mg/dl; and 2, albumin < 3.5 g/dl and CRP > 0.5 mg/dl. Overall survival was compared between mGPS 0–1 and mGPS 2 groups. The prognosis of patients with PS 0–1 and mGPS 2 was also evaluated. Thirty-nine patients (14.8%) were mGPS 2. Patients with mGPS 2 had significant shorter survival (14.7 months vs 4.6 months, p < 0.01). Twenty-eight patients were PS 0–1 and mGPS 2, and their survival was also short (5.6 months). Evaluation of mGPS is a simple and useful method for identifying patients with adequate prognosis using CGP.

Risk Prediction Score for Screening Asymptomatic Sexually Transmitted Infections in HIV-positive French Men Who Have Sex with Men (ANRS 9520 DRIVER).

Asymptomatic sexually transmitted infections (STI) are frequent among men who have sex with men (MSM). Identifying asymptomatic STIs is a crucial issue, not only for secondary but also for primary prevention, as early treatment can reduce transmission risk. We aimed to develop a self-reported predictive score for early identification of asymptomatic STIs. Participants provided clinical data and completed a self-administered questionnaire including sociodemographic variables and behaviors during the 6 previous months. We used multivariable logistic regression to identify factors associated with asymptomatic STIs. We calculated the accuracy of the model by the non-parametric area (AUC) under the receiver-operating-characteristic (ROC) curve to find the optimal discriminant threshold for screening. A total of 781 HIV-positive MSM were included with a mean age of 46.8 years. Asymptomatic STI prevalence was 13.2%. Detectable plasma HIV RNA (adjusted odds ratio (aOR [95% CI): 2.54 [1.23;5.25]), inconsistent condom use during anal sex (2.20 [1.36;3.56]), group sex (2.00 [1.15;3.45]), during or-genital practices (1.83 [1.12;3.01]), not being in stable relationship (1.70 [1.01;2.66] and an item from a sensation-seeking behavioral scale "I don't like watching porn videos" (1.61 [1.01;2.59] were associated with asymptomatic STI. AUC was 0.7 and with optimal threshold of 0.1082 for this model; sensitivity was 80.4%. Self-reported asymptomatic STI predictive score was built with this threshold according to the 6 factors in the final model. As this predictive score is not designed to be diagnostic, but to provide indications for diagnostic tests, its ease of administration and sensitivity remain the most important features. Its use in clinical practice for early detection of asymptomatic STIs potentially can reinforce STI primary and secondary prevention.

Olfactory rehabilitation via retronasal olfaction using atracheoesophageal voice prosthesis after total laryngectomy. German version

Despite the variety of existing methods for olfactory rehabilitation after total laryngectomy, olfactory disability remains one of the main factors limiting quality of life for laryngectomees. Considering theneed for asocially acceptable rehabilitation method that is suitable for everyday use, this study sought to elucidate whether retronasal olfaction during phonation through atracheoesophageal voice prosthesis is possible. The odor identification of 22laryngectomees was assessed using the Sniffin' Sticks test battery (12 odors), while performing an established method of olfactory rehabilitation-"polite yawning"-or while transnasal expiration or phonation through the tracheoesophageal fistula (TF). To facilitate the latter, anovel Expiratory Nasal Airflow M‑Maneuver (ENAMM) was developed. All 21non-anosmic laryngectomees included in the study were able to identify odors retronasally. While only 6of 22patients (27.3%) could perform the nasal expiration through the TF, all patients could easily perform phonation using ENAMM after proper instruction. The odor identification scores with the ENAMM technique did not statistically differ from ones with "polite yawning" (5.4 ± 3.1 vs. 6.4 ± 3.2, p = 0.279). The ENAMM was easy to learn and showed atendency of increasing olfactory scores over time, possibly due to a learning effect. Study results show that retronasal olfaction using avoice prosthesis after total laryngectomy is possible and suggest the potential of ENAMM as amethod of olfactory rehabilitation for laryngectomy patients.