Auditory, Social, and Behavioral Skills of Children With Unilateral/Mild Hearing Loss.

This study explored the impact of mild bilateral or unilateral hearing loss on auditory, social, and behavior skills in early school-aged children. Thirty-two children (aged 5-9 years) were evaluated with parent and teacher questionnaires. Most outcomes were within the range of expected scores. However, functional auditory skills were below published results for children with typical hearing. On the social skills scale, about 21.4% (parent-reported) and 20.0% (teacher-reported) of children were below one standard deviation (SD) of the normative mean (i.e., a standard score below 85). On the parent-reported behavior test, over a quarter of children scored beyond 1 SD on some subscales. Laterality of hearing loss had no effect on outcomes (p > .05). Agreement between parents and teachers varied from poor (intraclass correlation coefficient [ICC]: .162) to moderate (ICC: .448). Results indicate that these children are functioning in most areas like their peers with typical hearing. Additional research on this population of children who may benefit from early identification and amplification is warranted.

Electrochemical sandwich immunoassay for insulin detection based on the use of gold nanoparticle-modified MoS2 nanosheets and the hybridization chain reaction.

A sandwich-type of electrochemical immunoassay is described for the determination of insulin. It is based on the use of a glassy carbon electrode that was modified with MoS2 nanosheets decorated with gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) to immobilize a large amount of first antibody (Ab1). Following exposure to insulin, secondary antibody (Ab2) that was cross-linked to a DNA initiator strand (T0) to form an Ab2@T0 conjugate was added to undergo a sandwich immunoreaction. Subsequently, the long dsDNA concatemer was formed by a hybridization chain reaction between Ab2@T0 and auxiliary probes (H1, H2). Finally, the electrochemical probe ruthenium(II) hexaammine was intercalated into the dsHCR products via electrostatic interaction between the anionic DNA phosphate backbones and the cationic probe. The electrochemical response, best measured at a potential of around -0.21 V (vs Ag/AgCl) has a dynamic range that extends from 0.1 pmol L-1 to 1 nmol L-1 insulin, and the detection limit is as low as 50 fmol L-1. The assay was acceptably specific, reproducible and stable. In our perception, it represents a viable new tool for determination of this important clinical parameter. Graphical abstract Schematic of a sandwich-type of electrochemical immunoassay for the determination of insulin based on the use of MoS2 nanosheets modified with gold nanoparticles (AuNP@MoS2) and hybridization chain reaction (HCR).

Determination of Hepatoma-Associated DL-Amino Acids Enantiomers by RP-HPLC with Fluorescence Detector: Application in Patients with Hepatocellular Carcinoma.

BACKGROUND: Amino acids are increasingly being recognized as important signaling molecules in the pathogenesis of many diseases. We aim to establish a reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography with fluorescence detector (RP-HPLC-FLD) method for determination and quantification of hepatoma-associated DL-amino acids and to explore the relationship between amino acid concentrations and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). METHODS: In this work, O-phthaldialdehyde (OPA) and N-isobutyryl-L-cysteine (NAC) served as the pre-column derivatization reagents which significantly shortened the detection time and improved the detection sensitivity. Chromatographic determination was achieved using a programmed gradient elution with a flow rate of 1.0 mL/min. The eluted solution was monitored by a fluorescence detector with an excitation wavelength at 350 nm and an emission wavelength at 450 nm. Under the optimum conditions, an excellent quantification of DL-threonine, alanine, tyrosine, valine, methionine and phenylalanine was achieved. RESULTS: Total analysis time was shortened to less than 25 min for one plasma sample and the linearity, recovery, intra- and inter-day precision were all meet the detection requirements of the DL-amino acids enantiomers in human plasma samples. CONCLUSIONS: The developed method demonstrates that DL-threonine, alanine, tyrosine, valine and methionine obtained from HCC patients' plasma samples have a close relationship with HCC. The method would be a potentially alternative tool for DL-amino acids detection in clinical samples.