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Natidna!soil pr
means benefits: for
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Farmers could be reaping benefits
from Agriculture Canada's $75 -
million soil conservation program as
early as next fall.
But that all hinges on how quickly
the federal and provincial govern-
ments can negotiate accords.
"The biggest challenge facing me
is developing accords with in-
armer
,.; .
di
vid I
ua provinces while maintain-
ing a national scope," says Harry
Hill, who was recently appointed by
Agriculture. Canada ,Deputy
Minister Jean -Jacques Noreatk to
spearhead the program* and
negotiate the provincial agree-
ments.
"Agriculture Canada wants to set
Woman regains hearing
after a cochlear implant
Twenty -seven-year-old Kyra Fair
bottom of London, deaf since age 16
as a result of meningitis, no longer
lives in silence, thanks to a cochlear
implant performed at University
Hospital April 11.
"The procedure is relatively new
to Canada with only four others per-
formed in Ontario," otolaryngolo-
gist Dr. Lorne Parnes says.
University Hospital is the first
hospital in southwestern Ontario to
implant such a device.
There are two major components
of a cochlear implant: the electrode
array and the speech processing
unit.
The electrode array is surgically
implanted behind the ear with a thin
electrode threaded through the pro-
tective cochlear bone and around the
organ of hearing found within the in-
ner. ear.
The organ of hearing (comprised
of tiny cells and hair fibers) wraps
around the hearing nerve to stimu-
late it when carrying electrical sig-
nals to the brain where they are
interpreted as sounds. -
•Externally, the patientoarries the
speech processor, which is a mini
computer the size of a walkman. It
picks up sound waves from a micro-
phone located close to the ear and
transforms these sound waves into
electrical signals which are coded
,specifically for speech and carried
-to the implant.
At present, recipients of the im-
plant must be totally deaf and "post-
lingual" (they were not deaf at birth I
but lost their hearing after speech
developed).
They may have lost their hearing
from such causes as injury, a toxic
reaction to drugs affecting the hear-
ing organ, or meningitis, and will
gain no benefit from a conventional
hearing aid.
Dr. Parnes explains that the de
vice will give patients auditory cues
such as timing, loudness, and pitc
of siiund.
"Although the device is designe
to supplement lip reading and no
.replace it, up to 50 per cent o
studied implant recipients have ac
quired some ability to make out
words," Dr. Parnes says, "but there
is no way of knowing prior to im-
plant surgery if this will occur."
Because this procedure is so new,
extensive testing is conducted both
prior to and following implant sur-
gery to examine the degree of hear-
ing and evaluate the effectiveness of
the device.
Kyra is presently part of a clinical
research trial which is designed to
assess the effectivenes of intensive
rehabilitation on long-term hearing
results.
"Ultimately, doctors hop� t�
achieve open set speech discrimina-
tion which is the ability to Wider -
stand speech without reading lips,"
Dr. Parnes explains.
Kyra is currently relearning how
to interpret sounds.
"When Dr. Parnes first switched
me on I was overwhelmed; however,
now I rarely go without it," Kyra
says.
One of the major benefits of the
implant is the ability to hear envi-
ronmental noises. Recipients enjoy
a more independent existence free
from the threat of an accident
caused by their inability to hear.
In addition to Dr. Parnes, Dr. John
Pierre Gagne, audiologist, Com-
municative Disorders, University of
Western Ontario; Marg LaRocque,
University Hospital audiologist; and
Dr. Duncan MacRae, paediatrics
otolaryngologist, , Victoria Hospital,
join forces in perfecting the use of
cochlear implants.
d
t.
••• •
A T OFFICIAL OPENING Hay Township .Reeve Lionel Wilder, left,
and. Mortisj9vMshi.11409sv0-P0.14 Pr131;
day 'es Prime tInIser Irian Mulroney and Huron- race MP Murray
Cardiff opened ,th(Aptgott faolIlti,e$ at the Port of Goderich. ,...„.1
h..
•
up a parity reia , MAW with the.
provinces," Dr: Hill says. "Weseed
to work together •to, develop
tailor-
made conservation programs kr
each prOvince. We'll also rely
heavily on the expert* within farm
organizations."
The 475 million wil be distributed
'according to the degree of soil- de-
gradation and subject to the avail-
ability Qf matching provincial funds.
Development of accords with the
Prairie provinces are advancing
well, he says. The Prairie Farm Re-
habilitation Administration
(PFRA), a branch of Agriculture
Canada devoted to soil and water
conservation in the Prairies, has
nurtured much public interest and
concern there.
. For the' past 10 years, Dr. Hill was
director general of PFRA.
The soil conservation program
was initiated by the federal govern-
ment to support its commitment to
solve the soil degradation problem
in co-operation with provincial
governments and producers.
Soil degradation is a problem that
costs Canadian farmers $1 billion
every year in lost farm income.
Most of the $75 million will go to-
wards financial and technical
assistance for farmers to implement ,
conservation activities on their own
land. The rest will go towards
demonstrations to illustrate new
conservation techniques, and to-
wards research, monitoring and
public awareness. - — - - -----
Degradation means robbing soil of
its productive capability, its ability
to grow crops for human and live-
stock consumption.
The major causes of soilidegrada-
tion are water and wind erosion,
-.acidification, salinity, and coMpac-
tion by heavy machinery,
kimmisensy
WINGHAM COUNCILLOR Don Carter and son Joe, line up to ber
served lunch at Huron -Bruce Progressive Conservative Association
picnic last week at Goderich Airport. A large crowd turned out for the!:
event and an Opportunity to meet Prime Minister Brian Mulroney.
,Stop, Look, Listen.
Does advertising -pay?
Name the product for the following
1. Put on your fork.
2. Um, Um, Good!
3. You deserve a break today.
4. Join the
5.
6. Bake someone happy
7. Melts in your mouth, not your hand
8. Got the Mumbles?
9.
10. Nobody does it like
1
generation.
, now you're talking.
. . _ .
makes it.
0
We can help you design an
Advertising Campaign that works.
THE
WINGHAM ADVANCEsTIMES
192Jos9phine St., Wingham 357-2320
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