One-stage coclear implantation via a facial recess approach in children with otitis media with effusion

AbstractObjectiveTo investigate surgical indications, operative techniques, complications and auditory and speech rehabilitation for cochlear implant (CI) in children with otitis media with effusion (OME).Material and methodsThis is a retrospective review of records of 24children with bilateral profound sensorineural hearing loss and OME who were implanted during January 2011 to November 2014 in the Department of Otorhinolaryngology and Head and Neck Surgery at the PLA Hospital, using one-stage implantation via the facial recess approach and round window insertion. The incus was removed in 8 cases during the implantation procedure. Local infiltration of dexamethasone and adrenaline in the middle ear was also performed. Postoperative complications were examined. Preoperative and postoperative questionnaires including Categories of Auditory Performance (CAP), Speech Intelligibility Rating (SIR), and the Meaningful Auditory Integration Scale (MAIS) were collected.ResultsAll electrodes were implanted successfully without any immediate or delayed complications. Inflammatory changes of middle ear mucosa with effusion were noted in all implanted ears. The scores of post-implant CAP and SIR increased significantly in all 24 cases (t = −25.95 and −14.09, respectively for CAP and SIR, p < 0.05).ConclusionsOne-stage CI via the facial recess approach with round window insertion is safe and effective in cochlear implant candidates with OME, as seen in the 24 children in our study who achieved improved auditory performance and speech intelligibility after CI

Isostructural Phase Transition of TiN Under High Pressure

In situ high-pressure energy dispersive x-ray diffraction experiments on polycrystalline powder TiN with NaCl-type structure have been conducted with the pressure up to 30.1 GPa by using the diamond anvil cell instrument with synchrotron radiation at room tempearture. The experimental results suggested that an isostructural phase transition might exist at about 7 GPa as revealed by the discontinuity of V/V0 with pressure.Comment: submitte

Human bocavirus 1 is a genuine pathogen for acute respiratory tract infection in pediatric patients determined by nucleic acid, antigen, and serology tests

BackgroundHuman bocavirus 1 (HBoV1), first discovered in 2005, was positive in symptomatic and healthy children and co-detected with other respiratory viruses. It is a long journey to decisively demonstrate the unique viral pathogenic function of acute respiratory tract infection (ARTI) in pediatric patients.MethodsRespiratory specimens collected from pediatric patients with ARTI from January 2017 to December 2021 were screened by a capillary electrophoresis-based multiplex PCR (CEMP) assay, then genotyped by PCR and sequencing for HBoV1. For the antigen test, a part of HBoV1 DNA positive nasopharyngeal aspirates (NPAs) was used as an antigen, while a rabbit anti-HBoV1 DR2 specific to HBoV1 was used as an antibody in the indirect-immunofluorescence assay (IFA). Finally, the levels of IgG specific to HBoV1 in acute and convalescent sera selected retrospectively from only HBoV1 DNA-positive patients were evaluated by IFA.ResultsAmong 9,899 specimens, 681 were positive for HBoV1 DNA (6.88%, 681/9899), which included 336 positives only for HBoV1 (49.34%, 336/681) and 345 (50.66%, 345/681) positives also for other pathogens. In the antigen test, there were 37 among 47 NPAs determined as HBoV1 antigen-positive (78.72%, 37/47), including 18 (48.65%, 18/37) positives solely for HBoV1 DNA. Among 4 pediatric patients with both acute and convalescent sera, there was one positive for HBoV1 antigen (D8873) and 2 lack the antigen results (D1474 and D10792), which showed seroconversion with a ≥ 4-fold increase in IgG levels.ConclusionsThe combination results of nucleic acid, antigen, and serology tests answered that HBoV1 is a genuine pathogen for ARTI in pediatric patients

Ellagic acid regulates Wnt/?-catenin signaling pathway and CDK8 in HCT 116 and HT 29 colon cancer cells

Colorectal cancer is one of the leading causes of death worldwide. Wnt/?-catenin signalling pathway plays a central role in normal cellular responses, making it a potent target in cancer therapy. Study was taken to assess whether ellagic acid modulates Wnt/?-catenin pathway and CDK8 activity in colon cancer cells. Effect of ellagic acid on viability of colon cancer cell lines (HT 29 and HCT 116), were assessed by MTT assay and its influence on CDK8, ?-catenin, p-?-catenin, axin1 and 2, survivin, c-Myc and cyclin D1 expressions were determined by western blotting. The levels of survivin, c-Myc and cyclin D1 were also analysed following siCDK8 transfection. Ellagic acid caused significant decrease in viability of HT 29 and HCT 116 cells. Expression of CDK 8, ?-catenin, survivin, c-Myc and cyclin D1were markedly reduced on exposure to ellagic acid. Significant up-regulation in the expression of p-?-catenin, axin1 and 2 were observed. siCDK8 transfection resulted in marked reduction in the expression of survivin, c-Myc and cyclin D1. Ellagic acid was able to effectively reduce cell viability and modulate expressions of Wnt/?-catenin signalling cascade proteins and down regulate the activity and expression of CDK8 in HT 29 and HCT 116 cells

Exploring the common pathogenesis of Alzheimer’s disease and type 2 diabetes mellitus via microarray data analysis

BackgroundAlzheimer’s Disease (AD) and Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus (DM) have an increased incidence in modern society. Although more and more evidence has supported that DM is prone to AD, the interrelational mechanisms remain fully elucidated.PurposeThe primary purpose of this study is to explore the shared pathophysiological mechanisms of AD and DM.MethodsDownload the expression matrix of AD and DM from the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database with sequence numbers GSE97760 and GSE95849, respectively. The common differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were identified by limma package analysis. Then we analyzed the six kinds of module analysis: gene functional annotation, protein–protein interaction (PPI) network, potential drug screening, immune cell infiltration, hub genes identification and validation, and prediction of transcription factors (TFs).ResultsThe subsequent analyses included 339 common DEGs, and the importance of immunity, hormone, cytokines, neurotransmitters, and insulin in these diseases was underscored by functional analysis. In addition, serotonergic synapse, ovarian steroidogenesis, estrogen signaling pathway, and regulation of lipolysis are closely related to both. DEGs were input into the CMap database to screen small molecule compounds with the potential to reverse AD and DM pathological functions. L-690488, exemestane, and BMS-345541 ranked top three among the screened small molecule compounds. Finally, 10 essential hub genes were identified using cytoHubba, including PTGS2, RAB10, LRRK2, SOS1, EEA1, NF1, RAB14, ADCY5, RAPGEF3, and PRKACG. For the characteristic Aβ and Tau pathology of AD, RAPGEF3 was associated significantly positively with AD and NF1 significantly negatively with AD. In addition, we also found ADCY5 and NF1 significant correlations with DM phenotypes. Other datasets verified that NF1, RAB14, ADCY5, and RAPGEF3 could be used as key markers of DM complicated with AD. Meanwhile, the immune cell infiltration score reflects the different cellular immune microenvironments of the two diseases.ConclusionThe common pathogenesis of AD and DM was revealed in our research. These common pathways and hub genes directions for further exploration of the pathogenesis or treatment of these two diseases

Targeted metatranscriptomics of compost derived consortia reveals a GH11 exerting an unusual exo-1,4-β-xylanase activity

Background: Using globally abundant crop residues as a carbon source for energy generation and renewable chemicals production stands out as a promising solution to reduce current dependency on fossil fuels. In nature, such as in compost habitats, microbial communities efficiently degrade the available plant biomass using a diverse set of synergistic enzymes. However, deconstruction of lignocellulose remains a challenge for industry due to recalcitrant nature of the substrate and the inefficiency of the enzyme systems available, making the economic production of lignocellulosic biofuels difficult. Metatranscriptomic studies of microbial communities can unveil the metabolic functions employed by lignocellulolytic consortia and identify new biocatalysts that could improve industrial lignocellulose conversion. Results: In this study, a microbial community from compost was grown in minimal medium with sugarcane bagasse sugarcane bagasse as the sole carbon source. Solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance was used to monitor lignocellulose degradation; analysis of metatranscriptomic data led to the selection and functional characterization of several target genes, revealing the first glycoside hydrolase from Carbohydrate Active Enzyme family 11 with exo-1,4-β-xylanase activity. The xylanase crystal structure was resolved at 1.76 Å revealing the structural basis of exo-xylanase activity. Supplementation of a commercial cellulolytic enzyme cocktail with the xylanase showed improvement in Avicel hydrolysis in the presence of inhibitory xylooligomers. Conclusions: This study demonstrated that composting microbiomes continue to be an excellent source of biotechnologically important enzymes by unveiling the diversity of enzymes involved in in situ lignocellulose degradation

Human cytomegalovirus immediate-early 1 protein rewires upstream STAT3 to downstream STAT1 signaling switching an IL6-type to an IFNγ-like response

MN and CP were supported by the Wellcome Trust (www.wellcome.ac.uk) Institutional Strategic Support Fund and CP was supported by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (PA 815/2-1; www.dfg.de).The human cytomegalovirus (hCMV) major immediate-early 1 protein (IE1) is best known for activating transcription to facilitate viral replication. Here we present transcriptome data indicating that IE1 is as significant a repressor as it is an activator of host gene expression. Human cells induced to express IE1 exhibit global repression of IL6- and oncostatin M-responsive STAT3 target genes. This repression is followed by STAT1 phosphorylation and activation of STAT1 target genes normally induced by IFNγ. The observed repression and subsequent activation are both mediated through the same region (amino acids 410 to 445) in the C-terminal domain of IE1, and this region serves as a binding site for STAT3. Depletion of STAT3 phenocopies the STAT1-dependent IFNγ-like response to IE1. In contrast, depletion of the IL6 receptor (IL6ST) or the STAT kinase JAK1 prevents this response. Accordingly, treatment with IL6 leads to prolonged STAT1 instead of STAT3 activation in wild-type IE1 expressing cells, but not in cells expressing a mutant protein (IE1dl410-420) deficient for STAT3 binding. A very similar STAT1-directed response to IL6 is also present in cells infected with a wild-type or revertant hCMV, but not an IE1dl410-420 mutant virus, and this response results in restricted viral replication. We conclude that IE1 is sufficient and necessary to rewire upstream IL6-type to downstream IFNγ-like signaling, two pathways linked to opposing actions, resulting in repressed STAT3- and activated STAT1-responsive genes. These findings relate transcriptional repressor and activator functions of IE1 and suggest unexpected outcomes relevant to viral pathogenesis in response to cytokines or growth factors that signal through the IL6ST-JAK1-STAT3 axis in hCMV-infected cells. Our results also reveal that IE1, a protein considered to be a key activator of the hCMV productive cycle, has an unanticipated role in tempering viral replication.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe