Optimal Position and Orientation of an Ossicular Accelerometer for Human Auditory Prostheses.

In this study, a method for determining the optimal location and orientation of an implantable piezoelectric accelerometer on the short process of the incus is presented. The accelerometer is intended to be used as a replacement for an external microphone to enable totally implantable auditory prostheses. The optimal orientation of the sensor and the best attachment point are determined based on two criteria-maximum pressure sensitivity sum and minimum loudness level sum.

Association of endothelial function and lower extremity perfusion in peripheral artery disease.

The current study aims to investigate the association between endothelial function and lower extremity perfusion in patients with peripheral artery disease (PAD). : In total 229 patients with PAD (Rutherford stage 0-3) were enrolled in the current study. Endothelial function was assessed by measuring flow-mediated dilation (FMD) and endothelial cell proliferation capacity (ECPC).

Preliminary results of classifying otosclerosis and disarticulation using a convolutional neural network trained with simulated wideband acoustic immittance data.

Current noninvasive methods of clinical practice often do not identify the causes of conductive hearing loss due to pathologic changes in the middle ear with sufficient certainty. Wideband acoustic immittance (WAI) measurement is noninvasive, inexpensive and objective. It is very sensitive to pathologic changes in the middle ear and therefore promising for diagnosis.

Serum Nostrin-A risk factor of death, kidney replacement therapy and acute kidney disease in acute kidney injury.

Background: The prediction of Acute Kidney Injury (AKI)-related outcomes remains challenging. Persistent kidney excretory dysfunction for longer than 7 days has been defined as Acute Kidney Disease (AKD). In this study, we prospectively quantified serum Nostrin, an essential regulator of endothelial NO metabolism, in hospitalized patients with AKI.

Metabolomics in Acute Kidney Injury: The Experimental Perspective.

Acute kidney injury (AKI) affects increasing numbers of in-hospital patients in Central Europe and the USA, the prognosis remains poor. Although substantial progress has been achieved in the identification of molecular/cellular processes that induce and perpetuate AKI, more integrated pathophysiological perspectives are missing. Metabolomics enables the identification of low-molecular-weight (< 1.

Leukocyte telomere length and mitochondrial DNA copy number associate with endothelial function in aging-related cardiovascular disease.

Background: We investigated the association between leukocyte telomere length, mitochondrial DNA copy number, and endothelial function in patients with aging-related cardiovascular disease (CVD).

Methods: In total 430 patients with CVD and healthy persons were enrolled in the current study. Peripheral blood was drawn by routine venipuncture procedure.

Angiotensin receptor-neprilysin inhibitor improves coronary collateral perfusion.

Background: We investigated the pleiotropic effects of an angiotensin receptor-neprilysin inhibitor (ARNi) on collateral-dependent myocardial perfusion in a rat model of coronary arteriogenesis, and performed comprehensive analyses to uncover the underlying molecular mechanisms.

Methods: A rat model of coronary arteriogenesis was established by implanting an inflatable occluder on the left anterior descending coronary artery followed by a 7-day repetitive occlusion procedure (ROP). Coronary collateral perfusion was measured by using a myocardial particle infusion technique.

Biomarker-Based Prediction of Survival and Recovery of Kidney Function in Acute Kidney Injury.

Background: Acute kidney injury (AKI) affects increasing numbers of hospitalized patients; the prognosis remains poor. The diagnosis is still based on the 2012 published KDIGO criteria. Numerous new AKI biomarkers have been identified in recent years; they either reflect impaired excretory function or structural damage.

Finite Element Model of a Piezo-Electric Actuator Coupled to the Middle Ear.

The hearing contact lens® (HCL) is a new type of hearing aid devices. One of its main components is a piezo-electric actuator. In order to evaluate and maximize the HCL's performance, a model of the HCL coupled to a middle-ear model was developed using finite element approach.

From celiac disease to coccidia infection and vice-versa: The polyQ peptide CXCR3-interaction axis.

Zonulin is a physiological modulator of intercellular tight junctions, which upregulation is involved in several diseases like celiac disease (CeD). The polyQ gliadin fragment binds to the CXCR3 chemokine receptor that activates zonulin upregulation, leading to increased intestinal permeability in humans. Here, we report a general hypothesis based on the structural connection between the polyQ sequence of the immunogenic CeD protein, gliadin, and enteric coccidian parasites proteins.

The impact of tympanic membrane perforations on middle ear transfer function.

Purpose: Injury or inflammation of the middle ear often results in the persistent tympanic membrane (TM) perforations, leading to conductive hearing loss (HL). However, in some cases the magnitude of HL exceeds that attributable by the TM perforation alone. The aim of the study is to better understand the effects of location and size of TM perforations on the sound transmission properties of the middle ear.

Parameter Identification From Normal and Pathological Middle Ears Using a Tailored Parameter Identification Algorithm.

Current clinical practice is often unable to identify the causes of conductive hearing loss in the middle ear with sufficient certainty without exploratory surgery. Besides the large uncertainties due to interindividual variances, only partially understood cause-effect principles are a major reason for the hesitant use of objective methods such as wideband tympanometry in diagnosis, despite their high sensitivity to pathological changes. For a better understanding of objective metrics of the middle ear, this study presents a model that can be used to reproduce characteristic changes in metrics of the middle ear by altering local physical model parameters linked to the anatomical causes of a pathology.

Contribution of the flexible incudo-malleal joint to middle-ear sound transmission under static pressure loads.

The incudo-malleal joint (IMJ) in the human middle ear is a true diarthrodial joint and it has been known that the flexibility of this joint does not contribute to better middle-ear sound transmission. Previous studies have proposed that a gliding motion between the malleus and the incus at this joint prevents the transmission of large displacements of the malleus to the incus and stapes and thus contributes to the protection of the inner ear as an immediate response against large static pressure changes. However, dynamic behavior of this joint under static pressure changes has not been fully revealed.

The SARS-CoV-2 Coronavirus and the COVID-19 Outbreak.

The SARS-CoV-2, a newly identified β-coronavirus, is the causative agent of the third large-scale pandemic from the last two decades. The outbreak started in December 2019 in Wuhan City, Hubei province in China. The patients presented clinical symptoms of dry cough, fever, dyspnea, and bilateral lung infiltrates on imaging.

Model-based hearing diagnostics based on wideband tympanometry measurements utilizing fuzzy arithmetic.

Today's audiometric methods for the diagnosis of middle ear disease are often based on a comparison of measurements with standard curves, that represent the statistical range of normal hearing responses. Because of large inter-individual variances in the middle ear, especially in wideband tympanometry (WBT), specificity and quantitative evaluation are greatly restricted. A new model-based approach could transform today's predominantly qualitative hearing diagnostics into a quantitative and tailored, patient-specific diagnosis, by evaluating WBT measurements with the aid of a middle-ear model.

Genome-Wide Association Mapping Reveals That Specific and Pleiotropic Regulatory Mechanisms Fine-Tune Central Metabolism and Growth in Arabidopsis.

Central metabolism is a coordinated network that is regulated at multiple levels by resource availability and by environmental and developmental cues. Its genetic architecture has been investigated by mapping metabolite quantitative trait loci (QTL). A more direct approach is to identify enzyme activity QTL, which distinguishes between QTL in structural genes encoding enzymes and regulatory QTL.

Getting back to nature: a reality check for experiments in controlled environments.

Irradiance from sunlight changes in a sinusoidal manner during the day, with irregular fluctuations due to clouds, and light-dark shifts at dawn and dusk are gradual. Experiments in controlled environments typically expose plants to constant irradiance during the day and abrupt light-dark transitions. To compare the effects on metabolism of sunlight versus artificial light regimes, Arabidopsis thaliana plants were grown in a naturally illuminated greenhouse around the vernal equinox, and in controlled environment chambers with a 12-h photoperiod and either constant or sinusoidal light profiles, using either white fluorescent tubes or light-emitting diodes (LEDs) tuned to a sunlight-like spectrum as the light source.

Reproductive failure in Arabidopsis thaliana under transient carbohydrate limitation: flowers and very young siliques are jettisoned and the meristem is maintained to allow successful resumption of reproductive growth.

The impact of transient carbon depletion on reproductive growth in Arabidopsis was investigated by transferring long-photoperiod-grown plants to continuous darkness and returning them to a light-dark cycle. After 2 days of darkness, carbon reserves were depleted in reproductive sinks, and RNA in situ hybridization of marker transcripts showed that carbon starvation responses had been initiated in the meristem, anthers and ovules. Dark treatments of 2 or more days resulted in a bare-segment phenotype on the floral stem, with 23-27 aborted siliques.

Metabolic profiling of a range of peach fruit varieties reveals high metabolic diversity and commonalities and differences during ripening.

Peach (Prunus persica) fruits from different varieties display differential organoleptic and nutritional properties, characteristics related to their chemical composition. Here, chemical biodiversity of peach fruits from fifteen varieties, at harvest and after post-harvest ripening, was explored by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. Metabolic profiling revealed that metabolites involved in organoleptic properties (sugars, organic and amino acids), stress tolerance (raffinose, galactinol, maltitol), and with nutritional properties (amino, caffeoylquinic and dehydroascorbic acids) displayed variety-dependent levels.

Nonlinear stiffness characteristics of the annular ligament.

The annular ligament provides a compliant connection of the stapes to the oval window. To estimate the stiffness characteristics of the annular ligament, human temporal bone measurements were conducted. A force was applied sequentially at several points on the stapes footplate leading to different patterns of displacement with different amounts of translational and rotational components.

Acoustic effects of a superior semicircular canal dehiscence: a temporal bone study.

A dehiscence of the superior semicircular canal is said to be responsible for a number of specific and unspecific ear symptoms and possible a conductive hearing loss of up to 40 dB. As in vivo a dehiscence would not be opened against air, but is naturally patched with dura and the brain, it was our aim to investigate the effects of an superior semicircular canal dehiscence on the air conduction hearing in fresh human temporal bones with different boundary conditions. At ten fresh human temporal bones, we investigated the transmission of sound energy through the middle and inner ear using a round window microphone and laser Doppler vibrometer for perilymph motions inside the dehiscence.

Deciphering the metabolic pathways influencing heat and cold responses during post-harvest physiology of peach fruit.

Peaches are highly perishable and deteriorate quickly at ambient temperature. Cold storage is commonly used to prevent fruit decay; however, it affects fruit quality causing physiological disorders collectively termed 'chilling injury' (CI). To prevent or ameliorate CI, heat treatment is often applied prior to cold storage.

Expression profile of transcripts encoding cell wall remodelling proteins in tomato fruit cv. Micro-Tom subjected to 15°C storage.

To extend fruit market life, tomatoes are harvested before red ripe and kept at temperatures below optimum (20°C). In this work, Micro-Tom tomatoes stored at 20°C (normal ripening) were compared with those stored at 15°C or 4°C (chilling injury inducer) for 7 days. In contrast to 4°C, storage at 15°C delayed ripening with the benefit of not enhancing oxidative metabolism and of enabling ripening upon being transferred to 20°C.

Transcriptomic profiling during the post-harvest of heat-treated Dixiland Prunus persica fruits: common and distinct response to heat and cold.

Cold storage is extensively used to slow the rapid deterioration of peach (Prunus persica L. Batsch) fruit after harvest. However, peach fruit subjected to long periods of cold storage develop chilling injury (CI) symptoms.