Experimental quantification of the vibrant soundbridge stapes head (SH-) coupler in human cadaveric temporal bones.

Background: The "floating mass transducer" (FMT) of the Vibrant Soundbridge was initially attached to the long process of the incus (LP). In patients missing an incus, coupling to the stapes head using the Vibroplasty CliP-coupler is used. Its main limitation is the height, leading to potential contact with the tympanic membrane.

Rapid building block-economic synthesis of long, multi--GalNAcylated MUC5AC tandem repeat peptides.

The study of mucin function requires access to highly -glycosylated peptides with multiple tandem repeats. Solid-phase synthesis would be a suitable method, however, the central problem in the synthesis of mucin glycopeptides is the need to use precious and potentially vulnerable glycoamino acid building blocks in excess. In this article, we report the development of a method based on SPPS and native chemical ligation/desulfurization chemistry that allows the rapid, reliable, and glyco-economical synthesis of long multi--GalNAcylated peptides.

Screening for congenital hearing impairment with brainstem evoked response audiometry in isolated orofacial cleft.

Brainstem evoked response audiometry (BERA) is the most established and recommended objective audiometric method for the clinical diagnosis of hearing impairment in high-risk infants. It is unclear whether infants with orofacial clefts meet the criteria for the high-risk group. This retrospective cohort study evaluated the need for diagnostic BERA in infants with cleft palate with or without cleft lip by assessing the predisposition to and diagnosis of congenital hearing impairment.

Real-time monitoring of the sialic acid biosynthesis pathway by NMR.

Sialic acids are part of the outermost component of the glycocalyx of all vertebrates; as such, they are fundamental markers in physiological and pathological processes. In this study, we introduce a real-time assay to monitor individual enzymatic steps of sialic acid biosynthesis, either with recombinant enzymes, in particular using UDP--acetylglucosamine 2-epimerase (GNE) or -acetylmannosamine kinase (MNK), or in cytosolic rat liver extract. Using state-of-the-art NMR techniques, we are able to follow the characteristic signal of the -acetyl methyl group, which displays different chemical shifts for the biosynthesis intermediates UDP--acetylglucosamine, -acetylmannosamine (and its 6-phosphate) and -acetylneuraminic acid (and its 9-phosphate).

The Rapunzel syndrome: a hairy tale.

Background: Trichobezoars are a rare medical condition, often requiring a surgical approach and commonly associated with an underlying psychiatric disorder. The Rapunzel syndrome is a rare variant of trichobezoar in the stomach extending from the stomach into the small intestine causing a bowel obstruction.

Case Presentation: In this case report, the clinical presentation, diagnostic approach, and surgical removal of a large-size bezoar (Rapunzel syndrome) in a young and otherwise healthy female is described.

Effect of freezing and embalming of human cadaveric whole head specimens on bone conduction.

Background And Aims: Conserved specimens do not decay and therefore permit long-term experiments thereby overcoming limited access to fresh (frozen) temporal bones for studies on middle ear mechanics. We used a Thiel conservation method which is mainly based on a watery solution of salts. In contrast to pure Formalin, Thiel conservation aims to preserve the mechanical proprieties of human tissue.

DFT-Guided Discovery of Ethynyl-Triazolyl-Phosphinates as Modular Electrophiles for Chemoselective Cysteine Bioconjugation and Profiling.

We report the density functional theory (DFT) guided discovery of ethynyl-triazolyl-phosphinates (ETPs) as a new class of electrophilic warheads for cysteine selective bioconjugation. By using Cu -catalysed azide alkyne cycloaddition (CuAAC) in aqueous buffer, we were able to access a variety of functional electrophilic building blocks, including proteins, from diethynyl-phosphinate. ETP-reagents were used to obtain fluorescent peptide-conjugates for receptor labelling on live cells and a stable and a biologically active antibody-drug-conjugate.

Comparison between incus short process and long process coupling of the vibrant soundbridge in human temporal bones.

Objective: The Vibrant Soundbridge (VSB) is one of the most widely used implantable hearing devices. It consists of a vibrating floating mass transducer (FMT) that is connected to a middle ear structure. The standard coupling devices for sensorineural hearing loss are short process (SP) or long process (LP) couplers.

[Treatment of single-sided deafness by cochlear implantation].

Single sided deafness diminishes speech understanding in noise and sound localization and thereby globally auditory performance. Most patients also suffer from tinnitus and indicate reduced quality of life. Patients have the choice to adapt to the new situation without treatment, to restore pseudostereophonic hearing by contralateral routing of signal (CROS) hearing aids or to restore binaural hearing using a cochlear implant in the deaf ear.

Diethynyl Phosphinates for Cysteine-Selective Protein Labeling and Disulfide Rebridging.

Diethynyl phosphinates were developed as bisfunctional electrophiles for the site-selective modification of peptides, proteins and antibodies. One of their electron-deficient triple bonds reacts selectively with a thiol and positions an electrophilic moiety for a subsequent intra- or intermolecular reaction with another thiol. The obtained conjugates were found to be stable in human plasma and in the presence of small thiols.

MS Annika: A New Cross-Linking Search Engine.

Cross-linking mass spectrometry (XL-MS) has become a powerful technique that enables insights into protein structures and protein interactions. The development of cleavable cross-linkers has further promoted XL-MS through search space reduction, thereby allowing for proteome-wide studies. These new analysis possibilities foster the development of new cross-linkers, which not every search engine can deal with out of the box.

Effect of conservation method on ear mechanics for the same specimen.

Background And Aims: As an alternative to fresh temporal bones, Thiel conserved specimens can be used in the study of ear mechanics. Conserved temporal bones do not decay, permit long-term experiments and overcome problems with limited access to fresh (frozen) temporal bones. Air conduction motion of the tympanic membrane (TM), stapes (ST) and round window (RW) in Thiel specimens is similar to that of fresh specimens according to reports in the literature.

2-D Materials for Ultrascaled Field-Effect Transistors: One Hundred Candidates under the Microscope.

Due to their remarkable properties, single-layer 2-D materials appear as excellent candidates to extend Moore's scaling law beyond the currently manufactured silicon FinFETs. However, the known 2-D semiconducting components, essentially transition metal dichalcogenides, are still far from delivering the expected performance. Based on a recent theoretical study that predicts the existence of more than 1800 exfoliable 2-D materials, we investigate here the 100 most promising contenders for logic applications.

Chemically Induced Vinylphosphonothiolate Electrophiles for Thiol-Thiol Bioconjugations.

Herein we introduce vinylphosphonothiolates as a new class of cysteine-selective electrophiles for protein labeling and the formation of stable protein-protein conjugates. We developed a straightforward synthetic route to convert nucleophilic thiols into electrophilic, thiol-selective vinylphosphonothiolates: In this protocol, intermediately formed disulfides can be chemoselectively substituted with vinylphosphonites under acidic conditions to yield the desired vinylphosphonothiolates. Notably, this reaction sequence enables the installation of vinylphosphonothiolate electrophiles directly on cysteine side chains within peptides and proteins.

Protein Modification of Lysine with 2-(2-Styrylcyclopropyl)ethanal.

A new lysine-reactive cyclopropropyl aldehyde for the covalent modification of proteins was developed. The reagent exploits a divinylcyclopropane-cycloheptadiene rearrangement to render the initial condensation irreversible. A labeling study on eGFP demonstrated excellent chemoselectivity for the modification of amine-nucleophiles with the possibility of subsequent modifications.

The nascent RNA binding complex SFiNX licenses piRNA-guided heterochromatin formation.

The PIWI-interacting RNA (piRNA) pathway protects genome integrity in part through establishing repressive heterochromatin at transposon loci. Silencing requires piRNA-guided targeting of nuclear PIWI proteins to nascent transposon transcripts, yet the subsequent molecular events are not understood. Here, we identify SFiNX (silencing factor interacting nuclear export variant), an interdependent protein complex required for Piwi-mediated cotranscriptional silencing in Drosophila.

First Community-Wide, Comparative Cross-Linking Mass Spectrometry Study.

The number of publications in the field of chemical cross-linking combined with mass spectrometry (XL-MS) to derive constraints for protein three-dimensional structure modeling and to probe protein-protein interactions has increased during the last years. As the technique is now becoming routine for in vitro and in vivo applications in proteomics and structural biology there is a pressing need to define protocols as well as data analysis and reporting formats. Such consensus formats should become accepted in the field and be shown to lead to reproducible results.

Round window and promontory movements during bone conduction with different middle ear conditions in Thiel embalmed specimens.

Background: Thiel conservation is mainly based on a watery solution of salts. We have shown that bone conduction (BC) evokes motion in normal middle ears of Thiel embalmed specimens that is comparable to the motion for other cadaveric models.

Aims/objectives: We evaluated whether promontory and round window (RW) motion identifies differences in BC transmission for different middle ear conditions.

Influence of external ear occlusion on food perception.

Purpose: The present study aimed to explore if food perception can be influenced by sound mastication level when the external ear canal was occluded.

Methods: Fifty-nine adults (38 women) with normal hearing, smell, and taste participated in the study. They tasted five crispy and five soft food items over two sessions: one with and one without an earplug inserted in the external ear canal.

Optimized Fragmentation Improves the Identification of Peptides Cross-Linked by MS-Cleavable Reagents.

Cross-linking mass spectrometry is becoming increasingly popular, and current advances are widening the applicability of the technique so that it can be utilized by nonspecialist laboratories. Specifically, the use of novel mass-spectrometry-cleavable (MS-cleavable) reagents dramatically reduces the complexity of the data by providing (i) characteristic reporter ions and (ii) the mass of the individual peptides rather than that of the cross-linked moiety. However, optimum acquisition strategies to obtain the best-quality data for such cross-linkers with higher energy C-trap dissociation (HCD) alone are yet to be achieved.

[Hernia surgery on patients with co-morbidities].

Hernia surgery on patients with co-morbidities Establishing a correct diagnosis and choosing the right surgical treatment is already a challenge for the healthy hernia-patient. But for them a clearly structured guideline already exists, according to international hernia societies the decision-making process should be done according to a patient-tailored approach. For sick hernia-patients with multiple risk factors for surgery, the challenge is even greater.

Measurements of Trunk Sway for Stance and Gait Tasks 2 Years after Vestibular Neurectomy.

The aim of this study was to investigate changes in balance control for stance and gait tasks in patients 2 years before and after vestibular neurectomy (VN) performed to alleviate intractable Meniere's disease. Amplitudes of trunk sway in roll and pitch directions were measured for stance and gait tasks in 19 patients using gyroscopes mounted at the lower-back. Measurements before VN and 2 years later were compared to those of healthy age-matched controls (HC).

Spinal Surgery With Electrically Evoked Potential Monitoring and Monopolar Electrocautery: Is Prior Removal of a Cochlear Implant Necessary?

: Transcranial electric stimulation to generate motor evoked potentials in lower limb muscles is the standard technique used to monitor spinal cord efferent pathways during surgical correction for spinal deformities. Monopolar electrical cauterization is also used by default in the thoracic and lumbar area of the spine during this kind of surgery to prevent major blood loss. Owing to the high levels of current used, both techniques are considered contraindicative if the patient has a cochlear implant (CI).

Balance Control during Stance and Gait after Cochlear Implant Surgery.

Background: After cochlear implant (CI) surgery, some patients experience vertigo, dizziness and/or deficits in vestibulo-ocular reflexes. However, little is known about the effect of CI surgery on balance control. Therefore, we examined differences in stance and gait balance control before versus after CI surgery.