A Simplified Version of the Chinese Tinnitus Disorder Scale and its Psychometric Characteristics.

Objective: This study aims to design a Concise and Practical Chinese Tinnitus Disorder Scale (CPCTDS), evaluate its psychometric measurement characteristics, and help doctors in making diagnoses and treatments.

Methods: A sample of 482 tinnitus patients completed CPCTDS. The patients also completed the Center for Epidemiologic Studies-Depression Scale (CES-D), the Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI), and the Tinnitus Functional Index (TFI).

fNIRS Changes in the Middle Temporal and Occipital Cortices After a Cochlear Implant.

Objectives: The relationship between the middle temporal (MTG) and occipital cortices in post-lingually deaf (PLD) individuals is unclear. This study aimed to investigate changes in the MTG and occipital cortices excitability and their effects on the occipital cortex in individuals with PLD after receiving a cochlear implant (CI).

Methods: Twenty-six individuals with severe-to-profound binaural sensorineural PLD were assessed clinically.

Knockdown of LRCH4 Remodels Tumor Microenvironment Through Inhibiting YAP and TGF-β/Smad Signaling Pathway in Colorectal Cancer.

Background: Colorectal cancer is one of the most common gastrointestinal malignancies worldwide. LRCH4 is the top 1 gene associated with an unfavorable prognosis in colorectal cancer.

Methods: Here, we reported that the knockdown of LRCH4 inhibited the proliferation, migration and invasion in HT29 cells.

A Comprehensive Pan-Cancer Analysis of the Potential Biological Functions and Prognosis Values of RICTOR.

The importance of the network defined by phosphatidylinositol-3-kinase (PI3K), AKT and mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) downstream of Receptor Tyrosine Kinase (RTK) has been recognized for many years. However, the central role of RICTOR (rapamycin-insensitive companion of mTOR) in this pathway has only recently come to light. The function of RICTOR in pan-cancer still needs to be systematically elucidated.

Carboxypeptidase A6 suppresses the proliferation and invasion of colorectal cancer cells and is negatively regulated by miR-96-3p.

Background: Colorectal cancer (CRC) is a common malignant tumor, and this study aims to explore the role and the regulatory mechanism of carboxypeptidase A6 (CPA6) in CRC cells.

Methods: Specific shRNA targeting CPA6 mRNA was transfected into NCM460 and HT29 cells to down-regulate CPA expression, and expression plasmid was transfected into HCT116 cells to exogenously overexpress CPA6. The dual luciferase assay was used to detect the direct binding of miR-96-3p to CPA6 3'UTR.

Development of a Serum-Free Culture Method for Endothelial Cells of the Stria Vascularis and Their Pro-Inflammatory Secretome Changes Induced by Oxidative Stress.

Objectives: Reactive oxygen species in the stria vascularis (SV) of the cochlea may be involved in the pathogenesis of sensorineural hearing loss. However, the effects of oxidative stress on SV endothelial cells (SV-ECs) remain largely unknown, and no feasible in vitro cell culture model exists for the functional study of SV-ECs.

Methods: We isolated primary SV-ECs from the SV of neonatal mice.

Traumatic-noise-induced hair cell death and hearing loss is mediated by activation of CaMKKβ.

Background: The Ca/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase kinases (CaMKKs) are serine/threonine-directed protein kinases that are activated following increases in intracellular calcium, playing a critical role in neuronal signaling. Inner-ear-trauma-induced calcium overload in sensory hair cells has been well documented in the pathogenesis of traumatic noise-induced hair cell death and hearing loss, but there are no established pharmaceutical therapies available due to a lack of specific therapeutic targets. In this study, we investigated the activation of CaMKKβ in the inner ear after traumatic noise exposure and assessed the prevention of noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL) with RNA silencing.

Notched Sound Alleviates Tinnitus by Reorganization Emotional Center.

Background: Tinnitus is a common disease, and sound therapy is an effective method to alleviate it. Previous studies have shown that notched sound not only changes levels of cortical blood oxygen, but affects blood oxygen in specific cerebral cortical areas, such as Brodmann area 46 (BA46), which is associated with emotion. Extensive evidence has confirmed that tinnitus is closely related to emotion.

Utilizing True Wireless Stereo Earbuds in Automated Pure-Tone Audiometry.

True wireless stereo (TWS) earbuds have become popular and widespread in recent years, and numerous automated pure-tone audiometer applications have been developed for portable devices. However, most of these applications require specifically designed earphones to which the public may not have access. Therefore, the present study investigates the accuracy of automated pure-tone audiometry based on TWS earbuds (Honor FlyPods).

Assessing Agreement between Frequency-Specific Chirp Auditory Steady-State Response and Pure Tone Audiometry in Adults by Intraclass Correlation Coefficient.

Introduction: Chirp auditory steady-state response (ASSR) can be used to assess frequency-specific hearing thresholds. However, its reliability has not been confirmed yet. The purpose of this proposed study is to analyze the agreement of thresholds measured by chirp-ASSR and pure tone audiometry (PTA) to investigate the value of chirp-ASSR in hearing threshold evaluation.

Cisplatin-induced ototoxicity: Updates on molecular mechanisms and otoprotective strategies.

Cisplatin is a highly effective antitumor drug generally used in the treatment of solid malignant tumors. However, cisplatin causes severe side effects such as bone marrow depression, nephrotoxicity, and ototoxicity, thus limiting its clinical application. The incidence of ototoxicity induced by cisplatin ranges from 20% to 70%, and it usually manifests as a progressive, bilateral and irreversible hearing loss.

Combined application of single-energy metal artifact reduction and reconstruction techniques in patients with Cochlear implants.

Background: The purpose of this study was to develop an effective method of reducing metal artifacts in cochlear implant (CI) electrodes.

Methods: The temporal bones of 30 patients (34 ears) after CI were examined with 320-detector row computed tomography, which was evaluated by two senior radiologists using a double-blind method. Noise, artifact index, signal-to-noise ratio, and the subjective image quality score were compared before versus after using single-energy metal artifact reduction (SEMAR).

Chinese validation and clinical application of the tinnitus functional index.

Objective: The Tinnitus Functional Index (TFI) is a new diagnostic measure of the functional impact of tinnitus that is also a sensitive measure of treatment-related changes. However, the TFI has not been translated into Chinese and fully validated in China. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the validity of a Chinese version of the TFI as a diagnostic measure of tinnitus severity in a sample of Chinese patients and to verify the value of its clinical application in China.

Cortical Activation Patterns of Different Masking Noises and Correlation With Their Masking Efficacy, Determined by Functional Near-Infrared Spectroscopy.

Acoustic therapy in tinnitus treatment is poorly characterized, and efficacy assessment depends on subjective descriptions. Narrow-band noise, notched sound, and white noise have positive therapeutic effects on monotonous tinnitus. Considering the tonotopic characteristics of the auditory system and the spectral characteristics of these three masking sounds, the activation pattern of the auditory cortex and the mechanism of inhibiting tinnitus may be different.

Long Non-Coding RNA TTN-AS1 Promotes the Proliferation and Invasion of Colorectal Cancer Cells by Activating miR-497-Mediated PI3K/Akt/mTOR Signaling.

Introduction: Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) have obtained increasing attention due to their regulatory functions in many cancers. This work aimed to investigate the functional roles of lncRNA TTN-AS1 in colorectal cancer (CRC) and to explore the underlying mechanisms.

Methods: The expression profiles of TTN-AS1 and miR-497 in CRC tissues and cell lines were determined by RT-qPCR analysis.

Meta-Analysis Comparing Steroids and Diuretics in the Treatment of Acute Low-Tone Sensorineural Hearing Loss.

Objective: Our objective was to perform a meta-analysis to compare the effectiveness of steroids and diuretics in the treatment of acute low-tone sensorineural hearing loss (ALHL).

Methods: PubMed, Google Scholar, and Sci databases were searched for randomized controlled trials (RCTs) examining the treatment of ALHL with steroids and diuretics. The Cochrane Reviewer's Handbook 5.

Electrophysiologic Characteristics of Various Degrees of Selective Outer Hair Cell Loss in Rats.

Hypothesis: The characteristics of auditory brainstem response (ABR), electrocochleogram (ECochG), and distortion product otoacoustic emissions (DPOAE) of different degrees of selective outer hair cells (OHCs) loss may be helpful for clinicians to evaluate the pathogeny, diagnosis, and rehabilitation of individuals' hearing loss.

Background: How many OHCs are necessary to maintain cochlear amplifier function remains unknown. The electrophysiologic characteristics may indicate different degrees of OHCs loss.

Time-compression thresholds for Mandarin sentences in normal-hearing and cochlear implant listeners.

Faster speech may facilitate more efficient communication, but if speech is too fast it becomes unintelligible. The maximum speeds at which Mandarin words were intelligible in a sentence context were quantified for normal hearing (NH) and cochlear implant (CI) listeners by measuring time-compression thresholds (TCTs) in an adaptive staircase procedure. In Experiment 1, both original and CI-vocoded time-compressed speech from the MSP (Mandarin speech perception) and MHINT (Mandarin hearing in noise test) corpora was presented to 10 NH subjects over headphones.

Inhibition of Histone Methyltransferase G9a Attenuates Noise-Induced Cochlear Synaptopathy and Hearing Loss.

Posttranslational modification of histones alters their interaction with DNA and nuclear proteins, influencing gene expression and cell fate. In this study, we investigated the effect of G9a (KMT1C, EHMT2), a major histone lysine methyltransferase encoded by the human EHMT2 gene and responsible for histone H3 lysine 9 dimethylation (H3K9me2) on noise-induced permanent hearing loss (NIHL) in adult CBA/J mice. The conditions of noise exposure used in this study led to losses of cochlear synapses and outer hair cells (OHCs) and permanent auditory threshold shifts.

Mitochondrial Calcium Transporters Mediate Sensitivity to Noise-Induced Losses of Hair Cells and Cochlear Synapses.

Mitochondria modulate cellular calcium homeostasis by the combined action of the mitochondrial calcium uniporter (MCU), a selective calcium entry channel, and the sodium calcium exchanger (NCLX), which extrudes calcium from mitochondria. In this study, we investigated MCU and NCLX in noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL) using adult CBA/J mice and noise-induced alterations of inner hair cell (IHC) synapses in MCU knockout mice. Following noise exposure, immunoreactivity of MCU increased in cochlear sensory hair cells of the basal turn, while immunoreactivity of NCLX decreased in a time- and exposure-dependent manner.

microRNA‑183 is involved in the differentiation and regeneration of Notch signaling‑prohibited hair cells from mouse cochlea.

Auditory hair cell regeneration following injury is critical to hearing restoration. The Notch signaling pathway participates in the regulation of inner ear development and cell differentiation. Recent evidence suggests that microRNA (miR)‑183 has a similar role in the inner ear.

The regulatory role of Fos related antigen‑1 in inflammatory bowel disease.

The etiology of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) remains unclear. The ratio of Fos related antigen‑1 (Fra‑1)‑positive intestinal mucosa epithelial cells is significantly increased in active IBD. This study intends to explore the regulatory role of Fra‑1 in IBD.

DNER modulates the length, polarity and synaptogenesis of spiral ganglion neurons via the Notch signaling pathway.

The Delta/Notch‑like epidermal growth factor‑related receptor (DNER) serves an important role in the developing central nervous system. However, the actions of DNER in the development of the spiral ganglion in the inner ear have yet to be elucidated. Wild‑type C57BL/6 mice were housed and time‑mated for use in the present study.

MiR-194 is involved in morphogenesis of spiral ganglion neurons in inner ear by rearranging actin cytoskeleton via targeting RhoB.

Many microRNAs participate in the development, differentiation and function preservation of the embryonic and adult inner ear, but many details still need to be elucidated regarding the numerous microRNAs in the inner ear. Based on previous investigations on the microRNA profile in the inner ear, we confirmed that several microRNAs are expressed in the inner ear, and we detected the spatial expression of these microRNAs in the neonatal mouse inner ear. Then we focused on miR-194 for its specific expression with a dynamic spatiotemporal pattern during inner ear development.