Relationship between COVID-19 and the male reproductive system.

OBJECTIVE: The objective of this review is to provide currently available information on the potential effects of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) on male fertility. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This is a mini-review. Due to the similarity between the COVID-19 and severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) virus, we searched for the following keywords: "SARS-CoV, male reproductive system, infertility, COVID-19, SARS-CoV-2, and orchitis". By reviewing and analyzing the literature, we analyzed the influence of temperature on sperm, the expression of angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) in the testes, and the impact of SARS-CoV-2 on the male reproductive system. RESULTS: SARS-CoV-2 enters the body through the ACE2 receptor. The high expression of ACE2 on the surface of spermatogonia and supporting cells in the testes, as well as the immune response caused by COVID-19, can lead to testicular spermatogenesis dysfunction and reduced sperm count. CONCLUSIONS: COVID-19 infection can affect male reproductive function, and standard treatment strategies should be established in time to help male patients infected with COVID-19.

[The effects of wireless audio microphones on sentences recognition threshold for hearing aid users in noise].

Objective:This study was aimed to observe the effects of wireless audio microphone on hearing aids effect in noise at different listening distances. Method:Twenty-three subjects with bilateral sensorineural hearing loss, including 17 males and 6 females were fitted with binaural hearing aids. These patients did sentences recognition tests at two different listening distance（1.5 and 3 meters） in noise. The subjects were tested under three conditions, ①with hearing aids alone; ②with the wireless audio microphone alone; ③with hearing aid microphone and mini audio microphone simultaneously. Result:The sentence recognition threshold at 3 meters listening distance is significantly higher than it at 1.5 meters listening distance with hearing aids alone（P<0.05）. There is no significant difference in the sentence recognition threshold between two listening distances when the wireless audio microphone was switched on（P>0.05）. Conclusion:Mini audio microphone can significantly improve hearing aids effect in long distance listening in noise.

[Age dependent changes in mandarin speech perception in normal hearing people].

Objective:To investigate if and when the mandarin speech perception ability deteriorates with age in adults with audiometrically normal hearing sensitivity.Method:The participant group included 75 normal hearing adults sampled from across the entire range of adulthood, of which there are 20 males and 55 femals. The participants were divided into 5 groups with 15 participants per age group: 20-30 years, 31-40 years, 41-50 years, 51-60 years, and 61-70 years. We applied speech perception test using Mandarin Hearing in Noise Test.Result:The speech perception scores were significantly different among the five groups in 0 dB and -5 dB conditions (P<0.001), but they weren't significantly different among the five groups in quiet, 10 dB and 5 dB (P>0.005).There was a significant negative correlation between speech perception and age in -5 dB conditions.Conclusion:When the background noise becomes more severe even for participants with audiomerically normal hearing, it was shown that speech perception declined with age.

[A cross cultural analysis of musical timbre perception:comparison between Chinese and Western culture].

Objective:To assess the musical timbre perception ability of normal hearing subjects with different cultural background, and to analyze the correlation between cultural differences and timbre perception.Method: Forty Chinese normal hearing adults(CNH) and 40 normal hearing adults from other countries(FNH) participated in this study.The Mu.S.I.C test was applied for the assessment.The correct rate of musical instrument recognition and numbers of instrument identification of each participant were recorded. Instrument Identification Test was performed with tenor，soprano ,and 5 representative musical instruments from different families of musical instruments ,and the Instrument Detection Test was performed with mixing sounds of musical instruments.Result:The correct rate of musical instrument recognition in FNH and CNH was（95.58±8.90）% and（89.40±13.13）%（P<0.05）, respectively.The correct rate of numbers of instrument detection in FNH and CNH was （80.50±16.32）% and（73.25±21.17）%（P>0.05）,respectively. The correct rate of CNH was lower than those of FNH for the trumpet, the oboe and the xylophone. Participants in both 2 groups were more easily failed to recognize the oboe and the trumpet compared the other musical instruments, especially in CNH group.Conclusion:Subjects with Western culture performed better than Chinese subjects on timbre perception. Cultural differences have a significant impact on musical timbre perception.

[Freeze-fracturing studies on human erythrocyte membranes effected by external pulsed electrical field].

Electron microscopic observations made on the freeze-fracturing replica of plasma membranes of human erythrocytes exposed to external pulsed electrical field have shown that under experimental conditions, some particles and fibers appear around the cells pulsed by higher intensities than 3 KV/cm. Electrophoretical analysis for the cell suspensions has proved that some of these particles and fibers are membrane proteins and membrane skeleton proteins escaped from cells. On account of this, the stability of cell membrane decreases and the cells are easy to change their shapes and to form pseudopodium like structures and protein free membrane lipids tend to form vesicular structure in cytoplasma. The changes of protein-protein interactions and protein-lipid interactions caused by electrical field are considered as the dominating mechanism of cell membrane electroporation. An argument about intramembrane particles (IMPS) and other possibilities of the contributions to IMPS, for instance, ice crystals formation which related to membrane hydrophilic or hydrophobic properties were discussed in this paper.