Numerical analysis of the effects of canal wall-up and canal wall-down mastoidectomy on the sound transmission characteristics of human ears.

PURPOSE: The aim of this work was to study the effect of canal wall-up (CWU) and canal wall-down (CWD) and mastoid obliteration in conjunction with CWD (CWD-MO) mastoidectomy on the sound transmission characteristics of the human ear. METHODS: Three mastoidectomy surgical methods, CWU, CWD and CWD-MO, were simulated on the freshly dissected cadaver heads. Then, the finite element (FE) models corresponding to these surgical methods were established by micro-computed tomography (Micro-CT) and reverse engineering technology, and the accuracy of the models was verified. Finally, the FE Models were used to analyze the effects of different surgical methods on the sound transmission characteristics of the human ear. RESULTS: For CWU, since the integrity of the outer wall of the ear canal is ensured, the sound pressure (SP) gain of the ear canal and the stapes footplate displacement (FPD) gain after this operation are close to normal values. For CWD, due to severe damage to the outer wall of the ear canal, a negative gain of the ear canal SP occurs in the high-frequency range, and the resonance frequency is significantly reduced. For CWD-MO, the frequency range of SP negative gain in the ear canal is reduced due to the addition of fillers in the ear canal to reduce the degree of damage, and the resonance frequency is increased compared to CWD. CONCLUSIONS: The impact of three types of mastoidectomy, including CWU, CWD, and CWDMO, on the sound transmission characteristics of the human ear after surgery is relatively small.

Description of a new genus and two new species of the funnel-web mygalomorph (Araneae: Mygalomorphae: Macrothelidae) from China with notes on taxonomic amendments.

A new genus of the spider family Macrothelidae Simon, 1892, Vacrothele Tang Yang gen. nov. is described, along with two new species: V. pseudohunanica sp. nov., V. uncata sp. nov.. Three Macrothele species are transferred to the new genus: V. hunanica (Zhu Song, 2000) comb. nov., V. digitata (Chen Jiang, 2020) comb. nov., and V. palpator (Pocock, 1901) comb. nov..

A new species of the deep-sea shrimp genus Spongicoloides (Decapoda: Spongicolidae) from the South China Sea.

Spongicoloides zhoui sp. nov. (Crustacea: Decapoda: Spongicolidae), a species of deep-sea hexactinellid sponge-associated shrimp, is described based on specimens collected from the Zhenbei Seamount in the South China Sea. The new species is morphologically most similar to the Western Pacific congeneric species Spongicoloides iheyaensis Saito, Tsuchida Yamamoto, 2006 in that the ischium of the third pereiopod is unarmed and the fixed finger of the third pereiopod is armed with small teeth on the distoventral margin. However, S. zhoui sp. nov. can be distinguished from S. iheyaensis in that its female antennal basicerite has three large spines on the distolateral margin. Molecular analyses based on nuclear histone H3, and mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI), 12S ribosomal RNA (rRNA), and 16S rRNA gene fragments confirmed the placement of S. zhoui sp. nov. within a clade of Spongicoloides/Spongiocaris species, and their sequence divergences were large enough to justify the recognition of this new species.

Applicability of plasmid calibrant pMON87712 for quantitative detection of the transgenic soybean MON87712.

The transgenic glyphosate-tolerant soybean MON87712 event was developed by the agrochemical and agricultural biotechnology company Monsanto (USA) and commercialized in 2013. Due to the absence of matrix-based and genomic DNA-positive reference material for MON87712, it is very difficult to detect and monitor this event. In this study, we developed a recombinant 760-bp linearized plasmid, including 150 bp of the soybean endogenous lectin gene and 610 bp of the exogenous BBX32 gene plus its 3' flanking sequence of MON87712 by In-Fusion cloning technology. In addition, a duplex real-time polymerase chain reaction for the detection of MON87712 and the soybean endogenous lectin gene was established. By using this method, we achieved specific and quantitative detection of MON87712 in 45 other kinds of crops, with a detection limit of 10 copies/µl. This method provides a new technical means for the accurate detection of transgenic soybean MON87712, as well as technical support for the supervision of agricultural transgenic organisms.

Prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 Contamination on Food Plant Surfaces as Determined by Environmental Monitoring.

ABSTRACT: The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has presented new challenges to food manufacturers. During the early phase of the pandemic, several large outbreaks of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) occurred in food manufacturing plants resulting in deaths and economic loss, with approximately 15% of personnel diagnosed as asymptomatic for COVID-19. Spread by asymptomatic and presymptomatic individuals has been implicated in large outbreaks of COVID-19. In March 2020, we assisted in implementation of environmental monitoring programs for SARS-CoV-2 in zones 3 and 4 of 116 food production facilities. All participating facilities had already implemented measures to prevent symptomatic personnel from coming to work. During the study period, from 17 March to 3 September 2020, 1.23% of the 22,643 environmental samples tested positive for SARS-CoV-2, suggesting that infected individuals were actively shedding virus. Virus contamination was commonly found on frequently touched surfaces such as doorknobs, handles, table surfaces, and sanitizer dispensers. Most processing plants managed to control their environmental contamination when they became aware of the positive findings. Comparisons of positive test results for plant personnel and environmental surfaces in one plant revealed a close correlation. Our work illustrates that environmental monitoring for SARS-CoV-2 can be used as a surrogate for identifying the presence of asymptomatic and presymptomatic personnel in workplaces and may aid in controlling infection spread.

Three new species of the funnel-web spider genus Macrothele from the Southwest China (Mygalomorphae: Macrothelidae).

Three new species of the genus Macrothele are described from Yunnan Province, China: Macrothele undata sp. nov., M. arcuata sp. nov., M. sanheensis sp. nov. Detailed morphological descriptions of the three new species are provided.

Review of the tent-web spider genus Uroctea Dufour, 1820 in China, with descriptions of two new species (Araneae: Oecobiidae).

This paper concerns four species of the spider genus Uroctea Dufour, 1820 (Oecobiidae) from China. Two species, U. compactilis L. Koch, 1878 and U. lesserti Schenkel, 1936 are redescribed. Two new species are described here under the names U. multiprocessa Yang Zhang sp. nov. (male only, from Batang County of Sichuan Prov.) and U. yunlingensis Yang Zhao sp. nov. (both sexes from Yunling Mountains area of Yunnan Prov.). Color images of habitus and genitalia, SEM images of the male palps, and illustrations of epigynes of all species are provided. Specimens examined are deposited in the Institute of Entomoceutics Research, Dali University, China (DUIER) and School of Life Sciences, Southwest University, China (SWUC).

Influence of middle ear disorder in round-window stimulation using a finite element human ear model.

PURPOSE: The aim of this work was to study the effect of middle ear disorder on round window (RW) stimulation, so as to provide references for the optimal design of RW stimulation type middle ear implants (MEIs). METHODS: A human ear finite-element model was built by reverse engineering technique based on micro-computed tomography scanning images of human temporal bone, and was validated by three sets of comparisons with experimental data. Then, based on this model, typical disorders in otosclerosis and otitis media were simulated. Finally, their influences on the RW stimulation were analyzed by comparison of the displacements of the basilar membrane. RESULTS: For the otosclerosis, the stapedial abnormal bone growth severely deteriorated the equivalent sound pressure of the RW stimulation at higher frequencies, while the hardening of ligaments and tendons prominently decreased the RW stimulation at lower frequencies. Besides, among the hardening of the studied tissues, the influence of the stapedial annular ligament's hardening was much more significant. For the otitis media, the round window membrane (RWM)'s thickening mainly decreased the RW stimulation's performance at lower frequencies. When the elastic modulus' reduction of the RWM was considered at the same time especially for the acute otitis media, it would raise the lower-frequency performance of the RW stimulation. CONCLUSIONS: The influence of the middle ear disorder on the RW stimulation is considerable and variable, it should be considered during the design of the RW stimulation type MEIs.

Antibacterial Effects of Phytic Acid against Foodborne Pathogens and Investigation of Its Mode of Action.

This study investigated the antimicrobial mechanism of phytic acid (PA) and its antibacterial effects in combination with ethanol. The MIC of PA on Escherichia coli ATCC 11229, Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 6538P, Bacillus subtilis ATCC 6633, and Salmonella Typhimurium CICC 27483 were 0.24, 0.20, 0.26, and 0.28% (w/w), respectively. E. coli ATCC 11229 and S. aureus ATCC 6538P were selected to investigate the mechanism of PA by analyzing its effects at 1/2MIC and at MIC on the cell morphology, intracellular ATP, and cell membrane integrity. Environmental scanning electron microscope images revealed that PA was able to change the cell morphology and disrupt the intercellular adhesion. PA retarded bacterial growth and caused cell membrane dysfunction, which was accompanied by decreased intracellular ATP concentrations. Flow cytometry analysis further revealed that almost all the bacterial cells were damaged after treatment with PA at its MIC for 2 h. Moreover, PA has a synergistic antimicrobial ability when used in combination with ethanol. These results suggested that PA is effective in inhibiting growth of foodborne pathogens mainly by the mechanism of cell membrane damage and to provide a theoretical basis for the development of natural antimicrobial agents in the food industry.

Identification of the miRNA-mRNA regulatory network of antler growth centers.

Antler growth is a unique event compared to other growth and development processes in mammals. Antlers grow extremely fast during the rapid growth stage when growth rate peaks at 2 cm per day. Antler growth is driven by a specific endochondral ossification process in the growth center that is in the distal region of the antler tip. In this study, we used state-of-art RNA-seq technology to analyze the expression profiles of mRNAs and miRNAs during antler growth. Our results indicated that the expression levels of multiple genes involved in chondrogenesis and endochondral ossification, including Fn1, Sox9, Col2a1, Acan, Col9a1, Col11a1, Hapln1, Wwp2, Fgfr3, Comp, Sp7 and Ihh, were significantly increased at the rapid growth stage. Our results also indicated that there were multiple differentially expressed miRNAs interacting with differentially expressed genes with opposite expression patterns. Furthermore, some of the miRNAs, including miR-3072-5p, miR-1600, miR-34-5p, miR-6889-5p and miR-6729-5p, simultaneously interacted with and controlled multiple genes involved in the process of chondrogenesis and endochondral ossification. Therefore, we established a miRNA-mRNA regulatory network by identifying miRNAs and their target genes that were differentially expressed in the antler growth centers by comparing the rapid growth stage and the initial growth stage.

Role of IL-33 expression in oncogenesis and development of human hepatocellular carcinoma.

Interleukin-33 (IL-33), a newly-discovered cytokine belonging to the IL-1 family, serves an important role in inflammation. However, it is not clear whether IL-33 is of clinical significance in hepatocarcinogenesis. The present study was designed to investigate the role of IL-33 during oncogenesis and development of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). IL-33 protein expression was detected in 76 HCC (including 36 para-carcinoma), 33 cirrhosis, 30 hepatitis, and 20 normal liver tissues using immunohistochemistry. IL-33 mRNA expression in carcinoma and para-carcinoma tissues was evaluated by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). The possible correlation between IL-33 and clinicopathological parameters of HCC was also analyzed. Significant differences in IL-33 expression were not observed among normal, hepatic, and cirrhotic tissues (P>0.05), whereas the level of protein positive rate was markedly reduced in HCC tissues (P<0.01). Positive staining of IL-33 in non-cancerous liver (NCL) tissues (i.e. normal, hepatitis, and liver cirrhosis) was located predominantly in the nucleus and occasionally in the cytoplasm of hepatocytes; however, the expression in HCC tissues was mostly restricted to the cytoplasm. A significant alteration in protein localization was observed in HCC tissues as compared with NCL tissues (P<0.01). In comparison with HCC tissues, cytoplasmic staining of IL-33 was increased in para-carcinoma tissues. RT-PCR assay further confirmed relatively high mRNA expression levels of IL-33 in para-carcinoma tissues. IL-33 expression was significantly negatively associated with tumor histological grade (r=-0.279, P=0.015), but not with year, gender, tumor size, clinical stage, HCC with hepatitis and cirrhosis background, lymph node metastasis or intrahepatic vascular embolism (P>0.05). Therefore, the aberrant expression of IL-33 is associated with oncogenesis and progression of HCC and the cytoplasmic accumulation of the protein may serve a role in hepatocarcinogenesis.