Before surgery, 6 of the 12 children showed normal VEMPs, 1 showed a decrease in the amplitude of VEMPs and five showed no VEMP response. After surgery, with the cochlear implant device off, 1 child showed a decreased VEMP and 11 showed no VEMPs. With the cochlear implant device on, four children showed VEMPs and eight did not.

A comparative study of optimization techniques for identifying soil parameters in geotechnical engineering was first presented. The identification methodology with its 3 main parts, error function, search strategy, and identification procedure, was introduced and summarized. Then, current optimization methods were reviewed and classified into 3 categories with an introduction to their basic principles and applications in geotechnical engineering. A comparative study on the identification of model parameters from a synthetic pressuremeter and an excavation tests was then performed by using 5 among the mostly common optimization methods, including genetic algorithms, particle swarm optimization, simulated annealing, the differential evolution algorithm and the artificial bee colony algorithm. The results demonstrated that the differential evolution had the strongest search ability but the slowest convergence speed. All the selected methods could reach approximate solutions with very small objective errors, but these solutions were different from the preset parameters. To improve the identification performance, an enhanced algorithm was developed by implementing the Nelder-Mead simplex method in a differential algorithm to accelerate the convergence speed with strong reliable search ability. The performance of the enhanced optimization algorithm was finally highlighted by identifying the Mohr-Coulomb parameters from the 2 same synthetic cases and from 2 real pressuremeter tests in sand, and ANICREEP parameters from 2 real pressuremeter tests in soft clay.

Among these 20 severely hearing impaired children, only 3 (15%) showed normal responses in the caloric test, rotational chair test and VEMP recording bilaterally. Seven (35%) showed responses asymmetrically in the caloric test despite normal responses in the rotational chair test and VEMP recording bilaterally. Five (25%) showed hyporeflexia or areflexia in the caloric test bilaterally, but showed normal responses in the rotational chair test and normal reproducible or decreased VEMPs. Five (25%) showed no responses at all in the caloric test, rotational chair test and VEMP recording.

Although long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) are important players in the initiation and progression of many pathological processes, the role of lncRNAs in renal fibrosis still remains unclear. We showed that lncRNA-H19 expression was significantly up-regulated in TGF-β2-induced HK-2 cell fibrosis and unilateral ureteral obstruction (UUO)-induced renal fibrosis in vivo. H19 knockdown significantly attenuated renal fibrosis in vitro and in vivo. LncRNA-H19, miR-17, and fibronectin constituted to a regulatory network involved in renal fibrosis. We also detected up-regulated H19 expression and down-regulated miR-17 expression in the early and advanced animal models of renal fibrosis. This study indicates that H19 up-regulation contributes to renal fibrosis. H19 inhibition might represent a novel anti-fibrotic treatment in renal diseases.

In order to investigate the therapeutic potential of acupuncture on patients with functional dyspepsia (FD), patients were randomized to receive acupuncture at classic acupoints with manipulations (treatment group) versus acupuncture at nonacupoints without manipulation (control group) once every other day, three times a week, for one month and were followed up for three months. The primary outcomes included dyspeptic symptoms, quality of life, and mental status. The secondary outcomes included the fasting serum gastrin concentration, and frequency and propagation velocity of gastric slow waves. Sixty patients with FD were included, among whom, four dropped out. After one month's treatment, patients with FD showed significant improvements in primary (in both groups) and secondary (in the eight patients of the treatment group) outcomes as compared with baseline (P = 0.0078 to <0.0001); treatment group has better outcomes in all primary outcome measures (P < 0.0001 except for SDS (P = 0.0005)). Improvements on dyspeptic symptoms persist during follow-up (better in the treatment group). Acupuncture with manual manipulation had better effects on improving dyspeptic symptoms, mental status, and quality of life in patients with FD. These effects may be related to the increased frequency and propagation speed of gastric slow waves and serum gastrin secretion.

Congenitally deaf infants and children commonly suffer vestibular failure in both ears, and impairment of postural control, locomotion, and gait. The development of gross motor functions, such as head control, sitting, and walking is likely to be delayed, but fine motor function is usually preserved unless disorders of the central nervous system are present. These children can eventually catch up with their normal peers in terms of development and growth as a result of central vestibular compensation. The visual and somatosensory systems, pyramidal and extrapyramidal motor system (cerebellum, basal ganglia, cerebrum) and intellectual development, compensate for vestibular failure in infants and children with congenitally hypoactive or absent function of the semicircular canals and otolith organs.

LncRNA Brain Cytoplasmic RNA 1 (BCYRN1) has been certified to modulate cancer cells growth and aggressiveness in several tumors. However, research about function of BCYRN1 in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is limited. Therefore, our research intends to explore the function of BCYRN1 in HCC. Methods: HepG2 and BEL-7402 cell lines were employed for later function experiments. Differently expression levels of BCYRN1, miR-490-3p, and POU class 3 homeobox 2 (POU3F2) were determined on the base of TCGA dataset including 375 HCC patients and 50 normal. 370 cases of patients, which have fairly complete clinical data, were utilized for survival analysis of BCYRN1, miR-490-3p, or POU3F2 by Kaplan-Meier method. Relative expression pattern of BCYRN1 was examined by quantitative real time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR), and relative expression level of POU3F2 was assessed by qRT-PCR and western blot. Cell biological behaviors were analyzed by cell counting kit-8, cloning formation, and transwell assays. Bioinformatics software and dual luciferase assay were applied to predict and confirm the targeted relationship between BCYRN1 and miR-490-3p, as well as miR-490-3p and POU3F2. Further associations among BCYRN1, miR-490-3p, and POU3F2 were analyzed by rescue assays. Results: Our results exhibited that BCYRN1 was over expressed in HCC samples, which was connected with unfavorable prognosis in HCC patients. In addition, a series of experiments exhibited that overexpression of BCYRN1 significantly expedited HCC cells growth, clone formation, and movement abilities, and vice versa. Moreover, targeted relationships between BCYRN1 and miR-490-3p, as well as miR-490-3p and POU3F2 were affirmed by dual luciferase assay. Furthermore, POU3F2 expression was negatively connected with the expression of miR-490-3p and positively associated with BCYRN1 expression. Whilst, either overexpression of miR-490-3p or knockdown of POU3F2 could remarkably inhibit the increasing trends of proliferation, clone formation, invasion, and migration abilities induced by BCYRN1 in HCC cells.

No abstract