OBJECTIVE Aimed at investigating whether reflux pharyngitis is an independent risk factor for the failure of type Ⅰ tympanoplasty for chronic otitis media.This is achieved by analyzing the relationship between the postoperative tympanic membrane healing in patients who underwent type Ⅰ tympanoplasty and pharyngolaryngeal reflux finding score(RFS).METHODS Patients who underwent type Ⅰ tympanoplasty in the Department of Otolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery,Nanshan People's Hospital,Shenzhen,China,from January 2023 to July 2024 were retrospectively included.All the patients received preoperative perfect nasal endoscopy,laryngoscopy,evaluation by the RFS questionnaire,preoperative otoscopy for tympanoplasty,pure tone hearing threshold,and temporal bone thin-layer CT examination.Postoperative otoscopic examination was performed to observe tympanic membrane healing and followed up for 3 months.The patients were divided into surgery success group and failure group based on the criterion of whether a complete tympanic membrane was formed by endoscopic examination within 3 months.The RFS scores of the two groups were statistically analyzed.RESULTS A total of 135 patients with an average age of 44.78 years(±12.22 years)took part in this study,with 60 males and 75 females included,and 68 left ears and 67 right ears involved.There were 120 patients in the surgery success group,and 15 patients in the failure group.Statistical analysis revealed that the RFS score of the patients in the tympanoplasty failure group was remarkably higher than that of the patients in the tympanoplasty success group.Moreover,there were significantly more cases with suspected reflux pharyngitis in the surgery failure group(P=0.007).Reflux-induced tympanic membrane lesion and reperforation mostly occurred in the central part of the tympanic membrane graft.CONCLUSION Reflux pharyngitis has been implicated with tympanoplasty failure,and thus may be a causative factor.Additionally,the RFS can be used to screen patients with chronic suppurative otitis media for suspected reflux pharyngitis.Findings from this work indicate that perioperative anti-reflux therapy,combined with dietary and lifestyle counselling for the patients who suffer from reflux pharyngitis and are about to undergo the tympanoplasty surgery may improve surgical success rate.

Objective · To understand boys' pubertal timing in school in two urban districts of Chongqing and explore the relationship between pubertal timing and physical activity or sleeping time. Methods · Using a stratified random cluster sampling, 3403 boy students (10-18 year-old) were selected and completed the physical examination and questionnaire survey. 1282 participants experiencing first spermatorrhea were chosen as research objects. According to age of first spermatorrhea, the objects were divided into on-time group (964 cases) and later group (318 cases). Results · The composition of weekly high (χ2=11.488, P=0.009), medium (χ2=7.829, P=0.050) physical activity and daily sleeping time (χ2=17.803, P=0.000) in two groups were significantly different. Controlling covariates (age, height and weight), compared with boys in on-time group, later group boys were less likely to engage in 5-7 days (OR=0.596, 95% CI: 0.367-0.967) and 3-4 days (OR=0.590, 95% CI: 0.370-0.941) high physical activity every week, and 9-11 h (OR=0.207, 95% CI: 0.088-0.489) sleep every day. Conclusion · The age of first spermatorrhea in boys might be associated with the intensity of weekly physical activity and daily sleeping time.

OBJECTIVETo investigate the TNF-alpha induced apoptosis of U937 cells, the expression, degradation and subcellular localization of IkappaB-alpha, and its degradation mechanism.

METHODChanges and subcellular loca-lization of IkappaB-alpha were observed by fluorescence microscopy, expression and degradation of IkappaB-alpha protein with N-tosyl-L-phenylalanylchloromethyl ketone (TPCK protease inhibitor) blocking test and apoptosis of U937 cell by flow cytometry.

RESULTS(1) immunolfluorescence assay showed that IkappaB-alpha localized in cytoplasm only. (2) The level of IkappaB-alpha protein was downregulated after TNF-alpha stimulation, flow cytometry also confirmed the downregulation. (3) The downregulation of IkappaB-alpha protein levels in TNF-alpha induced apoptosis was partially inhibited by TPCK. (4) The apoptosis rate of U937 cells induced by TNF-alpha was (60.73 +/- 1.61)%.

CONCLUSION(1) Degradation of IkappaB-alpha protein during TNF-alpha induced apoptosis of U937 cells suggested the activation of NF-kappaB. (2) TPCK sensitive protease plays an important role in the degradation of IkappaB-alpha protein. (3) TPCK sensitive protease also involved in the apoptosis of U937 cells induced by TNF-alpha.

Apoptosis ; drug effects ; Down-Regulation ; Humans ; NF-kappa B ; metabolism ; Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha ; metabolism ; U937 Cells

Object To investigate the chemical constituents of Epimedium koreanum Nakai.Methods Separation was performed by HPLC on a Merck LiChroCAR analytical column with the mobile phase consisting of acetonitrile-water-acetic acid as gradient eluent at the flow rate of 1 mL/min, the UV detection was set at 270 nm and TIC was recorded by an electrospray ionization mass spectrometer in positive mode. Results Nine compounds were identified by HPLC-MS2. Conclusion The method is rapid and accurate to identify the chemical constituents of the natural product.