Genome-wide association study identifies new loci associated with noise-induced tinnitus in Chinese populations

Background Tinnitus is an auditory phantom sensation in the absence of an acoustic stimulus, which affects nearly 15% of the population. Excessive noise exposure is one of the main causes of tinnitus. To now, the knowledge of the genetic determinants of susceptibility to tinnitus remains limited. Results We performed a two-stage genome-wide association study (GWAS) and identified that two single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), rs2846071 located in the intergenic region at 11q13.5 (odds ratio [OR] = 2.14, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.96–3.40, combined P = 4.89 × 10− 6) and rs4149577 located in the intron of TNFRSF1A gene at 12p13.31 (OR = 2.05, 95% CI = 1.89–2.51, combined P = 6.88 × 10− 6), are significantly associated with the susceptibility to noise-induced tinnitus. Furthermore, the expression quantitative trait loci (eQTL) analyses revealed that rs2846071 is significantly correlated with the expression of WNT11 gene, and rs4149577 with the expression of TNFRSF1A gene in multiple brain tissues (all P < 0.05). The newly identified candidate gene WNT11 is involved in Wnt pathway, and TNFRSF1A in the tumor necrosis factor pathway, respectively. Pathway enrichment analyses also showed that these two pathways are closely relevant to tinnitus. Conclusions Our findings highlight two novel loci at 11q13.5 and 12p13.31 conferring susceptibility to noise-induced tinnitus. and suggest that the WNT11 and TNFRSF1A genes might be the candidate causal targets of 11q13.5 and 12p13.31 loci, respectively.

Fast Job Recognition and Sorting Based on Image Processing

With the advancement of artificial intelligence (AI) and the upgrading of intelligent manufacturers, the development of intelligent manufacturing is now propelled by the replacement of inefficient traditional assembly machines and operators with machine vision (MV)-based industrial robots. The classic job recognition and positioning algorithm has multiple shortcomings, such as high complexity, manual design of similarity function, and susceptibility to noise disturbance. To solve these shortcomings, this study presents a fast job recognition and sorting method based on image processing. Firstly, the extraction approach for wavelet moment features and wavelet descriptors was introduced, and the feature fusion based on echo state network (ESN) was detailed. Then, the authors explained the idea of job template matching, and described how to measure similarity and terminate the measurement during template matching. Experimental results fully manifest the effectiveness of our strategy for fast job recognition and sorting. Our method offers a new solution to rapid recognition and sorting of objects in other fields.

Differences in Calcium Clearance at Inner Hair Cell Active Zones May Underlie the Difference in Susceptibility to Noise-Induced Cochlea Synaptopathy of C57BL/6J and CBA/CaJ Mice

Noise exposure of a short period at a moderate level can produce permanent cochlear synaptopathy without seeing lasting changes in audiometric threshold. However, due to the species differences in inner hair cell (IHC) calcium current that we have recently discovered, the susceptibility to noise exposure may vary, thereby impact outcomes of noise exposure. In this study, we investigate the consequences of noise exposure in the two commonly used animal models in hearing research, CBA/CaJ (CBA) and C57BL/6J (B6) mice, focusing on the functional changes of cochlear IHCs. In the CBA mice, moderate noise exposure resulted in a typical fully recovered audiometric threshold but a reduced wave I amplitude of auditory brainstem responses. In contrast, both auditory brainstem response threshold and wave I amplitude fully recovered in B6 mice at 2 weeks after noise exposure. Confocal microscopy observations found that ribbon synapses of IHCs recovered in B6 mice but not in CBA mice. To further characterize the molecular mechanism underlying these different phenotypes in synaptopathy, we compared the ratio of Bax/Bcl-2 with the expression of cytochrome-C and found increased activity in CBA mice after noise exposure. Under whole-cell patch clamped IHCs, we acquired two-photon calcium imaging around the active zone to evaluate the Ca2+ clearance rate and found that CBA mice have a slower calcium clearance rate. Our results indicated that excessive accumulation of calcium due to acoustic overexposure and slow clearance around the presynaptic ribbon might lead to disruption of calcium homeostasis, followed by mitochondrial dysfunction of IHCs that cause susceptibility of noise-induced cochlear synaptopathy in CBA mice.

Performance of Damage Identification Based on Directional Wavelet Transforms and Entopic Weights Using Experimental Shearographic Testing Results

The paper aims to analyze the performance of the damage identification algorithms using the directional wavelet transforms, which reveal higher sensitivity for various orientations of spatial damage together with lower susceptibility to noise. In this study, the algorithms based on the dual-tree, the double-density, and the dual-tree double-density wavelet transforms were considered and compared to the algorithm based on the discrete wavelet transform. The performed analyses are based on shearographic experimental tests of a composite plate with artificially introduced damage at various orientations. It was shown that the directional wavelet transforms are characterized by better performance in damage identification problems than the basic discrete wavelet transform. Moreover, the proposed approach based on entropic weights applicable to the resulting sets of the detail coefficients after decomposition of mode shapes can be effectively used for automatic selection and emphasizing those sets of the detail coefficients, which contain relevant diagnostic information about damage. The proposed processing method allows raw experimental results from shearography to be significantly enhanced. The developed algorithms can be successfully implemented in a shearographic testing for enhancement of a sensitivity to damage during routine inspections in various industrial sectors.

Human Creativity and Consciousness: Unintended Consequences of the Brain’s Extraordinary Energy Efficiency?

It is proposed that both human creativity and human consciousness are (unintended) consequences of the human brain’s extraordinary energy efficiency. The topics of creativity and consciousness are treated separately, though have a common sub-structure. It is argued that creativity arises from a synergy between two cognitive modes of the human brain (which broadly coincide with Kahneman’s Systems 1 and 2). In the first, available energy is spread across a relatively large network of neurons, many of which are small enough to be susceptible to thermal (ultimately quantum decoherent) noise. In the second, available energy is focussed on a smaller subset of larger neurons whose action is deterministic. Possible implications for creative computing in silicon are discussed. Starting with a discussion of the concept of free will, the notion of consciousness is defined in terms of an awareness of what are perceived to be nearby counterfactual worlds in state space. It is argued that such awareness arises from an interplay between memories on the one hand, and quantum physical mechanisms (where, unlike in classical physics, nearby counterfactual worlds play an indispensable dynamical role) in the ion channels of neural networks, on the other. As with the brain’s susceptibility to noise, it is argued that in situations where quantum physics plays a role in the brain, it does so for reasons of energy efficiency. As an illustration of this definition of consciousness, a novel proposal is outlined as to why quantum entanglement appears to be so counter-intuitive.

Analysis of polymorphisms associated with base excision repair in patients susceptible and resistant to noise-induced hearing loss

Objective We aim to investigate whether genetic mutations in three important base excision repair genes (OGG1, APEX1, and XRCC1) may influence susceptibility to noise-induced hearing loss. Methods Three SNPs in OGG1, APEX1, and XRCC1 were genotyped from noise exposed workers who were classified into susceptible and resistant individuals. Results: Results showed that the rs1799782 TT genotype located in the XRCC1 coding region and rs1130409 GG/GT in the APEX1 coding region were associated with increased risk for noise-induced hearing loss. Compared to the rs1799782 C allele frequency, the T allele frequency increased in the sensitive group (OR = 1.51). Rs1130409 G allele frequency also increased in the sensitive group compared to the resistant group (OR = 1.59). Conclusions XRCC1 rs1799782 and APEX1 rs1130409 may have potential as biomarkers for screening susceptibility to NIHL in workers exposed severe noise.

MobiLab – A Mobile Laboratory for On-Site Listening Experiments in Virtual Acoustic Environments

Research in the last decades has pointed out negative effects of noise on cognitive processing and general health. Depending on the frequency and level of exposure as well as individual shielding potential, risk groups like children or elderly people may be particularly vulnerable to commonly known consequences including a reduced attention span, influencing the learning success during education, increased blood pressure and cardiovascular problems or sleep disturbances. To better understand the susceptibility to noise, specifically designed listening experiments in controlled laboratory environments are indispensable but might put high demands on older study participants whose travel expenses to test locations could increase due to reduced mobility. For children, organizational issues like insured transport and supervision during waiting periods, necessitating additional resources, need to be resolved. In order to facilitate practical and efficient study execution, we therefore implemented a mobile hearing laboratory by acoustically optimizing the interior of a caravan. All necessary technical facilities were integrated to perform listening experiments in virtual acoustic environments under controlled conditions directly on site, for example, in front of schools or senior residential centers. The design and construction of this laboratory are presented here and evaluated through acoustic measurements.