Cochlear implant (CI) users’ speech understanding may be influenced by different speaking styles. In this study, speech recognition was measured in Mandarin-speaking CI and normal-hearing (NH) subjects for sentences produced according to four styles: slow, normal, fast, and whispered. CI subjects were tested using their clinical processors; NH subjects were tested while listening to a four-channel CI simulation. Performance gradually worsened with increasing speaking rate and was much poorer with whispered speech. CI performance was generally similar to NH performance with the four-channel simulation. Results suggest that some speaking styles, especially whispering, may negatively affect Mandarin-speaking CI users’ speech understanding.

The lack of good prosthetic materials and objective standards has limited the promotion of mastoid obliteration and external auditory canal reconstruction, and the quality of the surgery varies. In this study, bioactive glass S53P4 (S53P4), the most popular artificial prosthetic material, was modified and combined with polycaprolactone (PCL) and bone morphogenetic protein-2 (BMP-2) to produce an individualized biological scaffold using 3D printing technology to explore a better material and method for mastoid obliteration and external auditory canal reconstruction. 3D-printed S53P4/PCL scaffolds were fabricated from 3D reconstruction data of bone defect areas in New Zealand rabbits simulating “Canal Wall Down Mastoidectomy”. The water absorption, swelling rate, porosity, and Young's modulus of the scaffold were measured, and the morphology and pore size of the scaffold were observed using scanning electron microscopy. The cytotoxicity of the S53P4/PCL scaffolds was detected using the CCK8 assay, and the in vitro antibacterial activity of the S53P4/PCL scaffolds was detected using the inhibition circle method. The BMP-2-loaded S53P4/PCL scaffolds were prepared using the drop-in lyophilization method and implanted into animal models. The biocompatibility, osteogenic activity, and external auditory canal repair of the scaffolds were observed using endoscopy, micro-CT, and histological examination. The S53P4/PCL scaffold was highly compatible with the defective area of the animal model, and its physicochemical properties met the requirements of bone tissue engineering. In vitro experiments showed that the S53P4/PCL scaffold was non-cytotoxic and exhibited better antibacterial activity than the same volume of the S53P4 powder. In vivo experiments showed that the S53P4/PCL scaffold had good biocompatibility and osteogenic activity, and could effectively repair bone defects and reconstruct the normal morphology of the external auditory canal in animal models. Furthermore, its osteogenic activity and repair ability were significantly improved after loading with BMP-2. The 3D printed S53P4/PCL scaffold has great potential for clinical mastoid obliteration and external auditory canal reconstruction.

Patients with chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS) and allergic rhinitis (AR) (CRSwAR) have a more severe condition with a higher rate of recurrence after endoscopic sinus surgery (ESS). This study aimed to explore the effect of specific subcutaneous immunotherapy (SCIT) and nasal irrigation on CRSwAR after ESS. Sixty-four patients who were diagnosed as CRSwAR and received ESS were enrolled and divided into groups A, B, and C to receive different postoperative treatment strategies (conventional medication, medication with nasal irrigation, and medication with nasal irrigation and SCIT), and their prognosis was evaluated by scoring, electron microscopy, and inflammatory factors. One year after ESS, the recurrence rate of group C was significantly reduced; and the scoring from baseline was significantly different among the three groups, which of group C were the best. The epithelium arrangement, cilia morphology, and inflammation of nasal mucosa in each group were better than those in the preoperative state; and those in group C were the best. After one year, the expression levels of eosinophil cationic protein (ECP), interleukin (IL)-8, and IL-17 in group B were lower than those of group A; and the expression levels of ECP, IL-8, IL-25, IL-33, IL-17 in group C were lower than those in group A. SCIT combined with nasal irrigation can improve the patients' symptoms and quality of life, promote the epithelialization of the mucosa in the surgical cavity, regulate the local immune response of the nasal cavity; thus improve the prognosis of patients with ESS after 1 year.