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In cVEMP, there was no significant difference in N1-P1 amplitude between control group and OME group. There were no significant differences in threshold, N1 latency, P1 latency and N1-P1 latency. In vHIT, there was no significant difference between OME group, postoperative group and control group. After grommet insertion, instantaneous gain of the horizontal semicircular canal at 60 ms was lower than that before surgery. H2DCFDA in vitro ConclusionVestibular test results of children with OME are different from those of normal children, and the corresponding changes also occur after grommet insertion, which deserves further clinical attention.It has been more than 2 months since the outbreak of coronavirus disease（COVID-19）. The Chinese Ear & Nose & Throat Department（ENT） health care workers are brave in defending against the disease. The COVID-19 patients without predominant symptoms may consult ENT doctors, even though the ENT department isn’t thought first front of the battle. The ENT health care workers have high risks of exposing to the SARS-CoV-2 virus. This article gives some recommendations of infection prevention and control to ENT health care workers of the outpatient and inpatient department.It is a critical period of fighting against new coronavirus（SARS-CoV-2） disease now，since its outbreak on December 2019 in Wuhan.Even though the front line staffs are thought heroes，the ENT doctors and nurses are also indispensable power in defending the disease.The number of outpatients of ENT is huge.The early stage of SARS-CoV-2 pneumonia（COVID-19） may present pharyngalgia or cough without fever.Thus，the ENT doctors have high risks of being consulted by early stage COVID-19 patients.This paper means to talk about the contributions of ENT doctors and nurses in defending against SARS-CoV-2 virus，as well as the mental status of them.Background Increasing concerns emerge regarding the limited success in reproducing data and translating research results into applications. This is a major problem for science, society and economy. Driven by industry or scientific networks, several attempts to combat this crisis are initiated. However, only few measures address the applicability and feasibility of implementation of actions into an academic research environment with limited resources. Methods Here we propose a strategy catalogue aiming for a quality management system suitable for many research labs, on the example of a cell culture focused laboratory. Our proposal is guided by its inexpensiveness and possibility of rapid installation. For this we used eLabFTW, an electronic lab book, as hub for all other components of our Quality Management System (QMS) and digital storage of lab journals. We introduced Standard Operation Procedures (SOPs) as well as a managed bio bank for safer long-term storage of bio samples. Next, we set up a lab meeting as feedback mechanism for the QMS. Finally, we implemented an automated pipeline to be used for example for drug screens. Results With this effort we want to reduce individual differences in work techniques, to further improve the quality of our results. Although, just recently established, we can already observe positive outcomes in quality of experimental results, improvements in sample and data storage, stakeholder engagement and even promotion of new scientific discoveries. Conclusions We believe that our experiences can help to establish a road map to increase value and output of preclinical research in academic labs with limited budget and personnel.Background The multi-subunit homotypic fusion and vacuole protein sorting (HOPS) membrane-tethering complex is involved in regulating the fusion of late endosomes and autophagosomes with lysosomes in eukaryotes. The C-terminal regions of several HOPS components have been shown to be required for correct complex assembly, including the C-terminal really interesting new gene (RING) zinc finger domains of HOPS components VPS18 and VPS41. We sought to structurally characterise the putative C-terminal zinc finger domain of VPS39, which we hypothesised may be important for binding of VPS39 to cellular partners or to other HOPS components. Methods We recombinantly expressed, purified and solved the crystal structure of the proposed zinc-binding region of VPS39. Results In the structure, this region forms an anti-parallel β-hairpin that is incorporated into a homotetrameric eight-stranded β-barrel. However, the fold is stabilised by coordination of zinc ions by residues from the purification tag and an intramolecular disulphide bond between two predicted zinc ligands. Conclusions We solved the structure of the VPS39 C-terminal domain adopting a non-native fold. Our work highlights the risk of non-native folds when purifying small zinc-containing domains with hexahistidine tags. However, the non-native structure we observe may have implications for rational protein design.Background Sugar is routinely used to comfort neonates undergoing painful procedures, and animal studies have shown that sucrose increases the time to withdrawal from painful stimuli. However, there are no published studies examining the effects of sweet substances on heat pain thresholds and percept in adult humans. Methods Healthy adult volunteers (n=27, aged 18-48 years) were recruited to a controlled, double-blind, randomised, cross-over study to characterise the effect of tasting solutions of equivalent sweetness (10% sucrose and 0.016% sucralose) on warm detection and heat pain thresholds and the percept ratings of painfully hot stimuli. The effect of anticipation of a sweet taste on heat pain threshold was also assessed. Results Tasting either sucrose or sucralose had no significant effect on the percept of an individually titrated hot stimulus (54.5±4.2 and 54.9±3.2 vs 53.2±3.5 for water, 0-100 visual analogue scale), on the warm detection or heat pain threshold (43.3±0.8, 43.2±0.8 vs 43.0±0.8°C). Anticipation of a sweet substance similarly did not affect heat pain thresholds. Conclusions Sucrose and sucralose solutions had no analgesic effect when assessed using heat detection thresholds and percept ratings of painfully hot stimuli despite being perceived as sweeter and more pleasant than water. These findings are in contrast to results reported from previous animal studies in which thermal analgesia from sweet solutions is robust. Given the ubiquitous availability of sugar rich drinks in the modern environment, the lack of observable effect may be due to an insufficient hedonic value of the test solutions when compared to the experience of a laboratory rodent. Alternatively, sweet tastes may have a specific effect on pain tolerance rather than the threshold and acute percept measures assayed in this study.