Laryngostroboscopic Evaluation After Supracricoid Partial Laryngectomy

BACKGROUND: Supracricoid partial laryngectomy (SCPL) results in laryngeal preservation in more than 95% of patients with T2 glottic carcinoma. Postsurgical glottic function is characterized by an absence of vocal cords, and phonation quality is a key post-SCPL quality-of-life factor. OBJECTIVE: This investigation was designed to enhance post-SCPL vocal function, study anatomic function of the post-SCPL larynx, and correlate anatomic findings with perceptual and instrumented measurements of voice. METHOD: Twenty-five patients were included. All had undergone SCPL with cricoepiglottopexy for T2 glottic carcinoma. All patients were evaluated by laryngostroboscopic examination, voice sample recording, and instrumented voice analysis with the aim of gaining further insight into postoperative larynx function. Laryngostroboscopic parameters such as laryngeal occlusion, epiglottic length, arytenoid movement, and vibratory area were assessed. The perceptual evaluation was based on the GRBAS scale. Acoustic and aerodynamic parameters were recorded, including fundamental frequency (F0), intensity, jitter, shimmer, signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), oral airflow (OAF), maximum phonation time (MPT), and estimated subglottic pressure (ESGP). Nonparametric tests were used to compare laryngostroboscopic parameters with instrumented measurements and perceptual evaluations of voice quality. RESULTS: Correlations were established among occlusion, epiglottic length, and general grade of dysphonia. Oral air flow (P = 0.006) was found to be correlated with occlusion. Voice roughness was correlated with the presence of a clearly identifiable vibratory area (P = 0.003), whereas these vibratory areas were correlated with shimmer (P = 0.041), OAF (P = 0.001), and SNR (P = 0.001). The number of preserved arytenoids was not identified as a voice quality factor (P = 0.423). CONCLUSION: This study highlighted correlations between the laryngostroboscopic examination results and the perceptive and instrumented measurements of voice. Glottis occlusion and epiglottis length were found to be key factors for postoperative voice quality. These results should help to advance technical development on surgical techniques to enhance voice results.     

The relationship among voice onset, voice quality, and fundamental frequency: a dynamical perspective

In dynamical motor theory, skill acquisition occurs as a modification of preexisting coordination patterns or attractor states. The purpose of this study was to assess how different levels of voice onset, voice quality, and fundamental frequency (F₀) combine to form the attractor states common to voice motor control. Three levels of voice onset (glottal, simultaneous, and breathy), voice quality (modal speech, mixed, and falsetto), and fundamental frequency (low, mid, and high) were manipulated by vocally untrained, female subjects. Percent correct of acquisition trials and self-report of effort were used as measures of stable phonations indicative of an attractor state. Using intensity as a covariate, the results provided support for two of the three predicted triads representing attractor states in female speakers: (1) glottal onset/modal speech quality/low F₀; and (2) breathy onset/falsetto quality/high F₀. The results of this study suggest that certain parameters of voice motor control, such as onset, quality, and F₀, exist as part of a dynamical system that can be identified and manipulated in voice motor acquisition and learning.     

Formant frequency analysis of children''s spoken and sung vowels using sweeping fundamental frequency production

High-pitched productions present difficulties in formant frequency analysis due to wide harmonic spacing and poorly defined formants. As a consequence, there is little reliable data regarding children's spoken or sung vowel formants. Twenty-nine 11-year-old Swedish children were asked to produce 4 sustained spoken and sung vowels. In order to circumvent the problem of wide harmonic spacing, F₁ and F₂ measurements were taken from vowels produced with a sweeping F₀. Experienced choir singers were selected as subjects in order to minimize the larynx height adjustments associated with pitch variation in less skilled subjects. Results showed significantly higher formant frequencies for speech than for singing. Formants were consistently higher in girls than in boys suggesting longer vocal tracts in these preadolescent boys. Furthermore, formant scaling demonstrated vowel dependent differences between boys and girls suggesting non-uniform differences in male and female vocal tract dimensions. These vowel-dependent sex differences were not consistent with adult data.     

Examination of air usage during phonation: Correlations among test parameters

Correlations among parameters indicating air usage during phonation were investigated in 60 normal subjects and 1,545 voice patients. The parameters examined were maximum phonation time (MPT), mean air flow rate for maximum sustained phonation (MFRm), mean air flow rate for comfortable phonation (MFRc), and phonation quotient (PQ). In normal subjects, correlations among MPT, MFRm, and PQ were high, but those between MFRc and the others were moderate. In cases of paralysis and hypofunctional dysphonia, all correlations between the four parameters were high. In the cases of polyp, nodule, epithelial hyperplasia, glottic carcinoma, and hyperfunctional dysphonia, the correlation between MPT and MFRc was moderate or not significant. The low correlation between these parameters was associated with the variations in flow rate differences between maximum and comfortable phonations. The results suggest that measurement of all four parameters is not necessary in routine tests and that MPT and MFRc should be measured in most voice patients.     

利用延迟荧光光谱F730/F685的逆境胁迫生理检测方法

以玉米98-2为样品,实验分析了高温、盐及紫外UV-B胁迫下,样品离体叶片延迟荧光发射光谱的变化.标记685 nm主峰带的最高峰值为F685,730nm次峰带的最高峰值为F730,实验发现不同的逆境胁迫对比值F730/F685均产生了显著的影响.结合样品在相同逆境下叶绿素荧光参数Fv/Fm以及DF强度的检测实验,结果表...     

通过HSQC和1H,13C-COSY叠合增强二维谱分辨率的方法

通常二维谱F₁维分辨率较差,F₂维分辨率较好. 即HSQC实验¹³C维度分辨率较差,¹H维度分辨率较好. 而¹H, ¹³C-COSY实验¹³C维度分辨率较好,¹H维度分辨率较差. 提出一种通过HSQC和¹H, ¹³C-COSY叠合,取较弱的值储存并显示的方法增强分辨率,采用Bruker Topspin软件AU程序实现. 该方法在不明显增加采样时间的情况下,可显著增强分辨率,信噪比也没有降低. 同时抑制了F₁噪声. 处理后,谱图美观清晰.     

Acoustic characteristics of reticent speech

Reticent speakers differ from nonreticent speakers in vocal characteristics, such as fundamental frequency, frequency range, fluency, and intensity, which prompt negative impressions on the part of listeners. Waveform and spectrographic analyses were performed on the vocal cues of 19 reticent and nonreticent subjects (57 speech samples). Statistically significant differences were found in fluency between reticent and nonreticent speech. Reticent male speakers also showed significantly higher F₀, whereas reticent female speakers demonstrated narrower frequency range. Identification and analysis of these characteristics are required for effective remediation.     

The Relationship Between Cepstral Peak Prominence and Selected Parameters of Dysphonia

Traditional measures of dysphonia vary in their reliability and in their correlations with perceptions of grade. Measurements of cepstral peak prominence (CPP) have been shown to correlate well with perceptions of breathiness. Because it is a measure of periodicity, CPP should also predict roughness. The ability of CPP and other acoustic measures to predict overall dysphonia and the subcategories of breathiness and roughness in pathological voice samples is explored. Preoperative and postoperative speech samples from 19 patients with unilateral recurrent laryngeal nerve paralysis who underwent operative intervention were analyzed by trained listeners and by measures of smoothed CPP (CPPS), noise-to-harmonic ratio (NHR), amplitude perturbation quotient (APQ), relative average perturbation (RAP), and smoothed pitch perturbation quotient (sPPQ). The data were analyzed with bivariate Pearson correlation statistics. Grade of dysphonia and breathiness ratings correlated better with measurements of CPPS than with the other measures. CPPS from samples of connected speech (CPPS-s) best predicted overall dysphonia. None of the measures were useful in predicting roughness.     

水溶性β-NaY(Gd)F4:Yb3+/Er3+纳米棒的水热合成及生物偶联

以聚乙烯亚胺(PEI)为表面活性剂,采用水热合成法,制得了表面氨基修饰的水溶性β-NaY(Gd)F₄:Yb³⁺/Er³⁺纳米棒,并对β-NaY(Gd)F₄:Yb³⁺/Er³⁺上转换纳米棒的制备方法、条件等进行了考察.结果表明,当Gd³⁺的引入摩尔分数为40%时,200 ℃下反应8 h即可获得纯β-NaY(Gd)F₄:Yb³⁺/Er³⁺纳米棒.利用X射线粉末衍射仪(XRD)、扫描电子显微镜 (SEM)、透射电子显微镜(TEM)、荧光光谱(PL)对样品的结构、形貌及光谱特性进行了表征.结构和形貌分析结果表明,制得的样品为单相β-NaY(Gd)F₄:Yb³⁺/Er³⁺纳米棒,纳米棒的截面粒径约为40 nm,平均长度约为210 nm.在980 nm波长激发下,样品的上转换发光光谱中出现了4个发射中心位于407,529,546,660 nm的发射带,分别对应于Er³⁺离子的²H_9/2→⁴I_15/2、²H_11/2→⁴I_15/2、⁴S_3/2→⁴I_15/2和⁴F_9/2→⁴I_15/2跃迁.采用戊二醛法,使β-NaY(Gd)F₄:Yb³⁺/Er³⁺上转换纳米棒表面的氨基与牛血清蛋白(BSA)分子中的氨基成功偶连在一起.利用紫外光谱分析(UV)和考马斯亮蓝法,对二者的偶联进行了证明.     

Novel rubidium polyfluorides with F_3, F_4, and F_5 species

Pressure has an important effect on chemical bonds and their chemical properties. The atypical compounds NaCl_3 and CsF_3 are predicted to be stable at high pressure and show unique physical and chemical properties. By using ab initio random structure searching and density functional theory calculations, we predicted multiple thermodynamically stable atypical compounds, which are RbF_2, RbF_3, RbF_4, and RbF_5 in the pressure range of 0–300 GPa. In these stable compounds, homonuclear bondings of F_3, F_4, and F_5 species are easily formed. The electron structure calculation showed that except for Fd-3 m phase of RbF_2, these stable compounds are insulators and F 5 p orbitals play an important role in the Fermi level. It is interesting that the compounds RbF_5 could be stable at nearly ambient pressure and 0 K which will stimulate experimental studies in the future.