Role of the 30° Telescope in Evaluation of Laryngeal Masses During Direct Laryngoscopy

SUMMARY: Visualization of enlarged laryngeal lesions is the most important factor in choosing a surgical technique, especially for partial surgery. For this reason standard microlaryngoscopy, a computed tomography (CT) scan of the larynx, and 30 degrees telescopic microlaryngoscopy were compared during evaluation of the laryngeal ventricul and sub-glottic area. The histopatholgoical findings of the specimens collected under each modality were simultaneously compared. Comparison of the histopathological findings, which corresponded to inspection with the 30 degrees telescopic method, was more significant than with the use of standard microlaryngoscopy or the CT scan. The aim of the current study therefore was to determine the importance of the 30 degrees telescopic microlaryngoscopic method for the evaluation of the laryngeal ventricle and subglottic area.     

Addition of cement kiln dust in ceramic wall tile bodies

Journal of Thermal Analysis and Calorimetry - The volume of wastes generated from heavy industries, such as cement and steel industries, is increasing, and the cost of landfill disposal grows...     

Determination of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in waters by ultrasound-assisted emulsification-microextraction and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry

An ultrasound-assisted emulsification-microextraction (USAEME) procedure was developed for the extraction of US EPA 16 polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in 10 mL of water samples, with subsequent determination by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). After determination of the most suitable solvent and solvent volume, several other parameters (i.e., extraction time, centrifugation time and ionic strength of the sample) were optimized using a 2³ factorial experimental design. Limits of detection ranged from 0.001 to 0.036 μg L⁻¹. The developed procedure was applied to fortified distilled water with different fortification levels (0.5, 2 and 5 μg L⁻¹). Recoveries were over 92% and relative standard deviations of the recoveries were below 8%. The efficiency of the USAEME was compared with traditional liquid-liquid extraction (LLE) and solid-phase extraction on real water samples (i.e., tap water, well water and surface (lake) water as well as domestic and industrial wastewaters). The USAEME showed comparable efficiencies especially with LLE. The developed USAEME was demonstrated to be robust, viable, simple, rapid and easy to use for the determination of PAHs in water samples by GC-MS.     

Determination of mineral element concentrations in wheat,sunflower, chickpea and lentil cultivars in response to P fertilization by polarized energy dispersive X‐ray fluorescence

Concentrations of elements (P, K, S, Ca, Mg, Si, Cl, Fe, Zn, Cu, Mn, Mo, Na, Al, Ti, Ni, Ba, As, Br, Rb and Sr) of wheat, sunflower, chickpea and lentil cultivars grown in low and high phosphorus soil were investigated by polarized energy dispersive X‐ray fluorescence (PEDXRF). The phosphorus treatment x cultivars interaction was significant for the growth and element concentrations, and cultivars within plant species differed considerably with respect to element concentrations as the result of P fertilization. Shoot growth of the cultivars of each plant species was increased in response to phosphorus fertilization. Application of P increased the P concentrations of wheat, sunflower, chickpea and lentil cultivars. Under high P conditions, mean K concentrations of wheat and sunflower cultivars were decreased while the mean K concentrations of chickpea and lentil were increased. With the exception of sunflower cultivars, applied P significantly increased S concentration of the cultivars of wheat, chickpea and lentil. Calcium concentrations of wheat and sunflower cultivars were reduced by P fertilization and that of chickpea and lentil were increased. Applied P decreased mean Mg concentrations in sunflower, increased in chickpea and lentil cultivars and showed no effects on the wheat cultivars. Applied P significantly decreased mean Si concentrations of wheat and sunflower while mean Si concentrations of the chickpea and lentil cultivars were increased. Chloride concentrations of the wheat and sunflower cultivars were decreased and those of the chickpea and lentil cultivars were increased by applied P. In general, Fe concentrations of the wheat and chickpea cultivars were significantly increased by applied P. Zinc and Cu concentrations of all the cultivars of the four plant species were reduced by P, particularly Zn concentrations. However, applied P increased mean Mn concentrations of wheat and chickpea and decreased those of chickpea cultivars. Mean Mo concentrations of wheat and chickpea increased but decreased in sunflower and lentil cultivars. In general, applied P increased mean Na concentration of wheat and decreased that of chickpea and lentil. Aluminum concentrations of wheat and chickpea cultivars were decreased by applied P. Applied P decreased Ti concentrations of wheat and sunflower cultivars and increased Ti concentrations of chickpea and lentil. Nickel concentrations of wheat and chickpea were increased and those of sunflower and lentil were decreased by applied P. Applied P reduced the Ba and increased As and Rb concentrations of all the cultivars within the plant species. Bromine concentrations of wheat and lentil were decreased and those of sunflower and chickpea were increased by applied P. Finally, Sr concentrations in wheat and sunflower cultivars were reduced, and increased in chickpea cultivars with applied P. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A new donor–acceptor double‐cable carbazole polymer with perylene bisimide pendant group: Synthesis,electrochemical, and photovoltaic properties

We report here electrochemical synthesis of novel soluble donor–acceptor (D–A) polymer with suitably functionalized perylenetetracarboxylic diimide dye derivative covalently linked to carbazole moiety (Cbz‐PDI). The band gap, E_g was measured using UV–Vis spectroscopy and compared with that obtained by cyclic voltammetry (CV). Efficient intramolecular electron transfer from carbazole‐donor to perynediimide‐acceptor leads to remarkable fluorescence quenching of the perylene core. Furthermore, spectroelectrochemical property and surface morphology of the polymer film were investigated. Characteristic monoanion and dianion radical bands on the UV–Vis absorption spectra attributed to the electrochemical reduction of the neutral polymer were observed. During the reduction process, red color of the film turned into blue and violet, respectively. Finally, the photovoltaic performance of the D–A double‐cable polymer was checked and nearly 0.1% electrical conversion efficiency is obtained under simulated AM 1.5 solar light with 100 mW/cm² radiation power. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 47: 6280–6291, 2009     

Notes on the Rescaled Sasaki Type Metric on the Cotangent Bundle

Let (M,g) be an n-dimensional Riemannian manifold and T^*M be its cotangent bundle equipped with the rescaled Sasaki type metric. In this paper, we firstly study the paraholomorphy property of the rescaled Sasaki type metric by using some compatible paracomplex structures on T^*M. Second, we construct locally decomposable Golden Riemannian structures on T^*M. Finally we investigate curvature properties of T^*M.     

The equivalence of generalized Hölder and Cesáro matrices

We show that the generalized Hölder and Cesáro matrices of order α > −1 are equivalent. We also show that the corresponding is true for doubly infinite generalized Hölder and Cesáro matrices.     

A new linear programming approach and genetic algorithm for solving airline boarding problem

The airline industry is under intense competition to simultaneously increase efficiency and satisfaction for passengers and profitability and internal system benefit for itself. The boarding process is one way to achieve these objectives as it tends itself to adaptive changes. In order to increase the flying time of a plane, commercial airlines try to minimize the boarding time, which is one of the most lengthy parts of a plane’s turn time. To reduce boarding time, it is thus necessary to minimize the number of interferences between passengers by controlling the order in which they get onto the plane through a boarding policy. Here, we determine the passenger boarding problem and examine the different kinds of passenger boarding strategies and boarding interferences in a single aisle aircraft. We offer a new integer linear programming approach to reduce the passenger boarding time. A genetic algorithm is used to solve this problem. Numerical results show effectiveness of the proposed algorithm.