A Pilot Survey of Vocal Health in Young Singers

The objective of this study was to determine the incidence of vocal problems in young choir singers and to correlate vocal problems with demographic and behavioral information. A questionnaire addressing vocal habits and hygiene was offered to 571 young choir singers, up to 25 years of age, who sing at least weekly; 129 (22.6%) responded. More than one-half of the respondents had experienced vocal difficulty, particularly older adolescents. Detrimental behaviors and circumstances surveyed were not reflective of the incidence of vocal difficulty, except for morning hoarseness, chronic fatigue, insomnia, and female gender after puberty. Voice care professionals should be aware that self-reported voice difficulties are common among young choral singers, especially postpubescent girls, and children with symptoms consistent with reflux (morning hoarseness) and emotional stress (insomnia). Laryngologists should communicate with choral conductors and singing teachers to enhance early identification and treatment of children with voice complaints, and to develop choral educational strategies that help decrease their incidence.     

Active set algorithms for isotonic regression; A unifying framework

In this and subsequent papers we will show that several algorithms for the isotonic regression problem may be viewed as active set methods. The active set approach provides a unifying framework for studying algorithms for isotonic regression, simplifies the exposition of existing algorithms and leads to several new efficient algorithms. We also investigate the computational complexity of several algorithms.In this paper we consider the isotonic regression problem with respect to a complete order where eachw _i is strictly positive and eachy _i is an arbitrary real number. We show that the Pool Adjacent Violators algorithm (due to Ayer et al., 1955; Miles, 1959; Kruskal, 1964), is a dual feasible active set method and that the Minimum Lower Set algorithm (due to Brunk et al., 1957) is a primal feasible active set method of computational complexity O(n ²). We present a new O(n) primal feasible active set algorithm. Finally we discuss Van Eeden's method and show that it is of worst-case exponential time complexity.This work was supported by the National Science and Engineering Research Council of Canada under Research Grant A8189 and an Ontario Graduate Scholarship.     

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PHOTOSENSITIZING PROPERTIES OF BACTERIOCHLOROPHYLLIN a and BACTERIOCHLORIN a, TWO DERIVATIVES OF BACTERIOCHLOROPHYLL a

Abstract The photosensitizing properties of two water soluble derivatives of bacteriochlorophyll a , bacteriochlorophyllin a and bacteriochlorin a (lacking the central Mg-ion) were investigated and compared to those of hematoporphyrin derivatives. At physiological pH the oxygen consumption rate of histidine, tryptophan, dithiothreitol and guanosine upon illumination was 3 to 4 times higher when bacteriochlorin a was used as photosensitizer than when hematoporphyrin derivatives were used. Especially bacteriochlorin a proved to be an effective sensitizer for the killing of L929 cells. Because bacteriochlorin a has an absorption maximum at 765 nm in phosphate buffered saline (allowing a light penetration in tissue about ten times larger than at 630 nm) and a high molar absorption coefficient (32 000 M cm⁻¹) it has promising possibilities for the application in photodynamic therapy.     

Dynamics and lithium binding energies of polyelectrolytes based on functionalized poly(para-phenylene terephthalamide)

Polyelectrolyte materials are an interesting class of electrolytes for use in fuel cell and battery applications. Poly(para-phenylene terephthalamide) (PPTA, Kevlar) is a liquid crystalline polymer that, when sulfonated, is a polyelectrolyte that exhibits moderate ion conductivity at elevated temperatures. In this work, quasi-elastic neutron scattering (QENS) experiments were performed to gain insight into the effect of the presence of lithium counterions on the chain dynamics in the material. It was found that the addition of lithium ions decreases the dynamics of the chains. Additionally, the binding of lithium ions to the sulfonic acids groups was investigated by density functional theory (DFT) calculations. It was found that the local surroundings of the sulfonic acid group have very little effect on the lithium-ion binding energy. Binding energies for a variety of different systems were all calculated to be around 150 kcal/mol. The DFT calculations also show the existence of a structure in which a single lithium ion interacts with two sulfonic acid moieties on different chains. The formation of such "electrostatic cross-links" is believed to be the source of the increased tendency to aggregate and the reduced dynamics in the presence of lithium ions.     

A fluorescent sensor for 2,3-bisphosphoglycerate using a europium tetra-N-oxide bis-bipyridine complex for both binding and signaling purposes

Host 1 was designed and synthesized as a fluorescent sensor for 2,3-bisphosphoglycerate (BPG, 3). The design features a tris-functionalized triethylbenzene core to preorganize binding groups. The three cationic moieties, a tetra-N-oxide bipyridine-europium complex and two ammonium groups, were included to complement the three anionic functionalities on the guest. Beyond acting as a binding site, the europium complex was used to signal binding of the guest through modification of the charge transfer emission. A 1:1 complex with BPG was determined in 50 % methanol/acetonitrile with a K(a) of 6.7 x 10(5) mol(-1) by monitoring the reduction of the fluorescence signal upon guest addition. In the titration of related glycolytic intermediates lacking a second phosphate (4-6) into host 1, 2:1 host to guest binding was observed. Similarly, control compound 2, which lacks the ammonium groups, binds BPG and 4-6 in a 2:1 fashion. Also, phenylphosphate 7 binds to host 1 in a 1:1 stoichiometry with a K(a) over three times less than 3.