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.     

Sorption of Cu2+ ions by chitin and chitosan from aqueous solutions. Molecular structure of complexes formed

The sorption of Cu²⁺ ions by chitin and chitosan from aqueous solutions has been investigated, as well as the molecular structure of the complexes formed. The static exchange capacities have been determined, equal to 3.5 and 0.25 mmole/g for chitosan and chitin, respectively, and the partition coefficients (5000 and 70 g/ml). It has been shown that in complex formation a bond with the amino group is formed as the result of the substitution of a proton in the latter. The EPR spectra of these complexes have been obtained and their radiospectroscopic parameters determined (g = 2.334,g = 2.054,A = 0.0156 cm^–1, andB = 0.0028 cm^–1 for chitin, andg = 2.231,g = 2.048,A = 0.0192 cm^–1, andB = 0.0025 cm^–1 for chitosan). For chitosan the ligands are two nitrogen atoms of the amino groups and two oxygen atoms of the hydroxyl groups in the position C³ of adjacent glucosamine rings; for chitin, the oxygen atoms of the acetyl groups take part in addition in the complex formation. The analysis of the radiospectroscopic parameters and their comparison with published data lead to the conclusion that the Cu²⁺ complex with chitosan has a tetragonal symmetry, while the complex with chitin most probably has an octahedral structure.Institute of Physical Chemistry, Russian Academy of Sciences, 117915 Moscow. Translated from Izvestiya Akademii Nauk, Seriya Khimicheskaya, No. 10, pp. 2305–2311, October, 1992.     

Aqueous Solutions of Colloidal Ruthenium: the Radiation–Chemical Preparation and Optical Absorption

The radiation-chemical reduction of Ru(III) is studied in aqueous RuCl₃ solutions containing isopropyl alcohol. In the presence of sodium polyacrylate, the stable sols of metal are formed with spherical particles 4–8 nm in diameter. The optical spectrum of nanoparticles is characterized by an increasing absorption in the UV spectral region with no maximum (₂₀₀ = 7.2 × 1030 l mol^–1 cm^–1). The colloids of ruthenium in an aqueous solution are stable in the open air.     

Characterization of the Reaction of Chloroacetaldehyde with Single and Double Stranded DNA

Chloroacetaldehyde reacts with viral M13mp18 single and double stranded DNA to form the highly fluorescent adducts, etheno-AMP and etheno-CMP.

Absorbance and fluorescence spectroscopy can be used to monitor and characterize these reactions. Both single and double stranded DNA showed increases in the absorbance following reaction with the aldehyde. The fluorescence also increased in these two groups and continued to rise with increasing time of incubation until a point of saturation was reached. The fluorescence of the double stranded moiety was considerably enhanced following reaction with the aldehyde while that of the single stranded population was not, making this method appropriate for the separation of small quantities of the two populations of DNA.     

Application of the single comparator method to instrumental photon activation analysis

Journal of Radioanalytical and Nuclear Chemistry - Instrumental photon activation analysis (IPAA) is nondestructive and multi-elemental analysis method like instrumental neutron activation...     

Twist-Bend Nematic Glasses: The Synthesis and Characterisation of Pyrene-based Nonsymmetric Dimers

A selection of pyrene-based liquid crystal dimers have been prepared, containing either methylene-ether or diether linked spacers of varying length and parity. All the diether linked materials, CBOnO.Py (n=5, 6, 11, 12), exhibit conventional nematic and smectic A phases, with the exception of CBO11O.Py which is exclusively nematic. The methylene-ether linked dimer, CBnO.Py, with an even-membered spacer (n=5) was solely nematogenic, but odd-members (n=6, 8, 10) exhibited both nematic and twist-bend nematic phases. Replacement of the cyanobiphenyl fragment by cyanoterphenyl giving CT6O.Py, gave elevated melting and nematic-isotropic transition temperatures, and SmA and SmC_A phases were observed on cooling the nematic phase. Intermolecular face-to-face associations of the pyrene moieties drive glass formation, and all these materials have a glass transition temperature at or above room temperature. The stability of the glassy twist-bend nematic phase allowed for its study using AFM, and the helical pitch length, P_TB, was measured as 6.3 and 6.7 nm for CB6O.Py and CB8O.Py, respectively. These values are comparable to the shortest pitch of a twist-bend nematic phase measured to date.