Contact Telescopy Reveals Blood Vessel Alterations of Vocal Fold Mucosa in Reinke''s Edema

AIM: To evaluate contact telescopy findings for estimation of blood vessel changes in vocal fold mucosa in patients with Reinke's edema. Histological features significant for diagnosis of microvascular vocal fold alteration were correlated with clinical findings. METHODS: In 80 patients with Reinke's edema, laryngoscopy and video-telescopy image analysis of vocal folds were performed. Vocal fold mucosa biopsies were histologically analyzed and compared with contact telescopy findings. An interesting aspect of vocal fold microcirculation found both by contact telescopy imiging and by histological specimens was described. RESULTS: Contact telescopy in vivo revealed different forms of pathological blood vessel networks with unusual appearance of loops or branching. Some dilated varicose vascular channels had very thin walls, and within atypical capillaries, partial erythrocyte accumulation was found. Details of blood flow are also visible, showing multidirectional and discontinuous blood flow in neighboring vessels. CONCLUSION: The noninvasive contact telescope technique is very useful as an additional diagnostic tool for defining a condition of a subepithelial Reinke's space in a very short period of time. The great advantage of contact telescopy is systematic in vivo and in situ observation of microvascular details in the vocal folds. The contact technique allows dynamic follow-up of the microcirculation in Reinke's edema as well as simultaneous consultation of a pathologist in the operating theater.     

Deviant Vocal Fold Vibration as Observed During Videokymography: The Effect on Voice Quality

Videokymographic images of deviant or irregular vocal fold vibration, including diplophonia, the transition from falsetto to modal voice, irregular vibration onset and offset, and phonation following partial laryngectomy were compared with the synchronously recorded acoustic speech signals. A clear relation was shown between videokymographic image sequences and acoustic speech signals, and the effect of irregular or incomplete vocal fold vibration patterns was recognized in the amount of perceived breathiness and roughness and by the harmonics-to-noise ratio in the speech signal. Mechanisms causing roughness are the presence of mucus, phase differences between the left and right vocal fold, and short-term frequency and amplitude modulation. It can be concluded that the use of simultaneously recorded videokymographic image sequences and speech signals contributes to the understanding of the effect of irregular vocal fold vibration on voice quality.     

“Compensatory falsetto”: Effects on vocal quality

The term “compensatory falsetto”, for the purpose of this investigation, refers to the development of an abnormally high-pitched voice in the presence of laryngeal pathology where more socially acceptable lower pitched voice production is possible. The purpose of this investigation was to compare laryngeal compensations and their effects on objective measures of vocal function during production of compensatory falsetto voice. Eighteen patients with abnormally high-pitched voice in the presence of underlying laryngeal pathology were evaluated in the Department of Otolaryngology at the University of Miami School of Medicine from January 1988 through December 1992 and were diagnosed with “compensatory falsetto”. Vocal fold paralysis (n = 11) was the most common laryngeal pathology. Vibratory characteristics were evaluated through videostrobolaryngoscopic examination. Acoustic and aerodynamic parameters assessed included fundamental frequency, jitter rate, harmonic-to-noise ratio, glottal air flow, and maximum phonation time. Production of a higher-pitched voice appeared to improve glottic closure and decrease the amount of air loss during phonation. A corresponding increase in maximum phonation time and improvement in acoustic characteristics of jitter and harmonic-to-noise ratio was also observed.     

“Hot Potato Voice” in Peritonsillitis: A Misnomer

The "hot potato voice" is widely recognized as a symptom of peritonsillar cellulitis or abscess; yet there have been no studies assessing the resonance characteristics of the vocal tract in peritonsillitis. Analysis was undertaken of formant frequencies in the articulation of the vowels /i:/. /a:/ and /u:/ in six subjects with peritonsillitis and compared with articulation once the peritonsillitis had settled. Significant variation was found in F1 when articulating /i:/ and in F2 when articulating /a:/, which are explainable by dyskinesis of the peritonsillar musculature. These findings were compared with six subjects articulating the same vowels with and without a hot potato in their mouth. Variation was found in both F1 and F2 when articulating /i:/, which can be related to interference of the potato with movement of the anterior tongue. The changes in the vocal tract differ in these two cases and the title "hot potato voice" in peritonsillitis is a misnomer.     

Combination thyroplasty and the “twisted larynx:” combined type IV and type I thyroplasty for superior laryngeal nerve weakness

Vocal cord medialization through Isshiki type I thyroplasty is part of the standard approach for patients with unilateral vocal cord immobility secondary to recurrent laryngeal nerve paralysis. However, several other modalities have been used to treat the symptomatic “twisted” larynx caused by unilateral superior laryngeal nerve weakness. The Isshiki type IV thyroplasty (cricothyroid approximation) specifically addresses cricothyroid muscle weakness, but, canine studies at the Mayo Clinic demonstrated a trend toward decreased acoustic power and sound intensity with simulated cricothyroid activity. Thus it is reasoned that addition of an ipsilateral type I thyroplasty should help compensate for this power loss.Using videostroboscopic and acoustic analysis, 9 patients with unilateral superor laryngeal nerve weakness were treated with combination type IV and type I thyroplasty. Subjective dysphonia and objective visual and acoustic measurements revealed postoperative improvement in most patients. The combination type IV and type I thyroplasty is recommended for surgical treatment of patients with superior laryngeal nerve weakness, because it addresses cricothyroid muscle weakness without compromising vocal power.     

Voice Source Characteristics in Mongolian “Throat Singing” Studied with High-Speed Imaging Technique, Acoustic Spectra, and Inverse Filtering

Mongolian “throat singing” can be performed in different modes. In Mongolia, the bass-type is called Kargyraa. The voice source in bass-type throat singing was studied in one male singer. The subject alternated between modal voice and the throat singing mode. Vocal fold vibrations were observed with high-speed photography, using a computerized recording system. The spectral characteristics of the sound signal were analyzed. Kymographic image data were compared to the sound signal and flow inverse filtering data from the same singer were obtained on a separate occasion. It was found that the vocal folds vibrated at the same frequency throughout both modes of singing. During throat singing the ventricular folds vibrated with complete but short closures at half the frequency of the true vocal folds, covering every second vocal fold closure. Kymographic data confirmed the findings. The spectrum contained added subharmonics compared to modal voice. In the inverse filtered signal the amplitude of every second airflow pulse was considerably lowered. The ventricular folds appeared to modulate the sound by reducing the glottal flow of every other vocal fold vibratory cycle.     

Comment on “Ensemble Kalman filter with the unscented transform”

The results of numerical experiments with the ensemble unscented Kalman filter and 40-dimensional model of Lorentz and Emanuel in Luo and Moroz (2009) [2] are inconclusive.     

In Vivo Targeted Cancer Theranostics by Core/Shell‐Structured Multifunctional Prussian Blue/PLGA “Nanococktails”

The construction of high‐performance nanotheranostic agent with Food and Drug Administration (FDA)‐approved materials for efficient treatment of breast cancer is still of great challenge. This work reports, for the first time, on the elaborate integration of two FDA‐approved materials together to construct a multifunctional core/shell‐structured “nanococktail” for cancer theranostics. The biocompatible Prussian blue nanoparticles with high photothermal‐conversion performance are coated by poly(lactic‐co‐glycolic acid) followed by further surface targeting engineering (folic acid conjugation). The anticancer drug paclitaxel is concurrently encapsulated into the nanocarrier with high efficiency and capacity. Especially, these “nanococktails” act as the desirable contrast agents for photoacoustic/magnetic resonance imaging dual‐mode diagnostic imaging, providing the potential for guidance and monitoring during the therapeutic process, which has been systematically demonstrated both in vitro and in vivo. Importantly, these “nanococktails” have demonstrated their high performance in synergistic in vivo photothermal therapy and chemotherapy against breast cancer tumor xenograft. This work not only provides a high‐performance theranostic “nanococktail” platform for efficient theranostic treatment of cancer but also paves a new way for the integration of various functional moieties together for realizing the specific diagnostic imaging‐guided and synergistic cancer therapy.     

Scattering of ultrashort laser pulses on “ion‐sphere” in dense plasmas

Scattering of ultrashort electromagnetic pulses on the dense strongly coupled plasma is under consideration in the frame of hard ion sphere model. The electron distribution inside the ion sphere is obtained from self‐consistent solution of the Shrodinger equation for bound electrons and the Poisson equation for free electrons. The electron density distribution is determined by plasma electron temperatures. The ion density of Al plasmas under consideration is of the order of 10²⁰–10²² cm^?3, the electron temperature changes between 54 and 816 eV. Dynamical polarizability of the hard sphere determining the scattering cross sections is calculated using the modified local plasma frequency approximation. The spectrum of scattering cross section has maxima in the vicinity of the mean plasma frequency. Dependencies of scattering probability on carrier frequency and pulse duration are analysed in detail. The transition of the total scattering probabilities from nonlinear time dependence at small times to standard linear ones with the increase of pulse duration is demonstrated.     

Comments on the unification of electromagnetism and gravitation through “Generalized Einstein manifolds”

Akbar-Zadeh [J. Geom. Phys. 17 (1995) 342] has recently proposed a new geometric formulation of Einstein-Maxwell system with source in terms of what are called “Generalized Einstein manifolds”. We show that, contrary to the claim, Maxwell equations have not been derived in this formulation, and that the assumed equations can be identified only as source-free Maxwell equations in the proposed geometric setup. A genuine derivation of source-free Maxwell equations is presented within the same framework. We draw a conclusion that the proposed unification scheme can pertain only to source-free situations.     

Study on some aspects of the “singer's formant” in north indian classical singing

This article deals with a spectrographic analysis of the singer's formant as occurred during singing of the vowels /a/, /i/, and /o/ in North Indian classical vocal music. The resonance balance, center frequency, and band-width are shown as a function of fundamental frequency for eight singers.Two new parameters have been defined viz. asymmetry parameter (A) and spectral energy balance (W). Their variation with fundamental frequency is shown.     

Transverse diffusion (“”) at weak coupling

We show that the transport coefficient , describing momentum diffusion for fast jets moving in the quark-gluon plasma, receives large O(g) corrections from plasma effects which we explicitly calculate, at weak coupling. Our approach is based on an “Euclideanization” property of classical physics near the light-cone, which simplifies drastically this calculation and might open up a new possibility for the lattice study of these effects.     

Reply to comment on “A new method for phase extraction from a single fringe pattern”

In response to the comment made by Ferrari on our previous paper [C.J. Tay, C. Quan, F.J. Yang, X.Y. He, Opt. Commun. 239 (2004) 251], we have the following clarifications to make.     

Comment on “Analytical expressions of group-delay dispersion and cubic phase for four-prism sequence used at other than Brewster’s angle”

It is indicated that generalized expressions for dφ₂/dn and d²φ₂/dn², applicable to multiple-prism pulse compression, have been known in the literature since 1987.     

Perceptual Identification and Acoustic Measures of the Resonant Voice Based on “Lessac''s Y-Buzz”—A Preliminary Study With Actors

This study aimed to verify whether the resonant voice based on Lessac's Y-Buzz can be perceived by listeners as resonant and different from habitual voice and to compare them to determine whether this sound exploration improves the vocal production. Nine newly graduated actors, six men and three women without voice complaints, were the subjects. They received a session of Lessac's Y-Buzz training from the primary investigator. Before training, they were asked to sustain the vowel /i/ at comfortable frequency and habitual loudness. After training, they were requested to sustain the Y-Buzz they had learned at a comfortable frequency and habitual loudness. Three speech-language pathologists (SLP) trained in voice developed an auditory-perceptive analysis. The pre- and posttraining voice samples were randomly spliced together, edited, and presented in pairs to perceptual judges who were asked to identify the most resonant of the pair. The voice samples were also acoustically compared through the Hoarseness Diagram and acoustic measures using the VoxMetria Software (CTS, version 2.0s, Brazil). The Y-Buzz trials were identified as resonant voice in 74% of the comparisons. The acoustic measures showed a statistically significant decrease of irregularity (P = 0.002) and shimmer (P = 0.38). The Hoarseness Diagram demonstrated how the resonant voice moved toward the normality for irregularity and noise components. The results showed that the resonant voice based on the Y-Buzz can be identified as resonant and different from normal voicing in the same subject, and it apparently implies a better vocal production demonstrating a significant decrease of shimmer and irregularity through the Hoarseness Diagram evaluation.     

Comment on: “Quantum exam” [Phys. Lett. A 350 (2006) 174]

In the Letter [B.A. Nguyen, Phys. Lett. A 350 (2006) 174], a quantum exam protocol was presented. Here we show a cheating protocol, by which any student can get the other students' solution without being detected. Then we propose a possible modified protocol against this attacking strategy.     

Assembly of Gold Nanoparticles on Gold Nanorods Using Functionalized Poly(N‐isopropylacrylamide) as Polymeric “Glue”

A telechelic thermoresponsive polymer, α‐amino‐ω‐thiol‐poly(N‐isopropylacrylamide) (H₂N‐PNiPAM‐SH), is used as the polymeric glue to assemble gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) around gold nanorods (AuNRs) into a satellite structure. Prepared by reversible addition‐fragmentation chain transfer polymerization followed by hydrazinolysis, H₂N‐PNiPAM‐SH is able to interlink the two types of the gold building blocks with the thiol‐end grafting on AuNRs and the amine‐end coordinating on the AuNP surface. The density of the grafted AuNPs on AuNRs can be tuned by adjusting the molar ratio between AuNPs and AuNRs in the feed. The resulted satellite‐like assembly exhibits unique optical property that was responsive to temperature change.