Mild Vocal Fold Paresis: Understanding Clinical Presentation and Electromyographic Findings

The implications of mild vocal fold hypomobility are incompletely understood. This study describes the clinical, electromyographic, and probable etiologic findings in patients who presented with complaints of dysphonia and whose physical examination revealed vocal fold paresis as a factor possibly contributing to their voice complaints. A retrospective chart review of all patients who presented to a tertiary laryngology referral center over a 13-month period, who had a clinical diagnosis of mild vocal fold hypomobility and who underwent laryngeal electromyography, were included in the study. A total of 22 patients completed the medical evaluation of their voice complaint. Of these patients, 19 (86.4%) were found to have evidence of neuropathy on laryngeal electromyography. The clinical picture indicated the following probable origins for the vocal fold paresis: goiter/thyroiditis (7/22 or 31.8%), idiopathic (4/22 or 18.2%), viral neuritis (4/22 or 18.2%), trauma (3/22 or 13.6%), and Lyme's disease (1/22 or 4.5%). This article describes the clinical entity of mild vocal fold hypomobility and associated flexible laryngoscopic, rigid strobovideolaryngoscopic, and laryngeal electromyographic findings.     

The False Vocal Folds: Shape and Size in Frontal View During Phonation Based on Laminagraphic Tracings

The geometry of the false vocal fold region during phonation is important to the understanding of the aerodynamics and acoustics of voice. The shape and dimensions of this region during phonation were estimated using laminagraphic tracings of the larynx. Laminagrams from two previous studies, one with non-singer subjects (Experiment I, Hollien and Colton, 1969) and the other with singers (Experiment II, Wilson, 1972), were traced, photocopied, and measured. Statistical analysis showed significantly greater false vocal fold height in males than females for both experiments. The false vocal fold gap was also significantly greater in males than females for Experiment II, but reached only borderline significance for Experiment I. For each gender, most of the linear measures were greater in Experiment I when compared to Experiment II; these differences may be passive in nature (due to actual differences in subject size) or active (due to muscle contraction that displaced the false vocal folds during singing).     

The intermediate layer: A morphologic study of the elastin and hyaluronic acid constituents of normal human vocal folds

The lamina propria of vocal folds are important in voice production. We evaluated the morphologic features of elastin and hyaluronic acid, two important constituents of the lamina propria. Thirty normal human vocal folds were obtained from patients dying of traumatic causes without vocal fold injury. These tissues were immediately prepared for histologic and ultrastructural examination by standard methods. For specific study of the ultrastructure of the layers of the lamina propria, six vocal folds were divided horizontally through the midplane of the lamina propria. We found that the elastin composition of the vocal folds is variable, the largest amount being seen in the midportion on elastin-van Gieson (EVG) staining and ultrastructural evaluation. The superficial layer of the lamina propria contains fewer large elastin fibers. In this region, we found that elastin was predominantly composed of elaunin and oxytalan, which stain poorly with EVG. Using computer-assisted image analysis, we quantified the differences in elastin composition between the layers. The amount of elastin varied between men and women, and these differences could not be accurately measured by the methods employed. Hyaluronic acid was abundant especially in the midportion of the lamina propria and was significantly more abundant in men than women on quantification. The significance of these observations in normal vocal folds is discussed.     

重新审视桥式吸附甲酸根在铂电极上电催化氧化甲酸过程中的作用 (cited: 2)

基于以前报道的电化学原位ATR-FTIRS数据(Langmuir 22,10399 (2006)和Angewa. Chem. Int. Ed., 50,1159 (2011)),详细讨论了甲酸在铂电极上电催化氧化机理及动力学过程．提出了直接反应路径的动力学模型,即甲酸吸附(同时C-H键活化)作为此反应的决速步骤,此反应路径贡献甲酸氧化反应的大部分电流．该动力学模型可以很好地拟合在无CO毒化影响和浓度在0.1 mol/L以下的红外光谱结果．这种机理预测了甲酸氧化直接途径可能只需要一个Pt原子作为反应位点,甲酸根阻碍活性位点,并非为反应中间物．另外还详细检验了之前其他小组曾提出的甲酸根途径(一级或二级反应)为甲酸氧化直接途径,并指出了引起分歧的原因．     

电化学红外光谱研究铂电极上甲酸分解成CO的反应中桥式吸附甲酸根的作用

采用电化学原位红外光谱技术研究了多晶Pt电极上甲酸的分解反应. 研究发现,在恒电位下(0.4 V vs. RHE)从不含甲酸的支持电解质溶液切换到含甲酸的溶液时,CO_ad的生成速率在切换的最初也就是甲酸根的覆盖度为零最大,切换后的1 s内甲酸根的覆盖度达到平衡,而COad的生成速率逐步降低. E由0.75 V变至0.35 V的电位阶跃实验显示：电位阶跃后的瞬间,甲酸根的红外光谱强度迅速降低,而CO_ad的生成强度随时间缓慢增加. 实验表明甲酸根不是甲酸脱水生成CO的反应活性中间体.     

Spectrofluorimetric Determination of 3-hidroxy-2-naphthoic Acid by Use of Its Ternary Complex with Zirconium (IV) and Beta-Cyclodextrin: Application to Determination in River Water

A spectrofluorimetric method has been developed for the determination of 3-hydroxy-2-naphthoic acid (3H2NA) by formation of a ternary complex with zirconium (IV) and β-cyclodextrin (β-CD). It has been observed that the fluorescence intensity of 3H2NA is greatly enhanced when the ternary complex is formed and is accompanied with shifts in the excitation and emission wavelengths. The conditions for the formation of the ternary complex have been optimized and the stoichiometry has been calculated, resulting a 1:2:1 complex (3H2NA:Zr: β-CD). The linear range was 20–2000 ng mL⁻¹ and the detection and quantification limits calculated were 17 and 58 ng mL⁻¹, respectively. The proposed method was applied to the determination of 3H2NA in river water. To eliminate interferences an off-line solid phase extraction (SPE) procedure using C18 cartridges was used. The extraction procedure was optimized and good recoveries were obtained (around 100%) with relative standard deviations (RSDs) of less than 5%.