Autologous fat implantation for vocal fold scar: A preliminary report

New insights into the anatomy and physiology of phonation, along with technological advances in voice assessment and quantification, have led to dramatic improvements in medical voice care. Techniques to prevent vocal fold scar have been among the most important, especially scarring and hoarseness associated with voice surgery. Nevertheless, dysphonia due to vocal fold scar is still encountered all too frequently. Although it is not generally possible to restore such injured voices to normal, patients with scar-induced dysphonia can usually be helped. Voice improvement is optimized through a team approach. Treatment may include sophisticated voice therapy and vocal fold surgery. Although experience with collagen injection has been encouraging in selected cases (particularly in those involving limited areas of vocal fold scar), there is no consistently successful surgical technique. Attempts to treat massive vocal fold scar, such as may be seen following vocal fold stripping, have been particularly unsuccessful. This paper reports preliminary experience with the implantation of autologous fat into the vibratory margin of the vocal fold of patients with severe, extensive scarring. Using this technique, it appears possible to recreate a mucosal wave and improve voice quality. Additional research is needed.     

Etiology, pathophysiology, treatment choices, and voice results for unilateral adductor vocal fold paralysis: A 3-year retrospective

Unilateral vocal fold paralysis is now considered a common disorder seen in the practice of otolaryngology and voice pathology. Concern first is for the accurate diagnosis of the associated etiology in an efficient and thorough fashion. When etiology has been determined the focus of treatment becomes the management of the presenting symptoms, which typically include dysphonia and dysphagia. A retrospective study was conducted reviewing the records of 117 patients with unilateral adductor vocal fold paralysis who presented to a large otolaryngology practice and clinical voice lab from 1995 to 1998. Demographic data reveal most patients to range in age from 16 to 91 with a dominant clustering for ages 50 to 70. Gender distribution reveals males slightly exceed females in this sample. Data regarding etiology type are collected in great detail, revealing that disease and surgery involving the chest contribute the greatest to the overall number in this study and that anterior approach to cervical spine surgery contributes as much as thyroid surgery. General outcomes of the patients are reviewed. A small group (n = 25) of patients who had pretreatment and posttreatment data available revealed statistically significant differences between voice outcomes for patients who were treated with medialization and for those treated with therapy. Patients receiving therapy had less severe symptoms pretreatment, while greater gains pretreatment to posttreatment were shown for those who had surgical medialization.     

A Simple Approach to Derive a Novel N-Soliton Solution for a （3＋1）-Dimensional Nonlinear Evolution Equation

Based on the Hirota bilinear form, a simple approach without employing the standard perturbation technique, is presented for constructing a novel N-soliton solution for a （3＋1）-dimensional nonlinear evolution equation. Moreover, the novel N-soliton solution is shown to have resonant behavior with the aid of Mathematica.     

A Novel Porphyrin-Labeled Poly(N-Isopropylacrylamide): Spectral and Luminescent Properties

A novel water-soluble tetraarylporphyrin-containing polymer has been synthesized by the reaction of bromoalkyl-containing poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) with 5-(4-pyridyl)-10,15,20-tri(4-methoxyphenyl)porphyrin. Some physicochemical properties of the obtained polymers are reported. It has been shown that a strong interaction between the porphyrin units takes place in liquid aqueous medium at temperatures below the lower critical solution temperature (LCST). This phenomenon results in considerable broadening of the Soret band in the absorption spectrum and in strong quenching of fluorescence. Higher than LCST fluorescence enhancement is observed.     

Incorporation of Benzocyclobutene Cross-Linkable Moieties in Poly(Methyl Acrylate): A Novel Approach to Shape-Memory Polymers Accompanied with Microphase Separation

Benzocyclobutene (BCB) moieties were incorporated into a typical polyolefin, poly(methyl acrylate), by free radical copolymerization of benzocyclobutene-4-yl acrylate and methyl acrylate. The subsequent cross-linking of the generated copolymers by ring-opening reaction of BCB gave rise to shape-memory polymers. This new cross-linking process did not require cross-linker and yielded small molecules. Most importantly, submicron-sized particles within the cross-linked polymers, which were observed using atomic force microscope, were induced by this cross-linking strategy. The results of the shape-memory tests suggested that the cross-linked polymers displayed good shape-memory performance.     

A Novel Captopril Chemiluminescence System for Determination of Copper(II) in Human Hair and Cereal Flours

A novel chemiluminescence (CL) reaction, captopril–H₂O₂, for determination of Cu(II) at nanogram per milliliter level in batch-type system has been described. The method relies on the catalytic effect of Cu(II) on the oxidation of captopril with hydrogen peroxide in alkaline medium. The optimization step was performed using univariate methodology and the factors studied were: pH and concentrations of the utilized reagents. Under the optimum conditions, calibration plot was linear in the range of 0.1–2.0 ppm. Limit of detection was 30 ppb and relative standard deviation for five replicate determinations of 0.8 ppm Cu(II) was 1.89%. The proposed method was successfully applied to the determination of Cu(II) in human scalp hair and cereals, rice and wheat, flour with satisfactory selectivity and sensitivity. The results were validated by comparison with a standard method (FAAS). The possible mechanism of the new CL reaction has also been discussed.     

一种新型的白光LED用绿色荧光粉Ca_8MgLu(PO_4)_7∶Tb~(3+)

采用高温固相法合成一种单一纯相绿色荧光粉Ca8Mg Lu(PO4)7∶Tb3+,通过X射线衍射(XRD)、荧光光谱(PLE,PL)和荧光寿命曲线研究了Ca8Mg Lu(PO4)7∶Tb3+的发光性能。Ca8Mg Lu(PO4)7∶Tb3+能被378nm的近紫外光激发,Tb3+发生5D4-7F5跃迁发出绿光,色坐标为(0.324,0.592)。Ca8Mg Lu(PO4)7∶Tb3+的量子效率可达84%,热猝灭性能良好:在150℃和200℃的发光强度积分分别是25℃的90.71%和86.36%。研究结果表明Ca8Mg Lu(PO4)7∶Tb3+是一种理想的适于NUV-LED芯片激发的白光LED用绿色荧光粉。     

橘红色发光的八羟基喹啉锌和1,4-二乙烯基苯的交替共聚物

经由配位聚合反应,合成了八羟基喹啉锌和1,4二乙烯基苯的交替共聚物.所合成的聚合物通过元素分析和红外光谱进行了表征.在365nm的紫外光照射下,聚合物呈现强的橘红色发光,在乙氰溶液中的最大发光峰位在571nm.热失重分析表明,这种含Znq2的聚合物具有稳定的热力学性质,热失重5%的温度大于439℃.这种聚合物的电致发光性质正在研究中.     

Novel synthesis of nanocomposite for the extraction of Sildenafil Citrate (Viagra) from water and urine samples: Process screening and optimization

A sensitive analytical method is investigated to concentrate and determine trace level of Sildenafil Citrate (SLC) present in water and urine samples. The method is based on a sample treatment using dispersive solid-phase micro-extraction (DSPME) with laboratory-made Mn@ CuS/ZnS nanocomposite loaded on activated carbon (Mn@ CuS/ZnS-NCs-AC) as a sorbent for the target analyte. The efficiency was enhanced by ultrasound-assisted (UA) with dispersive nanocomposite solid-phase micro-extraction (UA-DNSPME). Four significant variables affecting SLC recovery like; pH, eluent volume, sonication time and adsorbent mass were selected by the Plackett-Burman design (PBD) experiments. These selected factors were optimized by the central composite design (CCD) to maximize extraction of SLC. The results exhibited that the optimum conditions for maximizing extraction of SLC were 6.0 pH, 300 μL eluent (acetonitrile) volume, 10 mg of adsorbent and 6 min sonication time. Under optimized conditions, virtuous linearity of SLC was ranged from 30 to 4000 ng mL⁻¹ with R² of 0.99. The limit of detection (LOD) was 2.50 ng mL⁻¹ and the recoveries at two spiked levels were ranged from 97.37 to 103.21% with the relative standard deviation (RSD) less than 4.50% (n = 15). The enhancement factor (EF) was 81.91. The results show that the combination UAE with DNSPME is a suitable method for the determination of SLC in water and urine samples.     

A Variable Separation Approach to Solve the Integrable and Nonintegrable Models:Coherent Structures of the (2 + 1)-Dimensional KdV Eqnation

We study the localized coherent structures ofa generally nonintegrable (2 1 )-dimensional KdV equation via a variable separation approach. In a special integrable case, the entrance of some arbitrary functions leads to abundant coherent structures. However, in the general nonintegrable case, an additional condition has to be introduced for these arbitrary functions. Although the additional condition has been introduced into the solutions of the nonintegrable KdV equation, there still exist many interesting solitary wave structures. Especially, the nonintegrable KdV equation possesses the breather-like localized excitations, and the similar static ring soliton solutions as in the integrable case. Furthermor,in the integrable case, the interaction between two travelling ring solitons is elastic, while in the nonintegrable case we cannot find even the single travelling ring soliton solution.     

Novel technique for treating grass carp (Ctenopharyngodon idella) by combining plasma functionalized liquids and Ultrasound: Effects on bacterial inactivation and quality attributes

A novel technique for treating grass carp by combining plasma functionalized liquids and ultrasound to inactivate bacteria was developed. The effects of the plasma functionalized liquids (PFL) including plasma functionalized water (PFW) and buffer (PFB) and their respective combination with ultrasound treatment (USPFW and USPFB) on the oxidative and physical qualities of grass carp were also investigated. Individual applications of PFW and PFB significantly reduced the populations of Escherichia coli and Shewanella putrefaciens in the range of 0.31–1.18 log CFU/g, compared with the control with a reduction of 0.18 log CFU/g, while combined treatments of USPFW and USPFB presented additional reductions of 0.05–0.65 log CFU/g, with potential synergy demonstrated for PFW and ultrasound. The treatment resulted in improved biomedical index and nutritional value of fatty acids and lipids, protein structural unfolding, increased lipid oxidation and protein degradation with values within the acceptable limits, and the combined treatment was more effective for retarding the hardness reduction in grass carp, while the colour change was also significantly affected, resulting in increased whiteness. The results indicated that the combined treatments may be a promising approach to improving the quality of seafood products.     

Microcarriers: Elaborate Design Strategies Toward Novel Microcarriers for Controlled Encapsulation and Release (Part. Part. Syst. Charact. 1/2013)

Microencapsulation and the controlled release of bioactive agents have long been investigated and exploited to both improve the fundamental understanding of cell functionality and to develop efficient delivery vehicles for drugs, nutrients, and cosmetics. Conventional approaches to the synthesis of particles and capsules for practical applications have achieved only limited control over particle size, shape, functionality, and encapsulation efficiency. To overcome such limitations, a variety of approaches have been developed. Recent advances in microfluidics and other techniques have inspired the design of new microcarriers that efficiently encapsulate bioactive agents to enable the on‐demand release or functionalization of encapsulants. Here, the current state of the art in the area of elaborate design strategies for microcarriers that enable efficient encapsulation and controlled release for biological applications is described. This is discussed in three sections, which are categorized by microcarrier type: particle‐type carriers, capsule‐type carriers, and foldable microcarriers. In each section, new routes to fabricating microcarriers are discussed together with their functionalities; techniques based on droplet microfluidics, lithography, micromolding, and imprinting are covered. In addition, the synthetic routes and the microcarriers are evaluated by comparison with alternative routes. Finally, future perspectives for these new strategies are outlined briefly.     

On the intrinsic accuracy and precision of the standardised growth curve (SGC) and global-SGC (gSGC) methods for equivalent dose determination: A simulation study

In optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dating, the single aliquot regenerative-dose (SAR) method has been used extensively for determining equivalent doses (D_e) in quartz. A variation of the SAR method is the “standardised growth curve” (SGC) method, which has been used as an efficient procedure to save measurement time during dating studies. During the application of the SGC method one establishes the SGC and calculation of the D_e of an aliquot requires only measurement of the standardised natural dose signal. Recently, a “global standardised growth curve” (gSGC) method was developed as an improved version of the SGC procedure. During the application of the gSGC method, the growth curves are re-normalised using sensitivity-corrected signal corresponding to one of the regenerative doses. Subsequently the D_e of an aliquot is estimated using the sensitivity-corrected natural dose signal and an additional sensitivity-corrected regenerative dose signal as well as the established gSGC. In the present study, simulations are performed to assess the intrinsic accuracy and precision of the SGC and gSGC D_e estimates. The results of our simulations validate that the gSGC method is intrinsically more precise than the SGC method and is also more accurate for doses greater than 210 Gy. Several factors which affect the reliability of the two methods are investigated.     

Programmable Colored Illumination Microscopy (PCIM): A practical and flexible optical staining approach for microscopic contrast enhancement

Programmable colored illumination microscopy (PCIM) has been proposed as a flexible optical staining technique for microscopic contrast enhancement. In this method, we replace the condenser diaphragm of a conventional microscope with a programmable thin film transistor-liquid crystal display (TFT-LCD). By displaying different patterns on the LCD, numerous established imaging modalities can be realized, such as bright field, dark field, phase contrast, oblique illumination, and Rheinberg illuminations, which conventionally rely on intricate alterations in the respective microscope setups. Furthermore, the ease of modulating both the color and the intensity distribution at the aperture of the condenser opens the possibility to combine multiple microscopic techniques, or even realize completely new methods for optical color contrast staining, such as iridescent dark-field and iridescent phase-contrast imaging. The versatility and effectiveness of PCIM is demonstrated by imaging of several transparent colorless specimens, such as unstained lung cancer cells, diatom, textile fibers, and a cryosection of mouse kidney. Finally, the potentialities of PCIM for RGB-splitting imaging with stained samples are also explored by imaging stained red blood cells and a histological section.     

A Bounded Measure for Estimating the Benefit of Visualization (Part II): Case Studies and Empirical Evaluation

Many visual representations, such as volume-rendered images and metro maps, feature a noticeable amount of information loss due to a variety of many-to-one mappings. At a glance, there seem to be numerous opportunities for viewers to misinterpret the data being visualized, hence, undermining the benefits of these visual representations. In practice, there is little doubt that these visual representations are useful. The recently-proposed information-theoretic measure for analyzing the cost–benefit ratio of visualization processes can explain such usefulness experienced in practice and postulate that the viewers’ knowledge can reduce the potential distortion (e.g., misinterpretation) due to information loss. This suggests that viewers’ knowledge can be estimated by comparing the potential distortion without any knowledge and the actual distortion with some knowledge. However, the existing cost–benefit measure consists of an unbounded divergence term, making the numerical measurements difficult to interpret. This is the second part of a two-part paper, which aims to improve the existing cost–benefit measure. Part I of the paper provided a theoretical discourse about the problem of unboundedness, reported a conceptual analysis of nine candidate divergence measures for resolving the problem, and eliminated three from further consideration. In this Part II, we describe two groups of case studies for evaluating the remaining six candidate measures empirically. In particular, we obtained instance data for (i) supporting the evaluation of the remaining candidate measures and (ii) demonstrating their applicability in practical scenarios for estimating the cost–benefit of visualization processes as well as the impact of human knowledge in the processes. The real world data about visualization provides practical evidence for evaluating the usability and intuitiveness of the candidate measures. The combination of the conceptual analysis in Part I and the empirical evaluation in this part allows us to select the most appropriate bounded divergence measure for improving the existing cost–benefit measure.     

A Bounded Measure for Estimating the Benefit of Visualization (Part I): Theoretical Discourse and Conceptual Evaluation

Information theory can be used to analyze the cost–benefit of visualization processes. However, the current measure of benefit contains an unbounded term that is neither easy to estimate nor intuitive to interpret. In this work, we propose to revise the existing cost–benefit measure by replacing the unbounded term with a bounded one. We examine a number of bounded measures that include the Jenson–Shannon divergence, its square root, and a new divergence measure formulated as part of this work. We describe the rationale for proposing a new divergence measure. In the first part of this paper, we focus on the conceptual analysis of the mathematical properties of these candidate measures. We use visualization to support the multi-criteria comparison, narrowing the search down to several options with better mathematical properties. The theoretical discourse and conceptual evaluation in this part provides the basis for further data-driven evaluation based on synthetic and experimental case studies that are reported in the second part of this paper.     

A density-functional theory for (BAs)n clusters (n=1 14): structures, stabilities and electronic properties

This paper investigates the lowest-energy structures,stabilities and electronic properties of (BAs) n clusters (n=1-14) by means of the density-functional theory.The results show that the lowest-energy structures undergo a structural change from two-dimensional to three-dimensional when n=4.With the increase of the cluster size (n 6),the (BAs) n clusters tend to adopt cage-like structures,which can be considered as being built from B 2 As 2 and six-membered rings with B-As bond alternative arrangement.The binding energy per atom,second-order energy differences,vertical electron affinity and vertical ionization potential are calculated and discussed.The caculated HOMO-LUMO gaps reveal that the clusters have typical semiconductor characteristics.The analysis of partial density of states suggests that there are strong covalence and molecular characteristics in the clusters.     

A chemical placebo: NaCl as an effective, cheapest, non-acidic and greener catalyst for Biginelli-type 3,4-dihydropyrimidin-2(1H)-ones (-thiones) synthesis

Despite prior reports of several really effective catalytic and non-catalytic approaches towards Biginelli’s 3,4-dihydropyrimidin-2(1H)-ones, an overwhelming number of new catalysts for the Biginelli reaction have been recently published. Most of the catalysts are somewhat exotic, expensive, harmful and even uneffective in the absence of acidic additives. Herein we reduce the “yet-another-one-catalyst” idea to absurdity by proposing NaCl promotes the reaction that actually requires no catalyst, neither rare nor expensive.