Optimization of serotonin imprinted polymers and recognition study from platelet rich plasma

Molecularly imprinted polymers using serotonin as the template molecule was prepared for selective recognition from platelet rich plasma by non-covalent imprinting approach. Four different monomers (methacrylic acid, acrylamide, 4-vinylpyridine and 2-acrylamido-2-methylpropane sulfonic acid) and acetonitrile and DMSO as porogen were investigated for the first time by bulk polymerization. The molecularly imprinted polymer which was prepared by acrylamide/methacrylic acid had the largest imprinting factor for serotonin. The affinity and specificity of these polymers were evaluated by equilibrium binding experiments. The effect of polarity of the solvents was examined by polymers binding capacity and imprinting factor. According to the Scatchard analysis the K(d) and Q(max) values were calculated as 1.95 micromoll(-1) and 19.129 micromolg(-1), respectively. The polymer was tested to evaluate serotonin from platelet rich plasma and 70% serotonin recovery was found.     

Harmful Substances on the Opera Stage: Possible Negative Effects on Singers'' Respiratory Tracts

Objective, quantitative information is lacking in the medical community about actual working conditions for professional singers onstage, and moreover, about which conditions are safe. Physicians, speech-language pathologists, and speech scientists focusing on laryngology should have relevant information about the opera as workplace and the medical sequelae of unhealthy environments. We describe five toxic substances to which singers presenting to our clinics were exposed while working professionally on the opera stage: (1) aromatic diisocyanates, (2) penicillium frequentans in cork granulate, (3) formaldehyde in cork granulate, (4) cobalt and aluminum (pigment components), and (5) quartz sand capable of entering the alveolae. Biological considerations and clinical data for some subjects suggest a direct causal link between the exposures and the patients' complaints and findings. Our observations suggest that whenever singers complain about deleterious conditions such as dry and hot onstage climate or suspicion of the presence of harmful substances, the specific conditions existing in the theater in question should be investigated. Harmful substances are not only poorly tolerated by singers, but also they should be preventable.     

Laryngeal and Vocal Changes During Vagus Nerve Stimulation in Epileptic Patients

Left vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) by means of an implanted electrode has proven to reduce seizure frequency in epileptic patients with medically refractory seizures. This technique is now widely applied over the world. Voice changes appear to be one of the major side effects. The morphodynamic changes in the larynx and the acoustic impacts have been analyzed in detail in 7 implanted patients. Basic vagus stimulation is well tolerated. Extra stimulation induces an adductory spasm of either the ipsilateral vocal fold or the vestibular fold. The result, when the patient phonates, consists of a slight increase of F0 as well as a moderate increase of random period perturbation, but there is no evidence for the occurrence of "bifurcations." Further, as the glottic closure remains sufficient, there is no increase in turbulent noise. The lack of increase in turbulent noise and the lack of "bifurcations" appears to clearly differentiate a spasmodic contraction of the vocal cord from a unilateral vocal fold paralysis.     

Bilateral Vocal Fold Posterior Glottic/Subglottic Stenotic Web Resected with Contact Tip Nd-YAG Laser

The standard treatment for respiratory failure remains endotracheal intubation, with periods of 22 or more days being commonplace. Posterior glottic stenotic web formation, from scarring in the posterior interarytenoid area, may occur after endotracheal intubation, thermal, corrosive, or direct surgical injury. A commonly used classification system for posterior glottic stenosis divides the occurrence into four types. Type I involves an interarytenoid scar band between the vocal folds that is anterior and separate from the posterior interarytenoid mucosa. Type II stenosis involves scarring of the mucosa or musculature of the posterior interarytenoid area. Types III and IV involve unilateral and bilateral cricoarytenoid joint fixation, respectively. Strobovideolaryngoscopy (SVL), rigid and flexible fiberoptic bronchoscopy, electromyography (EMG), radiologic imaging of the neck, larynx, and trachea as well as pulmonary function tests, including flow volume loops, provide important objective measurements of upper airway obstruction. A representative case of a professional voice user who suffered a Type II posterior glottic stenosis is presented. The treatment utilized a specific contact-tip neodymium-yttrium aluminum garnet (Nd-YAG) laser delivery system to achieve precise cutting, vaporization, and coagulation simultaneously, returning tactile touch technique to the airway/voice surgeon. Completely successful restoration of voice and airway have been maintained for 2 1/2 years postoperatively.     

Botulinum Toxin Type B for Treatment of Spasmodic Dysphonia: A Case Report

Although treatment with botulinum toxin type A (BTXA) has become the standard of care for most patients with laryngeal dystonia, its use is limited by the development of resistance to the toxin in some patients. Botulinum toxin type B (BTXB) has been found to be safe and effective in the treatment of cervical dystonia, but it has not been used previously to treat spasmodic dysphonia. Our experience with BTXB in a patient who developed resistance to BTXA suggests that BTXB may be safe and effective for the treatment of laryngeal dystonia, as well.     

Microemulsions with CO2 as a solvent

Supercritical CO₂ is considered as a promising alternative for volatile organic solvents currently used in certain industrial processes and products, however, the poor solubilizing power of CO₂ towards polar substances remains a significant barrier to applications. Employing effective surfactants which generate stable dispersions and water/CO₂ microemulsions is accepted as one way to improve the physico-chemical properties of CO₂. This article reviews recent studies on microemulsions in liquid CO₂, as well as the development of CO₂-philic surfactants.     

Prebiotic activity of polysaccharides extracted from Gigantochloa levis (Buluh beting) shoots

Bamboo shoot crude polysaccharides (BSCP) extracted from the shoots of Gigantochloa levis gave about 3.27 ± 0.18% on dry basis and a very minute percentage of protein (0.02 ± 0.01%). The molecular weight of BSCP estimated by gel chromatography was found to be around 7.49 × 103 Da, while the molecular weights of purified fractions (F1 to F5) were around 1550.96, 1471.63, 1685.78, 1691.61 and 1551.67 Da, respectively. The FTIR spectrum of BSCP revealed the possibility that the extract contains β-glucan, which can be considered a valuable compound for the medical and food industries. These relate to the resistance of BSCP towards artificial human gastric juice which is more than 99%. Prebiotic activity tested using BSCP as a carbon source showed significant increase in the growth of B. animalis ATCC 1053, B. longum BB 536 and L. acidophilus ATCC 4356 as compared to the use of FOS. Survivality of S. choleraesuis JCM 6977 was found to be slower in both BSCP and FOS. Study conducted reflects a good sign for the BSCP to be exploited as a promising prebiotic.     

Novel selection schemes for harmony search

Selection is a vital component used in Evolutionary Algorithms (EA) where the fitness value of the solution has influence on the evolution process. Normally, any efficient selection method makes use of the Darwinian principle of natural selection (i.e., survival of the fittest). Harmony search (HS) is a recent EA inspired by musical improvisation process to seek a pleasing harmony. Originally, two selection methods are used in HS: (i) memory consideration selection method where the values of the decision variables are randomly selected from the population (or solutions stored in harmony memory (HM)) to generate a new harmony, and (ii) selecting a new solution in HM whereby a greedy selection is used to update the HM. The memory consideration selection, the focal point of this paper, is not based on natural selection principle which draws heavily on random selection. In this paper, novel selection schemes which replace the random selection scheme in memory consideration are investigated, comprising global-best, fitness-proportional, tournament, linear rank and exponential rank. The proposed selection schemes are individually altered and incorporated in the process of memory consideration and each adoption is realized as a new HS variation. The performance of the proposed HS variations are evaluated and a comparative study is conducted. The experimental results using benchmark functions show that the selection schemes incorporated in memory consideration directly affect the performance of HS algorithm. Finally, a parameter sensitivity analysis of the proposed HS variations is analyzed.     

Graphite epoxy composite electrodes modified with bacterial cells

The modification of a graphite-epoxy composite electrode (GECE) with bacterial cells along with an analytical application are presented. Pseudomonas putida DSM 50026 was used as a biological component and the measurement was based on the respiratory activity of the cells. The optimization of working conditions of resulting biosensor (including pH and temperature) was conducted and the limit of detection was calculated as 7 microM phenol based on the signal to noise ratio. Then the system was applied for xenobiotic detection. Resulting sample signals were found to be very similar with the standard solutions having the same concentration while the recoveries of the spiked samples were close to 100%.