The effect of topical anesthesia on vocal fold motion

The objective of this study was to determine if topical anesthesia to the larynx and pharynx affects vocal fold motion during dynamic voice evaluation with transnasal flexible endoscopy. Transnasal dynamic laryngeal examinations of 10 patients with no voice complaints were evaluated by five blinded fellowship-trained laryngologists. Each patient was examined before and after application of topical anesthetic. Reviewers rated briskness of right and left vocal fold movement and longitudinal tension on a visual analogue scale. Statistical comparisons were made between individual subject scores before and after anesthetic application. Inter-rater reliability was also assessed. No statistical difference was observed between subject scores before and after anesthetic application. Average intraclass correlation coefficients were 0.643 and 0.591 for pre- and postanesthesia scores, respectively. Application of topical anesthesia to the larynx and pharynx does not affect vocal fold motion.     

等离子体边界层扩散时间演化的稳定性与突变 *

解析分析了外界控制下等离子体边界层扩散过程时间演化的稳定性与突变条件,并将这些条件应用于JFT-2M Tokamak,结果表明,一阶共振下粒子注入或(和)外加电场的无量纲幅值(ε₁或(和)ε₂)满足一定条件时系统处于稳定状态;二阶共振下当ε₁或(和)ε₂等于某值时系统会发生突变,从低约束态跃迁至高约束态.     

Determining a 'safe' high-mass limit in matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionisation time-of-flight mass spectra of coal derived materials with reference to instrument noise

Three methods for determining a 'safe' estimate for high-mass limits of MALDI spectra of coal derived liquids were explored, using a sample of coal-tar pitch and its pyridine-insoluble fraction. Co-addition of increasing numbers of single-shot spectra (10, 30, 50 and 100 pulses) showed visually observable reductions in noise levels, consistent with robust and statistically meaningful signals. Three separate types of post-acquisition calculation were used to identify high-mass limits of the spectra. (i) A literature method indicated high-mass limits similar to those observed visually-as a shift from baseline at the highest masses, nearly 350 000 u for the coal tar pitch and about 390 000 u for its pyridine insoluble fraction. (ii) Comparing instrument signal with pre-selected multiples of the standard deviation, upper mass estimates of between 40-60 000 u for the coal-tar pitch and about 95 000 u for its pyridine-insoluble fraction were found. (iii) Calculation of the slope was used to identify 'lift-off' of the spectrum from baseline. The angle between the smoothed spectrum and the baseline was matched to a pre-selected value (e.g. 0.5 degrees and 1 degrees ). However, the arbitrary specification of the key parameter did not establish this last method on a firm basis. The choice of a criterion for estimating high-mass limits of MALDI spectra remains a semi-quantitative procedure; a reasonably conservative high-mass limit may be estimated by comparison of signal with five times the standard deviation. However, evaluation of size exclusion chromatograms of the present samples using polystyrene standards suggests that molecular mass distributions of pitch samples arrived at by MALDI mass spectrometry are, at least partly, determined by the limitations of available instruments. Copyright 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

用于边缘检测的Laplace——样条(▽2S)算子

根据数据平滑理论,提出了一种图象边缘检测的方法:把二维四阶B样条函数与Laplacian算子相结合组合成▽²S算子,对图象卷积之后,根据过零点(ZeroCrossing)确定图象边缘。文中证明了它在图象平滑和边缘检测效果上,优于Marr和Hildreth提出的▽²G算子,且计算量较小。而▽²G算子可用高阶▽²S算子近似。文中给出了一些实验结果。     

非线性回旋动力方程

非线性回旋动力方程是处理等离子体中非线性电磁现象及相关输运现象的有力工具.在任意磁场位形、任意频率下,建立了一套适于描述非线性电磁现象、保留有限Larmor半径(FLR)效应的、自洽的非线性回旋动力的Vlasov-Maxwell方程.     

叶绿体结构和功能的研究——叶绿体残缺膜与线粒体嵴膜组合光合磷酸化活力的重建

本文证明了类囊体残缺膜可以与线粒体嵴膜组合而成为新囊膜。这种膜组织可以通过嵴膜的偶联因子借光能来进行光合磷酸化。电子显微镜图谱显示,这种膜组织是介乎残缺膜与嵴膜之间一种膜组织。 试验结果支持了这样一种观点,即:叶绿体内光合磷酸化与线粒体内氧化磷酸化的磷酸化机构是一致的,其细胞器可能是有着共同的来源。     

关于平面二次系统的极限环

关于常微分方程二次系统的极限环及分布结构,本文得到下述定理: 设有一个三阶细焦点,并且无限远奇点是唯一的简单的奇点,则必存在另外一个粗焦点。在粗焦点外有奇数个极限环,无限远奇点为鞍点,全局结构已定。 在上述的基础上对方程作参数的微小变化,使三阶细焦点跳出三个极限环,则得二个粗焦点,每个外面有奇数个极限环,总极限环数为偶数个,并至少为4个,全局结构已定。     

Distortion-product source unmixing: a test of the two-mechanism model for DPOAE generation

This paper tests key predictions of the "two-mechanism model" for the generation of distortion-product otoacoustic emissions (DPOAEs). The two-mechanism model asserts that lower-sideband DPOAEs constitute a mixture of emissions arising not simply from two distinct cochlear locations (as is now well established) but, more importantly, by two fundamentally different mechanisms: nonlinear distortion induced by the traveling wave and linear coherent reflection off pre-existing micromechanical impedance perturbations. The model predicts that (1) DPOAEs evoked by frequency-scaled stimuli (e.g., at fixed f2/f1) can be unmixed into putative distortion- and reflection-source components with the frequency dependence of their phases consistent with the presumed mechanisms of generation; (2) The putative reflection-source component of the total DPOAE closely matches the reflection-source emission (e.g., low level stimulus-frequency emission) measured at the same frequency under similar conditions. These predictions were tested by unmixing DPOAEs into components using two completely different methods: (a) selective suppression of the putative reflection source using a third tone near the distortion-product frequency and (b) spectral smoothing (or, equivalently, time-domain windowing). Although the two methods unmix in very different ways, they yield similar DPOAE components. The properties of the two DPOAE components are consistent with the predictions of the two-mechanism model.     

Interrelations among distortion-product phase-gradient delays: their connection to scaling symmetry and its breaking

Distortion-product-otoacoustic-emission (DPOAE) phase-versus-frequency functions and corresponding phase-gradient delays have received considerable attention because of their potential for providing information about mechanisms of emission generation, cochlear wave latencies, and characteristics of cochlear tuning. The three measurement paradigms in common use (fixed-f1, fixed-f2, and fixed-f2/f1) yield significantly different delays, suggesting that they depend on qualitatively different aspects of cochlear mechanics. In this paper, theory and experiment are combined to demonstrate that simple phenomenological arguments, which make no detailed mechanistic assumptions concerning the underlying cochlear mechanics, predict relationships among the delays that are in good quantitative agreement with experimental data obtained in guinea pigs. To understand deviations between the simple theory and experiment, a general equation is found that relates the three delays for any deterministic model of DPOAE generation. Both model-independent and exact, the general relation provides a powerful consistency check on the measurements and a useful tool for organizing and understanding the structure in DPOAE phase data (e.g., for interpreting the relative magnitudes and intensity-dependencies of the three delays). Analysis of the general relation demonstrates that the success of the simple, phenomenological approach can be understood as a consequence of the mechanisms of emission generation and the approximate local scaling symmetry of cochlear mechanics. The general relation is used to quantify deviations from scaling manifest in the measured phase-gradient delays; the results indicate that deviations from scaling are typically small and that both linear and nonlinear mechanisms contribute significantly to these deviations. Intensity-dependent mechanisms contributing to deviations from scaling include cochlear-reflection and wave-interference effects associated with the mixing of distortion- and reflection-source emissions (as in DPOAE fine structure). Finally, the ratio of the fixed-f1 and fixed-f2 phase-gradient delays is shown to follow from the choice of experimental paradigm and, in the scaling limit, contains no information about cochlear physiology whatsoever. These results cast considerable doubt on the theoretical basis of recent attempts to use relative DPOAE phase-gradient delays to estimate the bandwidths of peripheral auditory filters.     

From second to first order transitions in a disordered quantum magnet

The cross sections and transverse spin asymmetries in the hard exclusive electroproduction of decuplet baryons are calculated in the large N(c) limit and found to be comparable to that of octet baryons. Large N(c) selection rules for the production amplitudes are derived, leading to new sensitive tests of the spin aspects of the QCD chiral dynamics both in the nonstrange and strange sectors. Importance of such studies for the reliable extraction of the pion form factor from pion electroproduction is explained.