The frequency of hard glottal attacks in patients with muscle tension dysphonia, unilateral benign masses and bilateral benign masses

Hard or abrupt glottal attack (HGA) is one of the vocal behaviors often associated with benign lesion of the vocal folds. This study was designed to determine whether the frequency of HGA was different in hyperfunctional voice patients with and without vocal fold masses. One hundred and forty-seven subjects were studied. All subjects received a complete otolaryngological evaluation including strobovideolaryngoscopy, objective voice measures, and evaluation by a speech-language pathologist. Thirty-two patients were diagnosed with muscle tension dysphonia (19 male, 13 female) without vocal fold masses. Fifty-seven patients were diagnosed with unilateral vocal fold masses (29 male, 28 female), most of which were cysts. Fifty-eight patients were diagnosed with bilateral vocal fold masses (13 male, 45 female). Of the 45 females with bilateral vocal fold masses. 26 had a vocal cyst and reactive nodule and 19 had bilateral vocal fold nodules. The control group was balanced and matched based on sex and on percentage of singers and nonsingers. It consisted of 49 subjects with no vocal fold pathology (20 male, 29 female). The group was composed of professional speakers, singers, and nonprofessional speakers. All voice disordered groups demonstrated higher frequencies of HGA than the control group. Differences were found between the male and female subjects in this study. No differences were found between the various disorders. Differences were also found between the subgroups of bilateral masses, where the bilateral nodules group presented a higher frequency of HGA than the cyst and contralateral reactive nodule.     

模拟混凝土孔隙液中D-葡萄糖酸钠复合缓蚀剂对钢筋的阻锈作用

应用电化学技术, 结合扫描电子显微镜(SEM)观测, 研究D-葡萄糖酸钠、钼酸钠和硫脲三组分复合缓蚀剂对模拟混凝土孔隙液中钢筋腐蚀行为的影响及其阻锈作用. 结果表明: 在含3.5% (w) NaCl的模拟混凝土孔隙液中, 复合缓蚀剂具有协同效应, 对钢筋有良好的阻锈作用. 当D-葡萄糖酸钠、钼酸钠和硫脲浓度分别为750、250和500 mg·L^-1时, 对钢筋的缓蚀效率可达到94.5%. 应用软硬酸碱(HSAB)理论分析缓蚀机理, 可认为三组分复合缓蚀剂在钢筋表面共同形成保护膜而阻止钢筋的腐蚀.     

Optimal inspection of a complex system subject to periodic and opportunistic inspections and preventive replacements

This paper proposes two optimization models for the periodic inspection of a system with “hard-type” and “soft-type” components. Given that the failures of hard-type components are self-announcing, the component is instantly repaired or replaced, but the failures of soft-type components can only be detected at inspections. A system can operate with a soft failure, but its performance may be reduced. Although a system may be periodically inspected, a hard failure creates an opportunity for additional inspection (opportunistic inspection) of all soft-type components. Two optimization models are discussed in the paper. In the first, soft-type components undergo both periodic and opportunistic inspections to detect possible failures. In the second, hard-type components undergo periodic inspections and are preventively replaced depending on their condition at inspection. Soft-type and hard-type components are either minimally repaired or replaced when they fail. Minimal repair or replacement depends on the state of a component at failure; this, in turn, depends on its age. The paper formulates objective functions for the two models and derives recursive equations for their required expected values. It develops a simulation algorithm to calculate these expected values for a complex model. Several examples are used to illustrate the models and the calculations. The data used in the examples are adapted from a real case study of a hospital’s maintenance data for a general infusion pump.     

Inverse‐Opal Conducting Polymer Monoliths in Microfluidic Channels

Inverse opal monolithic flow‐through structures of conducting polymer (CP) were achieved in microfluidic channels for lab‐on‐a‐chip (LOC) applications. In order to achieve the uniformly porous monolith, polystyrene (PS) colloidal crystal (CC) templates were fabricated in microfluidic channels. Consequently, an inverse opal polyaniline (PANI) structure was achieved on‐chip, through a two‐step process involving the electrochemical growth of PANI and subsequent removal of the template. In this work the effect of CP electropolymerisation time on these structures is discussed. It was found that growth time is critical in achieving an ordered structure with well‐defined flow‐through pores. This is significant as these optimised porous structures will allow for maximising the surface area of the monolith and will also result in well‐defined flow profiles through the microchannel.     

F68和F108水溶液溶胶-凝胶转变过程的流变学研究

采用流变学方法研究了具有高PEO质量分数(80%)的两亲性三嵌段共聚物Pluronic F68(PEO₈₀-PPO₃₀-PEO₈₀)和F108(PEO₁₃₃-PPO₅₀-PEO₁₃₃)的水溶液在升温过程中的溶胶-凝胶转变过程, 发现对于特定浓度的嵌段共聚物水溶液, 在溶胶-凝胶转变过程中会出现一个“软凝胶”区域, 通过对F68进行区域的频率扫描实验, 推测了相应的内部结构.     

Characterization of gold/PMMA hybrid nanomaterials synthesized by hard X-ray synchrotron radiation

In this study,new types of hybrid gold poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) nanomaterials are synthesized.Both PMMA spheres coated with gold nanoparticles and gold nanoparticles coated with PMMA can be synthesized using different ratios of HAuCl4 and MMA precursors,by exposing the mixtures to hard X-ray synchrotron radiation without the use of a reducing agent.According to the photochemical mechanism,gold nanoparticles will precipitate from a solution of HAuCl4 on exposure to synchrotron radiation,followed by the synthesis of PMMA by the polymerization of MMA monomers.These reactions can result in the formation of two different types of new hybrid nanomaterials.When a 1:1 volume ratio of HAuCl4 to MMA is used,we obtain PMMA spheres coated with gold nanoparticles.When a 10:1 ratio of HAuCl4 and MMA is used,we obtain gold nanoparticles coated with PMMA.The hybrid gold/PMMA nanostructures are characterized by transmission electron microscopy,elemental analysis,dynamic-light scattering analysis,gel permeation chromatography and Raman spectroscopy.The hybrid nanomateriais have potential application in the fields of biosensors and drug delivery.     

Quantitative Acoustic Microscopy for Determination of Properties of Hard Coatings

 For quantitative assessment of the properties of hard coatings there is an increasing demand for testing methods with high reliability of the test results, especially concerning the independence of the method and the comparability between different laboratories. This includes the knowledge about all the factors which influence the test procedure itself, determination of best testing conditions, testing of these conditions in round-robins to get a view of the comparability of results, and formulation of guidelines for standardization. In a European project several test methods for hard coatings on steel were investigated for this purpose and the elastic moduli of the coating and coating thickness were determined non-destructively by means of quantitative acoustic microscopy. This method and the instruments available had not yet been certified in the fields of coatings simply owing to the absence of standardised signal processing, followed by the determination of sound velocities and materials parameter extraction. For this purpose four laboratories carried out investigations and measurements on reference samples and on two types of hard coatings (titanium nitride and C-doped chromium) on M2 tool steel.     

硬质粒子扰动下铜电沉积研究

使用常规旋转电极电沉积技术,引入陶瓷球等一类硬质粒子,在旋转电极的带动下,使陶瓷球不断磨擦和撞击阴极表面而实现电铸铜.对比酸性溶液电铸铜和碱性溶液电铸铜,发现硬质粒子在电沉积过程中能扰动离子的放电过程,并影响电铸层的组织结构.但由于二者放电机理不同,前者形成的电铸层表面布满尖状毛刺,而后者则表面尖刺消失,但脆性大.SEM和XRD测试表明,由碱性电铸液沉积的电铸铜层,表面光亮平整,晶粒致密,大小约为100~300 nm,其结晶形态接近无序取向.     

对苯二甲酸丁二酯-ε-己内酯多嵌段共聚物中硬链段的受限结晶

用差示扫描量热法（DSC）,广角X射线衍射（WAXD）,傅立叶变换红外光谱（FTIR）等技术研究了对苯二甲酸丁二酯-ε-己内酯（PBT—PCL）多嵌段共聚物中硬链段的受限结晶。结果表明,PBT—PCL共聚酯中软硬链段在非晶区的混容性比较好,不同组成的样品均显示出一个玻璃化转变温度;对硬段含量超过50%的共聚酯来说,硬链段可以结晶,而软链段不能结晶;由于硬链段的受限特点,BT硬链段的结晶受软链段的影响和制约,其结晶能力随硬段序列长度的增加而逐渐增大。