Speech task effects on acoustic and aerodynamic measures of women with vocal nodules

Vowel prolongation is often used to evaluate disordered voice production. In light of previous findings showing that co-articulation has significant influence on laryngeal function measures, the practice of using prolonged vowels to represent a speech sample is questioned. To test whether disordered and normal voice during vowel production is generalizable to connected speech, three speaking tasks were investigated: sustained vowel prolongation, syllable repetition and reading. Statistical differences were found between these tasks for certain amplitude and time based laryngeal function measures for adult women with disordered and normal voice. However, for the specific measures which were statistically different, the actual numerical and perceptual differences may be quite small. From a clinical assessment standpoint, the choice of the speech task may not make an apparent difference in the objective evaluation of disordered voice.     

新的聚类方法综合评价血脂指标

本文结合中心聚类和模糊聚类提出了一个新的聚类方法。该法避免了在迭代过程中出现局部最小问题,并可给出每个样本归入每一类的成分矩阵,因而提供更多的聚类程度的信息。应用这种方法对正常人和冠心病患者的血脂指标进行了综合评价,结果满意。     

Capillary GC-MS — Stable isotope dilution analysis of methylmalonic acid in plasma: A candidate reference method for the diagnosis and the follow-up of methylmalonic acidaemias

Summary Because methylmalonic acid (MMA) accumulates in the body fluids of patients suffering from inherited metabolic disorders involving its pathway, the quantitation of this metabolite is not only fundamental to diagnosis but is also important in the follow-up of affected patients under treatment.We describe the method set up and used in our laboratory for the measurement of MMA in body fluids and propose its application to plasma as the reference method for the biochemical diagnosis and follow-up of methylmalonic acidaemias.     

The association of laryngoceles with ventricular phonation

Laryngoceles represent dilatations of the laryngeal saccule that may extend internally into the airway, or externally through the thyrohyoid membrane. Unilateral laryngoceles are uncommon clinical entities and bilateral laryngoceles are rare. Certain activities like glass blowing and playing a wind instrument are associated with laryngocele development, as is laryngeal carcinoma in the ventricular area. This case describes development of bilateral laryngoceles in a patient who chronically uses ventricular phonation during speech. The pathogenesis involves repetitive elevation of intralaryngeal pressure during false vocal cord approximation, exposing the ventricles to abnormally high air pressures. The pathogenesis in this case, as well as in laryngoceles associated with occupational or anatomic risk factors, is discussed.     

An Overview of Peptide-Based Molecules as Potential Drug Candidates for Multiple Sclerosis

Multiple sclerosis (MS) belongs to demyelinating diseases, which are progressive and highly debilitating pathologies that imply a high burden both on individual patients and on society. Currently, several treatment strategies differ in the route of administration, adverse events, and possible risks. Side effects associated with multiple sclerosis medications range from mild symptoms, such as flu-like or irritation at the injection site, to serious ones, such as progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy and other life-threatening events. Moreover, the agents so far available have proved incapable of fully preventing disease progression, mostly during the phases that consist of continuous, accumulating disability. Thus, new treatment strategies, able to halt or even reverse disease progression and specific for targeting solely the pathways that contribute to the disease pathogenesis, are highly desirable. Here, we provide an overview of the recent literature about peptide-based systems tested on experimental autoimmune encephalitis (EAE) models. Since peptides are considered a unique therapeutic niche and important elements in the pharmaceutical landscape, they could open up new therapeutic opportunities for the treatment of MS.     

Fragment-based and classical quantitative structure–activity relationships for a series of hydrazides as antituberculosis agents

Worldwide, tuberculosis (TB) is the leading cause of death among curable infectious diseases. Multidrug-resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis is an emerging problem of great importance to public health, and there is an urgent need for new anti-TB drugs. In the present work, classical 2D quantitative structure-activity relationships (QSAR) and hologram QSAR (HQSAR) studies were performed on a training set of 91 isoniazid derivatives. Significant statistical models (classical QSAR, q (2) = 0.68 and r (2) = 0.72; HQSAR, q (2) = 0.63 and r (2) = 0.86) were obtained, indicating their consistency for untested compounds. The models were then used to evaluate an external test set containing 24 compounds which were not included in the training set, and the predicted values were in good agreement with the experimental results (HQSAR, [Formula: see text] ; classical QSAR, [Formula: see text]).     

Modeling of Neurodegenerative Diseases Using Discrete Chaotic Systems

Parkinson's and Huntington's diseases are two of the most common neurodegenerative disorders.Tremor, muscle stiffness, and slowness of movement are symptoms of Parkinson's disease. The symptoms of Huntington's disease are severe reduction in muscle control, emotional disturbance, and pathological disorders in brain cells.These diseases are caused by destruction of the cells that secrete a substance called dopamine. In this paper,a new discrete chaotic system is introduced,which can mimic the brain's behavior for neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson,Huntington, and Hypokinesia. This system is described based on the similarity between the brain's behavior in normal and abnormal conditions and the chaotic systems. Bifurcation analysis is carried out with respect to different parameters, providing full spectrum of the behavior for different parameter values.Our results can be used to mathematically study the mechanisms behind these diseases.     

Multidisciplinary Role of Mesoporous Silica Nanoparticles in Brain Regeneration and Cancers: From Crossing the Blood–Brain Barrier to Treatment

Mesoporous silica nanoparticles (MSNs) have gained wide attention for their role in biomedicine and as drug delivery vehicles. Their structural tunability, high surface area, and easy functionalization impart significant advantages over conventional materials. In this Review, recent advances in the synthesis, drug delivery, and therapeutic roles of MSNs in the treatment of various neurodegenerative and neuroinflammatory diseases are presented. The intention is to understand how MSN formulations that are capable of encapsulating drug molecules can enhance drug delivery by overcoming the blood–brain barrier (BBB) mediated by specific transport processes. The composition and characteristics of the BBB, and how alterations are observed in neurodegenerative diseases including Alzheimer's, epilepsy, and intracerebral hemorrhage are reviewed. Finally, the factors affecting efficient delivery of MSNs into the brain are summarized, and their most promising functional outcomes are discussed.