一类含扩散项的Nicholson苍蝇模型解的渐近行为及其Hopf分支

本文研究了一类含扩散项的Nicholson苍蝇模型在Neumann边值条件下解的渐近行为和Hopf分支,得到了其正解收敛于不同平衡点的充分条件和由平衡点分支出Hopf分支的充分条件.     

超声刀在甲状腺手术中保护喉返神经及入喉处甲状腺组织的应用效果观察

目的探讨超声刀在甲状腺手术中对于喉返神经及入喉处甲状腺组织的保护作用。方法选取2016年1月至12月间广东省遂溪县人民医院收治的120例甲状腺疾病的患者,随机分为对照组和观察组,每组60例,对照组采用传统电刀手术,观察组采用超声刀进行手术,比较两种手术方式的效果以及对喉返神经及入喉处甲状腺组织的影响。结果相较于传统电刀手术,采用超声刀可明显缩短腺体切除时间和手术总时间,减少术中出血量,差异具有统计学意义(P0.05);两种手术方式在术后引流量和住院时间方面比较,差异无统计学意义(P0.05);观察组患者喉返神经损伤以及甲状旁腺功能低下的发生率低于对照组,但是两组间差异无统计学意义(P0.05),所有观察组患者的声音嘶哑现象均于术后3个月内恢复,而对照组有3例于3~6个月恢复,2例1年以上未好转。结论在甲状腺手术最终采用超声刀可明显缩短手术时间,减少术中出血量,利于术中对喉返神经和入喉处甲状腺组织的辨认和保护,是一种安全可行的手术方法。     

Reverse Thermal Gel for In Utero Coverage of Spina Bifida Defects: An Innovative Bioengineering Alternative to Open Fetal Repair

Current state‐of‐the‐art management of open spina bifida defects entails an open fetal surgery approach associated with significant morbidities. In an attempt to reduce these risks and provide for an earlier minimally invasive repair, it is aimed to develop and characterize an innovative alternative using a unique reverse thermal gel. This study focuses on characterization of the physical and biological properties of the polymer and its in vivo applicability. Based on the knowledge and benchmarking, the “ideal” biomaterial should have the following characteristics: stability in amniotic fluid, limited permeability, biocompatibility, biologically functional, nontoxic, ability to support cellular functions, and in vivo applicability. The results demonstrate that the polymer possesses a unique ultrastructure, is stable in amniotic fluid, possesses limited yet predictable permeability, biocompatible with cells exposed in neural tube defects, is nontoxic, and can support cellular migration. These characteristics make it a potential novel alternative to open fetal repairs.

     

Local protein backbone folds determined by calculated NMR chemical shifts

NMR chemical shifts (CSs: δN(NH), δC(α), δC(β), δC', δH(NH), and δH(α)) were computed for the amino acid backbone conformers (α(L), β(L), γ(L), δ(L), ε(L), α(D), γ(D), δ(D), and ε(D) [Perczel et al., J Am Chem Soc 1991, 113, 6256]) modeled by oligoalanine structures. Topological differences of the extended fold were investigated on single β-strands, hairpins with type I and II β-turns, as well as double- and triple-stranded β-sheet models. The so-called "capping effect" was analyzed: residues at the termini of a homoconformer sequence unit usually have different CSs than the central residues of an adequately long homoconformer model. In heteroconformer sequences capping effect ruins the direct applicability of several chemical shift types (δH(NH), δC', and δN(NH)) for backbone structure determination of the parent residue. Experimental δH(α), δC(α), and δC(β) values retrieved from protein database are in good agreement with the relevant computed data in the case of the common backbone conformers (α(L), β(L), γ(L), and ε(L)), even though neighboring residue effects were not accounted for. Experimental and computed ΔδH(α)-ΔδC(α), ΔδH(α)-ΔδC(β), and ΔδC(α)-ΔδC(β) maps give qualitatively the same picture, that is, the positions of the backbone conformers relative to each other are very similar. This indicates that the H(α), C(α), and C(β) chemical shifts of alanine depend considerably on the backbone fold of the parent residue also in proteins. We provide tabulated CSs of the chiral amino acids that may predict the various structures of the residues.     

A Consumption Behavior Model with Advertising And Word-of-Mouth Effect

It is widely-held belief that people’s consumption behavior is partly determined by advertising and word-of-mouth effect especially in monopolistic competitive market. Owing to this, we propose a mathematical model to interpret consumer behavior under the advertising and word-of-mouth effects, which is divided into continuous and discrete types for dynamic behavior analysis. Our research indicates the continuous model undergoes fold bifurcation, Hopf bifurcation, and degenerate fold-Hopf bifurcation; the discrete model undergoes flip bifurcation and Neimark-Sacker bifurcation. Moreover, bifurcation diagrams are given by using MATLAB to illustrate the model. Based on the theory of Hopf bifurcation or Flip bifurcation, the system undergoes supercritical Hopf bifurcation or Flip bifurcation under certain conditions. This lead to both advertising impacts periodically on consumer behavior, and a short-term reduction cause no effect the public¡s recognition of the brand, which can guide precision advertising investment.     

What happens during vocal warm-up?

Most singers prefer to warm up their voices before performing. Although the subjective effect is often considerable, the underlying physiological effects are largely unknown. Because warm-up tends to increase blood flow in muscles, it seems likely that vocal warm-up might induce decreased viscosity in the vocal folds. According to the theory of vocal-fold vibration, such a decrease should lead to a lower phonation threshold pressure. In this investigation the effect of vocal warm-up on the phonation threshold pressure was examined in a group of male and female singers. The effect varied considerably between subjects, presumably because the vocal-fold viscosity was not a dominating factor for the phonation-threshold pressure.     

Endolaryngeal contact pressures

In this work, we present a new method for in vivo endolaryngeal contactpressure measurement with a miniature pressure transducer. Using this methodology, contact pressures can be measured during videoendoscopy at different locations between the artyenoids and also at various locations along the membranous vocal folds. Twenty adults with organic and functional voice disorders and two vocally healthy adults participated as subjects. Endolaryngeal contact pressure measures were made during a series of phonatory tasks varying pitch, loudness, and phonatory onset and offset. Measures were also made during nonphonatory tasks, including throat clearing, coughing, Valsalva maneuvres, and gagging. The most remarkable findings were: (1) interarytenoid contact pressures were considerably greater than intraglottal contact pressures; (2) interarytenoid contact pressures were greater for lower than higher pitches; (3) both interarytenoid and intraglottal contact pressures were remarkably large during hard glottal attack; and (4) overall, the largest endolaryngeal pressures were recorded between the arytenoids, during a thoracic fixation maneuver and during gag reflex.This work was supported in part by Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (He 2869/1-1), by a grant from the “Verein zur Förderung hör-, sprach- und stimmgestörter Patienten an der FU Berlin e.V.” (nonprofit organization), Berlin, Germany, and by Grant No. K08 DC00139 from the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders.     

Acoustic Analyses of Developmental Changes and Emotional Expression in the Preverbal Vocalizations of Infants

The nonverbal vocal utterances of seven normally hearing infants were studied within their first year of life with respect to age- and emotion-related changes. Supported by a multiparametric acoustic analysis it was possible to distinguish one inspiratory and eleven expiratory call types. Most of the call types appeared within the first two months; some emerged in the majority of infants not until the 5th (“laugh”) or 7th month (“babble”). Age-related changes in acoustic structure were found in only 4 call types (“discomfort cry,” “short discomfort cry,” “wail,” “moan”). The acoustic changes were characterized mainly by an increase in harmonic-to-noise ratio and homogeneity of the call, a decrease in frequency range and a downward shift of acoustic energy from higher to lower frequencies. Emotion-related differences were found in the acoustic structure of single call types as well as in the frequency of occurrence of different call types. A change from positive to negative emotional state was accompanied by an increase in call duration, frequency range, and peak frequency (frequency with the highest amplitude within the power spectrum). Negative emotions, in addition, were characterized by a significantly higher rate of “crying,” “hic” and “ingressive vocalizations” than positive emotions, while positive emotions showed a significantly higher rate of “babble,” “laugh,” and “raspberry.”