A Pilot Survey of Vocal Health in Young Singers

The objective of this study was to determine the incidence of vocal problems in young choir singers and to correlate vocal problems with demographic and behavioral information. A questionnaire addressing vocal habits and hygiene was offered to 571 young choir singers, up to 25 years of age, who sing at least weekly; 129 (22.6%) responded. More than one-half of the respondents had experienced vocal difficulty, particularly older adolescents. Detrimental behaviors and circumstances surveyed were not reflective of the incidence of vocal difficulty, except for morning hoarseness, chronic fatigue, insomnia, and female gender after puberty. Voice care professionals should be aware that self-reported voice difficulties are common among young choral singers, especially postpubescent girls, and children with symptoms consistent with reflux (morning hoarseness) and emotional stress (insomnia). Laryngologists should communicate with choral conductors and singing teachers to enhance early identification and treatment of children with voice complaints, and to develop choral educational strategies that help decrease their incidence.     

Some Oscillatory Singular Integrals on Herz-type Spaces (Ⅱ)

In this paper, the authors prove that some oscillatory singular integral operators of non-convolution type with non-polynomial phases are bounded from the Herz-type Hardy spaces to the Herz spaces and from the Hardy spaces associated with the Beurling algebras to the Beurling algebras in higher dimensions, even though it is well-known that these operators are not bounded from the Hardy space H1(Rn) into the Lebesgue spaceL1(Rn).     

Predicting the Mechanical Properties of Binary Blends of Immiscible Polymers

We couple a morphological study of an immiscible binary AB mixture with a micromechanical simulation to determine how the spatial distribution of the A and B domains and the interfacial region (interphase) affects the mechanical behavior of the blend. The morphological studies are conducted through a three-dimensional Cahn-Hilliard (CH) simulation. Through the CH calculations, we obtain the size and structure of the domains for different blend compositions. The output of the CH model serves as the input to the Lattice Spring Model (LSM), which consists of a three-dimensional network of springs. In particular, the location of the different phases is mapped onto the LSM lattice and the appropriate force constants are assigned to the LSM sites. A stress is applied to the LSM lattice and we calculate the elastic response of the material. We find that the local stress and strain fields are highly dependent on the morphology of the system. By integrating the morphological and mechanical models, we can isolate how modifications in the composition of the mixture affect the macroscopic behavior. Thus, we can establish how choices made in the components affect the ultimate performance of the material.     

Rotational bands in 181Ta

High-spin states in ¹⁸¹Ta have been studied via the ¹⁷⁶Yb(¹¹B,α2n) reaction at 52 MeV using the PEX array and at 57 MeV using the NORDBALL array, with α-particle detection. The previously known, K^π=(7/2)⁺ ground state band and K^π=(9/2)⁻ band have been extended to spins (29/2)⁺ and (31/2)⁻, respectively. Two new one-quasiparticle bands, the K^π=(5/2)⁺ band built on the known (5/2)⁺ isomer and a K^π=((1/2)⁻) band have been observed. Two other rotational bands with three-quasiparticle structure, K^π=(15/2)⁻ and ((19/2)⁺ with π(7/2)[404]ν²(1/2)[510](9/2)[624] and π(9/2)[514]ν²(1/2)[510](9/2)[624] configurations, respectively, have been newly observed. The half-life of the K^π=((19/2)⁺) bandhead which decays to the head of the (15/2)⁻ band has been measured to be 140(36) ns. However, transitions from the ((19/2)⁺) state to the (15/2)⁻ band have not been observed. Received: 26 August 1998     

A microcalorimetric study of the association of hexacyanoferrate(II) ions with calcium and magnesium ions in aqueous solution

Using flow microcalorimetry, the ion association reaction M²⁺(aq)+Fe(CN) ₆ ^4– (aq)=MFe(CN) ₆ ^2– (aq) (M=Ca, Mg) has been studied at 25°C over the ionic strength range 0.02 to 0.08 mol-dm^–3. Analyses of the data to obtain H^o, the enthalpy change at infinite dilution, are described. The value obtained for H^o is sensitive to the kind of functions used to correct for non-ideal behavior.     

Electrophilic acetylation and bromination reactions of benzo[b]naphtho[2,3-e][1,4]dioxin

The reactivity of benzo[b]naphtho[2,3-e][1,4]dioxin in the electrophilic aromatic substitution reactions has been studied. Friedel-Crafts acetylation resulted in the formation of three out of the possible five monoacetylated products, with the acetyl group located in positions 8 (major), 7 and 6 (minor) of the heterocycle. In the bromination reaction a higher selectivity was observed with the 6-bromo derivative found as the only monobrominated product and the 6,11-dibromo derivative found as the only polybrominated product. A ratio of unreacted heterocycle:6-bromo:6,11-dibromo derivatives in the bromination reaction has been found to depend strongly on the reaction conditions and on the heterocycle:bromine ratio.     

Energy migration in novel pH-triggered self-assembled beta-sheet ribbons

Energy migration between tryptophan residues has been experimentally demonstrated in self-assembled peptide tapes. Each peptide contains 11 amino acids with a Trp at position 6. The peptide self-assembly is pH-sensitive and forms amphiphilic tapes, which further stack in ribbons (double tapes) and fibrils in water depending on the concentration. Fluorescence spectra, quenching, and anisotropy experiments showed that when the pH is lowered from 9 to 2, the peptide self-assembly buries the tryptophan in a hydrophobic and restricted environment in the interior of stable ribbons as expected on the basis of the peptide design. These fluorescence data support directly and for the first time the presence of such ribbons which are characterized by a highly packed and stable hydrophobic interior. In common with Trp in many proteins, fluorescence lifetimes are nonexponential, but the average lifetime is shorter at low pH, possibly due to quenching with neighboring Phe residues. Unexpectedly, time-resolved fluorescence anisotropy does not change significantly with self-assembly when in water. In highly viscous sucrose-water mixtures, the anisotropy decay at low pH was largely unchanged compared to that in water, whereas at high pH, the anisotropy decay increased significantly. We concluded that depolarization at low pH was not due to rotational diffusion but mainly due to energy migration between adjacent tryptophan residues. This was supported by a master equation kinetic model of Trp-Trp energy migration, which showed that the simulated and experimental results are in good agreement, although on average only three Trp residues were visited before emission.     

The chemical synthesis of beta-(1-->4)-linked D-mannobiose and D-mannotriose

A D-cellobiose derivative was converted to D-mannobiose via simultaneous epimerization at C-2 and C-2'. Subsequent beta-D-glucosylation and epimerization at C-2" gave D-mannotriose.     

Mono-cyclopentadienyl complexes of lanthanum: synthesis and characterization of anilido derivatives

Use of the bulky cyclopentadienyl ligand [η⁵-C₅H₂(SiMe₃)₃-1,2,4]⁻ (Cp?) allows for the isolation of monomeric, mono-ring lanthanide species. As previously reported, (Cp?)K reacts with LaI₃(THF)₄ (THF=tetrahydrofuran) in THF/pyridine to form the mono-ring complex (Cp?)LaI₂(py)₃ (1) (py=pyridine); a minor product of this reaction is the bis-ring species (Cp?)₂LaI(py) (2). The solid state structure of 2 reveals a monomeric compound containing a pseudo-tetrahedral metal center exhibiting no unusual intramolecular contacts. Addition of one equiv of KNHAr (Ar=2,6-ⁱPr₂C₆H₃) to complex 1 in THF generates the mono-anilido compound (Cp?)LaI(NHAr)(THF)₂ (3), which may be converted to the more stable pyridine adduct (Cp?)LaI(NHAr)(py)₂ (4) by the addition of pyridine to 3. An X-ray crystal structure of 3 indicated a trigonal bipyramidal metal center with the anilido group oriented trans to the iodide atom (N1-La1-I1=123.1(3)°). A structural study on the bis-pyridine adduct 4 revealed a similar C_s-symmetric structure with a slightly increased N_anilido-La-I angle of 132.1(2)°. Addition of KNHAr to the di-iodo bipyridine adduct (Cp?)LaI₂(bipy)(py) (5), in which the two iodide atoms are cis-disposed, yields the mono-anilido complex (Cp?)LaI(NHAr)(bipy)(py) (6) (bipy=2,2^′-bipyridine); this compound may also be prepared by the addition of bipy to (Cp?)LaI(NHAr)(py)₂ (4). An X-ray diffraction study shows that the lanthanum center in 6 is octahedrally coordinated by a Cp? ring, an iodide, an anilido group, a pyridine molecule and two nitrogens of a bipy molecule. In this case, the anilido moiety and the iodide ligand are arranged in a cis fashion (N_anilido-La-I=111.2(2)°), resulting in a complex with C₁ symmetry. Both (Cp?)LaI(NHAr)(py)₂ (4) and (Cp?)LaI(NHAr)(bipy)(py) (6) are inactive as catalysts for the hydroamination/cyclization of 2-amino-hex-5-ene.