Combined-modality treatment of adductor spasmodic dysphonia with botulinum toxin and voice therapy

A combined-modality treatment program consisting of botulinum toxin injection (Botox) and voice therapy was used to treat 17 subjects diagnosed with adductor spasmodic dysphonia (ADD SD). Ten subjects with ADD SD served as the control and were given Botox only. Voice therapy after Botox injection was directed toward reducing the hyperfunctional vocal behaviors, primarily glottal overpressure at voice onset and anterior-posterior squeezing. The results indicated that subjects who underwent combined-modality treatment maintained significantly higher mean airflow rates for significantly longer periods. Moreover, there was a carryover effect in these patients when they received Botox only. Adductor spasmodic dysphonia is treated most effectively when intrinsic laryngeal muscle spasms are reduced or eliminated by Botox injection and extrinsic hyperfunctional vocal behaviors are treated with voice therapy     

Application of stir bar sorptive extraction for wine analysis

Stir bar sorptive extraction (SBSE) coupled with gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS) was used to analyse wine samples for three applications: flavour and compositional analysis; 2,4,6-trichloroanisole (TCA), a common off-aroma in wine; and agrochemicals. SBSE was found to be orders of magnitude more sensitive than modern conventional methodology, allowing for lower detection and quantitation levels, and improved confirmation of identity; SBSE often gave better signal to noise in scan mode than other methods in selective ion monitoring (SIM) mode. With the help of their characteristic mass spectra all agrochemicals could be identified unambiguously at concentrations of 10 microg L(-1) in wine and a further 100 constituents were detected in a Cabernet Sauvignon sample. Thus it is now possible to analyse complex samples such as wine by scan mode, with better confirmation of identity, and without sacrificing sensitivity, where previously SIM methodology had to be used.     

The pzc of mercury in the presence of humic acids and their complexes with aluminium

Variation of the lifetime of a mercury drop with potential was used to determine the pzc of mercury in the presence of soil humic acids and their aluminium complexes. In all cases there was an overall net shift in the pzc in the cathodic direction. Variation in the extent of the shift with pH and concentration indicated greater adsorption of negatively charged species. The shift was smaller in the presence of aluminium humates, probably due to a decrease in the negative charge of the humic acid molecules after complexing. The use of electroanalytical techniques for metal speciation studies in soils and natural water, if humic materials are known to be present, might therefore be limited.