Efficacy of the accent method of voice therapy

The management of voice disorders may follow one of four approaches: surgical, pharmacological, technical aid, and/or voice therapy. The latter approach offers a wide variety of techniques, each based on certain theoretical beliefs. One of these techniques is the Smith Accent Method. The principles and goals of the Accent Method are presented. The results of its application are discussed. This technique proved effective for cases of functional voice disorders, vocal nodules, and some degrees of vocal fold paralysis.     

Behavioral therapy for spasmodic dysphonia

This paper presents a general schema for classifying treatment approaches for both functional and organic voice disorders. It's use is illustrated by a review of treatments for Spasmodic Dysphonia. Most behavioral approaches have been found to be unsuccessful except for mild cases. Inhalation speech as a compensatory technique has been reported as somewhat successful for those mild/moderate cases for whom medical/surgical treatment has not been available. The fact that organic treatment levels have been more successful in the treatment of Spasmodic Dysphonia may lend support to an organic etiology     

TRANSFER OF FOREIGN GENES BY ELECTROPORATION AND THEIR EXPRESSION IN MAMMALIAN CELLS

Expression of foreign genes transferred into mammalian cells by electroporation has been studied. The pX1TK gene, pSV2Neo gene and pUCEJ oncogene have been introduced into MLTK-cells and NIH/3T3 cells, respectively. Stable transformation transient expression of TK gene by MLTK-cells as well as stable and malignant transformation of NIH/3T3 cells have been obtained. Transient expression frequency is about 80% and stable transformation frequency is about 10~(-4). Integration of foreign genes into the cellular genome was verified with molecular hybridization. Tumor development was observed after inoculation of transformed celts into nude mice.     

Production of recombinant bleaching enzymes from thermophilic microorganisms in fungal hosts

Cost-effective production of enzymes for industrial processes makes the appropriate selection of the host-vector expression system critical. We have developed two systems for the bulk production of bleaching enzymes from thermophiles. Kluyveromyces lactis has been developed as a secretion host employing expression vectors based on the 2μ-like plasmid pKD1 of Kluyveromyces drosophilarium. Our second system involves the filamentous fungus Trichoderma reesei. Fusion and nonfusion vectors have been constructed using the strong cellobiohydrolase 1 (cbh1) promoter. The KEX2 protease cleavage site and a 6 × HIS-tag have been incorporated to facilitate both cleavage and purification of the mature foreign proteins.     

基于Gene Ontology的表达谱与基因功能相似性的相关性研究

聚类是芯片数据分析中被广泛使用的方法。未知基因的功能通常通过其与已知基因在不同生物状态下具有表达相似性来进行预测。然而，还未有人就这种通过表达相似性来进行功能注释的方法的可靠性进行评估。本文利用Gene Ontology对表达相似性和基因功能相似性的相关关系进行了全面的研究。研究表明，尽管表达谱的相似性和基因功能相似性之间有一定的依赖关系，但相关性较弱。在Gene Ontology的三大类中，相对生物过程和分子功能，基因表达谱的相似性更有助于细胞组分的注释。本文的研究结果对于基因功能的预测有一定的指导意义。     

Chromatography of plasmid DNA

Liquid chromatography plays a central role in process-scale manufacturing of therapeutic plasmid DNA (pDNA) for gene therapy and DNA vaccination. Apart from its use as a preparative purification step, it is also very useful as an analytical tool to monitor and control pDNA quality during processing and in final formulations. This paper gives an overview of the use of pDNA chromatography. The specificity of pDNA purification and the consequent limitations to the performance of chromatography are described. Strategies currently used to overcome those limitations, as well as other possible solutions are presented. Applications of the different types of chromatography to the purification of therapeutic pDNA are reviewed, and the main advantages and disadvantages behind each technique highlighted.     

Progress on phthalocyanine-conjugated Ag and Au nanoparticles: Synthesis,characterization, and photo-physicochemical properties

Phthalocyanine (Pc) complexes are an important class of dyes with numerous (e.g., biological, photophysical, and analytical) applications. Among the methods used to improve the properties of these complexes, one should mention the introduction of different substituents, variation of the central metal ion, ligand exchange, and conjugation to nanomaterials (e.g., carbon-based nanomaterials and metal nanoparticles (NPs)). This work briefly reviews Pc complex conjugation to Ag and Au NPs, highlights the different NP shapes, and discusses the diversity of conjugation approaches. Moreover, the use of UV–Vis spectroscopy, powder X-ray diffraction, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy, atomic force microscopy, dynamic light scattering and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy to characterize Pc-NP hybrids is summarized. The effect of conjugation on Pc photo-physicochemical properties (fluorescence, singlet oxygen generation, triplet state formation, and optical limiting behavior) is discussed, and future perspectives for the synthesis and applications of new hybrids are provided.     

LyP-1 peptide-functionalized gold nanoprisms for SERRS imaging and tumor growth suppressing by PTT induced-hyperthermia

The gold nanoprisms (GNPs) have exhibited special plasmonic properties for biomedical applications because of their unique shapes and dimensions. Based on their optical performance, the NIR dye IR780 not only enabled the GNPs-based nanosystem as SERRS nanoparticles for Raman-encoded molecular imaging, but also enhanced the plasmonic photothermal property by laser irradiation. Meanwhile, the GNPs/IR780-Lyp-1 by introduction of tumor-homing peptide segment LyP-1, which presents high affinity to p32 protein, demonstrated the increased enrichment in tumor region and enhanced photothermal therapy efficacy.     

Isolation, Mapping, DNA Sequence and RFLPs Studies of Random Single-Copy DNA Segments on Human X Chromosome

Using the total human/mouse DNA as the probe, screening has been carried out three times with in situ plaque hybridization to obtain the single-copy DNA sequence from the human X chromosome genomic library. The effective rate of screening is 1. 45%. DNAs from clones containing single-copy inserts have been analyzed by a panel of hybrid cells with or without human X chromosome. Three segments, designated by DXFD52,73,75, are mapped to the X chromosome. DXFD52 has been precisely localized on Xq12-q13 with in situ chromosomal hybridization. DXFD52 has been partially sequenced. The results indicate that DXFD52 is a new isolated single-copy segment on the X chromosome. Great progress in the RFLPs study with DXFD52 has been achieved in the population of Chongqing, Sichuan Province. The results show that the DXFD52 can be used to detect the RFLP with Hind Ⅲ, Bgl Ⅱ, and Hinf Ⅰ. DXFD52 will be a potential "landmark" for the construction of the complete linkage map of human genome and the analysis of genomic s