Estimating phonation threshold pressure

Phonation threshold pressure (PTP) is the minimum subglottal pressure required to initiate vocal fold oscillation. Although potentially useful clinically, PTP is difficult to estimate noninvasively because of limitations to vocal motor control near the threshold of soft phonation. Previous investigators observed, for example, that trained subjects were unable to produce flat, consistent oral pressure peaks during/pae/syllable strings when they attempted to phonate as softly as possible (Verdolini-Marston, Titze, & Druker, 1990). The present study aimed to determine if nasal airflow or vowel context affected phonation threshold pressure as estimated from oral pressure (Smitheran & Hixon, 1981) in 5 untrained female speakers with normal velopharyngeal and voice function. Nasal airflow during /p/occlusion was observed for 3 of 5 participants when they attempted to phonate near threshold pressure. When the nose was occluded, nasal airflow was reduced or eliminated during /p/;however, individuals then evidenced compensatory changes in glottal adduction and/or respiratory effort that may be expected to alter PTP estimates. Results demonstrate the importance of monitoring nasal flow (or the flow zero point in undivided masks) when obtaining PTP measurements noninvasively. Results also highlight the need to pursue improved methods for noninvasive estimation of PTP.     

Pegylated peptides. V. Carboxy-terminal PEGylated analogs of growth hormone-releasing factor (GRF) display enhanced duration of biological activity in vivo

In the present study, human growth hormone-releasing factor (hGRF) and analogs were successfully pegylated at the carboxy-terminus using a novel solid- and solution-phase strategy. Following synthesis, these pegylated hGRF analogs were evaluated for in vitro and in vivo biological activity. Specifically, hGRF (1-29)-NH2, [Ala15]-hGRF (1-29)-NH2, [desNH2Tyr1, D-Ala2, Ala15]-hGRF(1-29)-NH2 and [His1, Val2, Gln8, Ala15, Leu27]-hGRF(1-32)-OH were each C-terminally extended using a Gly-Gly-Cys-NH2 spacer (previously demonstrated not to alter intrinsic biological activity), and then monopegylated via coupling to an activated dithiopyridyl-PEG reagent. PEG moieties of 750, 2000, 5000 or 10,000 molecular weight (MW) were examined to determine the effect of polymer weight on activity. Initial biological evaluations in vitro revealed that all C-terminally pegylated hGRF analogs retained high growth hormone (GH)-releasing potencies, regardless of the MW of PEG polymer employed. Two of these pegylated hGRF analogs, [desNH2Tyr1, D-Ala2, Ala15]-hGRF (1-29)-Gly-Gly-Cys(NH2)-S-Nle-PEG5000 and [His1, Val2, Gln8, Ala15, Leu27]-hGRF(1-32)-Gly-Cys(NH2)-S-Nle-PEG5000, were subsequently evaluated in both pig and mouse models and found to be highly potent (in vivo potency range = 12-55-fold that of native hGRF). Relative to their non-pegylated counterparts, these two pegylated hGRF analogs exhibited enhanced duration of activity.     

Determination of dislocation densities in HCP metals from X-ray diffraction line-broadening analysis

X-Ray diffraction (XRD) line-broadening analysis has been performed on highly textured Zr-2.5Nb specimens which had been deformed in tensile tests to produce well-controlled dislocation structures. An iterative deconvolution method has been applied to extract the broadening function for the material, using as standards, a Zr single crystal and a 0 pct deformed specimen. In both cases, for specific tensile tests, a significant contribution to the basal line braodening was observed, which was clearly not directly related to the dislocation structure generated by the deformation, i.e., so-called c-component dislocations having a component of their Burgers vectors perpendicular to the basal plane. Calculations showed that the extent of basal line broadening cannot be attributed to the secondary effect of strain from a-type dislocations, i.e., dislocations with Burgers vectors parallel with the basal plane. It is concluded that most of the line broadening observed was the result of intergranular strain distributions. These distributions are most prominent for grains oriented with their c-axes perpendicular to the tensile-deformation axis and resulted in basal-plane line broadening even when there were few, if any, c-component dislocations present. This article is based on a presentation made in the symposium entitled “Defect Properties and Mechanical Behavior of HCP Metals and Alloys” at the TMS Annual Meeting, February 11–15, 2001, in New Orleans, Louisiana, under the auspices of the following ASM committees: Materials Science and Critical Technology Sector, Structural Materials Division, Electronic, Magnetic & Photonic Materials Division, Chemistry & Physics of Materials Committee, Joint Nuclear Materials Committee, and Titanium Committee.     

Microstructures formed by spray freezing of food fats

The spray-freezing of two food fats, tripalmitin (PPP) and cocoa butter (CB) and mixtures thereof, has been modeled experimentally using a novel single droplet freezing apparatus configured so that temperature profiles or samples for microstructure analysis can be obtained. For 2 mm diameter droplets suspended in a cold air flow at temperatures around 2–15°C, initial cooling rates were on the order of 10 K s⁻¹ and the temperature profiles could be correlated directly to DSC data collected at 20 K min⁻¹, indicating that minimal supercooling of the materials occurred in the droplet form. Microstructure analysis confirmed that PPP crystallized preferentially in mixtures, and that the surface structure was very sensitive to storage conditions. The bulk structure was much less sensitive, and the internal microstructure of the PPP droplets revealed distinct nucleation sites, which were absent from the CB: These persisted in the mixtures up to 50 wt%. X-ray analysis indicated that the fats crystallized in their more stable forms, namely, β for PPP and Form V/V1 in CB.     

Netted radar sensitivity and ambiguity

The performance of netted radar is evaluated in terms of a netted version of the radar equation and the ambiguity function. A software simulation has been developed to allow assessment of netted radar sensitivity and ambiguity properties in both two-and three-dimensional space. Simulation results demonstrate that coherent netted radar sensitivity depends not only on the radar parameters, but also on the numbers, locations and specification of transmit and receive nodes. The netted radar ambiguity function is affected by a combination of many factors. In addition to those that determine the form of the monostatic ambiguity function, the locations of transmit and receive nodes as well as the position and velocity of the target all are shown to play an important role in evaluating system performance. As a result of these dependencies, it is shown that there is severe degradation of range and Doppler resolution when a target crosses sufficiently close to a transmit-receive baseline.     

Renal gunshot wounds: methods of salvage and reconstruction

Over the past 14 years, 2079 patients have been seen at our institution with renal trauma. Of these, 84 sustained gunshot wounds (81 unilateral, 3 bilateral; a total of 87 renal units). We evaluated this group to characterize the nature of their injuries and establish a methodology for renal salvage and reconstruction. Preoperative radiographic staging was performed with excretory urography (IVP) or computed tomographic (CT) scanning. The injuries were classified into five categories: 16 contusions (18.4%), 12 minor lacerations (13.8%), 44 major lacerations (50.5%), six vascular injuries (6.9%), and nine combination laceration and vascular injury (10.3%). Most patients had multiple organ injuries, with 79 requiring associated surgical procedures (94%). The mean injury Severity Score (ISS) was 26.7 (range, 4-59). Based on radiographic and clinical staging criteria, 69 renal injuries were surgically explored (79.3%), and 12 patients underwent nephrectomy (13.8%). Forty-six renal units were reconstructed (66.6%) by various methods, including renorrhaphy, omental pedical flaps, mesh or peritoneal patch grafts, partial nephrectomy, and vascular repair. Overall, 75 renal units were salvaged (86.2%). Early renal vascular control was achieved in all patients who underwent renal exploration. Follow-up functional studies were done in 24 (28.5%): none had delayed nephrectomy or postinjury hypertension. Overall, 79 patients survived (94%); however, mortality was not related to renal injury. These findings suggest that aggressive radiographic staging coupled with early vascular control and careful selection of reconstructive techniques can ensure a high renal salvage rate in patients with renal gunshot injuries.     

Effect of race on outcome after kidney and kidney-pancreas transplantation in type 1 diabetic patients

OBJECTIVE: The racial impact on graft outcome is not well defined in diabetic recipients. The purpose of this study is to analyze our experience with kidney-alone (A) and kidney-pancreas (KP) transplantation in type 1 diabetic recipients and evaluate the impact of racial disparity on outcome. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: The records of 217 kidney transplants (118 KA, 99 KP) performed on type 1 diabetic patients between 1985 and 1995 at the Medical University of South Carolina and the University of Texas Medical Branch were reviewed. RESULTS: A total of 53 (31%) white patients and 15 (33%) black patients experienced at least one episode of biopsy-proven acute rejection of the renal graft (NS). Patient survival at 1, 2, and 5 years was similar in white (92, 87, 69%) and black (91, 91, 69%) patients (NS). Kidney graft survival at 1, 2, and 5 years in the KA group was 72, 62, and 42% in blacks, compared with 79, 76, and 53% in whites (NS). Kidney graft survival at 1, 2, and 5 years in the KP group was 92, 92, and 74% in blacks, compared with 83, 77, and 58% in whites (NS). Pancreas graft survival at 1, 2, and 5 years was 81, 81, and 81% in blacks, compared with 81, 75, and 62% in whites (NS). Cox regression analysis revealed that donor age > or = 40 years increased the risk of renal graft failure 6.2-fold (P = 0.0001), whereas the addition of a pancreas transplant to a kidney and a living-related transplant decreased the risk of failure of the kidney graft 0.2 (P = 0.005) and 0.1 times (P = 0.005). CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggest that when compared with whites, there may be a trend toward an improved kidney and pancreas graft outcome in blacks undergoing KP transplants. These findings suggest that diabetes may override the risk factors that account for the pronounced disparity in outcome observed between nondiabetic white and black recipients.