Changes in the human vocal tract due to aging and the acoustic correlates of speech production: a pilot study.

This investigation used a derivation of acoustic reflection (AR) technology to make cross-sectional measurements of changes due to aging in the oral and pharyngeal lumina of male and female speakers. The purpose of the study was to establish preliminary normative data for such changes and to obtain acoustic measurements of changes due to aging in the formant frequencies of selected spoken vowels and their long-term average spectra (LTAS) analysis. Thirty-eight young men and women and 38 elderly men and women were involved in the study. The oral and pharyngeal lumina of the participants were measured with AR technology, and their formant frequencies were analyzed using the Kay Elemetrics Computerized Speech Lab. The findings have delineated specific and similar patterns of aging changes in human vocal tract configurations in speakers of both genders. Namely, the oral cavity length and volume of elderly speakers increased significantly compared to their young cohorts. The total vocal tract volume of elderly speakers also showed a significant increment, whereas the total vocal tract length of elderly speakers did not differ significantly from their young cohorts. Elderly speakers of both genders also showed similar patterns of acoustic changes of speech production, that is, consistent lowering of formant frequencies (especially F1) across selected vowel productions. Although new research models are still needed to succinctly account for the speech acoustic changes of the elderly, especially for their specific patterns of human vocal tract dimensional changes, this study has innovatively applied the noninvasive and cost-effective AR technology to monitor age-related human oral and pharyngeal lumina changes that have direct consequences for speech production.     

中蒙医结合治疗胆囊切除术后综合征62例临床观察

目的：通过临床观察，探讨胆囊切除术后综合征的发生、发展及治疗效果。方法：通过对胆囊切除术后综合征的诱发因素、首发症状、ERCP诊断结果调查。探讨其发生发展规律以及中蒙医结合综合治疗的临床效果。结果：通过临床发现：①情绪不稳定引起本病主要诱发因素。②ERCP发现：胆管内残留结石，泥沙样结石的残留、残留胆囊结石、炎性梗阻为主要因素。结论：中蒙医结合治疗胆囊切除术后综合征疗效满意。     

成人先天性胆管扩张症手术治疗

目的 探讨成人先天性胆管扩张症手术治疗的经验体会。方法 回顾分析1985年1月至2004年12月中国医科大学附属第一医院普外科收治的成人先天胆管扩张症68例手术治疗资料。依Flanigan分型：Ⅰ型59例，Ⅱ型3例，Ⅳ型6例。所有病例均行囊肿切除，结果 术后发生胆汁漏6例。胰漏3例，急性胰腺炎2例。死亡2例，56例经1-20年随访，随访率为82．3％。5例表现轻度胆管炎，2例吻合口狭窄。余下49例均痊愈，无胆管炎及胆管狭窄表现。结论 囊肿切除、胆管空肠Roux-en-Y吻合是成人先天性胆管扩张症的首选治疗。切除囊肿时，囊肿近端在尽量切净囊肿基础上行大口吻合，防止术后吻合口狭窄；囊肿远端在保证睫液引流通畅、不损伤胰管开口的基础上，尽量切净囊肿内膜。     

精索脂肪肉瘤（附6例报告）

目的探讨精索脂肪肉瘤的临床特点和诊治方法。方法回顾6例精索脂肪肉瘤临床资料，并复习有关文献。结果6例患者均行手术治疗，2例行肿瘤切除术，其余4例行根治术，术后随访19个月-11年，1例保留精索的年轻患者于术后3年出现局部复发，其余5例无复发及远处转移。结论精索脂肪肉瘤是一种低度恶性肿瘤，治疗方法主要以根治性手术为主，对于肿瘤高分化且年轻未育者，可行保留精索手术。     

Cine CT for attenuation correction in cardiac PET/CT.

In dual-modality PET/CT systems, the CT scan provides the attenuation map for PET attenuation correction. The current clinical practice of obtaining a single helical CT scan provides only a snapshot of the respiratory cycle, whereas PET occurs over multiple respiratory cycles. Misalignment of the attenuation map and emission image because of respiratory motion causes errors in the attenuation correction factors and artifacts in the attenuation-corrected PET image. To rectify this problem, we evaluated the use of cine CT, which acquires multiple low-dose CT images during a respiratory cycle. We evaluated the average and the intensity-maximum image of cine CT for cardiac PET attenuation correction. METHODS: Cine CT data and cardiac PET data were acquired from a cardiac phantom and from multiple patient studies. The conventional helical CT, cine CT, and PET data of an axially translating phantom were evaluated with and without respiratory motion. For the patient studies, we acquired 2 cine CT studies for each PET acquisition in a rest-stress (13)N-ammonia protocol. Three readers visually evaluated the alignment of 74 attenuation image sets versus the corresponding emission image and determined whether the alignment provided acceptable or unacceptable attenuation-corrected PET images. RESULTS: In the phantom study, the attenuation correction from helical CT caused a major artifactual defect in the lateral wall on the PET image. The attenuation correction from the average and from the intensity-maximum cine CT images reduced the defect by 20% and 60%, respectively. In the patient studies, 77% of the cases using the average of the cine CT images had acceptable alignment and 88% of the cases using the intensity maximum of the cine CT images had acceptable alignment. CONCLUSION: Cine CT offers an alternative to helical CT for compensating for respiratory motion in the attenuation correction of cardiac PET studies. Phantom studies suggest that the average and the intensity maximum of the cine CT images can reduce potential respiration-induced misalignment errors in attenuation correction. Patient studies reveal that cine CT provides acceptable alignment in most cases and suggest that the intensity-maximum cine image offers a more robust alternative to the average cine image.     

肾盂输尿管癌细胞增殖与凋亡的相关性

目的探讨Ki-67和凋亡（Apoptosis）在肾盂输尿管癌中的表达及其与肿瘤细胞分级、病理分期及预后的关系。方法采用SABC法和TUNEL法对34例肾盂输尿管癌行Ki-67和凋亡检测。结果Ki-67和凋亡在肿瘤细胞分级间存在显著差异,Ki-67index：G2与G1比较P〈0.05,G3与G2比较P〈0.05,G3与G1比较P〈0.01;Apoptosis index：G2与G1比较P〈0.05,G3与G2比较P〈0.05,G3与G1比较P〈0.01。Ki-67和凋亡在肿瘤病理分期的T3与T1及T2与T1之间有显著差异,T2与T1比较P〈0.05,T3与T1比较P〈0.01,但T3与T2比较P〉0.05;Ki-67index以20%为界分为二组,Apoptosis index以3%为界分为二组,组间生存率有显著差异（P〈0.05）。Ki-67在肾盂输尿管癌中的表达与凋亡一致。结论肾盂输尿管癌细胞增殖与凋亡密切相关;凋亡可作为临床判断肾盂输尿管癌恶性程度、病理分期、细胞分级以及预后的一种客观量化指标。     

Chronic Ethanol Inhibits Inositol Metabolism in Specific Brain Regions

Many neurotransmitters and hormones in the nervous system transmit signals through receptors coupled to the poly-phosphoinositide (PI) signaling pathway. In this study, an in vivo protocol with (³H]inositol was used to examine the effect of chronic ethanol administration on inositol metabolism and poly-PI turnover in the cerebral cortex, hippocampus, and cerebellum of mouse brain. C57BL/6 mice were given a nutritionally complete liquid diet containing either ethanol (5%, w/v) or isocaloric sucrose for 2 months. Mice were injected intracerebrally with ^rH]inositol; after 16 or 24 hr, they were injected intraperitoneally with lithium (8 mEq/kg body weight) to inhibit the inositol monophosphatase (IP₁) activity. All mice were decapitated 4 hr after lithium injection. Labeled inositol phospholipids accounted for 16 to 23% of total labeled inositol in different regions of control mouse brain, and the percentages in the hippocampus were consistently higher than the cerebral cortex and cerebellum. In control mice, the percentages of labeled IP, after a 4-hr lithium treatment were 11.5%, 9.9%, and 3.7% for cerebral cortex, hippocampus, and cerebellum, respectively. Chronic ethanol feeding resulted in a significant (p < 0.05) decrease in the percent of labeled IP₁ and inositol phospholipids, and this effect was observed in the cerebral cortex and, to a lesser extent, hippocampus but not cerebellum. When ratios of labeled IP₁ were expressed against labeled inositol phospholipids as an index of the poly-PI turnover activity, significant decreases in IP/lipid ratios were observed in the cerebral cortex, but not the hippocampus or cerebellum. Although mice killed 24 + 4 hr after the last ethanol feeding would have experienced an 8-hr period of ethanol withdrawal, compared with the 16 + 4-hr group, no differences in IP/lipid ratios were observed between the two time groups. These results illustrate regional differences in the effect of chronic ethanol on inositol metabolism in the brain, but no difference in poly-PI turnover in brain due to ethanol withdrawal.