How does the absence or presence of subglottal medialization affect glottal airflow?

Objectives: Our previous work has shown that the symmetric, smooth, convergent shape of the subglottis reduces turbulent airflow at the glottal entrance. Medialization thyroplasty may alter the glottal shape and is very likely to introduce some degree of glottal asymmetry, which could result in increased turbulence and a reduction in voice quality. This study reports the effects of medializing and not medializing the subglottis in silicone models of human cadaveric larynges.

Seasonal and regional dynamics of M. ulcerans transmission in environmental context: deciphering the role of water bugs as hosts and vectors.

Background: Buruli ulcer, the third mycobacterial disease after tuberculosis and leprosy, is caused by the environmental mycobacterium M. ulcerans. Various modes of transmission have been suspected for this disease, with no general consensus acceptance for any of them up to now.

Structure-activity relationship of cyclodextrin/biocidal double-tailed ammonium surfactant host-guest complexes: towards a delivery molecular mechanism?

In aqueous solution, the biocidal double-tailed cationic surfactant, di-n-decyl-dimethyl-ammonium chloride can form inclusion complexes with various cyclodextrins (alpha-CD, beta-CD, gamma-CD, HP-alpha-CD, HP-beta-CD and CM-beta-CD). A physicochemical study has been performed to investigate the association parameters of these host-guest complexes by combining the use of ammonium and chloride selective electrodes, NMR spectroscopy and molecular modeling. stoichiometries, equilibrium constants and geometries were determined by resorting to a specific algorithm.

Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy for bipolar disorder: a feasibility trial.

Background: The present open study investigates the feasibility of Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) in groups solely composed of bipolar patients of various subtypes. MBCT has been mostly evaluated with remitted unipolar depressed patients and little is known about this treatment in bipolar disorder.

Methods: Bipolar outpatients (type I, II and NOS) were included and evaluated for depressive and hypomanic symptoms, as well as mindfulness skills before and after MBCT.

The cortisol awakening response in patients remitted from depression.

An impressive number of data has been accumulated on dysfunctions of the hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis and cortisol hypersecretion in depression. To assess the dynamic HPA functioning, the cortisol awakening response (CAR) is an easily accessible and reliable approach. Some data suggest that elevated CAR in depressed patients has trait-like characteristics.

A QSPR model for the prediction of the "fish-tail" temperature of C(i)E4/water/polar hydrocarbon oil systems.

The fish-tail temperatures denoted as T* have been determined or collected for 85 ternary systems based on three tetraethylene glycol monoalkyl ethers C(i)E(4) (i = 6, 8, 10), water, and 43 hydrocarbon oils of various hydrophobicities. Fourteen fragrant mono- and sesquiterpenes in addition to 29 model oils, including n-alkanes, cyclohexenes, cyclohexanes, and alkylbenzenes, were investigated in order to establish a QSPR model for the prediction of T* as a function of the chemical structure of the oils. Only two molecular descriptors related to branching and molecular size (Kier A3) and polarizability (average negative softness) of the molecules are necessary to model and predict the values of T* and EACN (equivalent alkane carbon number) of unsaturated and/or cyclic and/or branched hydrocarbons exhibiting an EACN ranging from -4 and +35.

Use of fine-needle aspiration for diagnosis of Mycobacterium ulcerans infection.

Noninvasive methods for the bacteriological diagnosis of early-stage Mycobacterium ulcerans infection are not available. It was recently shown that fine-needle aspiration (FNA) could be used for diagnosing M. ulcerans infection in ulcerative lesions.

[Psychiatry].

Methods of brain stimulation such as transcranial magnetic stimulation, deep brain stimulation and vagus nerve stimulation may have a place in the treatment of depression or severe anxiety disorders resistant to conventional treatments. Several advances in chronotherapy as well as developments in treatment protocols have helped to prolong the antidepressant effect of sleep deprivation. The clinical applications of these methods in depressive episodes and especially in bipolar depression are discussed.

Early telephone intervention for psychiatric outpatients starting antidepressant treatment.

Background: The article addresses the hypothesis that early telephone intervention for psychiatric outpatients starting antidepressant treatment would increase compliance with pharmacological treatment and retention time in the study, and thus allow for a more favourable clinical outcome.

Methods: The study focuses on 131 depressed outpatients who participated in a study aiming to obtain full remission. Patients who benefited from three early structured telephone interventions (n=81) were compared with participants who benefited from the usual care (n=50) with no clinical contact before the first clinical assessment at 2 weeks.

Investigation of geometric distortions on magnetic resonance and cone beam computed tomography images used for planning and verification of high-dose rate brachytherapy cervical cancer treatment.

Purpose: To measure the amount of geometric distortions present in the three-dimensional imaging modalities--cone beam computed tomography (CBCT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)--used at University of California, San Francisco, CA, for gynecologic high dose rate brachytherapy.

Methods And Materials: An MRI- and CT-compatible water phantom with two different sets of support structures was designed and built for this study. The support structures were used to precisely position catheters that were filled with either an MRI contrast agent or a string of radio-opaque markers.

Effects of ovariectomy in prepubertal goats.

The objectives of this study were to determine the effects of ovariectomy on mammary gland development in prepubertal goats and to validate this model to study mammogenesis in young dairy ruminants. In this experiment, 3 months of aged goats were ovariectomized (ovx) while shammed goats played as surgery controls (sham). Thereafter, sham and ovx goats were slaughtered at 7 months of age to provide tissue for the assays.

[Health impact of working conditions at the Ruashi mine in the Democratic Republic of Congo].

Objective: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the health impact of working conditions at the Ruashi mine in the Katanga Province in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Materials And Methods: A cross-sectional etiological study was conducted in two cohorts including 100 miners and 109 students. Data necessary to allow comparison disease symptoms in the two cohorts were collected using a questionnaire.

MR-guided transcranial brain HIFU in small animal models.

Recent studies have demonstrated the feasibility of transcranial high-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) therapy in the brain using adaptive focusing techniques. However, the complexity of the procedures imposes provision of accurate targeting, monitoring and control of this emerging therapeutic modality in order to ensure the safety of the treatment and avoid potential damaging effects of ultrasound on healthy tissues. For these purposes, a complete workflow and setup for HIFU treatment under magnetic resonance (MR) guidance is proposed and implemented in rats.

[Screening for bipolar disorders: a review of the literature].

Objective: The aim of this article is to review the major instruments proposed for screening for bipolar disorder among clinical or general, adult or paediatric populations. They were developed in order to improve the detection of this illness which, far too often, remains unrecognized. Several of these screening instruments are already translated into several languages and validated.

Bidimensional analysis of the phase behavior of a well-defined surfactant (C10E4)/oil (n-octane)/water-temperature system.

The equilibrium phase behavior of the well-defined system tetraethyleneglycol decyl ether (C(10)E(4))/n-octane/water (SOW) at variable temperature (T) was revisited by careful analysis of the three bidimensional cuts, namely, the gamma (at constant water-oil ratio), chi (at constant surfactant concentration), and Delta (at constant temperature) plots. A straightforward methodology is reported to determine the frontiers of the triphasic (Winsor III) domain on any cut of the SOW-T phase prism. It comes from the systematic analysis of another cut, here gamma at different water-oil ratios and chi at different surfactant concentrations from the knowledge of Delta cuts at different temperatures.

Amphiphilic properties of hydrotropes derived from isosorbide: endo/exo isomeric effects and temperature dependence.

The hydrotropic properties of short-chain monoalkyl ethers of isosorbide have been studied with emphasis on the difference between the two regioisomers (2-O- and 5-O-monoalkylisosorbide, C(i)Iso-exo and C(i)Iso-endo, respectively). On the one hand, the partitioning in a water/cyclohexane system has been measured, and on the other hand, the "optimal formulation" of C(i)Iso/oil/water systems has been determined by changing the oil polarity. In both cases, whatever the alkyl chain length (four or five carbons), C(i)Iso-exo appears to be less hydrophilic due to an intramolecular hydrogen bond that makes the free hydroxyl group less available.

[Buruli ulcer or Mycobacterium ulcerans infection].

Buruli ulcer is a severe necrotizing cutaneous infection due to Mycobacterium ulcerans. The disease is currently expanding, especially in West Africa, and the WHO is supporting a vast research program to better understand the modes of transmission, to develop diagnostic methods, and to define specific treatment protocols. The disease transmission could be linked to environment and especially water striders.

Transcranial ultrasonic therapy based on time reversal of acoustically induced cavitation bubble signature.

Brain treatment through the skull with high-intensity focused ultrasound can be achieved with multichannel arrays and adaptive focusing techniques such as time reversal. This method requires a reference signal to be either emitted by a real source embedded in brain tissues or computed from a virtual source, using the acoustic properties of the skull derived from computed tomography images. This noninvasive computational method focuses with precision, but suffers from modeling and repositioning errors that reduce the accessible acoustic pressure at the focus in comparison with fully experimental time reversal using an implanted hydrophone.

Ultrasonic focusing through the ribs using the DORT method.

Thermal ablation induced by high intensity focused ultrasound has produced promising clinical results to treat hepatocarcinoma and other liver tumors. However skin burns have been reported due to the high absorption of ultrasonic energy by the ribs. This study proposes a method to produce an acoustic field focusing on a chosen target while sparing the ribs using the decomposition of the time-reversal operator (DORT method).

Ultrafast imaging of ultrasound contrast agents.

The disappearance of ultrasound contrast agents after disruption can provide useful information on their environment. However, in vivo acoustical imaging of this transient phenomenon, which has a duration on the order of milliseconds, requires high frame rates that are unattainable by conventional ultrasound scanners. In this article, ultrafast imaging is applied to microbubble tracking using a 128-element linear array and an elastography scanner.

Self-rated residual symptoms do not predict 1-year recurrence of depression.

Background: Residual depressive symptoms are generally documented as a risk factor for recurrence. In the absence of a specific instrument for the assessment of residual symptoms, a new 25-item Depression Residual Symptom Scale (DRSS) was elaborated and tested for recurrence prediction over a 1-year follow-up.

Sampling And Methods: Fifty-nine patients in remission after a major depressive episode (MDE) were recruited in two centres.

Depression relapse prophylaxis with Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy: replication and extension in the Swiss health care system.

Background: Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) is a group intervention that integrates elements of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) with components of mindfulness training to prevent depressive relapse. The efficacy of MBCT compared to Treatment As Usual (TAU), shown in two randomized controlled trials indicates a significant decrease in 1-year relapse rates for patients with at least three past depressive episodes. The present study is the first independent replication trial comparing MBCT+TAU to TAU alone across both language and culture (Swiss health care system).

Self- and clinician-rated Montgomery-Asberg Depression Rating Scale: evaluation in clinical practice.

Background: Time- and cost-effective self-rating scales of depressive symptoms are particularly valuable for frequent use in large-scale effectiveness trials. The aim of the present study was to examine the psychometric properties of the French version of the self-rated Montgomery-Asberg Depression Rating Scale (MADRS-S) and determine whether it might complement the MADRS in monitoring depression severity and change over time in routine clinical practice.

Methods: Sixty-three adult outpatients with a current depressive episode completed the MADRS-S and were interviewed with the MADRS on two occasions, within a 1-month interval.