Laryngeal resistance in individuals with marginal velopharyngeal closure

OBJETIVO: Verificar se pacientes com disfunção velofaríngea marginal modificam a resistência laríngea como uma estratégia para alcançar o fechamento velofaríngeo completo durante a fala. MÉTODOS: Foram avaliados 19 pacientes com fissura de palato operada, de ambos os sexos com idade entre 12 e 47 anos, com fechamento velofaríngeo marginal e 18 indivíduos sem fissura (grupo controle), de ambos os sexos, com idade entre 14 e 35 anos. A resistência laríngea (R), pressão aérea intra-oral (Po) e fluxo oro-nasal (Vº) foram obtidos por meio de avaliação aerodinâmica utilizando-se o sistema PERCI-SARS durante a produção da sílaba /pa/, com e sem a oclusão das narinas. RESULTADOS: Os valores médios de resistência laríngea (R), pressão aérea intra-oral (Po) e fluxo oro-nasal (Vº), no grupo com fechamento velofaríngeo marginal, foram de, respectivamente, 34,8±10,8 cmH2O/L/seg, 4,8±1,4 cmH2O, 144,8±34,0 mL/s, sem a oclusão das narinas e de 34,0±14,3 cmH2O/L/seg, 4,8±1,1 cmH2O, 150,9±38,7 mL/s com a oclusão das narinas. No grupo controle, os valores médios foram 39,2±13,4 cmH2O/L/seg, 4,8±0,8 cmH2O, 133,9±50,2 mL/s, respectivamente para as mesmas variáveis. Não houve diferença estatisticamente significante (p<0,05) entre os valores médios de resistência laríngea (R), pressão aérea intra-oral (Po) e fluxo oro-nasal (Vº) dos grupos estudados. CONCLUSÃO: Esses resultados mostraram que os pacientes com fechamento velofaríngeo marginal estudados não modificaram a resistência laríngea.PURPOSE: To verify whether patients with marginal velopharyngeal dysfunction modify the laryngeal resistance as a strategy to achieve complete velopharyngeal closure during speech. METHODS: Nineteen patients of both genders with repaired cleft palate with marginal velopharyngeal closure and ages varying from 12 to 47 years, and 18 patients of both genders without cleft palate (control group), with ages between 14 and 35 years were assessed. Laryngeal resistance (R), intraoral air pressure (Po) and the oronasal airflow (Vº) were obtained through an aerodynamics evaluation using the PERCI-SARS system during the production of the syllable /pa/, with and without nasal occlusion. RESULTS: Mean values of laryngeal resistance (R), intraoral air pressure (Po) and oronasal airflow (Vº), for the group with marginal velopharyngeal dysfunction, were, respectively, 34.8±10.8 cmH2O/L/sec, 4.8±1.4 cmH2O, 144.8±34.0 mL/s without nasal occlusion, and 34.0±14.3 cmH2O/L/sec, 4.8±1.1 cmH2O, 150.9±38.7 mL/s with nasal occlusion. In the control group, the mean values were 39.2±13.4 cmH2O/L/sec, 4.8±0.8 cmH2O, 133.9±50.2 mL/s, respectively, for the same variables. There was no statistically significant difference (p<0.05) between the groups regarding mean values of laryngeal resistance (R), intraoral air pressure (Po) and oronasal airflow (Vº). CONCLUSION: These results showed that the patients with marginal velopharyngeal closure studied did not modify laryngeal resistance.Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES

Recruitment of Orc6l, a dormant maternal mRNA in mouse oocytes, is essential for DNA replication in 1-cell embryos

Mouse oocytes acquire the ability to replicate DNA during meiotic maturation, presumably to ensure that DNA replication does not occur precociously between MI and MII and only after fertilization. Acquisition of DNA replication competence requires protein synthesis, but the identity of the proteins required for DNA replication is poorly described. In Xenopus, the only component missing for DNA replication competence is CDC6, which is synthesized from a dormant maternal mRNA recruited during oocyte maturation, and a similar situation also occurs during mouse oocyte maturation. We report that ORC6L is another component required for acquisition of DNA replication competence that is absent in mouse oocytes. The dormant maternal Orc6l mRNA is recruited during maturation via a CPE present in its 3␣ UTR. RNAi-mediated ablation of maternal Orc6l mRNA prevents the maturation-associated increase in ORC6L protein and inhibits DNA replication in 1-cell embryos. These results suggest that mammalian oocytes have more complex mecha- nisms to establish DNA replication competence when compared to their Xenopus counterparts.Fil: Murai, Shin. State University Of Pennsylvania; Estados UnidosFil: Stein, Paula. University of Pennsylvania; Estados UnidosFil: Buffone, Mariano Gabriel. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Instituto de Biología y Medicina Experimental (i); Argentina; Argentina. University of Pennsylvania; Estados UnidosFil: Yamashita, Shigeru. Toho University. School of Medicine; JapónFil: Schultz, Richard M.. University of Pennsylvania; Estados Unido

A Unified Account of the Japanese Causative, Moraw-Benefactive, and Passive Constructions

Proceedings of the Twenty-Third Annual Meeting of the Berkeley Linguistics Society: General Session and Parasession on Pragmatics and Grammatical Structure (1997

Electroformation in a flow chamber with solution exchange as a means of preparation of flaccid giant vesicles

A recently described technique (Estes and Mayer, Biochim. Biophys. Acta 1712 (2005) 152--160) for the preparation of giant unilamellar vesicles (GUVs) in solutions with high ionic strength is examined. By observing a series of osmotic swellings followed by vesicle bursts upon a micropipette transfer of a single POPC GUV from a sucrose solution into an isoosmolar glycerol solution, a value for the permeability of POPC membrane for glycerol, P = (2.09+/-0.82) x 10^{-8} m/s, has been obtained. Based on this result, an alternative mechanism is proposed for the observed exchange of vesicle interior. With modifications, the method of Estes and Mayer is then applied to preparation of flaccid GUVs.Comment: 13 pages, 10 figures, accepted for publication in Colloids and Surfaces B: Biointerface

Islet-1 specifies the identity of hypothalamic melanocortin neurons and is critical for normal food intake and adiposity in adulthood

Food intake and body weight regulation depend on proper expression of the proopiomelanocortin gene (Pomc) in a group of neurons located in the mediobasal hypothalamus of all vertebrates. These neurons release POMC-encoded melanocortins, which are potent anorexigenic neuropeptides, and their absence from mice or humans leads to hyperphagia and severe obesity. Although the pathophysiology of hypothalamic POMC neurons is well understood, the genetic program that establishes the neuronal melanocortinergic phenotype and maintains a fully functional neuronal POMC phenotype throughout adulthood remains unknown. Here, we report that the early expression of the LIM-homeodomain transcription factor Islet 1 (ISL1) in the developing hypothalamus promotes the terminal differentiation of melanocortinergic neurons and is essential for hypothalamic Pomc expression since its initial onset and throughout the entire lifetime. We detected ISL1 in the prospective hypothalamus just before the onset of Pomc expression and, from then on, Pomc and Isl1 coexpress. ISL1 binds in vitro and in vivo to critical homeodomain binding DNA motifs present in the neuronal Pomc enhancers nPE1 and nPE2, and mutations of these sites completely disrupt the ability of these enhancers to drive reporter gene expression to hypothalamic POMC neurons in transgenic mice and zebrafish. ISL1 is necessary for hypothalamic Pomc expression during mouse and zebrafish embryogenesis. Furthermore, conditional Isl1 inactivation from POMC neurons impairs Pomc expression, leading to hyperphagia and obesity. Our results demonstrate that ISL1 specifies the identity of hypothalamic melanocortin neurons and is required for melanocortin-induced satiety and normal adiposity throughout the entire lifespanFil: Nasif, Sofia. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Instituto de Investigaciones en Ingeniería Genética y Biología Molecular; ArgentinaFil: Silva Junqueira de Souza, Flavio. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Instituto de Investigaciones en Ingeniería Genética y Biología Molecular; Argentina. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales; ArgentinaFil: Gonzalez, Laura Elisabeth. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Instituto de Investigaciones en Ingeniería Genética y Biología Molecular; ArgentinaFil: Yamashita, Miho. University of Michigan. Department of Molecular and Integrative Physiology; Estados UnidosFil: Orquera, Daniela Paula. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Instituto de Investigaciones en Ingeniería Genética y Biología Molecular; ArgentinaFil: Low, Malcolm J.. University of Michigan. Department of Molecular and Integrative Physiology; Estados UnidosFil: Rubinstein, Marcelo. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Instituto de Investigaciones en Ingeniería Genética y Biología Molecular; Argentina. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales; Argentina. University of Michigan. Department of Molecular and Integrative Physiology; Estados Unido

Effect of intravelar veloplasty on nasality in patients with velopharyngeal insufficiency

OBJETIVO: verificar o efeito da palatoplastia secundária realizada com veloplastia intravelar sobre a nasalidade e nasalância dos pacientes com fissura de palato reparada e insuficiência velofaríngea (IVF) e comparar os resultados entre estes pacientes, de acordo com o grau de fechamento velofaríngeo aferido na nasofaringoscopia. MÉTODO: estudo prospectivo com 40 pacientes de ambos os sexos, com idades entre 4 e 48 anos, com fissura de palato reparada e IVF residual, avaliado 3 dias antes e 8 meses após a palatoplastia, em média, divididos em dois grupos: um com 25 pacientes com falhas pequenas (grupo I) e outro com 15 pacientes com falhas médias a grandes (grupo II) no fechamento velofaríngeo. A hipernasalidade foi avaliada perceptivamente e nasalância foi avaliada por meio da nasometria. Diferenças entre grupos e etapas foram consideradas significativas ao nível de 5%. O estudo foi aprovado pelo Comitê de Ética para Pesquisa com Seres Humanos da Instituição. RESULTADOS: após a cirurgia, verificou-se redução da hipernasalidade em 84% dos pacientes do grupo I e em 73% dos pacientes do grupo II. Redução da nasalância foi observada em 52% dos casos do grupo I e em 43% dos pacientes do grupo II. CONCLUSÃO: a palatoplastia secundária com veloplastia intravelar levou à melhora da nasalidade na maioria dos pacientes analisados. Os resultados também demonstraram que a cirurgia foi mais efetiva nos pacientes que apresentavam falhas pequenas no fechamento velofaríngeo.PURPOSE: to check the effect of secondary palatoplasty performed with intravelar veloplasty on the nasality and nasalance of patients with repaired cleft palate and velopharyngeal insufficiency (VPI) and compare the outcome among these patients, according to the degree of velopharyngeal closure as analyzed by nasopharyngoscopy. METHOD: prospective study with 40 patients of both genders, aged from 4 to 48 years, with repaired cleft palate and residual VPI, evaluated for 3 days before and 8 months after palatoplasty, on average, divided into two groups: one with 25 patients with minor defect (group I) and the other with 15 patients with medium to large defect (group II) in velopharyngeal closure. Hypernasality was evaluated perceptually and nasalance was assessed by nasometry. Differences between groups and stages were considered to be significant at the 5% level. The local Ethics Committee for Human Research approved the study. RESULTS: after surgery, we observed a reduction of hypernasality in 84% of the patients from group I, and in 73% of the patients from group II. Reduction of nasalance scores were observed in 52% of the group I cases and in 43% of the group II. CONCLUSION: secondary palatoplasty performed with intravelar veloplasty led to improvement in nasality in most of the analyzed patients. The results further demonstrated that surgery was more effective in patients with minor defects in velopharyngeal closure

TURISMO DE NEGÓCIOS: UM ESTUDO SOBRE A PERCEPÇÃO DE VALOR DOS SERVIÇOS HOTELEIROS NA ÓTICA DO TURISTA DE NEGÓCIOS

A finalidade desta pesquisa foi identificar os fatores que influenciam a percepção de valor para o turista de negócios em relação aos serviços hoteleiros. Buscou-se identificar a partir de três dimensões (Hotel, Apartamento e Funcionários) as variáveis principais que podem agregar valor ao serviço oferecido. Utilizou-se a metodologia quantitativa exploratória, sendo os dados coletados por meio de questionários com pessoas que no exercício de suas funções profissionais viajam regularmente, a amostra foi do tipo não probabilística e por acessibilidade sendo composta por 45 respondentes. Os resultados sugerem que os aspectos básicos em hotelaria, tais como segurança, cordialidade, localização, comunicação, silêncio e ducha são os mais valorizados pelos turistas de negócios. Alguns aspectos considerados como diferenciais pelas cadeias hoteleiras, tais como, banheira, fitness center, sala de reuniões apresentam pouca relevância para este tipo de hóspede. A pesquisa concentrou-se na identificação dos atributos sem sua análise qualitativa. O presente estudo adiciona a literatura sobre turismo de negócios. Em particular, contribui para compreender sob a ótica deste turista o que pode ser considerado um diferencial, e esclarece aos dirigentes para o direcionamento de suas políticas de gestão

Impact of interjudge agreement on perceptual judgment of hypernasality

Objective: To investigate the effect of perceptual interjudge agreement of hypernasality on velopharyngeal (VP) closure prediction. Methods: Two logistic regression models were developed and compared in order to verify the effect of interjudge agreement of perceptual hypernasality evaluating on models results. The models were built aiming to verify the possibility of predicting the VP closure by using the following characteristics: rating of VP closure (adequate, borderline, inadequate), determined by the pressure-flow technique, degree of hypernasality (absent, mild, moderate, severe), and the presence/absence of nasal air emission and nasal rustle determined perceptually by three speech pathologists. In the first model 100 speech samples with a moderate agreement rate of hypernasality (kappa coefficient) were used. In the second model 43 speech samples with a perfect agreement among judges were included. The Qui-square test was used to compare the models (p&#8804;5%). Results: In the first model, 65% (65/100) of the samples were rated in the correct VP closure category, with 93% (42/45) adequate and 35% (23/35) inadequate. However, the borderline VP closure was not predicted. The second model rated 72% (31/43) in the correct category, with 95.5% (21/22) adequate VP closure, 45.5% (5/11) in the borderline VP closure and 50% (5/10) inadequate. The data analysis showed that, although there was no significant difference (p=0.526) between the two models, the second one showed a higher proportion of 7% accuracy than the first model, and also it has predicted the borderline VP closure. Conclusion: These results showed the importance of high index of interjudge agreement when using subjective parameters of speech evaluation, especially when compared to an instrumental evaluation

Influence of aerobic physical training in the motochondrial transport of long chain fatty acids in the skeletal muscle: role of the carnitine palmitoil transferase

O ácido graxo (AG) é uma importante fonte de energia para o músculo esquelético. Durante o exercício sua mobilização é aumentada para suprir as necessidades da musculatura ativa. Acredita-se que diversos pontos de regulação atuem no controle da oxidação dos AG, sendo o principal a atividade do complexo carnitina palmitoil transferase (CPT), entre os quais três componentes estão envolvidos: a CPT I, a CPT II e carnitina acilcarnitina translocase. A função da CPT I durante o exercício físico é controlar a entrada de AG para o interior da mitocôndria, para posterior oxidação do AG e produção de energia. Em resposta ao treinamento físico há um aumento na atividade e expressão da CPT I no músculo esquelético. Devido sua grande importância no metabolismo de lipídios, os mecanismos que controlam sua atividade e sua expressão gênica são revisados no presente estudo. Reguladores da expressão gênica de proteínas envolvidas no metabolismo de lipídios no músculo esquelético, os receptores ativados por proliferadores de peroxissomas (PPAR) alfa e beta, são discutidos com um enfoque na resposta ao treinamento físico.Fatty acids are an important source of energy for the skeletal muscle. During exercise, their mobilization is increased to supply the muscle energetic needs. Many points of regulation act in the fatty acids metabolism, where the carnitine palmytoiltransferase (CPT) complex is the main control system. Three compounds named CPT I, CPT II and carnitine acyl carnitine translocase (CACT) are components of this system. Its function is to control the influx of fatty acids inside the mitochondria for posterior oxidation and energy production. There is a pronounced increase in both activity and gene expression of CPT I in the skeletal muscle in response to exercise. Due to its importance in lipid metabolism, the controlling mechanisms are reviewed in the present study. The modulation of gene expression by peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors (PPARs) alpha and beta during the physical training is also discussed in this review