Influence of English donor word stress on tonal assignment in Cantonese loanwords: an acoustic account

Regular SessionThis study aims to identify the relationship between tone and stress in Cantonese loanwords borrowed from English. Tonal patterns of 23 disyllabic and trisyllabic Cantonese loanwords corresponding to English donor words of 20 different stress patterns, and the tonal patterns of 23 unassimilated Cantonese loanwords exhausting the same set of 20 stress patterns were examined. Fundamental frequency characteristics of the vowels extracted from the loanwords produced by 15 native Cantonese speakers were analysed by using Praat. The average F0s were calculated in Matlab with the algorithm of autocorrelation, and the F0s of vowels corresponding to stressed and unstressed/epenthetic vowels were compared with Wilcoxon Signed Ranks Test. Acoustic results reveal that Cantonese loanword syllables corresponding to stressed syllables in the English donor words were assigned high-level tone whereas epenthetic syllables and those corresponding to unstressed syllables were usually assigned low-level or low-falling tone, and highrising tone for word-final syllables. This is consistent with previous findings proving the explicit correlation between English lexical stress and high tone, and that between English lexical non-stress and mid or low tones in Cantonese loanwords.published_or_final_versio

The Correlation of Retinal Nerve Fiber Layer Thickness With Blood Pressure in a Chinese Hypertensive Population

To investigate the association between retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) thickness and blood pressure (BP) in subjects with systemic hypertension. Subjects with systemic hypertension on anti-hypertensive medications were screened by fundus photography and referred for glaucoma work-up if there was enlarged vertical cup-to-disc (VCDR) ratio ≥0.6, VCDR asymmetry ≥0.2, or optic disc hemorrhage. Workup included a complete ophthalmological examination, Humphrey visual field test, and RNFL thickness measurement by optical coherence tomography. The intraocular pressure (IOP) and RNFL thicknesses (global and quadrant) were averaged from both eyes and the means were correlated with: the systolic BP (SBP), diastolic BP (DBP), and mean arterial pressure (MAP) using Pearson correlation. Among 4000 screened hypertensive subjects, 133 were referred for glaucoma workup and 110 completed the workup. Of the 4000 screened subjects, 1.3% had glaucoma (0.9% had normal tension glaucoma [NTG], 0.2% had primary open angle glaucoma, and 0.2% had primary angle closure glaucoma), whereas 0.3% were NTG suspects. The SBP was negatively correlated with the mean superior RNFL thickness (P=0.01). The DBP was negatively correlated with the mean global (P=0.03), superior (P=0.02), and nasal (P=0.003) RNFL thickness. The MAP was negatively correlated with the mean global (P=0.01), superior (P=0.002), and nasal (P=0.004) RNFL thickness while positively correlated with the mean IOP (P=0.02). In medically treated hypertensive subjects, glaucoma was present in 1.3%, with NTG being most prevalent. MAP control may help with IOP lowering and RNFL preservation, although future prospective studies will be needed. Copyright © 2015 Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. All rights reserved.published_or_final_versio

Accuracy of sentinel lymph node biopsy in early oral squamous cell carcinoma

Free Paper Session - Head & Neck OncologyObjective: This systematic review is performed to investigate and review the application of sentinel lymph node biopsy in early oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC), that is, clinical stage T1 and T2 with N0 neck, and no history of previously treated neck. Methods: In order to answer the question “Whether sentinel lymph node biopsy is an accurate diagnostic staging tool for clinical N0 OSCC patients?” An electronic search on PubMed, Medline and the Cochrane Library database was carried out for all relevant articles using specific search keywords. All articles were classified by their level of evidence. Results: A total of 34 studies were included in this review. The mean detection rate for sentinel lymph nodes ranged from 93 to 100%. A mean of 1.5 to 3.8 sentinel lymph nodes were detected per patient. The percentage of upstaging due to detection of occult metastasis present in the sentinel lymph nodes was 9–50% amongst the 34 studies. The mean sensitivity of the procedure is 60–100%, the negative predictive value is 80–100% and the false negative rate is 0–25%. The regional recurrence amongst the negative sentinel lymph node results were reported to be 0–12%. Centre and surgeon experience is crucial in order for the technique to be carried out with a higher sensitivity. Conclusion: Sentinel lymph node biopsy can be an alternative diagnostic strategy to evaluate cT1-T2N0 early oral cancer. It should only be offered as an alternative when the two criteria are met. (1) The equipment for SLNB is available and (2) surgeons performing the SLNB procedure has received adequate training. Copyright © 2017 Published by Elsevier Ltd

The Correlation of Retinal Nerve Fiber Layer Thickness With Blood Pressure in a Chinese Hypertensive Population

To investigate the association between retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) thickness and blood pressure (BP) in subjects with systemic hypertension. Subjects with systemic hypertension on anti-hypertensive medications were screened by fundus photography and referred for glaucoma work-up if there was enlarged vertical cup-to-disc (VCDR) ratio >/=0.6, VCDR asymmetry >/=0.2, or optic disc hemorrhage. Workup included a complete ophthalmological examination, Humphrey visual field test, and RNFL thickness measurement by optical coherence tomography. The intraocular pressure (IOP) and RNFL thicknesses (global and quadrant) were averaged from both eyes and the means were correlated with: the systolic BP (SBP), diastolic BP (DBP), and mean arterial pressure (MAP) using Pearson correlation. Among 4000 screened hypertensive subjects, 133 were referred for glaucoma workup and 110 completed the workup. Of the 4000 screened subjects, 1.3% had glaucoma (0.9% had normal tension glaucoma [NTG], 0.2% had primary open angle glaucoma, and 0.2% had primary angle closure glaucoma), whereas 0.3% were NTG suspects. The SBP was negatively correlated with the mean superior RNFL thickness (P = 0.01). The DBP was negatively correlated with the mean global (P = 0.03), superior (P = 0.02), and nasal (P = 0.003) RNFL thickness. The MAP was negatively correlated with the mean global (P = 0.01), superior (P = 0.002), and nasal (P = 0.004) RNFL thickness while positively correlated with the mean IOP (P = 0.02). In medically treated hypertensive subjects, glaucoma was present in 1.3%, with NTG being most prevalent. MAP control may help with IOP lowering and RNFL preservation, although future prospective studies will be needed