Laryngeal and voice disorders in patients with gastroesophageal symptoms. Correlation with pH-monitoring

OBJETIVO: Investigar as alterações laríngeas e vocais em pacientes com sintomas de refluxo gastroesofágico e correlacioná-las com o exame de phmetria. MÉTODOS: Estudo prospectivo que incluiu os pacientes atendidos nos ambulatórios de Distúrbios da Voz da Faculdade de Medicina de Botucatu no período de cinco anos com sintomas vocais e gastroesofágicos. Os pacientes foram submetidos à videolaringoscopia, às análises vocais perceptivo-auditivas, a analise vocal acústica computadorizada e ao exame de pHmetria de dois canais com monitorização durante 24 horas. RESULTADOS: Foram incluídos 57 pacientes (entre 21 a 65 anos; 45 mulheres e 12 homens). Desses, 18 apresentavam pHmetria normal (31,6%) e 39 alterada (68,4%). As videolaringoscopias registraram diversas lesões laríngeas tanto nos pacientes com pHmetria normal como alterada, sendo mais relevantes neste último grupo, destacando-se a paquidermia posterior. As avaliações vocais perceptivo-auditivas identificaram alterações vocais de diversas intensidades em ambos os grupos, mais importantes nos pacientes com pHmetria alterada. Todos os parâmetros acústicos, exceto Fo, mostraram-se alterados em ambos os grupos, quando comparados aos controles. CONCLUSÕES: Alterações vocais perceptivas e acústicas, e lesões laríngeas foram registradas tanto nos pacientes com phmetria normal como alterada, sinalizando para a importância da historia clínica e dos achados videolaringoscópicos no diagnóstico das laringites ácidas.

Energy substrate utilization during nightly vocal activity in three species of Scinax (Anura/Hylidae)

Anuran amphibians exhibit different patterns of energy substrate utilization that correlate with the intensity of vocal and locomotor activities. Given the remarkable differences among species in breeding and feeding strategies, and the different ways energy is used in the whole animal, the suggested correlations between calling and locomotor behavior and the level of energy substrates in the muscles responsible for such activities are more complex than previously reported. We explored the relationships between calling and locomotor behavior and energy supply to trunk and hindlimb muscles, respectively, within the ecologically diverse tree-frog genus Scinax. Specifically, we measured the relative amount of carbohydrates and lipids in these two groups of muscles, and in the liver of three species of Scinax that differ in vocal and locomotor performance, and compared our results with those of two other species for which comparable data are available. We also compared the contents of lipids and carbohydrates of conspecific males collected at the beginning and after 4 h of calling activity. The stomach content to potential feeding opportunities across species was also assessed in both groups of males. Scinax hiemalis and S. rizibilis exhibit comparatively low and episodic calling during long periods of activity whereas S. crospedospilus calls at higher rates over shorter periods. Male S. hiemalis had highest levels of trunk muscle glycogen followed by those of S. rizilbilis and S. crospedospilus, respectively. There was no correlation between total lipid content in trunk muscle and calling rate among different species, suggesting that other metabolic aspects may be responsible for the energetic support for vocal activity. The levels of lipids and carbohydrates in trunk and hindlimb muscles and liver of males collected at the beginning and 4 h into the calling period were similar across species, so the extent of energetic reserves does not appear to constrain vocal or locomotor activity. Finally, we found exceptionally high levels of carbohydrates and lipids in the liver of S. rizibilis, a trait perhaps related to a long and demanding breeding period.

Bosonic D-branes at finite temperature with an external field

Bosonic boundary states at finite temperature are constructed as solutions of boundary conditions at T not equal0 for bosonic open strings with a constant gauge field F-ab coupled to the boundary. The construction is done in the framework of ther-mo field dynamics where a thermal Bogoliubov transformation maps states and operators to finite temperature. Boundary states are given in terms of states from the direct product space between the Fock space of the closed string and another identical copy of it. By analogy with zero temperature, the boundary states have the interpretation of Dp-branes at finite temperature. The boundary conditions admit two different solutions. The entropy of the closed string in a Dp-brane state is computed and analyzed. It is interpreted as the entropy of the Dp-brane at finite temperature.

Entropy of bosonic open string and boundary conditions

The entropy of the states associated to the solutions of the equations of motion of the bosonic open string with combinations of Neumann and Dirichlet boundary conditions is given. Also, the entropy of the string in the states \A(i)] = alpha(-1)(i)\0] and \phi(a)]= alpha(-1)(a)\0] that describe the massless fields on the world-volume of the Dp-brane is computed. (C) 2002 Elsevier B.V. B.V. All rights reserved.

Black hole entropy associated with the supersymmetric sigma model

By means of an identity that equates the elliptic genus partition function of a supersymmetric sigma model on the N-fold symmetric product (SX)-X-N of X ((SX)-X-N=X-N/S-N, where S-N is the symmetric group of N elements) to the partition function of a second-quantized string theory, we derive the asymptotic expansion of the partition function as well as the asymptotic for the degeneracy of spectrum in string theory. The asymptotic expansion for the state counting reproduces the logarithmic correction to the black hole entropy.

Conformal field theory of AdS background with Ramond-Ramond flux

We review a formalism of superstring quantization with manifest six-dimensional spacetime supersymmetry, and apply it to AdS(3) x S-3 backgrounds with Ramond-Ramond flux. The resulting description is a conformal field theory based on a sigma model whose target space is a certain supergroup SU' (2\2).

Consistency of superspace low energy equations of motion of 4D Type II superstring with Type II sigma model at tree-level

We derive the torsion constraints and show the consistency of equations of motion of four-dimensional Type II supergravity in superspace. with Type II sigma model. This is achieved by coupling the four-dimensional compactified Type II Berkovits' superstring to an N = 2 curved background and requiring that the sigma-model has superconformal invariance at tree-level. We compute this in a manifestly 4D N = 2 supersymmetric way. The constraints break the target conformal and SU(2) invariances and the dilaton will be a conformal, SU(2) x U(1) compensator. For Type II superstring in four dimensions, worldsheet supersymmetry requires two different compensators. One type is described by chiral and anti-chiral superfields. This compensator can be identified with a vector multiplet. The other Type II compensator is described by twist-chiral and twist-anti-chiral superfields and can be identified with a tensor hypermultiplet. Also, the superconformal invariance at tree-level selects a particular gauge, where the matter is fixed, but not the compensators. After imposing the reality conditions, we show that the Type II sigma model at tree-level is consistent with the equations of motion for Type II supergravity in the string gauge. (C) 2003 Elsevier B.V All rights reserved.

Self-dual super-Yang-Mills as a string theory in (x, 0) space

Different string theories in twistor space have recently been proposed for describing N = 4 super-Yang-Mills. In this paper, a string theory in (x, theta) space is constructed for self-dual N = 4 super-Yang-Mills. It is hoped that these results will be useful for understanding the twistor-string proposals and their possible relation with the pure spinor formalism of the d = 10 superstring.

Abelian-Higgs and vortices from ABJM: towards a string realization of AdS/CMT

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Taming the b antighost with Ramond-Ramond flux

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Regularizing cubic open Neveu-Schwarz string field theory

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Towards a UV completion of chameleons in string theory

Chameleons are scalar fields that couple directly to ordinary matter with gravitational strength, but which nevertheless evade the stringent constraints on tests of gravity because of properties they acquire in the presence of high ambient matter density. Chameleon theories were originally constructed in a bottom-up, phenomenological fashion, with potentials and matter couplings designed to hide the scalar from experiments. In this paper, we attempt to embed the chameleon scenario within string compactifications, thus UV completing the scenario. We look for stabilized potentials that can realize a screening mechanism, and we find that the volume modulus rather generically works as a chameleon, and in fact the supersymmetric potential used by Kachru, Kallosh, Linde and Trivedi (KKLT) is an example of this type. We consider all constraints from tests of gravity, allowing us to put experimental constraints on the KKLT parameters.

Constrained BV description of string field theory

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Towards a Realization of the Condensed-Matter-Gravity Correspondence in String Theory via Consistent Abelian Truncation of the Aharony-Bergman-Jafferis-Maldacena Model

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Gastroesophageal reflux disease and vocal disturbances

CONTEXTO: A doença do refluxo gastroesofágico (DRGE) é uma doença crônica na qual o conteúdo gastroduodenal reflui para o esôfago. O quadro clínico da DRGE é usualmente referido como pirose e regurgitação (manifestações típicas). Manifestações atípicas (distúrbios da voz e asma) podem também ser referidas. OBJETIVO: Analisar os aspectos clínicos, endoscópicos, manométricos e pHmétricos de pacientes portadores da DRGE com distúrbios da voz. MÉTODO: Foram estudados 50 pacientes com a DRGE, sendo 25 com distúrbios da voz (grupo 1 - G1) e 25 sem estes sintomas (controles, grupo 2 - G2). Todos os pacientes foram submetidos a endoscopia, manometria e pHmetria esofágica (dois sensores). Os pacientes do G1 foram submetidos a videolaringoscopia. RESULTADOS: Achados endoscópicos: DRGE não-erosiva foi observada em 95% dos pacientes de G1 e em 88% de G2. Videolaringoscopia: congestão das pregas vocais, assimetria, nódulos e pólipos foram diagnosticados nos pacientes do G1. Manometria esofágica: pressão no esfíncter inferior do esôfago (mm Hg): 11,6 ± 5,2 em G1 e 14,0 ± 6,2 em G2 (P = 0,14); pressão no esfíncter superior do esôfago (mm Hg): 58,4 ± 15,9 em G1 e 69,5 ± 30,7 nos controles. Achados pHmétricos: índice de DeMeester: 34,0 ± 20,9 em G1 e 15,4 ± 9,4 em G2 (P<0,001); número de episódios de refluxo no sensor distal: 43,0 ± 20,4 em G1 e 26, 4 ± 17,2 em G2 (P<0,003); percentagem do tempo com pH esofágico menor que 4 unidades (sensor distal): 9,0% ± 6,4% em G1 e 3,4% ± 2,1% em G2 (P<0,001); número de episódios de refluxo no sensor proximal: 7,5 ± 10,9 em G1 e 5,3 ± 5,7 em G2 (P = 0,38); percentagem de tempo com pH esofágico menor que quatro unidades (sensor proximal): 1,2% ± 2,7% em G1 e 0,5% ± 0,7% em G2 (P = 0,210). CONCLUSÕES: Os aspectos clínicos, endoscópicos e manométricos em pacientes com a DRGE e distúrbios da voz não diferem dos pacientes sem estes sintomas. A intensidade do refluxo gastroesofágico é maior nos pacientes com distúrbios da voz. Os pacientes sem distúrbios da voz podem também apresentar episódios de refluxo gastroesofágico no sensor proximal.