Water flux values for CS-HEC-MMT are less than those for Nafion (R) and PVA-PSSA membranes, but the operational Stability of CS-HEC-MMT membrane is higher than PVA-PSSA and comparable with Nafion (R) both of which can operate up to 70 degrees C at repetitive cycles of humidification. (C) 2009 Wile), Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 113:2605-2612,2009″
“Purpose The Swallowing Disturbance Questionnaire (SDQ) was developed as a self-rated screening tool for dysphagia in patients with Parkinson’s disease (PD). We developed the Japanese version of this questionnaire (SDQ-J), according to
the cross-cultural adaptation guidelines, and examined its reliability.
Methods Subjects ACP-196 purchase were 61 Japanese patients with PD (mean age, 67.0 +/- 9.2 years) who answered the SDQ-J before PF-6463922 undergoing videofluoroscopic examination of swallowing (VF). We compared the findings of the questionnaire with the patients’ aspiration status during VF.
Results Cronbach’s alpha coefficient for the 15 questions of the SDQ-J was 0.84. According to the SDQ-J, 15 patients (24.6%) were diagnosed with dysphagia, while 9 patients (14.8%) aspirated liquid during VF. The sensitivity and specificity of the SDQ-J in predicting aspiration
were 77.8 and 84.6%, respectively; therefore, the SDQ-J significantly predicted aspiration during VF (P < 0.01). The positive predictive value (PPV) and negative predictive value (NPV) for the SDQ-J were 0.46 and 0.96, respectively.
Conclusions The SDQ-J appears to be a reliable and useful screening tool for Japanese PD patients with aspiration. As the NPV was
higher than the PPV in the SDQ-J, this questionnaire could potentially be used for early identification of severe dysphagia in patients with PD.”
“A nonintrusive, minimally invasive, needle-less technique to deliver liquids into soft targets is presented. The technique uses a laser-induced shock wave to drive a liquid microjet Bcl-2 protein at a very high speed such that the jet has sufficient momentum to penetrate soft targets. The method can be used to deliver liquid drugs into soft tissues in the human body. The liquid to be delivered is sandwiched between 200 mu m thick aluminum foil and a base plate with a perforation of 100 mu m diameter. The aluminum foil is ablated using an Nd:YAG laser beam in order to launch a shock wave through it. The shock wave from the foil is transmitted to the sandwiched liquid, which becomes pressurized by the shock propagation and emanates as a microjet through the perforation in the base plate. The microjet thus generated has a steady, average speed of over 200 m/s. The technique has been tested on gelatin models (5% gelatin), in which the jet penetrated to a depth of more than a millimeter. (C) 2009 American Institute of Physics. [doi:10.1063/1.