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Biomedical subjects

A Fennell

Publications and source records attributed to A Fennell.

3 recordsLinked to original sources

Dependence of phonatory effort on hydration level.

In this study, a double-blind placebo-controlled approach was used to assess the relation between hydration level and phonatory effort. Twelve adult, untrained voice users with normal voices participated as subjects. Each subject received a 4-hour hydration treatment, a 4-hour dehydration treatment, and a 4-hour placebo (control) treatment. Following each treatment, phonatory effort was measured with a physiological measure, phonation threshold pressure (PTP), and with a psychological measure, direct magnitude estimation of perceived phonatory effort (DMEPPE). Summarizing the results across these measures, the findings indicated an inverse relation between phonatory effort and hydration level, but primarily for high-pitched phonation tasks. The findings for PTPs replicated those from an earlier study conducted without double-blind experimental manipulations (Verdolini-Marston, Titze, & Druker, 1990). Theoretical discussion focuses on the possible role of vocal fold tissue viscosity for hydration and dehydration effects, although direct measures of tissue viscosity are lacking.

Adult↗

Temperature response of plasma membranes in tuber-bearing solanum species.

Permeability coefficients (Kp) of nonelectroytes were determined at several temperatures for nonacclimated and acclimated plasma membranes of the frost sensitive Solanum tuberosum and the frost resistant Solanum commersonii. In nonacclimated membranes, Kp were equal at 25 degrees C for the two species. Kp decreased with decreased temperature in both species; however, the decrease was much greater in the frost sensitive S. tuberosum than in frost resistant S. commersonii.Kp increased with cold acclimation. After acclimation the temperature sensitivity of Kp or activation energy (Ea) for S. tuberosum was similar to that of S. commersonii; however, Kp for S. tuberosum were lower than those for S. commersonii at all temperatures.The differences in Kp and activation energy indicate plasma membrane differences between the species before acclimation. After acclimation there was still a difference between the plasma membranes of the two species as well as a difference between the nonacclimated and acclimated membranes of the same species.

Journal Article↗