Fundamental Frequency Onset and Offset Behavior

2002 ◽  
Vol 45 (3) ◽  
pp. 446-456 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael P. Robb ◽  
Allan B. Smith

Short-term changes in vowel fundamental frequency (F 0 ) immediately preceding (F 0 offset) and following (F 0 onset) production of voiceless obstruents were examined in groups of 4-year-olds, 8-year-olds, and 21-year-olds. Definitive patterns of laryngeal behavior were observed for each measure. F 0 was found to significantly lower at vowel offset across age groups, with no significant differences noted between groups, suggesting that F 0 offset is simply an acoustic consequence of producing a voiceless obstruent preceded by a vowel. The F 0 at vowel onset was high and significantly decreased thereafter. Age-related differences were identified for F 0 onset with 4-year-olds in that their F 0 rose to a lesser degree than that of adults. However, adult females demonstrated a greater change in both F 0 onset and F 0 offset behavior than adult males and children, suggesting that age-related differences in F 0 behavior are likely to be influenced by sex. The results are discussed with regard to the physiologic constraints of F 0 surrounding voiceless obstruent production in children and adults.

1991 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 433-452 ◽  
Author(s):  
Loraine K. Obler ◽  
Deborah Fein ◽  
Marjorie Nicholas ◽  
Martin L. Albert

ABSTRACTComprehension of six syntactic structures was tested across four age groups. Each structure was presented with both plausible and implausible content. The contribution of cognitive nonlinguistic factors important for comprehension (attention, short-term memory, and mental control) was tested via standard neuropsychological tasks. Sixty-six women aged 30–79 were tested. Both errors and reaction times increased with age, especially for more complex syntactic types and implausible sentences. The neuropsychological factors tested contributed minimally to an age-related decline in comprehension, suggesting that the subtle breakdown seen in syntactic processing may be a language-specific impairment.


Author(s):  
В.В. Алексеев ◽  
А.Х. Каде

В последние годы все чаще встречаются штаммы микроорганизмов, устойчивые к антибиотикам. Необходим поиск новых средств, обеспечивающих надежный антибактериальный эффект. Актуальным является изучение антимикробных полипептидов. Возникает вопрос, α-дефензины активируются только при микробной атаке или существуют и иные триггеры их вовлечения в иммунологический процесс. Если исходить из того, что любая рана всегда болезненна, но не любая острая боль связана с внешним повреждением тканей, встает вопрос о возможности вовлечения нейтрофилов и α-дефензинов в долорогенный процесс как таковой. Цель работы - выявление кореляционной связи и особенностей вовлечения нейтрофилов и α-дефензинов в острый долорогенный процесс на этапах онтогенеза. Методика. Объект исследования - белые беспородные крысы 3 возрастных групп: месячные (30-35-дневные, n=36), взрослые половозрелые (2-3 месячные, n=36), старые (старше 1 года, n=36).). Каждая группа делилась на контрольную и экспериментальную подгруппы. В экспериментальных подгруппах моделировали острую соматическую боль методом электростимуляции. После болевого воздействия брали материал для исследования через 2, 30-60, 120-180 мин. Содержание α-дефензинов в сыворотке крови определяли методом иммуноферментного анализа. Для оценки микробицидной активности нейтрофилов использовали спонтанный и стимулированный НСТ - тест. Для оценки корреляционной связи между изучаемыми показателями применяли метод ранговой корреляции Спирмена. Результаты. Острая краткосрочная соматическая боль активирует кислородзависимые механизмы микробицидности нейтрофилов и приводит к увеличению уровня α-дефензинов в периферической крови. В онтогенезе реакция имеет свои особенности, но ее стандартный и непродолжительный характер очевидны. Установлена прямая корреляционная зависимость между функциональной активностью нейтрофилов и уровнем α-дефензинов в периферической крови у 30-35-дневных и 2-3-месячных животных. Заключение. Полученные данные имеют значение при разработке препаратов на основе α-дефензинов и их применении пациентами различного возраста при наличии в анамнезе острого болевого синдрома. Microorganism strains resistant to antibiotics have become more common. This fact prompts searching for new means that would provide a reliable antibacterial effect. Studying antimicrobial polypeptides is relevant. A question arises whether α-defensins are activated only during a microbial attack or there are other triggers for their involvement in the immunological process. Since any wound is always painful but acute pain is not always associated with an external injury, the question is whether neutrophils and α-defensins can be involved in the dolorogenic process as such. The aim of the study was to determine correlation and features of neutrophil and α-defensin involvement in an acute dolorogenic process at stages of ontogenesis. Methods. The study was performed on white rats divided into three age groups (30-35-day-old, 2-3-month-old, and older than one year). Each group was divided into control and experimental subgroups. In experimental subgroups, acute somatic pain was modeled by electrostimulation. Material was collected at 2, 30-60, and 120-180 min after electrostimulation. Serum content of α-defensins was measured by enzyme immunoassay. Neutrophil microbicidal activity was evaluated using the spontaneous and stimulated NBT tests. Values were compared using the non-parametric Mann-Whitney U-test, and correlations were analyzed using the Spearman rank correlation test. Results. Acute short-term somatic pain activated oxygen-dependent mechanisms of neutrophil microbicidity and induced increased levels of α-defensins in peripheral blood. This reaction has specific features in ontogenesis but it is obviously standard and short-term. The functional activity of neutrophils was directly correlated with the level of α-defensins in peripheral blood of 30-35-day-old and 2-3-month-old animals. Conclusion. At stages of ontogenesis, oxygen-dependent neutrophil microbicidity and peripheral blood content of α-defensins increase in response to acute, short-term somatic pain. The type of response is determined by age-related features. The study results are important for development of α-defensin-based drugs and prescribing them to patients of different age with a history of acute pain.


Balcanica ◽  
2008 ◽  
pp. 115-121
Author(s):  
Zivko Mikic

The medieval cemetery was archaeologically investigated between 1981 and 1992. It consisted of 91 graves containing 95 anthropologically identified skeletons. Further anthropological analysis has established 31 reliably or highly likely adult males, 31 reliably or highly likely adult females, 3 poorly preserved and therefore unsexed adult skeletons, and 30 children most of whom died within the first ten years after birth. From the paleodemographic viewpoint, this would be the necropolis of a single medieval community showing a dearth of children of all age groups, which may be interpreted in several ways, ranging from reduced procreation to inadequate archaeological excavation.


2017 ◽  
pp. 17 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patrizia Piotti ◽  
Dóra Szabó ◽  
Lisa Wallis ◽  
Zsófia Bognár ◽  
Bianka Stiegmann Stiegmann ◽  
...  

Decline in the visuo-spatial memory domain may be an early marker for cognitive decline and has a relevant impact on animal welfare. Current research on visuo-spatial memory in family dogs is often limited byfactors such as the need of extensive pre-training, limited attention to co-occurring medical conditions, a focus on laboratory dogs, or low sample size. Therefore, we aimed to develop a test that relies on visuospatialshort-term memory, may be performed in a short time, and does not require explicit training. We tested a large sample of young and old dogs, finding that young dogs were more likely to perform correctly, although performance decreased with consecutive trials in both age groups. However, groups did not vary in the severity of mistakes. This task represents the first measure of dogs’ age-related decline of short-term spatial memory that does not require explicit training. The test could potentially be used in veterinary behaviour contexts to monitor cognitive changes in ageing dogs, utilizing a simple binary measure ofsuccess.


2020 ◽  
Vol 44 (2) ◽  
pp. 73-80
Author(s):  
Kaustav Das ◽  
Subrata Bagchi ◽  
Somosree Pal ◽  
Sayak Ganguli ◽  
Koel Mukherjee

Undernutrition and ageing may have a significant effect on body composition. A cross sectional study was conducted to explore the age-related variations among different anthropometric and body composition characteristics amongst the adult Kheria Sabar males of Purulia district of West Bengal. From fifteen villages, 304 apparently healthy adult males aged 18–60 years were selected at random. Subjects were categorized into four age groups and standard anthropometric measurements were used like height (HT), weight (WT), mid-upper-arm circumference (MUAC) and skinfolds of biceps (BSF), triceps (TSF) and sub-scapular (SSSF) region. Derived variables of body mass index (BMI), per cent body fat (PBF), fat mass (FM), fat-free mass (FFM), fat mass index (FMI) and fat-free mass index (FFMI) were also calculated. Majority of the variables were found to be inversely correlated with age. Positive (HT, WT, MUAC, BMI, FFM and FFMI) and negative (FM and FMI) significant differences were observed across different age groups. It was also observed that the frequency of undernutrition (62.6%) was the highest among the elderly people with 47.6% overall prevalence. This study clearly indicates that among the undernourished individuals, older people were more vulnerable to malnutrition and thus immediate nutritional intervention is required.


1995 ◽  
Vol 3 (4) ◽  
pp. 360-372
Author(s):  
Waneen W. Spirduso ◽  
Britta G. Schoenfelder-Zohdi ◽  
Jonghwan Choi ◽  
Susan M. Jay

This study investigated age-related differences in tapping speed with respect to warm-up and fatigue effects and also with respect to task complexity. An additional purpose was to determine the site of age-related slowing in stationary tapping. Adult females from three different age groups were asked to tap as fast as possible for 25 s with a specified digit combination by depressing microswitches on one or two metal boxes that were mounted on a data acquisition board. All groups showed a warm-up period during the first block, reached their peak tapping speed during the second block, and then gradually fatigued, as indicated by a decreasing number of taps. These findings suggest that to assess true tapping speed, a trial should not last more than 15 s, or the results may be confounded by fatigue effects. It was found that tapping with the thumb and index finger simultaneously is more difficult than tapping with one or both index fingers, regardless of age.


2013 ◽  
Vol 18 (3) ◽  
pp. 158-168 ◽  
Author(s):  
Emily Frankenberg ◽  
Katharina Kupper ◽  
Ruth Wagner ◽  
Stephan Bongard

This paper reviews research on young migrants in Germany. Particular attention is given to the question of how Germany’s history of migration, immigration policies, and public attitude toward migrants influence the transcultural adaptation of children and adolescents from different ethnic backgrounds. We combine past research with the results of new empirical studies in order to shed light on migrants’ psychological and sociocultural adaptation. Studies comparing young migrants and their German peers in terms of psychological well-being, life satisfaction, and mental health outcome suggest higher rates of emotional and behavioral problems among migrants of most age groups. With regard to adolescent populations between the ages of 14 and 17 years, however, the existence of differences between migrants and natives appears to be less clear. Research has also yielded inconsistent findings regarding the time trajectory of transcultural adaptation among adolescents. The coincidence of acculturation and age-related change is discussed as a possible source of these inconsistencies. Further, we provide an overview of risk and protective factors such as conflicting role expectations and ethnic discrimination, which may cause heightened vulnerability to adverse adaptation outcomes in some groups. Large-scale studies have repeatedly shown migrants of all age groups to be less successful within the German school system, indicating poor sociocultural adaptation. Possible explanations, such as the idiosyncrasies of the German school system, are presented. Our own studies contribute to the understanding of young migrants’ adaptation process by showing that it is their orientation to German culture, rather than the acculturation strategy of integration, that leads to the most positive psychological and sociocultural outcomes. The paper concludes by discussing implications for future cross-cultural research on young migrants and by suggesting recommendations for multicultural policies.


Author(s):  
A. E. Chernikova ◽  
Yu. P. Potekhina

Introduction. An osteopathic examination determines the rate, the amplitude and the strength of the main rhythms (cardiac, respiratory and cranial). However, there are relatively few studies in the available literature dedicated to the influence of osteopathic correction (OC) on the characteristics of these rhythms.Goal of research — to study the influence of OC on the rate characteristics of various rhythms of the human body.Materials and methods. 88 adult osteopathic patients aged from 18 to 81 years were examined, among them 30 men and 58 women. All patients received general osteopathic examination. The rate of the cranial rhythm (RCR), respiratory rate (RR) heart rate (HR), the mobility of the nervous processes (MNP) and the connective tissue mobility (CTM) were assessed before and after the OC session.Results. Since age varied greatly in the examined group, a correlation analysis of age-related changes of the assessed rhythms was carried out. Only the CTM correlated with age (r=–0,28; p<0,05) in a statistically significant way. The rank dispersion analysis of Kruskal–Wallis also showed statistically significant difference in this indicator in different age groups (p=0,043). With the increase of years, the CTM decreases gradually. After the OC, the CTM, increased in a statistically significant way (p<0,0001). The RCR varied from 5 to 12 cycles/min in the examined group, which corresponded to the norm. After the OC, the RCR has increased in a statistically significant way (p<0,0001), the MNP has also increased (p<0,0001). The initial heart rate in the subjects varied from 56 to 94 beats/min, and in 15 % it exceeded the norm. After the OC the heart rate corresponded to the norm in all patients. The heart rate and the respiratory rate significantly decreased after the OC (р<0,0001).Conclusion. The described biorhythm changes after the OC session may be indicative of the improvement of the nervous regulation, of the normalization of the autonomic balance, of the improvement of the biomechanical properties of body tissues and of the increase of their mobility. The assessed parameters can be measured quickly without any additional equipment and can be used in order to study the results of the OC.


1970 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 74-77
Author(s):  
Rukshana Ahmed ◽  
Shamim Ara

Pathological changes in the prostate gland occur commonly with advancing age including inflammation, atrophy, hyperplasia and carcinoma and a change in volume is also evident. Estimation of volume of prostate may be useful in a variety of clinical settings. A cross-sectional descriptive study was designed to see the changes in volume of the prostate with advancing age and done in the Department of Anatomy, Dhaka Medical College, Dhaka from August 2006 to June 2007. The study was performed on 70 post-mortem human prostates collected from the unclaimed dead bodies that were under examination in the Department of Forensic Medicine, Dhaka Medical College, Dhaka. The samples were divided into three age groups; group A (10-20 years), group B (21-40 years) and group C (41-70 years). Volume of the sample was measured by using the ellipsoid formula. The mean ± SD volume of prostate was 7.68 ± 3.64 cm3 in group A, 10.61 ± 3.99 cm3 in group B and 15.40 ± 6.31 cm3 in group C. Mean difference in volume between group A and group C, group B and group C were statistically significant (p<0.001). Statistically significant positive correlation was found between age and volume of prostate (r = + 0.579, p < 0.001). Key Words: Prostate; volume; Bangladeshi. DOI: 10.3329/imcj.v4i2.6501Ibrahim Med. Coll. J. 2010; 4(2): 74-77


2019 ◽  
Vol 1 (8) ◽  
pp. 42-50
Author(s):  
A. V. Budkevich ◽  
L. B. Ivanov ◽  
G. R. Novikova ◽  
G. M. Dzhanumova

According to the authors, rationing the age-related EEG parameters in children should be based on personal psychical characteristics. A comparative analysis of personal psychical characteristics and electroencephalographic data was carried out in 300 apparently healthy children aged 3-15 years. According to this principle, two subgroups of conditionally healthy children in each age group were singled out: 1) with an immature attention function and 2) with an increased anxious background that do not reach the pathological level. Registration and analysis of EEG was performed by the Neurokariograf computer complex (MBN, Moscow) using mathematical processing methods.The EEG interpretation was based on the principle of assessing the functional state of a child's brain using a three-component model according to: 1) wakefulness level and its dissociation, 2) severity of signs of the EEG neurotic pattern, 3) directionality of formation of traits of the system-functional brain organization (severity of signs functional hypofrontality).lt was found the presence of EEG signs was indicative of a lower level of wakefulness in children with an immature function of attention in all age groups, compared with the indicators of the average population of group and children with an increased background of anxiety. Children with an increased background of anxiety have a tendency to prevalence and excessive spatial synchronization of the alpha rhythm. ln healthy children, the fact of a decrease in wakefulness and the presence of signs of anxiety in the clinic and in EEG patterns indicates individual personalities and should not be considered as pathology.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document