scholarly journals Severity of voice disorders: integration of perceptual and acoustic data in dysphonic patients

CoDAS ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 26 (5) ◽  
pp. 382-388 ◽  
Author(s):  
Leonardo Wanderley Lopes ◽  
Débora Pontes Cavalcante ◽  
Priscila Oliveira da Costa

Purpose:To analyze the correlation between acoustic measures and intensity of vocal deviation, and its discriminatory power in detecting the presence of vocal change, classifying the severity of the deviation and differencing the type of predominant voice.Methods:The sample comprised 186 patients with dysphonia. The vocal deviation from the vowel/ε/was evaluated by consensus between three speech language pathologists, using a Visual Analog Scale. We extracted the mean and standard deviation (SD) of the fundamental frequency (F0), jitter, shimmer, and Glottal-to-Noise Excitation Ratio (GNE).Results:Mean F0 was negatively correlated with the degree of roughness and positively with the degree of tension. The F0 SD was positively correlated with the overall, roughness, tension, and instability grades. The jitter and shimmer were positively correlated with all perceptual parameters. Only the GNE distinguished between healthy and dysphonic voices and rated the degree of breathiness. The shimmer separated rough voices from not rough voices. The mean F0 was helpful to determine the degree of phonatory tension and to separate rough voices from breathy and strained voices.Conclusion:There is a correlation between the acoustic and auditory perceptual measures. The shimmer, the GNE, and F0 SD can be used to detect roughness, breathing, and strain, respectively. The GNE and mean F0 are useful to classify the degree of breathiness and strain, respectively. The mean F0 distinguished between rough, breathy, and strained voices, with rough voices more severe compared to the other two.

1. It is widely felt that any method of rejecting observations with large deviations from the mean is open to some suspicion. Suppose that by some criterion, such as Peirce’s and Chauvenet’s, we decide to reject observations with deviations greater than 4 σ, where σ is the standard error, computed from the standard deviation by the usual rule; then we reject an observation deviating by 4·5 σ, and thereby alter the mean by about 4·5 σ/ n , where n is the number of observations, and at the same time we reduce the computed standard error. This may lead to the rejection of another observation deviating from the original mean by less than 4 σ, and if the process is repeated the mean may be shifted so much as to lead to doubt as to whether it is really sufficiently representative of the observations. In many cases, where we suspect that some abnormal cause has affected a fraction of the observations, there is a legitimate doubt as to whether it has affected a particular observation. Suppose that we have 50 observations. Then there is an even chance, according to the normal law, of a deviation exceeding 2·33 σ. But a deviation of 3 σ or more is not impossible, and if we make a mistake in rejecting it the mean of the remainder is not the most probable value. On the other hand, an observation deviating by only 2 σ may be affected by an abnormal cause of error, and then we should err in retaining it, even though no existing rule will instruct us to reject such an observation. It seems clear that the probability that a given observation has been affected by an abnormal cause of error is a continuous function of the deviation; it is never certain or impossible that it has been so affected, and a process that completely rejects certain observations, while retaining with full weight others with comparable deviations, possibly in the opposite direction, is unsatisfactory in principle.


1998 ◽  
Vol 28 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 55-62 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. P. Whiteside ◽  
C. Hodgson

This brief study investigates the development of fundamental frequency (FO) in pre-adolescent children as a function of age and sex. The children who took part in the study were divided into three age groups: 6, 8 and 10 years. Each group consisted of three males and three females. Each subject produced nine target phrases with [] in phrase-final position, which were elicited via a picture-naming task. FO was estimated for the nine target utterances and the following FO parameters were derived: mean FO for the whole phrase; FO range for the whole phrase; standard deviation values of FO for the whole phrase and mean FO for the phrase-final vowel [α:]. Results indicated that FO parameters generally decreased with age, and by age 10 years the males had lower values than the females for all four parameters. Results also indicated that the mean standard deviation of FO across the phrase was significantly higher for the females compared to that for the males.


2010 ◽  
Vol 67 (5) ◽  
pp. 1655-1666 ◽  
Author(s):  
David M. Romps ◽  
Zhiming Kuang

Abstract Tracers are used in a large-eddy simulation of shallow convection to show that stochastic entrainment (and not cloud-base properties) determines the fate of convecting parcels. The tracers are used to diagnose the correlations between a parcel’s state above the cloud base and both the parcel’s state at the cloud base and its entrainment history. The correlation with the cloud-base state goes to zero a few hundred meters above the cloud base. On the other hand, correlations between a parcel’s state and its net entrainment are large. Evidence is found that the entrainment events may be described as a stochastic Poisson process. A parcel model is constructed with stochastic entrainment that is able to replicate the mean and standard deviation of cloud properties. Turning off cloud-base variability has little effect on the results, which suggests that stochastic mass-flux models may be initialized with a single set of properties. The success of the stochastic parcel model suggests that it holds promise as the framework for a convective parameterization.


1983 ◽  
Vol 17 (10) ◽  
pp. 732-734 ◽  
Author(s):  
Milap C. Nahata ◽  
Carole A. Slencsak ◽  
Judith Kamp

This randomized, double-blind, crossover, placebo-controlled study involved 20 incontinent geriatric patients; all had indwelling Foley catheters. Each patient received chlorophyllin 100 mg/d for two weeks and placebo daily for two weeks, separated by a washout period of one week. For each subject, the intensity of urinary odor was measured ten times during both the treatment and placebo regimen and three times during the washout period, using a visual analog scale. A decrease in urinary odor was associated with chlorophyllin in 12 patients and with placebo in 6 patients at the end of two weeks on each regimen. Chlorophyllin treatment was associated with about a 21-percent decrease in mean urinary odor intensity, whereas placebo increased the odor by about 9 percent. The mean intensity of urinary odor was lowest during the second week of chlorophyllin treatment. Despite the decrease in urinary odor in many patients receiving chlorophyllin, its effect was not significantly greater than that of placebo. Our data suggest that chlorophyllin 100 mg/d for two weeks may not be effective in incontinent geriatric patients with mild to moderate urinary odor.


1983 ◽  
Vol 104 ◽  
pp. 185-186
Author(s):  
M. Kalinkov ◽  
K. Stavrev ◽  
I. Kuneva

An attempt is made to establish the membership of Abell clusters in superclusters of galaxies. The relation is used to calibrate the distances to the clusters of galaxies with two redshift estimates. One is m10, the magnitude of the ten-ranked galaxy, and the other is the “mean population,” P, defined by: where p = 40, 65, 105 … galaxies for richness groups 0, 1, 2 …, and r is the apparent radius in degrees given by: The first iteration for redshift, z1, is obtained from m10 alone: The standard deviation for Eq. (1) is 0.105, the number of clusters with known velocities is 342 and the correlation coefficient between observed and fitted values is 0.921. With zi from Eq. (1), we define Cartesian galactic coordinates Xi = Rih−1 cosBi cosLi, Yi = Rih−1 cosBi sinLi, Zi = Rih−1 sinBi for each Abell cluster, i = 1, …, 2712, where Ri is the distance to the cluster (Mpc), and Ho = 100 h km s−1 Mpc−1.


2011 ◽  
Vol 26 (7) ◽  
pp. 563-572 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christina Samuelsson ◽  
Lars C. Hydén

Nonverbal vocalizations in dementia are important clinically since they generally have been regarded as disruptive behavior that is disturbing. The aim of the present study is to describe the interactional pattern, including the prosodic package, of nonverbal vocalizations in a participant in a late stage of dementia. The acoustic analysis shows that the vocalizations do not differ significantly from the verbal utterances regarding mean fundamental frequency or pitch range. The mean fundamental frequency, F0, of the utterances from Anna was significantly higher than the mean F0 from the other elderly participants. The analysis demonstrates that there is a singing-like type of vocalizations that does not resemble the previously described patterns of nonverbal vocalizations. This pattern of the nonverbal vocalization does not resemble the intonation of Anna’s verbal utterances. The other participants perceive Anna’s vocalizations as potentially meaningful turns. Nonverbal vocalizations in clinical settings should be taken as communicative contributions.


1999 ◽  
Vol 113 (1) ◽  
pp. 31-34 ◽  
Author(s):  
Guo-Dong Li ◽  
Liancai Mu ◽  
Shilin Yang

AbstractThe goal of this study was to determine if there are acoustical differences between pre- and post-surgical voices and to evaluate the effectiveness of Isshiki type III thyroplasty in 11 male patients with mutational voice disorders. Acoustic measures were obtained both pre- and post-operatively. A comparison of pre-and post-operative fundamental frequency (Fo), voice frequencies, and vocal intensity obtained from a sustained vowel /i/ during different phonatory tasks was made. The results from the present study demonstrated that after operation the voice frequencies were significantly decreased (p<0.05). The vocal intensity tended to reduce slightly as the voice frequency lowered. However, there were no statistically significant differences in the pre- and post-operative measures of vocal intensity (p>0.5). The preoperative high pitched voices of all the male patients were lowered up to the normal value by the type III thyroplasty.


2010 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 424-434 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vincent C. Traynelis

Object Certain cervical spinal conditions require decompression and reconstruction of the entire subaxial cervical spine. There are limited data concerning the clinical details and outcomes of patients treated in this manner. The object of this study was to describe the specific technique employed to perform a total subaxial reconstruction and review the postoperative outcomes following surgery. Methods The author performed a review of data prospectively collected in 27 consecutive patients undergoing complete anterior decompression and reconstruction of the anterior cervical spine and followed by posterior instrumented arthrodesis with or without decompression. Results There were 16 men and 11 women whose mean age was 59 years (range 35–86 years). The minimum follow-up was 12 months and the mean follow-up period for all patients was 26 months. One patient underwent C2–7 surgery, and in all others the procedure crossed the cervicothoracic junction. Following surgery patients remained intubated for an average of 3.3 days (range 1–22 days). The mean hospital length of stay was 11 days (range 3–45 days). One patient died 6 weeks following an uneventful surgery. Pneumonia developed in 5 patients, 1 patient experienced a minor pulmonary embolism, and 2 patients had posterior wound infections. No patient was neurologically worse following surgery. A single patient presented with a C-8 radiculopathy 6 weeks after surgery. At final follow-up no patient complained of dysphagia when specifically questioned about this potential problem. In all patients solid fusions developed at each treated levels. Preoperatively the mean sagittal Cobb angle was 15.4° (kyphosis) and the postoperative mean angle was −10.9° (lordosis) representing a total average correction of over 25° (p < 0.0001). The mean preoperative Neck Disability Index was 27.6; this score decreased to 15.5 (p = 0.0008) postoperatively. The mean pre- and postoperative visual analog scale neck pain scores were 6.0 and 2.1, respectively (p = 0.0004), and mean visual analog scale arm pain scores decreased by 3.7 following surgery (p = 0.001). Based on Odom criteria, the author found that 8 patients had an excellent outcome and 14 patients a good outcome. There were 4 patients in whom the outcome was judged to be fair and the single death was recorded as a poor outcome. The mean preoperative Nurick score was 2.68. Postoperatively the group improved to an average score of 1.5; the difference between the 2 was statistically significant (p = 0.002). Conclusions Segmental anterior decompression and reconstruction of the entire subaxial cervical spine, combined with an instrumented posterolateral fusion, can be performed with acceptable morbidity and is of significant benefit in selected patients.


2016 ◽  
Vol 14 (4) ◽  
pp. 520-527 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cassiano Diniz Carvalho ◽  
◽  
Carlos Vicente Andreoli ◽  
Alberto de Castro Pochini ◽  
Benno Ejnisman

ABSTRACT Objective To evaluate the clinical and functional behavior of patients undergoing cuff tear arthroplasty at different stages of the disease. Methods Cuff tear arthroplasty hemiarthroplasties were performed in 34 patients with rotator cuff arthropathy and associated comorbidities, classified according to Seebauer. The mean age was 76.3 years, and the sample comprised 23 females (67.6%) and 11 males (32.4%). The mean follow-up period was 21.7 months, and evaluations were performed using the Visual Analog Scale for pain and the Constant scale. Results There were no statistically significant differences in the mean reduction in the Visual Analog Scale or in the Constant scale increase between the female and male groups. The variation between the pre- and postoperative Visual Analog Scale and Constant scale evaluations was significant. There was also no statistically significant difference between the Seebauer classification groups regarding the mean Visual Analog Scale reduction, or the mean Constant scale increase. Conclusion Cuff tear arthroplasty shoulder hemiarthroplasty is a good option for rotator cuff arthropathy in patients with comorbidities.


2011 ◽  
Vol 125 (12) ◽  
pp. 1244-1246 ◽  
Author(s):  
A Hesham ◽  
A Ghali

AbstractObjective:To compare Rapid Rhino and Merocel packs for nasal packing after septoplasty, in terms of patient tolerance (both with the pack in place and during removal) and post-operative complications.Materials and methods:Thirty patients (aged 18–40 years) scheduled for septoplasty were included. Following surgery, one nasal cavity was packed with Rapid Rhino and the other one with Merocel. Patients were asked to record pain levels on a visual analogue score, on both sides, with the packs in situ and during their removal the next day. After pack removal, bleeding was compared on both sides.Results:The mean ± standard deviation pain score for the Rapid Rhino pack in situ (4.17 ± 1.78) was less than that for the Merocel pack (4.73 ± 2.05), but not significantly so (p = 0.314). The mean pain score for Rapid Rhino pack removal (4.13 ± 1.76) was significantly less that that for Merocel (6.90 ± 1.67; p = 0.001). Bleeding after pack removal was significantly less for the Rapid Rhino sides compared with the Merocel sides (p <0.05).Conclusion:Rapid Rhino nasal packs are less painful and cause less bleeding, compared with Merocel packs, with no side effects. Thus, their use for nasal packing after septal surgery is recommended.


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