scholarly journals Perceptive evaluation of the severity of dysphonia among Lebanese bilingual subjects

Author(s):  
Reina Remman ◽  
Nayla Matar ◽  
Michèle Puech

<p class="abstract"><strong>Background:</strong> Perceptive analysis of voice represents a basic and fundamental early step in the process of evaluating voice quality. Several factors seem to affect the results. Prominent among them is bilingualism, a common occurrence among Lebanese youths who frequently speak a second or third language in addition to their native tongue Arabic.</p><p class="abstract"><strong>Methods:</strong> This study aims to find pertinent information for the characterization of the severity of dysphonia depending on the language spoken by Lebanese bilingual subjects. The intent is to try to appreciate if voice seems more dysphonic in the Lebanese language compared to French and English. The sample comprises twenty-two Lebanese dysphonic women, aged between twenty and sixty years. They all read a text in Lebanese Arabic and another one in French or in English, depending on the languages that they use on a regular basis. Voice recordings are rated by four expert listeners. Two listening sessions are organized using the G, R and B criteria of Hirano’s GRBAS scale.  </p><p class="abstract"><strong>Results:</strong> Results show that the voice appears more dysphonic with a more pronounced roughness when reading in French for bilingual French/Arabic subjects than it is for English/Arabic persons reading in English. However, the patients speaking French and Arabic appear to be more dysphonic as a group compared to the patients speaking English and Arabic.</p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;"><strong>Conclusions:</strong> It is important to enlarge the number of participants to get more accurate results. However, the suggested corpus in Lebanese Arabic seems to be adapted for the evaluation of voice quality.</p>

Pathogens ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 89
Author(s):  
Jiayu Li ◽  
Fuxian Yang ◽  
Ruobing Liang ◽  
Sheng Guo ◽  
Yaqiong Guo ◽  
...  

Cryptosporidiumfelis is an important cause of feline and human cryptosporidiosis. However, the transmission of this pathogen between humans and cats remains controversial, partially due to a lack of genetic characterization of isolates from cats. The present study was conducted to examine the genetic diversity of C. felis in cats in China and to assess their potential zoonotic transmission. A newly developed subtyping tool based on a sequence analysis of the 60-kDa glycoprotein (gp60) gene was employed to identify the subtypes of 30 cat-derived C. felis isolates from Guangdong and Shanghai. Altogether, 20 C. felis isolates were successfully subtyped. The results of the sequence alignment showed a high genetic diversity, with 13 novel subtypes and 2 known subtypes of the XIXa subtype family being identified. The known subtypes were previously detected in humans, while some of the subtypes formed well-supported subclusters with human-derived subtypes from other countries in a phylogenetic analysis of the gp60 sequences. The results of this study confirmed the high genetic diversity of the XIXa subtype family of C. felis. The common occurrence of this subtype family in both humans and cats suggests that there could be cross-species transmission of C. felis.


2007 ◽  
Vol 122 (1) ◽  
pp. 46-51 ◽  
Author(s):  
I N Steen ◽  
K MacKenzie ◽  
P N Carding ◽  
A Webb ◽  
I J Deary ◽  
...  

AbstractObjectives:A wide range of well validated instruments is now available to assess voice quality and voice-related quality of life, but comparative studies of the responsiveness to change of these measures are lacking. The aim of this study was to assess the responsiveness to change of a range of different measures, following voice therapy and surgery.Design:Longitudinal, cohort comparison study.Setting:Two UK voice clinics.Participants:One hundred and forty-four patients referred for treatment of benign voice disorders, 90 undergoing voice therapy and 54 undergoing laryngeal microsurgery.Main outcome measures:Three measures of self-reported voice quality (the vocal performance questionnaire, the voice handicap index and the voice symptom scale), plus the short form 36 (SF 36) general health status measure and the hospital anxiety and depression score. Perceptual, observer-rated analysis of voice quality was performed using the grade–roughness–breathiness–asthenia–strain scale. We compared the effect sizes (i.e. responsiveness to change) of the principal subscales of all measures before and after voice therapy or phonosurgery.Results:All three self-reported voice measures had large effect sizes following either voice therapy or surgery. Outcomes were similar in both treatment groups. The effect sizes for the observer-rated grade–roughness–breathiness–asthenia–strain scale scores were smaller, although still moderate. The roughness subscale in particular showed little change after therapy or surgery. Only small effects were observed in general health and mood measures.Conclusion:The results suggest that the use of a voice-specific questionnaire is essential for assessing the effectiveness of voice interventions. All three self-reported measures tested were capable of detecting change, and scores were highly correlated. On the basis of this evaluation of different measures' sensitivities to change, there is no strong evidence to favour either the vocal performance questionnaire, the voice handicap index or the voice symptom scale.


2003 ◽  
Vol 117 (10) ◽  
pp. 815-820 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. C. Vlantis ◽  
R. T. Gregor ◽  
H. Elliot ◽  
M. Oudes

This prospective study assessed the advantages and problems associated with converting a patient using an older generation non-indwelling voice prosthesis to a newer generation indwelling voice prosthesis, in this case the Provox®2. The voice characteristics of each patient were measured using the old and then the new voice prosthesis. Technical aspects of the insertion of the indwelling prosthesis were noted. Each patient completed a questionnaire after a period of use with the indwelling prosthesis.Changing the prosthesis was simple and uncomplicated in 15 of 17 patients. Acoustic analysis showed improved parameters with the indwelling prosthesis, but no perceptual difference between the two prostheses. The questionnaire revealed that most patients preferred the indwelling prosthesis.Replacing a non-indwelling with an indwelling prosthesis is technically simple, leading to improvement in voice quality and patient satisfaction. It may be reasonable to offer this choice to patients currently using an older generation non-indwelling voice prosthesis.


Logopedija ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-5 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anđela Bučević ◽  
Ana Bonetti ◽  
Luka Bonetti

The aim of this research paper was to examine the voice quality of sports coaches using the objective (acoustic) method. A total of 28 sports coaches (mean age 28.58, SD=5.08), from the City of Zagreb participated in this research. Recordings of the phonation of the vowel /a/ before and after one training session were obtained and analyzed using the PRAAT Program. Mean, minimal and maximal values of fundamental frequency, shimmer, jitter and harmonics-to-noise ratio were observed. The statistical analyses showed no statistically significant difference in acoustic voice quality of male and female coaches before and after the training session, or between male and female coaches. However, intra-individual differences among participants were observed, which may be significant in terms of their potential to affect the quality of their voices in the future.


Loquens ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 040
Author(s):  
Zulema Santana-López ◽  
Óscar Domínguez-Jaén ◽  
Jesús B. Alonso ◽  
María Del Carmen Mato-Carrodeguas

Voice pathologies, caused either by functional dysphonia or organic lesions, or even by just an inappropriate emission of the voice, may lead to vocal abuse, affecting significantly the communication process. The present study is based on the case of a single patient diagnosed with myasthenia gravis (Erb-Goldflam syndrome). In this case, this affection has caused, among other disruptions, a dysarthria. For its treatment, a technique for the education and re-education of the voice has been used, based on a resonator element: the cellophane screen. This article shows the results obtained in the patient after applying a vocal re-education technique called the Cimardi Method: the Cellophane Screen, which is a pioneering technique in this field. Changes in the patient’s voice signal have been studied before and after the application of the Cimardi Method in different domains of study: time-frequency, spectrum, and cepstrum. Moreover, parameters for voice quality measurement, such as shimmer, jitter and harmonic-to-noise ratio (HNR), have been used to quantify the results obtained with the Cimardi Method. Once the results were analyzed, it has been observed that the Cimardi Method helps to produce a more natural and free vocal emission, which is very useful as a rehabilitation therapy for those people presenting certain vocal disorders.


2005 ◽  
Vol 119 (10) ◽  
pp. 825-827 ◽  
Author(s):  
Satoshi Kitahara ◽  
Yukihiro Masuda ◽  
Yoko Kitagawa

Vocal fold scarring results in the formation of fibrous tissue which disturbs the vibratory pattern of the fold during phonation. However, vocal fold scarring in humans is poorly understood because of the lack of clear case reports focusing on voice quality. The authors present a case of vocal fold scarring with changes in voice quality. At the time of injury the pedicle mucosa was cemented with fibrin glue. Phonation was inhibited for two weeks and tranilast (300 mg/day) was given for 3 months. Sixty-nine days later, perceptual evaluation showed a normal result and the phonation time became better, but the mucosal vibration was still lacking. Ninety-seven days later, mucosal vibration was finally restored. We suggest that characterization of vocal fold scarring in humans may be different from that in animals, and recommend that surgical management should be avoided for at least three months after injury.


2013 ◽  
Vol 671-674 ◽  
pp. 2847-2850
Author(s):  
Xue Ming Deng ◽  
Qiao Wei Liu ◽  
Dong Song Yang ◽  
Yi Fei Zhang ◽  
Kan Jun Fu
Keyword(s):  
Sd Card ◽  

We aim to invent an automatic bus station reporter based on GPS module, VS1003 chip and SD card. Firstly, the VS1003 chip within the reporter can both decode and play the MP3 files, greatly improving the voice quality of the reporter itself. Secondly, the SD card with giant storage can store the information of bus stations and the accordingly voice files, making it free from the limit of capacity. Besides, with the change of SD cards, the reporter can adjust itself to different bus lines and gives different voice messages.


2008 ◽  
Vol 139 (2_suppl) ◽  
pp. P136-P136
Author(s):  
Faustino Nunez ◽  
Maria Jesus Caminero ◽  
Jose-Luis Llorente-Pendas ◽  
Carlos Suarez-Nieto

Objectives 1) To present the objective and subjective analysis of voice quality following treatment of an early epidermoid glottic carcinoma. 2) Results from the objective evaluation of the voice, along with the self-evaluation of voice quality quantified using the Voice Handicap Index of a group of patients treated with endoscopic laser surgery, are compared with patients treated with radiotherapy. Methods We performed an objective voice evaluation, as well as a physical, emotional, and functional well-being assessment of 19 patients treated with laser surgery and 18 patients treated with radiotherapy. The data obtained was gathered in the statistical database SPSS 12.0. The statistical analysis used was the “Student t test” in order to compare averages and the Chi-squared test for comparing proportions. The statistical differences were considered significant when p was lower than 0.05. Results Voice quality is affected both by surgery and radiotherapy. Voice parameters only show differences in the maximum phonation time between both treatments (p < 0,005). Patients Self-Perception Analysis (Voice Handicap Index) Upon completing the comparison between the two groups, the statistical difference is significant, in favor of the radiotherapy patients in functional and emotional ratings, as well as the global scores (p < 0,005). No significant differences were found in the physical scales. Conclusions There is a reduced impact in patient's perception of voice quality after radiotherapy, despite no significant differences in vocal quality between radiotherapy and laser cordectomy.


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