scholarly journals Effect of Age, Gender and Vowel Type on Vowel Space Area in Sinhala Speakers

2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
S.V Narasimhan ◽  
W.G.S.S Karunarathne
Keyword(s):  
Vocal Tract ◽  
Elderly Subjects ◽  
Formant Frequency ◽  
Formant Frequencies ◽  
Short Vowels ◽  
Vowel Space ◽  
Group 3 ◽  
Group 2 ◽  
Male Subjects ◽  
Effect Of Age

This study was conducted to document the effect of age, gender and vowel type on vowel space area in Sinhala language. Three groups of participants were employed. Group 1 included 20 children, Group 2 included 20 adults and Group 3 consisted of 20 elderly subjects. All the subjects spoke the dialect of central province of Sri Lanka. Words consisting of three Sinhala short vowels /a/, /i/ and /u/ in were recorded. Formant frequencies of vowels were extracted and vowel space area was constructed. The results showed that the formant frequencies were significantly higher for children compared with those of adults. Female subjects had significantly higher formant frequency values than male subjects. Effect of vowel types were also significant on the formant frequencies and vowel space area. Sinhala also follows universal criteria of resonance characteristics and vocal tract constriction. Keywords: vowel space area, formant frequencies, Sinhala, vowel articulation

Formant frequency characteristics in Palestinian Arabic-speaking aphasics

2014 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 313-328
Author(s):  
Hisham Adam
Keyword(s):  
Clinical Applications ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Formant Frequency ◽  
The West ◽  
Acoustic Characteristics ◽  
Formant Frequencies ◽  
Short Vowels ◽  
Vowel Space ◽  
Palestinian Arabic ◽  
Arabic Speaking

The aim of this paper is to examine the acoustic characteristics of Arabic vowels as produced by Palestinian Arabic-speaking Broca’s aphasics compared to normal speakers. Five subjects diagnosed with Broca’s aphasia and five normal speakers residing in the West Bank participated in this study. The subjects produced 240 vowel tokens of the eight Arabic vowels (/i:/, /i/, /e:/, /a:/, /a/, /o:/, /u:/ and /u/,). The samples were analyzed using PRAAT and the formants F1 and F2 of the eight Arabic vowels were measured. F1 and F2 values were compared to the data in the literature. Comparisons among speakers of Palestinian Arabic indicated that Broca’s aphasics’ formant frequencies were significantly different to those of normal speakers, showing that formant frequencies of F1 and F2 are generally higher among Broca’s aphasics compared to the control group. Furthermore, the findings reveal that the acoustic vowel space of Broca’s aphasics is more centralized compared to the control subjects. The results also indicate that Broca’s aphasics were able to maintain the phonemic contrast between the long and short vowels. In general, the results may contribute to neurolinguistic research across different languages, especially given that Palestinian Arabic is studied significantly less than other Arabic dialects. Furthermore, the results may have clinical applications when evaluating and/or treating Palestinian Arabic-speaking Broca’s aphasics.

Formant Frequencies of Stuttered and Fluent Vowels

1987 ◽  
Vol 30 (3) ◽  
pp. 301-305 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert A. Prosek ◽  
Allen A. Montgomery ◽  
Brian E. Walden ◽  
David B. Hawkins
Keyword(s):  
Vocal Tract ◽  
Formant Frequencies ◽  
Vowel Space

The formant frequencies of 15 adult stutterers' fluent and disfluent vowels and the formant frequencies of stutterers' and nonstutterers' fluent vowels were compared in an F1-F2 vowel space and in a normalized F1-F2 vowel space. The results indicated that differences in formant frequencies observed between the stutterers' and nonstutterers' vowels can be accounted for by differences among the vocal tract dimensions of the talkers. In addition, no differences were found between the formant frequencies of the fluent and disfluent vowels produced by the stutterers. The overall pattern of these results indicates that, contrary to recent reports (Klich & May, 1982), stutterers do not exhibit significantly greater vowel centralization than nonstutterers.

Pro- and macroglycogenolysis: relationship with exercise intensity and duration

2001 ◽  
Vol 90 (3) ◽  
pp. 873-879 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. E. Graham ◽  
K. B. Adamo ◽  
J. Shearer ◽  
I. Marchand ◽  
B. Saltin
Keyword(s):  
Skeletal Muscle ◽  
Metabolic Regulation ◽  
Human Skeletal Muscle ◽  
Exercise Period ◽  
Group 3 ◽  
Group 2 ◽  
Male Subjects ◽  
Muscle Biopsies ◽  
Over Time ◽  
Group 1

We examined the net catabolism of two pools of glycogen, proglycogen (PG) and macroglycogen (MG), in human skeletal muscle during exercise. Male subjects ( n = 21) were assigned to one of three groups. Group 1 exercised 45 min at 70% maximal O2 uptake (V˙o 2 max) and had muscle biopsies at rest, 15 min, and 45 min. Group 2 exercised at 85%V˙o 2 max to exhaustion (45.4 ± 3.4 min) and had biopsies at rest, 10 min, and exhaustion. Group 3 performed three 3-min bouts of exercise at 100%V˙o 2 max separated by 6 min of rest. Biopsies were taken at rest and after each bout. Group 1 had small MG and PG net glycogenolysis rates (ranging from 3.8 ± 1.0 to 2.4 ± 0.6 mmol glucosyl units · kg−1 · min−1) that did not change over time. In group 2, the MG glycogenolysis rate remained low and unchanged over time, whereas the PG rate was initially elevated (11.3 ± 2.3 mmol glucosyl units · kg−1 · min−1) and declined ( P ≤ 0.05) with time. During the first 10 min, PG concentration ([PG]) declined ( P ≤ 0.05), whereas MG concentration ([MG]) did not. Similarly, in group 3, in both the first and the second bouts of exercise [PG] declined ( P ≤ 0.05) and [MG] did not, although by the end of the second exercise period the [MG] was lower ( P ≤ 0.05) than the rest level. The net catabolic rates for PG in the first two exercises were 22.6 ± 6.8 and 21.8 ± 8.2 mmol glucosyl units · kg−1 · min−1, whereas the corresponding values for MG were 17.6 ± 6.0 and 10.8 ± 5.6. The MG pool appeared to be more resistant to mobilization, and, when activated, its catabolism was inhibited more rapidly than that of PG. This suggests that the metabolic regulation of the two pools must be different.

Effects of Long-Term Tracheostomy on Spectral Characteristics of Vowel Production

1991 ◽  
Vol 34 (5) ◽  
pp. 1057-1065 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ruth Saletsky Kamen ◽  
Ben C. Watson
Keyword(s):  
Vocal Tract ◽  
Spectral Characteristics ◽  
Group Differences ◽  
Vowel Production ◽  
Formant Frequency ◽  
Motor Patterns ◽  
Spectral Parameters ◽  
Oral Motor ◽  
Vowel Space

This study investigated the effects of long-term tracheostomy on the development of speech. Eight children who underwent tracheotomy during the prelingual period were compared to matched controls on selected spectral parameters of the speech acoustic signal and standard measures of oral-motor, phonologic, and articulatory proficiency. Analysis of formant frequency values revealed significant between-group differences. Children with histories of long-term tracheostomy showed reduced acoustic vowel space, as defined by group formant frequency values. This suggests that these children were limited in their ability to produce extreme vocal tract configurations for vowels /a,i,u/ postdecannulation. Oral motor patterns were less mature, and sound substitutions were not only more variable for this group, but also reflected a persistent overlay of maladaptive compensations developed during cannulation.

scholarly journals An Acoustic Study of Vowels Produced by Alaryngeal Speakers in Taiwan

2016 ◽  
Vol 25 (4) ◽  
pp. 481-492 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jia-Shiou Liao
Keyword(s):  
Speech Intelligibility ◽  
Euclidean Distance ◽  
Vocal Tract ◽  
Acoustic Properties ◽  
Formant Frequency ◽  
Acoustic Study ◽  
Artificial Larynx ◽  
Resonance Frequencies ◽  
Vowel Space ◽  
Southern Min

PurposeThis study investigated the acoustic properties of 6 Taiwan Southern Min vowels produced by 10 laryngeal speakers (LA), 10 speakers with a pneumatic artificial larynx (PA), and 8 esophageal speakers (ES).MethodEach of the 6 monophthongs of Taiwan Southern Min (/i, e, a, ɔ, u, ə/) was represented by a Taiwan Southern Min character and appeared randomly on a list 3 times (6 Taiwan Southern Min characters × 3 repetitions = 18 tokens). Each Taiwan Southern Min character in this study has the same syllable structure, /V/, and all were read with tone 1 (high and level). Acoustic measurements of the 1st formant, 2nd formant, and 3rd formant were taken for each vowel. Then, vowel space areas (VSAs) enclosed by /i, a, u/ were calculated for each group of speakers. The Euclidean distance between vowels in the pairs /i, a/, /i, u/, and /a, u/ was also calculated and compared across the groups.ResultsPA and ES have higher 1st or 2nd formant values than LA for each vowel. The distance is significantly shorter between vowels in the corner vowel pairs /i, a/ and /i, u/. PA and ES have a significantly smaller VSA compared with LA.ConclusionsIn accordance with previous studies, alaryngeal speakers have higher formant frequency values than LA because they have a shortened vocal tract as a result of their total laryngectomy. Furthermore, the resonance frequencies are inversely related to the length of the vocal tract (on the basis of the assumption of the source filter theory). PA and ES have a smaller VSA and shorter distances between corner vowels compared with LA, which may be related to speech intelligibility. This hypothesis needs further support from future study.

scholarly journals The generation of visual inferences in normal elderly Influence of schooling and visual complexity

2010 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
pp. 194-201 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ariella Fornachari Ribeiro ◽  
Maria Isabel d'Ávila Freitas ◽  
Márcia Radanovic ◽  
Letícia Lessa Mansur
Keyword(s):  
Visual Complexity ◽  
The Other ◽  
Elderly Subjects ◽  
Healthy Elderly ◽  
Group 3 ◽  
Group 2 ◽  
Level Group ◽  
Different Levels ◽  
Healthy Elderly Subjects ◽  
Group 1

Abstract The generation of inferences makes the construction and comprehension of discourse easier, and integrates representations which add coherence to the arguments. Visuoperceptual and inferential deficits merge in the attempt to explain the difficulties that some individuals have in the comprehension of certain kinds of visual stimuli. Objectives: a) To examine the performance of cognitively healthy elderly subjects in the execution of visual inferences using pictures of different levels of complexity; b) To compare the performance of subjects according to schooling level. Methods: A total of 45 normal elderly aged from 61 to 82yrs (M=68; SD=0.57) were examined. The subjects were divided into three groups according to schooling level: Group 1 (1 to 4 years); Group 2 (5 to 8 years) and Group 3 (9 or more years). Each subject had to create a narrative based on four figures with controlled visual complexity. The narratives were transcribed, analysed and scored. Results: For the essential inferences, the high educated group (3) had a better performance in both visually simple and complex conditions. On the visually complex figures, the medium educated group (2) was statistically equivalent to the high educated group for one figure and equivalent to the less educated group (1) for the other. There was no difference among the groups for the accessory propositions. Conclusions: Visual complexity interferes with the subject's ability to make inferences in low and medium educated individuals. High educated subjects maintain the same performance in making inferences, regardless of the visual complexity level.

scholarly journals Variation of Formant Frequency with Nepalese Vowels

2020 ◽  
pp. 16-21
Author(s):  
S.K. Adhikari
Keyword(s):  
Vocal Tract ◽  
Free Field ◽  
Predictive Coding ◽  
Initial Position ◽  
Frequency Range ◽  
Linear Predictive Coding ◽  
Formant Frequency ◽  
Formant Frequencies ◽  
Speech Spectrum ◽  
Shape And Size

The regions of speech spectrum in which the frequency corresponds to relatively large amplitude are known as formants. For any vocalic sounds, number of formants may occur in the frequency range 0 to 4000 Hz. The formant frequencies of speech sounds are directly depending up on the shape and size of vocal tract. The aim of study was to study the variation of formant frequency with Nepalese vowels. Ten Nepalese vowels word in initial position /VC/ as spoken three times by 10 male and 10 female Nepali speakers were recorded in system in the free field of partially acoustically treated room. PRRAT software is used to digitize and analyze the data. Linear predictive coding (LPC) spectra were obtained for each of vowels and formant frequencies were measured. By plotting curve between formant frequencies and vowels, explain their variation.  

The effect of age on the female reproductive tract of the hopping-mouse Notomys alexis

1976 ◽  
Vol 24 (4) ◽  
pp. 533 ◽  
Author(s):  
S Telfer ◽  
WG Breed
Keyword(s):  
Reproductive Tract ◽  
Age Groups ◽  
Female Reproductive Tract ◽  
Corpora Lutea ◽  
Female Reproductive System ◽  
Group 3 ◽  
Group 2 ◽  
Secondary Lysosomes ◽  
Effect Of Age ◽  
Group 1

The effect of age on the female reproductive system of N. alexis was investigated in the following age groups: (1) 2.5-6 months; (2) 1-2 years; (3) >2 years old. Oestrous cycle length was slightly reduced in group 2 females relative to group 1, but most group 3 females showed either constant dioestrus or constant oestrus. Body, ovarian and uterine weights all tended to increase with age, and Graafian follicles and corpora lutea were present in females in all groups although the latter were significantly fewer in group 3. Cytology of uterine epithelial cells of females in dioestrus indicated that numbers of microvilli in old animals were somewhat variable but generally decreased, some cells appearing almost devoid of them, whereas numbers of secondary lysosomes and multi-vesicular bodies tended to increase. The effect of these differences on possible infertility have, however, yet to be proved.

scholarly journals Effect of Age on Primary Balloon Dacryocystoplasty and Probing Success in Congenital Nasolacrimal Duct Obstruction

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Volkan Dericioğlu ◽  
Mehmet Orkun Sevik ◽  
Sena Sümmen Saçu ◽  
Muhsin Eraslan ◽  
Eren Cerman
Keyword(s):  
Success Rate ◽  
Age Groups ◽  
Nasolacrimal Duct ◽  
Success Rates ◽  
Congenital Nasolacrimal Duct Obstruction ◽  
Duct Obstruction ◽  
Group 3 ◽  
Group 2 ◽  
Effect Of Age ◽  
Group 1

Abstract Purpose: To compare the success rates of balloon dacryocystoplasty (BDP) and probing as a primary procedure in congenital nasolacrimal duct obstruction (CNLDO) and investigate the effect of age on both procedures.Methods: A total of 135 patients (171 eyes) with simple or incomplete complex CNLDO were included in this retrospective study; complete complex CNLDO cases were excluded. The success rates for primary BDP (118 eyes) and for probing (53 eyes) were compared as overall and among the age groups; Group 1 (12–24 months old), Group 2 (25–36 months old), and Group 3 (> 36 months old).Results: Mean age of the patients was 41.5±27.2 months for primary BDP, and 21.8±10.8 months for probing (p<0.001). Overall success rates for primary BDP and probing were 81.1% (43/53) and 76.3% (90/118), respectively (p=0.481). Success rates for BDP and probing among age groups were, 93.8% and 85.3% in Group 1 (p=0.306), 93.3% and 50.0% in Group 2 (p=0.012), and 63.6% and 27.3% in Group 3 (p=0.052), respectively. Cox regression analysis showed that the median ages were 18 months for probing and 36 months for primary BDP. Poisson regression model showed that, for every one-month increase in patients’ age, the success rate of probing decreased by 9.7%.Conclusion: Probing success decreased to a point where different treatment options such as primary BDP can be discussed with the patient’s parents after 18 months of age. The success of BDP decreased after 36 months, while it maintained a high success rate between 24-36 months as primary treatment.

Exploration of Metrics for Quantifying Formant Space: Implications for Clinical Assessment of Parkinson Disease

2019 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 402-410
Author(s):  
Jason A. Whitfield
Keyword(s):  
Parkinson Disease ◽  
Clinical Assessment ◽  
Group Differences ◽  
Clinical Implications ◽  
Formant Frequency ◽  
Formant Frequencies ◽  
Hypokinetic Dysarthria ◽  
Recent Advances ◽  
Vowel Space ◽  
Potential Factor

Purpose Speakers with Parkinson disease (PD) often exhibit hypokinetic dysarthria, which affects speech articulation. Vowel space metrics based on formant frequencies have been used to examine vowel articulation in speakers with PD. Although data from a number of studies suggest that speakers with PD exhibit smaller acoustic vowel space areas than control speakers, a handful of studies did not observe differences in vowel space area between speakers with and without PD. One potential factor explaining the inconsistent performance of traditional vowel space metrics is that these point-based metrics undersample the formant space to adequately capture between-groups and within-group differences in articulation. This article discusses recent advances in vowel space assessment that augment traditional vowel space metrics by examining the distribution of the entire formant frequency trace. Conclusion A general approach to obtaining these metrics is discussed along with clinical implications for vowel space assessment in speakers with PD.

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