scholarly journals Acoustic Measures of Brazilian Transgender Women's Voices: A Case–Control Study

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anna Paula Villas-Bôas ◽  
Karine Schwarz ◽  
Anna Martha Vaitses Fontanari ◽  
Angelo Brandelli Costa ◽  
Dhiordan Cardoso da Silva ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Fundamental Frequency ◽  
Frequency Standard ◽  
Transgender Women ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Frequency Variation ◽  
Women's Voices ◽  
Acoustic Measures ◽  
Frequency Maximum ◽  
Advanced System ◽  
Control Study

Objective: This study aims to compare the acoustic vocal analysis results of a group of transgender women relative to those of cisgender women.Methods: Thirty transgender women between the ages of 19 and 52 years old participated in the study. The control group was composed of 31 cisgender women between the ages of 20 and 48 years old. A standardized questionnaire was administered to collect general patient data to better characterize the participants. The vowel /a/ sounds of all participants were collected and analyzed by the Multi-Dimensional Voice Program advanced system.Results: Statistically significant differences between cisgender and transgender women were found on 14 measures: fundamental frequency, maximum fundamental frequency, minimum fundamental frequency, standard deviation of fundamental frequency, absolute jitter, percentage or relative jitter, fundamental frequency relative average perturbation, fundamental frequency perturbation quotient, smoothed fundamental frequency perturbation quotient, fundamental frequency variation, absolute shimmer, relative shimmer, voice turbulence index (lower values in the cases), and soft phonation index (higher values in the cases). The mean fundamental frequency value was 159.046 Hz for the cases and 192.435 Hz for the controls.Conclusion: Through glottal adaptations, the group of transgender women managed to feminize their voices, presenting voices that were less aperiodic and softer than those of cisgender women.

Acoustic Measurements of Men’s and Women’s Voices

1990 ◽  
Vol 33 (4) ◽  
pp. 761-775 ◽  
Author(s):  
Susan Nittrouer ◽  
Richard S. McGowan ◽  
Paul H. Milenkovic ◽  
Donna Beehler
Keyword(s):  
Fundamental Frequency ◽  
Underlying Mechanism ◽  
Early Morning ◽  
Acoustic Measurements ◽  
Acoustic Source ◽  
Signal To Noise ◽  
Men And Women ◽  
Women's Voices ◽  
Acoustic Measures ◽  
Source Characteristics

Several acoustic measures of laryngeal activity were made on adult speech to help answer two questions left unresolved by previous work: (1) how each measure varies, if at all, with phonetic structure, and (2) what aspect of laryngeal activity each measure specifies. Speech samples of 15 syllables (three vowels in five prevocalic consonantal contexts) were collected from men and women at two times of the day (early morning and late afternoon). Eight measurements were made, mainly on slices extracted from the middle of the vocalic portions, and inferential and correlational statistics were applied to these measures. Results of the inferential tests indicated differences between men and women in how laryngeal adjustments are made, affecting relative amounts of vocal jitter and spectral tilt of the voicing source. In addition, the voicing and manner characteristics of the prevocalic consonant were found to affect fundamental frequency, cycle-to-cycle perturbations, and amount of aspiration noise. To a lesser extent, vowel height and front/back tongue placement also affected these acoustic source characteristics. Results of the correlational tests showed that different laryngeal mechanisms contributed differentially to signal-to-noise ratios for men and women, and these mechanisms were more greatly affected by fundamental frequency for men’s samples. Finally, various acoustic measures of laryngeal noise were found to be related to the same underlying mechanism.

Rorschach Characteristics in Adolescents with Systemic Lupus Erythematosus

2006 ◽  
Vol 28 (1) ◽  
pp. 100-118 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Santoantonio ◽  
L. Yazigi ◽  
E. I. Sato
Keyword(s):  
Lupus Erythematosus ◽  
Case Control Study ◽  
Activity Index ◽  
Disease Activity Index ◽  
Female Adolescents ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Intelligence Scale ◽  
The Mean ◽  
Experimental Group ◽  
Control Study

The purpose of this study was to investigate the personality characteristics in adolescents with SLE. The research design is a case-control study by means of the Rorschach Method and the Wechsler Intelligence Scale. Study group: 30 female adolescents with lupus, 12–17 years of age. The SLE Disease Activity Index was administered during the period of psychological evaluation. Control group: 32 nonpatient adolescents were matched for age, sex, and socioeconomic level. In the Wechsler Intelligence Scale the mean IQ of the experimental group was significantly lower than that of the control group (77 and 98, respectively, p < .001). In the Rorschach, the lupus patients showed greater difficulty in interpersonal interactions, although they displayed the resources to process affect and to cope with stressful situations. A positive moderate correlation (p = .069) between the activity index of the disease and the affect constriction proportion of the Rorschach was observed: the higher the SLEDAI score, the lower the capacity to process affect. There is a negative correlation between the activity index of the disease and the IQ (p = .001): with a higher activity index of the disease, less intellectual resources are available.

Cirugía de feminización de voz con técnica glotoplastia de Wendler en Barranquilla, Colombia. Voice feminization surgery with Wendler glottoplasty technique in Barranquilla, Colombia.

2018 ◽  
Vol 45 (4) ◽  
pp. 247-253 ◽  
Author(s):  
Antonio J. Ballestas ◽  
Samir A. Ballestas ◽  
Rocio Cuello
Keyword(s):  
Fundamental Frequency ◽  
Speech Therapy ◽  
Vocal Cords ◽  
Maximum Phonation Time ◽  
Study Materials ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Upper Face ◽  
Expert Surgeon ◽  
Frequency Maximum ◽  
Male To Female

Introducción: La glotoplastia de Wendler es la técnica que en la actualidad ofrece mejores resultados entre los diferentes tipos de cirugías para la feminización de la voz. Objetivo: Describir nuestra experiencia con la Glotoplastia de Wendler durante el proceso de feminización de la voz de mujeres transgénero. Diseño: Pseudoexperimental (antes-después) Materiales y Métodos: 36 pacientes transexuales en proceso de transformación de hombre a mujer se sometieron a cirugía y rehabilitación con terapias de voz con el equipo de VOICEFEM - Voice Feminization Colombia. La técnica utilizada consiste en la creación de una sinequia de las cuerdas vocales (CCVV) previa desepitelización de la cara interna del tercio anterior de las mismas, 2 puntos de sutura con Vicryl 4/0 y vaporización con electrocauterio en la región lateral de la cara superior de las CCVV y utilización de goma biológica en la sinequia creada. La medición de la frecuencia fundamental, el tiempo máximo de fonación, y la realización del cuestionario TSEQ, se llevaron a cabo antes y después de la cirugía. Resultados: Se obtuvo un aumento de la Frecuencia fundamental promedio de 112Hz(P<0.05) a los 6 meses posteriores al procedimiento quirúrgico y una disminución de cerca de 30 puntos en los resultados del cuestionario TSEQ. Conclusión: La glotoplastia de Wendler, llevada a cabo por cirujanos con experiencia en este campo, ofrece resultados favorables con aumentos significativos de la frecuencia fundamental a mediano plazo y debe estar necesariamente asociada al manejo postquirúrgico con terapias de voz, para obtener el desenlace óptimo esperado.Introduction: Wendler’s Glottoplasty is the technique that offers the best resultsamong the different types of voice feminization surgeries. Male to Female Transgender patients have in this technique the last step for their successful transformation. Objective: To describe our experience in carrying out Wendler’s glottoplasty during the process of feminization of the voice of transgender women. Design: Pseudoexperimental (before-after) study. Materials and methods: In 36 Male to Female Transgender patients, Wendler’s glottoplasty was conducted by VOICEFEM - Voice Feminization Colombia’s team, with further speech therapy rehabilitation. This technique consists of the creation of a synechia of the vocal cords which is carried out after the de-epithelization of the vocal cords on the inner face of its anterior third, 2 stitches with Vicryl 4/0 and vaporization with electrocautery in the lateral region of vocal cords upper face, and the use of biological glue in the created synechia. The measurement of the Fundamental Frequency, Maximum Phonation time, and the completion of the TSEQ questionnaire were carried out before and after the surgery. Results: There was an increase of 112 Hz in the average of Fundamental Frequency(P<0.05) 6 months after the surgery, and a decrease of approximately 30 points in the TSEQ questionnaire results. Conclusion: Wendler’s Glottoplasty conducted by an expert surgeon, provides positive results with a significant increase for fundamental frequency in the medium term, and it is imperative to do also voice therapy rehabilitation posterior to the procedure in order to obtain the expected optimal outcome.

Assessment of Craniofacial Morphology in Mouth Breathing Children. A retrospective case-control study

2019 ◽  
Vol 70 (10) ◽  
pp. 3649-3653
Author(s):  
David Angelescu ◽  
Teodora Angelescu ◽  
Meda Romana Simu ◽  
Alexandrina Muntean ◽  
Anca Stefania Mesaros ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Case Control Study ◽  
Case Control ◽  
Craniofacial Morphology ◽  
Respiratory Pattern ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Upper Lip ◽  
Retrospective Case ◽  
Oral Breathing ◽  
Facial Height ◽  
Control Study

The aim of this retrospective case-control study is to determine a possible correlation between breathing mode and craniofacial morphology. The study was carried out in the Department of Pedodontics,Iuliu Hatieganu University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Cluj-Napoca, Romania. The sample comprised 80 patients, age between 6 and 13 years, which were divided in two groups based on respiratory pattern: control group composed of 38 nasal breathing children and case group composed of 42 oral breathing children. Three quantitative craniofacial parameters were measured from the frontal and lateral photos: facial index, lower facial height ratio and upper lip ratio. The statistical analysis showed a significant higher facial index (p=0.006*) and an increase lower facial height (p=0.033*) for the oral breathers group. No differences in facial morphology were found between genders and age groups, when comparing the data between the same type of respiratory pattern children. Spearman�s rho Correlation show a significant positive correlation (p=0.002*) between facial index and lower facial height and a significant negative correlation between facial index and upper lip (p=0,005*). Long faces children are more likely to develop oral breathing in certain conditions, which subsequently have a negative effect on increasing the lower facial height by altering the postural behavior of mandible and tongue.

THE LEVEL OF CYTOKINES IN THE SALIVA OF PATIENTS WITH BREAST CANCER

2019 ◽  
Vol 65 (6) ◽  
pp. 825-831
Author(s):  
Lyudmila Belskaya ◽  
Viktor Kosenok
Keyword(s):  
Breast Cancer ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Early Stages ◽  
Promising Tool ◽  
Urgent Task ◽  
Advanced Stages ◽  
New Biomarkers ◽  
Histological Verification ◽  
Control Study ◽  
Biochemical Examination

Currently, the urgent task is to search for new biomarkers as a promising tool for early detection and monitoring of breast cancer. The aim of the study was to study the level of cytokines in the saliva of patients with breast cancer. In the case-control study volunteers participated, which were divided into 3 groups: the main (breast cancer, n = 43), the comparison group (fibroadenoma, n = 32) and the control group (conditionally healthy, n = 39). All participants were questioned; biochemical examination of saliva, histological verification of the diagnosis was carried out. Intergroup differences are estimated by a nonparametric criterion. It is shown that in the context of breast cancer, the level of cytokines (IL-2, IL-4, IL-6, IL-10 and IL-18) is increasing, except for IL-8, the content of which decreases compared to the control group. When the disease progresses by the nature of the dynamics, the parameters are divided into two groups: IL-2, IL-4, IL-18 and IL-6, IL-8, IL-10. For the first group of cytokines, there was a decrease in content during the transition from the early stages to the more common ones. For the second group, when passing from stages T1-2N0M0 to T1-2NjM0, the level of cytokines remains practically constant. In the future, the level of cytokines is observed for stage T3_4N0_2M0, and for IL-2, IL-4 and IL-10, the level of cytokines reaches values corresponding to early stages, whereas for IL-6, IL-8 and IL-18 in the same direction, a significant increase in indicators was noted. Additionally, the IL-6/IL-8 ratio was calculated depending on the tumor size, as well as the presence / absence of metastasis. It is shown that this ratio is statistically significantly increased in the advanced stages of the disease. Particularly interesting is the increase in this ratio in saliva at the initial stages of the disease.

Association of Serum Homocysteine Level and Interstitial Lung Disease in Systemic Sclerosis: A Case-control Study

2018 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 74-78
Author(s):  
Mohammadali Nazarinia ◽  
Asghar Zare ◽  
Mohammad javad Fallahi ◽  
Mesbah Shams
Keyword(s):  
Systemic Sclerosis ◽  
Healthy Subjects ◽  
Case Control Study ◽  
Homocysteine Level ◽  
Case Control ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Lung Involvement ◽  
Serum Homocysteine ◽  
The Mean ◽  
Control Study

Background:Systemic sclerosis is a disorder of connective tissue with unknown cause, affecting the skin and internal organs, characterized by fibrotic changes.Objective:To determine the correlation between serum homocysteine level and interstitial lung involvement in systemic sclerosis. </P><P> Materials and Methods: In this case – control study, 59 patients who fulfilled the ACR/EULAR classification criteria for systemic sclerosis and were referred to Hafez Hospital of Shiraz, Iran, were included as the case group. Fifty nine healthy subjects were involved as the control group. Patients were divided into two groups based on interstitial lung involvement and two subtypes, diffuse and limited type. Serum homocysteine, vitamin B12, and folate levels compared between the controls, and cases groups.Results:Of 59 case and control group, 53 (%89.8) were female and the mean age did not differ in both groups (P=0.929). Thirty five (%59.3) patients had interstitial lung involvement and 38(%64.4) had diffuse cutaneous systemic sclerosis. The mean serum homocysteine level was 13.9±6.3 µmol/L in the case and 13.7±9.2 µmol/L in the control group (P=0.86). The mean serum homocysteine level did not differ between the patients with and without interstitial lung involvement (P=0.52). The patients with lung involvement was older than those without lung involvement (P=0.004). Lung disease was more common in diffuse type (P=0.014).Conclusion:In our study, serum homocysteine level did not differ between the patients and healthy subjects. Also, there was no correlation between serum homocysteine level and lung involvement, but lung involvement was more common in older patients and also diffuse subtype.

scholarly journals Study of cognitive impairment and genetic polymorphism of SLC41A1 (rs11240569 allele) in Parkinson’s disease in Upper Egypt: case-control study

2021 ◽  
Vol 57 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Hamdy N. El-Tallawy ◽  
Tahia H. Saleem ◽  
Wafaa M. Farghaly ◽  
Heba Mohamed Saad Eldien ◽  
Ashraf Khodaery ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Parkinson’S Disease ◽  
Parkinson's Disease ◽  
Cognitive Impairment ◽  
Case Control Study ◽  
Case Control ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Motor Symptoms ◽  
And Control ◽  
Non Motor Symptoms ◽  
Control Study

Abstract Background Parkinson’s disease is one of the neurodegenerative disorders that is caused by genetic and environmental factors or interaction between them. Solute carrier family 41 member 1 within the PARK16 locus has been reported to be associated with Parkinson’s disease. Cognitive impairment is one of the non-motor symptoms that is considered a challenge in Parkinson’s disease patients. This study aimed to investigate the association of rs11240569 polymorphism; a synonymous coding variant in SLC41A1 in Parkinson’s disease patients in addition to the assessment of cognitive impairment in those patients. Results In a case -control study, rs11240569 single nucleotide polymorphisms in SLC41A1, genes were genotyped in 48 Parkinson’s disease patients and 48 controls. Motor and non-motor performance in Parkinson's disease patients were assessed by using the Movement Disorder Society-Sponsored Revision of the Unified Parkinson’s Disease Rating Scale (MDS-UPDRS). The genotype and allele frequencies were compared between the two groups and revealed no significant differences between case and control groups for rs11240569 in SLC41A1 gene with P value .523 and .54, respectively. Cognition was evaluated and showed the mean ± standard deviation (SD) of WAIS score of PD patients 80.4 ± 9.13 and the range was from 61 to 105, in addition to MMSE that showed mean ± SD 21.96 ± 3.8. Conclusion Genetic testing of the present study showed that rs11240569 polymorphism of SLC41A1 gene has no significant differences in distributions of alleles and genotypes between cases and control group, in addition to cognitive impairment that is present in a large proportion of PD patients and in addition to the strong correlation between cognitive impairment and motor and non-motor symptoms progression.

Serum otolin-1 as a biomarker for benign paroxysmal positional vertigo: a case-control study

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-4
Author(s):  
D V K Irugu ◽  
A Singh ◽  
H Yadav ◽  
H Verma ◽  
R Kumar ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Serum Level ◽  
Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo ◽  
Case Control Study ◽  
Serum Levels ◽  
Case Control ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Positional Vertigo ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Control Study ◽  
Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo

Abstract Objectives This study aimed to evaluate serum otolin-1 levels in patients with benign paroxysmal positional vertigo and to compare these levels with healthy individuals. Method This was a case-control study. After obtaining institutional ethical committee clearance, the serum level of otolin-1 was calculated in adult individuals (18–75 years old) who were divided into group 1 (patients presenting with benign paroxysmal positional vertigo) and group 2 (healthy patients without benign paroxysmal positional vertigo as the control group). Data analysis was carried out to compare the serum levels in the cases and controls. A p-value less than 0.05 was considered significant. Results A total of 70 age-matched individuals (cases, n = 40; controls, n = 30) were included in the study. The mean serum level of otolin-1 was 636.8 pg/ml (range, 259–981 pg/ml) in the group of patients with benign paroxysmal positional vertigo and 236.2 pg/ml (range, 189–370 pg/ml) in the control group. The difference was statistically significant (p = 0.0000). Conclusion The serum levels of otolin-1 in patients with benign paroxysmal positional vertigo are significantly higher compared with individuals without benign paroxysmal positional vertigo.

Efficacy of corticosteroid therapy in the treatment of long- lasting olfactory disorders in COVID-19 patients

2020 ◽  
Vol 0 (0) ◽  
pp. 0-0
Author(s):  
L.A. Vaira ◽  
C. Hopkins ◽  
M. Petrocelli ◽  
J.R. Lechien ◽  
S. Cutrupi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Treatment Group ◽  
Case Control Study ◽  
Spontaneous Recovery ◽  
Olfactory Function ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Initial Control ◽  
Group A ◽  
Control Study

BACKGROUND: The growing number of COVID-19 patients with long-lasting olfactory disorders makes it necessary to identify effective treatments that enhance the spontaneous recovery of olfactory function. METHODS: Multicentre randomised case-control study that involved 18 patients with COVID-19 related anosmia or severe hyposmia for more than 30 days. Nine patients were prescribed systemic prednisone and nasal irrigation with betamethasone, ambroxol and rinazine for 15 days. The other 9, untreated, patients were used as controls. The olfactory function was evaluated with CCCRC test at 20 and 40 days from the first evaluation. RESULTS: In the control group, a median olfactory score of 20 (IQR 30) was detected at baseline. At the 20-day control there was no significant improvement in olfactory function. The improvement in olfactory performance became significant at the 40-day follow-up compared to baseline scores [60 (IQR 60) versus 20 (IQR 30)]. In the treatment group, patients had a mean olfactory score of 10 (IQR 15) at initial control. At the 20-day control, a significant im-provement in the olfactory scores, compared to the baseline, was detected [70 (IQR 40) versus 10 (IQR 15)]. Olfactory function further improved at 40 days [median score 90 (IQR 50)]. Patients in the treatment group reported significantly higher improvements of the olfactory scores than the controls at both the 20-day [40 (IQR 45) versus 10 (IQR 15)] and 40-day [60 (IQR 40) versus 30 (IQR 25)] evaluations. CONCLUSIONS: Based on the results of this study, the mix of drugs including steroids could represent a useful specific therapy to reduce the prevalence of this long-term morbidity.

Whole-Field Indocyanine Green Intensity Analysis to Intraoperatively Predict Cerebral Hyperperfusion Syndrome Following Superficial Temporal Artery-Middle Cerebral Artery Bypass: A Retrospective Case-Control Study in 7-Year Experience With 112 Cases

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yosuke Sato ◽  
Tatsuya Sugiyama ◽  
Tohru Mizutani
Keyword(s):  
Case Control Study ◽  
Superficial Temporal Artery ◽  
Temporal Artery ◽  
Case Control ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Intensity Analysis ◽  
Retrospective Case ◽  
Cerebral Hyperperfusion Syndrome ◽  
Cerebral Hyperperfusion ◽  
Control Study

Abstract BACKGROUND Intraoperative prediction of postoperative cerebral hyperperfusion syndrome (CHS) after cerebrovascular bypass surgery is challenging. OBJECTIVE To conduct a retrospective case-control study with indocyanine green (ICG) intensity analysis of the superficial temporal artery-middle cerebral artery (STA-MCA) bypass and investigate whether its washout pattern might be a marker for intraoperative prediction of CHS. METHODS Between 2012 and 2018, 6 of 112 patients (5.4%) that underwent STA-MCA bypass exhibited CHS. We selected 5 patients with CHS (3 with atherosclerotic cerebrovascular disease [ASCVD] and 2 with moyamoya) and 15 patients without CHS (60% ASCVD and 40% moyamoya) as a matched control group. During prebypass and postbypass, washout times (WTs) for the first 10%, 25%, 50%, and 75% of maximum ICG intensity measured in the whole-camera field were compared between groups. The changes in WT (ΔWT) from prebypass to postbypass for each ICG intensity level were compared between groups. The cutoff ΔWTs, sensitivities, and specificities were also calculated. RESULTS Postbypass WTs were significantly longer in the CHS group than the control group at all ICG intensities (P < .05). ΔWT was significantly greater in the CHS group than the control group for the first 10%, 25%, and 50% ICG intensities (P < .001). A cutoff ΔWT of ≥2.66 s for the first 50% ICG intensity showed a sensitivity of 100% and specificity of 100%. CONCLUSION We found that a ΔWT ≥2.66 s for the first 50% ICG intensity could be an intraoperative predictive factor for CHS.

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