Efeitos imediatos da fotobiomodulação sobre a pressão máxima dos lábios

RESUMO Objetivo Verificar os efeitos imediatos da fotobiomodulação sobre a pressão máxima dos lábios para diferentes doses. Método Estudo experimental, randomizado e triplo cego. A amostra foi composta por 23 mulheres e 17 homens com idade entre 18 e 33 anos (média 23,18 anos, DP=2,1), divididos em quatro grupos: GC (grupo controle), G1, G4 e G7. A pressão máxima foi avaliada com o Iowa Oral Performance Instrument (IOPI). O bulbo foi posicionado entre os lábios e os participantes foram orientados a pressioná-lo com a maior força possível. Aplicou-se o LASER infravermelho (808 nm) da marca DMC, modelo Therapy EC, 100 mW de potência. As doses testadas foram 1 J (G1), 4 J (G4) e 7 J (G7) aplicadas em seis pontos do músculo orbicular da boca. No GC não houve intervenção. Após a aplicação do LASER, foram repetidos os procedimentos de avaliação. Os resultados foram analisados com nível de significância de 95%. Resultados A pressão máxima de lábios aumentou significativamente apenas no grupo irradiado com 7 joules. Conclusão O LASER de baixa intensidade na dose de 7 J promoveu mudanças no desempenho do músculo orbicular da boca em tarefa de pressão máxima.

Impact of task preparedness on L2 oral performance and strategy use

The present study sets out to explore the effects of pre-task planning and unpressured on-line planning on L2 learners’ oral performance and their choices of planning strategies in a dialogic task condition. Forty-eight intermediate Chinese EFL learners were invited to perform the task and were then assigned to four groups, each with a different planning condition. Complexity, accuracy, and fluency of their oral production were measured. Results indicated that in the dialogic task condition, unpressured on-line planning raised syntactic complexity. Strikingly, pre-task planning did not improve L2 performance in all dimensions. Additionally, a trade-off effect was found between complexity and accuracy. Retrospective interviews were conducted to explore strategies employed by the participants and their perceptions of task preparedness. Results showed that the participants preferred to use metacognitive strategies and social/affective strategies in the dialogic task. Both advantages and limitations were identified by the participants regarding different planning conditions.

Improving Adherence to Myofunctional Therapy in the Treatment of Sleep-Disordered Breathing

Myofunctional therapy (MT) is used to treat sleep-disordered breathing. However, MT has low adherence—only ~10% in most studies. We describe our experiences with MT delivered through a mobile health app named Airway Gym®, which is used by patients who have rejected continuous positive airway pressure and other therapies. We compared ear, nose, and throat examination findings, Friedman stage, tongue-tie presence, tongue strength measured using the Iowa oral performance instrument (IOPI), and full polysomnography before and after the 3 months of therapy. Participants were taught how to perform the exercises using the app at the start. Telemedicine allowed physicians to record adherence to and accuracy of the exercise performance. Fifty-four patients were enrolled; 35 (64.8%) were adherent and performed exercises for 15 min/day on five days/week. We found significant changes (p < 0.05) in the apnoea–hypopnoea index (AHI; 32.97 ± 1.8 to 21.9 ± 14.5 events/h); IOPI score (44.4 ± 11.08 to 49.66 ± 10.2); and minimum O2 saturation (80.91% ± 6.1% to 85.09% ± 5.3%). IOPI scores correlated significantly with AHI after the therapy (Pearson r = 0.4; p = 0.01). The 19 patients who did not adhere to the protocol showed no changes. MT based on telemedicine had good adherence, and its effect on AHI correlated with IOPI and improvement in tongue-tie.

導入自文化於日語學習中之初探 ―透過「觀光日語」的實踐活動―

<p>本論文是探討台灣中部某所大學開設之「觀光日語」課程改革的實踐報告。本課程的課程設計理念是，學習者可以透過此門課程培養自身理解台灣和日本之間存在的社會和文化的差異。具體而言，於課程中導入台灣在地的題材，讓學習者完成各個在地題材為主題的課題。</p> <p>課程的實踐成果以問卷調查和口頭表現測驗進行評估。問卷調查的問題以 異文化理解為主軸設計的內容，各個問題滿分 5 分的問卷調查以記述統計的統計方式進行統計，其結果為「4.1」以上的平均點，由此得知學習者對於異文化有高度的理解。亦由此結果得知，本實踐活動達成課程目標之一的「培養異文化的學習能力和教養」。</p> <p>其次，由口頭表現測驗的結果得知，有學習者履修此門課程後，其單字的發音變得正確，其口頭表現使用的語彙和句型數量有所增加，語彙和句型的使用亦比修課前呈現更多元的變化。此結果亦達成課程的另一個課程目標「口頭能力表現的進步」。今後將持續進行導入台灣的自文化和在地題材為主題的課程改革。</p> <p>&nbsp;</p><p>This paper discusses the evaluation and revision of a &quot;Travel Japanese&quot; course taught in a university in central Taiwan. The course was designed to develop learners’ capability to understand the cultural and social differences between Taiwan and Japan. In particular, the course incorporates local Taiwanese themes for topics as learners complete lesson tasks.</p> <p>The course results were measured through post-class questionnaires, which surveyed understanding about different cultures on a five-point scale, and oral performance tests. The results of the questionnaires showed average of 4.1 points, indicating a high degree of understanding about other cultures. Therefore, the course can be thought to have accomplished the goal of &quot;cultivating learning and understanding of different cultures.&quot; </p> <p>In addition, the test results for the oral performance tests indicated that through the course learners improved in pronunciation and increased both their vocabulary and the diversity of the sentence patterns they used. Thus, results indicated that the second course goal of &quot;improving oral performance&quot; was also met. The author will continue to implement the self-culture approach and local elements of Taiwan into the course.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p>

Parent’s and teacher’s evaluation of aural oral performance of children with hearing aids

Background and Aim: Parents' evaluation of aural/oral performance of children (PEACH) and teachers' evaluation of aural/oral performance of children (TEACH) questionnaires are used to assess the behaviors of hearing-impaired children in real-life situations. This study aims to compare the scores of PEACH and TEACH in children with severe-to-profound sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL) using hearing aids. Methods: This is a double-blind two-period crossover study on 21 children aged 9-72 months with severe-to-profound SNHL using hearing aids. There were two 6-week periods of fitting Phonak Naida Venture SP hearing aids using the fifth version of the Desired Sensation Level (DSL v5) and the National Acoustics Laborato­ries’ nonlinear fitting procedure (NAL-NL2) pre­scriptions. At the end of each trial, the PEACH and TEACH questioners were completed through an interview with the parents and teachers, res­pectively. Results: There was a strong correlation between the PEACH and TEACH in total and subscale scores. There was no significant difference bet­ween the results of DSL v5 and the NAL-NL2 prescriptions for the total score and subscale scores of PEACH and TEACH. Conclusion: The PEACH score has a strong correlation with the TEACH score. These ques­tionnaires are useful tools for indirectly assess­ment of hearing-impaired children’s communi­cation skills. The DSL v5 and the NAL-NL2 prescriptions make no significant difference in the performance of children with severe-to-profound SNHL. Keywords: Aural oral performance; questionnaire; children; parents; hearing loss; functional performance