Search results for "Voice"
showing 10 items of 199 documents
Neutralization of Syllable-final Voicing in German
1985
German is well known for its neutralization of the voicing contrast in word-final obstruents. However, acoustic analysis of ten pairs of German words produced by ten native speakers revealed that the distributions of acoustic parameters for underlying voiced and voiceless stops are significantly different, despite considerable overlap between the two categories. Furthermore, in a listening test, German listeners were able to distinguish the voiced and voiceless pairs with about 60% accuracy—significantly better than chance. Several mechanisms for such a “semicontrast” are considered, including the possibility that it is an experimental artifact. It is concluded that this is not an artifact,…
Hypothesis of whiplike motion as a possible traumatizing mechanism in vocal fold vibration.
2003
The mucosal waves on the vibrating vocal folds may move in anterior-posterior, mediolateral and in caudal-cranial direction. This article discusses the possible significance of the vertical movement from the point of view of mechanical stress in phonation and the formation of vocal fold traumas. It is hypothesized that in certain conditions the vocal folds may behave in cranial direction like a quasi-free end of a long lash producing very rapid vibratory waves (e.g. the waves in a whiplash). This could be detrimental to the tissue structure. The role of phonation type in enhancing/diminishing this effect will also be discussed.
Expressing evidentiality through prosody? Prosodic voicing in reported speech in Spanish colloquial conversations
2015
Abstract The present paper attempts to establish the evidential character of the special prosodic configuration associated with direct reported discourse (DRD). A variety of expressive meanings have been commonly attributed to this marked prosodic configuration of DRD (such as expression of stance, emotion, mimicking, alignment). However, the concurrence of pragmatic/expressive meanings together with evidentiality is very frequent in ‘non-evidential’ languages like Spanish. Therefore, we argue that the prosody in DRD also signals ‘reported’ or ‘quoted’ discourse and, therefore, the presence of evidentiality. To provide evidence for this latter claim, 449 instances of DRD have been extracted…
Modified fronto-lateral laryngectomy in treatment of glottic T1(a-b) cancer with anterior commissure involvement
2010
Abstract Objective Evaluation of clinical and oncological safety of the modified fronto-lateral laryngectomy in the treatment of T1a-b glottic cancer. Methods Retrospective review of charts of patients managed with classical fronto-lateral laryngectomy or with our modified technique using a cervical fascia flap and a false cord flap to reconstruct the defect. Results No recurrence of cancer was observed in the present series and slight dysphonia was present in all cases. The patients managed with classical technique required a revision surgery for granulations or anterior synechia in 4 cases; those managed with modified technique did not need a second intervention. Conclusion The fronto-lat…
Numerical simulation of glottal flow
2012
In cases of permanent immobility of both vocal folds patients have difficulties with breathing but rarely with voicing. However, clinical experience shows that the shape of the larynx (voice box) seems to have a significant influence on the degree of airflow and breathing pattern. In order to find an optimal geometry of the larynx in terms of easiness for breathing after the surgical change of vocal folds or false vocal cords (ventricular folds), a set of numerical simulations of glottal flow for weakly compressible Navier-Stokes equations has been performed. We compare airflow resistance and volumetric flow rate for several geometry concepts for inspiration as well as expiration. Finally, …
External laryngeal frame function in voice production revisited: A review
1996
Research indicates significant contribution of extrinsic laryngeal mechanisms to voice production. This article reviews the major theories of the role of the external laryngeal factors in voice production and relevant experimental data. The review suggests that partly neglected external factors and possibly even misinterpretation of some of the recently documented individual variation in physiological data may have unnecessarily complicated the issues pertaining to the interplay between the physiological mechanisms of the larynx. The implications of contemporary findings and documentation in the modeling of the extrinsic factors are discussed and a synthesis of empirical data into two simpl…
Voice intelligibility in patients who have undergone laryngectomies.
1995
In this paper, we evaluate the speech intelligibility of two groups of Spanish-speaking people who have undergone laryngectomies: a group who used esophageal speech and a group who used tracheoesophageal (TES) prostheses. Audio recordings of 24 Spanish words produced by each talker were presented to a group of normal-hearing naive listeners who phonetically transcribed their responses. Listeners’ responses were registered in confusion matrices. Results indicate that differences between these two groups of patients appear when we consider phoneme types. The difficulty in producing the voicing distinction appeared in both TES and esophageal talkers. This finding is consistent with studies of …
Successful control of a Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus outbreak in a neonatal intensive care unit: a retrospective, before-after study
2013
International audience; Background : Aim of this study was to provide a detailed description of a Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) outbreak management strategy in the neonatal intensive care unit of a university hospital.MethodsThis was a retrospective, “before-after” study, over two consecutive 18-month periods. The outbreak management strategy was performed by a multidisciplinary team and included: extensive healthcare workers (HCW) involvement, education, continuous hand-hygiene training and active MRSA colonization surveillance. The actions implemented were identified based on an anonymous, voluntary, reporting system, carried out among all the HCW, and regular audit a…
Randomized controlled single‐blinded clinical trial of functional voice outcome after vascular targeting KTP laser microsurgery of early laryngeal ca…
2019
Abstract Background Local control rate (LCR) of early glottic cancer is high after radiation therapy or transoral laser microsurgery (TLM). The aim of this study was to investigate functional voice outcome after TLM using a microvessel‐ablative potassium‐titanyl‐phosphate (KTP) laser in comparison with a gold standard cutting CO2 laser. Methods The primary end point of this prospective, randomized, single‐blinded, clinical phase II study with control group was voice outcome during a follow‐up of 6 months assayed by Voice Handicap Index (VHI‐30)‐questionnaires in patients with unilateral high‐grade dysplasia, carcinoma in situ or early glottic cancer undergoing TLM‐KTP (n = 8) or TLM‐CO2 (n …
Dynamic Fast Imaging Employing Steady State Acquisition Magnetic Resonance Imaging of the Vocal Tract in One Overtone Male Singer: Our Preliminary Ex…
2022
Summary Aims To demonstrate physiological changing of vocal tract's structures during overtone singing with commercial magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) Fast Imaging Employing Steady State Acquisition (FIESTA) dynamic sequence. Methods and Materials A 1.5 T MRI with a 16 channel head-and-neck coil and a FIESTA sequence were used. A temporal resolution of 0.155 sec (7 image/s). A single professional singer was studied. The MR acquisition is made while the singer performed a predetermined singing sequence. Three different overtone singing techniques were examined (L-technique, J-technique, and NG technique) and one effect (Ezengileer) applied to L-technique. For each overtone technique we eval…