• Phonetics and Speech Sciences
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• v.5 no.3
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• pp.95-101
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• 2013

Aging is related to anatomical and physiological changes in respiratory and phonation organs. These changes influence articulation which leads to inaccurate speech and slow articulatory diadochokinesis(DDK). DDK indicates the range, rate, regularity, accuracy, and agility of articulation that reflect motor speech function. The purpose of this study is to investigate the rates and regularities of DDK in healthy Korean elderly through passive acoustic analysis (Praat). Thirty subjects between the ages of 65 and 94 participated in this study. Rate was observed for 5 seconds, while regularity was calculated based on the standard deviation on the following: 1) syllable duration of each task; 2) gap duration between syllables. Then, simple regression analysis was conducted in order to examine the effect of age on performance. The result showed that the slow rate was not a significant factor in terms of advancing age. Furthermore, regularity indicated a significant difference in the following: 1) /pʌ/, /kʌ/ and /pʌtʌkʌ/ in syllable duration; 2) /kʌ/ duration in the gap between syllables. In conclusion, articulatory coordination is reduced with the onset of aging. In particular, /kʌ/ would be a sensitive task for articulatory coordination.

• Maxillofacial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery
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• v.40
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• pp.23.1-23.6
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• 2018

Background: Velopharyngeal insufficiency that accompanies speech resonance and articulation disorders can be managed through several intervention methods such as speech-language therapy, prosthetic aids, and surgery. However, for patients with severe hypernasality, surgical interventions are highly recommended. Among available surgical techniques, the posterior pharyngeal flap is most common. Case presentation: Two adult males with high nasalance scores underwent superiorly based posterior pharyngeal flap surgery, followed by speech testing by an expert speech-language therapist. Nasalance scores and articulation accuracy were assessed up until 1 year after the surgery. Nasalance scores were measured five times using a nasometer, after which the average value was calculated. Conclusions: Consistent declines in hypernasality over time are not easy to explain since the pedicled pharyngeal flap narrowed over time, secondary to cicatrization. However, scar tethering of the soft palate in a posterior direction could reduce the velopharyngeal port size over time. Therefore, long-term follow-up with intensive speech therapy is suggested for patients with severe hypernasality.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Laryngology, Phoniatrics and Logopedics
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• v.33 no.3
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• pp.188-192
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• 2022

Velopharyngeal insufficiency (VPI) is a phenomenon that can occur due to anatomical or neurological causes of the soft palate. VPI can make the patient difficult to articulate through hypernasality and nasal emission. There has been needed the customized treatment, as VPI can occur for many causes. We present the case of 21-year-old male who took palate plastic surgery 20 years ago for congenital submucosal cleft palate. As he had poor contraction of both lateral side of velopharynx, he was diagnosed with coronal type VPI. Through sphincter pharyngoplasty, he can obtain improvement of articulation accuracy. We would like to share this challenged case.

• Journal of Institute of Control, Robotics and Systems
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• v.13 no.4
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• pp.279-285
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• 2007

The objective of the research is two fold. The first is to design and propose a stable and robust learning control algorithm. The controller is CMAC Learning Controller which consists of a model-based controller, such as LQR or PID, as a reference control and a CMAC. The second objective is to implement a reference control and CMAC at two different sampling rates. Generally, a conventional controller is designed based on a mathematical plant model. However, increasing complexity of the plant and accuracy requirement on mathematical models nearly prohibits the application of the conventional controller design approach. To avoid inherent complexity and unavoidable uncertainty in modeling, biology mimetic methods have been developed. One of such attempts is Cerebellar Model Articulation Computer(CMAC) developed by Albus. CMAC has two main disadvantages. The first disadvantage of CMAC is increasing memory requirement with increasing number of input variables and with increasing accuracy demand. The memory needs can be solved with cheap memories due to recent development of new memory technology. The second disadvantage is a demand for processing powers which could be an obstacle especially when CMAC should be implemented in real-time. To overcome the disadvantages of CMAC, we propose CMAC learning controller with multiple sampling rates. With this approach a conventional controller which is a reference to CMAC at high enough sampling rate but CMAC runs at the processor's unoccupied time. To show efficiency of the proposed method, an inverted pendulum controller is designed and implemented. We also demonstrate it's possibility as an industrial control solution and robustness against a modeling uncertainty.

• The Journal of Internal Korean Medicine
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• v.37 no.3
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• pp.568-577
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• 2016

Objective: To report the case of a patient suffering from Broca’s aphasia after cerebral infarction, which was improved by Korean medical treatments, especially five-element acupuncture.Methods: To relievesymptoms, Korean medicine treatments such as acupuncture, moxibustion, and herb medication were performed. To evaluate the effect of the treatments, articulation accuracy, vowel accuracy, and the sequential motion rate of articulator were checked.Result: After treatments for 28 days, the symptoms were improved.Conclusion: This report suggests that five-element acupuncture can be effectively used for patients with Broca’s aphasia after cerebral infarction.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Laryngology, Phoniatrics and Logopedics
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.55-60
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• 2001

Background and Objectives : Syllable Maximum Repetition Rate(MRR) is ability to repeat rapidly the articulators and is assessed for oromechanism function as one of the MPT. MRR is measured by rate(counts/sec), also simultaneously considered accuracy and consistency. The objective of the present was to examine stimuli effects and age and sex differences for MRR. Materials and Method : This study was participated 60 normal males and females(1 : 1) who were divided into two groups young(<40 years old) and old($\geq$40 years old). Stimuli were $/{P^=}a/,/{t^=}a/,/{k^=}a/,/{P^h}a/,/{t^h}a/,/{k^h}a/,/{P^=}{at^=}{ak^=}a/$ for, manner(tense and aspirated) of articulation, $/{p^h}{at^h}{ak^h}a/,/{t^h}{ap^h}{ak^h}a/$ for the effect of the order of syllable, glide /u-i/ for coordination of lip and tongue, interrupted vowel /i/ for laryngeal function. Results : There were little differences in two age groups and sex and manner of articulation for MRR tasks. The fastest average MRR of the single syllable included in this study was $/{t^=}a/$. significant differences existed between MRR for ${p^h}{at^h}{ak^h}a/ and /{t^h}{ap^h}{ak^h}a/$, which suggested that MRR was affected by the order of the syllables. MRR for interrupted vowel /i/ was about 2 counts/sec slower than average rate of 1 syllables. Conclusion : From these results, the order of the syllables was a crucial variable in MRR. rather than age or sex. There were no difference age, sex and manner of rate. The interrupted vowel repetition rate was slightly slow used and can provide basic information to assess the speech mechanism and can be useful to develop effective stimuli to differentiate the disordered group from normal.

• Korean Journal of Head & Neck Oncology
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.119-122
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• 2009

Objectives : Ablation of carcinoma of the tongue leads to deficits in speech and swallowing, but none to date has provided all of the qualities of mobility and sensation to simulate the complex function of the tongue. The authors evaluated postoperative swallowing and pronouncing function in patients who underwent tongue reconstruction using free flap. Material and Methods : This is a retrospective review documenting the outcome of 42 patients between January of 1991 and August of 2008. We classified patients according to the size of resection of the tongue like as 7 partial glossectomy, 25 hemiglossectomy, 2 subtotal glossectomy, and 8 total glossectomy. Swallowing function was graded into 4 point scale and pronouncing function was analyzed using picture consonant articulation test. Aspiration was evaluated with videofluoroscopic swallowing study. Results : The average points for swallowing function were 3.43 in partial glossectomy, 3.52 in hemiglossectomy, 3 in subtotal glossectomy, and 2.63 in total glossectomy. The percentage of consonants correct showed 76.5% in partial glossectomy, 72.29% in hemiglossectomy, 47.69% in subtotal glossectomy, and 29.94% in total glossectomy. Aspiration was noted in 3 patients(1 hemiglossectomy and 2 total glossectomy) and 2 total glossectomy patients were taken permanent feeding gastrostomy. Conclusion : Free flap gave us proper volume in tongue reconstruction and showed good result in preserving swallowing function. Swallowing function difference according to the size of defect showed no statistical significance, whereas articulation function was shown to decrease in accuracy as the size of defect was larger.

• International Journal of Precision Engineering and Manufacturing
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• v.9 no.3
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• pp.40-45
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• 2008

This paper presents a linear positioning system and its control algorithm design with nano accuracy/resolution. The basic linear stage structure is driven by an ultrasonic motor and its displacement feedback is detected by a LDGI (Laser Diffraction Grating Interferometer), which can achieve nanometer resolution. Due to the friction driving property of the ultrasonic motor, the driving situation differs in various ranges along the travel. Experiments have been carried out in order to observe and realize the phenomena of the three main driving modes: AC mode (for mm motion), Gate mode (for ${\mu}m$ motion), and DC mode (for nm motion). A proposed FCMAC (Fuzzy Cerebella Model Articulation Controller) control algorithm is implemented for manipulating and predicting the velocity variation during the motion of each mode respectively. The PCbased integral positioning system is built up with a NI DAQ Device by a BCB (Borland $C^{++}$ Builder) program to accomplish the purpose of an intelligent nanopositioning control.

• Phonetics and Speech Sciences
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• v.10 no.2
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• pp.7-14
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• 2018

The paper investigates the acoustic characteristics of English fricatives in the TIMIT corpus, with a special focus on the role of voicing in rendering fricatives in American English. The TIMIT database includes 630 talkers and 2,342 different sentences, and comprises more than five hours of speech. Acoustic analyses are conducted in the domain of spectral and temporal properties by treating gender, voicing, and place of articulation as independent factors. The results of the acoustic analyses revealed that acoustic signals interact in a complex way to signal the gender, place, and voicing of fricatives. Classification experiments using a multiclass support vector machine (SVM) revealed that 78.7% of fricatives are correctly classified. The majority of errors stem from the misclassification of /θ/ as [f] and /ʒ/ as [z]. The average accuracy of gender classification is 78.7%. Most errors result from the classification of female speakers as male speakers. The paper contributes to the understanding of the effects of voicing and gender on fricatives in a large-scale speech corpus.

• ETRI Journal
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• v.40 no.5
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• pp.643-652
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• 2018

Dysarthria is a degenerative disorder of the central nervous system that affects the control of articulation and pitch; therefore, it affects the uniqueness of sound produced by the speaker. Hence, dysarthric speaker recognition is a challenging task. In this paper, a feature-extraction method based on deep belief networks is presented for the task of identifying a speaker suffering from dysarthria. The effectiveness of the proposed method is demonstrated and compared with well-known Mel-frequency cepstral coefficient features. For classification purposes, the use of a multi-layer perceptron neural network is proposed with two structures. Our evaluations using the universal access speech database produced promising results and outperformed other baseline methods. In addition, speaker identification under both text-dependent and text-independent conditions are explored. The highest accuracy achieved using the proposed system is 97.3%.