• Phonetics and Speech Sciences
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• v.6 no.2
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• pp.73-79
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• 2014

Alveolar fricative sounds /s/ and /s'/ are learned last for normal children in the speech development process for Koreans. These are especially difficult to articulate for hearing-impaired children often causing articulation errors. The acoustic phonetic evaluation uses testing tools to provide indirect and object information. These objective resources can be compared with standardized resources on speech when interpreting the results of a test. However, most previous studies in Korea did not consider acoustic studies that used the spectrum moment values of hearing-impaired children. Therefore, this study was conducted to compare the characteristics of hearing-impaired children's pronunciation of fricative sounds using spectrum moment values. For this purpose, the study selected a total of 10 hearing-impaired children (5 boys and 5 girls) currently in 3rd or 5th grade and attending one of the elementary schools in Seoul or Gyeonggi-do. For the selection process, their age, type of hearing aid, implantation of hearing aid (CI) before two years of age, hearing capacity (dB) before and after wearing the hearing aid, duration of speech rehabilitation, and time of learning alveolar fricative sounds were all considered. Also, 10 normal children (5 boys and 5 girls) were selected among 3rd or 5th grade students attending one of the elementary schools in Seoul or Gyeonggi-do. The subjects were asked to read the carrier sentence, "I say _______," including a list of 12 meaningless syllables composed of CV and VCV syllables, including alveolar fricative sounds /s/ and /s'/ and vowels /a/, /i/, and /u/. The recorded resources were processed through the Time-frequency Analysis Software Program to measure M1 (mean), M2 (variance), M3 (skewness), and M4 (kurtosis) of the fricative noise. No significant differences were found when comparing spectrum threshold values in the acoustic phonetic characteristics of hearing-impaired children and normal children in alveolar fricative sound pronunciation according to vowels /a/, /i/, and /u/, alveolar fricative sounds /s/ and /s'/, and syllable structure (CV, VCV) other than, for M3 in the comparison of groups according to disability. In the comparison of syllable structures, there were statistically significant differences in M1, M2, M3, and M4 with clinical significance. However, there was no significant difference in results when comparing the alveolar fricative sounds according to the vowels.

• MALSORI
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• no.52
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• pp.49-60
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• 2004

The purpose of this paper was to evaluate the effect of hearing level on fundamental frequencies in children. Participants totaled sixty children divided by three groups: congenitally deafened children with cochlear implantation(CI), congenitally deafened children with hearing aids(HA), and children with normal hearing(NH). Fundamental frequencies were measured during the sustained phonation of a vowel /a/. There was statistically significant difference of fundamental frequencies across the groups(p<.01). In post hoc analysis, HA and NH group showed statistically significant difference, but CI group didn't showed significant differences with two groups. In correlation analysis between F0 and the chronological age, there were significant negative tendencies in CI and NH group, but not in HA group. The characteristics of fundamental frequency in CI group were found similar to NH group than HA group in this study. Therefore the results of this study suggest that the hearing level is one of the influencing factors to the fundamental frequency of children.

• MALSORI
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• no.56
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• pp.1-13
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• 2005

This study examined the speech intelligibility of one-syllable words with phonetic contrasts and analyzed segmental factors that can predict the overall speech intelligibility in hearing-impaired adults. To identify the speech error characteristics, a Korean word list was audio-recorded by 7 hearing-impaired adults, and 35 listeners selected the heard word out of 5 choices. Based in part on previous studies of speech of the hearing impaired, the word list consisted of monosyllabic consonant-vowel-consonant (CVC) real word pairs. Stimulus words included 77 phonetic contrast pairs. The results showed that the percentage of errors in final position (coda) contrast was higher than in any other position in syllable. And the intelligibility deficit factors of phonetic contrast in the hearing-impaired were analyzed through stepwise regression analysis. The overall intelligibility was predicted by the error rate of manner contrast at coda, voicing contrast (homorganic triplets) at onset and high-low contrast at nucleus.

• Speech Sciences
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.65-71
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• 2007

The severe-profound hearing impaired children have various disorders in everday communication due to the lack of hearing feedback. Especially, their speech produced unstable voice, omission and distortion of articulation, pitch break, cul-de-sac voice, and so on so that they were difficult to accurately deliver an intended message. This study attempts to analyze the acoustic characteristics of 4 vowel sounds produced by 35 severe-profound hearing impaired children using CSL(Computerized Speech Lab, Model 4300b). The formant data were obtained from the spectrogram and analyzed data by 12 formant filter and auto-correlation among the formants. Results showed that the hearing impaired children's formant values came out very high. They produced the vowels at the mode of hypertension with unstable voice. In order to improve their speech, they would need some adequate auditory feedback.

• Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
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• v.33 no.3
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• pp.332-345
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• 2023

Objectives: We examined the association of hearing with cardio-metabolic diseases, dyslipidemia, hypertension and diabetes mellitus according to the personal and occupational characteristics of workers exposed to noise. Methods: The subjects of the study were 237,028 workers who underwent 2, 3, and 4 kHz airway pure tone audiometry in 2015 and who underwent clinical tests to diagnose cardiovascular-metabolic diseases. Cardiovascular-metabolic diseases were defined using reference values for respective items including blood pressure (systolic/diastolic), fasting blood glucose, cholesterol, and triglycerides. The airway pure tone hearing threshold of 2, 3, and 4 kHz, the average threshold of 2-3-4 kHz, and the hearing loss by the average threshold of the primary examination were distinguished. Results: Workers with cardiovascular-metabolic disease had significantly higher average hearing thresholds and higher rates of hearing loss. Logistic regression analysis, which adjusted for demographic variables of gender and age and occupational variables such as workplace size, industry, and type of work, and cardiovascular-metabolic disease as independent variables, showed that the odds ratio of hypertension to hearing loss in the mid-frequency was 1.239 (95% confidence interval: 1.118-1.374). For hypertension was 1.159 (1.107-1.214) and for diabetes it was 1.166 (1.104-1.230) for hearing loss in the high-frequency. Hearing loss measured by mean hearing was 1.178 (1.105-1.256) for hypertension and 1.181 (1.097-1.271) for diabetes. Conclusions: Cardiovascular-metabolic diseases in noise-exposed workers are associated with an increased risk of hearing loss and should be accompanied by bio-monitoring of cardiovascular-metabolic diseases in addition to auditory surveillance.

• Korean Journal of Otorhinolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery
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• v.61 no.12
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• pp.669-673
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• 2018

Background and Objectives Tinnitus, a common complaint of workers who are exposed to noise, can cause substantial negative effects on the quality of life of these workers. The aim of this study was to analyze the characteristics of tinnitus in patients with noise-induced hearing loss and the relationship between tinnitus and the duration of noise exposure. Subjects and Method Thirty-three patients with subjective tinnitus and noise-induced hearing loss were included in this study. Tinnitus questionnaire, Tinnitus Handicap Inventory (THI) and audiological examinations were investigated according to the duration of noise exposure. Results There was a significant correlation between the tinnitus loudness and the duration of noise exposure. Patients who had longer periods of noise exposure had a louder tinnitus and higher THI score. However, there is no significant correlation between the characteristics of tinnitus and aging process. Conclusion The duration of noise exposure influences the loudness and distress of tinnitus. An awareness of tinnitus should be considered as part of hearing conservation program.

• Speech Sciences
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• v.14 no.4
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• pp.203-212
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• 2007

This study was to compare some acoustic characteristics of vowels produced by children with cochlear implant (CI) and the children with normal hearing. 20 subjects under ten years old were further classified into two groups (one group of CI children under four years old and the other group of CI children over four years old). For the normal hearing group, 20 subjects are participated in the experiment. Some acoustic parameters including fundamental frequency (F0) and formant frequencies (F1, F2) were measured in the two groups according to the age of cochlear implant operation. For the CI group, three comer vowels (/a/, /i/, /u/) were recorded five times in isolation and analyzed with Multi-Speech (Kay Elemetrics, model 3700), and two independent t-tests on their formant data were conducted using SPSS 11.5. The result showed that the implanted group over four years had a significant difference in F0 and F1 comparing with the implanted group under four years of age as well as the normal hearing group. Those values of the children with the implanted group under four years old were closer to those of the children with the normal hearing. As to the F2, there was no significant difference among implanted groups. However, it was shown that the vowel space for the implanted groups regardless the operation age indicated much smaller than that for the normal hearing children. This acoustic results suggest that CI surgery would be much more effective if it is done under the age of four years old.

• Journal of Audiology & Otology
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• v.25 no.1
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• pp.27-35
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• 2021

Background and Objectives: This study aimed to evaluate the clinical features and the clinical factors associated with prognosis of sudden sensorineural hearing loss (SSNHL) in diabetic patients. Subjects and Methods: Forty-nine diabetic with unilateral SSNHL were retrospectively included. All patients received systemic high dose steroid therapy within one month after onset and had more than one month of follow-up audiogram. The basic characteristics of the patients, initial and follow-up audiograms, laboratory data, and methods of steroid treatment were collected. Results: Compared to reference values in healthy subjects, 79%, 55%, and 45% of the patients had higher values of mean neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), platelet-lymphocyte ratio (PLR), and lymphocyte-monocyte ratio (LMR), respectively. Older patients had significantly less degree of hearing loss, but they also had significantly worse hearing thresholds in the unaffected ear. After steroid treatment, less than half patients (47%) showed hearing recovery. Simultaneous intratympanic dexamethasone (ITD) injections with systemic steroid did not confer an additional hearing gain or an earlier recovery rate in diabetic patients with SSNHL. In the multivariate analysis, initial hearing thresholds of affected ear and timing of steroid treatment were significantly associated with hearing prognosis in diabetic patients with SSNHL. Conclusions: Diabetic patients with SSNHL tended to have increased NLR, LMR, and PLR, which are reported to be associated with microvascular angiopathy. Simultaneous ITD injections to improve hearing recovery in diabetic patients with SSNHL seems unnecessary.

• Korean Journal of Audiology
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• v.25 no.1
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• pp.27-35
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• 2021

Background and Objectives: This study aimed to evaluate the clinical features and the clinical factors associated with prognosis of sudden sensorineural hearing loss (SSNHL) in diabetic patients. Subjects and Methods: Forty-nine diabetic with unilateral SSNHL were retrospectively included. All patients received systemic high dose steroid therapy within one month after onset and had more than one month of follow-up audiogram. The basic characteristics of the patients, initial and follow-up audiograms, laboratory data, and methods of steroid treatment were collected. Results: Compared to reference values in healthy subjects, 79%, 55%, and 45% of the patients had higher values of mean neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), platelet-lymphocyte ratio (PLR), and lymphocyte-monocyte ratio (LMR), respectively. Older patients had significantly less degree of hearing loss, but they also had significantly worse hearing thresholds in the unaffected ear. After steroid treatment, less than half patients (47%) showed hearing recovery. Simultaneous intratympanic dexamethasone (ITD) injections with systemic steroid did not confer an additional hearing gain or an earlier recovery rate in diabetic patients with SSNHL. In the multivariate analysis, initial hearing thresholds of affected ear and timing of steroid treatment were significantly associated with hearing prognosis in diabetic patients with SSNHL. Conclusions: Diabetic patients with SSNHL tended to have increased NLR, LMR, and PLR, which are reported to be associated with microvascular angiopathy. Simultaneous ITD injections to improve hearing recovery in diabetic patients with SSNHL seems unnecessary.

• Journal of Biomedical Engineering Research
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• v.27 no.5
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• pp.282-290
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• 2006

We have developed a multi band digital hearing aid algorithm emphasizing feedback cancellation and a hardware module to evaluate the performance of our algorithm. The hearing aids should be able to compensate for individual hearing loss characteristics of hearing impaired person. Thus hearing aids need the function of multi-bands amplification and the capabilities of feedback cancellation that can remove howling caused by acoustic feedback. In this paper, we proposed a digital hearing aid algorithm which has multi-bands compensation using modified discrete cosine transform (MDCT) and can efficiently remove acoustic feedbacks. Moreover, we have developed digital hearing aid hardware module, which can evaluate hearing aid algorithms in real time operation. The developed algorithm and hardware module were verified through computer simulation and clinical tests. Through operational experiments, good performances in real time operation environment and an efficient howling cancellation were also observed. The developed hardware module can operate in stable condition and it is expected to become a good hardware platform for developing hearing aid algorithms.