• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.11 no.9
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• pp.407-413
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• 2011

Distinguishing aphasia in stroke patients and observing the subtle linguistic characteristics associated with it primarily requires the use of instruments that provide reliable assessment results. Additionally, examiners should be fully aware of how to use those instruments. This study examined 46 stroke patients for aphasia and assessed the reliability of their diagnoses according to examiners whose medical fields were different from each other. Furthermore, a comparison was made between the reliability before training and that after training. To this end, 46 stroke patients were tested for aphasia and in terms of their speech disorder degree by 3 groups, each of which consisted of 12 professionals (3 SLP, 3 neurologist, and 3 nurse). In the result, a rating of 'acceptable' was given for speech intelligibility tasks and the voice quality of /ah-/ prolongation, and other sub-tests were marked as 'good-excellent' by the experts with different areas of medical expertise. For the tasks marked as 'acceptable', the subjects were video-trained for 3 weeks and the differences were compared before and after their training. Consequently, the differences in the examiners' ratings in the speech intelligibility tasks showed a significant decrease and the accuracy of their voice quality ratings showed a significant increase. In the result of research on the correlation between the accuracy of the sub-test ratings and the amount of clinic experience, speech therapists developed more accuracy in rating a picture description task and a speech intelligibility task as their experience accumulated. Meanwhile, doctors and nurses showed more accurate ratings in picture description tasks with greater clinical experience. The results of this study suggest that assessing the neurologic-communicative disorders of stroke patients requires ongoing training and experience, especially for speech disorders. It was also found that the rating reliability in this case could be improved by training.

• The Journal of the Acoustical Society of Korea
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• v.42 no.6
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• pp.617-626
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• 2023

This study aims to investigate the preferred sound level of water sound for various levels of open-plan-office noise regarding soundscape quality and speech privacy. And assessment of the work efficiency of the water sound. For the laboratory experiment, office noise was recorded using a binaural microphone in a real open-plan office. For the assessment of the soundscape quality and speech privacy, Overall Soundscape Quality (OSQ) and Listening Difficulty (LD) were evaluated under three different sound levels (55 dBA, 60 dBA, and 65 dBA) and five different signal-to-noise ratios (SNR -10 dB, -5 dB, 0 dB, +5 dB, and +10 dB). After the evaluation, the preferred SNR was proposed according to OSQ and LD. For the assessment of to work efficiency of water sound, this study evaluated the cognitive performance of both of the condition noise only and combine the water sound with office noise. The results showed that LD increased as the water sound level increased, but OSQ decreased. When the water sound level was more than the office noise level, the OSQ decreased from noise only. Therefore, considering OSQ and LD, the preferred SNR of water sound was -5 dB for all noise levels. At the preferred level of water sound, the cognitive performance results were shown to decrease at 55 dBA compared to noise only, but at 60 dBA and 65 dBA combine the water sound results were increased than the noise only.

• Speech Sciences
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• v.15 no.4
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• pp.107-119
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• 2008

This paper intends to investigate the correlation of 12 MDVP measurements with age, sex and body-size of sampled healthy patients. In order to extract pitch and 12 MDVP parameters efficiently and display the correlation of each parameter easily, we developed the speech analysis program using C/C++ and MFC development tool. The sample group consists of 205 males and 343 females with ages 9-81. We collected vowel voices /a/ and 8 body-size measurements from them. Body-size values were taken at 8 different torso positions of each person. We analyzed the matched voice samples and body-size measurements by the developed speech analysis program and SPSS program. The result shows that a typical characteristic age-F0 pattern that F0 of male subjects are rapidly decreased after mutational period and have stable state with age and that of female subjects are slowly changed by overall age. In MDVP, age-STD in males, age-sPPQ in females relationships are especially similar to the age-F0 relationship. In case of male group, sPPQ(0.316%), Jitt(0.04%), Shim(0.25%), APQ(0.28%) variables are increased with age after mutational period. And Jitt(0.042%), sPPQ(0.219%) of females group are increased with age too. In cases of height, weight and BMI there exists a weak correlation with MDVP, which shows a correlation coefficient below 0.25 about male and female groups. The survey of correlation relationship between 8 body-size measurements and MDVP shows a insignificant statistical result by only just having the correlation coefficient maximum in M8-8 and F0(-0.394%) for males and M8-6,7(-0.368%, -0.364%) for females.

• Phonetics and Speech Sciences
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• v.2 no.2
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• pp.117-121
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• 2010

The This study aimed to evaluate the effects of the voice therapy we operated to the patients with age-related dysphonia. Thirty four participants who were diagnosed as age-related dysphonia in laryngoscopic finding from January, 2009 to December, 2009 completed the study. The participants were aged from 60 to 82 years old with a mean age of 70.6. All participants had received the abdominal breath technique, SKHPIP with laughter, and basic vocal training with description of their problem, the length of which ranged from four sessions to twelve sessions. We executed the videostroboscopy to compare the aspect of voicing change and the perceptual assessment, voice range profile, acoustic and aerodynamic measures to identify change of voice. Participants had glottal gap due to incomplete glottic closure during voicing on the pretest. After they took the voice therapy, the glottic gap became narrow and rough and breathy voice was reduced. There were significant difference in acoustic and aerodynamic measures. Jitter, Shimmer, MFR were reduced and MPT, Psub were increased(p<.05). Participants' pitch range and intensity range were increased on the posttest performance after taking voice therapy. Especially, most of them were showed that pitch range was increased significantly in high frequency area. The results of this investigation indicate that the voice therapy using abdominal breath, SKHPIP, and exercise together is effective for the patients who have age-related dysphonia to improve their voice quality. We recommend to apply this technique to functional voice disorders who are showed glottal gap.

• Phonetics and Speech Sciences
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• v.1 no.2
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• pp.43-49
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• 2009

Vocal polyps are benign phonotraumatic lesions which are traditionally treated using phonomicrosurgical techniques. In the case of hyperfunctional voice use, voice therapy is effective and results in voice improvement. However, the utility of voice therapy about vocal polyp is in great demand. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of voice therapy in patients with vocal polyps. The authors reviewed the medical records of 193 patients with vocal nodules or vocal polyps, and 64 patients (31 nodules and 33 polyps) were enrolled. All of the subjects had received explanation of problems, vocal hygiene education, and been treated by the $SKMVTT^{(R)}$ (Seong-Tae Kim's multiple voice therapy technique) ranging from 4 to 16 sessions (mean: 8.6 sessions). All subjects were examined by perceptual assessment, acoustic and aerodynamic measures, and VRP (voice range profile). In perceptual assessment, patients with vocal nodules had more breathy and strained voices than the vocal polyp group. Both groups significantly reduced rough, breathy voice after voice therapy. Patients with vocal polyps had worse voice quality than patients with nodules in acoustic measures. Both groups showed reduced jitter and shimmer after voice therapy. In aerodynamic measures, MPT and Psub were increased, and MFR was reduced (p<.05). Participants' frequency range and intensity range were increased after voice therapy, but only frequency range resulted in a significant difference (p<.05). In conclusion, the therapeutic effect of voice therapy in patients with vocal nodules and polyps was demonstrated perceptually and acoustically. We can suggest that voice therapy, including advice, vocal hygiene, and $SKMVTT^{(R)}$ is a useful as an initial choice of treatment for patients with vocal polyps before considering a surgical approach.

• Phonetics and Speech Sciences
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• v.15 no.4
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• pp.35-43
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• 2023

This study aimed to investigate the relationship between overt and covert characteristics of stuttering. This study included 10 adult participants who stutter. To analyze the overt characteristics, stuttering frequency, duration of stuttering moments, concomitant behaviors, and total score were scored based on the Stuttering Severity Instrument-Fourth Edition (SSI-4). Additionally, the modified Erickson scale of communication attitudes (S-24) and the Overall Assessment of the Speaker's Experience of Stuttering for Adults (OASES-A; general information, reactions to stuttering, communication in daily situations, quality of life, and total score) were used to determine the covert characteristics. Correlation analyses showed no significant association between the overt and covert variables. However, there were significant correlations between the scores on the S-24 and the OASES-A. These findings support the perspective that the overt characteristics of stuttering do not predict the covert characteristics, and vice versa. Therefore, when evaluating and intervening with adults who stutter, it is important to consider these characteristics separately.

• Phonetics and Speech Sciences
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.41-48
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• 2024

The significance of self-reported voice assessments concerning patients' chief complaints and quality of life has increased. Therefore, readability assessments of questionnaire items are essential. In this study, readability analyses were performed based on text grade and complexity, vocabulary frequency and grade, and lexical diversity of the 11 Korean versions of self-reported voice disorder questionnaires (KVHI, KAVI, KVQOL, K-SVHI, K-VAPP, K-VPPC, TVSQ, K-VDCQ, K-VFI, K-VTDS, and K-VoiSS). Additionally, a comparative readability assessment was conducted on the original versions of these questionnaires to discern the differences between their Korean counterparts and the questionnaires for children. Consequently, it was determined that voice disorder questionnaires could be used without difficulty for populations with lower literacy levels. Evaluators should consider subjects' reading levels when conducting assessments, and future developments and revisions should consider their reading difficulties.

• Archives of Plastic Surgery
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• v.50 no.3
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• pp.264-273
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• 2023

The medial sural artery perforator (MSAP) flap is a versatile fasciocutaneous flap, and yet is less commonly utilized than other free flaps in microvascular reconstructions of the head and neck. The aim is to conduct a high-quality Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analyses (PRISMA)- and Assessment of Multiple Systematic Reviews 2 (AMSTAR 2)-compliant systematic review comparing the use of the MSAP flap to other microvascular free flaps in the head and neck. Medline, Embase, and Web of Science databases were searched to identify all original comparative studies comparing patients undergoing head and neck reconstruction with an MSAP flap to the radial forearm free flap (RFFF) or anterolateral thigh (ALT) flap from inception to February 2021. Outcome studied were the recipient-site and donor-site morbidities as well as speech and swallow function. A total of 473 articles were identified from title and abstract review. Four studies met the inclusion criteria. Compared with the RFFF and the ALT flaps, the MSAP flap had more recipient-site complications (6.0 vs 10.4%) but less donor-site complications (20.2 vs 7.8%). The MSAP flap demonstrated better overall donor-site appearance and function than the RFFF and ALT flaps (p = 0.0006) but no statistical difference in speech and swallowing function following reconstruction (p = 0.28). Although higher quality studies reviewing the use of the MSAP flap to other free flaps are needed, the MSAP flap provides a viable and effective reconstructive option and should be strongly considered for reconstruction of head and neck defects.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Laryngology, Phoniatrics and Logopedics
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• v.5 no.1
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• pp.64-68
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• 1994

Anterior glottic webs shorten the free margins of the vocal cords and prevent air flow at their locations, thereby changing the potential vibratory characteristics of the vocal system. They are now more often iatrogenic from endolaryngeal surgical procedures, complications of intubation, chronic inflammation or due to penetrating and blunt trauma to the larynx. A wide range of treatment procedures are now available but the solution to acquiring a "normal" voice has remained elusive due to reflectory stenosis and scar formation. We present our recent experiences with glottic web in nine cases using KTP-532 laser vaporization and endolaryngeal silastic keel insertion technique. Postoperative speech assessment in our cases showed significant improvement in voice quality of 7 of 9 cases studied(77.8%), and no specific problems were not seen.

• Proceedings of the IEEK Conference
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• 2007.07a
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• pp.407-408
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• 2007

Robust pitch estimation is an important study in many areas of speech processing. In voice pathology, diverse statistics extracted form pitch were commonly used to test voice quality. In this study, we compared several established pitch detection algorithms (PDAs) for verification of adequacy of the PDAs. In the database of total pathological voices of 99 and normal voices of 30, an analysis of errors related with pitch detection was evaluated between pathological and normal voices, or among the types of pathological voices such as benign vocal fold lesions; polyp, nodule, and cysts. Consequently, it is required to survey the severity of tested voice in order to obtain accurate pitch estimates.