• Phonetics and Speech Sciences
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• v.4 no.2
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• pp.89-94
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• 2012

The aim of this study is to investigate the usefulness of the parameter CPP (cepstral peak prominence) and LTAS (long term average spectrum) band energy for an analysis of breathy voice with vocal fold paralysis. Thirty-four female subjects who have vocal paralysis after thyroidectomy participated in this study. According to the perceptual judgements by three speech pathologists and one phonetic scholar, subjects were divided into two groups: breathy voice group (n = 21) and non-breathy voice group (n = 13). Maximum sustained phonation task was measured for acoustic analysis. CPP-related (i.e. mean F0, mean CPP, and mean CPPs) and LTAS-related (i.e. minimum, maximum, and mean) parameters were used. Independent samples t-test was conducted. Regarding CPP, there are significant differences in mean CPP and mean CPPs between groups. The values of mean CPP and CPPs in the non-breathy voice group are higher than those in the breathy voice group. The CPP could be regarded as the useful parameter for breathy voice analysis in the clinic. When it comes to LTAS, energy from 0 to 2 kHz are significantly different between groups. The minimum value of non-breathy group is lower than that of breathy group, whereas the maximum value of non-breathy group is higher. The frequency band below 2 kHz seems to be related to breathy voice.

• Phonetics and Speech Sciences
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• v.8 no.2
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• pp.73-80
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• 2016

The purpose of this study was to analyze perceptual and spectral/cepstral measurements in patients with adductor spasmodic dysphonia(ADSD). Sixty participants with gender and age matched individuals(30 ADSD and 30 controls) were recorded in reading a sentence and sustained the vowel /a/. Acoustic data were analyzed acoustically by measuring CPP, L/H ratio, mean CPP F0 and CSID, and auditory-perceptual ratings were measured using GRBAS. The main results can be summarized as below: (a) the CSID for the connected speech was significantly higher than for the sustained vowel (b) the G, R and S for the connected speech were significantly higher than for the sustained vowel (c) Spectral/cepstral parameters were significantly correlated with the perceptual parameters, and (d) the ROC analysis showed that the threshold of 13.491 for the CSID achieved a good classification for ADSD, with 86.7% sensitivity and 96.7% specificity. Spectral and cepstral analysis for the connected speech is especially meaningful on cases where perceptual analysis and clinical evaluation alone are insufficient.

• Phonetics and Speech Sciences
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• v.10 no.4
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• pp.147-154
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• 2018

Wet voice quality (WVQ) is a characteristic that appears after swallowing. Although the concept is accepted by many clinicians worldwide, it is nevertheless ambiguous. In this study, we investigated WVQ in patients with swallowing disorders using acoustic analysis. A total of 106 patients diagnosed with penetration-aspiration by the videofluoroscopic swallowing study (VFSS) were recruited. A voice recording of vowel /a/ was conducted before and after the VFSS, and an acoustic analysis was then performed using PRAAT. Voice after VFSS was used for a perceptual judgment and divided into two groups: the Wet group (48 patients) and the Non-wet group (58 patients). At the post-VFSS stage, the two groups displayed significant differences in many acoustic parameters including F0_SD, Jitter, RAP, Shimmer, APQ, HNR, NHR, FUF, DVB, and CPP. The parameter affecting judging wetness resulted into Jitter and NHR by the logistic regression test. At the pre-VFSS stage, the two groups differed significantly in many acoustic parameters including Intensity, Jitter, RAP, Shimmer, NHR, FUF, DVB, and CPP. Both pre-and post-VFSS, the mean values of all significant parameters, except Intensity, HNR, and CPP, were higher in the Wet group. According to pre-and post-VFSS, the two groups displayed interactions in many parameters (Intensity, F0_SD, Jitter, RAP, Shimmer, APQ, HNR, NHR, FUF, DVB, and CPP). In particular, Intensity increased in both groups after the VFSS, although the increase in the Non-wet group was greater. Based on these results, it was conjectured that the WVQ after swallowing resulted from the secretion effect of the mucous membrane due to the dry laryngeal characteristic of elderly patients, rather than aspiration resulting in food on the vocal cords.

• Phonetics and Speech Sciences
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• v.4 no.4
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• pp.71-77
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• 2012

Sasang constitution experts utilize voice characteristics as an auxiliary measure for deciding a person's constitutional group. This study aims at establishing a relationship between speech features and the constitutional groups by subjective listening evaluation of voice characteristics. A speech database of 841 speakers whose constitutional groups have been already diagnosed by Sasang constitution experts was constructed. Speech features related to speech source and vocal tract filter were extracted from five vowels and one sentence. Statistically significant speech features for classifying the groups were analyzed using SPSS. The features contributed to constitution classification were speaking rate, Energy, A1, A2, A3, H1, H2, H4, CPP for males in their 20s, F0_mean, CPP, SPI, HNR, Shimmer, Energy, A1, A2, A3, H1, H2, H4 for females in their 20s, Energy, A1, A2, A3, H1, H2, H4, CPP for male in the 60s, and Jitter, HNR, CPP, SPI for females in their 60s. Experimental results show that speech technology is useful in classifying constitutional groups.

• Journal of the korean academy of Pediatric Dentistry
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• v.37 no.1
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• pp.1-12
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• 2010

The aim of this study was to evaluate the preventive effect of commercially available anticariogenic products, specifically, the tooth cream containing Casein phosphopeptide-amorphous calcium phosphate(CPP-ACP), fluoride varnish and low-level fluoride mouthrinse on enamel erosion induced by carbonated beverage in a short period of time. Enamel specimens were treated as follows and were then kept in artificial saliva for 24 hours followed by further processing by alternately soaking them in Cola beverage and in distilled water for 1 minute each five times. Group 1: control group (no treatment) Group 2: tooth cream with CPP-ACP Group 3: fluoride varnish (1,000 ppm F) Group 4: low-level fluoride mouthrinse (227 ppm F) Group 5: fluoride varnish + tooth cream with CPP-ACP Group 6: low-level fluoride mouthrinse + tooth cream with CPP-ACP Microhardness and erosion depth were measured and the mineral loss of each specimen was evaluated by measuring the volumetric fluorescence change(${\Delta}Q$) against the stable fluorescent grid using quantitative light-induced fluorescence(QLF). The experiment lasted for 6 days repeated each day. The results were as follows: 1. The microhardness was increased as follows: Group $1{\leq}2{\leq}4$<6<$3{\fallingdotseq}5$. 2. The mean erosion depth was increased as follows: Group $5{\fallingdotseq}3$<6<$4{\fallingdotseq}2{\fallingdotseq}1$. 3. The ${\Delta}Q$ was increased as follows: Group $1{\fallingdotseq}2{\leq}4{\leq}6{\leq}3{\fallingdotseq}5$. The decrement of ${\Delta}Q$ was similar between group 1 and 2, group 4 and 6 and group 3 and 5. 4. The ${\Delta}Q$ showed positive correlation with microhardness (r=0.96, p<0.05), while it was negatively correlated to erosion depth (r=-0.96, p<0.05).