Patients with age-related hearing loss face hearing difficulties in daily life.The causes of age-related hearing loss are complex and include changes in peripheral hearing,central processing,and cognitive-related abil...Patients with age-related hearing loss face hearing difficulties in daily life.The causes of age-related hearing loss are complex and include changes in peripheral hearing,central processing,and cognitive-related abilities.Furthermore,the factors by which aging relates to hearing loss via changes in audito ry processing ability are still unclear.In this cross-sectional study,we evaluated 27 older adults(over 60 years old) with age-related hearing loss,21 older adults(over 60years old) with normal hearing,and 30 younger subjects(18-30 years old) with normal hearing.We used the outcome of the uppe r-threshold test,including the time-compressed thres h old and the speech recognition threshold in noisy conditions,as a behavioral indicator of auditory processing ability.We also used electroencephalogra p hy to identify presbycusis-related abnormalities in the brain while the participants were in a spontaneous resting state.The timecompressed threshold and speech recognition threshold data indicated significant diffe rences among the groups.In patients with age-related hearing loss,information masking(babble noise) had a greater effect than energy masking(speech-shaped noise) on processing difficulties.In terms of resting-state electroencephalography signals,we observed enhanced fro ntal lobe(Brodmann’s area,BA11) activation in the older adults with normal hearing compared with the younger participants with normal hearing,and greater activation in the parietal(BA7) and occipital(BA19) lobes in the individuals with age-related hearing loss compared with the younger adults.Our functional connection analysis suggested that compared with younger people,the older adults with normal hearing exhibited enhanced connections among networks,including the default mode network,sensorimotor network,cingulo-opercular network,occipital network,and frontoparietal network.These results suggest that both normal aging and the development of age-related hearing loss have a negative effect on advanced audito ry processing capabilities and that hearing loss accele rates the decline in speech comprehension,especially in speech competition situations.Older adults with normal hearing may have increased compensatory attentional resource recruitment represented by the to p-down active listening mechanism,while those with age-related hearing loss exhibit decompensation of network connections involving multisensory integration.展开更多
The present study was designed to examine speech recognition in patients with sensorineural hearing loss when the temporal and spectral information in the speech signals were co-varied. Four subjects with mild to mode...The present study was designed to examine speech recognition in patients with sensorineural hearing loss when the temporal and spectral information in the speech signals were co-varied. Four subjects with mild to moderate sensorineural hearing loss were recruited to participate in consonant and vowel recognition tests that used speech stimuli processed through a noise-excited vocoder. The number of channels was varied between 2 and 32, which defined spectral information. The lowpass cutoff frequency of the temporal envelope extractor was varied from 1 to 512 Hz, which defined temporal information. Results indicate that performance of subjects with sen-sorineural hearing loss varied tremendously among the subjects. For consonant recognition, patterns of relative contributions of spectral and temporal information were similar to those in normal-hearing subjects. The utility of temporal envelope information appeared to be normal in the hearing-impaired listeners. For vowel recognition, which depended predominately on spectral information, the performance plateau was achieved with numbers of channels as high as 16-24, much higher than expected, given that the frequency selectivity in patients with sensorineural hearing loss might be compromised. In order to understand the mechanisms on how hearing-impaired listeners utilize spectral and temporal cues for speech recognition, future studies that involve a large sample of patients with sensorineural hearing loss will be necessary to elucidate the relationship between frequency selectivity as well as central processing capability and speech recognition performance using vocoded signals.展开更多
Mandarin Chinese tone patterns vary in one of the four ways, i.e, (1) high level; (2) rising; (3) low falling and rising; and (4) high falling. The present study is to examine the efficacy of an artificial neural netw...Mandarin Chinese tone patterns vary in one of the four ways, i.e, (1) high level; (2) rising; (3) low falling and rising; and (4) high falling. The present study is to examine the efficacy of an artificial neural network in recognizing these tone patterns. Speech data were recorded from 12 children (3-6 years of age) and 15 adults. All subjects were native Mandarin Chinese speakers. The fundamental frequencies (F0) of each monosyllabic word of the speech data were extracted with an autocorrelation method. The pitch data(i.e., the F0 contours) were the inputs to a feed-forward backpropagation artificial neural network. The number of inputs to the neural network varied from 1 to 16 and the hidden layer of the network contained neurons that varied from 1 to 16 in number. The output of the network consisted of four neurons representing the four tone patterns of Mandarin Chinese. After being trained with the Levenberg-Marquardt optimization, the neural network was able to successfully classify the tone patterns with an accuracy of about 90% correct for speech samples from both adults and children. The artificial neural network may provide an objective and effective way of assessing tone production in prelingually-deafened children who have received cochlear implants.展开更多
This paper presents a deep neural network(DNN)-based speech enhancement algorithm based on the soft audible noise masking for the single-channel wind noise reduction. To reduce the low-frequency residual noise, the ps...This paper presents a deep neural network(DNN)-based speech enhancement algorithm based on the soft audible noise masking for the single-channel wind noise reduction. To reduce the low-frequency residual noise, the psychoacoustic model is adopted to calculate the masking threshold from the estimated clean speech spectrum. The gain for noise suppression is obtained based on soft audible noise masking by comparing the estimated wind noise spectrum with the masking threshold. To deal with the abruptly time-varying noisy signals, two separate DNN models are utilized to estimate the spectra of clean speech and wind noise components. Experimental results on the subjective and objective quality tests show that the proposed algorithm achieves the better performance compared with the conventional DNN-based wind noise reduction method.展开更多
Objective(s): The cutting-edge assessment of voice disorders includes objective and subjective methods in the daily clinical practice. The latter assessment is usually performed through the administration of self-repo...Objective(s): The cutting-edge assessment of voice disorders includes objective and subjective methods in the daily clinical practice. The latter assessment is usually performed through the administration of self-reported questionnaires. Voice Handicap Index (VHI) is one of the most widely used tools both in clinical practice and in research level. This tool-questionnaire was employed in this research along with the Voice Evaluation Template (VEF). In turn, the aim of this study was to analyse and produce the cut-off points of VHI for voice-disordered patients in Greece by using Receiver Operating Characteristic Curves (ROC Curves). Methods: Sixty-three participants (40 non-dysphonic and 23 with different types of dysphonia) were classified by ENT (Ear, Nose, and Throat) doctors and SLPs (Speech-Language Pathologists). The Hellenic VHI along with the translated Greek version of the VEF was administered to the subjects of this research. Results: The voice-disordered subjects exhibited higher overall VHI scores (in total and in its 3 subdomains) compared to the control group. Statistical significant differences were found between dysphonic and non-dysphonic participants for all VHI’s construct domains. The cut-off point of VHI total score was estimated at the value of 14.50 (sensitivity: 0.870, 1-specificity: 0.000). Moreover, the cut-off points of the three subdomains were computed as 7.50 for functional (sensitivity: 0.783, 1-specificity: 0.000), 8.50 for physical (sensitivity: 0.739, 1-specificity: 0.000) and 8.50 for emotional domain (sensitivity: 0.783, 1-specificity: 0.050). Conclusion: The preliminary statistical and ROC data analysis of VHI concluded that by using this type of assessment method, populations with or without voice disorders (in Greece) can be distinguished. Albeit this tool is a non-interventional method it could consequently offer an adequate screening and monitoring capability.展开更多
In this paper we will analyze the world as a world society.Our assumption is that,thanks to global communications,the world has become a unique social field.Therefore,it is necessary to make an analysis of the changes...In this paper we will analyze the world as a world society.Our assumption is that,thanks to global communications,the world has become a unique social field.Therefore,it is necessary to make an analysis of the changes that have occurred in the society-state relationship.In the contemporary understanding,societies are constituted as relatively closed,self-referential systems,in which the world of life is framed by the borders of national states.Intensifying and extending the communication process has relativized the boundaries of such closed systems,creating an opportunity for the establishment of a world society.However,the practical political(infra)structure is still fixed on old patterns and,objectively,lags behind this change,creating a legitimacy deficit in the political field.So it is necessary to look at the world from a new perspective.展开更多
Pathogenic variants in methyl-Cp G protein 2(MECP2;OMIM300005)result in an X-linked,severe,and progressive epigenetic disorder,Rett syndrome(RTT,OMIM:312750),that predominantly affects females(Rett,1966).Using Neul’s...Pathogenic variants in methyl-Cp G protein 2(MECP2;OMIM300005)result in an X-linked,severe,and progressive epigenetic disorder,Rett syndrome(RTT,OMIM:312750),that predominantly affects females(Rett,1966).Using Neul’s revised diagnostic criteria,affected individuals can be clinically classified as classic or atypical RTT(Neul et al.,2010).展开更多
Objective(s): Laryngeal inflammations lead to voice disorders. Medical conditions such as chronic laryngitis, gastroesophageal reflux, laryngopharyngeal reflux, Reinke edema and/or vocal folds hemorrhage, result in di...Objective(s): Laryngeal inflammations lead to voice disorders. Medical conditions such as chronic laryngitis, gastroesophageal reflux, laryngopharyngeal reflux, Reinke edema and/or vocal folds hemorrhage, result in diverse symptoms including chronic cough, throat cleaning and dysphonia (e.g. hoarseness). In turn, the dysphonic symptoms can be evaluated via subjective and objective procedures. The objective procedures usually include self-perceived questionnaires like the Voice Handicap Index (VHI). Studies reported that VHI can distinguish objectively dysphonic and non-dysphonic populations using the cut-off points of Receiver Operating Characteristic Curves. The purpose of this study was to calculate the cut-off points for individuals exhibiting voice symptoms which had been developed from laryngeal inflammatory diseases in Greece. Methods: One hundred and twelve participants (90 non-dysphonic and 22 dysphonic) filled in the Hellenic Voice Handicap Index (VHI) and the Greek translated version of Voice Evaluation Template (VEF) were administrated. All subjects were evaluated by an Otolaryngologist and a Speech-Language Pathologist. Results: The group with voice disorders exhibited higher VHI scores (in total and in its 3 subdomains) compared to non-dysphonic subgroup. Statistical significant differences were found for all VHI’s total cut-off point of 19.50 (sensitivity: 0.882, 1-specificity: 0.011) and for its three subdomains [functional 6.50 (sensitivity = 0.636, and 1-specificity = 0.022);physical 9.50 (sensitivity = 0.636, and 1-specificity = 0.000);emotional 6.50 (sensitivity = 0.455, and 1-specificity = 0.133)]. Conclusion: The preliminary results showed that VHI could discriminate individuals having voice disorders from laryngeal inflammations. The Voice Handicap Index can be used as a primary health care tool and a self-monitoring procedure in acute and sub-acute phases of the laryngeal inflammation.展开更多
<strong></strong><strong>Objective(s):</strong> The aim of this study is to explore if there is a correlation between the typical voice classification and the oropharyngeal and laryngeal morpho...<strong></strong><strong>Objective(s):</strong> The aim of this study is to explore if there is a correlation between the typical voice classification and the oropharyngeal and laryngeal morphology, using video laryngeal stroboscopy and cervical posterior-anterior radiography on professional singers in Greece. <strong>Methods:</strong> 55 professional singers (28 females: 7 sopranos, 12 mezzo-sopranos, and 9 contraltos;27 males: 8 tenors, 12 baritones and 7 basses) were recruited for this study. All participants underwent stroboscopic and cervical posterior-anterior radiographic imaging of their oral pharyngeal and laryngeal area. Additionally, the voice classification and features (e.g., height, weight) of individuals were correlated statistically. <strong>Results:</strong> Statistically significant correlations were observed between the VC of the participants with the Phonetic Area (PA) (r = −0.451, p = 0.001) and the VC with the Oral-pharyngeal Cavity (OPC) area (r = −0.402, p = 0.001) in the total sample. Specifically, in male singers, the PA and VC correlation was r = −0.319, p = 0.047, and the VC and OPC area was r = −0.328, p = 0.044. Likewise, in female singers, the PA area and VC and PA were r = −0.336, p = 0.041 and the OPC area and VC were r = −0.344, p = 0.039. The analysis confirmed no correlations between VC and height and body weight. <strong>Conclusions:</strong> The cervical posteroanterior radiography in conjunction with laryngeal stroboscopy provided new morphometric correlations of the VC of professional singers with their Oropharyngeal and Laryngeal Anatomy.展开更多
It is well known that automatic speech recognition(ASR) is a resource consuming task. It takes sufficient amount of data to train a state-of-the-art deep neural network acoustic model. As for some low-resource languag...It is well known that automatic speech recognition(ASR) is a resource consuming task. It takes sufficient amount of data to train a state-of-the-art deep neural network acoustic model. As for some low-resource languages where scripted speech is difficult to obtain, data sparsity is the main problem that limits the performance of speech recognition system. In this paper, several knowledge transfer methods are investigated to overcome the data sparsity problem with the help of high-resource languages.The first one is a pre-training and fine-tuning(PT/FT) method, in which the parameters of hidden layers are initialized with a welltrained neural network. Secondly, the progressive neural networks(Prognets) are investigated. With the help of lateral connections in the network architecture, Prognets are immune to forgetting effect and superior in knowledge transferring. Finally,bottleneck features(BNF) are extracted using cross-lingual deep neural networks and serves as an enhanced feature to improve the performance of ASR system. Experiments are conducted in a low-resource Vietnamese dataset. The results show that all three methods yield significant gains over the baseline system, and the Prognets acoustic model performs the best. Further improvements can be obtained by combining the Prognets model and bottleneck features.展开更多
BACKGROUND Noise-induced hearing loss(NIHL)is the second most common acquired hearing loss following presbycusis.Exposure to recreational noise and minimal use of hearing protection increase the prevalence of NIHL in ...BACKGROUND Noise-induced hearing loss(NIHL)is the second most common acquired hearing loss following presbycusis.Exposure to recreational noise and minimal use of hearing protection increase the prevalence of NIHL in young females.NIHL is irreversible.Identifying minor hearing pathologies before they progress to hearing problems that affect daily life is crucial.AIM To compare the advantages and disadvantages of extended high frequency(EHF)and otoacoustic emission and determine an indicator of hearing pathologies at the early sub-clinical stage.METHODS This cross-sectional study was implemented in West China Hospital of Sichuan University from May to September 2019.A total of 86 participants,aged 18-22 years,were recruited to establish normative thresholds for EHF.Another 159 adults,aged 18-25 years with normal hearing(0.25-8 kHz≤25 dBHL),were allocated to low noise and noise exposure groups.Distortion otoacoustic emission(DPOAE),transient evoked otoacoustic emissions(TEOAE),and EHF were assessed in the two groups to determine the superior technique for detecting early-stage noise-induced pathologies.The chi-square test was used to assess the noise and low noise exposure groups with respect to extended high-frequency audiometry(EHFA),DPOAE,and TEOAE.P≤0.05 was considered statistically significant.RESULTS A total of 86 participants(66 females and 20 males)aged between 18 and 22(average:20.58±1.13)years were recruited to establish normative thresholds for EHF.The normative thresholds for 9,10,11.2,12.5,14,16,18,and 20 kHz were 15,10,20,15,15,20,28,and 0 dBHL,respectively.A total of 201 participants were recruited and examined for eligibility.Among them,159 adults aged between 18 and 25 years were eligible in this study.No statistical difference was detected between the noise exposure and the low noise exposure groups using EHFA,DPOAE,and TEOAE(P>0.05)except in the right ear at 4 kHz using TEOAE(abnormal rate 20.4%vs 5.2%,respectively;P=0.05).CONCLUSION These results showed TEOAE as the earliest indicator of minor pathology compared to DPOAE and EHFA.However,a multicenter controlled study or prospective study is essential to verify these results.展开更多
Single channel speech separation was a challenging task for speech separation community for last three decades.It is now possible to separate speeches using deep neural networks(DNN)and deep recurrent neural networks(...Single channel speech separation was a challenging task for speech separation community for last three decades.It is now possible to separate speeches using deep neural networks(DNN)and deep recurrent neural networks(DRNN)due to deep learning.Researchers are now trying to improve different models of DNN and DRNN for monaural speech separation.In this paper,we have tried to improve existing DRNN and DNN based model for speech separation by using optimized activation functions.Instead of using rectified linear unit(RELU),we have implemented leaky RELU,exponential linear unit,exponential function,inverse square root linear unit and inverse cubic root linear unit(ICRLU)as activation functions.ICRLU and exponential function are new activation functions proposed in this research work.These activation functions have overcome the dying RELU problem.They have achieved better separation results in comparison with RELU function and they have also reduced the computational cost of DNN and DRNN based monaural speech separation.展开更多
目的本文介绍了中枢听觉功能测试方法,探讨了对听觉处理障碍儿童的诊断和处理原则。方法选择3例疑似听觉处理障碍儿童作为研究案例,进行系统的听力学、教育心理学、言语病理学测试和听觉中枢处理评估。结果在随机间隔探测测试和空间噪...目的本文介绍了中枢听觉功能测试方法,探讨了对听觉处理障碍儿童的诊断和处理原则。方法选择3例疑似听觉处理障碍儿童作为研究案例,进行系统的听力学、教育心理学、言语病理学测试和听觉中枢处理评估。结果在随机间隔探测测试和空间噪音听力测试(listening in spatialized noise test,LISN^(?))中,得分低于同龄组的平均值超过5个标准差;高-提示信号的LISN测试结果显示,数值低于平均值超过2个标准差。结论中枢听觉处理测试序列说明此3例儿童存在双耳听觉处理缺陷。通过改善教室的信噪比,应用听觉闭合训练、听觉定位和辨别训练。加强语言处理技能训练,能够使这3名儿童受益。展开更多
The Declarative/Procedural Model of Pinker, Ullman and colleagues claims that the basal ganglia are part of a fronto-striatal procedural memory system which applies grammatical rules to combine morphemes (the smallest...The Declarative/Procedural Model of Pinker, Ullman and colleagues claims that the basal ganglia are part of a fronto-striatal procedural memory system which applies grammatical rules to combine morphemes (the smallest meaningful units in language) into complex words (e.g. talk-ed, talk-ing). We tested this claim b y investigating whether striatal damage or loss of its dopaminergic innervation is reliably associated with selective regular past tense deficits in patients wi th subcortical cerebrovascular damage, Parkinson’s disease or Huntington’s dis ease.We focused on past tense morphology since this allows us to contrast the re gular past tense (jump-jumped), which is rulebased,with the irregular past tens e (sleep-slept), which is not We used elicitation and priming tasks to test pat ients’ability to comprehend and produce inflected forms. We found no evidence o f a consistent association between striatal dysfunction and selective impairment of regular past tensemorphology, suggesting that the basal ganglia are not esse ntial for processing the regular past tense as a sequence of morphemes, either i n comprehension or production, in contrast to the claims of the Declarative/Proc edural Model. All patient groups showed normal activation of semantic and morpho logical representations in comprehension, despite difficulties suppressing seman tically appropriate alternatives when trying to inflect novel verbs. This is con sistent with previous reports that striatal dysfunction spares automatic activat ion of linguistic information, but disrupts later language processes that requir e inhibition of competing alternatives.展开更多
Newborn hearing screening(NHS) programs are essential to identify hearing loss early in life and to improve outcomes in children. In Saudi Arabia, the national NHS program has been operational since 2016;however, few ...Newborn hearing screening(NHS) programs are essential to identify hearing loss early in life and to improve outcomes in children. In Saudi Arabia, the national NHS program has been operational since 2016;however, few studies have evaluated its status, and none have covered all provinces across the country. This cross-sectional retrospective study provides an overview of the program's status across all provinces, focusing on screening coverage rates, referral/fail rates, and follow-up procedures. In 2021, 199,034 newborns were screened, with a coverage rate of 92.6% and an overall referral/fail rate of 1.87%. These performance measures provide a foundation for future progress and improvements. This study highlights the importance of ongoing efforts to enhance the program's effectiveness and sustainability.展开更多
Dear Editor,This letter presents an organoid segmentation model based on multi-axis attention with convolution parallel block.MACPNet adeptly captures dynamic dependencies within bright-field microscopy images,improvi...Dear Editor,This letter presents an organoid segmentation model based on multi-axis attention with convolution parallel block.MACPNet adeptly captures dynamic dependencies within bright-field microscopy images,improving global modeling beyond conventional UNet.展开更多
The aim of the study was to investigate the effect of a hydrotherapy program on FVC, FEV, PEF, RR and SaO<sub>2</sub> on children with Down syndrome over six months and to compare it with a conventional re...The aim of the study was to investigate the effect of a hydrotherapy program on FVC, FEV, PEF, RR and SaO<sub>2</sub> on children with Down syndrome over six months and to compare it with a conventional respiratory physiotherapy program. Eighteen children, with Down Syndrome, aged 6 - 11 years (9.53 ± 0.454), divided into two groups of nine, the intervention group (IG), that participated in the hydrotherapy program and the control group (CG) participated in the classical physiotherapy program. We calculated mean values of FVC, FEV, PEF, RR and SaO2 before and after six months intervention for both groups. There was a statistically significant improvement in all factors for both groups. However, were statistically more significant for the intervention group (IG). Based on a specific protocol of intervention in the water and at the same time with a group of children who participated in a similar program of classical respiratory physiotherapy, it was found to be statistically more important than the second group in improving respiratory function. We recommend the use of hydrotherapy as a complementary therapy that should be part of the weekly program of these children in addition to the existing treatments they attend.展开更多
/h/ is described differently by different researchers. While some argue that /h/ is a glottal fricative, others argue that it is the voiceless counterpart of the following vowel, yet others argue that /h/ is a glide o.../h/ is described differently by different researchers. While some argue that /h/ is a glottal fricative, others argue that it is the voiceless counterpart of the following vowel, yet others argue that /h/ is a glide or an approximant. However, de- tailed acoustic studies focusing on /h/ are very limited. This study aims to describe the spectrographic characteristics of /h/ in Turkish. Test words consisted of 48 monosyllabic and disyllabic words containing /h/ which was followed by eight Turkish vowels. Totally 1440 tokens were analyzed. After segmentation, /h/ was classified based on its spectrographic characteristics: 1) segment exhibiting formants, 2) segment exhibiting frication (but no formants) with energy in lower frequencies and 3) segment exhibiting almost no energy. In order to find out if there is a significant difference among these three categories, Chi-square test was applied. The spectrographic characteristics of /h/ in Turkish suggest that it is more like the voiceless version of the surrounding vowels, significantly when it is in syllable initial position and the preceding vowel when in syllable final position.展开更多
基金supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China,Nos.82171138 (to YQZ),82071 062 (to YXC)the Natural Science Foundation of Guangdong Province,No.2021A1515012038 (to YXC)+1 种基金the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities,No.20ykpy91 (to YXC)the Sun Yat-Sen Clinical Research Cultivating Program,No.SYS-Q-201903 (to YXC)。
文摘Patients with age-related hearing loss face hearing difficulties in daily life.The causes of age-related hearing loss are complex and include changes in peripheral hearing,central processing,and cognitive-related abilities.Furthermore,the factors by which aging relates to hearing loss via changes in audito ry processing ability are still unclear.In this cross-sectional study,we evaluated 27 older adults(over 60 years old) with age-related hearing loss,21 older adults(over 60years old) with normal hearing,and 30 younger subjects(18-30 years old) with normal hearing.We used the outcome of the uppe r-threshold test,including the time-compressed thres h old and the speech recognition threshold in noisy conditions,as a behavioral indicator of auditory processing ability.We also used electroencephalogra p hy to identify presbycusis-related abnormalities in the brain while the participants were in a spontaneous resting state.The timecompressed threshold and speech recognition threshold data indicated significant diffe rences among the groups.In patients with age-related hearing loss,information masking(babble noise) had a greater effect than energy masking(speech-shaped noise) on processing difficulties.In terms of resting-state electroencephalography signals,we observed enhanced fro ntal lobe(Brodmann’s area,BA11) activation in the older adults with normal hearing compared with the younger participants with normal hearing,and greater activation in the parietal(BA7) and occipital(BA19) lobes in the individuals with age-related hearing loss compared with the younger adults.Our functional connection analysis suggested that compared with younger people,the older adults with normal hearing exhibited enhanced connections among networks,including the default mode network,sensorimotor network,cingulo-opercular network,occipital network,and frontoparietal network.These results suggest that both normal aging and the development of age-related hearing loss have a negative effect on advanced audito ry processing capabilities and that hearing loss accele rates the decline in speech comprehension,especially in speech competition situations.Older adults with normal hearing may have increased compensatory attentional resource recruitment represented by the to p-down active listening mechanism,while those with age-related hearing loss exhibit decompensation of network connections involving multisensory integration.
基金supported in part by NIH/NIDCD grants R03-DC006161 and R15-DC009504
文摘The present study was designed to examine speech recognition in patients with sensorineural hearing loss when the temporal and spectral information in the speech signals were co-varied. Four subjects with mild to moderate sensorineural hearing loss were recruited to participate in consonant and vowel recognition tests that used speech stimuli processed through a noise-excited vocoder. The number of channels was varied between 2 and 32, which defined spectral information. The lowpass cutoff frequency of the temporal envelope extractor was varied from 1 to 512 Hz, which defined temporal information. Results indicate that performance of subjects with sen-sorineural hearing loss varied tremendously among the subjects. For consonant recognition, patterns of relative contributions of spectral and temporal information were similar to those in normal-hearing subjects. The utility of temporal envelope information appeared to be normal in the hearing-impaired listeners. For vowel recognition, which depended predominately on spectral information, the performance plateau was achieved with numbers of channels as high as 16-24, much higher than expected, given that the frequency selectivity in patients with sensorineural hearing loss might be compromised. In order to understand the mechanisms on how hearing-impaired listeners utilize spectral and temporal cues for speech recognition, future studies that involve a large sample of patients with sensorineural hearing loss will be necessary to elucidate the relationship between frequency selectivity as well as central processing capability and speech recognition performance using vocoded signals.
文摘Mandarin Chinese tone patterns vary in one of the four ways, i.e, (1) high level; (2) rising; (3) low falling and rising; and (4) high falling. The present study is to examine the efficacy of an artificial neural network in recognizing these tone patterns. Speech data were recorded from 12 children (3-6 years of age) and 15 adults. All subjects were native Mandarin Chinese speakers. The fundamental frequencies (F0) of each monosyllabic word of the speech data were extracted with an autocorrelation method. The pitch data(i.e., the F0 contours) were the inputs to a feed-forward backpropagation artificial neural network. The number of inputs to the neural network varied from 1 to 16 and the hidden layer of the network contained neurons that varied from 1 to 16 in number. The output of the network consisted of four neurons representing the four tone patterns of Mandarin Chinese. After being trained with the Levenberg-Marquardt optimization, the neural network was able to successfully classify the tone patterns with an accuracy of about 90% correct for speech samples from both adults and children. The artificial neural network may provide an objective and effective way of assessing tone production in prelingually-deafened children who have received cochlear implants.
基金partially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos.11590772, 11590770)the Pre-research Project for Equipment of General Information System (No.JZX2017-0994/Y306)
文摘This paper presents a deep neural network(DNN)-based speech enhancement algorithm based on the soft audible noise masking for the single-channel wind noise reduction. To reduce the low-frequency residual noise, the psychoacoustic model is adopted to calculate the masking threshold from the estimated clean speech spectrum. The gain for noise suppression is obtained based on soft audible noise masking by comparing the estimated wind noise spectrum with the masking threshold. To deal with the abruptly time-varying noisy signals, two separate DNN models are utilized to estimate the spectra of clean speech and wind noise components. Experimental results on the subjective and objective quality tests show that the proposed algorithm achieves the better performance compared with the conventional DNN-based wind noise reduction method.
文摘Objective(s): The cutting-edge assessment of voice disorders includes objective and subjective methods in the daily clinical practice. The latter assessment is usually performed through the administration of self-reported questionnaires. Voice Handicap Index (VHI) is one of the most widely used tools both in clinical practice and in research level. This tool-questionnaire was employed in this research along with the Voice Evaluation Template (VEF). In turn, the aim of this study was to analyse and produce the cut-off points of VHI for voice-disordered patients in Greece by using Receiver Operating Characteristic Curves (ROC Curves). Methods: Sixty-three participants (40 non-dysphonic and 23 with different types of dysphonia) were classified by ENT (Ear, Nose, and Throat) doctors and SLPs (Speech-Language Pathologists). The Hellenic VHI along with the translated Greek version of the VEF was administered to the subjects of this research. Results: The voice-disordered subjects exhibited higher overall VHI scores (in total and in its 3 subdomains) compared to the control group. Statistical significant differences were found between dysphonic and non-dysphonic participants for all VHI’s construct domains. The cut-off point of VHI total score was estimated at the value of 14.50 (sensitivity: 0.870, 1-specificity: 0.000). Moreover, the cut-off points of the three subdomains were computed as 7.50 for functional (sensitivity: 0.783, 1-specificity: 0.000), 8.50 for physical (sensitivity: 0.739, 1-specificity: 0.000) and 8.50 for emotional domain (sensitivity: 0.783, 1-specificity: 0.050). Conclusion: The preliminary statistical and ROC data analysis of VHI concluded that by using this type of assessment method, populations with or without voice disorders (in Greece) can be distinguished. Albeit this tool is a non-interventional method it could consequently offer an adequate screening and monitoring capability.
文摘In this paper we will analyze the world as a world society.Our assumption is that,thanks to global communications,the world has become a unique social field.Therefore,it is necessary to make an analysis of the changes that have occurred in the society-state relationship.In the contemporary understanding,societies are constituted as relatively closed,self-referential systems,in which the world of life is framed by the borders of national states.Intensifying and extending the communication process has relativized the boundaries of such closed systems,creating an opportunity for the establishment of a world society.However,the practical political(infra)structure is still fixed on old patterns and,objectively,lags behind this change,creating a legitimacy deficit in the political field.So it is necessary to look at the world from a new perspective.
基金supported by the Victorian Government’s Operational Infrastructure Support ProgramResearch Training Program scholarship(to S.K.)+2 种基金supported by Italian Ministry of Health Young Investigator(GR-2011-02347754 to E.L.)Fondazione Istituto di Ricerca PediatricaeCittàdella Speranza(18-04 to E.L.)supported by the Australian NHMRC Centre of Research Excellence in Speech and Language Neurobiology(CRE-SLANG)(1116976)
文摘Pathogenic variants in methyl-Cp G protein 2(MECP2;OMIM300005)result in an X-linked,severe,and progressive epigenetic disorder,Rett syndrome(RTT,OMIM:312750),that predominantly affects females(Rett,1966).Using Neul’s revised diagnostic criteria,affected individuals can be clinically classified as classic or atypical RTT(Neul et al.,2010).
文摘Objective(s): Laryngeal inflammations lead to voice disorders. Medical conditions such as chronic laryngitis, gastroesophageal reflux, laryngopharyngeal reflux, Reinke edema and/or vocal folds hemorrhage, result in diverse symptoms including chronic cough, throat cleaning and dysphonia (e.g. hoarseness). In turn, the dysphonic symptoms can be evaluated via subjective and objective procedures. The objective procedures usually include self-perceived questionnaires like the Voice Handicap Index (VHI). Studies reported that VHI can distinguish objectively dysphonic and non-dysphonic populations using the cut-off points of Receiver Operating Characteristic Curves. The purpose of this study was to calculate the cut-off points for individuals exhibiting voice symptoms which had been developed from laryngeal inflammatory diseases in Greece. Methods: One hundred and twelve participants (90 non-dysphonic and 22 dysphonic) filled in the Hellenic Voice Handicap Index (VHI) and the Greek translated version of Voice Evaluation Template (VEF) were administrated. All subjects were evaluated by an Otolaryngologist and a Speech-Language Pathologist. Results: The group with voice disorders exhibited higher VHI scores (in total and in its 3 subdomains) compared to non-dysphonic subgroup. Statistical significant differences were found for all VHI’s total cut-off point of 19.50 (sensitivity: 0.882, 1-specificity: 0.011) and for its three subdomains [functional 6.50 (sensitivity = 0.636, and 1-specificity = 0.022);physical 9.50 (sensitivity = 0.636, and 1-specificity = 0.000);emotional 6.50 (sensitivity = 0.455, and 1-specificity = 0.133)]. Conclusion: The preliminary results showed that VHI could discriminate individuals having voice disorders from laryngeal inflammations. The Voice Handicap Index can be used as a primary health care tool and a self-monitoring procedure in acute and sub-acute phases of the laryngeal inflammation.
文摘<strong></strong><strong>Objective(s):</strong> The aim of this study is to explore if there is a correlation between the typical voice classification and the oropharyngeal and laryngeal morphology, using video laryngeal stroboscopy and cervical posterior-anterior radiography on professional singers in Greece. <strong>Methods:</strong> 55 professional singers (28 females: 7 sopranos, 12 mezzo-sopranos, and 9 contraltos;27 males: 8 tenors, 12 baritones and 7 basses) were recruited for this study. All participants underwent stroboscopic and cervical posterior-anterior radiographic imaging of their oral pharyngeal and laryngeal area. Additionally, the voice classification and features (e.g., height, weight) of individuals were correlated statistically. <strong>Results:</strong> Statistically significant correlations were observed between the VC of the participants with the Phonetic Area (PA) (r = −0.451, p = 0.001) and the VC with the Oral-pharyngeal Cavity (OPC) area (r = −0.402, p = 0.001) in the total sample. Specifically, in male singers, the PA and VC correlation was r = −0.319, p = 0.047, and the VC and OPC area was r = −0.328, p = 0.044. Likewise, in female singers, the PA area and VC and PA were r = −0.336, p = 0.041 and the OPC area and VC were r = −0.344, p = 0.039. The analysis confirmed no correlations between VC and height and body weight. <strong>Conclusions:</strong> The cervical posteroanterior radiography in conjunction with laryngeal stroboscopy provided new morphometric correlations of the VC of professional singers with their Oropharyngeal and Laryngeal Anatomy.
基金partially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(11590770-4,U1536117)the National Key Research and Development Program of China(2016YFB0801203,2016YFB0801200)+1 种基金the Key Science and Technology Project of the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region(2016A03007-1)the Pre-research Project for Equipment of General Information System(JZX2017-0994/Y306)
文摘It is well known that automatic speech recognition(ASR) is a resource consuming task. It takes sufficient amount of data to train a state-of-the-art deep neural network acoustic model. As for some low-resource languages where scripted speech is difficult to obtain, data sparsity is the main problem that limits the performance of speech recognition system. In this paper, several knowledge transfer methods are investigated to overcome the data sparsity problem with the help of high-resource languages.The first one is a pre-training and fine-tuning(PT/FT) method, in which the parameters of hidden layers are initialized with a welltrained neural network. Secondly, the progressive neural networks(Prognets) are investigated. With the help of lateral connections in the network architecture, Prognets are immune to forgetting effect and superior in knowledge transferring. Finally,bottleneck features(BNF) are extracted using cross-lingual deep neural networks and serves as an enhanced feature to improve the performance of ASR system. Experiments are conducted in a low-resource Vietnamese dataset. The results show that all three methods yield significant gains over the baseline system, and the Prognets acoustic model performs the best. Further improvements can be obtained by combining the Prognets model and bottleneck features.
文摘BACKGROUND Noise-induced hearing loss(NIHL)is the second most common acquired hearing loss following presbycusis.Exposure to recreational noise and minimal use of hearing protection increase the prevalence of NIHL in young females.NIHL is irreversible.Identifying minor hearing pathologies before they progress to hearing problems that affect daily life is crucial.AIM To compare the advantages and disadvantages of extended high frequency(EHF)and otoacoustic emission and determine an indicator of hearing pathologies at the early sub-clinical stage.METHODS This cross-sectional study was implemented in West China Hospital of Sichuan University from May to September 2019.A total of 86 participants,aged 18-22 years,were recruited to establish normative thresholds for EHF.Another 159 adults,aged 18-25 years with normal hearing(0.25-8 kHz≤25 dBHL),were allocated to low noise and noise exposure groups.Distortion otoacoustic emission(DPOAE),transient evoked otoacoustic emissions(TEOAE),and EHF were assessed in the two groups to determine the superior technique for detecting early-stage noise-induced pathologies.The chi-square test was used to assess the noise and low noise exposure groups with respect to extended high-frequency audiometry(EHFA),DPOAE,and TEOAE.P≤0.05 was considered statistically significant.RESULTS A total of 86 participants(66 females and 20 males)aged between 18 and 22(average:20.58±1.13)years were recruited to establish normative thresholds for EHF.The normative thresholds for 9,10,11.2,12.5,14,16,18,and 20 kHz were 15,10,20,15,15,20,28,and 0 dBHL,respectively.A total of 201 participants were recruited and examined for eligibility.Among them,159 adults aged between 18 and 25 years were eligible in this study.No statistical difference was detected between the noise exposure and the low noise exposure groups using EHFA,DPOAE,and TEOAE(P>0.05)except in the right ear at 4 kHz using TEOAE(abnormal rate 20.4%vs 5.2%,respectively;P=0.05).CONCLUSION These results showed TEOAE as the earliest indicator of minor pathology compared to DPOAE and EHFA.However,a multicenter controlled study or prospective study is essential to verify these results.
基金supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(61671418)the Advanced Research Fund of University of Science and Technology of China。
文摘Single channel speech separation was a challenging task for speech separation community for last three decades.It is now possible to separate speeches using deep neural networks(DNN)and deep recurrent neural networks(DRNN)due to deep learning.Researchers are now trying to improve different models of DNN and DRNN for monaural speech separation.In this paper,we have tried to improve existing DRNN and DNN based model for speech separation by using optimized activation functions.Instead of using rectified linear unit(RELU),we have implemented leaky RELU,exponential linear unit,exponential function,inverse square root linear unit and inverse cubic root linear unit(ICRLU)as activation functions.ICRLU and exponential function are new activation functions proposed in this research work.These activation functions have overcome the dying RELU problem.They have achieved better separation results in comparison with RELU function and they have also reduced the computational cost of DNN and DRNN based monaural speech separation.
文摘目的本文介绍了中枢听觉功能测试方法,探讨了对听觉处理障碍儿童的诊断和处理原则。方法选择3例疑似听觉处理障碍儿童作为研究案例,进行系统的听力学、教育心理学、言语病理学测试和听觉中枢处理评估。结果在随机间隔探测测试和空间噪音听力测试(listening in spatialized noise test,LISN^(?))中,得分低于同龄组的平均值超过5个标准差;高-提示信号的LISN测试结果显示,数值低于平均值超过2个标准差。结论中枢听觉处理测试序列说明此3例儿童存在双耳听觉处理缺陷。通过改善教室的信噪比,应用听觉闭合训练、听觉定位和辨别训练。加强语言处理技能训练,能够使这3名儿童受益。
文摘The Declarative/Procedural Model of Pinker, Ullman and colleagues claims that the basal ganglia are part of a fronto-striatal procedural memory system which applies grammatical rules to combine morphemes (the smallest meaningful units in language) into complex words (e.g. talk-ed, talk-ing). We tested this claim b y investigating whether striatal damage or loss of its dopaminergic innervation is reliably associated with selective regular past tense deficits in patients wi th subcortical cerebrovascular damage, Parkinson’s disease or Huntington’s dis ease.We focused on past tense morphology since this allows us to contrast the re gular past tense (jump-jumped), which is rulebased,with the irregular past tens e (sleep-slept), which is not We used elicitation and priming tasks to test pat ients’ability to comprehend and produce inflected forms. We found no evidence o f a consistent association between striatal dysfunction and selective impairment of regular past tensemorphology, suggesting that the basal ganglia are not esse ntial for processing the regular past tense as a sequence of morphemes, either i n comprehension or production, in contrast to the claims of the Declarative/Proc edural Model. All patient groups showed normal activation of semantic and morpho logical representations in comprehension, despite difficulties suppressing seman tically appropriate alternatives when trying to inflect novel verbs. This is con sistent with previous reports that striatal dysfunction spares automatic activat ion of linguistic information, but disrupts later language processes that requir e inhibition of competing alternatives.
文摘Newborn hearing screening(NHS) programs are essential to identify hearing loss early in life and to improve outcomes in children. In Saudi Arabia, the national NHS program has been operational since 2016;however, few studies have evaluated its status, and none have covered all provinces across the country. This cross-sectional retrospective study provides an overview of the program's status across all provinces, focusing on screening coverage rates, referral/fail rates, and follow-up procedures. In 2021, 199,034 newborns were screened, with a coverage rate of 92.6% and an overall referral/fail rate of 1.87%. These performance measures provide a foundation for future progress and improvements. This study highlights the importance of ongoing efforts to enhance the program's effectiveness and sustainability.
基金supported by the Xinjiang Tianchi Talents Program(E33B9401)the Natural Science Foundation of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region(2023D01E15)+1 种基金the National Natural Science Foundation of China(62302495)the National Natural Science Foundation of China(62373348)。
文摘Dear Editor,This letter presents an organoid segmentation model based on multi-axis attention with convolution parallel block.MACPNet adeptly captures dynamic dependencies within bright-field microscopy images,improving global modeling beyond conventional UNet.
文摘The aim of the study was to investigate the effect of a hydrotherapy program on FVC, FEV, PEF, RR and SaO<sub>2</sub> on children with Down syndrome over six months and to compare it with a conventional respiratory physiotherapy program. Eighteen children, with Down Syndrome, aged 6 - 11 years (9.53 ± 0.454), divided into two groups of nine, the intervention group (IG), that participated in the hydrotherapy program and the control group (CG) participated in the classical physiotherapy program. We calculated mean values of FVC, FEV, PEF, RR and SaO2 before and after six months intervention for both groups. There was a statistically significant improvement in all factors for both groups. However, were statistically more significant for the intervention group (IG). Based on a specific protocol of intervention in the water and at the same time with a group of children who participated in a similar program of classical respiratory physiotherapy, it was found to be statistically more important than the second group in improving respiratory function. We recommend the use of hydrotherapy as a complementary therapy that should be part of the weekly program of these children in addition to the existing treatments they attend.
文摘/h/ is described differently by different researchers. While some argue that /h/ is a glottal fricative, others argue that it is the voiceless counterpart of the following vowel, yet others argue that /h/ is a glide or an approximant. However, de- tailed acoustic studies focusing on /h/ are very limited. This study aims to describe the spectrographic characteristics of /h/ in Turkish. Test words consisted of 48 monosyllabic and disyllabic words containing /h/ which was followed by eight Turkish vowels. Totally 1440 tokens were analyzed. After segmentation, /h/ was classified based on its spectrographic characteristics: 1) segment exhibiting formants, 2) segment exhibiting frication (but no formants) with energy in lower frequencies and 3) segment exhibiting almost no energy. In order to find out if there is a significant difference among these three categories, Chi-square test was applied. The spectrographic characteristics of /h/ in Turkish suggest that it is more like the voiceless version of the surrounding vowels, significantly when it is in syllable initial position and the preceding vowel when in syllable final position.
