Harmonics-to-noise Ratio Research Articles

Relationship among five-factor personality traits and psychological distress with acoustic analysis.

The relationship between personality traits and psychological distress with acoustic characteristics was investigated in the present study, regarding the existence of dysphonia, abnormal overall voice quality (AOVQ), and dysphonia type. Fifty-five participants with dysphonia and 64 participants without dysphonia completed NEO Five-Factor Inventory and Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale-21. Jitter, shimmer, noise-to-harmonic ratio (NHR), cepstral peak prominence (CPP), and cepstral peak prominence-smoothed (CPPS) were calculated in sustained vowel /a/ by Praat. Three expert speech and language pathologists divided participants with dysphonia into mild, moderate, and severe, based on the AOVQ. Pearson and Spearman correlation tests were performed by IBM SPSS Statistics. The findings were indicative of large correlations between agreeableness with CPP, conscientiousness with shimmer, depression with jitter and shimmer, and anxiety with shimmer in patients with functional dysphonia (p < 0.05). The results showed small to medium significant correlations between agreeableness with jitter and NHR, conscientiousness with CPP in participants without dysphonia, and depression with jitter in the participants with dysphonia (p < 0.05). Lastly, no significant correlation was observed between personality traits and psychological distress with acoustic characteristics in mild, moderate, and severe AOVQ groups (p > 0.05). In participants with functional dysphonia, personality traits and psychological distress can provide some information about acoustic characteristics and vice versa. 3.

A 4-Week Straw Phonation in Water Exercise Program for Aging-Related Vocal Fold Atrophy.

This study evaluated the efficacy of a 4-week straw phonation in water (SPW) exercise program on aging-related vocal fold atrophy (VFA), with a secondary objective to examine the immediate effects of SPW exercises. Thirty-eight older adults aged 60 years and above formally diagnosed with aging-related VFA were randomly assigned into an experimental group undergoing SPW exercises with an 8-cm depth of straw submersion into water for 4 weeks plus vocal hygiene practice (n = 20), and a control group with only vocal hygiene practice (n = 18). Outcome measures included laryngeal endoscopic measures of glottal gap, auditory-perceptual ratings of voice quality, acoustic measures, aerodynamic measures, and standardized self-assessment questionnaire scores. An additional round of acoustic and aerodynamic assessment following 20 min of SPW exercises was conducted to examine the immediate effects. Significant improvements in normalized glottal gap area, perceptual rating of breathiness, smoothed cepstral peak prominence, harmonics-to-noise ratio (HNR), mean oral airflow, subglottal pressure and laryngeal airway resistance at comfortable loudness, Voice-related Quality of Life scores, and Chinese Vocal Fatigue Index Factor 3 scores were observed in the experimental group relative to the control group. There were also significant immediate effects for HNR, mean oral airflow, subglottal pressure, and laryngeal airway resistance. These findings suggested significant immediate improvements in vocal function following SPW exercises, with additional significant improvements in vocal function as well as significant improvements in quality of life following the 4-week SPW exercise program. Further studies with more long-term follow-up are recommended to better understand the efficacy of SPW exercises with deep levels of straw submersion into water as an effective clinical option for the management of hypofunctional dysphonia associated with aging-related VFA.

Advances in Clinical Voice Quality Analysis with VOXplot.

The assessment of voice quality can be evaluated perceptually with standard clinical practice, also including acoustic evaluation of digital voice recordings to validate and further interpret perceptual judgments. The goal of the present study was to determine the strongest acoustic voice quality parameters for perceived hoarseness and breathiness when analyzing the sustained vowel [a:] using a new clinical acoustic tool, the VOXplot software. A total of 218 voice samples of individuals with and without voice disorders were applied to perceptual and acoustic analyses. Overall, 13 single acoustic parameters were included to determine validity aspects in relation to perceptions of hoarseness and breathiness. Four single acoustic measures could be clearly associated with perceptions of hoarseness or breathiness. For hoarseness, the harmonics-to-noise ratio (HNR) and pitch perturbation quotient with a smoothing factor of five periods (PPQ5), and, for breathiness, the smoothed cepstral peak prominence (CPPS) and the glottal-to-noise excitation ratio (GNE) were shown to be highly valid, with a significant difference being demonstrated for each of the other perceptual voice quality aspects. Two acoustic measures, the HNR and the PPQ5, were both strongly associated with perceptions of hoarseness and were able to discriminate hoarseness from breathiness with good confidence. Two other acoustic measures, the CPPS and the GNE, were both strongly associated with perceptions of breathiness and were able to discriminate breathiness from hoarseness with good confidence.

The Influence of Presbylarynx Status on Objective Measures of the Aging Voice

The primary objective of this study was to assess objective voice measures in an elderly population representative of those seen in a tertiary laryngology practice, stratified by sex and presbylarynx status, and compare their measures to each other and to a cohort of young adult patients aged 40 years or less. The secondary objectives of this study were to evaluate and compare the strobovideolaryngoscopy findings across all groups and compare the voice complaints and subjective questionnaire results between the presbylarynx and non-presbylarynx groups. Two hundred and eighty-six adult voice patients (147 females/139 males) were included in this study and stratified into one of three groups: (1) young adults aged 40 years or less (n = 122), (2) patients over the age of 60 without presbylarynx (n = 78), and (3) patients over the age of 60 with a diagnosis of presbylarynx (n = 86). The acoustic analysis included fundamental frequency (F0), voice intensity, standard deviation of the fundamental frequency (SDFF), jitter (Jitt), relative average perturbation (RAP), shimmer (Shim), noise-to-harmonic ratio (NHR), and others. The aerodynamic and pulmonary assessment included maximum phonation time (MPT), S/Z ratio, mean flow rate (MFR), forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV1), and maximal mid-expiratory flow (FEF25-75). Coexisting vocal fold conditions and pathologies were also characterized and compared. Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS 28.0.0.0 (IBM, Armonk, NY). All tests were performed in two-tailed, and a P value of less than 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Assessment of vocal fold features revealed a significantly higher prevalence of benign vocal fold lesions in the young adult group for males and females compared to both elderly groups but significantly lower prevalence of vocal fold edema only in young adult females compared to the elderly female groups. Among males, young adults differed significantly from both elderly groups with regard to SDFF, Shim, FEV1, and FEF25-75. However, Jitt and RAP only differed significantly between the young adult and presbylarynx groups. Among females, young adults differed significantly from both elderly groups for F0, SDFF, Jitt, RAP, NHR, CPP, MFR, FEV1, and FEF25-75. However, the non-presbylarynx group had a significantly lower S/Z ratio than the young adult and presbylarynx groups. A comparison of voice complaints between elderly groups revealed breathiness to be significantly more common in the presbylarynx group compared to the non-presbylarynx group, but no other significant differences were found in voice complaints or questionnaire scores. When interpreting objective voice measures, it is critical to consider differences in vocal fold features alongside age-related changes. In addition, sex-related differences in anatomy and the aging process may explain discrepancies in significant findings between young adults and elderly patients stratified by presbylarynx status. However, presbylarynx status alone appears insufficient to generate significant differences in most objective voice measures among the elderly. Yet, presbylarynx status may be sufficient to generate differences in perceptual voice symptoms.

Açık Kalp Ameliyatı Olan Hastalarda Ses Analizi İle Ses Kalitesinin Değerlendirilmesi

Objective: In this study, we aimed to reveal the effect of open heart surgeries on acoustic sound quality and vocal range by using computer aided analysis method.&#x0D; &#x0D; Materials and Methods: Preoperative objective voice analysis was performed on 40 patients who were operated on in our clinic between 2020 and 2021. Measurements were repeated in the 2nd postoperative month. The results were compared statistically.&#x0D; &#x0D; Results: There was no significant difference between the groups according to the voice handicap index-10 (VHI-10) (p&gt;0.050). The baseline frequency (F0) value was found to be statistically significantly higher in the postoperative period compared to the preoperative period (p=0.042). There was no statistically significant difference between groups in jitter %, shimmer % and harmonic noise ratio (HNR) values.&#x0D; &#x0D; Conclusion: Open heart surgery is an operation that can have a destructive effect on the respiratory system. The fact that the lungs, which are the source of voice energy, are affected, suggests that the voice quality will also be affected. While these effects usually regress in a short time, they can sometimes be permanent. This condition mostly affects people who use their voice in their profession. Therefore, detailed information about such a situation should be given to each patient and care should be taken to minimize the factors that may cause voice disorders.

Type I Thyroplasty or Fat Injection Laryngoplasty Versus Arytenoid Adduction: Effects of Surgery on Voice Recovery in Patients With Unilateral Vocal Fold Paralysis.

Objective: Type I (medialization) thyroplasty (MT), fat injection laryngoplasty (FIL), and arytenoid adduction (AA) are the 3 most common surgical treatments for unilateral vocal fold paralysis (UVFP). While MT and FIL involve medialization of the paralyzed vocal fold, the goal of AA is to reduce the glottal-level difference. The current study compared the effects of these surgical treatments on voice quality in patients with UVFP. Methods: This retrospective study included 87 patients with UVFP who underwent MT (n = 12), FIL (n = 31), AA (n = 6), or AA with MT (n = 38). Patients who underwent the former 2 surgical treatments were included in the thyroplasty (TP) group, while those who underwent the latter 2 were included in the AA group. Maximum phonation time (MPT), pitch period perturbation quotient (PPQ), amplitude perturbation quotient, and harmonic-to-noise ratio (HNR) were evaluated in all patients before and 1 month after surgery. Results: The TP group exhibited significant improvements in MPT (P < .001) and PPQ (P = .012), while the AA group exhibited significant improvements in all parameters (P < .001). Before surgery, voice quality was significantly worse in the AA group than in the TP group for all measures. However, there were no significant differences between the groups after treatment. Conclusion: Surgeries in both groups were effective for voice recovery in patients with UVFP under the appropriate surgical selection. Our results also highlight the importance of preoperative evaluation and the potential value of etiology for selecting the appropriate procedure.

An Acoustic Analysis and Comparison between Remotely Collected and In-Person Laboratory Collected Data in Vocal Imitation of Pitch

ABSTRACT Restrictions on face-to-face interactions due to the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19) in early 2020 have impacted experimental behavioral research. The rapid change from in-person to online data collections has been challenging in many behavioral studies, especially those that require vocal production, and the quality of the remotely collected data needs to be investigated. The current study examines the recording quality and corresponding measures of vocal production accuracy in online and in-person settings using two measurements: harmonic-to-noise ratio (HNR) and fundamental frequency, f 0. Participants imitated pitch patterns extracted from recordings of song or speech, either in a laboratory or via an online platform. The results showed that the recordings from the online setting had higher HNR than those from the in-person setting, whereas the pitch imitation accuracy in both settings did not differ. We also report an experiment that simulated differences between the online and in-person settings within participants, focusing on software used, type of microphone, and presence of ambient noise. Pitch accuracy did not differ according to these variables, except ambient noise, whereas HNR again varied across conditions. Based on these results we conclude that measures of pitch accuracy are reliable across these different types of data collection, whereas finer-grained spectral measures like HNR might be affected by various factors.

Relationship Between Vocal Fatigue Index and Acoustic Voice Scales in Patients With Coronavirus Infection

The voice quality of patients with Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) seems to be affected due to lower and upper respiratory involvement. Patient-based voice assessment scales are important clinical measures to diagnose voice disorders and monitor treatment outcomes in COVID-19 patients. This study compared vocal fatigue between COVID-19 patients and those with normal voices. Furthermore, the relationship between vocal fatigue and acoustic voice parameters of COVID-19 patients was evaluated. This cross-sectional study enrolled 30 laboratory-confirmed patients with COVID-19 (18 males and 12 females) and 30 healthy individuals with normal voices (14 males and 16 females) to compare their respiratory or phonatory parameters. The Persian versions of the Consensus Auditory Perceptual Evaluation of Voice (CAPE-V) and the vocal fatigue index (VFI) were conducted before and after reading the text. The Jitter, shimmer, maximum phonation time, and harmonic-to-noise ratio (HNR) were analyzed by Praat software based on the recorded voices of CAPE-V tasks. The acoustic assessment and VFI questionnaire results were compared between COVID-19 patients and the control group. There were significant differences between COVID-19 patients and their healthy counterparts in all VFI subscales (P<0.001). Moreover, after reading the text, we found significant differences between the two groups regarding Jitter, shimmer, and HNR of /a/ and /i/ vowels (P<0.05). Our findings also indicated a significant correlation between symptom improvement with rest and acoustic parameters in all tasks, except the Jitter of /a/ before reading the text. Patients with COVID-19 showed significantly more vocal fatigue than people with normal voices after reading the text. Moreover, there was a significant relationship between Jitter, shimmer, and HNR and the tiredness of voice and physical discomfort subscales of VFI.

Sounds Pleasantness Ratings in Autism: Interaction Between Social Information and Acoustical Noise Level.

A lack of response to voices, and a great interest for music are part of the behavioral expressions, commonly (self-)reported in Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). These atypical interests for vocal and musical sounds could be attributable to different levels of acoustical noise, quantified in the harmonic-to-noise ratio (HNR). No previous study has investigated explicit auditory pleasantness in ASD comparing vocal and non-vocal sounds, in relation to acoustic noise level. The aim of this study is to objectively evaluate auditory pleasantness. 16 adults on the autism spectrum and 16 neuro-typical (NT) matched adults rated the likeability of vocal and non-vocal sounds, with varying harmonic-to-noise ratio levels. A group by category interaction in pleasantness judgements revealed that participants on the autism spectrum judged vocal sounds as less pleasant than non-vocal sounds; an effect not found for NT participants. A category by HNR level interaction revealed that participants of both groups rated sounds with a high HNR as more pleasant for non-vocal sounds. A significant group by HNR interaction revealed that people on the autism spectrum tended to judge as less pleasant sounds with high HNR and more pleasant those with low HNR than NT participants. Acoustical noise level of sounds alone does not appear to explain atypical interest for voices and greater interest in music in ASD.

A Blind Deconvolution Approach Based on Spectral Harmonics-to-Noise Ratio for Rotating Machinery Condition Monitoring

Harmonics-to-noise ratio (HNR) is an important health index of rotating machine, which has been applied in blind deconvolution (BD) method to realize periodic impulse detection. However, most fault impulses are not strictly periodic, but pseudo-cyclostationary, which will affect the performance of HNR in fault characterization to some extent. This limits its applications. Therefore, in this paper, a novel BD method, maximum squared envelope spectrum harmonic-to-interference ratio deconvolution (MSESHIRD), is proposed to more effectively achieve fault identification. The proposed method seeks a target filter by maximizing squared envelope spectrum harmonic-to-interference ratio (SESHIR). Since harmonic components corresponding to repetitive fault impulses in SES are less sensitive to random fluctuations, SESHIR can more accurately distinguish repetitive fault impulses from irrelevant interference in vibration signals. Therefore, BD based on SESHIR has better performance than BD based on HNR in measuring fault features in signals. Through simulation and experimental case analysis, the proposed method is compared with several public methods Results show that the proposed method has better performance in fault characteristic extraction. In addition, it is implemented on bearing run-to-failure data for condition monitoring to show that the proposed method has excellent ability of early fault detection. Note to Practitioners—This paper is motivated by the problems of automatic operating condition monitoring and early defect diagnosis of rotating machines. These problems can be effectively solved by designing a BD method based on reliable and efficient health indices. HNR defined on autocorrelation function (AF) is an excellent health index to characterize the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of repetitive fault impulse in signals. However, this paper uses mathematical models of HNR to show that it has very strict requirements on the period and SNR of fault impulse signals. A fluctuating fault period or a low SNR might make HNR unable to accurately estimate the energy of fault components in signals, thus weakening its performance in fault characterization. Compared with HNR, SESHIR has better fault characterization ability due to that SES can more accurately obtain the periodicity (frequency) and energy of fault components in signals. Therefore, this paper proposes a novel BD method based on SESHIR maximization for repetitive impulse monitoring. Its effectiveness and robustness are verified by both theoretical justification and experimental results.

The Effects of the Newest Palatopharyngeal Surgery (Barbed Pharyngoplasty) on Voice Quality.

This study aimed to examine the effects of barbed pharyngoplasty (BP) on voice quality in patients with Obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS) and to compare them with the anterior palatoplasty (AP) and expansion sphincter pharyngoplasty (ESP) surgeries. The study included 329 patients who came to the Otorhinolaryngology Clinic of our hospital with symptoms of snoring and sleep apnea between January 2020 and 2022 and were referred to the sleep laboratory for polysomnography (PSG). AP surgery was recommended for those with retropalatal stenosis in the anteroposterior direction, and ESP surgery for those with lateral stenosis. BP was recommended for those with both anteroposterior and lateral retropalatal stenosis. 60 patients who met the study criteria were included in the study. All surgeries were performed under general anesthesia by the same otolaryngologist within 1 month at the latest after sleep endoscopy. Acoustic voice analysis was performed using the Praat voice analysis program preoperatively and postoperatively at 6 months. F0, jitter, shimmer, and NHR (noise-to-harmonic ratio) were compared between groups pre and postoperatively. F0 %, jitter %, shimmer %, and NHR % changes were highest in BP. Jitter, shimmer, and NHR decreased significantly in the BP group, whereas F0 increased significantly. Although the mean F0 increased in both AP and ESP groups, the greatest change was in the AP group following BP groups. Although the average jitter, shimmer, and NHR decreased in both groups, the greatest change was in the ESP group following BP groups. In patients with OSAS, BP surgery changed F0, jitter, shimmer and NHR more than AP and ESP surgeries, and effected the voice quality more positively.

Auditory-perceptual Parameters as Predictors of Voice Acoustic Measures

Much research has examined the relationship between perceptual and acoustic measures. However, little is known about the prediction values of perceptual measures on an acoustic parameter. This study utilized simulated and disordered voice samples to investigate the prediction values of breathiness, roughness, and strain ratings on the selection of some time-based and spectral-based measures of voice quality. This study retrospectively analysed two sets of precollected data. The experimental data had been collected from nine trained speakers manipulating false vocal fold activity, true vocal fold mass, and larynx height. The voice-disordered data had been extracted from a clinical database for 68 patients with muscle tension voice disorders (MTVD). Both data sets had been perceptually rated for breathiness, roughness, and strain. Voice samples (prolonged vowel /ɑ/ and Rainbow Passage readings) had undergone acoustic analysis using Praat for harmonics-to-noise ratio (HNR) and the program "Analysis of Dysphonia in Speech and Voice" (ADSV) for cepstral peak prominence (CPP), Cepstral/Spectral Index of Dysphonia (CSID), and Low/High spectral ratio (L/H ratio). Perceptual parameters were regressed against these acoustic measures to test their prediction values. Reliability data showed satisfactory intra- and inter-reliability of perceptual ratings for both data sets. Breathiness significantly predicted CPP (both vocal tasks) and CSID (Rainbow Passage) in experimental data and predicted all the acoustic measures in MTVD data. Roughness significantly predicted HNR, CPP, and CSID in experimental data, and CPP (Rainbow Passage) and CSID (both vocal tasks) in MTVD data. Strain (both vocal tasks) significantly predicted L/H ratio in both data sets. Breathiness ratings predicted selection of HNR, CPP and CSID; roughness ratings predicted selection of CPP and CSID, and strain ratings predicted L/H ratio.

How Does Long Term Use of Surgical Face Mask Affect the Voice in Normophonic Subjects?

To assess the effects of the longterm-use of surgical face mask (SFM) on acoustic and auditory-perceptual voice parameters in normophonic subjects without any known risk factor related to voice disorders. Of 73 normophonic subjects who were previously included in a couple of studies before the COVID-19 outbreak, 25 people (18 female and 7 male) who were free of any known risk factor related to voice disorders during the outbreak were re-evaluated to assess the long-term effect of SFM on voice by using acoustic (mean F0, Jitter-local, Shimmer-local, Cepstral Peak Prominence (CPP), Noise to Harmonic Ratio (NHR), maximum phonation time (MPT)) and auditory-perceptual (Consensus Auditory-Perceptual Evaluation of Voice, CAPE-V) parameters and those data found in SFM period were compared with the previous (preSFM) data. MPT and acoustic data were analyzed by PRAAT software. It was seen that the mean F0 value presented a significant increase, while Jitter-local and Intensity values revealed a significant decrease in females after 2 years pass with SFM use (average 22.52 ± 0.18 months).In males, only a significant decrease in Jitter-local was detected. This study is the first longitudinal investigation on the effects of SFM use on acoustic and auditory-perceptual measures of voice. The data in this study, revealed that long-term use of SFM would not appear to be negatively affecting the acoustic parameters of the voice in normophonic subjects (particularly females) without any related risk factors such as tobacco use, reflux, and etc.

Determination of Harmonic Parameters in Pathological Voices—Efficient Algorithm

The harmonic parameters Autocorrelation, Harmonic to Noise Ratio (HNR), and Noise to Harmonic Ratio are related to vocal quality, providing alternative measures of the harmonic energy of a speech signal. They will be used as input resources for an intelligent medical decision support system for the diagnosis of speech pathology. An efficient algorithm is important when implementing it on low-power devices. This article presents an algorithm that determines these parameters by optimizing the window type and length. The method used comparatively analyzes the values of the algorithm, with different combinations of window and size and a reference value. Hamming, Hanning, and Blackman windows with lengths of 3, 6, 12, and 24 glottal cycles and various sampling frequencies were investigated. As a result, we present an efficient algorithm that determines the parameters using the Hanning window with a length of six glottal cycles. The mean difference of Autocorrelation is less than 0.004, and that of HNR is less than 0.42 dB. In conclusion, this algorithm allows extraction of the parameters close to the reference values. In Autocorrelation, there are no significant effects of sampling frequency. However, it should be used cautiously for HNR with lower sampling rates.

The effect of Wendler Glottoplasty to elevate vocal pitch in transgender women

Objective: To evaluate the effect of Wendler Glottoplasty to elevate vocal pitch in transgender women. Methods: The voice parameters of pre-and 3-month post-surgery of 29 transgender women who underwent Wendler Glottoplasty in department of otorhinolaryngology head and neck surgery of Beijing Friendship Hospital from January, 2017 to October, 2020 were retrospectively analyzed. The 29 transgender women ranged in age from 19-47 (27.0±6.3) years old. Subjective evaluation was performed using Transsexual Voice Questionnaire for Male to Female (TVQMtF). Objective parameters included fundamental frequency (F0), highest pitch, lowest pitch, habitual volume, Jitter, Shimmer, maximal phonation time (MPT), noise to harmonic ratio (NHR) and formants frequencies(F1, F2, F3, F4). SPSS 25.0 software was used for statistically analysis. Results: Three months after surgery, the score of TVQMtF was significantly decreased [(89.9±14.7) vs. (50.4±13.6), t=11.49, P<0.001]. The F0 was significantly elevated [(152.7±23.3) Hz vs. (207.7±45.9) Hz, t=-6.03, P<0.001]. Frequencies of F1, F2 and F3 were significantly elevated. No statistical difference was observed in the frequencies of F4. The highest pitch was not significantly altered while the lowest pitch was significantly elevated [(96.8±17.7) Hz vs. (120.0±28.9) Hz, t=-3.71, P=0.001]. Habitual speech volume was significantly increased [(60.0±5.2) dB vs. (63.6±9.6) dB, t=-2.12, P=0.043]. Jitter, Shimmer, NHR and MPT were not obviously altered (P>0.05). Conclusions: Wendler Glottoplasty could notably elevate the vocal pitch, formants frequencies and degree of vocal femininity in transgender women without affecting phonation ability and voice quality. It can be an effective treatment modality for voice feminization.

The acoustic characteristics of implosive and plosive bilabials in Shimaore

Implosive consonants have drawn the attention of researchers over time, partially due to their relative rarity in the world’s languages, and partially due to their unique ingressive air flow. This sound category has varying complex features from an articulatory and acoustic perspective. This study explores the sound category by analyzing the acoustic features of a language whose implosives have yet to be acoustically considered: Shimaore, a Bantu-Sabaki language spoken in Mayotte. Specifically, it compares the bilabial plosive /b/ and the bilabial implosive /ɓ/ in terms of Voice Onset Time (VOT), fundamental frequency, amplitude, and voice quality via H1*–H2*, harmonics-to-noise ratios (HNR), and cepstral peak prominence (CPP). Analyses show that VOT is shorter for implosives than for plosives. At oral closure and vowel onset, amplitude and f0 are higher than plosives. H1*–H2* values read alongside HNR and CPP values suggest that implosives in Shimaore have glottal constriction. Some individual differences are explored for question of variation in implosives. Implications regarding sociophonetic studies in Mayotte as well as general implications for implosives are discussed.

Correlation Between Auditory-Perceptual Parameters and Acoustic Characteristics of Voice in Theater Actors

Background: Theater actors are a subgroup of professional voice users who may present their performances at a high-pressure vocal demand, like loud talking, shouting, or even stage singing. Disturbances in auditory-perceptual or acoustic parameters of voice are commonly experienced by theater actors and are known as a frequent occupational hazard for them. Objectives: This study aimed to examine the relationship between auditory-perceptual and acoustic parameters of the voice in Iranian theater actors. Methods: This descriptive-analytical study was conducted on 45 Iranian theater actors, including 22 females and 23 males, with a mean age of 30.76 ± 7 years. The auditory-perceptual evaluation was performed using the Persian version of the Consensus Auditory-Perceptual Evaluation of Voice (CAPE-V). Acoustic characteristics, including mean fundamental frequency (F0), local shimmer, local jitter, and harmonic-to-noise ratio (HNR), were extracted from the subjects’ “speech sample.” Correlation analyses were performed to examine the relationship between the measures of auditory-perceptual and acoustic voice characteristics. Results: The overall auditory-perceptual severity was negatively correlated with mean F0 (r = -0.592, P &lt; 0.05) and HNR (r = - 0.324, P &lt; 0.05). Roughness was also negatively correlated with voice mean F0 (r = -0.629, P &lt; 0.05) and HNR (r = -0.322, P &lt; 0.05) and positively correlated with voice local jitter (r = 0.310, P &lt; 0.05). We also found that pitch was negatively correlated with voice mean F0 (r = -0.309, P &lt; 0.05) and positively correlated with voice local jitter (r = 0.292, P = 0.050). Conclusions: Acoustic measures, including F0, HNR, and jitter, correlate with auditory perceptual parameters of the voice quality in Iranian theater actors. These findings highlight the significance of acoustic parameters in assessing voice quality in professional voice users such as theater actors.

Assessment of the obesity based on voice perception

Human voice is an extremely important biological signal which contains information about sex, age, emotional state, health and physical features of a speaker. Estimating a physical appearance from a vocal cue can be an important asset for sciences including forensics and dietetics. Although there have been several studies focused on the relationships between vocal parameters and ratings of height, weight, age and musculature of a speaker, to our knowledge, there has not been a study examining the assessment of one’s BMI based on voice alone. The purpose of the current study was to determine the ability of female “Judges” to evaluate speakers’ (men and women) obesity and body fat distribution from their vocal cues. It has also been checked which voice parameters are key vocal cues in this assessment. The study material consisted of 12 adult speakers’ (6 women) voice recordings assessed by 87 “Judges” based on a 5-point graphic scale presenting body fat level and distribution (separately for men and women). For each speaker body height, weight, BMI, Visceral Fat Level (VFL, InBody 270) and acoustic parameters were measured. In addition, the accuracy of BMI category was verified. This study also aimed to determine which vocal parameters were cues for the assessment for men and women. To achieve it, two independent experiments were conducted: I: “Judges” had to choose one (obese) speaker from 3 voices (in 4 series); II: they were asked to rate body fat level of the same 12 speakers based on 5-point graphic scale. Obese speakers (i.e., BMI above 30) were selected correctly with the accuracy greater than predicted by chance (experiment I). By using a graphic scale, our study found that speakers exhibiting higher BMI were rated as fatter (experiment II). For male speakers the most important vocal predictors of the BMI were harmonics-to-noise ratio (HNR) and formant dispersion (Df); for women: formant spacing (Pf) and intensity (loudness). Human voice contains information about one’s increased BMI level which are hidden in some vocal cues.

The Effects of Anterior Palatoplasty and Functional Expansion Sphincter Pharyngoplasty on Voice Quality in Patients with Obstructive Sleep Apnea

We aimed to examine the effects of anterior palatoplasty (AP) and functional expansion sphincter pharyngoplasty (FESP) on voice quality in patients with OSAS and to compare them with each other. The study included 380 patients who came to the Otorhinolaryngology Clinic of our hospital with symptoms of snoring and sleep apnea between April 2020 and April 2022 and were referred to the sleep laboratory for polysomnography (PSG).Forty patients who met the study criteria and underwent AP and 26 patients who underwent FESP were included in the study. All surgeries were performed under general anesthesia by the same otolaryngologist within 1 month at the latest after sleep endoscopy. Acoustic voice analysis was performed using the Praat voice analysis program preoperatively and postoperatively at 6 months. F0, jitter, shimmer, and NHR (noise-to-harmonic ratio) were compared between the groups pre and postoperatively. There were 20 females and 20 males in the AP group, 12 females and 14 males in the FESP group, There was no statistically significant difference in sex distribution between the groups (P=0.952). The difference between the preop and postop F0, jitter, shimmer, and NHR in both the AP and FESP groups was statistically significant (P < 0.01). After AP and FESP surgeries, F0 values ​​increased, jitter, shimmer and NHR values ​​decreased (P < 0.01).F0, jitter, shimmer, and NHR changes were the greatest in the FESP group.(P < 0.01). Positive changes in F0, jitter, shimmer, and NHR were greatest in the FESP group significantly. FESP surgery affects voice quality more than AP surgery in patients with OSAS.

Harmonic-to-noise ratio as speech biomarker for fatigue: K-nearest neighbour machine learning algorithm

BackgroundVital information about a person's physical and emotional health can be perceived in their voice. After sleep loss, altered voice quality is noticed. The circadian rhythm controls the sleep cycle, and when it is askew, it results in fatigue, which is manifested in speech. Using MATLAB statistical techniques and the k-nearest neighbour (KNN) machine learning algorithm, this study assessed the efficacy of the harmonic-to-noise ratio (HNR) as a speech biomarker in differentiating fatigued and normal voice after sleep deprivation of one night. MethodsAfter one night of sleep deprivation, acoustic samples for sustained vowel/a/and visual reaction time were recorded from n = 32 healthy young Indian male volunteers (20–40 yrs). One-way ANOVA established significant changes in voice characteristics with progressive sleep deprivation. The effectiveness of speech HNR as a biomarker for the detection of healthy and fatigued voice was researched, using the KNN classifier in a machine learning algorithm. ResultsThe HNR voice feature was taken from an acoustic sample for three times: baseline (Time 1), 3 AM (Time 2), and 7 AM (Time 3) towards an incremental one-night sleep loss. At 3AM, the HNR changed significantly p<0.05. Utilizing an iterative signal extrapolation approach, the KNN classifier divided the submitted voice signal sample into normal and fatigued categories. ConclusionThe findings imply that the HNR can be used to link fatigue from sleep deprivation with vocal alterations by classifying voice samples in a KNN classifier. Along with the multimodal diagnostic features, this method may also offer an additional acoustic biomarker for the diagnosis of fatigue post sleep loss.