Perceptual Analysis Research Articles

Investigating the Impact of Additional Congenital Malformations on Speech Outcomes at age Five in Children with a Cleft Palate.

To determine whether children born with a cleft palate ± lip (CP ± L) and additional congenital differences (ACDs - including 'Congenital malformations and deformations' as coded in ICD-10), are less likely to meet the three national speech outcome standards at age five compared to children with CP ± L and no ACDs. An observational study, utilizing national data from the UK Cleft Registry and Audit NEtwork (CRANE) Database linked to national administrative data of hospital admissions. National Health Service, England. 2191 children (993 female, 1198 male) with CP ± L, born 2006-2012 in England, with complete speech data and consent to data linkage. Perceptual speech analysis utilised the Cleft Audit Protocol for Speech - Augmented (CAPS-A) rating and United Kingdom National Speech Outcome Standards (Speech Standard 1 (SS1), Speech Standard 2a (SS2a) and Speech Standard 3 (SS3)). Of 2191 children, 759 (35%) had at least one ACD. Presence of one ACD did not significantly impact speech outcomes but two or more ACDs reduced the odds of achieving all three speech standards: SS1 aOR 0.602 (CI 0.45-0.82, P = .002), SS2a aOR 0.563 (CI 0.41-0.77, P = .001), SS3 aOR 0.606 (0.43-0.84, P = .003). When exploring ACDs by ICD-10 groupings, congenital malformations of the 'Eye, ear, face and neck', 'Circulatory system', 'Digestive system', 'Musculoskeletal system' and 'Other congenital malformations' reduced a child's odds of achieving the speech standards. ACDs, in the absence of a known syndrome, have a significant impact on speech outcome at age five. Incorporating these factors into risk-adjustment models for service level outcome reporting is recommended.

A Study on the Breakthrough Pressure of Porous Rock Formations in Gas Storage Reservoirs

Breakthrough pressure of natural gas in rock is an important evaluation parameter in gas reservoir development. In this study, experimental measurements of porosity and permeability of the caprock core were carried out. A digital core model was obtained by body rendering of rock CT (Computed Tomography) slices using Avizo software. Then, the grid model was imported into Fluent software for a numerical simulation of natural gas breakthrough pressure in the core. The innovations of this paper include (1) an accurate calculation method of cap breakthrough pressure based on the VOF method; (2) the method performs a perceptual analysis of average pore radius, wettability, roughness height, and viscosity ratio.

Vocal Characteristics of Children With Cerebral Palsy and Anarthria.

This study aimed to investigate the vocal characteristics of children with cerebral palsy (CP) and anarthria using the stage model of vocal development. Vocal characteristics of 39 children with CP and anarthria around 4 years of age were analyzed from laboratory-based caregiver-child interactions. Perceptual coding analysis was conducted using the Stark Assessment of Early Vocal Development-Revised to examine vocal complexity, volubility, and consonant diversity. Children predominately produced vocalizations corresponding to the two earliest stages of vocal development characterized by vowel-like utterances. They showed a limited attainment of consonantal features with low consonant diversity and variably low vocal rates. Our results demonstrate that underlying neurological impairments resulting in an anarthric status in children with CP affect the progression of speech motor development and their ability to advance beyond early vocal stages. These findings highlight the importance of considering alternative communication modalities for children demonstrating similar vocal characteristics beyond expected periods of development.

Assessing thermal comfort in wooden buildings: A visual perceptual analysis through physiological characterization

As the use of wood, a representative low-carbon building material, increases to reduce greenhouse gases, analysis of the impact of wood spaces on occupants is important for effective environmental planning. Therefore the study delved into the visual and perceptual warmth effects of wood through a comparative of thermal sensations in spaces featuring various finishing materials. A living space was created using concrete, wallpaper, brick, and wood, respectively, through virtual reality. A total of 30 subjects experienced the four living spaces through virtual reality, while subjective thermal sensation questionnaires and four physiological responses were measured. In a slightly cool environment based on predicted mean vote, subjects ranked the perceived warmth in the following order: wood > brick > wallpaper > concrete, with wood surpassing concrete by 3.30, in terms of visual warmth. These results support the hue-heat hypothesis that materials in the yellow–red spectrum are commonly perceived as warm. Moreover, the representative psychological impression associated with wood, such as warmth and coziness, considerably influences these perceptions. Importantly, the positive impact of the visual and perceptual thermal effects of wood, alongside the impression of space (as being comfortable, positive, and relaxed), notably enhanced thermal comfort, especially in cooler conditions. Furthermore, the subjective evaluation of the thermal environment was validated through correlation analysis involving thermal perception biomarkers and thermal comfort model. Indoor spaces with wood finishing materials were perceived as warm, and the possibility of reducing heating load and greenhouse gas emissions was suggested by improving thermal comfort during the heating season

Validation of the Spanish Version of the Voice-Related Quality of Life Questionnaire: Psychometric Properties and Clinical Applications

Introduction: The present study aimed to validate the Voice-Related Quality of Life (V-RQOL), vocal self-assessment questionnaire for Spanish. Methods: The validation and psychometric properties were developed according to the criteria of the Scientific Advisory Committee of Medical Outcomes Trust (SAC). The Spanish translation for linguistic and cultural adaptation of the V-RQOL was used. The study involved 193 participants, including 90 vocally healthy individuals and 103 patients with voice disorders, to establish validity. To evaluate reliability, the protocol was applied to 40 participants with dysphonia, who answered it twice before the treatment. Then to determine response changes, the responses of 13 dysphonic participants to the V-RQOL for Spanish were analyzed after intervention and then compared to the initial ones. Clinicians contrasted subjects’ V-RQOL results with a perceptual analysis of voice quality using the GRBAS scale. In order to determine sensitivity and specificity cut-off values, tools results were subjected to the receiver operating characteristic curve analysis. The sensitivity was obtained from the experimental group (dysphonic group) and the specificity from the control group (non-dysphonic group). Results: This version of the V-RQOL questionnaire may be used as part of the standard assessment process of people with voice complaints and as an outcome of treatment efficacy in clinical trials. Conclusion: A validation of the V-RQOL for Spanish in Chilean population was achieved.

Cultural Perspectives on the Impact of COVID-19 among Blaan Tribal Community of Southern Mindanao in the Philippines: A Relativist Perceptual Analysis

Cultural Perspectives on the Impact of COVID-19 among Blaan Tribal Community of Southern Mindanao in the Philippines: A Relativist Perceptual Analysis

Combined perceptual and chemical analyses show no compelling evidence for ovulatory cycle shifts in women's axillary odour.

Although men's attraction to women's body odour has been suggested to vary over the ovulatory cycle, peaking around the fertile window, we still lack methodologically robust evidence corroborating this effect. Further, the chemical underpinnings of male preference for the odour of ovulating women remain unknown. Here, we combined perceptual and chemical analyses to investigate the axillary odour of naturally cycling women over 10 days, covering the gradual change in fertility across the ovulatory cycle with a focus on fertile days. The fertile state was confirmed by urinary ovulation tests as well as salivary oestradiol and progesterone levels. Men rated the scent of unfamiliar women, resembling a first encounter. We used multivariate analyses to relate variation in both odour ratings and chemical composition to female conception probability, temporal distance to ovulation and ovarian hormone levels. Our results provide no evidence that males prefer the odour of fertile women. Furthermore, the volatile analysis indicated no link between axillary odour composition and current fertility status. Together, our results showed no convincing support for a chemical fertility cue in women's axillary odour, questioning the presence of olfactory fertility information that is recognizable during first encounters in modern humans.

Bidirectional brain image translation using transfer learning from generic pre-trained models

Brain imaging plays a crucial role in the diagnosis and treatment of various neurological disorders, providing valuable insights into the structure and function of the brain. Techniques such as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and computed tomography (CT) enable non-invasive visualization of the brain, aiding in the understanding of brain anatomy, abnormalities, and functional connectivity. However, cost and radiation dose may limit the acquisition of specific image modalities, so medical image synthesis can be used to generate required medical images without actual addition. CycleGAN and other GANs are valuable tools for generating synthetic images across various fields. In the medical domain, where obtaining labeled medical images is labor-intensive and expensive, addressing data scarcity is a major challenge. Recent studies propose using transfer learning to overcome this issue. This involves adapting pre-trained CycleGAN models, initially trained on non-medical data, to generate realistic medical images. In this work, transfer learning was applied to the task of MR-CT image translation and vice versa using 18 pre-trained non-medical models, and the models were fine-tuned to have the best result. The models’ performance was evaluated using four widely used image quality metrics: Peak-signal-to-noise-ratio, Structural Similarity Index, Universal Quality Index, and Visual Information Fidelity. Quantitative evaluation and qualitative perceptual analysis by radiologists demonstrate the potential of transfer learning in medical imaging and the effectiveness of the generic pre-trained model. The results provide compelling evidence of the model’s exceptional performance, which can be attributed to the high quality and similarity of the training images to actual human brain images. These results underscore the significance of carefully selecting appropriate and representative training images to optimize performance in brain image analysis tasks.

Exploring Biomechanical Correlates in Voice Analysis of Multiple Sclerosis Patients.

The predominant alterations in voice of patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) are phonatory instability, vocal asthenia and roughness, shortness of breath, hypophonia, and hypernasality. However, research on alterations of acoustic parameters has few studies and disparate results. The objective of this study was to investigate voice disturbances in patients with MS, both with objective measures (analysis of biomechanical) and subjective measures (scales and questionnaires). This is an experimental study with a total of 20 participants with MS. Voice samples were collected, and biomechanical correlates were analyzed through the Clinical Voice Systems program, Online Lab App. The VHI-30 (Voice Handicap Index) questionnaire, the GRBAS (grade, roughness, breathiness, asthenia, strain) scale, and the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale were used as subjective measures. Ninety-five percentages of participants feel and describe dysphonic difficulties. Self-perception of vocal disability correlated with auditory vocal perceptual analysis in the sample of women. The biomechanical parameters showed alterations in the strength of the glottic closure, the efficiency index, and the structural imbalance index.

STUDENTS' PERCEPTION OF SIPINTAR SAVINGS PRODUCTS (STUDENT EDUCATION SAVINGS) AT BANK KERINCI

SIPINTAR savings product is a savings product issued by Bank Kerinci specifically for students. This study aims to determine the system and procedure of SIPINTAR savings products and students' perceptions of SIPINTAR savings products at Bank Kerinci. The type of research used is descriptive quantitative research with a survey approach. The number of samples in this study was 76 respondents who were students of SMPN 1 Kerinci. The data was analyzed using perceptual analysis with the help of SPSS version 23. The results showed that SIPINTAR savings procedures consist of 3, namely account opening, deposit, and withdrawal; two service systems are coming directly to the office and shuttle services. Students' knowledge of SIPINTAR savings products is adequate; this is shown by students' responses to statements in the questionnaire that predominantly voted strongly agree and agree

어린이박물관 메타버스 전시공간의 지각적⋅심리적 색채 분석 연구 - 국내 어린이 박물관 사례를 중심으로 -

어린이박물관 메타버스 전시공간의 지각적⋅심리적 색채 분석 연구 - 국내 어린이 박물관 사례를 중심으로 -

Apparent-time variation in the use of multiple cues for perception of anticipatory nasal coarticulation in California English

This study examines apparent-time variation in the use of multiple acoustic cues present on coarticulatorily nasalized vowels in California English. Eighty-nine listeners ranging in age from 18-58 (grouped into 3 apparent-time categories based on year of birth) performed lexical identifications on syllables excised from words with oral and nasal codas from six speakers who produced either minimal (n=3) or extensive (n=3) anticipatory nasal coarticulation (realized by greater vowel nasalization, F1 bandwidth, and diphthongization on vowels in CVN contexts). Results showed no differences across listeners’ identification for Extensively coarticulated vowels, as well as oral vowels by both types of speakers (all at-ceiling). Yet, performance for the Minimal Coarticulators’ nasalized vowels was lowest for the older listener group and increased over apparent-time. Perceptual cue-weighting analyses revealed that older listeners rely more on F1 bandwidth, while younger listeners rely more on acoustic nasality, as coarticulatory cues providing information about lexical identity. Thus, there is evidence for variation in apparent- time in the use of the different coarticulatory cues present on vowels. Younger listeners’ cue weighting allows them flexibility to identify lexical items given a range of coarticulatory variation across (here, younger) speakers, while older listeners’ cue weighting leads to reduced performance for talkers producing innovative phonetic forms. This study contributes to our understanding of the relationship between multidimensional acoustic features resulting from coarticulation and the perceptual re-weighting of cues that can lead to sound change over time.

Calçadas como lugares de socialização: equidade urbana para pessoas com mobilidade reduzida

Abstract Given the reduction in the equity of uses and the guarantee of accessibility in cities, the general objective of the research is to evaluate the conditions of sidewalks for groups with reduced mobility, adopting road sections in the Centro neighborhood of Curitiba, Paraná, as study objects. With a multimethod, quali-quantitative, and exploratory structure, it was developed in four phases: local characterization, technical reading, perceptual analysis, and integrated evaluation. As responses to the investigative question about approximations and distances between practice and perception of these spaces, the results show the impossibility of confirming the guiding hypothesis that meeting specialized principles allows better perceptive qualifications, enhancing identification, belonging, and appropriation of sidewalks as places for socialization, not diagnosed in this case.

Eclectic Voice Therapy Program in Hyperfunctional Voice Disorders: Evidence from Multidimensional Vocal Profiling

PurposeHyperfunctional Voice Disorder is a disorder of multifactorial origin. It can be speculated that an eclectic voice therapy program that uses combinatory approaches could bring about better efficiency of voice in these individuals. Nevertheless, very less attempts have been made to examine the efficacy of eclectic voice therapy using multidimensional voice outcome measures in the treatment of HFVD. Method10 individuals with HFVD in the age range of 20-55 years attended Comprehensive Voice Habilitation Program (CVHP), an eclectic voice therapy approach for 15 sessions spread across 3 weeks. A stroboscopy examination was performed at the baseline and post-therapy to track the changes in laryngeal functions. Further, perceptual voice analysis, Acoustic Voice Quality Index (AVQI), and Voice Handicap Index in Kannada (VHI-K) were obtained at the baseline, post-therapy, and two follow-ups to report the therapy outcomes. Related- samples Friedman’s Two-way Analysis of Variance by Ranks and Wilcoxn Signed Rank Test were used to note the pre-post and follow-up changes in voice outcomes. ResultsStroboscopy findings revealed significant improvement in movement patterns of the vocal folds and a reduction in ventricular hyperadduction. Perceptual ratings and AVQI scores decreased in post-therapy and follow-up evaluations indicating a decrease in dysphonia severity over time. In addition, a significant decrease in VHI-K scores indicated the alleviation of self-perceived disability/handicap. ConclusionThe current study provided preliminary evidence to support the efficacy of Eclectic voice therapy in HFVD by documenting significant changes in the voice-related outcome measures.

Has the Prevalence of Creaky Voice Increased Among Finnish University Students From the 1990'S to the 2010'S?

Everyday observations indicate that creaky voice has become common in Finland in recent years. Previous studies suggest that this trend is also occurring in other countries. This cross-sectional study investigates the use of creaky voice among Finnish university students from the 1990's to the 2010's. Material was obtained from a sound archive. It consisted of 200 samples from normophonic speakers (95 males, 105 females; mean age 23.7 years, SD 3.3 years, range 19-35 years). Normophonia was checked by two speech therapists in a preliminary perceptual analysis. Thereafter, two voice specialists rated the amount of creak and strain. A scale of 0-4 was used (0=none, 4=a lot). The inter- and intrarater reliability for the listening evaluations were satisfactory (for creaky phonation, rho=0.611, P < 0.001 for interrater reliability and rho=0.540, P < 0.001 for intrarater reliability; for strain, rho=0.463, P < 0.001 and rho=0.697, P < 0.001 for inter- and intrarater reliability, respectively). These results revealed a significant increase in the amount of perceived creak in females (from 1.04, SD 0.69 to 1.55, SD 1.06; P < 0.05, Mann-Whitney U test). In males, no significant change was found. However, the frequency of creaky voice use increased in both genders. No male speakers from the 1990's were rated as using "a lot" of creaky voice, but 2.3% of male speakers from the 2010's received this rating. Male speakers who were rated "quite a lot" increased from 5.9% in the 1990's to 18.1% in the 2010's. Female speakers rated "a lot" increased from 0% to 6%, and female speakers rated "quite a lot" increased from 7% to 25.8% over the studied time periods. Creaky phonation and strain correlated slightly in males (rho=0.24, P < 0.05) and moderately in females (rho=0.55, P < 0.001). Age did not correlate with the amount of creaky phonation (rho=0.005, P > 0.10 for males, rho=-0.011, P > 0.10 for females). It can be concluded that the prevalence of creaky voice has increased among young Finnish speakers, particularly females.

Educational Tourism: A Behavioral and Perceptual Analysis of Chinese Students in Malaysian Public Universities

ABSTRACT This study embarks on an exhaustive exploration of these determinants, leveraging the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) to decipher their interaction and overall impact on educational tourism. The research examines a variety of psychological variables, Attitudes, Subjective Norms, Perceived Behavioral Control, Resource Availability, Self-Esteem Motivation, Novelty Seeking, Perceived Value, and Opportunity Cost, focusing on their modulation by Resource Availability and Novelty Seeking. A structured closed-ended questionnaire serves as the research instrument, obtaining responses from 376 participants over a period of three months. The collected data is meticulously analyzed using the Smart PLS tool. The results illuminate considerable direct and indirect relationships between these factors and their consequent effect on educational tourism. Specifically, Attitudes, Subjective Norms, and Perceived Behavioral Control significantly influence Resource Availability, Self-Esteem Motivation, and Novelty Seeking. In turn, Resource Availability and Novelty Seeking exert a positive effect on educational tourism, while Self-Esteem Motivation shows a minor positive correlation. Perceived Value and Opportunity Cost also play an instrumental moderating role. Although perceived value positively modulates the influence of resource availability, counterintuitively, it exerts a negative moderating effect on novelty seeking. Opportunity Cost presents mixed moderation results. The study concludes by highlighting potential future research directions.

Vocal fold electromyography in patients with endoscopic features of unilateral laryngeal paralysis.

&lt;b&gt;&lt;br&gt;Introduction:&lt;/b&gt; Electromyography (EMG) of the larynx provides information on the electrophysiological condition of laryngeal muscles and innervation. Integration of information obtained from the EMG exams with the clinical parameters as obtained by other methods for laryngeal assessment (endoscopy, perceptual and acoustic analysis, voice self-assessment) provides a multidimensional picture of dysphonia, which is of particular importance in patients with vocal fold (VF) mobility disorders accompanied by glottic insufficiency.&lt;/br&gt; &lt;b&gt;&lt;br&gt;Aim:&lt;/b&gt; The aim of this study was to evaluate laryngeal EMG records acquired in subjects with unilateral vocal fold immobilization with signs of atrophy and glottic insufficiency.&lt;/br&gt; &lt;b&gt;&lt;br&gt;Material and methods:&lt;/b&gt; From the available material of 74 EMG records of patients referred for the exam due to unilateral laryngeal paralysis, records of 17 patients with endoscopic features suggestive of complete laryngeal muscle denervation were selected. The EMG study of thyroarytenoid muscles of mobile and immobile VFs was evaluated qualitatively and quantitatively at rest and during volitional activity involving free phonation of vowel /e/ [ε].&lt;/br&gt; &lt;b&gt;&lt;br&gt;Results:&lt;/b&gt; In all patients, the EMG records from mobile VFs were significantly different from those from immobile VFs. Despite endoscopic features of paralysis, no VF activity whatsoever was observed in as few as 2 patients so as to meet the neurophysiological definition of paralysis. In 88% of cases, electromyographic activity of the thyroarytenoid muscle was observed despite immobilization and atrophy of the vocal fold. In these patients, neurogenic type of record was observed with numerous high- -amplitude mobility units. On the basis of the results, quantitative features of EMG records indicative of paralysis and residual activity of the thyroarytenoid muscle were determined.&lt;/br&gt; &lt;b&gt;&lt;br&gt;Conclusions:&lt;/b&gt; Qualitative and quantitative analysis of laryngeal EMG records provides detailed information on the condition of vocal fold muscles and innervation. EMG records of mobile vs immobile VFs differ significantly from each other. Endoscopic evaluation does not provide sufficient basis for the diagnosis of complete laryngeal muscle denervation.&lt;/br&gt.

Visual channel facilitates the comprehension of the intonation of Brazilian Portuguese wh-questions and wh-exclamations: evidence from congruent and incongruent stimuli

Abstract This paper presents an audiovisual perceptual analysis of the wh-question and wh-exclamation intonation in Brazilian Portuguese using auditory–visual congruent and incongruent stimuli, to investigate the relative importance of each modality in signaling pragmatic meanings. Ten Brazilian Portuguese speakers (five female) were filmed while producing both speech acts 10 times. Next, artificial stimuli were created: audio and visual cues were either matched (audio and video from the same speech act) or mismatched (audio and video from the different speech acts), resulting in 10 congruent and 10 incongruent stimuli of the wh-questions and the wh-exclamations. The perceptual experiment was taken by 36 Brazilians who identified the stimulus as a question or an exclamation. Results from the logistic regression showed that the factor ‘congruence’ was significant and had a significant interaction with ‘speakers’, which means that the congruent stimuli increased the comprehension of the Brazilian Portuguese wh-questions and wh-exclamations. In contrast, the incongruent stimuli tended to lower listeners’ identification, but to a degree depending on individual speakers’ strategies. Although variation in the accuracy of expressing both speech acts was also found across speakers, this study corroborates that the visual channel impacts the perceptual identification of the pragmatic intonation function of distinguishing sentence mode.

A scoping review of transcription-less practices for analysis of aphasic discourse and implications for future research.

It is important to capture a comprehensive language profile from speakers with aphasia. One way to do this is to evaluate spoken discourse, which is language beyond a single simple clause used for a specific purpose. While the historical trend in aphasiology has been to capture performance during isolated language tasks, such as confrontation naming, there is a demonstrated need and benefit to collecting language information from tasks that resemble everyday communication. As a result, there has been an increase in discourse analysis research over time. However, despite clinicians' and researchers' desire to analyse spoken discourse, they are faced with critical barriers that inhibit implementation. To use scoping review methodology to identify transcription-less tools developed to analyse discourse from individuals with aphasia. The review addressed the following question: 'What transcription-less tools and analysis procedures are available to assess discourse in people with aphasia?' and included several sub-questions to further characterise the type of discourse and tool being used, participants on whom the tool was used to rate discourse abilities, tool users (raters), and psychometric properties. The scoping review was conducted between the months of October 2022 and January 2023, concluding 30 January 2023, on PubMed/NCBI, Academic Search Complete and Linguistics and Language Behavior Abstracts. Major inclusion parameters included peer-reviewed papers written in English; that the tool was used to analyse discourse elicited by individuals with acquired aphasia; and that the tool was not a part of a standardised battery or assessment. Perceptual discourse analysis was defined as any analysis which primarily relied on listener impressions and did not numerically quantify specific language behaviours. 'Transcription-less' analysis was defined as any discourse analysis which did not require a written record of the discourse sample in order to be completed. A total of 396 abstracts were screened and 39 full articles were reviewed, yielding 21 papers that were included in the review. An overview of the state of transcription-less tools for aphasic discourse analysis is provided, and next steps are identified to facilitate increased implementation of discourse analysis in clinical and research settings. Transcription-less tools have many benefits for analysing multiple levels (e.g., linguistic, propositional, macrostructural, pragmatic) of discourse, but require more research to establish sound psychometric properties and to explore the implementation of these tools in clinical settings. What is already known on this subject Individuals with aphasia prioritise treatment outcomes at the discourse level such as being able to engage in conversations with friends and family about important topics and participating in social and leisure activities. However, discourse is rarely used as a treatment outcome measure in clinical practice due to multiple barriers. When speech-language pathologists do assess discourse, they often make perceptual judgements without transcribing the discourse sample. Transcription-less analysis procedures may improve clinical implementation of discourse assessment, which would better match treatment outcome measurement to clients' desired outcomes. However, little is known about the current state of transcription-less discourse analysis, blocking progress. What this paper adds to existing knowledge This study provides an overview of currently available transcription-less discourse analysis procedures that are not part of published standardised aphasia assessments. Transcription-less measures are available to evaluate discourse at all levels (i.e., lexical, propositional, macro-structural/planning, and pragmatic) and most measures include items that assess discourse abilities across multiple levels. Additionally, there are transcription-less measures available for both structured (e.g., picture scene description) and spontaneous (e.g., conversation) discourse tasks. However, current transcription-less procedures are lacking psychometric data including information about validity and reliability. What are the potential or actual clinical implications of this work? Transcription-less analysis methods may provide an avenue for increased implementation of discourse measurement into clinical practice. Further research is needed to determine the clinical utility of transcription-less discourse analysis to better monitor clients' desired treatment outcomes.

Effect of vocal loading on voice parameters in trainee actors

Introduction: Prolonged use of voice or vocal load can be a risk factor for individuals and can end up in vocal fatigue and dysphonia. Vocal loading can alter tissue structure and affect the voice quality forever. An obvious factor to be considered is the vocal use by a professional voice user. Actors are a group of professionals who can be affected by the long-term use of voice. There is a higher prevalence of inflammatory lesion in acting students and they were found to have poor vocal hygiene habits; which shows that these future elite vocal performers are at risk for developing a voice disorder. Aim: To study the objective and subjective changes in voice characteristics post vocal loading task in trainee actors. Method: A total 37 trainee actors (14 females and 23 males) participated in the study. The age range of the participants were 20 – 39 years and the range of the training period was 6 – 12 months. The participants were instructed to read a passage for 30 – 45 minutes at a loudness level of 70 – 80 dB SPL. Individuals with perceptually normal voice in terms of pitch and intensity and with a score less than 1 in GRBASI (Grade, Roughness, Breathiness, Asthenia, Strain, Instability) rating scale were included in the study. Acoustic, and perceptual evaluation were measured immediately before and after vocal loading task. Acoustic analysis was done using MDVP, whereas The Auditory Perceptual Rating Scale and GRABASI rating scale were used for perceptual analysis. Self-rating of the voice after vocal loading task was measured after the vocal loading task using Vocal Fatigue Index.1 Results and conclusion: The results revealed a significant difference in perceptual parameters post vocal loading task. The f0, jitter and HNR (Harmonic to Noise Ratio) showed a significant increase in the values after the vocal loading task. However, shimmer and RAP (Relative Amplitude Perturbation) did not show significant difference in the values post vocal loading task. The self-rating of the voice after the vocal loading task revealed that 54% of the trainee actors did not perceive vocal fatigue. The study hence shows significant effects of vocal loading in perceptual and acoustic analysis whereas the self-rating shows less perception of vocal changes in training actors. The acoustic, perceptual and self-rating of the voice quality before and after vocal loading task can aid in effective training and management of the trainee actors. However, the actors themselves are not equipped to measure the voice changes acoustically or perceptually and would take much longer time to perceive changes in their voice quality. Therefore, it is important to give a vocal hygiene programme in the preventive stage, that is, in the training period.