Phonetic Test Research Articles

Speech perception and production abilities in a group of Italian preschoolers aged 72–78 months

Objectives The present work aims to contribute to the debate on the relationship between discrimination and production abilities in older pre-school-aged children and to fill a gap in the literature by providing evidence about this relationship in typically developing children speaking Italian, a language that is under-investigated. Methods Two novel tests, an AX ‘same/different’ phonological discrimination test and a phonetic test, were administered to a sample of Italian pre-school children aged 72–78 months. Discrimination was tested at the feature and the syllable levels. Production was analyzed for consonant repertoire and the presence of phonological processes, such as devoicing or consonant cluster reduction. Results In the AX test, significantly worse performance was found for syllables than for individual features. However, in production, no significant difference was found among phonological processes. No significant correlations were found between children’s performance in the two tests. Conclusion The current data suggest that children’s discrimination and production abilities for speech are still developing after age 6. There is no complete overlap between what children produce and what they discriminate. The implications of these findings for theories of language development are discussed.

Clinical features of prosthetic treatment in edentuluos patients

BACKGROUND: Social adaptation of patients with complete absence of teeth is associated with fixation and stabilization of prostheses during chewing and speech. It is necessary to take into account the somatic status of the patient, the causes of tooth loss, pay attention to the clinical stages of orthopedic treatment.
 AIM: Of the study is to increase the efficiency of the orthopedic dentist with full removable prosthetics.
 MATERIAL AND METHODS: The conditions for obtaining a compression impression are a rigid spoon, silicone impression material of medium viscosity, constant pressure at the time of impression removal. The indication for removing the compression impression is the mucous membrane of the 1st type according to the Supple. The conditions for removing decompression impressions are a perforated individual spoon, liquid-flowing impression material, no pressure on the oral mucosa. The indication for the use of decompression impressions is a thin, atrophied mucous membrane of the oral cavity of the 2nd type according to Supple. It is necessary to use functional impressions combined according to the degree of pressure on the oral mucosa. This implies the peculiarities of manufacturing a rigid base with wax rollers. After determining the central ratio of the jaws and packing the template basis with bite rollers, the doctor applies the impression material differentially to its inner surface. Both templates with bite rollers are inserted into the oral cavity, the doctor controls the central position of the lower jaw, while functional impressions are taken from the upper and lower jaws, taking into account the functional pressure of the patients chewing muscles. This will allow you to evenly distribute the chewing pressure on the oral mucosa. The value of functional rest is determined by measuring two marked points at the base of the nose and on the chin and always exceeds the amount of separation in the state of the central ratio of the jaws by the amount of the interclusal space. Having determined the amount of functional rest, they begin to design the maxillary occlusion pattern, then note the anatomical landmarks. Often, the removal of impressions with a corrective silicone mass is performed in the position of the central ratio.
 The value of functional rest is determined by a set of anatomical landmarks in a state of maximum possible muscle relaxation in combination with phonetic tests when closing the lips without tension.
 RESULTS: The determination of the central ratio on rigid bases makes it possible to accurately fix the interalveolar distance. Patients adapt to prosthetic structures faster.
 The use of a facial arch with an articulator significantly improves the quality of the prosthetic structure, allows you to individualize the anatomical parameters of the patient.
 When determining the central ratio of the jaws, checking the design of the future prosthesis, cone-beam computed tomography of the temporomandibular joint was used to control the position of the heads of the lower jaw, confirming the correctness of the actions. At the stage of checking the design of the removable prosthesis, phonetic tests were used.
 CONCLUSION: The use of combined impressions with simultaneous determination of the central ratio of the jaws and control of the position of the heads of the lower jaw can accelerate the process of orthopedic treatment (combining two stages) and adaptation to removable prostheses. To improve speech during treatment, it is necessary to use special phonetic tests that allow you to restore the correct ratio between the jaws, find the optimal position of artificial teeth, determine the boundaries and shape of the basis of the prosthesis and design the optimal prosthesis for each patient.

Abstract WP21: Cognitive Improvement In Patients With Dural Arterio-venous Fistula After Endovascular Embolization: Interim Analysis Of The NAIF Study

Introduction: Dural arteriovenous fistulae (dAVF) are rare acquired intracranial vascular malformations with clinical manifestations varying from asymptomatic lesions, non-hemorrhagic neurological disorders, and intracranial hemorrhage which may be fatal. In addition, patients with dAVF often have cognitive impairments. This study assessed whether endovascular embolization improves cognitive performance in patients with dAVF. Methods: NAIF was a prospective study including all the patients with a clinical diagnosis of dAVF (excluding those with acute intracranial hemorrhage secondary to venous hypertension) who underwent successful embolization at 5 hospitals in Spain between January 4, 2018 and January 7, 2020. Patients were categorized by risk of hemorrhage (Cognard classification 1-2A and 2B-4) via angiography. A neuropsychological evaluation covering 5 domains of cognitive function (memory, attention and executive functions, language, praxis, gnosis) was completed at baseline and a 3-month follow-up. Paired sample t-tests were used to compare mean Z-scores for cognitive tests pre- and post-treatment, where higher Z-scores signify better cognitive status. Results: A preliminary group of 15 patients (mean age 60, [range 23-83 years], 4 [26.7%] female) were included. Six patients presented with low hemorrhagic risk (Cognard1-2A) and 9 with high hemorrhagic risk (Cognard 2B-4). In the post-treatment neuropsychological evaluation, patients exhibited improved performance in executive function in the Semantic and Phonetic Fluency test (-0.57 vs. 0.21; p=0.01) and increased performance in Verbal Memory Learning (-1.45 vs. -0.82; p=0.014) relative to baseline. The remaining cognitive evaluations did not show significant differences, although there was a trend of language improvement in the Boston naming test (0.95 vs. 1.12; p=0.093). Improvements were observed in both high- and low-risk patients, and no patients experienced cognitive worsening after the intervention. Conclusion: This study suggests that endovascular embolization imparts cognitive benefits for dAVF patients undergoing endovascular embolization, and may be beneficial even for patients with a low risk of hemorrhage.

Correlation between head tremble and the severity of Parkinson's disease.

IntroductionParkinson's (PD) is a common degenerative disease of the central nervous system. It affects more than 6 million individuals worldwide. The typical clinical manifestations include static tremor, slow movement, and unstable posture. However, the correlation between head tremor and the severity of PD remains unclear.MethodsIn the current study, 18 patients and 18 healthy subjects were recruited to undergo a phonation test. Noldus facereader 7.0 software was used to analyze the range of head trembling between the two groups.ResultsThe data revealed that patients with PD had significant differences in the x‐, y‐, and z‐axis of head movement with respect to the specific pronunciation syllables compared with the normal group. Moreover, the head movement of the patients with PD was positively correlated with the severity of the disease in the single, double, and multiple syllable tests. In the phonetic test, the head displacement of patients with PD was significantly greater than that of healthy individuals, and the displacement range was positively correlated with the severity of the disease.ConclusionThese pieces of evidence suggested that the measurement of head displacement assists the early diagnosis and severity of the disease.

Executive-function tasks in patients with mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer's Disease: Effects of decline and gender

It is exceedingly rare to find studies that analyze the effect of gender differences in executive-function tasks in normal cognitive aging, Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) and Alzheimer's Disease (AD). The objective of the present study was to analyze the mean differences in performance in four executive-function tasks, the Clock Drawing Test verbal-command, Clock Drawing Test-copy, Phonetic Fluency Test and Trail Making Test-A, according to the gender and impairment group variables. A total of 90 participants (30 patients with Alzheimer's Disease, 30 patients with Mild Cognitive Impairment, and 30 healthy elderly participants; 50% men and 50% women in each group) took part in the study. As expected, the results showed a main effect of the group in most tasks, with a progressively worse performance according to cognitive impairment. Regarding the effect of gender, there were no significant differences in the Mild Cognitive Impairment and healthy elderly groups, but a significantly higher performance of women compared to men was found in the Alzheimer's group. The clinical and theoretical implications of these results are discussed. In particular, the abnormal performance of women with Alzheimer's in the sample may be related to a possible cognitive reserve due to social and educational background in their sociocultural and generational context.

Traditional prosthetic workflow for implant rehabilitations with a reduced number of fixtures: proposal of a protocol.

The aim of this study was to describe a standardized protocol for the creation of a definitive prosthetic rehabilitation supported by a reduced number of implants, achievable with a limited number of an optimized appointments. The proposed protocol provides only for 4 appointments to finalize the set work. During the first appointment, definitive impressions are taken in order to obtain the master models and plaster bars. The second appointment is the most important: the aesthetic and functional evaluations of the provisional prostheses are carried out and the plaster bars tested. During the third appointment the teeth test is performed, with the corresponding phonetic and functional test. In the fourth appointment the definitive prostheses are delivered and screwed. The fundamental aspect of prosthetic finalization is the simplification and standardization of protocols to obtain better control of all different steps and to reduce the number of appointments with the patient. The realization of a correct definitive prosthesis is the key to long-term success in implant rehabilitation and can improve the patient's quality of life in various aspects. By optimising the time and standardising the procedures, it is possible to make definitive prostheses for rehabilitations with a reduced number of implants of excellent quality in only 4 appointments.

Study about Chinese Speech Synthesis Algorithm and Acoustic Model Based on Wireless Communication Network

Chinese speech synthesis refers to the technology that machines transform human speech signals into corresponding texts or commands through recognition and understanding. This paper combines the classic VAD and GSM VAD1 algorithm simulations, improves on the above two algorithms to recognize and collect speech, and analyzes their Chinese proficiency by amplifying the signal through a filter, in order to study the adulthood of Zhengzhou University in Southeast Asian students (mother tongues are Indonesian and Thai) as the research objects, to explore the relationship between the Chinese phonetic proficiency and the acquisition motivation of Southeast Asian students. This article combines algorithm and language disciplines. According to the results of Praat and SPSS: 55‐80 points account for 70%, 55 points below 20% and 80 points above 10%, we find that intrinsic motivation plays a role in CSL acquisition, a vital role. Intrinsic motivation can help mature learners from Southeast Asia to acquire Chinese better and better. The earlier you learn Chinese, the higher your motivation, and the easier it is to set your Chinese learning goals. The greater the enthusiasm for learning Chinese, the better the Chinese scores (such as HSK test scores and Chinese phonetic test scores). Therefore, the Chinese proficiency of international students has a great relationship with their interest in Chinese language, that is, the greater the interest in Chinese, the stronger their motivation to learn, and the Chinese proficiency will be very good.

Analysis of functional speech sound disorder and related erroneous consonants in children

Objective: To investigate the features and trends of functional speech sound disorder and related erroneous consonants in children, so as to provide evidence for clinical evaluation and rational intervention. Methods: Clinical data of 1 562 children diagnosed with functional speech sound disorder in the language-speech clinic of the Department of Child Health Care, Children's Hospital, Capital Institute of Pediatrics from January 2007 to December 2018 were analyzed retrospectively. By using the mandarin phonetic test table, the picture-naming method was adopted to test the word-level pronunciation. The Chi-square test was conducted to analyze the incidence of consonant errors in different age groups, gender and different places of articulation. The trend in incidence of the consonant errors in different age groups and during the last 12 years were analyzed by chi-square trend test. Results: A total of 1 562 cases were diagnosed with functional speech sound disorder, including 1 171 males and 391 females, the age was 4-17 years. The incidence of consonant errors in different places of articulation was 43.0% (672/1 562) for labial, 47.0% (734/1 562) for lingua-palatal, 63.7% (995/1 562) for velar, 77.7% (1 213/1 562) for linguo-alveolar, 78.9% (1 233/1 562) for apico-dental and 81.6% (1 274/1 562) for palatal. The incidence of consonant errors in males on labial, lingua-palatal, linguo-alveolar and palatal was higher than that in females (44.7% (523/1 171) vs. 38.1% (149/391), 49.1% (575/1 171) vs. 40.7% (159/391), 80.1% (938/1 171) vs. 70.3% (275/391), 82.8% (970/1 171) vs. 77.7% (304/391), χ²=5.138, 8.379, 16.126 and 5.042,all P<0.05). The incidence of consonant errors on labial, lingua-palatal, velar, linguo-alveolar, apico-dental and palatal decreased with age (χ²=27.023, 13.230, 20.579, 29.718, 26.390, and 17.887, all P<0.01). The incidence of consonant errors on labial, linguo-alveolar, apico-dental increased with years (χ²=9.030, 51.894 and 18.507, all P<0.01). Conclusions: The incidence of palatal errors is the highest in children with functional speech sound disorder. As part of the palatal errors could not be completely self-healing with growing, the phonological therapy for palatal errors should be carried out as early as possible. The incidence of consonant errors on labial, linguo-alveolar, and apico-dental presents an upward tendency with years, more attention should be paid to the factors related to the acquisition of these consonants.

Developing and Examining the Psychometrics of Single-word Quick Repetition Test for Speech Sound Production in Persian-speaking Children

Objectives: The present study aimed to develop and validate a quick repetition test using familiar and culture-based words for assessing Persian-speaking children with Speech Sound Disorders (SSDs). Methods: The study sample was divided into two groups, including 419 participants without any clinical signs of speech impairment and 36 cases with SSD. The psychometric properties of the single word quick repetition test, including reliability (inter-rater and test-retest reliability) and validity (construct, discriminant, convergent, clinical and concurrent validity) were examined. Moreover, the descriptive data for children without SSD were reported. Results: The obtained test-retest and inter-rater reliability data were satisfactory with Intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC): &gt;0.7. There was a positive correlation between the results of the quick repetition test and phonetic test, indicating the scale’s acceptable convergence validity. Using inflated beta-binomial regression, statistically significant improvement in test score was found with age (discriminant validity). Comparing the correct responses of the control and case groups (clinical validity) revealed a significant difference in responses between the study groups. Results of Bland–Altman plot suggested an acceptable agreement between quick repetition test and phonetic test (construct validity). Discussion: The Persian quick repetition test is a valid and reliable instrument facilitating the screening of speech sound abilities in 3-8-year-olds. Moreover, this test’s conciseness makes it easily applicable in clinical practice and epidemiologic investigations. Establishing descriptive data from a large sample facilitated comparing children’s speech ability to the speech development standards.

Dissociation in Age-Related Developmental Trajectories Between Phonetic Fluency and Semantic Fluency Tests: Analysis of Longitudinal Data From the Yakumo Study

Abstract Possible age-related differences in Phonemic Fluency Test (PFT) and Semantic Fluency Test (SFT) performance were examined by using longitudinal data of healthy older adults. The performance trajectories of 81 older adults in the 2 tests were analyzed for 11 years, from 65 to 75 years of age, via individually calculated linear regression coefficients. The results indicated that the PFT and SFT performance showed an age-related decline. However, the declining slope of the SFT was steeper than that of the PFT performance. These findings correspond with those of previous cross-sectional studies and suggest a future need to examine neurobiological substrates underlying the two domains of verbal fluency abilities.

Phonetic considerations in restorative dentistry

The use of phonetics is one of several guides that can be used by the restorative dentist during the assessment and restoration of structurally compromised teeth. To accomplish this, an understanding of the basic mechanisms involved in producing sounds during speech can facilitate the application of these techniques during patient management. This review discusses the basic principles of speech sounds production. This is followed by a discussion of the clinical applications of the different phonetic tests in the assessment and management of dentate and partially dentate patients with structurally compromised dentitions.CPD/Clinical Relevance: Phonetic tests are among the many guides used in the assessment and management of dentate patients with structurally compromised dentitions. The clinician should be familiar with the basic principles and applications of these tests to be able to assess and manage patients in daily practice.

Assessment of Speech Sound Production by Story-retelling in Persian Speaking Children: Introducing a New Instrument.

Background: Speech and language pathologists should include connected speech assessment as part of their evaluation for children with speech sound disorders. The purpose of the present study was to design and validate an instrument for assessment of articulation by story-retelling for Persian children. Methods:261 typically developing children, aged 4-5 years old in Iran, Tehran, in 2016-2017, were recruited in the current study. First, two stories were designed. Next, the expert panel reviewed those two stories and selected one story for assessment. The strengths of the test for discriminating between the two age groups (48-54 months and 55-60 months) and between boys and girls were investigated for construct validity. Test-retest was performed for 15 children. Also, inter-rater reliability was evaluated via calculating the correlation between the two examiners’ scores. Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS), version 24, was used for statistical analysis. The significance level was set at (P<0.05). Results:There was 80% or more agreement in experts’ response to questions regarding content validity. All of the reliability values were higher than 0.85. No significant difference was observed between boys and girls (P=0.77), but there was a significant difference between the two age groups (P<0.001). There was a significant correlation between this test and phonetic test of the Persian version of diagnostic articulation and phonology (r=0.62, P=0.002). Conclusion:The Persian story for the assessment of speech sound production is a reliable and valid instrument that can be used to evaluate the articulation of Persian children.

Use of phonetic tests for frontal teeth defects prosthetics. A review

Use of phonetic tests for frontal teeth defects prosthetics. A review

Erään venäjänopiskelijan harjoittelu ja kehitys venäjän kielen sibilanttien ja affrikaattojen parissa

&#x0D; &#x0D; &#x0D; The paper in question reports an experiment that examines the difficulties of acquiring Russian sibilant and affricate phonemes faced by a Finnish L2 learner of Russian. The experiment is based on the theoretical framework of explicit pronunciation teaching and that of contrastive analysis. The experiment itself consists of three parts: 1) phonetic testing in three phases, including tasks of both receptive and productive spoken language skills, 2) a short lesson about the features and pronunciation of the sibilants and affricates of Russian, conducted by the author, 3) independent practice by the experimentee. The analysis concentrates on finding similarities and differences between a) the pronunciation target and the sounds produced by the experimentee and b) the sounds produced in different phases. The results show that there is little improvement in the reception skills of the experimentee (6 % increase between the first and the last test), but more so in their production skills (16 %). Interestingly, while most of the mistakes made by the experimentee were anticipated on the basis of a contrastive analysis between Russian and Finnish, some tasks proved to be significantly easier than expected, for example the regocnition of the word-ini al s /ʐ/.&#x0D; &#x0D; &#x0D;

English

Mother tongue acquisition starts with words and grammar acquired spontaneously by means of communication, while at school foreign language learning takes place based on grammar. Vocabulary learning is very often neglected or rather it turns into an individual activity. The present study, which is considered to be unique on its own, is to reveal the effect of phonetic association method within the context of natural languages on efficiency and retention of vocabulary teaching. To be more concise, this is to assess the rate of learning homonymous English and French words with Turkish as well as success rate of retention of the words learned. The sample of the study consists of 6th grade students learning English at 3 junior high schools and 9th grade students learning French at 3 high schools, which are socio-economically in good-state. These grades are the first years when students start to learn foreign languages systematically. A total of 70 respondents, 21 female and 14 male 6th graders and 19 female and 16 male 9th graders, participated in the study. Structured interview method was used in this research. A phonetic association test of 25 English and 25 French words homonymous with Turkish words was developed, and it was conducted on the groups in different time zones: the rate of learning words was measured in the first week for four hours while in the second week the success rate of recalling the words was evaluated. Descriptive and content analysis were used to interpret and analyze the data. The results have suggested that those learning English were better than those learning French in learning vocabulary by means of phonetic association method and their rate of acquisition was higher while the rate of success of both groups increased in the second week compared to the first week. However, the rate of success of those learning English was found higher. Learners of English in the second week remembered more words than those learning French. These results could be related to the difficulty level of the words or the attitude of learners toward languages they were studying. Key Words: Association, word, teaching, memory, sound, meaning.

Negative Transfer of Anhui Dialects to English Pronunciation— Case Study in Anhui Agricultural University

In this paper, Anhui Agricultural University is taken as an example to study how Anhui dialects influence the English pronunciation of students. The different pronunciation characteristics of Anhui dialects are collected and summarized in this paper. A phonetic test based on the international phonetics is comprehensively designed for the collection of students’ pronunciation. Through contrasts and analysis, the specific influences that Anhui dialects exert on students are discovered, which will help a lot in the improvement of student’s pronunciation.

Novel Bedside Phonetic Evaluation to Identify Dysphagia and Aspiration Risk.

There is a need for improved clinical identification of hospitalized patients at risk of aspiration. We evaluated our novel phonetic test in a broad spectrum of patients at risk of aspiration in the ICU or intermediate care unit. We prospectively enrolled 60 hospitalized patients with aspiration risk, between December 2009 and September 2011, who subsequently underwent audio-recorded three-component phonetic bedside evaluation. The recordings were scored by two blinded speech-language pathologists. The institutional dysphagia admission screening test was performed by a bedside nurse. The primary outcomes, dysphagia and aspiration, were assessed by a videofluoroscopic swallowing study, fiber-optic endoscopic evaluation of swallowing, or both. We assessed the short- and long-term clinical outcomes (length of stay, subsequent aspiration pneumonia and respiratory failure, survival) and how these were associated with the phonetic and swallow assessments. Statistically significant linear associations with dysphagia were noted for all three individual phonetic components. Also, there were statistically significant linear associations with aspiration for diadochokinesis (P = .050) and consensus auditory-perceptual evaluation of voice (P = .025). Diadochokinesis alone predicted dysphagia (area under the curve [AUC], 0.74; P = .001) and aspiration (AUC, 0.67; P = .012). Its predictive ability improved when combined with normalized dysphagia admission screening test results (AUC, 0.79; P = .001). The short- and long-term clinical outcomes were adversely affected by the worse phonetic/swallowing scores, although they were not statistically different. Abnormal phonation among ICU and intermediate care unit patients is associated with dysphagia and aspiration. Future investigative efforts should uncover the most effective combination of evaluations for accurate bedside detection of dysphagia and aspiration risk in a broad spectrum of patients.

Drug Resistance, Genotype and Site-Specificity: Do they Affect Biofilm Formation in Mycobacterium tuberculosis?

The purpose of the study was to compare the mandibular movement during speech in patients with temporomandibular disorder (muscular TMD) and in asymptomatic volunteers using computerized electrognathography. Twelve asymptomatic volunteers (Group I control group) and 12 patients with muscular TMD (Group II) were selected. Both groups were subjected to a phonetic test and evaluated according to: maximum mandibular opening amplitude (mm), mandibular velocity during opening and closing (mm/sec) and maximum lateral deviation to both right and left sides (mm). Regarding to the mandible movements both frontal and horizontal planes, as well as the mandible deviations, there was no difference between Group I and Group II for all parameters analyzed. Regarding to the mandible movements in frontal and horizontal planes as well as the mandible deviations, there was no difference between group I and group II (muscular TMD and Asymptomatic). There was a statistical difference for the maximum mandibular velocity during opening and closing during speech in symptomatic patients.

A New System for Choosing the Form and Size of Complete Denture Anterior Teeth

Introduction: In the absence of pre-extraction records, the choice of the size an form of anterior complete denture teeth can be extremely subjective. Several clinical and statistical parameters are usually used for choosing the correct size and form of the complete denture anterior teeth. Clinical Innovation: The technique consists of a system that allows the dentist to choose and, if necessary, easily change the dental mold during maxillomandibular recording session. The unique feature of the system is that six teeth of each mold are represented by veneers, which are connected to each other on the lingual surface by a fiber that allows each veneer some degree of movement. Discussion: This technique allows the three-dimensional verification of the patient’s esthetics and realistic phonetic test during the session of maxillomandibular records; if necessary, the dentist may easily replace the mold with a different one in form or size, without working the wax to move or replace a tooth.

Electrognathographic Analysis of Jaw Movements during Speech: An Exploratory Study

The purpose of the study was to compare the mandibular movement during speech in patients with temporomandibular disorder (muscular TMD) and in asymptomatic volunteers using computerized electrognathography. Twelve asymptomatic volunteers (Group I control group) and 12 patients with muscular TMD (Group II) were selected. Both groups were subjected to a phonetic test and evaluated according to: maximum mandibular opening amplitude (mm), mandibular velocity during opening and closing (mm/sec) and maximum lateral deviation to both right and left sides (mm). Regarding to the mandible movements both frontal and horizontal planes, as well as the mandible deviations, there was no difference between Group I and Group II for all parameters analyzed. Regarding to the mandible movements in frontal and horizontal planes as well as the mandible deviations, there was no difference between group I and group II (muscular TMD and Asymptomatic). There was a statistical difference for the maximum mandibular velocity during opening and closing during speech in symptomatic patients.