Tongue Shape Research Articles

Model of Faraday waves in a cylindrical container with force detuning

Recent experiments by Shao et al. [“Surface wave pattern formation in a cylindrical container,” J. Fluid Mech. 915, A19 (2021)] have revealed complex wave dynamics on the surface of a liquid bath in a vertically vibrated cylindrical container that are related to the presence of a meniscus on the container sidewall. We develop a corresponding theoretical model for this system by detuning the driving acceleration of the container, which results in an inhomogeneous Mathieu equation that governs the wave dynamics whose spatial structure is defined by the mode number pair (n,m), with n and m the radial and azimuthal mode numbers, respectively. Asymmetric m≠0 modes are unaffected by the detuning parameter, which is related to the meniscus shape and satisfy a homogeneous Mathieu equation with the shape of the instability tongues computed by the Floquet theory. The Poincaré–Lindstedt method is used to compute the instability tongues for the axisymmetric m=0 modes, which have a lower threshold acceleration and larger bandwidth that depend upon the detuning parameter. Our model results explicitly show how the shape of the meniscus and spatial structure of the wave determine the temporal response and are in good agreement with prior experimental observations for both pure modes and mixed modes.

What R Mandarin Chinese /ɹ/s? - acoustic and articulatory features of Mandarin Chinese rhotics.

Rhotic sounds are well known for their considerable phonetic variation within and across languages and their complexity in speech production. Although rhotics in many languages have been examined and documented, the phonetic features of Mandarin rhotics remain unclear, and debates about the prevocalic rhotic (the syllable-onset rhotic) persist. This paper extends the investigation of rhotic sounds by examining the articulatory and acoustic features of Mandarin Chinese rhotics in prevocalic, syllabic (the rhotacized vowel [ɚ]), and postvocalic (r-suffix) positions. Eighteen speakers from Northern China were recorded using ultrasound imaging. Results showed that Mandarin syllabic and postvocalic rhotics can be articulated with various tongue shapes, including tongue-tip-up retroflex and tongue-tip-down bunched shapes. Different tongue shapes have no significant acoustic differences in the first three formants, demonstrating a many-to-one articulation-acoustics relationship. The prevocalic rhotics in our data were found to be articulated only with bunched tongue shapes, and were sometimes produced with frication noise at the start. In general, rhotics in all syllable positions are characterized by a close F2 and F3, though the prevocalic rhotic has a higher F2 and F3 than the syllabic and postvocalic rhotics. The effects of syllable position and vowel context are also discussed.

Study of transient pressure and fluctuation characteristics in a centrifugal pump using the delayed detached-eddy simulation method

This study employed OpenFOAM, the delayed detached-eddy simulation (DDES) turbulence model, and structured grids to develop numerical models for three centrifugal pumps with twisted blades. The internal pressure field, velocity field, forces, and fluctuation characteristics of the centrifugal pumps are comprehensively analyzed under various operating conditions. The findings indicate that the pressure is relatively higher in the flow passages near the volute tongue and the outlet within the impeller. Regions of high relative velocity (slip velocity) are mainly found on the suction side of the blades, indicating that the design of the blade suction side affects the fluid outward slip performance. As the flow rate increases, the forces and force fluctuation amplitudes of each pump component also rise. Conversely, as the rotational speed increases, the force on the blades or impeller gradually increases while the fluctuation amplitude decreases. In the stationary domain, the force on the volute gradually decreases while the fluctuation amplitude of this force increases. The shape of the volute tongue influences the rate at which pressure inside the volute is converted to outlet pressure. The power spectral density (PSD) of pressure fluctuations is smallest at the nominal flow rate, displaying a clear and distinct axial frequency pattern without complex low-frequency fluctuations. Under low flow and high-speed conditions, the PSD at the axial frequency is relatively small, whereas the pressure PSD at other low frequencies is relatively large. This indicates instability in the flow under these conditions.

An Articulatory Analysis of American English Rhotics in Children With and Without a History of Residual Speech Sound Disorder.

This study investigated articulatory patterns for American English /ɹ/ in children with and without a history of residual speech sound disorder (RSSD). It was hypothesized that children without RSSD would favor bunched tongue shapes, similar to American adults reported in previous literature. Based on clinical cueing practices, it was hypothesized that children with RSSD might produce retroflex tongue shape patterns at a higher relative rate. Finally, it was hypothesized that, among children who use a mixture of bunched and retroflex shapes, phonetic context would impact tongue shape as reported in the adult literature. These hypotheses were tested using ultrasound data from a stimulability task eliciting /ɹ/ in syllabic, postvocalic, and onset contexts. Participants were two groups of children/adolescents aged 9-15 years: 36 with RSSD who completed a study of ultrasound biofeedback treatment and 33 with no history of RSSD. Tongue shapes were qualitatively coded as bunched or retroflex using a flowchart from previous research. Children with no history of RSSD were found to use bunched-only tongue shape patterns at a rate higher than adults, but those who used a mixture of shapes for /ɹ/ followed the expected phonetic contextual patterning. Children with RSSD were found to use retroflex-only patterns at a substantially higher rate than adults, and those using a mixture of shapes did not exhibit the expected patterning by phonetic context. These findings suggest that clients receiving ultrasound biofeedback treatment for /ɹ/ may be most responsive to clinician cueing of retroflex shapes, at least early on. However, retroflex-only cueing may be a limiting and insufficient strategy, particularly in light of our finding of a lack of typical variation across phonetic contexts in children with remediated /ɹ/. Future research should more specifically track cueing strategies to better understand the relationship between clinician cues, tongue shapes, and generalization across a range of contexts. https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.26801050.

Patterns of identity: Lip prints, tongue prints and mandibular canine width as markers for gender determination—A cross-sectional study

ABSTRACT Introduction: Forensic odontology plays a pivotal role in identifying individuals in legal contexts. This study analyses the efficacy of lip prints, tongue prints and mandibular canine width in determining gender, aiming to contribute to the evolving field of forensic dentistry. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted involving 100 participants, analysing lip prints based on Tsuchihashi’s classification, recording tongue shapes and features through the use of alginate impressions and measuring mandibular canine width using a vernier calliper. The findings were reported in accordance with the Strengthening the Reporting of Observational Studies in Epidemiology checklist. Results: In lip prints, Tsuchihashi’s Type I lip print was predominantly found in females, whereas Tsuchihashi’s Type III prevailed in males. Tongue shapes revealed a predominance of pentagonal shapes in males and ovoid shapes in females. The lingual apex was blunt in males and sharp in females. Mandibular canine width was higher in males than females on both the left and right sides. Conclusion: The findings of this study support the use of lip prints, tongue prints and canine width in determining gender as ancillary and supporting methods.

A study of the effects of housing tongue design on radial turbine performance

The nozzleless volute housings can generate non-uniform flow distributions to the downstream radial turbine rotors, which not only affects turbine aerodynamic performance but also poses a threat to the fatigue life of the rotors. It is believed that the housing tongue is the main factor in generating this non-uniformity. Tongue design is based on experience and the geometric parameters of tongue, such as the distance between the tongue and rotor, the thickness of the tongue, and tongue shape are to be specified in the design. A few studies on housing tongue can be found in the literature, but in these investigations of the influences of tongue geometric parameters, factors such as mass flow rate and volute A/R distribution were not kept constant, thus introducing additional factors and reducing the persuasiveness of the results. Therefore, three new housings with different tongue-rotor distances are designed with a two-dimensional method for comparative CFD studies. The results indicate that when the mass flow of the turbines is kept, the distance between the tongue and the rotor has little impact on the turbine efficiency (about 0.1%), while the blade excitation forces from the housing increase with the decrease of the distance by more than 50%. Two further new housings are then created by modifying the housing inlet pipe to minimize tongue thickness, one of the housings is more practical with a short and thin tongue. CFD results indicate 0.2%∼0.4% improvement of turbine efficiency and reduction of housing excitation forces by more than 50% using these two thin tongue housings.

Chicken swarm algorithm with deep convolutional neural network based tongue image analysis for gastric cancer classification

Tongue images (the size, shape, and colour of tongue and the thickness, colour, and moisture content of tongue coating), reflecting the medical condition of entire body based on the model of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) are extremely utilized in China for millions of years. Gastric cancer (GC) is great lethal kind of cancer in countries and societies. The screening and analysis of GC yet depend on gastroscopy, however its application was significantly restricted due to its invasive, maximum rate and the requirement for expert endoscopists. Early recognition in GC patients and direct treatment contribute significantly to safety for health. Consequently, this study introduces a Chicken Swarm Algorithm with Deep learningbased Tongue Image Analysis for Gastric Cancer Classification (CSADL-TIAGCC) system. The projected CSADL-TIAGCC approach studies the input tongue images for the identification and classification of GC. To accomplish this, the CSADL-TIAGCC system uses improved U-Net segmentation approach. Besides, residual network (ResNet-34) model-based feature extractor is used. Furthermore, long short term memory (LSTM) approach was exploited for GC classification and its hyperparameters are selected by the CSA. The simulation outcome of the CSADL-TIAGCC algorithm was examined under tongue image database. The experimental outcomes illustrate the enhanced results of the CSADL-TIAGCC technique with respect of different evaluation measures.

Comprehensive assessment of rock glaciers in the Himachal Himalayas: Updated inventory and labelling

Rock glaciers are geomorphological features often used as a visible expression of mountain permafrost. These are creeping ice-debris with distinct ridge and furrow structures on the surface with a steep frontal slope. Rock glaciers, being the valuable past permafrost indicators, also have utmost hydrological significance in near future. Therefore, mapping of rock glaciers is an important step in order to understand permafrost regimes better. The Himalayas have large occurrences of these features and this study in Himachal Himalayas complied 789 rock glaciers, covering an area of about 336.2 km2. Different labels based on genesis, location, shape, form, surface relief and activity revealed rock glaciers were mainly derived from talus slopes (239) and exhibited tongue shape (377), primarily found in cirques (531). Most of them were classified as simple units (603) with well-developed surface relief (387), and they were found to be predominantly intact (760). The topographical parameters suggest majority of the rock glaciers are located between 4000 and 4800 m with mean elevation to be 4635 m. These rock glaciers are present at gentle to steep slope gradient (0 to 45°) with curvature ranging between −3.5 and 4.5, and majority showing convex curvature. The slope aspect conducive for formation of rock glaciers in Himachal is northerly (N, NW, NE). Principal geology for these rock glaciers belongs to slate, phyllite, quartzarenite, limestone and meta basics. The climatic parameters and indices also affect the rock glaciers occurrence significantly. The mean land surface temperature (LST) for majority rock glaciers lies between 0 and −15°C. While, the mean NDSI of all the rock glaciers varies from 0.04 to 0.68 and mean NDVI varies from −0.06 to 0.08. Overall, the inventory along with labels is a valuable database for understanding the distribution and characteristics of rock glaciers in the Himachal Himalayas.

Tongue Disease Prediction Based on Machine Learning Algorithms

The diagnosis of tongue disease is based on the observation of various tongue characteristics, including color, shape, texture, and moisture, which indicate the patient’s health status. Tongue color is one such characteristic that plays a vital function in identifying diseases and the levels of progression of the ailment. With the development of computer vision systems, especially in the field of artificial intelligence, there has been important progress in acquiring, processing, and classifying tongue images. This study proposes a new imaging system to analyze and extract tongue color features at different color saturations and under different light conditions from five color space models (RGB, YcbCr, HSV, LAB, and YIQ). The proposed imaging system trained 5260 images classified with seven classes (red, yellow, green, blue, gray, white, and pink) using six machine learning algorithms, namely, the naïve Bayes (NB), support vector machine (SVM), k-nearest neighbors (KNN), decision trees (DTs), random forest (RF), and Extreme Gradient Boost (XGBoost) methods, to predict tongue color under any lighting conditions. The obtained results from the machine learning algorithms illustrated that XGBoost had the highest accuracy at 98.71%, while the NB algorithm had the lowest accuracy, with 91.43%. Based on these obtained results, the XGBoost algorithm was chosen as the classifier of the proposed imaging system and linked with a graphical user interface to predict tongue color and its related diseases in real time. Thus, this proposed imaging system opens the door for expanded tongue diagnosis within future point-of-care health systems.

Intelligent quality control of traditional chinese medical tongue diagnosis images based on deep learning.

Computer-aided tongue and face diagnosis technology can make Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) more standardized, objective and quantified. However, many tongue images collected by the instrument may not meet the standard in clinical applications, which affects the subsequent quantitative analysis. The common tongue diagnosis instrument cannot determine whether the patient has fully extended the tongue or collected the face. This paper proposes an image quality control algorithm based on deep learning to verify the eligibility of TCM tongue diagnosis images. We firstly gathered enough images and categorized them into five states. Secondly, we preprocessed the training images. Thirdly, we built a ResNet34 model and trained it by the transfer learning method. Finally, we input the test images into the trained model and automatically filter out unqualified images and point out the reasons. Experimental results show that the model's quality control accuracy rate of the test dataset is as high as 97.06%. Our methods have the strong discriminative power of the learned representation. Compared with previous studies, it can guarantee subsequent tongue image processing. Our methods can guarantee the subsequent quantitative analysis of tongue shape, tongue state, tongue spirit, and facial complexion.

Morphological Variation in the Shape of Tongue: A Potential Geographical Marker

Introduction- The human tongue is of great significance to forensic odontologists. It aids in identification. Studies about variations in the morphological shape of the tongue are extremely rare among pediatric populations. This study aimed to observe the morphological variations in the shape of the tongue among pediatric population of the age group of 10-13 years in Gujarat, India. It also aimed to determine the gender predilection for each type of the shape of the tongue. Research Methods- A cross-sectional study was conducted among 400 children (n=400) of the age group of 10-13 years in a dental camp in Gandhinagar, Gujarat. Visual examination and evaluation of the shape of the tongue was done individually for all the children followed by digital documentation and statistical analysis in Microsoft Excel 2019. Results- Out of 400 subjects, 200 (50%) were males and 200 (50%) were females. Seven shapes of the tongue were observed that included- acute triangular, obtuse triangular, elliptical, round, rectangular, square and bifid tongue. Gender distribution was observed among all shapes of the tongue. The acute triangular tongue was predominantly found in 114 individuals (28.5%) of the entire study population that showed a female predilection. The non-syndromic bifid tongue was also observed in 48 individuals (12%) of the entire population with a male predilection. Conclusion- Gender distribution in the shapes of the tongue varies in different geographical locations. More such research studies need to be carried out among the pediatric populations of different regions of the world.

Acoustic and Articulatory Visual Feedback in Classroom L2 Vowel Remediation.

This paper presents L2 vowel remediation in a classroom setting via two real-time visual feedback methods: articulatory ultrasound tongue imaging, which shows tongue shape and position, and a newly developed acoustic formant analyzer, which visualizes a point correlating with the combined effect of tongue position and lip rounding in a vowel quadrilateral. Ten Czech students of the Swedish language participated in the study. Swedish vowel production is difficult for Czech speakers since the languages differ significantly in their vowel systems. The students selected the vowel targets on their own and practiced in two classroom groups, with six students receiving two ultrasound training lessons, followed by one acoustic, and four students receiving two acoustic lessons, followed by one ultrasound. Audio data were collected pre-training, after the two sessions employing the first visual feedback method, and at post-training, allowing measuring Euclidean distance among selected groups of vowels and observing the direction of change within the vowel quadrilateral as a result of practice. Perception tests were performed before and after training, revealing that most learners perceived selected vowels correctly already before the practice. The study showed that both feedback methods can be successfully applied to L2 classroom learning, and both lead to the improvement in the pronunciation of the selected vowels, as well as the Swedish vowel set as a whole. However, ultrasound tongue imaging seems to have an advantage as it resulted in a greater number of improved targets.

Bilinguals from Larynx to Lips: Exploring Bilingual Articulatory Strategies with Anatomic MRI Data.

The goal of this article is to illustrate the use of MRI for exploring bi- and multi-lingual articulatory strategies. One male and one female speaker recorded sets of static midsagittal MRIs of the whole vocal tract, producing vowels as well as consonants in various vowel contexts in either the male's two or the female's three languages. Both speakers were native speakers of English (American and Australian English, respectively), and both were fluent L2 speakers of French. In addition, the female speaker was a heritage speaker of Croatian. Articulatory contours extracted from the MRIs were subsequently used at three progressively more compact and abstract levels of analysis. (1) Direct comparison of overlaid contours was used to assess whether phones analogous across L1 and L2 are similar or dissimilar, both overall and in specific vocal tract regions. (2) Consonant contour variability along the vocal tract due to vowel context was determined using dispersion ellipses and used to explore the variable resistance to coarticulation for non-analogous rhotics and analogous laterals in Australian, French, and Croatian. (3) Articulatory modeling was used to focus on specific articulatory gestures (tongue position and shape, lip protrusion, laryngeal height, etc.) and then to explore the articulatory strategies in the speakers' interlanguages for production of the French front rounded vowel series. This revealed that the Australian and American speakers used different strategies to produce the non-analogous French vowel series. We conclude that MRI-based articulatory data constitute a very rich and underused source of information that amply deserves applications to the study of L2 articulation and bilingual and multi-lingual speech.

Adjoint Solver-Based Analysis of Mouth–Tongue Morphologies on Vapor Deposition in the Upper Airway

Even though inhalation dosimetry is determined by three factors (i.e., breathing, aerosols, and the respiratory tract), the first two categories have been more widely studied than the last. Both breathing and aerosols are quantitative variables that can be easily changed, while respiratory airway morphologies are difficult to reconstruct, modify, and quantify. Although several methods are available for model reconstruction and modification, developing an anatomically accurate airway model and morphing it to various physiological conditions remains labor-intensive and technically challenging. The objective of this study is to explore the feasibility of using an adjoint–CFD model to understand airway shape effects on vapor deposition and control vapor flux into the lung. A mouth–throat model was used, with the shape of the mouth and tongue being automatically varied via adjoint morphing and the vapor transport being simulated using ANSYS Fluent coupled with a wall absorption model. Two chemicals with varying adsorption rates, Acetaldehyde and Benzene, were considered, which exhibited large differences in dosimetry sensitivity to airway shapes. For both chemicals, the maximal possible morphing was first identified and then morphology parametric studies were conducted. Results show that changing the mouth–tongue shape can alter the oral filtration by 3.2% for Acetaldehyde and 0.27% for Benzene under a given inhalation condition. The front tongue exerts a significant impact on all cases considered, while the impact of other regions varies among cases. This study demonstrates that the hybrid adjoint–CFD approach can be a practical and efficient method to investigate morphology-associated variability in the dosimetry of vapors and nanomedicines under steady inhalation.

Sensitivity Analysis and Uncertainty Quantification of Nanoparticle Deposition from Tongue Morphological Variations.

The human tongue has highly variable morphology. Its role in regulating respiratory flows and deposition of inhaled aerosols remains unclear. The objective of this study was to quantify the uncertainty of nanoparticle deposition from the variability in tongue shapes and positions and to rank the importance of these morphological factors. Oropharyngeal models with different tongue postures were reconstructed by modifying an existent anatomically accurate upper airway geometry. An LRN k-ω model was applied to solve the multiregime flows, and the Lagrangian tracking approach with near-wall treatment was used to simulate the behavior and fate of inhaled aerosols. Once the database of deposition rates was completed, a surrogate model was trained using Gaussian process regression with polynomial kernels and was validated by comparing its predictions to new CFD simulations. Input sensitivity analysis and output updateability quantification were then performed using the surrogate model. Results show that particle size is the most significant parameter in determining nanoparticle deposition in the upper airway. Among the morphological factors, the shape variations in the central tongue had a higher impact on the total deposition than those in the back tongue and glottal aperture. When considering subregional deposition, mixed sensitivity levels were observed among morphological factors, with the back tongue being the major factor for throat deposition and the central tongue for oral deposition. Interaction effects between flow rate and morphological factors were much higher than the effects from individual parameters and were most significant in the throat (pharyngolaryngeal region). Given input normal variances, the nanoparticle deposition exhibits logarithmical normal distributions, with much lower uncertainty in 100-nm than 2-nm aerosols.

Relationship Between Submental Superficial Layer Hardness and Tongue Pressure Determined Using a Tissue Durometer.

Aging affects the tongue and suprahyoid muscles, causing dysphagia and undernutrition. We hypothesized that tongue function would affect submental superficial layer hardness. Tongue movements during water retention between the tongue and palate are the same as those required during bolus formation, involving internal and external tongue muscle movement. In 28 healthy adults (14 males, 14 females, average age 28.7 ± 2.9 years), we measured the submental superficial layer characteristics (frequency [tension], stiffness, decrement [inverse of resilience], relaxation, and creep [deformation over time]) using a simple tissue durometer (MyotonPRO®), and examined their relationship with maximum voluntary tongue pressure. The tissue durometer sensor was placed in the submental region, where there is no intervening bone. Measurements were performed at rest and while retaining 5 mL water. Tongue pressure was measured using a tongue pressure-measuring device. The submental superficial layer hardness differed significantly between rest and during water retention. During water retention, frequency and stiffness were high, while decrement, relaxation, and creep were low. When pressure is applied to the palate, such as during water retention the inner tongue muscle, which changes the tongue's shape, and the outer tongue muscle, which moves the tongue laterally, are active. However, the change in the hardness of the submental superficial layer during water retention may be related to the suprahyoid muscles that are present in this layer. The results of this study suggested that the hardness of the submental superficial layer changed during water retention, and that tongue movement could be measured from outside the mouth.

Production of the English /ɹ/ by Mandarin-English Bilingual Speakers.

Rhotic sounds are some of the most challenging sounds for L2 learners to acquire. This study investigates the production of English rhotic sounds by Mandarin-English bilinguals with two English proficiency levels. The production of the English /ɹ/ by 17 Mandarin-English bilinguals was examined with ultrasound imaging and compared with the production of native English speakers. The ultrasound data show that bilinguals can produce native-like bunched and retroflex gestures, but the distributional pattern of tongue shapes in various contexts differs from that of native speakers. Acoustically, the English /ɹ/ produced by bilinguals had a higher F3 and F3-F2, as well as some frication noise in prevocalic /ɹ/, features similar to the Mandarin /ɹ/. Mandarin-English bilinguals did produce language-specific phonetic realizations for the English and Mandarin /ɹ/s. There was a positive correlation between language proficiency and English-specific characteristics of /ɹ/ by Mandarin-English bilinguals in both articulation and acoustics. Phonetic similarities facilitated rather than hindered L2 speech learning in production: Mandarin-English bilinguals showed better performance in producing the English /ɹ/ allophones that were more similar to the Mandarin /ɹ/ (syllabic and postvocalic /ɹ/s) than producing the English /ɹ/ allophone that was less similar to the Mandarin /ɹ/ (prevocalic /ɹ/). This study contributes to our understanding of the mechanism of speech production in late bilinguals.

Register shifts in whistling: Investigating the influence on tongue shaping and gender-related variances

The study examines whistling register changes and the influence of tongue shape. In previous work, [Kaburagi et al., 2018] used magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), finding the degree and type of restriction made by the tongue directly impacted whistle F0. [Belyk et.al., 2019] found similar results using real-time magnetic resonance imaging (rtMRI), however, did not specifically observe register shifts. This study aimed to validate whistle register shifts and identify their variations among individuals regarding tongue position and gender. We hypothesize that participants with broader whistling ranges will exhibit register shifts based on tongue shape. Measures based on ultrasound imaging of male and female participants recorded while completing whistling exercises will be included in the analysis. This methodology enables tongue movements to be visualized, offering a view of the interplay between whistling registers and tongue configurations. ImageJ analysis results of tongue positions from ultrasound imaging will be presented with relevance to whether individuals produce a shift in their vocal register while whistling, and whether these conclusions depend on gender, as in sung register. Implications will be discussed regarding potential similarities between register changes during whistling and tongue shapes associated with speech.

Research on the efficiency of treatment of knee osteoarthritis by eclectro-acupunture and san-bi-tang remedy combined with herbal steam

Background: Knee Osteoarthritis (OA) is a chronic disease, the second leading cause of disability for the elderly after cardiovascular disease. Treatment with traditional medicine is highly effective, has safety in the long run and has few side effects. Beside, herbal steaming is a simple, easy-to-implement treatment method that works quickly and can be widely applied in the community. Objectves: To evaluate treatment effects of electro-acupuncture and San-bi-tang remedy combined with herbal steam in patients of primary knee osteoarthritis. Subjects and Methods: Clinical trial with comparison before and after treatment, from August 2019 to May 2020, on 58 patients diagnosed with primary knee OA according to the standards of the American Society of Rheumatology (ACR), X -ray phase I, II according to Kellgren & Lawrence, Wind Cold Damp clinical forms or Wind Cold Damp together with Liver and kidney damage clinical forms according to traditional medicine. Patients were assessed clinically, subclinical, and VAS scale, Lequesne index, WOMAC index, heel-buttock index, Rank of Motion (ROM) at baseline and after 9 days (D9), 18 days (D18). Results: Mean VAS score decreased to 1.60 ± 1.32 points (compared with 6.26 ± 1.00 points at D0; 3.98 ± 1.36 points at D9), the difference was statistically significant (p < 0.05). Lequesne index decreased significantly at the time D18, D9 compared with the time D0, at the time of D18 Lequesne average point was 5.01 ± 2.10 (p < 0.05). WOMAC index: After 18 days of treatment, there was no patient with severe or moderate dysfunction. Patients distributed at non-dysfunctional levels 53.45% and mild dysfunction 46.55% (p < 0.05). The range of movement of the knee joint after treatment increased significantly, the average range of movement of the joint at the time of D18 was 129.410 ± 6.470 (p < 0.05). The heel-buttock index decreased significantly: before treatment, the average heel-buttock index was 18.24 ± 6.07 (cm), and after treatment was 8.95 ± 5.33 (cm). There was an improvement in the color, tongue shape, thinness of tongue moss, nocturia symptoms, back pain after treatment (p < 0.05). Overall results: 53.45% good; 44.83% fair; 1.72% average and no poor level (p < 0.05). Conclusion: The electro-acupuncture and San-bi-tang remedy combined with herbal steam in patients of primary knee osteoarthritis is a safe treatment, effectively reducing pain and improving motor function significantly. Key words: Knee Osteoarthritis, electro-acupuncture, San-bi-tang remedy, herbal steam.

Perception of illusory clusters: the role of native timing.

We explore the influence of native timing patterns on nonnative speech perception, by asking whether a nonnative CVCV sequence can be perceived as CCV when the temporal organization of nonnative CVCV is similar to native CCV. To explore this question, Georgian listeners are tested on a CCa-CVCá discrimination in French. Georgian has a rich word-onset cluster inventory, with component consonants loosely timed. The loose timing often, though not always, results in a schwa-like CC transition. French, the stimulus language, exhibits tighter timing in biconsonantal clusters, no vocalic transitions, and a reduced non-prominent first vowel in CVCá sequences. We hypothesize that the cross-language difference in inter-consonantal timing can facilitate the perception of an illusory cluster when Georgian listeners hear French CVCá. The findings reveal such perceptual confusion, particularly in the CCa-CøCá contrast in which the nonnative /ø/ is phonetically similar to the CC transition in Georgian, both in terms of temporal organizations and tongue shape. This confirms the possibility of illusory clusters, which is consistent with the interpretation that Georgian listeners utilize their knowledge of how word-onset CC clusters are temporally implemented in their native language when responding to the task. We propose that the timing pattern may constitute language-specific knowledge and that it can influence the perceptual assimilation patterns in nonnative speech perception.