Disability: a voice in Australian bioethics?

Science.gov (United States)

Newell, Christopher

2003-06-01

The rise of research and advocacy over the years to establish a disability voice in Australia with regard to bioethical issues is explored. This includes an analysis of some of the political processes and engagement in mainstream bioethical debate. An understanding of the politics of rejected knowledge is vital in understanding the muted disability voices in Australian bioethics and public policy. It is also suggested that the voices of those who are marginalised or oppressed in society, such as people with disability, have particular contribution to make in fostering critical bioethics.

(De)Legitimation at the WTO Dispute Settlement Mechanism

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Creamer, Cosette; Godzimirska, Zuzanna

2016-01-01

Similar to many types of legal institutions, international courts employ a wide variety of legitimation strategies in order to establish and maintain a sound basis of support among their constituents. Existing studies on the legitimacy or legitimating efforts of the World Trade Organization's (WTO...

Empirical Studies on Legitimation Strategies: A Case for International Business Research Extension

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Turcan, Romeo V.; Marinova, Svetla Trifonova; Rana, Mohammad Bakhtiar

2012-01-01

The paper focuses on legitimation and legitimation strategies applied by companies. Following the process of systematic review, we analyze empirical studies exploring legitimation and legitimation strategies from different theoretical perspectives. Using the key findings by reconnoitering and com...... and comparing the theoretical background, approaches, methodologies, and findings of these empirical studies, we outline potential directions for research in the legitimation strategies of firms engaged in international business operations....

Using Voice, Meaning, Mutual Construction of Knowledge, and Transfer of Learning to Apply an Ecological Perspective to Group Work Training

Science.gov (United States)

Orr, Jonathan J.; Hulse-Killacky, Diana

2006-01-01

Concepts of voice, meaning, mutual construction of knowledge, and transfer of learning are presented in this paper as critical ingredients that support the teaching of group work from an ecological perspective. Examples of these concepts are given to illustrate their application in group work classes. (Contains 1 table.)

Legitimizing policies

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jørgensen, Martin Bak

2012-01-01

The focus of this article is on representations of irregular migration in a Scandinavian context and how irregular migrants are constructed as a target group. A common feature in many (Western-)European states is the difficult attempt to navigate between an urge for control and respecting......, upholding and promoting humanitarian aspects of migration management. Legitimizing policies therefore become extremely important as governments have to appease national voters to remain in power and have to respect European regulations and international conventions. Doing so raises questions of social...

Legitimate Permissions And Specifity Of Their Enforceability In Modern Russia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Vitaly Subochev

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Northern Caucasus Institute of Advanced Training (branch of Krasnodar University of Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia, 123, Malbahova Street, Nalshik, 360016, Russia. Abstract: The article investigates the basic legal permissions in Russian law - legal rights, freedoms and legitimate interests. Potential of these means of legal regulation is examined as well as their common features and essential differences. Authors argue that the effectiveness of the mechanism of legal regulation largely depends on the proper use of legal permissions. Particular attention is paid to such kind of legal mean as a legitimate interest. The article draws attention to the fact that if a legal right or freedom are such kind of permissions which are guaranteed by the law in order to sustain certain demands of subjects of law, the legitimate interest is qualitatively different mean of regulation. The authors suggest considering a legitimate interest as reflected in the objective law legal possibility of subjects of law to enjoy certain social benefits and to seek protection from the state authorities in order to meet their interests which are not contradictory to provisions of law. Qualitative difference between legitimate interest and legal right and freedom is that the legitimate interest is an opportunity, guaranteed to a lesser extent than the permitted behavior within a legal right or freedom. Legitimate interest is a mere permission, admitted by the state and to some extent supported by it. But legal right and freedom - are those means of regulation, which are directly approved and sanctioned by the state which presuppose duty of a person to a particular behavior. The author's vision of the specifity of legal enforcement of legitimate admissions is presented.

LEGITIMATE PERMISSIONS AND SPECIFITY OF THEIR ENFORCEABILITY IN MODERN RUSSIA

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Vitaly Subochev

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Northern Caucasus Institute of Advanced Training (branch of Krasnodar University of Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia, 123, Malbahova Street, Nalshik, 360016, Russia. Abstract: The article investigates the basic legal permissions in Russian law - legal rights, freedoms and legitimate interests. Potential of these means of legal regulation is examined as well as their common features and essential differences. Authors argue that the effectiveness of the mechanism of legal regulation largely depends on the proper use of legal permissions. Particular attention is paid to such kind of legal mean as a legitimate interest. The article draws attention to the fact that if a legal right or freedom are such kind of permissions which are guaranteed by the law in order to sustain certain demands of subjects of law, the legitimate interest is qualitatively different mean of regulation. The authors suggest considering a legitimate interest as reflected in the objective law legal possibility of subjects of law to enjoy certain social benefits and to seek protection from the state authorities in order to meet their interests which are not contradictory to provisions of law. Qualitative difference between legitimate interest and legal right and freedom is that the legitimate interest is an opportunity, guaranteed to a lesser extent than the permitted behavior within a legal right or freedom. Legitimate interest is a mere permission, admitted by the state and to some extent supported by it. But legal right and freedom - are those means of regulation, which are directly approved and sanctioned by the state which presuppose duty of a person to a particular behavior. The author's vision of the specifity of legal enforcement of legitimate admissions is presented.

The challenge of legitimizing spatially differentiated regulation

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Thorsøe, Martin Hvarregaard; Graversgaard, Morten; Noe, Egon

2017-01-01

Differentiating regulation is a promising approach to agri-environmental regulation that may potentially reduce the environmental impact of agriculture at the lowest possible costs for the farmers and society, but also possesses a number of challenges. In this article, we explore the challenges...... to the legitimacy of agri-environmental regulation that occurs when the regulatory regime changes from general regulation to differentiated regulation. The analysis is based on a case study of the implementation of the Buffer zone act in Denmark – a regulation that prevents agricultural production in a 10 (later 9......) meter fringe around selected waterbodies. We distinguish between two different ways of legitimizing: Producing knowledge and participation. We conclude that to harvest some of the obvious benefits of differentiated regulation a number of challenges must be resolved, 1) ensuring legitimacy...

INV Market Entry: Legitimation and Capability

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Turcan, Romeo V.

and concerns. The author of this paper was hired as CEO in September 2005 by INV-NGO to start-up, grow and lead its branch in an emerging market. The events and incidents occurred between 2005 and 2009. The approach of narrating organization is employed to present, analyze and interpret the data. A number......This paper explores external and internal critical incidents that shape the emergence of new forms and ways of organizing in a new venture that was launched in an emerging market by an international new non-for-profit organization. The paper responds to extant criticism that most of the knowledge...... about the internal organization of firms comes from the research on large established organizations and that the research aimed to understand internal organization of entrepreneurial ventures is scarce. Theoretically the paper is grounded within legitimation and dynamic capability theories of the firm...

Art and technology: A comparative study of policy legitimation

NARCIS (Netherlands)

N.M. Wijnberg (Nachoem)

1994-01-01

textabstractThe legitimation of technology policy is discussed from the point of view of the neoclassical and of the dynamic, Schumpeterian, approach. The results are presented, using the traditional categories of policy legitimation in welfare theory: public goods, externalities, and merit goods.

Qualitative Research and the Legitimization of Knowledge.

Science.gov (United States)

Atkinson, Brent; And Others

1991-01-01

Expresses concerns about importing qualitative research methods from education to family therapy. Argues that qualitative researchers cannot establish the trustworthiness of their findings, regardless of the methods they use. Further contends that the legitimacy of research knowledge cannot be determined by researchers, but rather requires the…

Illegal or legitimate use? Precursor compounds to amphetamine and methamphetamine.

Science.gov (United States)

Musshoff, F

2000-02-01

The interpretation of methamphetamine and amphetamine positive test results in biological samples is a challenge to clinical and forensic toxicology for several reasons. The effects of pH and dilution of urine samples and the knowledge about legitimate and illicit sources have to be taken into account. Besides a potentially legal prescription of amphetamines, many substances metabolize to methamphetamine or amphetamine in the body: amphetaminil, benzphetamine, clobenzorex, deprenyl, dimethylamphetamine, ethylamphetamine, famprofazone, fencamine, fenethylline, fenproporex, furfenorex, mefenorex, mesocarb, and prenylamine. Especially the knowledge of potential origins of methamphetamine and amphetamine turns out to be very important to prevent a misinterpretation of the surrounding circumstances and to prove illegal drug abuse. In this review, potential precursor compounds are described, including their medical use and major clinical effects and their metabolic profiles, as well as some clues which help to identify the sources.

An Ethnographic Study of New Venture and New Sector Legitimation

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Turcan, Romeo V.; Fraser, Norman

2016-01-01

This study explores the process of legitimation of international new ventures from an emerging economy and the effect such ventures have on the process of creation and legitimation of a new industry in that economy. It is a longitudinal ethnographic case study. Following an inductive theory......-political legitimacies, the model theorizes temporal emergence of these at organizational and industry levels, leading ultimately to institutionalization. The authors advocate for further research at the intersection between legitimation, international entrepreneurship and emerging markets in order to further advance...

Connections between voice ergonomic risk factors and voice symptoms, voice handicap, and respiratory tract diseases.

Science.gov (United States)

Rantala, Leena M; Hakala, Suvi J; Holmqvist, Sofia; Sala, Eeva

2012-11-01

The aim of the study was to investigate the connections between voice ergonomic risk factors found in classrooms and voice-related problems in teachers. Voice ergonomic assessment was performed in 39 classrooms in 14 elementary schools by means of a Voice Ergonomic Assessment in Work Environment--Handbook and Checklist. The voice ergonomic risk factors assessed included working culture, noise, indoor air quality, working posture, stress, and access to a sound amplifier. Teachers from the above-mentioned classrooms reported their voice symptoms, respiratory tract diseases, and completed a Voice Handicap Index (VHI). The more voice ergonomic risk factors found in the classroom the higher were the teachers' total scores on voice symptoms and VHI. Stress was the factor that correlated most strongly with voice symptoms. Poor indoor air quality increased the occurrence of laryngitis. Voice ergonomics were poor in the classrooms studied and voice ergonomic risk factors affected the voice. It is important to convey information on voice ergonomics to education administrators and those responsible for school planning and taking care of school buildings. Copyright © 2012 The Voice Foundation. Published by Mosby, Inc. All rights reserved.

British nuclear power: protest and legitimation 1945 - 1980

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Welsh, I.

1988-02-01

This thesis traces the development of British civil nuclear power policy between 1945 and 1982. Throughout particular attention is paid to the methods of legitimation which have been used to justify this policy in the public arena. By tracing this legitimation process, and public responses to it, the modern anti nuclear movement and crisis of public acceptability are placed within an historical context. It is argued that public concern and disquiet have always required the active legitimation of nuclear policy from the inception of the technology. The initial base of this legitimation was largely symbolic and associated nuclear power with the future of civilisation and a second of Elizabethan splendour for Britain. Symbolic legitimacy was underpinned by the twin pillars of expert hegemony and political authority. As these became increasingly prominent due to internal disputes within the industry secrecy was applied as a means of preserving legitimacy. Having tried conventional avenues of opposition the anti nuclear movement then embarked upon a campaign of direct action. The links between this campaign and the pervasive sense of public unease which had always existed are explored. It is argued here that the anti nuclear movement produces and sustains a cogent critique of nuclear power. Campaigning around this critique wins the movement increasing legitimacy as its arguments are increasingly accepted. (author)

Voices of the Caribou People: a participatory videography method to document and share local knowledge from the North American human-Rangifer systems

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Archana Bali

2014-06-01

Full Text Available "Voices of the Caribou People" is a participatory videography project for documenting and sharing the local knowledge of caribou-user communities about social-ecological changes. The project was conducted in partnership with indigenous people who share a long and close relationship with caribou and self-identify as the "Caribou People." The Caribou People desired to share their knowledge, experiences, challenges, and coping strategies with other indigenous communities and with scientists and wildlife managers. Six communities in the North American Arctic participated in the project, with 99 people interviewed about the ecological, cultural, spiritual, and nutritional aspects of their relationship with caribou. The Caribou People wished to tell their stories with their own voices, without the filter of a researcher's interpretations of their messages. The communities defined three project goals, i.e., documentation, communication, and sharing of knowledge, and we identified methodological challenges associated with these goals. Through videography, we sought to overcome these challenges and accomplish community goals, which formed the basis for our project's evaluation. Participants reported changes and concerns ranging from impacts of oil and gas exploration, mining activities, nonlocal hunting, and high energy costs to impacts of climate-related conditions. All interviews were made available in the public domain via the Internet for sharing. In the view of the communities, videography preserved their legacy and served as a repository of traditional knowledge in changing times; visual images were seen as a powerful medium to communicate with policy makers and the public at large and were seen as a preferred informal, unstructured approach. We have (1 described the approach of the Voices of the Caribou People project as a collaborative video methodology and (2 discussed the effectiveness of this method in meeting the goals of participatory

Health disorders and teachers' voices: a workers' health issue.

Science.gov (United States)

Alves, Liliana Amorim; do Carmo Cruz Robazzi, Maria Lúcia; Marziale, Maria Helena Palucci; de Felippe, Ana Clara Naufel; da Conceição Romano, Cristiane

2009-01-01

Environmental and/or work risk factors, lack of basic knowledge related to voice, its incorrect use, and a defective vocal model can lead teachers to develop occupational dysphonia. This study aimed to analyze studies focusing on occupational vocal disorders through a literature review. Articles published over a period of 11 years in periodicals indexed in the ScieLO library were searched according to predetermined inclusion and exclusion criteria. Twenty articles related to teachers' vocal occupational disorders were found. We argue that intense vocal use should not harm professionals; the voice has to be pleasant to the speaker and correctly produced. The conclusion is that there is a scarcity of articles available at the studied library relating to teachers' voice disorders. Further studies need to be developed and disseminated so as to increase knowledge in the subject.

Back-and-Forth Methodology for Objective Voice Quality Assessment: From/to Expert Knowledge to/from Automatic Classification of Dysphonia

Science.gov (United States)

Fredouille, Corinne; Pouchoulin, Gilles; Ghio, Alain; Revis, Joana; Bonastre, Jean-François; Giovanni, Antoine

2009-12-01

This paper addresses voice disorder assessment. It proposes an original back-and-forth methodology involving an automatic classification system as well as knowledge of the human experts (machine learning experts, phoneticians, and pathologists). The goal of this methodology is to bring a better understanding of acoustic phenomena related to dysphonia. The automatic system was validated on a dysphonic corpus (80 female voices), rated according to the GRBAS perceptual scale by an expert jury. Firstly, focused on the frequency domain, the classification system showed the interest of 0-3000 Hz frequency band for the classification task based on the GRBAS scale. Later, an automatic phonemic analysis underlined the significance of consonants and more surprisingly of unvoiced consonants for the same classification task. Submitted to the human experts, these observations led to a manual analysis of unvoiced plosives, which highlighted a lengthening of VOT according to the dysphonia severity validated by a preliminary statistical analysis.

Back-and-Forth Methodology for Objective Voice Quality Assessment: From/to Expert Knowledge to/from Automatic Classification of Dysphonia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Corinne Fredouille

2009-01-01

Full Text Available This paper addresses voice disorder assessment. It proposes an original back-and-forth methodology involving an automatic classification system as well as knowledge of the human experts (machine learning experts, phoneticians, and pathologists. The goal of this methodology is to bring a better understanding of acoustic phenomena related to dysphonia. The automatic system was validated on a dysphonic corpus (80 female voices, rated according to the GRBAS perceptual scale by an expert jury. Firstly, focused on the frequency domain, the classification system showed the interest of 0–3000 Hz frequency band for the classification task based on the GRBAS scale. Later, an automatic phonemic analysis underlined the significance of consonants and more surprisingly of unvoiced consonants for the same classification task. Submitted to the human experts, these observations led to a manual analysis of unvoiced plosives, which highlighted a lengthening of VOT according to the dysphonia severity validated by a preliminary statistical analysis.

An overview of occupational voice disorders in Poland

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ewa Niebudek-Bogusz

2013-10-01

Full Text Available Occupational voice disorders make the most frequently certified category of occupational diseases in Poland, making up approximately 20% of all cases. This study presents the current knowledge of the etiopathogenesis of occupational voice disorders. It stresses the importance of the evaluation of vocal loading by means of objective measurements. Furthermore, this study discusses the medico-legal aspects of the procedure of certifying occupational voice disorders in Poland. The paper also describes the preventive programs addressed particularly to teachers, including multidisciplinary and holistic management of occupational dysphonia. Their role in the improvement of occupational safety and health (OSH arrangement for vocally demanding professions is emphasized.

Collaborative learning using VoiceThread in an online graduate course

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yu-Hui Ching

2013-09-01

Full Text Available Collaborative learning enables participants in a learning community to externalize and share knowledge, experiences, and practice. However, collaborative learning in an online environment can be challenging due to the lack of face-to face interaction. This current study examined twenty graduate students’ experiences of using VoiceThread for a collaborative activity in an entirely online course to explore students’ perceptions of using multi-modal communication for collaboration and knowledge sharing. The results of this study revealed that graduate students had very positive experiences toward using VoiceThread for collaborative learning. The participants found VoiceThread easy to learn and use, and reported that audio and video interaction on VoiceThread helped connect them with their peers. More than half of the participants interacted with peers using audio, followed by text and then by video. Half of the students felt they were more connected to peers; however, feeling more connected did not result in more participation as most of the students only participated at the level that met the course requirement. Participants identified benefits and drawbacks of using VoiceThread for collaboration as compared to using text-based discussion forums. The most frequently mentioned benefit of using VoiceThread for collaboration exemplifies its multi-modal affordance that enables learners to communicate emotion, personality, and other non-verbal cues conducive to better understanding and interpretation of meanings. About half of the participants indicated that they preferred VoiceThread to text-based discussion forums for collaborative learning activity. Challenges and implications for future research are also discussed.

Anti-voice adaptation suggests prototype-based coding of voice identity

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Marianne eLatinus

2011-07-01

Full Text Available We used perceptual aftereffects induced by adaptation with anti-voice stimuli to investigate voice identity representations. Participants learned a set of voices then were tested on a voice identification task with vowel stimuli morphed between identities, after different conditions of adaptation. In Experiment 1, participants chose the identity opposite to the adapting anti-voice significantly more often than the other two identities (e.g., after being adapted to anti-A, they identified the average voice as A. In Experiment 2, participants showed a bias for identities opposite to the adaptor specifically for anti-voice, but not for non anti-voice adaptors. These results are strikingly similar to adaptation aftereffects observed for facial identity. They are compatible with a representation of individual voice identities in a multidimensional perceptual voice space referenced on a voice prototype.

Remarks on the Legitimate Use of Force to Defend the Environment

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Luciano Pereira de Souza

2016-10-01

Full Text Available This article evaluates whether the legitimate defense can be used in the protection of collective environmental rights. Some scholars are contrary to the legitimate defense of those rights in face of an unlawful assault not involving concomitant aggression to individual rights. Given the current risk scenario for the global ecological balance, revealed by the approach of planetary boundaries - and taking into account its fundamental principles of protection and defense of a right – this paper does not exclude legitimate defense as a lawful means of environmental protection, regardless its impact on public order and peace.

Academic leadership in nursing: legitimating the discipline in contested spaces.

Science.gov (United States)

McNamara, Martin S

2009-05-01

To investigate the potential of recent conceptual developments in the sociology of education for conceptualising academic leadership in nursing. During an investigation into the current status and future trajectory of academic nursing in Ireland, academic leadership emerged as a major concern for respondents. The languages of legitimation of academic leaders were elicited in in-depth interviews and analysed as expressions of underlying legitimation principles. The concept of legitimation principles provides a way of thinking about how academic nursing is positioned in the health and higher education sectors, how its leaders construct its identity, practices and purposes, and clarifies the proper focus and goals of academic leadership in nursing. Academic leadership is concerned with legitimating the discipline of nursing as an autonomous, coherent and distinctive professional and academic endeavour. This legitimacy must be secured in academic, clinical and wider contexts in which academic nursing is viewed with ambivalence; leaders must take account of the impact of nursing history on the current status and future trajectory of the discipline. The analytic tools facilitate a better understanding of the internal and external conditions under which academic nursing will flourish, or wither, in contemporary higher education.

Finding ways to grow skills, knowledge, and voice in the next generation of interdisciplinary sustainability scientists

Science.gov (United States)

Roy, S. G.; de Souza, S. P.; McGreavy, B.; Gardner, K.; Hart, D.; Druschke, C. G.

2017-12-01

The need to train early-career interdisciplinary, solutions-driven sustainability researchers has never been more apparent than today. To meet this challenge, educators at the Universities of Maine, New Hampshire, and Rhode Island have collaborated with their students to design and assess an interdisciplinary, multi-university course meant to develop the skills, content knowledge, and voice that are seen as critical for training the next generation of interdisciplinary sustainability researchers. We developed a rubric and conducted a mixed methods analysis of sustainability science learning outcomes identified as central to successful sustainability research. We used these targeted outcomes as a guide to design and implement several activities that build these skills and competencies and advance the identified outcomes. These course learning outcomes focus on three major sustainability science competencies: (1) systems thinking, which focuses on improving students' abilities to build a deep understanding of dynamic social-ecological systems; (2) problem definition, which focuses on the skills necessary to identify and communicate sustainability problems by combining systems knowledge with multiple stakeholder perspectives; and (3) decision making, which focuses on the abilities required to create and communicate adaptable decisions to mitigate sustainability problems. Students were frequently asked to help co-create class meetings based on their own educational experiences and objectives.Based on a quantitative assessment of survey results taken before and after the course, several students tended to initially overestimate their capacity for undertaking interdisciplinary sustainability research, possibly because of a previously narrow exposure to these concepts from the perspective of a single discipline. Qualitative results indicate that students gained substantial experience and confidence in communication, and especially in collaboration, stakeholder engagement

LEGITIMIZATION OF OWNERSHIP IN THE CONDITIONS OF TRANSITION ECONOMY

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

V. Branovitskiy

2015-03-01

Full Text Available This article studies the problem of structural deformations of property in post-privatization period, via the lack of public awareness ofthe property legitimacy that constantly produces utopian political slogans and public dissatisfaction with the current redistribution of property. Two completely opposite instruments of legitimization of property by means of nationalization and constitutional reform are examined. Conclusions are focused on the implementation of economic constitutionalism policy as a way of legitimizing the owner in Ukraine and building democratic and legal state. Emphasis is put on the confidence improvement of authority agents and counteract of the crisis of neoliberal capitalism, when rich people grow rich thanks to the poor segment of population as an essential mechanisms for public perception of property legalization and providing them with status quo. Legitimization of owner is objectively necessary condition for society reconstruction on the way of entrenchment of fundamental dominants of markets and civil society.

38 CFR 10.42 - Claim of child other than legitimate child.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... 38 Pensions, Bonuses, and Veterans' Relief 1 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Claim of child other than legitimate child. 10.42 Section 10.42 Pensions, Bonuses, and Veterans' Relief DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS ADJUSTED COMPENSATION Adjusted Compensation; General § 10.42 Claim of child other than legitimate child. A...

Legitimate versus illegitimate restrictions – A motivational and physiological approach investigating reactance processes

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Sandra eSittenthaler

2015-05-01

Full Text Available Threats to our freedom are part of our daily social interactions. They are accompanied by an aversive state of motivational arousal, called reactance, which leads people to strive to reestablish their threatened freedom. This is especially the case if the threat seems to be illegitimate in nature. However, reactance theory suggests that reactance should also be aroused when people are exposed to legitimate freedom threats. In this article we first aim to show that both illegitimate and legitimate freedom threats evoke reactance. Second, we aim to extend past work on reactance by exploring the underlying process of experiencing a legitimate versus an illegitimate restriction. In the current study (N = 57 participants were restricted in an illegitimate (unexpected and inappropriate or legitimate (unexpected but appropriate way, or were not restricted at all. We assessed participants’ experience of reactance, their behavioral intentions to restore their freedom, their approach motivational states, as well as their physiological arousal (heart rate. Results indicated that when restricted in an illegitimate or a legitimate way, participants indicated the same amount of reactance as well as anger. However, when looking at people’s physiological reactions, important differences between illegitimate and legitimate restrictions become apparent. Illegitimate restrictions led to an immediate arousal, whereas legitimate restrictions led to a time delayed arousal. This suggests that illegitimate restrictions lead to a sudden increase in aversive arousal. Legitimate restrictions, however, seem to be associated with a more cognitive process in which people first need to structure their thoughts and reflect upon the situation before getting into the feeling of reactance in a physiologically arousing sense. Moreover a mediation analysis could show that behavioral intentions to regain one’s freedom result in positive and negative approach motivation. In sum

Learning to listen. Institutional change and legitimation in UK radioactive waste policy

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Mackerron, G. [SPRU Science and Technology Policy Research, University of Sussex, Brighton (United Kingdom); Berkhout, F. [Institute for Environmental Studies IVM, VU University, Amsterdam (Netherlands)

2009-04-15

Over the course of 50 years, UK radioactive waste policy change has been coupled with institutional change, without much progress towards the ultimate goal of safe, long-term stewardship of wastes. We explain this history as a search for legitimacy against a shifting context of legitimation needs and deficits. Following Habermas, we argue that legitimation is derived from a process of justificatory discourse. In principle, there must be a reasonable exchange of arguments between diverse parties in society, based on common norms, for legitimacy to be achieved. We show that the work of legitimation in UK radioactive waste policy has moved from a focus on factual validity claims towards an increasing emphasis on deliberative processes. This reframing of legitimation needs explains institutional and policy changes in UK radioactive waste policy. The most recent phase of policy and institutional change, which placed public deliberation about long-term management and disposal options centre-stage, represents a new step towards bridging legitimation deficits. Plans to build new nuclear reactors in the UK based on a more closed 'streamlined' decision process risk reversing the legitimacy gains that have been achieved through growing openness on radioactive waste management.

Insideness and Outsideness: An Autoethnography of a Primary Physical Education Specialist Teacher

Science.gov (United States)

Brooks, Caroline; Thompson, Maree Dinan

2015-01-01

The purpose of this study is to provide an authentic and legitimate voice to the physical education (PE) specialist teacher in the primary school and to give an insight into professional knowledge. An autoethnographic approach has been used to invite readers to enter my world of the primary PE specialist teacher and observe and respond to its…

On new industry creation and legitimation

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Turcan, Romeo V.; Fraser, Norman

The purpose of this paper is to discuss the process of creation and legitimation of new industries. Specifically, the question we address is how to cross the gulf between no industry and embryonic industry in order for a new industry to emerge. In this, our focus is on the process of change from...

International and Local Visions of the Justice and Security Sector in the West Bank

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ida Nafstad

2018-03-01

Full Text Available Considerable efforts by leading experts and funds from around the world are put into restructuring the West Bank justice and security sector (JSS. This is an effort done in a highly contested environment, with an ongoing Israeli occupation and weak local trust in the Palestine Authority (PA. This article analyzes the understandings by local Palestinian non-government organizations and international bodies aiding in building the JSS of what a legitimate development of the JSS is and should be, and whose voices become dominant in the discussions and implementations of it. The argument made is that Western legal knowledge, with its focus on security and technocratic solutions, have been dominant at the expense of core political solutions in regard to the Israeli occupation and the workings of the PA, and that it has downplayed the local context, local voices and their understandings of a legitimate JSS.

Using the Voice to Design Ceramics

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hansen, Flemming Tvede; Jensen, Kristoffer

2011-01-01

Digital technology makes new possibilities in ceramic craft. This project is about how experiential knowledge that the craftsmen gains in a direct physical and tactile interaction with a responding material can be transformed and utilized in the use of digital technologies. The project presents...... to make ceramic results. The system demonstrates the close connection between digital technology and craft practice....... SoundShaping, a system to create ceramics from the human voice. Based on a generic audio feature extraction system, and the principal component analysis to ensure that the pertinent information in the voice is used, a 3D shape is created using simple geometric rules. This shape is output to a 3D printer...

Familiarity and Voice Representation: From Acoustic-Based Representation to Voice Averages

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Maureen Fontaine

2017-07-01

Full Text Available The ability to recognize an individual from their voice is a widespread ability with a long evolutionary history. Yet, the perceptual representation of familiar voices is ill-defined. In two experiments, we explored the neuropsychological processes involved in the perception of voice identity. We specifically explored the hypothesis that familiar voices (trained-to-familiar (Experiment 1, and famous voices (Experiment 2 are represented as a whole complex pattern, well approximated by the average of multiple utterances produced by a single speaker. In experiment 1, participants learned three voices over several sessions, and performed a three-alternative forced-choice identification task on original voice samples and several “speaker averages,” created by morphing across varying numbers of different vowels (e.g., [a] and [i] produced by the same speaker. In experiment 2, the same participants performed the same task on voice samples produced by familiar speakers. The two experiments showed that for famous voices, but not for trained-to-familiar voices, identification performance increased and response times decreased as a function of the number of utterances in the averages. This study sheds light on the perceptual representation of familiar voices, and demonstrates the power of average in recognizing familiar voices. The speaker average captures the unique characteristics of a speaker, and thus retains the information essential for recognition; it acts as a prototype of the speaker.

[Voice disorders in female teachers assessed by Voice Handicap Index].

Science.gov (United States)

Niebudek-Bogusz, Ewa; Kuzańska, Anna; Woźnicka, Ewelina; Sliwińska-Kowalska, Mariola

2007-01-01

The aim of this study was to assess the application of Voice Handicap Index (VHI) in the diagnosis of occupational voice disorders in female teachers. The subjective assessment of voice by VHI was performed in fifty subjects with dysphonia diagnosed in laryngovideostroboscopic examination. The control group comprised 30 women whose jobs did not involve vocal effort. The results of the total VHI score and each of its subscales: functional, emotional and physical was significantly worse in the study group than in controls (p teachers estimated their own voice problems as a moderate disability, while 12% of them reported severe voice disability. However, all non-teachers assessed their voice problems as slight, their results ranged at the lowest level of VHI score. This study confirmed that VHI as a tool for self-assessment of voice can be a significant contribution to the diagnosis of occupational dysphonia.

Singing voice outcomes following singing voice therapy.

Science.gov (United States)

Dastolfo-Hromack, Christina; Thomas, Tracey L; Rosen, Clark A; Gartner-Schmidt, Jackie

2016-11-01

The objectives of this study were to describe singing voice therapy (SVT), describe referred patient characteristics, and document the outcomes of SVT. Retrospective. Records of patients receiving SVT between June 2008 and June 2013 were reviewed (n = 51). All diagnoses were included. Demographic information, number of SVT sessions, and symptom severity were retrieved from the medical record. Symptom severity was measured via the 10-item Singing Voice Handicap Index (SVHI-10). Treatment outcome was analyzed by diagnosis, history of previous training, and SVHI-10. SVHI-10 scores decreased following SVT (mean change = 11, 40% decrease) (P singing lessons (n = 10) also completed an average of three SVT sessions. Primary muscle tension dysphonia (MTD1) and benign vocal fold lesion (lesion) were the most common diagnoses. Most patients (60%) had previous vocal training. SVHI-10 decrease was not significantly different between MTD and lesion. This is the first outcome-based study of SVT in a disordered population. Diagnosis of MTD or lesion did not influence treatment outcomes. Duration of SVT was short (approximately three sessions). Voice care providers are encouraged to partner with a singing voice therapist to provide optimal care for the singing voice. This study supports the use of SVT as a tool for the treatment of singing voice disorders. 4 Laryngoscope, 126:2546-2551, 2016. © 2016 The American Laryngological, Rhinological and Otological Society, Inc.

The Monopoly of Legitimate Force : Denationalization, or Business as Usual?

OpenAIRE

Jachtenfuchs, Markus

2014-01-01

As Max Weber and many others in his tradition have argued, the monopoly of the legitimate use of physical force is the core of the modern state. What counts here is not the frequency of the actual use of force but the fact that only the state has the legitimate right to use such force. The military and the police are the most concrete expressions of this monopoly. In recent decades, the use of the military and the police has been subject to external challenges – ‘globalization’ – and new idea...

Strategic Spatial Planning's Role in Legitimizing Investments in Transport Infrastructure

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Olesen, Kristian

This paper discusses to what extent spatial visions might play an important role in not only supporting, but also legitimizing the need for investments in transport infrastructures. Drawing on discussion of an ‘infrastructure turn’ in strategic spatial planning (Dodson 2009), this paper explores...... how the recently proposed vision of a Loop City for the Danish/Swedish Øresund Region has played an important role in legitimizing and building political support for a light railway connecting the outer suburbs of Copenhagen. It is not unusual for large investments in new transport infrastructures...

Institutions and Legitimations in Finance for the Arts

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Lunde Jørgensen, Ida

The thesis contributes to a more nuanced understanding of art support by investigating the underlying legitimations and institutional logics of two of the most significant foundations supporting visual art, in Denmark, the private New Carlsberg Foundation and public Danish Arts Foundation. Drawing......, cultural and institutional entrepreneurship, institutional logics, and rhetorical work to address a number of key debates in cultural policy pertaining to the evaluation of aesthetic performance, the justification of investment in the arts and how ideas and meanings become taken for granted in the cultural...... of art support in the New Carlsberg Foundation and the Danish Arts Foundation at critical points in time, drawing on and contributing to the literature on institutional logics and convention theory. Specifically, the thesis shows the importance of nine particular logics of legitimation underlying art...

[A New Challenge of Working Together: Psychiatry and Heraing Voices].

Science.gov (United States)

Laval, Christian

Recovery model, as the hearing voices movement, promotes the users discourse among the health workers. This interference of users in the expertise considering the meaning of their voices is faced with the vision of advocating health workers, particularly the psychiatrists supporting the psychiatric users movement. On the field, this association seems challenging. On the experimental site in Marseille, professionals through various tensions and practical difficulties tend to reconsider their power / knowledge. This new challenge of working together leads them to adopt both a more humble position towards their clinical expertise and a more ambitious position regarding their participation in the construction of public controversies highlighted by the speaking experience of the hearing voices movement.

Digital Media Creates Youth Voices Heard

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jeff Sallee

2014-06-01

Full Text Available Oklahoma 4-H clubs and military service centers partnered with the Adobe Youth Voices (AYV program to give youth opportunities to raise their voices through digital media. This program reached out to underrepresented youth and gave them the tools and technology to effectively express themselves. The intent of this project was for 4-H members to create videos to educate, help and raise awareness in their communities of topics that were important to the youth. These experiences help youth gain knowledge towards helping others solve farm, home, and community problems. Participating youth selected issues that were important to them and created a short video, educating others and sharing their convictions on the topics of horse therapy, citizenship, bullying, and distracted driving.

I like my voice better: self-enhancement bias in perceptions of voice attractiveness.

Science.gov (United States)

Hughes, Susan M; Harrison, Marissa A

2013-01-01

Previous research shows that the human voice can communicate a wealth of nonsemantic information; preferences for voices can predict health, fertility, and genetic quality of the speaker, and people often use voice attractiveness, in particular, to make these assessments of others. But it is not known what we think of the attractiveness of our own voices as others hear them. In this study eighty men and women rated the attractiveness of an array of voice recordings of different individuals and were not told that their own recorded voices were included in the presentation. Results showed that participants rated their own voices as sounding more attractive than others had rated their voices, and participants also rated their own voices as sounding more attractive than they had rated the voices of others. These findings suggest that people may engage in vocal implicit egotism, a form of self-enhancement.

Associations between the Transsexual Voice Questionnaire (TVQMtF ) and self-report of voice femininity and acoustic voice measures.

Science.gov (United States)

Dacakis, Georgia; Oates, Jennifer; Douglas, Jacinta

2017-11-01

The Transsexual Voice Questionnaire (TVQ MtF ) was designed to capture the voice-related perceptions of individuals whose gender identity as female is the opposite of their birth-assigned gender (MtF women). Evaluation of the psychometric properties of the TVQ MtF is ongoing. To investigate associations between TVQ MtF scores and (1) self-perceptions of voice femininity and (2) acoustic parameters of voice pitch and voice quality in order to evaluate further the validity of the TVQ MtF . A strong correlation between TVQ MtF scores and self-ratings of voice femininity was predicted, but no association between TVQ MtF scores and acoustic measures of voice pitch and quality was proposed. Participants were 148 MtF women (mean age 48.14 years) recruited from the La Trobe Communication Clinic and the clinics of three doctors specializing in transgender health. All participants completed the TVQ MtF and 34 of these participants also provided a voice sample for acoustic analysis. Pearson product-moment correlation analysis was conducted to examine the associations between TVQ MtF scores and (1) self-perceptions of voice femininity and (2) acoustic measures of F0, jitter (%), shimmer (dB) and harmonic-to-noise ratio (HNR). Strong negative correlations between the participants' perceptions of their voice femininity and the TVQ MtF scores demonstrated that for this group of MtF women a low self-rating of voice femininity was associated with more frequent negative voice-related experiences. This association was strongest with the vocal-functioning component of the TVQ MtF . These strong correlations and high levels of shared variance between the TVQ MtF and a measure of a related construct provides evidence for the convergent validity of the TVQ MtF . The absence of significant correlations between the TVQ MtF and the acoustic data is consistent with the equivocal findings of earlier research. This finding indicates that these two measures assess different aspects of the voice

Institutionalizing telemedicine applications: the challenge of legitimizing decision-making.

Science.gov (United States)

Zanaboni, Paolo; Lettieri, Emanuele

2011-09-28

During the last decades a variety of telemedicine applications have been trialed worldwide. However, telemedicine is still an example of major potential benefits that have not been fully attained. Health care regulators are still debating why institutionalizing telemedicine applications on a large scale has been so difficult and why health care professionals are often averse or indifferent to telemedicine applications, thus preventing them from becoming part of everyday clinical routines. We believe that the lack of consolidated procedures for supporting decision making by health care regulators is a major weakness. We aim to further the current debate on how to legitimize decision making about the institutionalization of telemedicine applications on a large scale. We discuss (1) three main requirements--rationality, fairness, and efficiency--that should underpin decision making so that the relevant stakeholders perceive them as being legitimate, and (2) the domains and criteria for comparing and assessing telemedicine applications--benefits and sustainability. According to these requirements and criteria, we illustrate a possible reference process for legitimate decision making about which telemedicine applications to implement on a large scale. This process adopts the health care regulators' perspective and is made up of 2 subsequent stages, in which a preliminary proposal and then a full proposal are reviewed.

Knowledge Organization: A Sociohistorical Analysis and Critique

Science.gov (United States)

Andersen, Jack; Skouvig, Laura

2006-01-01

In this article, the authors examine the discipline of knowledge organization by harnessing the theories of Michel Foucault and Jurgen Habermas. The argument is that knowledge organization is not just a question of improved technology; as an academic discipline, it has to define and legitimize its relevance for society. The authors use the…

Connections between voice ergonomic risk factors in classrooms and teachers' voice production.

Science.gov (United States)

Rantala, Leena M; Hakala, Suvi; Holmqvist, Sofia; Sala, Eeva

2012-01-01

The aim of the study was to investigate if voice ergonomic risk factors in classrooms correlated with acoustic parameters of teachers' voice production. The voice ergonomic risk factors in the fields of working culture, working postures and indoor air quality were assessed in 40 classrooms using the Voice Ergonomic Assessment in Work Environment - Handbook and Checklist. Teachers (32 females, 8 males) from the above-mentioned classrooms recorded text readings before and after a working day. Fundamental frequency, sound pressure level (SPL) and the slope of the spectrum (alpha ratio) were analyzed. The higher the number of the risk factors in the classrooms, the higher SPL the teachers used and the more strained the males' voices (increased alpha ratio) were. The SPL was already higher before the working day in the teachers with higher risk than in those with lower risk. In the working environment with many voice ergonomic risk factors, speakers increase voice loudness and use more strained voice quality (males). A practical implication of the results is that voice ergonomic assessments are needed in schools. Copyright © 2013 S. Karger AG, Basel.

The Protection of Legitimate Expectations in Administrative Law: A Horizontal Perspective

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Parchomiuk Jerzy

2017-12-01

Full Text Available The term “protection of legitimate expectations” in administrative law traditionally draws our attention to vertical relationships between the State and an individual. In my text I propose a non-traditional approach to the issue of protection of legitimate expectations in administrative law. Instead of analysing the problem from the perspective of the relationship between the administrative body and the individual, I have attempted to tackle the problem from the perspective of entities involved in peer relationships.

Experiences with voice to design ceramics

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hansen, Flemming Tvede; Jensen, Kristoffer

2014-01-01

This article presents SoundShaping, a system to create ceramics from the human voice and thus how digital technology makes new possibilities in ceramic craft. The article is about how experiential knowledge that the craftsmen gains in a direct physical and tactile interaction with a responding...... material can be transformed and utilised in the use of digital technologies. SoundShaping is based on a generic audio feature extraction system and the principal component analysis to ensure that the pertinent information in the voice is used. Moreover, 3D shape is created using simple geometric rules....... The shape is output to a 3D printer to make ceramic results. The system demonstrates the close connection between digital technology and craft practice. Several experiments and reflections demonstrate the validity of this work....

Experiences with Voice to Design Ceramics

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hansen, Flemming Tvede; Jensen, Kristoffer

2013-01-01

This article presents SoundShaping, a system to create ceramics from the human voice and thus how digital technology makes new possibilities in ceramic craft. The article is about how experiential knowledge that the craftsmen gains in a direct physical and tactile interaction with a responding...... material can be transformed and utilized in the use of digital technologies. SoundShaping is based on a generic audio feature extraction system and the principal component analysis to ensure that the pertinent information in the voice is used. Moreover, 3D shape is created using simple geometric rules....... The shape is output to a 3D printer to make ceramic results. The system demonstrates the close connection between digital technology and craft practice. Several experiments and reflections demonstrate the validity of this work....

Voice Habits and Behaviors: Voice Care Among Flamenco Singers.

Science.gov (United States)

Garzón García, Marina; Muñoz López, Juana; Y Mendoza Lara, Elvira

2017-03-01

The purpose of this study is to analyze the vocal behavior of flamenco singers, as compared with classical music singers, to establish a differential vocal profile of voice habits and behaviors in flamenco music. Bibliographic review was conducted, and the Singer's Vocal Habits Questionnaire, an experimental tool designed by the authors to gather data regarding hygiene behavior, drinking and smoking habits, type of practice, voice care, and symptomatology perceived in both the singing and the speaking voice, was administered. We interviewed 94 singers, divided into two groups: the flamenco experimental group (FEG, n = 48) and the classical control group (CCG, n = 46). Frequency analysis, a Likert scale, and discriminant and exploratory factor analysis were used to obtain a differential profile for each group. The FEG scored higher than the CCG in speaking voice symptomatology. The FEG scored significantly higher than the CCG in use of "inadequate vocal technique" when singing. Regarding voice habits, the FEG scored higher in "lack of practice and warm-up" and "environmental habits." A total of 92.6% of the subjects classified themselves correctly in each group. The Singer's Vocal Habits Questionnaire has proven effective in differentiating flamenco and classical singers. Flamenco singers are exposed to numerous vocal risk factors that make them more prone to vocal fatigue, mucosa dehydration, phonotrauma, and muscle stiffness than classical singers. Further research is needed in voice training in flamenco music, as a means to strengthen the voice and enable it to meet the requirements of this musical genre. Copyright © 2017 The Voice Foundation. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Sound induced activity in voice sensitive cortex predicts voice memory ability

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rebecca eWatson

2012-04-01

Full Text Available The ‘temporal voice areas’ (TVAs (Belin et al., 2000 of the human brain show greater neuronal activity in response to human voices than to other categories of nonvocal sounds. However, a direct link between TVA activity and voice perceptionbehaviour has not yet been established. Here we show that a functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI measure of activity in the TVAs predicts individual performance at a separately administered voice memory test. This relation holds whengeneral sound memory ability is taken into account. These findings provide the first evidence that the TVAs are specifically involved in voice cognition.

Integrating cues of social interest and voice pitch in men's preferences for women's voices.

Science.gov (United States)

Jones, Benedict C; Feinberg, David R; Debruine, Lisa M; Little, Anthony C; Vukovic, Jovana

2008-04-23

Most previous studies of vocal attractiveness have focused on preferences for physical characteristics of voices such as pitch. Here we examine the content of vocalizations in interaction with such physical traits, finding that vocal cues of social interest modulate the strength of men's preferences for raised pitch in women's voices. Men showed stronger preferences for raised pitch when judging the voices of women who appeared interested in the listener than when judging the voices of women who appeared relatively disinterested in the listener. These findings show that voice preferences are not determined solely by physical properties of voices and that men integrate information about voice pitch and the degree of social interest expressed by women when forming voice preferences. Women's preferences for raised pitch in women's voices were not modulated by cues of social interest, suggesting that the integration of cues of social interest and voice pitch when men judge the attractiveness of women's voices may reflect adaptations that promote efficient allocation of men's mating effort.

Voice Therapy Practices and Techniques: A Survey of Voice Clinicians.

Science.gov (United States)

Mueller, Peter B.; Larson, George W.

1992-01-01

Eighty-three voice disorder therapists' ratings of statements regarding voice therapy practices indicated that vocal nodules are the most frequent disorder treated; vocal abuse and hard glottal attack elimination, counseling, and relaxation were preferred treatment approaches; and voice therapy is more effective with adults than with children.…

Legitimizing Blacks in Philosophy

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jameliah Shorter-Bourhanou

2017-12-01

Full Text Available In its efforts toward improving diversity, the discipline of philosophy has tended to focus on increasing the number of black philosophers. One crucial issue that has received less attention is the extent to which black philosophers are delegitimized in the discipline because their philosophical contributions challenge the status quo. A systematic problem that bars black philosophers from equal and full participation, this delegitimization precludes the emergence of genuine diversity and reveals the importance of interrogating broader attitudes toward black philosophical contributions. In this essay, I argue for radical systematic changes to disciplinary hallmarks of professionalization such as pedagogy, mentoring, publishing, and hiring practices with the aim of legitimizing black philosophers and their contributions.

Speakers comfort and voice use in different environments and babble-noise. What are the effects on effort and cognition?

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Lyberg-Åhlander, Viveka; von Lochow, Heike; Brunskog, Jonas

2017-01-01

Teachers often report voice problems related to the occupational environment, and voice problems are more prevalent in teaching than in other occupations. Relationships between objectively measurable acoustical parameters and voice use have been shown. Speakers have been shown to be able to predi...... a correlation to cognitive aspects. Listener assessments and the data from the voice accumulator will be presented. This knowledge may contribute to the area of classroom acoustics and speakers’ comfort in general....

Comparing the experience of voices in borderline personality disorder with the experience of voices in a psychotic disorder: A systematic review.

Science.gov (United States)

Merrett, Zalie; Rossell, Susan L; Castle, David J

2016-07-01

In clinical settings, there is substantial evidence both clinically and empirically to suggest that approximately 50% of individuals with borderline personality disorder experience auditory verbal hallucinations. However, there is limited research investigating the phenomenology of these voices. The aim of this study was to review and compare our current understanding of auditory verbal hallucinations in borderline personality disorder with auditory verbal hallucinations in patients with a psychotic disorder, to critically analyse existing studies investigating auditory verbal hallucinations in borderline personality disorder and to identify gaps in current knowledge, which will help direct future research. The literature was searched using the electronic database Scopus, PubMed and MEDLINE. Relevant studies were included if they were written in English, were empirical studies specifically addressing auditory verbal hallucinations and borderline personality disorder, were peer reviewed, used only adult humans and sample comprising borderline personality disorder as the primary diagnosis, and included a comparison group with a primary psychotic disorder such as schizophrenia. Our search strategy revealed a total of 16 articles investigating the phenomenology of auditory verbal hallucinations in borderline personality disorder. Some studies provided evidence to suggest that the voice experiences in borderline personality disorder are similar to those experienced by people with schizophrenia, for example, occur inside the head, and often involved persecutory voices. Other studies revealed some differences between schizophrenia and borderline personality disorder voice experiences, with the borderline personality disorder voices sounding more derogatory and self-critical in nature and the voice-hearers' response to the voices were more emotionally resistive. Furthermore, in one study, the schizophrenia group's voices resulted in more disruption in daily functioning

Voice following radiotherapy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Stoicheff, M.L.

1975-01-01

This study was undertaken to provide information on the voice of patients following radiotherapy for glottic cancer. Part I presents findings from questionnaires returned by 227 of 235 patients successfully irradiated for glottic cancer from 1960 through 1971. Part II presents preliminary findings on the speaking fundamental frequencies of 22 irradiated patients. Normal to near-normal voice was reported by 83 percent of the 227 patients; however, 80 percent did indicate persisting vocal difficulties such as fatiguing of voice with much usage, inability to sing, reduced loudness, hoarse voice quality and inability to shout. Amount of talking during treatments appeared to affect length of time for voice to recover following treatments in those cases where it took from nine to 26 weeks; also, with increasing years since treatment, patients rated their voices more favorably. Smoking habits following treatments improved significantly with only 27 percent smoking heavily as compared with 65 percent prior to radiation therapy. No correlation was found between smoking (during or after treatments) and vocal ratings or between smoking and length of time for voice to recover. There was no relationship found between reported vocal ratings and stage of the disease

Voices Not Heard: Voice-Use Profiles of Elementary Music Teachers, the Effects of Voice Amplification on Vocal Load, and Perceptions of Issues Surrounding Voice Use

Science.gov (United States)

Morrow, Sharon L.

2009-01-01

Teachers represent the largest group of occupational voice users and have voice-related problems at a rate of over twice that found in the general population. Among teachers, music teachers are roughly four times more likely than classroom teachers to develop voice-related problems. Although it has been established that music teachers use their…

Dimensionality in voice quality.

Science.gov (United States)

Bele, Irene Velsvik

2007-05-01

This study concerns speaking voice quality in a group of male teachers (n = 35) and male actors (n = 36), as the purpose was to investigate normal and supranormal voices. The goal was the development of a method of valid perceptual evaluation for normal to supranormal and resonant voices. The voices (text reading at two loudness levels) had been evaluated by 10 listeners, for 15 vocal characteristics using VA scales. In this investigation, the results of an exploratory factor analysis of the vocal characteristics used in this method are presented, reflecting four dimensions of major importance for normal and supranormal voices. Special emphasis is placed on the effects on voice quality of a change in the loudness variable, as two loudness levels are studied. Furthermore, the vocal characteristics Sonority and Ringing voice quality are paid special attention, as the essence of the term "resonant voice" was a basic issue throughout a doctoral dissertation where this study was included.

[Assessment of voice acoustic parameters in female teachers with diagnosed occupational voice disorders].

Science.gov (United States)

Niebudek-Bogusz, Ewa; Fiszer, Marta; Sliwińska-Kowalska, Mariola

2005-01-01

Laryngovideostroboscopy is the method most frequently used in the assessment of voice disorders. However, the employment of quantitative methods, such as voice acoustic analysis, is essential for evaluating the effectiveness of prophylactic and therapeutic activities as well as for objective medical certification of larynx pathologies. The aim of this study was to examine voice acoustic parameters in female teachers with occupational voice diseases. Acoustic analysis (IRIS software) was performed in 66 female teachers, including 35 teachers with occupational voice diseases and 31 with functional dysphonia. The teachers with occupational voice diseases presented the lower average fundamental frequency (193 Hz) compared to the group with functional dysphonia (209 Hz) and to the normative value (236 Hz), whereas other acoustic parameters did not differ significantly in both groups. Voice acoustic analysis, when applied separately from vocal loading, cannot be used as a testing method to verify the diagnosis of occupational voice disorders.

Muscular tension and body posture in relation to voice handicap and voice quality in teachers with persistent voice complaints.

Science.gov (United States)

Kooijman, P G C; de Jong, F I C R S; Oudes, M J; Huinck, W; van Acht, H; Graamans, K

2005-01-01

The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between extrinsic laryngeal muscular hypertonicity and deviant body posture on the one hand and voice handicap and voice quality on the other hand in teachers with persistent voice complaints and a history of voice-related absenteeism. The study group consisted of 25 female teachers. A voice therapist assessed extrinsic laryngeal muscular tension and a physical therapist assessed body posture. The assessed parameters were clustered in categories. The parameters in the different categories represent the same function. Further a tension/posture index was created, which is the summation of the different parameters. The different parameters and the index were related to the Voice Handicap Index (VHI) and the Dysphonia Severity Index (DSI). The scores of the VHI and the individual parameters differ significantly except for the posterior weight bearing and tension of the sternocleidomastoid muscle. There was also a significant difference between the individual parameters and the DSI, except for tension of the cricothyroid muscle and posterior weight bearing. The score of the tension/posture index correlates significantly with both the VHI and the DSI. In a linear regression analysis, the combination of hypertonicity of the sternocleidomastoid, the geniohyoid muscles and posterior weight bearing is the most important predictor for a high voice handicap. The combination of hypertonicity of the geniohyoid muscle, posterior weight bearing, high position of the hyoid bone, hypertonicity of the cricothyroid muscle and anteroposition of the head is the most important predictor for a low DSI score. The results of this study show the higher the score of the index, the higher the score of the voice handicap and the worse the voice quality is. Moreover, the results are indicative for the importance of assessment of muscular tension and body posture in the diagnosis of voice disorders.

Assessment voice synthesizers for reading in digital books

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sérvulo Fernandes da Silva Neto

2013-07-01

Full Text Available The digital accessibility shows ways to information access in digital media that assist people with different types of disabilities to a better interaction with the computer independent of its limitations. Of these tools are composed by voice synthesizers, that supposedly simplifying their access to any recorded knowledge through digital technologies. However such tools have emerged originally in countries foreign language. Which brings us to the following research problem: the voice synthesizers are appropriate for reading digital books in the Portuguese language? The objective of this study was to analyze and classify different software tools voice synthesizers in combination with software digital book readers to support accessibility to e-books in Portuguese. Through literature review were identified applications software voice synthesizers, composing the sample analyzed in this work. We used a simplified version of the method of Multiple Criteria Decision Support - MMDA, to assess these. In the research 12 were considered readers of e-books and 11 software voice synthesizer, tested with six formats of e-books (E-pub, PDF, HTML, DOC, TXT, and Mobi. In accordance with the results, the software Virtual Vision achieved the highest score. Relative to formats, it was found that the PDF has measured a better score when summed the results of the three synthesizers. In the studied universe contacted that many synthesizers simply cannot be used because they did not support the Portuguese language.

Mindfulness of voices, self-compassion, and secure attachment in relation to the experience of hearing voices.

Science.gov (United States)

Dudley, James; Eames, Catrin; Mulligan, John; Fisher, Naomi

2018-03-01

Developing compassion towards oneself has been linked to improvement in many areas of psychological well-being, including psychosis. Furthermore, developing a non-judgemental, accepting way of relating to voices is associated with lower levels of distress for people who hear voices. These factors have also been associated with secure attachment. This study explores associations between the constructs of mindfulness of voices, self-compassion, and distress from hearing voices and how secure attachment style related to each of these variables. Cross-sectional online. One hundred and twenty-eight people (73% female; M age  = 37.5; 87.5% Caucasian) who currently hear voices completed the Self-Compassion Scale, Southampton Mindfulness of Voices Questionnaire, Relationships Questionnaire, and Hamilton Programme for Schizophrenia Voices Questionnaire. Results showed that mindfulness of voices mediated the relationship between self-compassion and severity of voices, and self-compassion mediated the relationship between mindfulness of voices and severity of voices. Self-compassion and mindfulness of voices were significantly positively correlated with each other and negatively correlated with distress and severity of voices. Mindful relation to voices and self-compassion are associated with reduced distress and severity of voices, which supports the proposed potential benefits of mindful relating to voices and self-compassion as therapeutic skills for people experiencing distress by voice hearing. Greater self-compassion and mindfulness of voices were significantly associated with less distress from voices. These findings support theory underlining compassionate mind training. Mindfulness of voices mediated the relationship between self-compassion and distress from voices, indicating a synergistic relationship between the constructs. Although the current findings do not give a direction of causation, consideration is given to the potential impact of mindful and

Iconic site development and legitimating policies : The changing role of water in Dutch identity discourses

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Terlouw, Kees

2014-01-01

This paper focusses on the role of iconic sites in the legitimation of policies. Traditionally the legitimation of administrations is based on national communities. The undermining of these territorial communities, through globalisation and individualisation, make iconic sites more important to

[Dutch parliament legitimizes harmful quackery].

Science.gov (United States)

van Dam, Frits S A M; Renckens, Cees N M

2010-01-01

The Dutch parliament has recently accepted a tax law in which certain groups of alternative therapists can be exempt from VAT. To be eligible for this VAT exemption, the disciplines to which the therapists belong have to meet certain training requirements. In this article it is contended, in agreement with the Royal College of Physicians in the UK, that statutory regulation is inappropriate for disciplines whose therapies are neither of proved benefit nor appropriately tested. It legitimizes harmful therapies. This is illustrated by two serious accidents, previously described in this journal, caused by a chiropractor and a craniosacral therapist.

The Legitimation of Violence

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Geraldo Miniuci

2012-09-01

Full Text Available This text is oriented by the following questions: What is terrorism? How does it differ from other legitimized violent acts committed during war or in the course of a revolution? In order to answer them, this article discusses, first, the legitimacy of violence and the moral judgment of it; second, it will address the distinction between terrorist acts, acts of war, common crimes and revolutionary action, on the one hand, and the concept of innocent victim and the legitimacy of the target, on the other. In short, a new classification for terrorism will be seen, which will appear as a tactic used by political groups, as well as by public authorities, in the course of a revolution or during a war.

Face the voice

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Lønstrup, Ansa

2014-01-01

will be based on a reception aesthetic and phenomenological approach, the latter as presented by Don Ihde in his book Listening and Voice. Phenomenologies of Sound , and my analytical sketches will be related to theoretical statements concerning the understanding of voice and media (Cavarero, Dolar, La......Belle, Neumark). Finally, the article will discuss the specific artistic combination and our auditory experience of mediated human voices and sculpturally projected faces in an art museum context under the general conditions of the societal panophonia of disembodied and mediated voices, as promoted by Steven...

"Voice Forum" The Human Voice as Primary Instrument in Music Therapy

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Pedersen, Inge Nygaard; Storm, Sanne

2009-01-01

Aspects will be drawn on the human voice as tool for embodying our psychological and physiological state, and attempting integration of feelings. Presentations and dialogues on different methods and techniques in "Therapy related body-and voice work.", as well as the human voice as a tool for non...

40 CFR 260.43 - Legitimate recycling of hazardous secondary materials regulated under § 260.34, § 261.2(a)(2)(ii...

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 25 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Legitimate recycling of hazardous... (CONTINUED) HAZARDOUS WASTE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM: GENERAL Rulemaking Petitions § 260.43 Legitimate recycling of... demonstrate that the recycling is legitimate. Hazardous secondary material that is not legitimately recycled...

Voice Use Among Music Theory Teachers: A Voice Dosimetry and Self-Assessment Study.

Science.gov (United States)

Schiller, Isabel S; Morsomme, Dominique; Remacle, Angélique

2017-07-25

This study aimed (1) to investigate music theory teachers' professional and extra-professional vocal loading and background noise exposure, (2) to determine the correlation between vocal loading and background noise, and (3) to determine the correlation between vocal loading and self-evaluation data. Using voice dosimetry, 13 music theory teachers were monitored for one workweek. The parameters analyzed were voice sound pressure level (SPL), fundamental frequency (F0), phonation time, vocal loading index (VLI), and noise SPL. Spearman correlation was used to correlate vocal loading parameters (voice SPL, F0, and phonation time) and noise SPL. Each day, the subjects self-assessed their voice using visual analog scales. VLI and self-evaluation data were correlated using Spearman correlation. Vocal loading parameters and noise SPL were significantly higher in the professional than in the extra-professional environment. Voice SPL, phonation time, and female subjects' F0 correlated positively with noise SPL. VLI correlated with self-assessed voice quality, vocal fatigue, and amount of singing and speaking voice produced. Teaching music theory is a profession with high vocal demands. More background noise is associated with increased vocal loading and may indirectly increase the risk for voice disorders. Correlations between VLI and self-assessments suggest that these teachers are well aware of their vocal demands and feel their effect on voice quality and vocal fatigue. Visual analog scales seem to represent a useful tool for subjective vocal loading assessment and associated symptoms in these professional voice users. Copyright © 2017 The Voice Foundation. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Falling out: authoritative knowledge and women's experiences with pelvic organ prolapse.

Science.gov (United States)

Low, Lisa Kane; Tumbarello, Julie A

2012-01-01

Despite the high prevalence of pelvic organ prolapse, many women suffer in silence, lacking the language and opportunity to describe their condition. There are limited descriptions of women's experiences with pelvic organ prolapse in the literature. This qualitative study addressed the knowledge and experience of women with pelvic organ prolapse. Semistructured interviews were conducted with 13 women who had been previously diagnosed with pelvic organ prolapse. Transcripts of the interviews were reviewed and coded using a process of content analysis compared against the framework of authoritative knowledge, developed by Brigitte Jordan. By applying the concept of authoritative knowledge, we identified 3 themes of how women construct understanding about pelvic organ prolapse and how they demonstrate deference to the authoritative knowledge of medical providers. First, we found through women's narratives that authoritative knowledge was held by the health care provider and is considered consequential and legitimate by all participants. Second, women reported that the health care provider's authoritative knowledge was valued over personal, experiential knowledge. Finally, women described how they work with their health care providers to create a system of authoritative knowledge as they seek treatment for or discuss their condition. Throughout the narratives, women's experiences are not legitimized by the women or the medical community, perpetuating the "hidden" nature of these conditions. This analysis provides qualitative evidence of Jordan's authoritative knowledge: women and health care providers contribute to dimensions of authoritative knowledge surrounding pelvic organ prolapse. Despite what women experience, the health care provider's definition and understanding of pelvic organ prolapse is seen as legitimate and consequential. Because of their construction of their condition, and the power dynamic at play, women are silenced, and their expertise about their

Writing with Voice

Science.gov (United States)

Kesler, Ted

2012-01-01

In this Teaching Tips article, the author argues for a dialogic conception of voice, based in the work of Mikhail Bakhtin. He demonstrates a dialogic view of voice in action, using two writing examples about the same topic from his daughter, a fifth-grade student. He then provides five practical tips for teaching a dialogic conception of voice in…

Marshall’s Voice

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Halper Thomas

2017-12-01

Full Text Available Most judicial opinions, for a variety of reasons, do not speak with the voice of identifiable judges, but an analysis of several of John Marshall’s best known opinions reveals a distinctive voice, with its characteristic language and style of argumentation. The power of this voice helps to account for the influence of his views.

Coercive and legitimate authority impact tax honesty: evidence from behavioral and ERP experiments.

Science.gov (United States)

Gangl, Katharina; Pfabigan, Daniela M; Lamm, Claus; Kirchler, Erich; Hofmann, Eva

2017-07-01

Cooperation in social systems such as tax honesty is of central importance in our modern societies. However, we know little about cognitive and neural processes driving decisions to evade or pay taxes. This study focuses on the impact of perceived tax authority and examines the mental chronometry mirrored in ERP data allowing a deeper understanding about why humans cooperate in tax systems. We experimentally manipulated coercive and legitimate authority and studied its impact on cooperation and underlying cognitive (experiment 1, 2) and neuronal (experiment 2) processes. Experiment 1 showed that in a condition of coercive authority, tax payments are lower, decisions are faster and participants report more rational reasoning and enforced compliance, however, less voluntary cooperation than in a condition of legitimate authority. Experiment 2 confirmed most results, but did not find a difference in payments or self-reported rational reasoning. Moreover, legitimate authority led to heightened cognitive control (expressed by increased MFN amplitudes) and disrupted attention processing (expressed by decreased P300 amplitudes) compared to coercive authority. To conclude, the neuronal data surprisingly revealed that legitimate authority may led to higher decision conflict and thus to higher cognitive demands in tax decisions than coercive authority. © The Author (2017). Published by Oxford University Press.

A pneumatic Bionic Voice prosthesis-Pre-clinical trials of controlling the voice onset and offset.

Science.gov (United States)

Ahmadi, Farzaneh; Noorian, Farzad; Novakovic, Daniel; van Schaik, André

2018-01-01

Despite emergent progress in many fields of bionics, a functional Bionic Voice prosthesis for laryngectomy patients (larynx amputees) has not yet been achieved, leading to a lifetime of vocal disability for these patients. This study introduces a novel framework of Pneumatic Bionic Voice Prostheses as an electronic adaptation of the Pneumatic Artificial Larynx (PAL) device. The PAL is a non-invasive mechanical voice source, driven exclusively by respiration with an exceptionally high voice quality, comparable to the existing gold standard of Tracheoesophageal (TE) voice prosthesis. Following PAL design closely as the reference, Pneumatic Bionic Voice Prostheses seem to have a strong potential to substitute the existing gold standard by generating a similar voice quality while remaining non-invasive and non-surgical. This paper designs the first Pneumatic Bionic Voice prosthesis and evaluates its onset and offset control against the PAL device through pre-clinical trials on one laryngectomy patient. The evaluation on a database of more than five hours of continuous/isolated speech recordings shows a close match between the onset/offset control of the Pneumatic Bionic Voice and the PAL with an accuracy of 98.45 ±0.54%. When implemented in real-time, the Pneumatic Bionic Voice prosthesis controller has an average onset/offset delay of 10 milliseconds compared to the PAL. Hence it addresses a major disadvantage of previous electronic voice prostheses, including myoelectric Bionic Voice, in meeting the short time-frames of controlling the onset/offset of the voice in continuous speech.

78 FR 75910 - Impact of the Implementation of the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) on Legitimate Commercial...

Science.gov (United States)

2013-12-13

... (CWC) on Legitimate Commercial Chemical, Biotechnology, and Pharmaceutical Activities Involving... legitimate commercial activities and interests of chemical, biotechnology, and pharmaceutical firms are being... commercial activities and interests of chemical, biotechnology, and pharmaceutical firms in the United States...

Voice similarity in identical twins.

Science.gov (United States)

Van Gysel, W D; Vercammen, J; Debruyne, F

2001-01-01

If people are asked to discriminate visually the two individuals of a monozygotic twin (MT), they mostly get into trouble. Does this problem also exist when listening to twin voices? Twenty female and 10 male MT voices were randomly assembled with one "strange" voice to get voice trios. The listeners (10 female students in Speech and Language Pathology) were asked to label the twins (voices 1-2, 1-3 or 2-3) in two conditions: two standard sentences read aloud and a 2.5-second midsection of a sustained /a/. The proportion correctly labelled twins was for female voices 82% and 63% and for male voices 74% and 52% for the sentences and the sustained /a/ respectively, both being significantly greater than chance (33%). The acoustic analysis revealed a high intra-twin correlation for the speaking fundamental frequency (SFF) of the sentences and the fundamental frequency (F0) of the sustained /a/. So the voice pitch could have been a useful characteristic in the perceptual identification of the twins. We conclude that there is a greater perceptual resemblance between the voices of identical twins than between voices without genetic relationship. The identification however is not perfect. The voice pitch possibly contributes to the correct twin identifications.

Historical and social contexts for scientific writing and use of passive voice: Toward an undergraduate science literacy course

Science.gov (United States)

Ding, Dan Xiong

The passive voice is a major stylistic feature of modern scientific discourse, but such a feature did not dominate scientific writing until the 1890s. It has its roots in the philosophical thoughts of experimental science of Francis Bacon and his followers such as Thomas Sprat and John Locke. In the early seventeenth century. Bacon called for a new science that emphasized collective knowledge of nature. Such a science was a cooperative and public enterprise in which scientists should work as a group to advance knowledge of nature. When science was moving gradually toward a public enterprise from the early seventeenth century, the passive voice gradually replaced the active voice in science writing as a dominant stylistic feature. The passive voice in scientific writing is thus historically and socially conditioned. Scientists take advantage of the linguistic functions of the passive voice to serve their rhetorical and pragmatic purposes such as presenting experiments as they are for others to reproduce and verify the results. It embodies two major conventions of scientific communities: (1) science is a public enterprise and (2) it is also a cooperative venture. Other conventions are related to these two: the collective authority of an scientific community is above the personal authority of any one individual scientist; science is not an infallible force, so any research result needs to be verified by a scientific community before it becomes knowledge; scientists use passive voice to approach their writing to make it appear as if it were objective; and science is a human profession. Therefore, we need to teach science students to use the passive voice, and more importantly, why and when to use it. We should emphasize writing practice to have students' see that they use passives rhetorically to present experimental processes, materials and methods.

Legitimate data in remote monitoring.

Science.gov (United States)

Schilling, J D

2009-01-01

An approach for ensuring legitimate data transfers of an individual within a remote healthcare solution. Biometric traits and networking are discussed for clarification of the approach. In this approach, a biometric solution is identified as a fingerprint scanner for use in a personal area network of the patient's home. Secure data exchange is acknowledged as a potential weakness in the transferring of patient data within this network. Some options are discussed to ensure security of data for the review by the caregiver. Example approaches regarding legitimacy are identified using a pulse oximeter [1], a blood pressure meter, and a weight scale as the remote patient devices in the remote healthcare solution.

ISSUES OF LEGITIMIZING POLITICAL POWER IN THE FIRST HALF OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY: MAX WEBER AND KARL JASPERS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nicolae IUGA

2012-12-01

Full Text Available The issue of legitimizing political power has specific dimensions determined by the historical context. In the period following the First World War, democratic regimes dramatically collapsed due to ample protest movements against the political establishment from different countries, but also as a result of a serious political legitimation crisis, thus making way for the rise of totalitarian regimes of Fascism and Nazism. That time debates on the problem of legitimization political power are symptomatic. Due to the general perception regarding corruption in politics and to the political incapacity to deal with social problems, we can witness a decrease of trust in contemporary democratic regimes.In order to exemplify, in a brief expositive manner, my paper will present the topic of political legitimation approached by Max Weber and Karl Jaspers, in a selection of relevant texts issued by both authors during 1919-1931. The aim of this paper is to highlight the actuality, the validity of Weber’s and Jasper’s statements and also their capacity to give pertinent responses to questions such as: What role do the common values play in the legitimating of power in a democratic society? Are there any kinds of limits regarding the electoral legitimation? How can we make the difference between a legitimate appeal and an illegitimate one, between civism and terrorism?

Tips for Healthy Voices

Science.gov (United States)

... prevent voice problems and maintain a healthy voice: Drink water (stay well hydrated): Keeping your body well hydrated by drinking plenty of water each day (6-8 glasses) is essential to maintaining a healthy voice. The ...

Your Cheatin' Voice Will Tell on You: Detection of Past Infidelity from Voice.

Science.gov (United States)

Hughes, Susan M; Harrison, Marissa A

2017-01-01

Evidence suggests that many physical, behavioral, and trait qualities can be detected solely from the sound of a person's voice, irrespective of the semantic information conveyed through speech. This study examined whether raters could accurately assess the likelihood that a person has cheated on committed, romantic partners simply by hearing the speaker's voice. Independent raters heard voice samples of individuals who self-reported that they either cheated or had never cheated on their romantic partners. To control for aspects that may clue a listener to the speaker's mate value, we used voice samples that did not differ between these groups for voice attractiveness, age, voice pitch, and other acoustic measures. We found that participants indeed rated the voices of those who had a history of cheating as more likely to cheat. Male speakers were given higher ratings for cheating, while female raters were more likely to ascribe the likelihood to cheat to speakers. Additionally, we manipulated the pitch of the voice samples, and for both sexes, the lower pitched versions were consistently rated to be from those who were more likely to have cheated. Regardless of the pitch manipulation, speakers were able to assess actual history of infidelity; the one exception was that men's accuracy decreased when judging women whose voices were lowered. These findings expand upon the idea that the human voice may be of value as a cheater detection tool and very thin slices of vocal information are all that is needed to make certain assessments about others.

Perceiving a stranger's voice as being one's own: a 'rubber voice' illusion?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zane Z Zheng

2011-04-01

Full Text Available We describe an illusion in which a stranger's voice, when presented as the auditory concomitant of a participant's own speech, is perceived as a modified version of their own voice. When the congruence between utterance and feedback breaks down, the illusion is also broken. Compared to a baseline condition in which participants heard their own voice as feedback, hearing a stranger's voice induced robust changes in the fundamental frequency (F0 of their production. Moreover, the shift in F0 appears to be feedback dependent, since shift patterns depended reliably on the relationship between the participant's own F0 and the stranger-voice F0. The shift in F0 was evident both when the illusion was present and after it was broken, suggesting that auditory feedback from production may be used separately for self-recognition and for vocal motor control. Our findings indicate that self-recognition of voices, like other body attributes, is malleable and context dependent.

Unfamiliar voice identification: Effect of post-event information on accuracy and voice ratings

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Harriet Mary Jessica Smith

2014-04-01

Full Text Available This study addressed the effect of misleading post-event information (PEI on voice ratings, identification accuracy, and confidence, as well as the link between verbal recall and accuracy. Participants listened to a dialogue between male and female targets, then read misleading information about voice pitch. Participants engaged in verbal recall, rated voices on a feature checklist, and made a lineup decision. Accuracy rates were low, especially on target-absent lineups. Confidence and accuracy were unrelated, but the number of facts recalled about the voice predicted later lineup accuracy. There was a main effect of misinformation on ratings of target voice pitch, but there was no effect on identification accuracy or confidence ratings. As voice lineup evidence from earwitnesses is used in courts, the findings have potential applied relevance.

A pneumatic Bionic Voice prosthesis-Pre-clinical trials of controlling the voice onset and offset.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Farzaneh Ahmadi

Full Text Available Despite emergent progress in many fields of bionics, a functional Bionic Voice prosthesis for laryngectomy patients (larynx amputees has not yet been achieved, leading to a lifetime of vocal disability for these patients. This study introduces a novel framework of Pneumatic Bionic Voice Prostheses as an electronic adaptation of the Pneumatic Artificial Larynx (PAL device. The PAL is a non-invasive mechanical voice source, driven exclusively by respiration with an exceptionally high voice quality, comparable to the existing gold standard of Tracheoesophageal (TE voice prosthesis. Following PAL design closely as the reference, Pneumatic Bionic Voice Prostheses seem to have a strong potential to substitute the existing gold standard by generating a similar voice quality while remaining non-invasive and non-surgical. This paper designs the first Pneumatic Bionic Voice prosthesis and evaluates its onset and offset control against the PAL device through pre-clinical trials on one laryngectomy patient. The evaluation on a database of more than five hours of continuous/isolated speech recordings shows a close match between the onset/offset control of the Pneumatic Bionic Voice and the PAL with an accuracy of 98.45 ±0.54%. When implemented in real-time, the Pneumatic Bionic Voice prosthesis controller has an average onset/offset delay of 10 milliseconds compared to the PAL. Hence it addresses a major disadvantage of previous electronic voice prostheses, including myoelectric Bionic Voice, in meeting the short time-frames of controlling the onset/offset of the voice in continuous speech.

A pneumatic Bionic Voice prosthesis—Pre-clinical trials of controlling the voice onset and offset

Science.gov (United States)

Noorian, Farzad; Novakovic, Daniel; van Schaik, André

2018-01-01

Despite emergent progress in many fields of bionics, a functional Bionic Voice prosthesis for laryngectomy patients (larynx amputees) has not yet been achieved, leading to a lifetime of vocal disability for these patients. This study introduces a novel framework of Pneumatic Bionic Voice Prostheses as an electronic adaptation of the Pneumatic Artificial Larynx (PAL) device. The PAL is a non-invasive mechanical voice source, driven exclusively by respiration with an exceptionally high voice quality, comparable to the existing gold standard of Tracheoesophageal (TE) voice prosthesis. Following PAL design closely as the reference, Pneumatic Bionic Voice Prostheses seem to have a strong potential to substitute the existing gold standard by generating a similar voice quality while remaining non-invasive and non-surgical. This paper designs the first Pneumatic Bionic Voice prosthesis and evaluates its onset and offset control against the PAL device through pre-clinical trials on one laryngectomy patient. The evaluation on a database of more than five hours of continuous/isolated speech recordings shows a close match between the onset/offset control of the Pneumatic Bionic Voice and the PAL with an accuracy of 98.45 ±0.54%. When implemented in real-time, the Pneumatic Bionic Voice prosthesis controller has an average onset/offset delay of 10 milliseconds compared to the PAL. Hence it addresses a major disadvantage of previous electronic voice prostheses, including myoelectric Bionic Voice, in meeting the short time-frames of controlling the onset/offset of the voice in continuous speech. PMID:29466455

Group differences in the legitimization of inequality: Questioning the role of social dominance orientation.

Science.gov (United States)

Pehrson, Samuel; Carvacho, Héctor; Sibley, Chris G

2017-03-01

Social dominance orientation (SDO) is conceived as an individual's level of support for group-based hierarchy in general that causes support for more specific group hierarchies. According to social dominance theory, group differences in SDO underpin ideological and behavioural group differences related to specific group hierarchies. Using representative 5-year longitudinal panel data from New Zealand (N = 3,384), we test whether SDO mediates effects of sex and ethnicity on legitimizing myths (LMs) relating to gender and ethnic hierarchy over time. The SDO mediation hypothesis is supported in the case of hostile sexism. However, it is unsupported in the case of benevolent sexism and LMs relating to ethnic hierarchy, where there was no cross-lagged effect of SDO. Moreover, being in the dominant ethnic group is associated with more legitimization of ethnic hierarchy but less legitimization of gender hierarchy, which is inconsistent with the notion of a general orientation underpinning group differences in legitimation. There was mixed evidence for a reverse path whereby specific LMs mediate group differences in SDO across time. We argue for the need to find alternative ways to theorize ideological consensus and difference between groups. © 2016 The British Psychological Society.

External legitimation in international new ventures

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Turcan, Romeo V.

2012-01-01

This paper explores within the framework of new venture legitimation how and why international new ventures acquire external legitimacy and strive for survival in the face of critical events. Following a longitudinal multiple-case study methodology that was adopted for the purpose of theory...... building, the paper introduces the typology of captivity, and the four types that have emerged: captive industry supplier, captive dyadic partner, captive market leader, and free market leader. The effects of captivity types on the acquisition of external legitimacy and its survival, on reaching legitimacy...

METHODS FOR QUALITY ENHANCEMENT OF USER VOICE SIGNAL IN VOICE AUTHENTICATION SYSTEMS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

O. N. Faizulaieva

2014-03-01

Full Text Available The reasonability for the usage of computer systems user voice in the authentication process is proved. The scientific task for improving the signal/noise ratio of the user voice signal in the authentication system is considered. The object of study is the process of input and output of the voice signal of authentication system user in computer systems and networks. Methods and means for input and extraction of voice signal against external interference signals are researched. Methods for quality enhancement of user voice signal in voice authentication systems are suggested. As modern computer facilities, including mobile ones, have two-channel audio card, the usage of two microphones is proposed in the voice signal input system of authentication system. Meanwhile, the task of forming a lobe of microphone array in a desired area of voice signal registration (100 Hz to 8 kHz is solved. The usage of directional properties of the proposed microphone array gives the possibility to have the influence of external interference signals two or three times less in the frequency range from 4 to 8 kHz. The possibilities for implementation of space-time processing of the recorded signals using constant and adaptive weighting factors are investigated. The simulation results of the proposed system for input and extraction of signals during digital processing of narrowband signals are presented. The proposed solutions make it possible to improve the value of the signal/noise ratio of the useful signals recorded up to 10, ..., 20 dB under the influence of external interference signals in the frequency range from 4 to 8 kHz. The results may be useful to specialists working in the field of voice recognition and speaker’s discrimination.

RENEWAL OF SWISS LEGITIMATION CARDS

CERN Multimedia

Division des Ressources Humaines; Human Resources Division; Tel. 79494-74683

2000-01-01

Members of the personnel, holders of SWISS LEGITIMATION CARDS due to expire during the year 2000, need to change them. Those concerned should bring: - a recent passport photo (with NAME and first name on the back) - the expired (or due to expire) card and a recto-verso photocopy on A4 size paper (for certified authentication) to: Bureau des cartes, bldg 33.1-009/1-011. HR Division will notify members of personnel as soon as the new cards are available.Be careful: if you are in possession of expired cards (Swiss or French), or if you present non-certified copies, the Organisation will not take any responsibility in case of difficulties with the customs authorities or the police.

RENEWAL OF SWISS LEGITIMATION CARDS

CERN Multimedia

HR DIVISION

2000-01-01

Members of the personnel, holders of SWISS LEGITIMATION CARDSdue to expire during the year 2000, need to change them.Those concerned should bring:a recent passport photo (with NAME and first name on the back)the expired (or due to expire) card and a photocopy (for certified authentication)to: Bureau des cartes, building 33/1-025Members of personnel will be notified by HR Division as soon as the new cards are available.Be careful: if you are in possession of expired cards (Swiss or French), or if you present non-certified copies, the Organization will not take any responsibility in case of difficulties with the customs authorities or the police.Human Resources DivisionTel. 79494-74683

Foregrounding Knowledge in E-Learning Design: An Illustration in a Museum Setting

Science.gov (United States)

Carvalho, Lucila; Dong, Andy; Maton, Karl

2015-01-01

The nature of knowledge, and the various forms knowledge may take, is a neglected aspect of the development of e-learning environments. This paper uses Legitimation Code Theory (LCT) to conceptualise the organising principles of knowledge practices. As we will illustrate, when it comes to the design of e-learning, the organising principles of the…

The Role of Occupational Voice Demand and Patient-Rated Impairment in Predicting Voice Therapy Adherence.

Science.gov (United States)

Ebersole, Barbara; Soni, Resha S; Moran, Kathleen; Lango, Miriam; Devarajan, Karthik; Jamal, Nausheen

2018-05-01

Examine the relationship among the severity of patient-perceived voice impairment, perceptual dysphonia severity, occupational voice demand, and voice therapy adherence. Identify clinical predictors of increased risk for therapy nonadherence. A retrospective cohort study of patients presenting with a chief complaint of persistent dysphonia at an interdisciplinary voice center was done. The Voice Handicap Index-10 (VHI-10) and the Voice-Related Quality of Life (V-RQOL) survey scores, clinician rating of dysphonia severity using the Grade score from the Grade, Roughness Breathiness, Asthenia, and Strain scale, occupational voice demand, and patient demographics were tested for associations with therapy adherence, defined as completion of the treatment plan. Classification and Regression Tree (CART) analysis was performed to establish thresholds for nonadherence risk. Of 166 patients evaluated, 111 were recommended for voice therapy. The therapy nonadherence rate was 56%. Occupational voice demand category, VHI-10, and V-RQOL scores were the only factors significantly correlated with therapy adherence (P demand are significantly more likely to be nonadherent with therapy than those with high occupational voice demand (P 40 is a significant cutoff point for predicting therapy nonadherence (P demand and patient perception of impairment are significantly and independently correlated with therapy adherence. A VHI-10 score of ≤9 or a V-RQOL score of >40 is a significant cutoff point for predicting nonadherence risk. Copyright © 2018 The Voice Foundation. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Diagnostic value of voice acoustic analysis in assessment of occupational voice pathologies in teachers.

Science.gov (United States)

Niebudek-Bogusz, Ewa; Fiszer, Marta; Kotylo, Piotr; Sliwinska-Kowalska, Mariola

2006-01-01

It has been shown that teachers are at risk of developing occupational dysphonia, which accounts for over 25% of all occupational diseases diagnosed in Poland. The most frequently used method of diagnosing voice diseases is videostroboscopy. However, to facilitate objective evaluation of voice efficiency as well as medical certification of occupational voice disorders, it is crucial to implement quantitative methods of voice assessment, particularly voice acoustic analysis. The aim of the study was to assess the results of acoustic analysis in 66 female teachers (aged 40-64 years), including 35 subjects with occupational voice pathologies (e.g., vocal nodules) and 31 subjects with functional dysphonia. The acoustic analysis was performed using the IRIS software, before and after a 30-minute vocal loading test. All participants were subjected also to laryngological and videostroboscopic examinations. After the vocal effort, the acoustic parameters displayed statistically significant abnormalities, mostly lowered fundamental frequency (Fo) and incorrect values of shimmer and noise to harmonic ratio. To conclude, quantitative voice acoustic analysis using the IRIS software seems to be an effective complement to voice examinations, which is particularly helpful in diagnosing occupational dysphonia.

Objective voice parameters in Colombian school workers with healthy voices

NARCIS (Netherlands)

L.C. Cantor Cutiva (Lady Catherine); A. Burdorf (Alex)

2015-01-01

textabstractObjectives: To characterize the objective voice parameters among school workers, and to identify associated factors of three objective voice parameters, namely fundamental frequency, sound pressure level and maximum phonation time. Materials and methods: We conducted a cross-sectional

Legitimating Clinical Research in the Study of Organizational Culture.

Science.gov (United States)

Schein, Edgar H.

1993-01-01

Argues that traditional research model used in industrial-organizational psychology is not useful in understanding deeper dynamics of organizations, especially those phenomena labeled as "cultural." Contends that use of data obtained during clinical and consulting work should be legitimated as valid research data. Spells out clinical model and…

Pedagogic Voice: Student Voice in Teaching and Engagement Pedagogies

Science.gov (United States)

Baroutsis, Aspa; McGregor, Glenda; Mills, Martin

2016-01-01

In this paper, we are concerned with the notion of "pedagogic voice" as it relates to the presence of student "voice" in teaching, learning and curriculum matters at an alternative, or second chance, school in Australia. This school draws upon many of the principles of democratic schooling via its utilisation of student voice…

Voice Savers for Music Teachers

Science.gov (United States)

Cookman, Starr

2012-01-01

Music teachers are in a class all their own when it comes to voice use. These elite vocal athletes require stamina, strength, and flexibility from their voices day in, day out for hours at a time. Voice rehabilitation clinics and research show that music education ranks high among the professionals most commonly affected by voice problems.…

Is voice therapy effective for the treatment of dysphonic patients with benign vocal fold lesions?

Science.gov (United States)

Ogawa, Makoto; Inohara, Hidenori

2017-08-22

To update our knowledge regarding the effectiveness of voice therapy for the treatment of vocal disturbance associated with benign vocal fold lesions, including vocal polyps, nodules and cysts, and for determining the utility of voice therapy in treating organic voice disorders, while highlighting problems for the future development of this clinical field. We conducted a review of the most recent literature on the therapeutic effects of voice therapy, vocal hygiene education or direct vocal training on vocal quality, the lesion appearance and discomfort felt by patients due to the clinical entity of benign vocal fold mass lesions. Although voice therapy is principally indicated for the treatment of functional dysphonia without any organic abnormalities in the vocal folds, a number of clinicians have attempted to perform voice therapy even in dysphonic patients with benign mass lesions in the vocal folds. The two major possible reasons for the effectiveness of voice therapy on vocal disturbance associated with benign vocal fold lesions are hypothesized to be the regression of lesions and the correction of excessive/inappropriate muscle contraction of the phonatory organs. According to the current literature, a substantial proportion of vocal polyps certainly tend to shrink after voice therapy, but whether or not the regression results from voice therapy, vocal hygiene education or a natural cure is unclear at present due to the lack of controlled studies comparing two groups with and without interventions. Regarding vocal nodules, no studies have investigated the effectiveness of voice therapy using proper experimental methodology. Vocal cysts are difficult to cure by voice therapy without surgical excision according to previous studies. Evidences remains insufficient to support the use of voice therapy against benign vocal fold lesions. Evidences at present is therefore still insufficient to support the use of voice therapy for the treatment of benign vocal fold

Mechanics of human voice production and control.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Zhaoyan

2016-10-01

As the primary means of communication, voice plays an important role in daily life. Voice also conveys personal information such as social status, personal traits, and the emotional state of the speaker. Mechanically, voice production involves complex fluid-structure interaction within the glottis and its control by laryngeal muscle activation. An important goal of voice research is to establish a causal theory linking voice physiology and biomechanics to how speakers use and control voice to communicate meaning and personal information. Establishing such a causal theory has important implications for clinical voice management, voice training, and many speech technology applications. This paper provides a review of voice physiology and biomechanics, the physics of vocal fold vibration and sound production, and laryngeal muscular control of the fundamental frequency of voice, vocal intensity, and voice quality. Current efforts to develop mechanical and computational models of voice production are also critically reviewed. Finally, issues and future challenges in developing a causal theory of voice production and perception are discussed.

Decolonising Research and Teaching Methodologies: A "Ninth Moment" Symphony of Artist-Educator-Researcher Voices

Science.gov (United States)

Jones, Janice K.; Batorowicz, Beata; Ladislas Derr, Robert; Peters, Sarah

2015-01-01

In an era of globalisation, positivist research methodologies and voices are privileged and funded over those of qualitative researchers. This has led to narrowing beliefs about what constitutes knowledge, and about the ways in which knowledge is constructed and evaluated, impacting upon the conduct, funding and reporting of arts research, and…

You're a What? Voice Actor

Science.gov (United States)

Liming, Drew

2009-01-01

This article talks about voice actors and features Tony Oliver, a professional voice actor. Voice actors help to bring one's favorite cartoon and video game characters to life. They also do voice-overs for radio and television commercials and movie trailers. These actors use the sound of their voice to sell a character's emotions--or an advertised…

Voice - How humans communicate?

Science.gov (United States)

Tiwari, Manjul; Tiwari, Maneesha

2012-01-01

Voices are important things for humans. They are the medium through which we do a lot of communicating with the outside world: our ideas, of course, and also our emotions and our personality. The voice is the very emblem of the speaker, indelibly woven into the fabric of speech. In this sense, each of our utterances of spoken language carries not only its own message but also, through accent, tone of voice and habitual voice quality it is at the same time an audible declaration of our membership of particular social regional groups, of our individual physical and psychological identity, and of our momentary mood. Voices are also one of the media through which we (successfully, most of the time) recognize other humans who are important to us-members of our family, media personalities, our friends, and enemies. Although evidence from DNA analysis is potentially vastly more eloquent in its power than evidence from voices, DNA cannot talk. It cannot be recorded planning, carrying out or confessing to a crime. It cannot be so apparently directly incriminating. As will quickly become evident, voices are extremely complex things, and some of the inherent limitations of the forensic-phonetic method are in part a consequence of the interaction between their complexity and the real world in which they are used. It is one of the aims of this article to explain how this comes about. This subject have unsolved questions, but there is no direct way to present the information that is necessary to understand how voices can be related, or not, to their owners.

Speaker's voice as a memory cue.

Science.gov (United States)

Campeanu, Sandra; Craik, Fergus I M; Alain, Claude

2015-02-01

Speaker's voice occupies a central role as the cornerstone of auditory social interaction. Here, we review the evidence suggesting that speaker's voice constitutes an integral context cue in auditory memory. Investigation into the nature of voice representation as a memory cue is essential to understanding auditory memory and the neural correlates which underlie it. Evidence from behavioral and electrophysiological studies suggest that while specific voice reinstatement (i.e., same speaker) often appears to facilitate word memory even without attention to voice at study, the presence of a partial benefit of similar voices between study and test is less clear. In terms of explicit memory experiments utilizing unfamiliar voices, encoding methods appear to play a pivotal role. Voice congruency effects have been found when voice is specifically attended at study (i.e., when relatively shallow, perceptual encoding takes place). These behavioral findings coincide with neural indices of memory performance such as the parietal old/new recollection effect and the late right frontal effect. The former distinguishes between correctly identified old words and correctly identified new words, and reflects voice congruency only when voice is attended at study. Characterization of the latter likely depends upon voice memory, rather than word memory. There is also evidence to suggest that voice effects can be found in implicit memory paradigms. However, the presence of voice effects appears to depend greatly on the task employed. Using a word identification task, perceptual similarity between study and test conditions is, like for explicit memory tests, crucial. In addition, the type of noise employed appears to have a differential effect. While voice effects have been observed when white noise is used at both study and test, using multi-talker babble does not confer the same results. In terms of neuroimaging research modulations, characterization of an implicit memory effect

RENEWAL OF SWISS LEGITIMATION CARDS

CERN Multimedia

HR Division

2000-01-01

Members of the personnel, holders ofSWISS LEGITIMATION CARDSdue to expire during the year 2000, need to change them.Those concerned should bring:a recent passport photo (with NAME and first name on the back)the expired (or due to expire) card and a recto-verso photocopy on A4 size paper (for certified authentication) to:Bureau des cartes, Bât 33.1-009/1-011.HR Division will notify members of personnel as soon as the new cards are available.Be careful: if you are in possession of expired cards (Swiss or French), or if you present non-certified copies, the Organisation will not take any responsibility in case of difficulties with the customs authorities or the police.Human Resources DivisionTel. 79494-74683

RENEWAL OF SWISS LEGITIMATION CARDS

CERN Multimedia

Division des Ressources Humaines; Human Resources Division; Tel. 79494-74683

2000-01-01

Members of the personnel, holders of SWISS LEGITIMATION CARDS due to expire during the year 2000, need to change them. Those concerned should bring : a recent passport photo (with NAME and first name on the back) the expired (or due to expire) card and a recto-verso photocopy on A4 size paper (for certified authentication)to: Bureau des cartes, Bât 33.1-009/1-011. Members of personnel will be notified by HR Division as soon as the new cards are available. Be careful: if you are in possession of expired cards (Swiss or French), or if you present non-certified copies, the Organization will not take any responsibility in case of difficulties with the customs authorities or the police.

RENEWAL OF SWISS LEGITIMATION CARDS

CERN Multimedia

Human Resources Division; Human Resources Division; Tel. 79494-74683

2000-01-01

Members of the personnel, holders of SWISS LEGITIMATION CARDS due to expire during the year 2000, need to change them. Those concerned should bring: ­ a recent passport photo (with NAME and first name on the back) ­ the expired (or due to expire) card and a recto-verso photocopy on A4 size paper (for certified authentication) to: Bureau des cartes, Bât 33.1-009/1-011 Members of the personnel will be notified by HR Division as soon as the new cards are available. Be careful: if you are in possession of expired cards (Swiss or French), or if you present non-certified copies, the Organization will not take any responsability in case of difficulties with the customs authorities or the police.

RENEWAL OF SWISS LEGITIMATION CARDS

CERN Multimedia

Division des Ressources Humaines; Human Resources Division; Tel. 79494-74683

2000-01-01

Members of the personnel, holders of SWISS LEGITIMATION CARDS due to expire during the year 2000, need to change them. Those concerned should bring : - a recent passport photo (with NAME and first name on the back) - the expired (or due to expire) card and a recto-verso photocopy on A4 size paper (for certified authentication) to: Bureau des cartes, bât 33.1-009/1-011. HR Division will notify members of personnel as soon as the new cards are available. Be careful: if you are in possession of expired cards (Swiss or French), or if you present non-certified copies, the Organization will not take any responsibility in case of difficulties with the customs authorities or the police.

RENEWAL OF SWISS LEGITIMATION CARDS

CERN Multimedia

Division des Ressources Humaines

2000-01-01

Members of the personnel, holders of SWISS LEGITIMATION CARDSdue to expire during the year 2000, need to change them.Those concerned should bring:-\ta recent passport photo (with NAME and first name on the back)-\tthe expired (or due to expire) card and a recto-verso photocopy on A4 size paper (for certified authentication) to:Bureau des cartes, bât 33.1-009/1-011.HR Division will notify members of personnel as soon as the new cards are available.Be careful: if you are in possession of expired cards (Swiss or French), or if you present non-certified copies, the Organisation will not take any responsibility in case of difficulties with the customs authorities or the police.Human Resources DivisionTel. 79494-74683

Sociology of Knowledge Perspective on Entrepreneurship

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Turcan, Romeo V.

2018-01-01

This chapter addresses one of the enduring questions in sociology of knowledge: how is it possible that subjective meanings become objective facticities? It adopts this question to understand the entrepreneurship phenomenon, and, more specifically, to understand how new business or venture ideas...... and new sectors or industries (as subjective meanings) are legitimated and institutionalized (become socially established as reality). Building on Berger and Luckmann’s Treatise in the Sociology of Knowledge, the chapter suggests an alternative order objectivation of meaning to understand entrepreneurship...

Integrating cues of social interest and voice pitch in men's preferences for women's voices

OpenAIRE

Jones, Benedict C; Feinberg, David R; DeBruine, Lisa M; Little, Anthony C; Vukovic, Jovana

2008-01-01

Most previous studies of vocal attractiveness have focused on preferences for physical characteristics of voices such as pitch. Here we examine the content of vocalizations in interaction with such physical traits, finding that vocal cues of social interest modulate the strength of men's preferences for raised pitch in women's voices. Men showed stronger preferences for raised pitch when judging the voices of women who appeared interested in the listener than when judging the voices of women ...

Foetal response to music and voice.

Science.gov (United States)

Al-Qahtani, Noura H

2005-10-01

To examine whether prenatal exposure to music and voice alters foetal behaviour and whether foetal response to music differs from human voice. A prospective observational study was conducted in 20 normal term pregnant mothers. Ten foetuses were exposed to music and voice for 15 s at different sound pressure levels to find out the optimal setting for the auditory stimulation. Music, voice and sham were played to another 10 foetuses via a headphone on the maternal abdomen. The sound pressure level was 105 db and 94 db for music and voice, respectively. Computerised assessment of foetal heart rate and activity were recorded. 90 actocardiograms were obtained for the whole group. One way anova followed by posthoc (Student-Newman-Keuls method) analysis was used to find if there is significant difference in foetal response to music and voice versus sham. Foetuses responded with heart rate acceleration and motor response to both music and voice. This was statistically significant compared to sham. There was no significant difference between the foetal heart rate acceleration to music and voice. Prenatal exposure to music and voice alters the foetal behaviour. No difference was detected in foetal response to music and voice.

Influence of classroom acoustics on the voice levels of teachers with and without voice problems: a field study

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Pelegrin Garcia, David; Lyberg-Åhlander, Viveka; Rydell, Roland

2010-01-01

of the classroom. The results thus suggest that teachers with voice problems are more aware of classroom acoustic conditions than their healthy colleagues and make use of the more supportive rooms to lower their voice levels. This behavior may result from an adaptation process of the teachers with voice problems...... of the voice problems was made with a questionnaire and a laryngological examination. During teaching, the sound pressure level at the teacher’s position was monitored. The teacher’s voice level and the activity noise level were separated using mixed Gaussians. In addition, objective acoustic parameters...... of Reverberation Time and Voice Support were measured in the 30 empty classrooms of the study. An empirical model shows that the measured voice levels depended on the activity noise levels and the voice support. Teachers with and without voice problems were differently affected by the voice support...

The Legitimization of Dialectic: Socratic Strategy in the "Gorgias."

Science.gov (United States)

Palmerton, Patricia

In the "Gorgias," Plato focuses attention upon the value of dialectic as opposed to rhetoric, as well as the status of orators as opposed to philosophers. Through his agent, Socrates, Plato confirms dialectic as a legitimate endeavor while calling into question the place of rhetoric. Socrates is portrayed as a director who enacts a…

Understanding the 'Anorexic Voice' in Anorexia Nervosa.

Science.gov (United States)

Pugh, Matthew; Waller, Glenn

2017-05-01

In common with individuals experiencing a number of disorders, people with anorexia nervosa report experiencing an internal 'voice'. The anorexic voice comments on the individual's eating, weight and shape and instructs the individual to restrict or compensate. However, the core characteristics of the anorexic voice are not known. This study aimed to develop a parsimonious model of the voice characteristics that are related to key features of eating disorder pathology and to determine whether patients with anorexia nervosa fall into groups with different voice experiences. The participants were 49 women with full diagnoses of anorexia nervosa. Each completed validated measures of the power and nature of their voice experience and of their responses to the voice. Different voice characteristics were associated with current body mass index, duration of disorder and eating cognitions. Two subgroups emerged, with 'weaker' and 'stronger' voice experiences. Those with stronger voices were characterized by having more negative eating attitudes, more severe compensatory behaviours, a longer duration of illness and a greater likelihood of having the binge-purge subtype of anorexia nervosa. The findings indicate that the anorexic voice is an important element of the psychopathology of anorexia nervosa. Addressing the anorexic voice might be helpful in enhancing outcomes of treatments for anorexia nervosa, but that conclusion might apply only to patients with more severe eating psychopathology. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Experiences of an internal 'anorexic voice' are common in anorexia nervosa. Clinicians should consider the role of the voice when formulating eating pathology in anorexia nervosa, including how individuals perceive and relate to that voice. Addressing the voice may be beneficial, particularly in more severe and enduring forms of anorexia nervosa. When working with the voice, clinicians should aim to address both the content of the voice and how

Voice application development for Android

CERN Document Server

McTear, Michael

2013-01-01

This book will give beginners an introduction to building voice-based applications on Android. It will begin by covering the basic concepts and will build up to creating a voice-based personal assistant. By the end of this book, you should be in a position to create your own voice-based applications on Android from scratch in next to no time.Voice Application Development for Android is for all those who are interested in speech technology and for those who, as owners of Android devices, are keen to experiment with developing voice apps for their devices. It will also be useful as a starting po

DolphinAtack: Inaudible Voice Commands

OpenAIRE

Zhang, Guoming; Yan, Chen; Ji, Xiaoyu; Zhang, Taimin; Zhang, Tianchen; Xu, Wenyuan

2017-01-01

Speech recognition (SR) systems such as Siri or Google Now have become an increasingly popular human-computer interaction method, and have turned various systems into voice controllable systems(VCS). Prior work on attacking VCS shows that the hidden voice commands that are incomprehensible to people can control the systems. Hidden voice commands, though hidden, are nonetheless audible. In this work, we design a completely inaudible attack, DolphinAttack, that modulates voice commands on ultra...

The Naturalization of Domination and Legitimate Power in Classical Political Theory

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Eleni Varikas

2003-01-01

Full Text Available The reflection developed here deals with one of the greatest political paradoxes of modern political thought: the turning of a political community into a human artifact while basing it on premisses which are pre-political and therefore precede human action. As it reinvented the political as a free space, modernity reinvented the natural as a limit to this human freedom which religion could no longer contain. In such a context, the witch-hunt is a result both of a religious or superstitious obscurantism and of a rational enterprise based on efficacy. The political implications of cognitive polytheism, which explode in the plurality of scientific perceptions on human nature and on the nature of things, establish a close connection between the authority of modern “science” as a model for the knowledge of nature and that of a religious and temporal kind. The naturalization of the sexual hierarchy in the modern world is at the same time the archetype and the manifestation of this historical process which dislocates the legitimation of domination from the religious to the natural realm.

Voice-to-Phoneme Conversion Algorithms for Voice-Tag Applications in Embedded Platforms

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yan Ming Cheng

2008-08-01

Full Text Available We describe two voice-to-phoneme conversion algorithms for speaker-independent voice-tag creation specifically targeted at applications on embedded platforms. These algorithms (batch mode and sequential are compared in speech recognition experiments where they are first applied in a same-language context in which both acoustic model training and voice-tag creation and application are performed on the same language. Then, their performance is tested in a cross-language setting where the acoustic models are trained on a particular source language while the voice-tags are created and applied on a different target language. In the same-language environment, both algorithms either perform comparably to or significantly better than the baseline where utterances are manually transcribed by a phonetician. In the cross-language context, the voice-tag performances vary depending on the source-target language pair, with the variation reflecting predicted phonological similarity between the source and target languages. Among the most similar languages, performance nears that of the native-trained models and surpasses the native reference baseline.

Risk factors for voice problems in teachers.

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Kooijman, P.G.C.; Jong, F.I.C.R.S. de; Thomas, G.; Huinck, W.J.; Donders, A.R.T.; Graamans, K.; Schutte, H.K.

2006-01-01

In order to identify factors that are associated with voice problems and voice-related absenteeism in teachers, 1,878 questionnaires were analysed. The questionnaires inquired about personal data, voice complaints, voice-related absenteeism from work and conditions that may lead to voice complaints

Risk factors for voice problems in teachers

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Kooijman, P. G. C.; de Jong, F. I. C. R. S.; Thomas, G.; Huinck, W.; Donders, R.; Graamans, K.; Schutte, H. K.

2006-01-01

In order to identify factors that are associated with voice problems and voice-related absenteeism in teachers, 1,878 questionnaires were analysed. The questionnaires inquired about personal data, voice complaints, voice-related absenteeism from work and conditions that may lead to voice complaints

RENEWAL OF SWISS LEGITIMATION CARDS

CERN Multimedia

HR Division

2001-01-01

Members of the personnel and their families, holders of SWISS LEGITIMATION CARDS due to expire during the year 2001, need to change them. Those concerned should bring : a recent passport photo (with NAME and first name on the back) the expired (or due to expire) card and a recto-verso photocopy on A4 size paper (for certified authentication) to Bureau des cartes, building 33/1-009/1-015. Members of the personnel will be notified by the Social and Statutary Conditions Group, HR Division as soon as the new cards are available. Be careful: If you are in possession of expired cards (Swiss or French), or if you present non-certified copies, the Organization will not take any responsibility in case of difficulties with the customs authorities or the police.

Voice quality in relation to voice complaints and vocal fold condition during the screening of female student teachers.

Science.gov (United States)

Meulenbroek, Leo F P; de Jong, Felix I C R S

2011-07-01

The purpose of this study was to compare the perceptual examination of voice quality with the condition of the vocal folds and voice complaints during voice screening in female student teachers. This research was a cross-sectional study in 214 starting student teachers using the four-point grade scale of the GRBAS and laryngostroboscopic assessment of the vocal folds. The voice quality was assessed by speech pathologists using the ordinal 4-point G-scale (overall dysphonia) of the GRBAS method in a running speech sample. Glottal closure and vocal fold lesions were recorded. A questionnaire was used for assessing voice complaints. More students with an insufficient glottal closure (89%) were rated dysphonic compared with students with sufficient glottal closure (80%). Students with sufficient glottal closure had a significantly lower mean G-score (1.21) compared with the group with insufficient glottal closure (1.52) (P = 0.038). This study showed a larger percentage of students with vocal fold lesions (96%) labeled a dysphonic voice compared to students with no vocal fold problems (81%). Students with no vocal fold lesions had a significantly lower mean G-score (1.20) compared with the group with vocal fold lesions (2.05) (P=0.002). A dysphonic voice (G≥1) was rated in 76% of the students without voice complaints compared with 86% of the students with voice complaints. Students with no voice complaints had a lower mean G-score (1.07) compared with the group with voice complaints (1.41) (P=0.090). The present study showed that perceptual assessment of the voice and voice complaints is not sufficient to check if the future professional is at risk. Therefore, preventive measures are needed to detect students at risk early in their education and this depends on broader assessment: on the one hand, assessing voice quality and voice complaints and on the other hand, examination of the vocal folds of all starting students. Copyright © 2011 The Voice Foundation

Using VoiceThread to Promote Collaborative Learning in On-Line Clinical Nurse Leader Courses.

Science.gov (United States)

Fox, Ola H

The movement to advance the clinical nurse leader (CNL) as an innovative new role for meeting higher health care quality standards continues with CNL programs offered on-line at colleges and universities nationwide. Collaborative learning activities offer the opportunity for CNL students to gain experience in working together in small groups to negotiate and solve care process problems. The challenge for nurse educators is to provide collaborative learning activities in an asynchronous learning environment that can be considered isolating by default. This article reports on the experiences of 17 CNL students who used VoiceThread, a cloud-based tool that allowed them to communicate asynchronously with one another through voice comments for collaboration and sharing knowledge. Participants identified benefits and drawbacks to using VoiceThread for collaboration as compared to text-based discussion boards. Students reported that the ability to hear the voice of their peers and the instructor helped them feel like they were in a classroom communicating with "real" instructor and peers. Students indicated a preference for on-line classes that used VoiceThread discussions to on-line classes that used only text-based discussion boards. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

VOICE QUALITY BEFORE AND AFTER THYROIDECTOMY

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dora CVELBAR

2016-04-01

Full Text Available Introduction: Voice disorders are a well-known complication which is often associated with thyroid gland diseases and because voice is still the basic mean of communication it is very important to maintain its quality healthy. Objectives: The aim of this study referred to questions whether there is a statistically significant difference between results of voice self-assessment, perceptual voice assessment and acoustic voice analysis before and after thyroidectomy and whether there are statistically significant correlations between variables of voice self-assessment, perceptual assessment and acoustic analysis before and after thyroidectomy. Methods: This scientific research included 12 participants aged between 41 and 76. Voice self-assessment was conducted with the help of Croatian version of Voice Handicap Index (VHI. Recorded reading samples were used for perceptual assessment and later evaluated by two clinical speech and language therapists. Recorded samples of phonation were used for acoustic analysis which was conducted with the help of acoustic program Praat. All of the data was processed through descriptive statistics and nonparametric statistical methods. Results: Results showed that there are statistically significant differences between results of voice self-assessments and results of acoustic analysis before and after thyroidectomy. Statistically significant correlations were found between variables of perceptual assessment and acoustic analysis. Conclusion: Obtained results indicate the importance of multidimensional, preoperative and postoperative assessment. This kind of assessment allows the clinician to describe all of the voice features and provides appropriate recommendation for further rehabilitation to the patient in order to optimize voice outcomes.

Legitimation problems of participatory processes in technology assessment and technology policy.

Science.gov (United States)

Saretzki, Thomas

2012-11-01

Since James Carroll (1971) made a strong case for "participatory technology", scientists, engineers, policy-makers and the public at large have seen quite a number of different approaches to design and implement participatory processes in technology assessment and technology policy. As these participatory experiments and practices spread over the last two decades, one could easily get the impression that participation turned from a theoretical normative claim to a working practice that goes without saying. Looking beyond the well-known forerunners and considering the ambivalent experiences that have been made under different conditions in various places, however, the "if" and "how" of participation are still contested issues when questions of technology are on the agenda. Legitimation problems indicate that attempts to justify participation in a given case have not been entirely successful in the eyes of relevant groups among the sponsors, participants, organizers or observers. Legitimation problems of participatory processes in technology assessment and technology policy vary considerably, and they do so not only with the two domains and the ways of their interrelation or the specific features of the participatory processes. If we ask whether or not participation is seen as problematic in technology assessment and technology policy-making and in what sense it is being evaluated as problematic, then we find that the answer depends also on the approaches and criteria that have been used to legitimize or delegitimize the call for a specific design of participation.

Legitimizing ESS Big Science as a collaboration across boundaries

CERN Document Server

O'Dell, Tom

2013-01-01

Legitimizing ESS 'Big Science' is a broad epithet that can be associated with research projects as different as the Manhattan Project, the Hubble Telescope-construction, and the CERN-establishment in Geneva. While the science produced by these projects is vastly different, they have in common the fact that they all involve huge budgets, big facilities, complex instrumentation, years of planning, and large multidis...

Aerodynamic and sound intensity measurements in tracheoesophageal voice

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Grolman, Wilko; Eerenstein, Simone E. J.; Tan, Frédérique M. L.; Tange, Rinze A.; Schouwenburg, Paul F.

2007-01-01

BACKGROUND: In laryngectomized patients, tracheoesophageal voice generally provides a better voice quality than esophageal voice. Understanding the aerodynamics of voice production in patients with a voice prosthesis is important for optimizing prosthetic designs and successful voice rehabilitation.

Crossing Cultures with Multi-Voiced Journals

Science.gov (United States)

Styslinger, Mary E.; Whisenant, Alison

2004-01-01

In this article, the authors discuss the benefits of using multi-voiced journals as a teaching strategy in reading instruction. Multi-voiced journals, an adaptation of dual-voiced journals, encourage responses to reading in varied, cultured voices of characters. It is similar to reading journals in that they prod students to connect to the lives…

[Applicability of Voice Handicap Index to the evaluation of voice therapy effectiveness in teachers].

Science.gov (United States)

Niebudek-Bogusz, Ewa; Kuzańska, Anna; Błoch, Piotr; Domańska, Maja; Woźnicka, Ewelina; Politański, Piotr; Sliwińska-Kowalska, Mariola

2007-01-01

The aim of this study was to assess the applicability of Voice Handicap Index (VHI) to the evaluation of effectiveness of functional voice disorders treatment in teachers. The subjects were 45 female teachers with functional dysphonia who evaluated their voice problems according to the subjective VHI scale before and after phoniatric management. Group I (29 patients) were subjected to vocal training, whereas group II (16 patients) received only voice hygiene instructions. The results demonstrated that differences in the mean VHI score before and after phoniatric treatment were significantly higher in group 1 than in group II (p teacher's dysphonia.

Voice parameters and videonasolaryngoscopy in children with vocal nodules: a longitudinal study, before and after voice therapy.

Science.gov (United States)

Valadez, Victor; Ysunza, Antonio; Ocharan-Hernandez, Esther; Garrido-Bustamante, Norma; Sanchez-Valerio, Araceli; Pamplona, Ma C

2012-09-01

Vocal Nodules (VN) are a functional voice disorder associated with voice misuse and abuse in children. There are few reports addressing vocal parameters in children with VN, especially after a period of vocal rehabilitation. The purpose of this study is to describe measurements of vocal parameters including Fundamental Frequency (FF), Shimmer (S), and Jitter (J), videonasolaryngoscopy examination and clinical perceptual assessment, before and after voice therapy in children with VN. Voice therapy was provided using visual support through Speech-Viewer software. Twenty patients with VN were studied. An acoustical analysis of voice was performed and compared with data from subjects from a control group matched by age and gender. Also, clinical perceptual assessment of voice and videonasolaryngoscopy were performed to all patients with VN. After a period of voice therapy, provided with visual support using Speech Viewer-III (SV-III-IBM) software, new acoustical analyses, perceptual assessments and videonasolaryngoscopies were performed. Before the onset of voice therapy, there was a significant difference (ptherapy period, a significant improvement (pvocal nodules were no longer discernible on the vocal folds in any of the cases. SV-III software seems to be a safe and reliable method for providing voice therapy in children with VN. Acoustic voice parameters, perceptual data and videonasolaryngoscopy were significantly improved after the speech therapy period was completed. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Interactive Augmentation of Voice Quality and Reduction of Breath Airflow in the Soprano Voice.

Science.gov (United States)

Rothenberg, Martin; Schutte, Harm K

2016-11-01

In 1985, at a conference sponsored by the National Institutes of Health, Martin Rothenberg first described a form of nonlinear source-tract acoustic interaction mechanism by which some sopranos, singing in their high range, can use to reduce the total airflow, to allow holding the note longer, and simultaneously enrich the quality of the voice, without straining the voice. (M. Rothenberg, "Source-Tract Acoustic Interaction in the Soprano Voice and Implications for Vocal Efficiency," Fourth International Conference on Vocal Fold Physiology, New Haven, Connecticut, June 3-6, 1985.) In this paper, we describe additional evidence for this type of nonlinear source-tract interaction in some soprano singing and describe an analogous interaction phenomenon in communication engineering. We also present some implications for voice research and pedagogy. Copyright © 2016 The Voice Foundation. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Conventionalized knowledge

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Buus, Niels

2006-01-01

Mental health nurses routinely hand over clinical knowledge at intershift reports. In the present study, field descriptions from prolonged fieldwork and transcripts of audio recordings of handovers were analysed discursively drawing on ethnomethodology and conversation analysis. The analysis...... identified linguistic and social conventions for handing over clinical knowledge; in particular, differences were identified between non-interactional and interactional handovers. The interactional handovers were relatively more substantial but did also bring forth obvious signs of uncertainty regarding...... exact clinical situations. Handing over caused a silencing of the least powerful nurses' voices, generated uncertainty, and promoted knowledge about the patients' clinical situation that was not necessarily precise or up-to-date....

Interventions for preventing voice disorders in adults.

Science.gov (United States)

Ruotsalainen, J H; Sellman, J; Lehto, L; Jauhiainen, M; Verbeek, J H

2007-10-17

Poor voice quality due to a voice disorder can lead to a reduced quality of life. In occupations where voice use is substantial it can lead to periods of absence from work. To evaluate the effectiveness of interventions to prevent voice disorders in adults. We searched MEDLINE (PubMed, 1950 to 2006), EMBASE (1974 to 2006), CENTRAL (The Cochrane Library, Issue 2 2006), CINAHL (1983 to 2006), PsychINFO (1967 to 2006), Science Citation Index (1986 to 2006) and the Occupational Health databases OSH-ROM (to 2006). The date of the last search was 05/04/06. Randomised controlled clinical trials (RCTs) of interventions evaluating the effectiveness of treatments to prevent voice disorders in adults. For work-directed interventions interrupted time series and prospective cohort studies were also eligible. Two authors independently extracted data and assessed trial quality. Meta-analysis was performed where appropriate. We identified two randomised controlled trials including a total of 53 participants in intervention groups and 43 controls. One study was conducted with teachers and the other with student teachers. Both trials were poor quality. Interventions were grouped into 1) direct voice training, 2) indirect voice training and 3) direct and indirect voice training combined.1) Direct voice training: One study did not find a significant decrease of the Voice Handicap Index for direct voice training compared to no intervention.2) Indirect voice training: One study did not find a significant decrease of the Voice Handicap Index for indirect voice training when compared to no intervention.3) Direct and indirect voice training combined: One study did not find a decrease of the Voice Handicap Index for direct and indirect voice training combined when compared to no intervention. The same study did however find an improvement in maximum phonation time (Mean Difference -3.18 sec; 95 % CI -4.43 to -1.93) for direct and indirect voice training combined when compared to no

Designing a Voice Controlled Interface For Radio : Guidelines for The First Generation of Voice Controlled Public Radio

OpenAIRE

Päärni, Anna

2017-01-01

From being a fictional element in sci-fi, voice control has become a reality, with inventions such as Apple's Siri, and interactive voice response (IVR) when calling your doctor's office. The combination of radio’s strength as a hands-free medium, public radio’s mission to reach across all platforms and the rise of voice makes up a relevant intersection; voice controlled public radio in Sweden. This thesis has aimed to investigate how radio listeners wish to interact using voice control to li...

Application of computer voice input/output

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ford, W.; Shirk, D.G.

1981-01-01

The advent of microprocessors and other large-scale integration (LSI) circuits is making voice input and output for computers and instruments practical; specialized LSI chips for speech processing are appearing on the market. Voice can be used to input data or to issue instrument commands; this allows the operator to engage in other tasks, move about, and to use standard data entry systems. Voice synthesizers can generate audible, easily understood instructions. Using voice characteristics, a control system can verify speaker identity for security purposes. Two simple voice-controlled systems have been designed at Los Alamos for nuclear safeguards applicaations. Each can easily be expanded as time allows. The first system is for instrument control that accepts voice commands and issues audible operator prompts. The second system is for access control. The speaker's voice is used to verify his identity and to actuate external devices

How to Listen to Pachamama’s Testimonio: Lessons from Indigenous Voices

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Luis I Prádanos

2015-01-01

Full Text Available This article analyzes the collective, open-access, and modifiable publication El Vivir Bien como respuesta a la Crisis Global as a posthumanist testimonio or ecotestimonio intending to give voice to the biotic community of the Andes. Written by Quechua and Aymara people and presented to the United Nations by the Plurinational State of Bolivia, this document targets the global ecological, financial, and social crises from the perspective of Indigenous knowledges. This document also exemplifies the worldwide reemergence of Indigenous voices that are confronting the global ecological crisis and its environmental injustices through the revitalization of Indigenous worldviews and practices. This ecotestimonio conveys, among many timely lessons, the Indigenous teaching that humans must listen carefully to the non-human world to learn from Pachamama how to interrelate as humans and with non-humans to collaborate in ensuring the continuing vitality of the community of life. If we listen carefully to Pachamama ’s testimony, as Indigenous voices urge, doubt must be cast upon the viability of ideas celebrated by hegemonic Western modern discourses like "development," "progress," or ‘"economic growth." Instead, these voices invite us to rethink the place, functions, and responsibilities of humans as members of the web of life.

Voice and silence in organizations

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Moaşa, H.

2011-01-01

Full Text Available Unlike previous research on voice and silence, this article breaksthe distance between the two and declines to treat them as opposites. Voice and silence are interrelated and intertwined strategic forms ofcommunication which presuppose each other in such a way that the absence of one would minimize completely the other’s presence. Social actors are not voice, or silence. Social actors can have voice or silence, they can do both because they operate at multiple levels and deal with multiple issues at different moments in time.

A Legitimate Freedom Approach to Sustainability

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Crabtree, Andrew

2012-01-01

Although the capability approach has had a tremendous impact on the development debate, it has had little to say about sustainable development. As several Human Development Reports have maintained, the last twenty years' gains in human development are not sustainable. The failure to include...... Index should be combined with the Ecological Footprint to reflect sustainability, and that the Human Development Reports should give way to Sustainable Development Reports...... an integrate sustainability into the Human Development Index would thus give the wrong policy message. Drawing on the works of Amartya Sen and Thomas Scanlon, this article argues that sustainable development can be seen as a process of increasing legitimate freedoms, the freedoms that others cannot reasonably...

The Road to Become a Legitimate Scholar: A Case Study of International PhD Students in Science and Engineering

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Pia Bøgelund

2015-11-01

Full Text Available The purpose of the doctoral education process is to create and legitimize scholarly researchers. This transformation, from student to scholar, is widely discussed in the literature. However, recent rapid changes in university culture have resulted in less time for supervision, stricter completion deadlines, and a greater focus on efficiency and productivity. This has had an impact on this transition process, and this impact has not been widely studied. The aim of this article is to understand the consequences of the current trends for PhD students and the education of PhD students in general. The article is based on interviews with 14 international students from two different research programs at the Faculty of Engineering and Science at Aalborg University in Denmark. The case of international PhD students in a western setting is singled out as a challenging case for becoming a legitimate scholar, since they face the additional challenge of becoming socialised into their new foreign setting. Overall, the study concludes that the transition process of doctoral students is affected by the way different supervisors deal with current university trends and how PhD students fit or do not fit into their knowledge production practices. The study identifies matches or mismatches in a knowledge production perspective, quality of contact, and degree of independence of the PhD student as factors that influence whether a transition process can be marked as sound, troublesome, or lacking. Finally, the study identifies an overall risk of neglecting the more interdependent types of international PhD students. Suggestions are given as how to address this risk.

Clinical voice analysis of Carnatic singers.

Science.gov (United States)

Arunachalam, Ravikumar; Boominathan, Prakash; Mahalingam, Shenbagavalli

2014-01-01

Carnatic singing is a classical South Indian style of music that involves rigorous training to produce an "open throated" loud, predominantly low-pitched singing, embedded with vocal nuances in higher pitches. Voice problems in singers are not uncommon. The objective was to report the nature of voice problems and apply a routine protocol to assess the voice. Forty-five trained performing singers (females: 36 and males: 9) who reported to a tertiary care hospital with voice problems underwent voice assessment. The study analyzed their problems and the clinical findings. Voice change, difficulty in singing higher pitches, and voice fatigue were major complaints. Most of the singers suffered laryngopharyngeal reflux that coexisted with muscle tension dysphonia and chronic laryngitis. Speaking voices were rated predominantly as "moderate deviation" on GRBAS (Grade, Rough, Breathy, Asthenia, and Strain). Maximum phonation time ranged from 4 to 29 seconds (females: 10.2, standard deviation [SD]: 5.28 and males: 15.7, SD: 5.79). Singing frequency range was reduced (females: 21.3 Semitones and males: 23.99 Semitones). Dysphonia severity index (DSI) scores ranged from -3.5 to 4.91 (females: 0.075 and males: 0.64). Singing frequency range and DSI did not show significant difference between sex and across clinical diagnosis. Self-perception using voice disorder outcome profile revealed overall severity score of 5.1 (SD: 2.7). Findings are discussed from a clinical intervention perspective. Study highlighted the nature of voice problems (hyperfunctional) and required modifications in assessment protocol for Carnatic singers. Need for regular assessments and vocal hygiene education to maintain good vocal health are emphasized as outcomes. Copyright © 2014 The Voice Foundation. Published by Mosby, Inc. All rights reserved.

Speaking more broadly: an examination of the nature, antecedents, and consequences of an expanded set of employee voice behaviors.

Science.gov (United States)

Maynes, Timothy D; Podsakoff, Philip M

2014-01-01

Scholarly interest in employee voice behavior has increased dramatically over the past 15 years. Although this research has produced valuable knowledge, it has focused almost exclusively on voice as a positively intended challenge to the status quo, even though some scholars have argued that it need not challenge the status quo or be well intentioned. Thus, in this paper, we create an expanded view of voice; one that extends beyond voice as a positively intended challenge to the status quo to include voice that supports how things are being done in organizations as well as voice that may not be well intentioned. We construct a framework based on this expanded view that identifies 4 different types of voice behavior (supportive, constructive, defensive, and destructive). We then develop and validate survey measures for each of these. Evidence from 5 studies across 4 samples provides strong support for our new measures in that (a) a 4-factor confirmatory factor analysis model fit the data significantly better than 1-, 2-, or 3-factor models; (b) the voice measures converged with and yet remained distinct from conceptually related comparison constructs; (c) personality predictors exhibited unique patterns of relationships with the different types of voice; (d) variations in actual voice behaviors had a direct causal impact on responses to the survey items; and (e) each type of voice significantly impacted important outcomes for voicing employees (e.g., likelihood of relying on a voicing employee's opinions and evaluations of a voicing employee's overall performance). Implications of our findings are discussed. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2014 APA, all rights reserved

Voice Biometrics for Information Assurance Applications

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Kang, George

2002-01-01

.... The ultimate goal of voice biometrics is to enable the use of voice as a password. Voice biometrics are "man-in-the-loop" systems in which system performance is significantly dependent on human performance...

Becoming Socialized into a New Professional Role: LPN to BN Student Nurses' Experiences with Legitimation

Science.gov (United States)

Melrose, Sherri; Miller, Jean; Gordon, Kathryn; Janzen, Katherine J.

2012-01-01

This paper presents findings from a qualitative descriptive study that explored the professional socialization experiences of Licensed Practical Nurses (LPNs) who attended an online university to earn a Baccalaureate degree in nursing (BN), a prerequisite to writing the Canadian Registered Nurse (RN) qualifying exam. The project was framed from a constructivist worldview and Haas and Shaffir's theory of legitimation. Participants were 27 nurses in a Post-LPN to BN program who came from across Canada to complete required practicums. Data was collected from digital recordings of four focus groups held in different cities. Transcripts were analyzed for themes and confirmed with participants through member checking. Two overarching themes were identified and are presented to explain how these unique adult learners sought to legitimize their emerging identity as Registered Nurses (RNs). First, Post-LPN to BN students need little, if any, further legitimation to affirm their identities as “nurse.” Second, practicum interactions with instructors and new clinical experiences are key socializing agents. PMID:22548165

Becoming Socialized into a New Professional Role: LPN to BN Student Nurses' Experiences with Legitimation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sherri Melrose

2012-01-01

Full Text Available This paper presents findings from a qualitative descriptive study that explored the professional socialization experiences of Licensed Practical Nurses (LPNs who attended an online university to earn a Baccalaureate degree in nursing (BN, a prerequisite to writing the Canadian Registered Nurse (RN qualifying exam. The project was framed from a constructivist worldview and Haas and Shaffir’s theory of legitimation. Participants were 27 nurses in a Post-LPN to BN program who came from across Canada to complete required practicums. Data was collected from digital recordings of four focus groups held in different cities. Transcripts were analyzed for themes and confirmed with participants through member checking. Two overarching themes were identified and are presented to explain how these unique adult learners sought to legitimize their emerging identity as Registered Nurses (RNs. First, Post-LPN to BN students need little, if any, further legitimation to affirm their identities as “nurse.” Second, practicum interactions with instructors and new clinical experiences are key socializing agents.

Becoming Socialized into a New Professional Role: LPN to BN Student Nurses' Experiences with Legitimation.

Science.gov (United States)

Melrose, Sherri; Miller, Jean; Gordon, Kathryn; Janzen, Katherine J

2012-01-01

This paper presents findings from a qualitative descriptive study that explored the professional socialization experiences of Licensed Practical Nurses (LPNs) who attended an online university to earn a Baccalaureate degree in nursing (BN), a prerequisite to writing the Canadian Registered Nurse (RN) qualifying exam. The project was framed from a constructivist worldview and Haas and Shaffir's theory of legitimation. Participants were 27 nurses in a Post-LPN to BN program who came from across Canada to complete required practicums. Data was collected from digital recordings of four focus groups held in different cities. Transcripts were analyzed for themes and confirmed with participants through member checking. Two overarching themes were identified and are presented to explain how these unique adult learners sought to legitimize their emerging identity as Registered Nurses (RNs). First, Post-LPN to BN students need little, if any, further legitimation to affirm their identities as "nurse." Second, practicum interactions with instructors and new clinical experiences are key socializing agents.

Analysis of failure of voice production by a sound-producing voice prosthesis

NARCIS (Netherlands)

van der Torn, M.; van Gogh, C.D.L.; Verdonck-de Leeuw, I M; Festen, J.M.; Mahieu, H.F.

OBJECTIVE: To analyse the cause of failing voice production by a sound-producing voice prosthesis (SPVP). METHODS: The functioning of a prototype SPVP is described in a female laryngectomee before and after its sound-producing mechanism was impeded by tracheal phlegm. This assessment included:

“Top-down” vs. “Bottom-up”: A Dichotomy of Paradigms for the Legitimation of Public Power in the EU

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Dellavalle Sergio

2017-11-01

Full Text Available Public power has been justified by resorting to two different kinds of legitimation: one coming from above, the other emerging from the governed. While legitimation “from above” implies that those who are vested with executive power are qualified in their function because of their allegedly higher competences, “bottom-up” legitimacy always presupposes that only citizens can properly decide on their destiny. After giving a brief account of how both legitimation strategies have developed in the history of political ideas, attention is focused on the theories regarding the legitimacy of public power in the European Union. Indeed, both strands of legitimation of public power are represented here with original proposals, according to the specificity of the supranational condition. But even more interesting is that the research into the characteristics of supranational integration has been one of the most significant fields in which the legitimation “from above” has reappeared in Western thought after a rather long period of marginality, now taking the shape of a technocratic justification. In the main section of the article, the reasons in favour of a democratic “bottom-up” legitimation of the European public power are analyzed first, then those which recur to the so-called “output legitimacy” – in other words to technocratic arguments. The last section of the contribution is dedicated to an overall assessment of the different positions.

The relation of vocal fold lesions and voice quality to voice handicap and psychosomatic well-being

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Smits, R.; Marres, H.A.; de Jong, F.

2012-01-01

BACKGROUND: Voice disorders have a multifactorial genesis and may be present in various ways. They can cause a significant communication handicap and impaired quality of life. OBJECTIVE: To assess the effect of vocal fold lesions and voice quality on voice handicap and psychosomatic well-being.

EXPERIMENTAL STUDY OF FIRMWARE FOR INPUT AND EXTRACTION OF USER’S VOICE SIGNAL IN VOICE AUTHENTICATION SYSTEMS

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O. N. Faizulaieva

2014-09-01

Full Text Available Scientific task for improving the signal-to-noise ratio for user’s voice signal in computer systems and networks during the process of user’s voice authentication is considered. The object of study is the process of input and extraction of the voice signal of authentication system user in computer systems and networks. Methods and means for input and extraction of the voice signal on the background of external interference signals are investigated. Ways for quality improving of the user’s voice signal in systems of voice authentication are investigated experimentally. Firmware means for experimental unit of input and extraction of the user’s voice signal against external interference influence are considered. As modern computer means, including mobile, have two-channel audio card, two microphones are used in the voice signal input. The distance between sonic-wave sensors is 20 mm and it provides forming one direction pattern lobe of microphone array in a desired area of voice signal registration (from 100 Hz to 8 kHz. According to the results of experimental studies, the usage of directional properties of the proposed microphone array and space-time processing of the recorded signals with implementation of constant and adaptive weighting factors has made it possible to reduce considerably the influence of interference signals. The results of firmware experimental studies for input and extraction of the user’s voice signal against external interference influence are shown. The proposed solutions will give the possibility to improve the value of the signal/noise ratio of the useful signals recorded up to 20 dB under the influence of external interference signals in the frequency range from 4 to 8 kHz. The results may be useful to specialists working in the field of voice recognition and speaker discrimination.

Exploring difference as a dynamic of dialogue

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Phillips, Louise Jane

are recognized as legitimate. Crucially, difference is viewed as the transformative force in the co-construction of knowledge in dialogue. By harnessing difference as a transformative force, it is claimed, dialogue can generate knowledge across difference, including differences of organizational position...... and professional background, theoretical perspective, gender, ethnicity, class and so on. But how exactly is knowledge co-produced in dialogue through the harnessing of “difference” as a transformative force? And what tensions are in play in dynamics of inclusion and exclusion where some voices, articulating......-centred” care for residents with dementia. The theoretical framework, The Integrated Framework for Analysing Dialogic Knowledge Production and Communication (IFADIA), is based on a combination of Bakhtinian dialogic communication theory and Foucault’s theorization of discourse and power...

Voice Onset Time in Azerbaijani Consonants

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ali Jahan

2009-10-01

Full Text Available Objective: Voice onset time is known to be cue for the distinction between voiced and voiceless stops and it can be used to describe or categorize a range of developmental, neuromotor and linguistic disorders. The aim of this study is determination of standard values of voice onset time for Azerbaijani language (Tabriz dialect. Materials & Methods: In this description-analytical study, 30 Azeris persons whom were selected conveniently by simple selection, uttered 46 monosyllabic words initiating with 6 Azerbaijani stops twice. Using Praat software, the voice onset time values were analyzed by waveform and wideband spectrogram in milliseconds. Vowel effect, sex differences and the effect of place of articulation on VOT, were evaluated and data were analyzed by one-way ANOVA test. Results: There was no significant difference in voice onset time between male and female Azeris speakers (P<0.05. Vowel and place of articulation had significant correlation with voice onset time (P<0.001. Voice onset time values for /b/, /p/, /d/, /t/, /g/, /k/, and [c], [ɟ] allophones were 10.64, 86.88, 13.35, 87.09, 26.25, 100.62, 131.19, 63.18 mili second, respectively. Conclusion: Voice onset time values are the same for Azerbaijani men and women. However, like many other languages, back and high vowels and back place of articulation lengthen VOT. Also, voiceless stops are aspirated in this language and voiced stops have positive VOT values.

Does CPAP treatment affect the voice?

Science.gov (United States)

Saylam, Güleser; Şahin, Mustafa; Demiral, Dilek; Bayır, Ömer; Yüceege, Melike Bağnu; Çadallı Tatar, Emel; Korkmaz, Mehmet Hakan

2016-12-20

The aim of this study was to investigate alterations in voice parameters among patients using continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) for the treatment of obstructive sleep apnea syndrome. Patients with an indication for CPAP treatment without any voice problems and with normal laryngeal findings were included and voice parameters were evaluated before and 1 and 6 months after CPAP. Videolaryngostroboscopic findings, a self-rated scale (Voice Handicap Index-10, VHI-10), perceptual voice quality assessment (GRBAS: grade, roughness, breathiness, asthenia, strain), and acoustic parameters were compared. Data from 70 subjects (48 men and 22 women) with a mean age of 44.2 ± 6.0 years were evaluated. When compared with the pre-CPAP treatment period, there was a significant increase in the VHI-10 score after 1 month of treatment and in VHI- 10 and total GRBAS scores, jitter percent (P = 0.01), shimmer percent, noise-to-harmonic ratio, and voice turbulence index after 6 months of treatment. Vague negative effects on voice parameters after the first month of CPAP treatment became more evident after 6 months. We demonstrated nonsevere alterations in the voice quality of patients under CPAP treatment. Given that CPAP is a long-term treatment it is important to keep these alterations in mind.

Managing dysphonia in occupational voice users.

Science.gov (United States)

Behlau, Mara; Zambon, Fabiana; Madazio, Glaucya

2014-06-01

Recent advances with regard to occupational voice disorders are highlighted with emphasis on issues warranting consideration when assessing, training, and treating professional voice users. Findings include the many particularities between the various categories of professional voice users, the concept that the environment plays a major role in occupational voice disorders, and that biopsychosocial influences should be analyzed on an individual basis. Assessment via self-evaluation protocols to quantify the impact of these disorders is mandatory as a component of an evaluation and to document treatment outcomes. Discomfort or odynophonia has evolved as a critical symptom in this population. Clinical trials are limited and the complexity of the environment may be a limitation in experiment design. This review reinforced the need for large population studies of professional voice users; new data highlighted important factors specific to each group of voice users. Interventions directed at student teachers are necessities to not only improving the quality of future professionals, but also to avoid the frustration and limitations associated with chronic voice problems. The causative relationship between the work environment and voice disorders has not yet been established. Randomized controlled trials are lacking and must be a focus to enhance treatment paradigms for this population.

Epidemiology of Voice Disorders in Latvian School Teachers.

Science.gov (United States)

Trinite, Baiba

2017-07-01

The prevalence of voice disorders in the teacher population in Latvia has not been studied so far and this is the first epidemiological study whose goal is to investigate the prevalence of voice disorders and their risk factors in this professional group. A wide cross-sectional study using stratified sampling methodology was implemented in the general education schools of Latvia. The self-administered voice risk factor questionnaire and the Voice Handicap Index were completed by 522 teachers. Two teachers groups were formed: the voice disorders group which included 235 teachers with actual voice problems or problems during the last 9 months; and the control group which included 174 teachers without voice disorders. Sixty-six percent of teachers gave a positive answer to the following question: Have you ever had problems with your voice? Voice problems are more often found in female than male teachers (68.2% vs 48.8%). Music teachers suffer from voice disorders more often than teachers of other subjects. Eighty-two percent of teachers first faced voice problems in their professional carrier. The odds of voice disorders increase if the following risk factors exist: extra vocal load, shouting, throat clearing, neglecting of personal health, background noise, chronic illnesses of the upper respiratory tract, allergy, job dissatisfaction, and regular stress in the working place. The study findings indicated a high risk of voice disorders among Latvian teachers. The study confirmed data concerning the multifactorial etiology of voice disorders. Copyright © 2017 The Voice Foundation. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Hegemony and Humanitarian Norms: The U.S. Legitimation of Toxic Violence

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Eric Bonds

2015-08-01

Full Text Available Despite widespread beliefs that the United States has not used chemical weapons since the distant past of World War I, this study suggests a more complicated history by examining U.S. use of herbicides and incapacitating gases in the Vietnam War and its use of herbicides in the "War on Drugs." This article places such use of toxic violence within a context of U.S. hegemony, by which U.S. officials have used contested forms of violence to secure geopolitical goals, but have also been pressured to comply with humanitarian norms or-when there is a gap between norms and state policy-to do legitimating work in order to maintain domestic and international consent. Based on case study analysis of archival and secondary sources, this article identifies three main techniques U.S. officials use to legitimate contested forms of violence. These techniques are defensive categorization, humanitizing discourse, and surrogacy.

Identifying hidden voice and video streams

Science.gov (United States)

Fan, Jieyan; Wu, Dapeng; Nucci, Antonio; Keralapura, Ram; Gao, Lixin

2009-04-01

Given the rising popularity of voice and video services over the Internet, accurately identifying voice and video traffic that traverse their networks has become a critical task for Internet service providers (ISPs). As the number of proprietary applications that deliver voice and video services to end users increases over time, the search for the one methodology that can accurately detect such services while being application independent still remains open. This problem becomes even more complicated when voice and video service providers like Skype, Microsoft, and Google bundle their voice and video services with other services like file transfer and chat. For example, a bundled Skype session can contain both voice stream and file transfer stream in the same layer-3/layer-4 flow. In this context, traditional techniques to identify voice and video streams do not work. In this paper, we propose a novel self-learning classifier, called VVS-I , that detects the presence of voice and video streams in flows with minimum manual intervention. Our classifier works in two phases: training phase and detection phase. In the training phase, VVS-I first extracts the relevant features, and subsequently constructs a fingerprint of a flow using the power spectral density (PSD) analysis. In the detection phase, it compares the fingerprint of a flow to the existing fingerprints learned during the training phase, and subsequently classifies the flow. Our classifier is not only capable of detecting voice and video streams that are hidden in different flows, but is also capable of detecting different applications (like Skype, MSN, etc.) that generate these voice/video streams. We show that our classifier can achieve close to 100% detection rate while keeping the false positive rate to less that 1%.

Optical voice encryption based on digital holography.

Science.gov (United States)

Rajput, Sudheesh K; Matoba, Osamu

2017-11-15

We propose an optical voice encryption scheme based on digital holography (DH). An off-axis DH is employed to acquire voice information by obtaining phase retardation occurring in the object wave due to sound wave propagation. The acquired hologram, including voice information, is encrypted using optical image encryption. The DH reconstruction and decryption with all the correct parameters can retrieve an original voice. The scheme has the capability to record the human voice in holograms and encrypt it directly. These aspects make the scheme suitable for other security applications and help to use the voice as a potential security tool. We present experimental and some part of simulation results.

Performance of Phonatory Deviation Diagrams in Synthesized Voice Analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Lopes, Leonardo Wanderley; da Silva, Karoline Evangelista; da Silva Evangelista, Deyverson; Almeida, Anna Alice; Silva, Priscila Oliveira Costa; Lucero, Jorge; Behlau, Mara

2018-05-02

To analyze the performance of a phonatory deviation diagram (PDD) in discriminating the presence and severity of voice deviation and the predominant voice quality of synthesized voices. A speech-language pathologist performed the auditory-perceptual analysis of the synthesized voice (n = 871). The PDD distribution of voice signals was analyzed according to area, quadrant, shape, and density. Differences in signal distribution regarding the PDD area and quadrant were detected when differentiating the signals with and without voice deviation and with different predominant voice quality. Differences in signal distribution were found in all PDD parameters as a function of the severity of voice disorder. The PDD area and quadrant can differentiate normal voices from deviant synthesized voices. There are differences in signal distribution in PDD area and quadrant as a function of the severity of voice disorder and the predominant voice quality. However, the PDD area and quadrant do not differentiate the signals as a function of severity of voice disorder and differentiated only the breathy and rough voices from the normal and strained voices. PDD density is able to differentiate only signals with moderate and severe deviation. PDD shape shows differences between signals with different severities of voice deviation. © 2018 S. Karger AG, Basel.

Occupational risk factors and voice disorders.

Science.gov (United States)

Vilkman, E

1996-01-01

From the point of view of occupational health, the field of voice disorders is very poorly developed as compared, for instance, to the prevention and diagnostics of occupational hearing disorders. In fact, voice disorders have not even been recognized in the field of occupational medicine. Hence, it is obviously very rare in most countries that the voice disorder of a professional voice user, e.g. a teacher, a singer or an actor, is accepted as an occupational disease by insurance companies. However, occupational voice problems do not lack significance from the point of view of the patient. We also know from questionnaires and clinical studies that voice complaints are very common. Another example of job-related health problems, which has proved more successful in terms of its occupational health status, is the repetition strain injury of the elbow, i.e. the "tennis elbow". Its textbook definition could be used as such to describe an occupational voice disorder ("dysphonia professional is"). In the present paper the effects of such risk factors as vocal loading itself, background noise and room acoustics and low relative humidity of the air are discussed. Due to individual factors underlying the development of professional voice disorders, recommendations rather than regulations are called for. There are many simple and even relatively low-cost methods available for the prevention of vocal problems as well as for supporting rehabilitation.

Voice Response Systems Technology.

Science.gov (United States)

Gerald, Jeanette

1984-01-01

Examines two methods of generating synthetic speech in voice response systems, which allow computers to communicate in human terms (speech), using human interface devices (ears): phoneme and reconstructed voice systems. Considerations prior to implementation, current and potential applications, glossary, directory, and introduction to Input Output…

Clinical Voices - an update

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Fusaroli, Riccardo; Weed, Ethan

Anomalous aspects of speech and voice, including pitch, fluency, and voice quality, are reported to characterise many mental disorders. However, it has proven difficult to quantify and explain this oddness of speech by employing traditional statistical methods. In this talk we will show how...

Voice: challenging the stigma of addiction; a nursing perspective.

Science.gov (United States)

Paivinen, Helena; Bade, Sherrie

2008-06-01

Voice is a collection of art, poetry and narratives created by women living with a history of substance use and addiction. The intent of this collection is to explore women's understanding of harm reduction, to challenge the effects of stigmatization and to explore the experiences of those who have historically been silenced or devalued. Voice was conceived by a group of Kamloops nurses who came together and used their knowledge of mainstream systems, aesthetic knowing, feminism and substance use to guide the development and implementation of this project. During weekly gatherings, women with histories of substance use and addiction worked alongside a nurse in the co-creation of artistic expressions. Gender sensitivity, trust, equality and respect were vital to the success of this process. A selection of the women's art was presented at several venues, including an International Conference on Drug Related Harm, a Nursing Conference and a local art gallery. The positive community response to the women's work contributed to feelings of great pride and enhanced the women's confidence in their ability to express themselves. Throughout this process, women had the opportunity to develop social networks and to become aware of the value that their creative knowledge has to the community in which they live. Gender sensitive programming that is inclusive, participative and promotes women's health is required to fully understand women's experience of substance use and addiction in relation to harm reduction. Participation in projects such as Voice supports and encourages women to make sense of the world they live in and encourages health-promoting activities. The promising outcomes of this project might well be developed by nurses in other settings to further promote the health of women who have traditionally been stigmatized.

Changes after voice therapy in objective and subjective voice measurements of pediatric patients with vocal nodules.

Science.gov (United States)

Tezcaner, Ciler Zahide; Karatayli Ozgursoy, Selmin; Ozgursoy, Selmin Karatayli; Sati, Isil; Dursun, Gursel

2009-12-01

The aim of this study was to analyze the efficiency of the voice therapy in children with vocal nodules by using the acoustic analysis and subjective assessment. Thirty-nine patients with vocal fold nodules, aged between 7 and 14, were included in the study. Each subject had voice therapy led by an experienced voice therapist once a week. All diagnostic and follow-up workouts were performed before the voice therapy and after the third or the sixth month. Transoral and/or transnasal videostroboscopic examination and acoustic analysis were achieved using multi-dimensional voice program (MDVP) and subjective analysis with GRBAS scale. As for the perceptual assessment, the difference was significant for four parameters out of five. A significant improvement was found in the acoustic analysis parameters of jitter, shimmer, and noise-to-harmonic ratio. The voice therapy which was planned according to patients' needs, age, compliance and response to therapy had positive effects on pediatric patients with vocal nodules. Acoustic analysis and GRBAS may be used successfully in the follow-up of pediatric vocal nodule treatment.

Identifying Knowledge Gaps in Clinicians Who Evaluate and Treat Vocal Performing Artists in College Health Settings.

Science.gov (United States)

McKinnon-Howe, Leah; Dowdall, Jayme

2018-05-01

The goal of this study was to identify knowledge gaps in clinicians who evaluate and treat performing artists for illnesses and injuries that affect vocal function in college health settings. This pilot study utilized a web-based cross-sectional survey design incorporating common clinical scenarios to test knowledge of evaluation and management strategies in the vocal performing artist. A web-based survey was administered to a purposive sample of 28 clinicians to identify the approach utilized to evaluate and treat vocal performing artists in college health settings, and factors that might affect knowledge gaps and influence referral patterns to voice specialists. Twenty-eight clinicians were surveyed, with 36% of respondents incorrectly identifying appropriate vocal hygiene measures, 56% of respondents failing to identify symptoms of vocal fold hemorrhage, 84% failing to identify other indications for referral to a voice specialist, 96% of respondents acknowledging unfamiliarity with the Voice Handicap Index and the Singers Voice Handicap Index, and 68% acknowledging unfamiliarity with the Reflux Symptom Index. The data elucidated specific knowledge gaps in college health providers who are responsible for evaluating and treating common illnesses that affect vocal function, and triaging and referring students experiencing symptoms of potential vocal emergencies. Future work is needed to improve the standard of care for this population. Copyright © 2018 The Voice Foundation. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Deliberating Climate Change

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Agger, Annika; Jelsøe, Erling; Jæger, Birgit

considerations regarding how the process was designed in order to be legitimate as a voice for citizens, how different types of knowledge and expert identities were created and negotiated in the event, and how the framing influenced the outcome. The specific conditions of the event, i.e. the relation to a high......The global event World Wide Views on Global Warming (WWV), initiated by the Danish Board of Technology (DBT), took place on September 26, 2009, and was an innovative attempt to gather a united citizen voice on a global scale. As such the WWV is one of the most recent experiments with new ways...... to include the voice of the citizens into complex scientific and technological issues. The purpose of WWV was to pass on the opinions of ordinary citizens to political decision-makers at The United Nations Climate Summit, COP15, in Copenhagen in December 2009. The authors made a study of the Danish WWV event...

Discriminating Between Legitimate and Predatory Open Access Journals: Report from the International Federation for Emergency Medicine Research Committee

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bhakti Hansoti

2016-09-01

Full Text Available Introduction: Open access (OA medical publishing is growing rapidly. While subscription-based publishing does not charge the author, OA does. This opens the door for “predatory” publishers who take authors’ money but provide no substantial peer review or indexing to truly disseminate research findings. Discriminating between predatory and legitimate OA publishers is difficult. Methods: We searched a number of library indexing databases that were available to us through the University of California, Irvine Libraries for journals in the field of emergency medicine (EM. Using criteria from Jeffrey Beall, University of Colorado librarian and an expert on predatory publishing, and the Research Committee of the International Federation for EM, we categorized EM journals as legitimate or likely predatory. Results: We identified 150 journal titles related to EM from all sources, 55 of which met our criteria for OA (37%, the rest subscription based. Of these 55, 25 (45% were likely to be predatory. We present lists of clearly legitimate OA journals, and, conversely, likely predatory ones. We present criteria a researcher can use to discriminate between the two. We present the indexing profiles of legitimate EM OA journals, to inform the researcher about degree of dissemination of research findings by journal. Conclusion: OA journals are proliferating rapidly. About half in EM are legitimate. The rest take substantial money from unsuspecting, usually junior, researchers and provide no value for true dissemination of findings. Researchers should be educated and aware of scam journals.

Playful Interaction with Voice Sensing Modular Robots

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Heesche, Bjarke; MacDonald, Ewen; Fogh, Rune

2013-01-01

This paper describes a voice sensor, suitable for modular robotic systems, which estimates the energy and fundamental frequency, F0, of the user’s voice. Through a number of example applications and tests with children, we observe how the voice sensor facilitates playful interaction between child...... children and two different robot configurations. In future work, we will investigate if such a system can motivate children to improve voice control and explore how to extend the sensor to detect emotions in the user’s voice....

Objective Voice Parameters in Colombian School Workers with Healthy Voices

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Lady Catherine Cantor Cutiva

2015-09-01

Full Text Available Objectives: To characterize the objective voice parameters among school workers, and to identi­fy associated factors of three objective voice parameters, namely fundamental frequency, sound pressure level and maximum phonation time. Materials and methods: We conducted a cross-sectional study among 116 Colombian teachers and 20 Colombian non-teachers. After signing the informed consent form, participants filled out a questionnaire. Then, a voice sample was recorded and evaluated perceptually by a speech therapist and by objective voice analysis with praat software. Short-term environmental measurements of sound level, temperature, humi­dity, and reverberation time were conducted during visits at the workplaces, such as classrooms and offices. Linear regression analysis was used to determine associations between individual and work-related factors and objective voice parameters. Results: Compared with men, women had higher fundamental frequency (201 Hz for teachers and 209 for non-teachers vs. 120 Hz for teachers and 127 for non-teachers and sound pressure level (82 dB vs. 80 dB, and shorter maximum phonation time (around 14 seconds vs. around 16 seconds. Female teachers younger than 50 years of age evidenced a significant tendency to speak with lower fundamental frequen­cy and shorter mpt compared with female teachers older than 50 years of age. Female teachers had significantly higher fundamental frequency (66 Hz, higher sound pressure level (2 dB and short phonation time (2 seconds than male teachers. Conclusion: Female teachers younger than 50 years of age had significantly lower F0 and shorter mpt compared with those older than 50 years of age. The multivariate analysis showed that gender was a much more important determinant of variations in F0, spl and mpt than age and teaching occupation. Objectively measured temperature also contributed to the changes on spl among school workers.

Voice Quality Estimation in Wireless Networks

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Petr Zach

2015-01-01

Full Text Available This article deals with the impact of Wireless (Wi-Fi networks on the perceived quality of voice services. The Quality of Service (QoS metrics must be monitored in the computer network during the voice data transmission to ensure proper voice service quality the end-user has paid for, especially in the wireless networks. In addition to the QoS, research area called Quality of Experience (QoE provides metrics and methods for quality evaluation from the end-user’s perspective. This article focuses on a QoE estimation of Voice over IP (VoIP calls in the wireless networks using network simulator. Results contribute to voice quality estimation based on characteristics of the wireless network and location of a wireless client.

The Influence of Sleep Disorders on Voice Quality.

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Rocha, Bruna Rainho; Behlau, Mara

2017-09-19

To verify the influence of sleep quality on the voice. Descriptive and analytical cross-sectional study. Data were collected by an online or printed survey divided in three parts: (1) demographic data and vocal health aspects; (2) self-assessment of sleep and vocal quality, and the influence that sleep has on voice; and (3) sleep and voice self-assessment inventories-the Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS), the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), and the Voice Handicap Index reduced version (VHI-10). A total of 862 people were included (493 women, 369 men), with a mean age of 32 years old (maximum age of 79 and minimum age of 18 years old). The perception of the influence that sleep has on voice showed a difference (P influence a voice handicap are vocal self-assessment, ESS total score, and self-assessment of the influence that sleep has on voice. The absence of daytime sleepiness is a protective factor (odds ratio [OR] > 1) against perceived voice handicap; the presence of daytime sleepiness is a damaging factor (OR influences voice. Perceived poor sleep quality is related to perceived poor vocal quality. Individuals with a voice handicap observe a greater influence of sleep on voice than those without. Copyright © 2017 The Voice Foundation. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Risk in Postgraduate Writing: Voice, Discourse and Edgework

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Lucia Thesen

2013-11-01

Full Text Available This paper brings writing into the contested space of research and knowledge-making in South Africa. An often hidden dimension of research is that it has to find expression in a written product, increasingly in English. This creates challenges for both students, who have developed writing identities in other domains, disciplines and languages, and also supervisors and journal editors who are gatekeepers for the making of new knowledge. In a competitive and uncertain climate where discourses of risk management play an increasingly important part, people tend to play it safe when it comes to writing, conforming to a narrow image of scientific writing. This has consequences for knowledge-making as students often set aside the experiences, allegiances and styles they have developed along the way. Drawing on data from an international publishing project on risk in academic writing, the paper explores dilemmas around the process of research writing. These instances make the contradictions and tensions faced by writers and gatekeepers central, highlighting the importance of voice and risk. Both voice and risk are explored experientially and theoretically, with the emphasis on the potentials of risk. The concept of risk, not as risk management, but as risk-taking, offers new ways of thinking about writing that brings the decisions that writers and readers make to the fore. A focus on risk has the potential to offer new understandings about the changing landscapes in which writers and readers weigh up their options against notions of what is ‘normal’.  Finally I suggest edgework as a productive concept that can take work on risk forward in both research and pedagogy.

Becoming Academics: Experiencing Legitimate Peripheral Participation in Part-Time Doctoral Studies

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Teeuwsen, Phil; Ratkovic, Snežana; Tilley, Susan A.

2014-01-01

An important element of doctoral studies is identification with the academic community. Such identification is often complicated by part-time student status. In this paper, two part-time doctoral students and their supervisor employ Lave and Wenger's concept of legitimate peripheral participation to explore, through a critical socio-cultural lens,…

The Sound of Voice: Voice-Based Categorization of Speakers' Sexual Orientation within and across Languages.

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Simone Sulpizio

Full Text Available Empirical research had initially shown that English listeners are able to identify the speakers' sexual orientation based on voice cues alone. However, the accuracy of this voice-based categorization, as well as its generalizability to other languages (language-dependency and to non-native speakers (language-specificity, has been questioned recently. Consequently, we address these open issues in 5 experiments: First, we tested whether Italian and German listeners are able to correctly identify sexual orientation of same-language male speakers. Then, participants of both nationalities listened to voice samples and rated the sexual orientation of both Italian and German male speakers. We found that listeners were unable to identify the speakers' sexual orientation correctly. However, speakers were consistently categorized as either heterosexual or gay on the basis of how they sounded. Moreover, a similar pattern of results emerged when listeners judged the sexual orientation of speakers of their own and of the foreign language. Overall, this research suggests that voice-based categorization of sexual orientation reflects the listeners' expectations of how gay voices sound rather than being an accurate detector of the speakers' actual sexual identity. Results are discussed with regard to accuracy, acoustic features of voices, language dependency and language specificity.

Knowledge, Power, and Social Policy: John M. MacEachran and Alberta's 1928 Sexual Sterilization Act

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Puplampu, Korbla P.

2008-01-01

This article examines how academic knowledge and power have shaped the discourse on human classification and how political authorities use academic knowledge producers to legitimize public policy. Specifically, the article draws on the role of John M. MacEachran, a former academic at the University of Alberta, in the implementation of the Alberta…

[Diagnostics and therapy in professional voice-users].

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Richter, B; Echternach, M

2010-04-01

Voice is one of the most important instruments for expression and communication in humans. Dysphonia remains very frequent. Generally people in voice-intensive professions, such as teachers, call center employees, singers and actors suffer from these complaints. In recent years methods have been developed which facilitate appropriate diagnosis and therapy, based on the criteria of evidence based medicine, in voice patients appropriate to their degree of disease. The basic protocol of the European Laryngological Society offers a standardized evaluation of multidimensional voice parameters. In our own patient collective there were statistically significant improvements in voice quality, according to a pre/post mean value comparison, in both phonomicrosurgical (n=45) and voice therapy (n=30) patients in relation to RBH, DSI and VHI.

The Legitimation of Novel Technologies: The Case of Nanotechnology

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Thyroff, Anastasia E.

Nanotechnology is the control, manipulation, and application of matter on an atomic and molecular level. The technology is complex and confusing to consumers, and its long-term safety and effect on the human body, as well as the environment, are unknown. However, for the past decade, nanotechnology has been used to develop consumer products and food with novel and attractive attributes. Since nanotechnology is still not well known, it is not legitimized; that is, it has not been deemed safe and accepted by society. However, the market for nanotechnology is in the legitimation process. It will take an entire network of key stakeholders playing a specific roles for nanotechnology to legitimize. Specifically, each key stakeholder will align with a certain cultural discourse to frame nanotechnology in a particular way that complements their values. In Essay 1, I follow previous market system dynamic's literature and combine Actor Network Theory (ANT), Foucault's Discourse on Power and Goffman's Frame analysis to theoretically explore what the actor network for nanotechnology looks like. Four dominate frames are identified: 1) Advancement (i.e., government), 2) Management (i.e., industry), 3) Development (i.e., academia/scientists), and 4) Informant (i.e., NGO). Essay 2 empirically explores each actor's perspective on the nanotechnology network through a total of 24 interviews. A hermeneutic approach is used to analyze the 208 page text and themes describing each actor's role from a self and other's perspective are discussed. Additionally, three overarching themes (i.e., contradiction, constance, and cutoff) emerge; these themes describe the degree of similarity in how actors view their role in the nanotechnology network compared to how other actor's view that actor's role. In Essay 3, I bring critical theory into market system's research to better contextualize market formation theories. Specifically, I discuss how critical theory can be used to supplement ANT. I

[Design of standard voice sample text for subjective auditory perceptual evaluation of voice disorders].

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Li, Jin-rang; Sun, Yan-yan; Xu, Wen

2010-09-01

To design a speech voice sample text with all phonemes in Mandarin for subjective auditory perceptual evaluation of voice disorders. The principles for design of a speech voice sample text are: The short text should include the 21 initials and 39 finals, this may cover all the phonemes in Mandarin. Also, the short text should have some meanings. A short text was made out. It had 155 Chinese words, and included 21 initials and 38 finals (the final, ê, was not included because it was rarely used in Mandarin). Also, the text covered 17 light tones and one "Erhua". The constituent ratios of the initials and finals presented in this short text were statistically similar as those in Mandarin according to the method of similarity of the sample and population (r = 0.742, P text were statistically not similar as those in Mandarin (r = 0.731, P > 0.05). A speech voice sample text with all phonemes in Mandarin was made out. The constituent ratios of the initials and finals presented in this short text are similar as those in Mandarin. Its value for subjective auditory perceptual evaluation of voice disorders need further study.

Voice pedagogy-what do we need?

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Gill, Brian P; Herbst, Christian T

2016-12-01

The final keynote panel of the 10th Pan-European Voice Conference (PEVOC) was concerned with the topic 'Voice pedagogy-what do we need?' In this communication the panel discussion is summarized, and the authors provide a deepening discussion on one of the key questions, addressing the roles and tasks of people working with voice students. In particular, a distinction is made between (1) voice building (derived from the German term 'Stimmbildung'), primarily comprising the functional and physiological aspects of singing; (2) coaching, mostly concerned with performance skills; and (3) singing voice rehabilitation. Both public and private educators are encouraged to apply this distinction to their curricula, in order to arrive at more efficient singing teaching and to reduce the risk of vocal injury to the singers concerned.

Voice Quality in Mobile Telecommunication System

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Evaldas Stankevičius

2013-05-01

Full Text Available The article deals with methods measuring the quality of voice transmitted over the mobile network as well as related problem, algorithms and options. It presents the created voice quality measurement system and discusses its adequacy as well as efficiency. Besides, the author presents the results of system application under the optimal hardware configuration. Under almost ideal conditions, the system evaluates the voice quality with MOS 3.85 average estimate; while the standardized TEMS Investigation 9.0 has 4.05 average MOS estimate. Next, the article presents the discussion of voice quality predictor implementation and investigates the predictor using nonlinear and linear prediction methods of voice quality dependence on the mobile network settings. Nonlinear prediction using artificial neural network resulted in the correlation coefficient of 0.62. While the linear prediction method using the least mean squares resulted in the correlation coefficient of 0.57. The analytical expression of voice quality features from the three network parameters: BER, C / I, RSSI is given as well.Article in Lithuanian

The legitimating fact in the transcendental deduction of the categories: on Dieter Henrich's reading of Kant

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Christian Klotz

Full Text Available This article reconstructs the principal moments of Dieter Henrich's work on Immanuel Kant's theoretical philosophy. Henrich seeks to clarify and regain the fundaments of Kant's theory of knowledge - from which his followers, according to him, have distanced themselves - based on the analysis of the "transcendental deduction of the categories". Firstly, Henrich investigates the proof structure of deduction, comparing the first and the second edition of Critique of Pure Reason. Secondly, he investigates, in the Kantian argument, the relationship between the identity principle of self-consciousness and objectivity. Finally, extending the comparison to Critique of Practical Reason, Henrich elucidates the program and methodology in deduction, showing that the idea of a legitimating fact, borrowed from the juridical notion of a deduction, becomes the fundamental element. We analyse the problems raised by the conception of a philosophical argument based on fundamental "facts".

Smartphone App for Voice Disorders

Science.gov (United States)

... on. Feature: Taste, Smell, Hearing, Language, Voice, Balance Smartphone App for Voice Disorders Past Issues / Fall 2013 ... developed a mobile monitoring device that relies on smartphone technology to gather a week's worth of talking, ...

Hearing Voices and Seeing Things

Science.gov (United States)

... Facts for Families Guide Facts for Families - Vietnamese Hearing Voices and Seeing Things No. 102; Updated October ... delusions (a fixed, false, and often bizarre belief). Hearing voices or seeing things that are not there ...

Collaborative Science with Indigenous Knowledge for Climate Solutions: Why, How, and with Whom?

Science.gov (United States)

Maldonado, J.; Lazrus, H.; Gough, B.

2017-12-01

The inherent complexity of climate change requires diverse perspectives to understand and respond to its impacts. The Rising Voices: Collaborative Science with Indigenous Knowledge for Climate Solutions (Rising Voices) program represents a growing network of engaged Indigenous and non-Indigenous scientists committed to cross-cultural and collaborative research and activities to understand and mitigate the impacts of extreme weather and climate change. Five annual Rising Voices workshops have occurred since 2013, engaging hundreds of participants from across Tribal communities, the United States, and internationally over the years. Housed at the National Center for Atmospheric Research, Rising Voices aims to expand how diversity is understood in atmospheric science, to include intellectual diversity stemming from distinct cultural backgrounds. It envisions collaborative research that brings together Indigenous knowledges and science with Western climate and weather sciences in a respectful and inclusive manner to achieve culturally relevant and scientifically robust climate and weather adaptation solutions. The premise of the program and the research and collaborations it produces is that there is an opportunity cost to not involving diverse knowledge systems and observations from varied cultural backgrounds in addressing climate change. We cannot afford that cost given the challenges ahead. This poster presents some of the protocols, methods, challenges, and outcomes of cross-cultural research between Western and Indigenous scientists and communities from across the United States. It also presents some of the recommendations that have emerged from Rising Voices workshops over the past five years.

Clinical Features of Psychogenic Voice Disorder and the Efficiency of Voice Therapy and Psychological Evaluation.

Science.gov (United States)

Tezcaner, Zahide Çiler; Gökmen, Muhammed Fatih; Yıldırım, Sibel; Dursun, Gürsel

2017-11-06

The aim of this study was to define the clinical features of psychogenic voice disorder (PVD) and explore the treatment efficiency of voice therapy and psychological evaluation. Fifty-eight patients who received treatment following the PVD diagnosis and had no organic or other functional voice disorders were assessed retrospectively based on laryngoscopic examinations and subjective and objective assessments. Epidemiological characteristics, accompanying organic and psychological disorders, preferred methods of treatment, and previous treatment outcomes were examined for each patient. A comparison was made based on voice disorders and responses to treatment between patients who received psychotherapy and patients who did not. Participants in this study comprised 58 patients, 10 male and 48 female. Voice therapy was applied in all patients, 54 (93.1%) of whom had improvement in their voice. Although all patients were advised to undergo psychological assessment, only 60.3% (35/58) of them underwent psychological assessment. No statistically significant difference was found between patients who did receive psychological support concerning their treatment responses and patients who did not. Relapse occurred in 14.7% (5/34) of the patients who applied for psychological assessment and in 50% (10/20) of those who did not. There was a statistically significant difference in relapse rates, which was higher among patients who did not receive psychological support (P therapy is an efficient treatment method for PVD. However, in the long-term follow-up, relapse of the disease is observed to be higher among patients who failed to follow up on the recommendation for psychological assessment. Copyright © 2017 The Voice Foundation. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Children's experiences as hospital in-patients: voice, competence and work. Messages for nursing from a critical ethnographic study.

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Livesley, Joan; Long, Tony

2013-10-01

There is growing evidence that children's subjective interpretations of events may differ significantly from those of adults; yet children's and young people's voices and children's knowledge regarding hospital care remain relatively unexplored. To develop insight into children's subjective interpretations and knowledge of being hospital in-patients. Critical ethnography. A nephro-urology ward in a tertiary referral children's hospital in the north of England. A purposive sample was employed of 15 children over 2 phases: six (9-15 years) at home in a reconnaissance first phase, and nine (5-14 years) in hospital in phase 2. A raft of child-friendly, age-appropriate strategies was used to engage children in phase 1. Phase 2 involved over 100 h of field-work with hospitalised children over 6 months, with observation, interview, play and craft activities as prominent methods. Data were analysed using constant comparative methods. The study ward was a place in which children struggled to find a space for their competence to be recognised and their voice heard. Children's voice became manifest in what they said but also through the non-verbal mechanisms of resisting, turning away and being silent. While all the children shared the experience of being in trouble, recognition of their competence was fluid and contingent on their relationships with the nurses alongside other structural and material factors. The children worked hard to maintain their position as knowledgeable individuals. When they could not do so they relied on supportive adults, and in the absence of supportive adults they became marooned and received bare minimum care. The hospital ward was a place for children in which there was little space for children's voices. When their voices were heard, they were often seen as a challenge. Quiet, sick and shy children who were alone were the most likely to have their needs overlooked and become subject to standardised nursing care. A more inclusive and

Reliability in perceptual analysis of voice quality.

Science.gov (United States)

Bele, Irene Velsvik

2005-12-01

This study focuses on speaking voice quality in male teachers (n = 35) and male actors (n = 36), who represent untrained and trained voice users, because we wanted to investigate normal and supranormal voices. In this study, both substantial and methodologic aspects were considered. It includes a method for perceptual voice evaluation, and a basic issue was rater reliability. A listening group of 10 listeners, 7 experienced speech-language therapists, and 3 speech-language therapist students evaluated the voices by 15 vocal characteristics using VA scales. Two sets of voice signals were investigated: text reading (2 loudness levels) and sustained vowel (3 levels). The results indicated a high interrater reliability for most perceptual characteristics. Connected speech was evaluated more reliably, especially at the normal level, but both types of voice signals were evaluated reliably, although the reliability for connected speech was somewhat higher than for vowels. Experienced listeners tended to be more consistent in their ratings than did the student raters. Some vocal characteristics achieved acceptable reliability even with a smaller panel of listeners. The perceptual characteristics grouped in 4 factors reflected perceptual dimensions.

[Hearing voices does not always constitute a psychosis].

Science.gov (United States)

Sommer, I E C; van der Spek, D W

2016-01-01

Hearing voices (i.e. auditory verbal hallucinations) is mainly known as part of schizophrenia and other psychotic disorders. However, hearing voices is a symptom that can occur in many psychiatric, neurological and general medical conditions. We present three cases of non-psychotic patients with auditory verbal hallucinations caused by different disorders. The first patient is a 74-year-old male with voices due to hearing loss, the second is a 20-year-old woman with voices due to traumatisation. The third patient is a 27-year-old woman with voices caused by temporal lobe epilepsy. Hearing voices is a phenomenon that occurs in a variety of disorders. Therefore, identification of the underlying disorder is essential to indicate treatment. Improvement of coping with the voices can reduce their impact on a patient. Antipsychotic drugs are especially effective when hearing voices is accompanied by delusions or disorganization. When this is not the case, the efficacy of antipsychotic drugs will probably not outweigh the side-effects.

Permanent Quadriplegia Following Replacement of Voice Prosthesis.

Science.gov (United States)

Ozturk, Kayhan; Erdur, Omer; Kibar, Ertugrul

2016-11-01

The authors presented a patient with quadriplegia caused by cervical spine abscess following voice prosthesis replacement. The authors present the first reported permanent quadriplegia patient caused by voice prosthesis replacement. The authors wanted to emphasize that life-threatening complications may be faced during the replacement of voice prosthesis. Care should be taken during the replacement of voice prosthesis and if some problems have been faced during the procedure patients must be followed closely.

Updating signal typing in voice: addition of type 4 signals.

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Sprecher, Alicia; Olszewski, Aleksandra; Jiang, Jack J; Zhang, Yu

2010-06-01

The addition of a fourth type of voice to Titze's voice classification scheme is proposed. This fourth voice type is characterized by primarily stochastic noise behavior and is therefore unsuitable for both perturbation and correlation dimension analysis. Forty voice samples were classified into the proposed four types using narrowband spectrograms. Acoustic, perceptual, and correlation dimension analyses were completed for all voice samples. Perturbation measures tended to increase with voice type. Based on reliability cutoffs, the type 1 and type 2 voices were considered suitable for perturbation analysis. Measures of unreliability were higher for type 3 and 4 voices. Correlation dimension analyses increased significantly with signal type as indicated by a one-way analysis of variance. Notably, correlation dimension analysis could not quantify the type 4 voices. The proposed fourth voice type represents a subset of voices dominated by noise behavior. Current measures capable of evaluating type 4 voices provide only qualitative data (spectrograms, perceptual analysis, and an infinite correlation dimension). Type 4 voices are highly complex and the development of objective measures capable of analyzing these voices remains a topic of future investigation.

Voice amplification for primary school teachers with voice disorders: a randomized clinical trial.

Science.gov (United States)

Bovo, Roberto; Trevisi, Patrizia; Emanuelli, Enzo; Martini, Alessandro

2013-06-01

Several studies have demonstrated a high prevalence of voice disorders in teachers, together with the personal, professional and economical consequences of the problem. Good primary prevention should be based on 3 aspects: 1) amelioration of classroom acoustics, 2) voice care programs for future professional voice users, including teachers and 3) classroom or portable amplification systems. The aim of the study was to assess the benefit obtained from the use of portable amplification systems by female primary school teachers in their occupational setting. Forty female primary school teachers attended a course about professional voice care, which comprised two theoretical lectures, each 60 min long. Thereafter, they were randomized into 2 groups: the teachers of the first group were asked to use a portable vocal amplifier for 3 months, till the end of school-year. The other 20 teachers were part of the control group, matched for age and years of employment. All subjects had a grade 1 of dysphonia with no significant organic lesion of the vocal folds. Most teachers of the experimental group used the amplifier consistently for the whole duration of the experiment and found it very useful in reducing the symptoms of vocal fatigue. In fact, after 3 months, Voice Handicap Index (VHI) scores in "course + amplifier" group demonstrated a significant amelioration (p = 0.003). The perceptual grade of dysphonia also improved significantly (p = 0.0005). The same parameters changed favourably also in the "course only" group, but the results were not statistically significant (p = 0.4 for VHI and p = 0.03 for perceptual grade). In teachers, and particularly in those with a constitutional weak voice and/or those who are prone to vocal fold pathology, vocal amplifiers may be an effective and low-cost intervention to decrease potentially damaging vocal loads and may represent a necessary form of prevention.

Libertarianism and the Possibility of the Legitimate State

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Nicolás Maloberti

2009-01-01

Full Text Available The classical formulation of libertarianism seems to be incompatible with the requirements of political legitimacy. Some libertarians have endorsed this result, denying that the state is legitimate. This paper argues, however, that the particular nature of that incompatibility represents a problem for the classical formulation of libertarianism. It is argued that acknowledging the existence of a particular minimal form of positive rights might overcome the problem in question. It is further argued that acknowledgment of such positive rights would seem to provide a more adequate normative ground for making sense of some central libertarian insights and concerns.

Acoustic cues for the recognition of self-voice and other-voice

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Mingdi eXu

2013-10-01

Full Text Available Self-recognition, being indispensable for successful social communication, has become a major focus in current social neuroscience. The physical aspects of the self are most typically manifested in the face and voice. Compared with the wealth of studies on self-face recognition, self-voice recognition (SVR has not gained much attention. Converging evidence has suggested that the fundamental frequency (F0 and formant structures serve as the key acoustic cues for other-voice recognition (OVR. However, little is known about which, and how, acoustic cues are utilized for SVR as opposed to OVR. To address this question, we independently manipulated the F0 and formant information of recorded voices and investigated their contributions to SVR and OVR. Japanese participants were presented with recorded vocal stimuli and were asked to identify the speaker—either themselves or one of their peers. Six groups of 5 peers of the same sex participated in the study. Under conditions where the formant information was fully preserved and where only the frequencies lower than the third formant (F3 were retained, accuracies of SVR deteriorated significantly with the modulation of the F0, and the results were comparable for OVR. By contrast, under a condition where only the frequencies higher than F3 were retained, the accuracy of SVR was significantly higher than that of OVR throughout the range of F0 modulations, and the F0 scarcely affected the accuracies of SVR and OVR. Our results indicate that while both F0 and formant information are involved in SVR, as well as in OVR, the advantage of SVR is manifested only when major formant information for speech intelligibility is absent. These findings imply the robustness of self-voice representation, possibly by virtue of auditory familiarity and other factors such as its association with motor/articulatory representation.

Measurement of voice onset time in maxillectomy patients.

Science.gov (United States)

Hattori, Mariko; Sumita, Yuka I; Taniguchi, Hisashi

2014-01-01

Objective speech evaluation using acoustic measurement is needed for the proper rehabilitation of maxillectomy patients. For digital evaluation of consonants, measurement of voice onset time is one option. However, voice onset time has not been measured in maxillectomy patients as their consonant sound spectra exhibit unique characteristics that make the measurement of voice onset time challenging. In this study, we established criteria for measuring voice onset time in maxillectomy patients for objective speech evaluation. We examined voice onset time for /ka/ and /ta/ in 13 maxillectomy patients by calculating the number of valid measurements of voice onset time out of three trials for each syllable. Wilcoxon's signed rank test showed that voice onset time measurements were more successful for /ka/ and /ta/ when a prosthesis was used (Z = -2.232, P = 0.026 and Z = -2.401, P = 0.016, resp.) than when a prosthesis was not used. These results indicate a prosthesis affected voice onset measurement in these patients. Although more research in this area is needed, measurement of voice onset time has the potential to be used to evaluate consonant production in maxillectomy patients wearing a prosthesis.

Measurement of Voice Onset Time in Maxillectomy Patients

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Mariko Hattori

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Objective speech evaluation using acoustic measurement is needed for the proper rehabilitation of maxillectomy patients. For digital evaluation of consonants, measurement of voice onset time is one option. However, voice onset time has not been measured in maxillectomy patients as their consonant sound spectra exhibit unique characteristics that make the measurement of voice onset time challenging. In this study, we established criteria for measuring voice onset time in maxillectomy patients for objective speech evaluation. We examined voice onset time for /ka/ and /ta/ in 13 maxillectomy patients by calculating the number of valid measurements of voice onset time out of three trials for each syllable. Wilcoxon’s signed rank test showed that voice onset time measurements were more successful for /ka/ and /ta/ when a prosthesis was used (Z=−2.232, P=0.026 and Z=−2.401, P=0.016, resp. than when a prosthesis was not used. These results indicate a prosthesis affected voice onset measurement in these patients. Although more research in this area is needed, measurement of voice onset time has the potential to be used to evaluate consonant production in maxillectomy patients wearing a prosthesis.

Multidimensional assessment of strongly irregular voices such as in substitution voicing and spasmodic dysphonia: a compilation of own research.

Science.gov (United States)

Moerman, Mieke; Martens, Jean-Pierre; Dejonckere, Philippe

2015-04-01

This article is a compilation of own research performed during the European COoperation in Science and Technology (COST) action 2103: 'Advance Voice Function Assessment', an initiative of voice and speech processing teams consisting of physicists, engineers, and clinicians. This manuscript concerns analyzing largely irregular voicing types, namely substitution voicing (SV) and adductor spasmodic dysphonia (AdSD). A specific perceptual rating scale (IINFVo) was developed, and the Auditory Model Based Pitch Extractor (AMPEX), a piece of software that automatically analyses running speech and generates pitch values in background noise, was applied. The IINFVo perceptual rating scale has been shown to be useful in evaluating SV. The analysis of strongly irregular voices stimulated a modification of the European Laryngological Society's assessment protocol which was originally designed for the common types of (less severe) dysphonia. Acoustic analysis with AMPEX demonstrates that the most informative features are, for SV, the voicing-related acoustic features and, for AdSD, the perturbation measures. Poor correlations between self-assessment and acoustic and perceptual dimensions in the assessment of highly irregular voices argue for a multidimensional approach.

Voice and choice by delegation.

Science.gov (United States)

van de Bovenkamp, Hester; Vollaard, Hans; Trappenburg, Margo; Grit, Kor

2013-02-01

In many Western countries, options for citizens to influence public services are increased to improve the quality of services and democratize decision making. Possibilities to influence are often cast into Albert Hirschman's taxonomy of exit (choice), voice, and loyalty. In this article we identify delegation as an important addition to this framework. Delegation gives individuals the chance to practice exit/choice or voice without all the hard work that is usually involved in these options. Empirical research shows that not many people use their individual options of exit and voice, which could lead to inequality between users and nonusers. We identify delegation as a possible solution to this problem, using Dutch health care as a case study to explore this option. Notwithstanding various advantages, we show that voice and choice by delegation also entail problems of inequality and representativeness.

Ways of explaining sexual harassment: motivating, enabling and legitimizing processes

OpenAIRE

Diehl, Charlotte

2014-01-01

This dissertation aims to contribute to a comprehensive explanation of sexual harassment by the investigation of three social-psychological processes, which seem to crucially contribute to the etiology of sexual harassment: motivation to sexually harass (e.g., power or sexuality), enabling processes (e.g., through diverse situational cues), and legitimization of sexually harassing behavior (e.g., by applying myths about sexual harassment). By consolidating these three processes into one multi...

Counterfeit Drug Penetration into Global Legitimate Medicine Supply Chains: A Global Assessment

Science.gov (United States)

Mackey, Tim K.; Liang, Bryan A.; York, Peter; Kubic, Thomas

2015-01-01

Counterfeit medicines are a global public health risk. We assess counterfeit reports involving the legitimate supply chain using 2009–2011 data from the Pharmaceutical Security Institute Counterfeit Incident System (PSI CIS) database that uses both open and nonpublic data sources. Of the 1,510 identified CIS reports involving counterfeits, 27.6% reported China as the source country of the incident/detection. Further, 51.3% were reported as counterfeit but the specific counterfeit subcategory was not known or verifiable. The most prevalent therapeutic category was anti-infectives (21.1%) with most reports originating from health-related government agencies. Geographically, Asian and Latin American regions and, economically, middle-income markets were most represented. A total of 127 (64.8%) of a total of 196 countries had no legitimate supply chain CIS counterfeit reports. Improvements in surveillance, including detection of security breaches, data collection, analysis, and dissemination are urgently needed to address public health needs to combat the global counterfeit medicines trade. PMID:25897059

Singing Voice Analysis, Synthesis, and Modeling

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, Youngmoo E.

The singing voice is the oldest musical instrument, but its versatility and emotional power are unmatched. Through the combination of music, lyrics, and expression, the voice is able to affect us in ways that no other instrument can. The fact that vocal music is prevalent in almost all cultures is indicative of its innate appeal to the human aesthetic. Singing also permeates most genres of music, attesting to the wide range of sounds the human voice is capable of producing. As listeners we are naturally drawn to the sound of the human voice, and, when present, it immediately becomes the focus of our attention.

Voice stress analysis and evaluation

Science.gov (United States)

Haddad, Darren M.; Ratley, Roy J.

2001-02-01

Voice Stress Analysis (VSA) systems are marketed as computer-based systems capable of measuring stress in a person's voice as an indicator of deception. They are advertised as being less expensive, easier to use, less invasive in use, and less constrained in their operation then polygraph technology. The National Institute of Justice have asked the Air Force Research Laboratory for assistance in evaluating voice stress analysis technology. Law enforcement officials have also been asking questions about this technology. If VSA technology proves to be effective, its value for military and law enforcement application is tremendous.

Effects of Medications on Voice

Science.gov (United States)

... ENTCareers Marketplace Find an ENT Doctor Near You Effects of Medications on Voice Effects of Medications on Voice Patient Health Information News ... replacement therapy post-menopause may have a variable effect. An inadequate level of thyroid replacement medication in ...

The Voices of the Documentarist

Science.gov (United States)

Utterback, Ann S.

1977-01-01

Discusses T. S. Elliot's essay, "The Three Voices of Poetry" which conceptualizes the position taken by the poet or creator. Suggests that an examination of documentary film, within the three voices concept, expands the critical framework of the film genre. (MH)

Obligatory and facultative brain regions for voice-identity recognition

Science.gov (United States)

Roswandowitz, Claudia; Kappes, Claudia; Obrig, Hellmuth; von Kriegstein, Katharina

2018-01-01

Abstract Recognizing the identity of others by their voice is an important skill for social interactions. To date, it remains controversial which parts of the brain are critical structures for this skill. Based on neuroimaging findings, standard models of person-identity recognition suggest that the right temporal lobe is the hub for voice-identity recognition. Neuropsychological case studies, however, reported selective deficits of voice-identity recognition in patients predominantly with right inferior parietal lobe lesions. Here, our aim was to work towards resolving the discrepancy between neuroimaging studies and neuropsychological case studies to find out which brain structures are critical for voice-identity recognition in humans. We performed a voxel-based lesion-behaviour mapping study in a cohort of patients (n = 58) with unilateral focal brain lesions. The study included a comprehensive behavioural test battery on voice-identity recognition of newly learned (voice-name, voice-face association learning) and familiar voices (famous voice recognition) as well as visual (face-identity recognition) and acoustic control tests (vocal-pitch and vocal-timbre discrimination). The study also comprised clinically established tests (neuropsychological assessment, audiometry) and high-resolution structural brain images. The three key findings were: (i) a strong association between voice-identity recognition performance and right posterior/mid temporal and right inferior parietal lobe lesions; (ii) a selective association between right posterior/mid temporal lobe lesions and voice-identity recognition performance when face-identity recognition performance was factored out; and (iii) an association of right inferior parietal lobe lesions with tasks requiring the association between voices and faces but not voices and names. The results imply that the right posterior/mid temporal lobe is an obligatory structure for voice-identity recognition, while the inferior parietal

The effect of voice quality on hiring decisions

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lea Tylečková

2017-09-01

Full Text Available This paper examines the effect of voice quality on hiring decisions. Considering voice quality an important tool in an individual’s self-presentation in the job market, it may very well enhance his/her job prospects, while some voice qualities may affect employers’ judgments in a negative way. Five men and five women were recorded reading four different utterances representing answers to job interviewers’ questions in four different phonation guises: modal, breathy, creaky and pressed. 38 professional employment interviewers recorded the speakers’ hireability and personality ratings (likeability, self-confidence and trustworthiness on 7-point semantic differential scales based on the speakers’ voice. The results revealed a significant effect of the phonation guises on the speakers’ ratings with the modal voice being superior to the cluster of non-modal voices. Interestingly, the non-modal guises were evaluated in a very similar way, except for the self-confidence category with the breathy voice getting the lowest scores on the one hand and the pressed voice correlating with high self-confidence ratings on the other.

Can a voice disorder be an occupational disease?

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Daša Gluvajić

2012-11-01

Full Text Available Voice disorders are all changes in the voice quality that can be detected by hearing. Some etiological factors that contribute to the development of voice disorders are related to occupation, working environment and working conditions. In modern societies one third of the labour force works in professions with vocal loading. In such professions, voice disorders influence work ability and quality of life. For an occupational disease, the exposure to harmful factors in the workplace is essential and causes the development of a disorder in a previously healthy individual. In some European countries, voice disorders in teachers, which do not improve after proper treatment are recognized as occupational diseases. In Slovenia, no organic or functional voice disorder is listed on the current list of occupational diseases. Prevention and cure of occupational voice disorders can contribute to better safety at the workplace and improve the workers’ health. Voice professionals must also know that they are responsible for their own health and that they must actively take care of it.

The Voice as Computer Interface: A Look at Tomorrow's Technologies.

Science.gov (United States)

Lange, Holley R.

1991-01-01

Discussion of voice as the communications device for computer-human interaction focuses on voice recognition systems for use within a library environment. Voice technologies are described, including voice response and voice recognition; examples of voice systems in use in libraries are examined; and further possibilities, including use with…

Probing echoic memory with different voices.

Science.gov (United States)

Madden, D J; Bastian, J

1977-05-01

Considerable evidence has indicated that some acoustical properties of spoken items are preserved in an "echoic" memory for approximately 2 sec. However, some of this evidence has also shown that changing the voice speaking the stimulus items has a disruptive effect on memory which persists longer than that of other acoustical variables. The present experiment examined the effect of voice changes on response bias as well as on accuracy in a recognition memory task. The task involved judging recognition probes as being present in or absent from sets of dichotically presented digits. Recognition of probes spoken in the same voice as that of the dichotic items was more accurate than recognition of different-voice probes at each of three retention intervals of up to 4 sec. Different-voice probes increased the likelihood of "absent" responses, but only up to a 1.4-sec delay. These shifts in response bias may represent a property of echoic memory which should be investigated further.

Voice disorders in teachers. A review.

Science.gov (United States)

Martins, Regina Helena Garcia; Pereira, Eny Regina Bóia Neves; Hidalgo, Caio Bosque; Tavares, Elaine Lara Mendes

2014-11-01

Voice disorders are very prevalent among teachers and consequences are serious. Although the literature is extensive, there are differences in the concepts and methodology related to voice problems; most studies are restricted to analyzing the responses of teachers to questionnaires and only a few studies include vocal assessments and videolaryngoscopic examinations to obtain a definitive diagnosis. To review demographic studies related to vocal disorders in teachers to analyze the diverse methodologies, the prevalence rates pointed out by the authors, the main risk factors, the most prevalent laryngeal lesions, and the repercussions of dysphonias on professional activities. The available literature (from 1997 to 2013) was narratively reviewed based on Medline, PubMed, Lilacs, SciELO, and Cochrane library databases. Excluded were articles that specifically analyzed treatment modalities and those that did not make their abstracts available in those databases. The keywords included were teacher, dysphonia, voice disorders, professional voice. Copyright © 2014 The Voice Foundation. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Investigating the neural correlates of voice versus speech-sound directed information in pre-school children.

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Nora Maria Raschle

Full Text Available Studies in sleeping newborns and infants propose that the superior temporal sulcus is involved in speech processing soon after birth. Speech processing also implicitly requires the analysis of the human voice, which conveys both linguistic and extra-linguistic information. However, due to technical and practical challenges when neuroimaging young children, evidence of neural correlates of speech and/or voice processing in toddlers and young children remains scarce. In the current study, we used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI in 20 typically developing preschool children (average age  = 5.8 y; range 5.2-6.8 y to investigate brain activation during judgments about vocal identity versus the initial speech sound of spoken object words. FMRI results reveal common brain regions responsible for voice-specific and speech-sound specific processing of spoken object words including bilateral primary and secondary language areas of the brain. Contrasting voice-specific with speech-sound specific processing predominantly activates the anterior part of the right-hemispheric superior temporal sulcus. Furthermore, the right STS is functionally correlated with left-hemispheric temporal and right-hemispheric prefrontal regions. This finding underlines the importance of the right superior temporal sulcus as a temporal voice area and indicates that this brain region is specialized, and functions similarly to adults by the age of five. We thus extend previous knowledge of voice-specific regions and their functional connections to the young brain which may further our understanding of the neuronal mechanism of speech-specific processing in children with developmental disorders, such as autism or specific language impairments.

Optimal dose-response relationships in voice therapy.

Science.gov (United States)

Roy, Nelson

2012-10-01

Like other areas of speech-language pathology, the behavioural management of voice disorders lacks precision regarding optimal dose-response relationships. In voice therapy, dosing can presumably vary from no measurable effect (i.e., no observable benefit or adverse effect), to ideal dose (maximum benefit with no adverse effects), to doses that produce toxic or harmful effects on voice production. Practicing specific vocal exercises will inevitably increase vocal load. At ideal doses, these exercises may be non-toxic and beneficial, while at intermediate or high doses, the same exercises may actually be toxic or damaging to vocal fold tissues. In pharmacology, toxicity is a critical concept, yet it is rarely considered in voice therapy, with little known regarding "effective" concentrations of specific voice therapies vs "toxic" concentrations. The potential for vocal fold tissue damage related to overdosing on specific vocal exercises has been under-studied. In this commentary, the issue of dosing will be explored within the context of voice therapy, with particular emphasis placed on possible "overdosing".

The recognition of female voice based on voice registers in singing techniques in real-time using hankel transform method and macdonald function

Science.gov (United States)

Meiyanti, R.; Subandi, A.; Fuqara, N.; Budiman, M. A.; Siahaan, A. P. U.

2018-03-01

A singer doesn’t just recite the lyrics of a song, but also with the use of particular sound techniques to make it more beautiful. In the singing technique, more female have a diverse sound registers than male. There are so many registers of the human voice, but the voice registers used while singing, among others, Chest Voice, Head Voice, Falsetto, and Vocal fry. Research of speech recognition based on the female’s voice registers in singing technique is built using Borland Delphi 7.0. Speech recognition process performed by the input recorded voice samples and also in real time. Voice input will result in weight energy values based on calculations using Hankel Transformation method and Macdonald Functions. The results showed that the accuracy of the system depends on the accuracy of sound engineering that trained and tested, and obtained an average percentage of the successful introduction of the voice registers record reached 48.75 percent, while the average percentage of the successful introduction of the voice registers in real time to reach 57 percent.

Vertical Integration: Teachers' Knowledge and Teachers' Voice.

Science.gov (United States)

Corrie, L.

1995-01-01

Traces the theoretical basis for vertical integration in early school years. Contrasts transmission-based pedagogy with a higher level of teacher control, and acquirer-based pedagogy with a higher level of student control. Suggests that early childhood pedagogy will be maintained when teachers are able to articulate their pedagogical knowledge and…

Work-related voice disorder

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Paulo Eduardo Przysiezny

2015-04-01

Full Text Available INTRODUCTION: Dysphonia is the main symptom of the disorders of oral communication. However, voice disorders also present with other symptoms such as difficulty in maintaining the voice (asthenia, vocal fatigue, variation in habitual vocal fundamental frequency, hoarseness, lack of vocal volume and projection, loss of vocal efficiency, and weakness when speaking. There are several proposals for the etiologic classification of dysphonia: functional, organofunctional, organic, and work-related voice disorder (WRVD.OBJECTIVE: To conduct a literature review on WRVD and on the current Brazilian labor legislation.METHODS: This was a review article with bibliographical research conducted on the PubMed and Bireme databases, using the terms "work-related voice disorder", "occupational dysphonia", "dysphonia and labor legislation", and a review of labor and social security relevant laws.CONCLUSION: WRVD is a situation that frequently is listed as a reason for work absenteeism, functional rehabilitation, or for prolonged absence from work. Currently, forensic physicians have no comparative parameters to help with the analysis of vocal disorders. In certain situations WRVD may cause, work disability. This disorder may be labor-related, or be an adjuvant factor to work-related diseases.

Human voice perception.

Science.gov (United States)

Latinus, Marianne; Belin, Pascal

2011-02-22

We are all voice experts. First and foremost, we can produce and understand speech, and this makes us a unique species. But in addition to speech perception, we routinely extract from voices a wealth of socially-relevant information in what constitutes a more primitive, and probably more universal, non-linguistic mode of communication. Consider the following example: you are sitting in a plane, and you can hear a conversation in a foreign language in the row behind you. You do not see the speakers' faces, and you cannot understand the speech content because you do not know the language. Yet, an amazing amount of information is available to you. You can evaluate the physical characteristics of the different protagonists, including their gender, approximate age and size, and associate an identity to the different voices. You can form a good idea of the different speaker's mood and affective state, as well as more subtle cues as the perceived attractiveness or dominance of the protagonists. In brief, you can form a fairly detailed picture of the type of social interaction unfolding, which a brief glance backwards can on the occasion help refine - sometimes surprisingly so. What are the acoustical cues that carry these different types of vocal information? How does our brain process and analyse this information? Here we briefly review an emerging field and the main tools used in voice perception research. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Human trafficking: fighting the illicit economy with the legitimate economy

OpenAIRE

Shelley, Louise; Bain, Christina

2015-01-01

Since the beginning of research on human trafficking, there has been attention paid to the challenges surrounding the illicit economy. In creating new strategies and initiatives on combatting human trafficking, there needs to be more discussion surrounding the legitimate economy and how the business sector can make an impact in the fight against trafficking. Currently, there is a growing movement of businesses that are looking to address human trafficking through training, education, and lead...

How to help teachers' voices.

Science.gov (United States)

Saatweber, Margarete

2008-01-01

It has been shown that teachers are at high risk of developing occupational dysphonia, and it has been widely accepted that the vocal characteristics of a speaker play an important role in determining the reactions of listeners. The functions of breathing, breathing movement, breathing tonus, voice vibrations and articulation tonus are transmitted to the listener. So we may conclude that listening to the teacher's voice at school influences children's behavior and the perception of spoken language. This paper presents the concept of Schlaffhorst-Andersen including exercises to help teachers improve their voice, breathing, movement and their posture. Copyright 2008 S. Karger AG, Basel.

Effects of task performance, helping, voice, and organizational loyalty on performance appraisal ratings.

Science.gov (United States)

Whiting, Steven W; Podsakoff, Philip M; Pierce, Jason R

2008-01-01

Despite the fact that several studies have investigated the relationship between organizational citizenship behavior and performance appraisal ratings, the vast majority of these studies have been cross-sectional, correlational investigations conducted in organizational settings that do not allow researchers to establish the causal nature of this relationship. To address this lack of knowledge regarding causality, the authors conducted 2 studies designed to investigate the effects of task performance, helping behavior, voice, and organizational loyalty on performance appraisal evaluations. Findings demonstrated that each of these forms of behavior has significant effects on performance evaluation decisions and suggest that additional attention should be directed at both voice and organizational loyalty as important forms of citizenship behavior aimed at the organization. 2008 APA

Vocal Qualities in Music Theater Voice: Perceptions of Expert Pedagogues.

Science.gov (United States)

Bourne, Tracy; Kenny, Dianna

2016-01-01

To gather qualitative descriptions of music theater vocal qualities including belt, legit, and mix from expert pedagogues to better define this voice type. This is a prospective, semistructured interview. Twelve expert teachers from United States, United Kingdom, Asia, and Australia were interviewed by Skype and asked to identify characteristics of music theater vocal qualities including vocal production, physiology, esthetics, pitch range, and pedagogical techniques. Responses were compared with published studies on music theater voice. Belt and legit were generally described as distinct sounds with differing physiological and technical requirements. Teachers were concerned that belt should be taught "safely" to minimize vocal health risks. There was consensus between teachers and published research on the physiology of the glottis and vocal tract; however, teachers were not in agreement about breathing techniques. Neither were teachers in agreement about the meaning of "mix." Most participants described belt as heavily weighted, thick folds, thyroarytenoid-dominant, or chest register; however, there was no consensus on an appropriate term. Belt substyles were named and generally categorized by weightedness or tone color. Descriptions of male belt were less clear than for female belt. This survey provides an overview of expert pedagogical perspectives on the characteristics of belt, legit, and mix qualities in the music theater voice. Although teacher responses are generally in agreement with published research, there are still many controversial issues and gaps in knowledge and understanding of this vocal technique. Breathing techniques, vocal range, mix, male belt, and vocal registers require continuing investigation so that we can learn more about efficient and healthy vocal function in music theater singing. Copyright © 2016 The Voice Foundation. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Education, Globalisation and the "Voice of Knowledge"

Science.gov (United States)

Young, Michael

2009-01-01

This paper argues that underlying the links being made between the need for educational change in responding to the knowledge economy is an evacuation of the content of curricula and a misplaced emphasis on "genericism" and experience. As an alternative the paper draws on ideas from Durkheim, Vygotsky and Bernstein to make the case for…

Implicit multisensory associations influence voice recognition.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Katharina von Kriegstein

2006-10-01

Full Text Available Natural objects provide partially redundant information to the brain through different sensory modalities. For example, voices and faces both give information about the speech content, age, and gender of a person. Thanks to this redundancy, multimodal recognition is fast, robust, and automatic. In unimodal perception, however, only part of the information about an object is available. Here, we addressed whether, even under conditions of unimodal sensory input, crossmodal neural circuits that have been shaped by previous associative learning become activated and underpin a performance benefit. We measured brain activity with functional magnetic resonance imaging before, while, and after participants learned to associate either sensory redundant stimuli, i.e. voices and faces, or arbitrary multimodal combinations, i.e. voices and written names, ring tones, and cell phones or brand names of these cell phones. After learning, participants were better at recognizing unimodal auditory voices that had been paired with faces than those paired with written names, and association of voices with faces resulted in an increased functional coupling between voice and face areas. No such effects were observed for ring tones that had been paired with cell phones or names. These findings demonstrate that brief exposure to ecologically valid and sensory redundant stimulus pairs, such as voices and faces, induces specific multisensory associations. Consistent with predictive coding theories, associative representations become thereafter available for unimodal perception and facilitate object recognition. These data suggest that for natural objects effective predictive signals can be generated across sensory systems and proceed by optimization of functional connectivity between specialized cortical sensory modules.

Musculoskeletal Pain and Occupational Variables in Teachers With Voice Disorders and in Those With Healthy Voices-A Pilot Study.

Science.gov (United States)

da Silva Vitor, Jhonatan; Siqueira, Larissa Thaís Donalonso; Ribeiro, Vanessa Veis; Ramos, Janine Santos; Brasolotto, Alcione Ghedini; Silverio, Kelly Cristina Alves

2017-07-01

This study aimed to compare musculoskeletal pain perception in teachers with voice disorders and in those with healthy voices, and to investigate the relationship between musculoskeletal pain and occupational variables (ie, work journey per week and working period). Forty-three classroom teachers were divided into two groups: dysphonic group (DG), 32 classroom teachers with voice complaints and voice disorders; and non-DG, 11 classroom teachers without voice complaints and who are vocally healthy. The musculoskeletal pain investigation survey was used to investigate the frequency and intensity of the pain. Occupational variables, such as work journey per week and working period, were investigated by the Voice Production Condition-Teacher questionnaire. The statistical tests used were the Spearman correlation (P ≤ 0.05) and the Mann-Whitney U test (P ≤ 0.05). There was no difference between the frequency and the intensity of musculoskeletal pain regarding dysphonia. Work journey per week was positively related to the frequency and the intensity of laryngeal pain in the DG. The working period had a negative relationship to the frequency and the intensity of musculoskeletal pain in the submandibular region in the DG. Classroom teachers with voice disorders and those with healthy voices do not have differences regarding the frequency and the intensity of musculoskeletal pain. Besides dysphonia the pain is an important symptom to be considered in classroom teachers. The occupational variables contributed to the presence of musculoskeletal pain in the region near the larynx, which appears to be directly proportional to work journey per week and inversely proportional to the working period. Copyright © 2017 The Voice Foundation. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Obligatory and facultative brain regions for voice-identity recognition.

Science.gov (United States)

Roswandowitz, Claudia; Kappes, Claudia; Obrig, Hellmuth; von Kriegstein, Katharina

2018-01-01

Recognizing the identity of others by their voice is an important skill for social interactions. To date, it remains controversial which parts of the brain are critical structures for this skill. Based on neuroimaging findings, standard models of person-identity recognition suggest that the right temporal lobe is the hub for voice-identity recognition. Neuropsychological case studies, however, reported selective deficits of voice-identity recognition in patients predominantly with right inferior parietal lobe lesions. Here, our aim was to work towards resolving the discrepancy between neuroimaging studies and neuropsychological case studies to find out which brain structures are critical for voice-identity recognition in humans. We performed a voxel-based lesion-behaviour mapping study in a cohort of patients (n = 58) with unilateral focal brain lesions. The study included a comprehensive behavioural test battery on voice-identity recognition of newly learned (voice-name, voice-face association learning) and familiar voices (famous voice recognition) as well as visual (face-identity recognition) and acoustic control tests (vocal-pitch and vocal-timbre discrimination). The study also comprised clinically established tests (neuropsychological assessment, audiometry) and high-resolution structural brain images. The three key findings were: (i) a strong association between voice-identity recognition performance and right posterior/mid temporal and right inferior parietal lobe lesions; (ii) a selective association between right posterior/mid temporal lobe lesions and voice-identity recognition performance when face-identity recognition performance was factored out; and (iii) an association of right inferior parietal lobe lesions with tasks requiring the association between voices and faces but not voices and names. The results imply that the right posterior/mid temporal lobe is an obligatory structure for voice-identity recognition, while the inferior parietal lobe is

Negotioating professional knowledge and responsibility in telecare

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kamp, Annette; Hansen, Agnete Meldgaard

local access to specialized competences at central hospitals through ICT-systems. Telecare thus establishes new virtual spaces for inter-professional cooperation between hospital- and municipal healthcare workers. This paper presents a study of how telecare contributes to transforming profes......-sional identities and inter-professional relations. In an ethnographic study of local telecare nurses’ interactions with a specialized hospital department concerning the treatment of ulcers, we show how the ‘tele-ulcer’-technology gives rise to a negotiation of legitimate professional knowledge, as well...... as to a redistribution of professional responsibilities. The tele-ulcer-technology allows local nurses to access specialized knowledge of ulcer-treatment, which contributes positively to their pro-fessional development. However, the system also leads to a subordination of their contextualized knowledge to an abstract...

Voice amplification for primary school teachers with voice disorders: A randomized clinical trial

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Roberto Bovo

2013-06-01

Full Text Available Objectives: Several studies have demonstrated a high prevalence of voice disorders in teachers, together with the personal, professional and economical consequences of the problem. Good primary prevention should be based on 3 aspects: 1 amelioration of classroom acoustics, 2 voice care programs for future professional voice users, including teachers and 3 classroom or portable amplification systems. The aim of the study was to assess the benefit obtained from the use of portable amplification systems by female primary school teachers in their occupational setting. Materials and Methods: Forty female primary school teachers attended a course about professional voice care, which comprised two theoretical lectures, each 60 min long. Thereafter, they were randomized into 2 groups: the teachers of the first group were asked to use a portable vocal amplifier for 3 months, till the end of school-year. The other 20 teachers were part of the control group, matched for age and years of employment. All subjects had a grade 1 of dysphonia with no significant organic lesion of the vocal folds. Results: Most teachers of the experimental group used the amplifier consistently for the whole duration of the experiment and found it very useful in reducing the symptoms of vocal fatigue. In fact, after 3 months, Voice Handicap Index (VHI scores in "course + amplifier" group demonstrated a significant amelioration (p = 0.003. The perceptual grade of dysphonia also improved significantly (p = 0.0005. The same parameters changed favourably also in the "course only" group, but the results were not statistically significant (p = 0.4 for VHI and p = 0.03 for perceptual grade. Conclusions: In teachers, and particularly in those with a constitutional weak voice and/or those who are prone to vocal fold pathology, vocal amplifiers may be an effective and low-cost intervention to decrease potentially damaging vocal loads and may represent a necessary form of prevention.

Crisis of Youth or Youth in Crisis? Education, Employment and Legitimation Crisis

Science.gov (United States)

Simmons, Robin; Smyth, John

2016-01-01

This paper uses the Habermasian concept of legitimation crisis to critique the relationship between post-compulsory education and training and the chronic levels of youth unemployment and under-employment which now characterise post-industrial Western economies, such as the UK. It draws on data from an ethnographic study of the lives of young…

Voicing children's critique and utopias

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Husted, Mia; Lind, Unni

and restrictions, Call for aesthetics an sensuality, Longings for home and parents, Longings for better social relations Making children's voice visible allows preschool teachers to reflect children's knowledge and life word in pedagogical practice. Keywords: empowerment and participation, action research...... children to raise and render visible their own critique and wishes related to their everyday life in daycare. Research on how and why to engage children as participants in research and in institutional developments addresses overall interests in democratization and humanization that can be traced back...... to strategies for Nordic welfare developments and the Conventions on Children's Rights. The theoretical and methodological framework follow the lines of how to form and learn democracy of Lewin (1948) and Dewey (1916). The study is carried out as action research involving 50 children at age three to five...

Voiced Excitations

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Holzricher, John

2004-01-01

To more easily obtain a voiced excitation function for speech characterization, measurements of skin motion, tracheal tube, and vocal fold, motions were made and compared to EM sensor-glottal derived...

The role of legitimation in the professional socialization of second-year undergraduate athletic training students.

Science.gov (United States)

Klossner, Joanne

2008-01-01

Professional socialization during formal educational preparation can help students learn professional roles and can lead to improved organizational socialization as students emerge as members of the occupation's culture. Professional socialization research in athletic training is limited. To present the role of legitimation and how it influences the professional socialization of second-year athletic training students. Modified constructivist grounded theory and case study methods were used for this qualitative study. An accredited undergraduate athletic training education program. Twelve second-year students were selected purposively. The primary sample group (n = 4) was selected according to theoretical sampling guidelines. The remaining students made up the cohort sample (n = 8). Theoretically relevant data were gathered from 14 clinical instructors to clarify emergent student data. Data collection included document examination, observations, and interviews during 1 academic semester. Data were collected and analyzed through constant comparative analysis. Data triangulation, member checking, and peer-review strategies were used to ensure trustworthiness. Legitimation from various socializing agents initiated professional socialization. Students viewed trust and team membership as rewards for role fulfillment. My findings are consistent with the socialization literature that shows how learning a social or professional role, using rewards to facilitate role performance, and building trusting relationships with socializing agents are important aspects of legitimation and, ultimately, professional socialization.

Voice and Speech Quality Perception Assessment and Evaluation

CERN Document Server

Jekosch, Ute

2005-01-01

Foundations of Voice and Speech Quality Perception starts out with the fundamental question of: "How do listeners perceive voice and speech quality and how can these processes be modeled?" Any quantitative answers require measurements. This is natural for physical quantities but harder to imagine for perceptual measurands. This book approaches the problem by actually identifying major perceptual dimensions of voice and speech quality perception, defining units wherever possible and offering paradigms to position these dimensions into a structural skeleton of perceptual speech and voice quality. The emphasis is placed on voice and speech quality assessment of systems in artificial scenarios. Many scientific fields are involved. This book bridges the gap between two quite diverse fields, engineering and humanities, and establishes the new research area of Voice and Speech Quality Perception.

Voice Disorders in Occupations with Vocal Load in Slovenia.

Science.gov (United States)

Boltežar, Lučka; Šereg Bahar, Maja

2014-12-01

The aim of this paper is to compare the prevalence of voice disorders and the risk factors for them in different occupations with a vocal load in Slovenia. A meta-analysis of six different Slovenian studies involving teachers, physicians, salespeople, catholic priests, nurses and speech-and-language therapists (SLTs) was performed. In all six studies, similar questions about the prevalence of voice disorders and the causes for them were included. The comparison of the six studies showed that more than 82% of the 2347 included subjects had voice problems at some time during their career. The teachers were the most affected by voice problems. The prevalent cause of voice problems was the vocal load in teachers and salespeople and respiratory-tract infections in all the other occupational groups. When the occupational groups were compared, it was stated that the teachers had more voice problems and showed less care for their voices than the priests. The physicians had more voice problems and showed better consideration of vocal hygiene rules than the SLTs. The majority of all the included subjects did not receive instructions about voice care during education. In order to decrease the prevalence of voice disorders in vocal professionals, a screening program is recommended before the beginning of their studies. Regular courses on voice care and proper vocal technique should be obligatory for all professional voice users during their career. The inclusion of dysphonia in the list of occupational diseases should be considered in Slovenia as it is in some European countries.

Potential predatory and legitimate biomedical journals: can you tell the difference? A cross-sectional comparison.

Science.gov (United States)

Shamseer, Larissa; Moher, David; Maduekwe, Onyi; Turner, Lucy; Barbour, Virginia; Burch, Rebecca; Clark, Jocalyn; Galipeau, James; Roberts, Jason; Shea, Beverley J

2017-03-16

The Internet has transformed scholarly publishing, most notably, by the introduction of open access publishing. Recently, there has been a rise of online journals characterized as 'predatory', which actively solicit manuscripts and charge publications fees without providing robust peer review and editorial services. We carried out a cross-sectional comparison of characteristics of potential predatory, legitimate open access, and legitimate subscription-based biomedical journals. On July 10, 2014, scholarly journals from each of the following groups were identified - potential predatory journals (source: Beall's List), presumed legitimate, fully open access journals (source: PubMed Central), and presumed legitimate subscription-based (including hybrid) journals (source: Abridged Index Medicus). MEDLINE journal inclusion criteria were used to screen and identify biomedical journals from within the potential predatory journals group. One hundred journals from each group were randomly selected. Journal characteristics (e.g., website integrity, look and feel, editors and staff, editorial/peer review process, instructions to authors, publication model, copyright and licensing, journal location, and contact) were collected by one assessor and verified by a second. Summary statistics were calculated. Ninety-three predatory journals, 99 open access, and 100 subscription-based journals were analyzed; exclusions were due to website unavailability. Many more predatory journals' homepages contained spelling errors (61/93, 66%) and distorted or potentially unauthorized images (59/93, 63%) compared to open access journals (6/99, 6% and 5/99, 5%, respectively) and subscription-based journals (3/100, 3% and 1/100, 1%, respectively). Thirty-one (33%) predatory journals promoted a bogus impact metric - the Index Copernicus Value - versus three (3%) open access journals and no subscription-based journals. Nearly three quarters (n = 66, 73%) of predatory journals had editors or

Measurement of Voice Onset Time in Maxillectomy Patients

OpenAIRE

Hattori, Mariko; Sumita, Yuka I.; Taniguchi, Hisashi

2014-01-01

Objective speech evaluation using acoustic measurement is needed for the proper rehabilitation of maxillectomy patients. For digital evaluation of consonants, measurement of voice onset time is one option. However, voice onset time has not been measured in maxillectomy patients as their consonant sound spectra exhibit unique characteristics that make the measurement of voice onset time challenging. In this study, we established criteria for measuring voice onset time in maxillectomy patients ...

Voice, Schooling, Inequality, and Scale

Science.gov (United States)

Collins, James

2013-01-01

The rich studies in this collection show that the investigation of voice requires analysis of "recognition" across layered spatial-temporal and sociolinguistic scales. I argue that the concepts of voice, recognition, and scale provide insight into contemporary educational inequality and that their study benefits, in turn, from paying attention to…

Voice restoration following total laryngectomy by tracheoesophageal prosthesis: Effect on patients' quality of life and voice handicap in Jordan

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Wreikat Mahmoud M

2008-03-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Little has been reported about the impact of tracheoesophageal (TE speech on individuals in the Middle East where the procedure has been gaining in popularity. After total laryngectomy, individuals in Europe and North America have rated their quality of life as being lower than non-laryngectomized individuals. The purpose of this study was to evaluate changes in quality of life and degree of voice handicap reported by laryngectomized speakers from Jordan before and after establishment of TE speech. Methods Twelve male Jordanian laryngectomees completed the University of Michigan Head & Neck Quality of Life instrument and the Voice Handicap Index pre- and post-TE puncture. Results All subjects showed significant improvements in their quality of life following successful prosthetic voice restoration. In addition, voice handicap scores were significantly reduced from pre- to post-TE puncture. Conclusion Tracheoesophageal speech significantly improved the quality of life and limited the voice handicap imposed by total laryngectomy. This method of voice restoration has been used for a number of years in other countries and now appears to be a viable alternative within Jordan.

Self-Reported Acute and Chronic Voice Disorders in Teachers.

Science.gov (United States)

Rossi-Barbosa, Luiza Augusta Rosa; Barbosa, Mirna Rossi; Morais, Renata Martins; de Sousa, Kamilla Ferreira; Silveira, Marise Fagundes; Gama, Ana Cristina Côrtes; Caldeira, Antônio Prates

2016-11-01

The present study aimed to identify factors associated with self-reported acute and chronic voice disorders among municipal elementary school teachers in the city of Montes Claros, in the State of Minas Gerais, Brazil. The dependent variable, self-reported dysphonia, was determined via a single question, "Have you noticed changes in your voice quality?" and if so, a follow-up question queried the duration of this change, acute or chronic. The independent variables were dichotomized and divided into five categories: sociodemographic and economic data; lifestyle; organizational and environmental data; health-disease processes; and voice. Analyses of associated factors were performed via a hierarchical multiple logistic regression model. The present study included 226 teachers, of whom 38.9% reported no voice disorders, 35.4% reported an acute disorder, and 25.7% reported a chronic disorder. Excessive voice use daily, consuming more than one alcoholic drink per time, and seeking medical treatment because of voice disorders were associated factors for acute and chronic voice disorders. Consuming up to three glasses of water per day was associated with acute voice disorders. Among teachers who reported chronic voice disorders, teaching for over 15 years and the perception of disturbing or unbearable noise outside the school were both associated factors. Identification of organizational, environmental, and predisposing risk factors for voice disorders is critical, and furthermore, a vocal health promotion program may address these issues. Copyright © 2016 The Voice Foundation. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Common diagnoses and treatments in professional voice users.

Science.gov (United States)

Franco, Ramon A; Andrus, Jennifer G

2007-10-01

Common problems among all patients seen by the laryngologist are also common among professional voice users. These include laryngopharyngeal reflux, muscle tension dysphonia, fibrovascular vocal fold lesions (eg, nodules and polyps), cysts, vocal fold scarring, changes in vocal fold mobility, and age-related changes. Microvascular lesions and their associated sequelae of vocal fold hemorrhage and laryngitis due to voice overuse are more common among professional voice users. Much more common among professional voice users is the negative impact that voice problems have on their ability to work, on their overall sense of well-being, and sometimes on their very sense of self. This article reviews the diagnosis and treatment options for these and other problems among professional voice users, describing the relevant roles of medical treatment, voice therapy, and surgery. The common scenario of multiple concomitant entities contributing to a symptom complex is underscored. Emphasis is placed on gaining insight into the "whole" patient so that individualized management plans can be developed. Videos of select diagnoses accompany this content online.

Engaging retailers: giving them voice or controlling their voice, a supplier's perspective

OpenAIRE

Jackson, Keith; Jackson, Jacqui; Hopkinson, Gillian

2013-01-01

This full paper from the Marketing and Retail track of BAM 2013 investigates the relationships between suppliers and retailers in the UK convenience store sector in terms of Hirschman's model whereby members of a group can influence it by either expressing their opinions (voice) or leaving it in protest (exit). Suppliers may create loyalty among retailers by raising exit costs and/or allowing them to express their voices. The investigation was carried out using the recorded turnover of the to...

The legitimation of the power process: experiences of small entrepreneurs in the region of Passo Fundo/RS.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Daniel Frasson Lima

2016-10-01

Full Text Available The legitimation of power among small entrepreneurs toward the employees was analyzed in the region of Passo Fundo/RS; it’s a process in which these entrepreneurs consolidate working relationships to perform their functions with self-confidence. A descriptive qualitative research was done and used as method of data collection a semi-structured interview, with observation and documental analysis. Four directors of franchises in the field of language education in the northern of Rio Grande do Sul participated in the research. The collected data were submitted to an interpretative analysis that made use of the academic frame to rescue the conception of power, its role and its fountainsin the organizations. The results reinforced the difficulties in measuring the legitimation of power. The phenomenon was investigated from an array of angles and a series of related factors were identified, provokingan evolution on its understanding.It was realized that the strategies of legitimation of the power vary according to the history and leadership style of the directors creating similar results in short term, but not always attending to professionalization and expansion matters.

Governance and Knowledge Exchange within and Between Epistemic Communities

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Håkanson, Lars

2004-01-01

All knowledge is context dependent. The relevant context is the social community where it resides, i.e. the `epistemic community' formed as groups of people define and legitimize the knowledge they possess. In the mutual engagement in a common enterprise, epistemic communities develop, maintain...... and nurture the codes, tools and theories that provide the basis of their practice. Commonalities of code, tools and theory facilitate both voluntary transfer and involuntary imitation of knowledge within communities, also ones spanning organizational boundaries. Conversely, knowledge transfer between...... different epistemic communities, whether desired or unintended, is often cumbersome and fraught with difficulties. In order to achieve effective integration and cooperation between its various professional communities and subcultures, firms must therefore undertake investments in boundary...

The singer's voice range profile: female professional opera soloists.

Science.gov (United States)

Lamarche, Anick; Ternström, Sten; Pabon, Peter

2010-07-01

This work concerns the collection of 30 voice range profiles (VRPs) of female operatic voice. We address the questions: Is there a need for a singer's protocol in VRP acquisition? Are physiological measurements sufficient or should the measurement of performance capabilities also be included? Can we address the female singing voice in general or is there a case for categorizing voices when studying phonetographic data? Subjects performed a series of structured tasks involving both standard speech voice protocols and additional singing tasks. Singers also completed an extensive questionnaire. Physiological VRPs differ from performance VRPs. Two new VRP metrics, the voice area above a defined level threshold and the dynamic range independent from the fundamental frequency (F(0)), were found to be useful in the analysis of singer VRPs. Task design had no effect on performance VRP outcomes. Voice category differences were mainly attributable to phonation frequency-based information. Results support the clinical importance of addressing the vocal instrument as it is used in performance. Equally important is the elaboration of a protocol suitable for the singing voice. The given context and instructions can be more important than task design for performance VRPs. Yet, for physiological VRP recordings, task design remains critical. Both types of VRPs are suggested for a singer's voice evaluation. Copyright (c) 2010 The Voice Foundation. Published by Mosby, Inc. All rights reserved.

Knowing climate change, embodying climate praxis: experiential knowledge in southern Appalachia

Science.gov (United States)

Jennifer L. Rice; Brian J. Burke; Nik Heynen

2015-01-01

Whether used to support or impede action, scientific knowledge is now, more than ever, the primary framework for political discourse on climate change. As a consequence, science has become a hegemonic way of knowing climate change by mainstream climate politics, which not only limits the actors and actions deemed legitimate in climate politics but also silences...

The Belt voice: Acoustical measurements and esthetic correlates

Science.gov (United States)

Bounous, Barry Urban

This dissertation explores the esthetic attributes of the Belt voice through spectral acoustical analysis. The process of understanding the nature and safe practice of Belt is just beginning, whereas the understanding of classical singing is well established. The unique nature of the Belt sound provides difficulties for voice teachers attempting to evaluate the quality and appropriateness of a particular sound or performance. This study attempts to provide answers to the question "does Belt conform to a set of measurable esthetic standards?" In answering this question, this paper expands on a previous study of the esthetic attributes of the classical baritone voice (see "Vocal Beauty", NATS Journal 51,1) which also drew some tentative conclusions about the Belt voice but which had an inadequate sample pool of subjects from which to draw. Further, this study demonstrates that it is possible to scientifically investigate the realm of musical esthetics in the singing voice. It is possible to go beyond the "a trained voice compared to an untrained voice" paradigm when evaluating quantitative vocal parameters and actually investigate what truly beautiful voices do. There are functions of sound energy (measured in dB) transference which may affect the nervous system in predictable ways and which can be measured and associated with esthetics. This study does not show consistency in measurements for absolute beauty (taste) even among belt teachers and researchers but does show some markers with varying degrees of importance which may point to a difference between our cognitive learned response to singing and our emotional, more visceral response to sounds. The markers which are significant in determining vocal beauty are: (1) Vibrancy-Characteristics of vibrato including speed, width, and consistency (low variability). (2) Spectral makeup-Ratio of partial strength above the fundamental to the fundamental. (3) Activity of the voice-The quantity of energy being produced. (4

A Voice Processing Technology for Rural Specific Context

Science.gov (United States)

He, Zhiyong; Zhang, Zhengguang; Zhao, Chunshen

Durian the promotion and applications of rural information, different geographical dialect voice interaction is a very complex issue. Through in-depth analysis of TTS core technologies, this paper presents the methods of intelligent segmentation, word segmentation algorithm and intelligent voice thesaurus construction in the different dialects context. And then COM based development methodology for specific context voice processing system implementation and programming method. The method has a certain reference value for the rural dialect and voice processing applications.

Collaboration and conquest: MTD as viewed by voice teacher (singing voice specialist) and speech-language pathologist.

Science.gov (United States)

Goffi-Fynn, Jeanne C; Carroll, Linda M

2013-05-01

This study was designed as a qualitative case study to demonstrate the process of diagnosis and treatment between a voice team to manage a singer diagnosed with muscular tension dysphonia (MTD). Traditionally, literature suggests that MTD is challenging to treat and little in the literature directly addresses singers with MTD. Data collected included initial medical screening with laryngologist, referral to speech-language pathologist (SLP) specializing in voice disorders among singers, and adjunctive voice training with voice teacher trained in vocology (singing voice specialist or SVS). Initial target goals with SLP included reducing extrinsic laryngeal tension, using a relaxed laryngeal posture, and effective abdominal-diaphragmatic support for all phonation events. Balance of respiratory forces, laryngeal coordination, and use of optimum filtering of the source signal through resonance and articulatory awareness was emphasized. Further work with SVS included three main goals including a lowered breathing pattern to aid in decreasing subglottic air pressure, vertical laryngeal position to lower to allow for a relaxed laryngeal position, and a top-down singing approach to encourage an easier, more balanced registration, and better resonance. Initial results also emphasize the retraining of subject toward a sensory rather than auditory mode of monitoring. Other areas of consideration include singers' training and vocal use, the psychological effects of MTD, the personalities potentially associated with it, and its relationship with stress. Finally, the results emphasize that a positive rapport with the subject and collaboration between all professionals involved in a singer's care are essential for recovery. Copyright © 2013 The Voice Foundation. Published by Mosby, Inc. All rights reserved.

Science, consumerism and bureaucracy: the new legitimations of medical professionalism

OpenAIRE

Harrison, Stephen; Mcdonald, Ruth

2003-01-01

This paper argues that the means by which the profession of medicine has to legitimise itself in the context of state‐provided health services is changing in a way that may be summarised in Weberian terms as a shift from substantive to formal rationality. The traditional model for such legitimations, evident in the UK over the last 50 years, relied heavily on professional interpretation of emergent patient needs, on professional pragmatism as a means of coping with resource limitations, on un...

Multivariate sensitivity to voice during auditory categorization.

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Yune Sang; Peelle, Jonathan E; Kraemer, David; Lloyd, Samuel; Granger, Richard

2015-09-01

Past neuroimaging studies have documented discrete regions of human temporal cortex that are more strongly activated by conspecific voice sounds than by nonvoice sounds. However, the mechanisms underlying this voice sensitivity remain unclear. In the present functional MRI study, we took a novel approach to examining voice sensitivity, in which we applied a signal detection paradigm to the assessment of multivariate pattern classification among several living and nonliving categories of auditory stimuli. Within this framework, voice sensitivity can be interpreted as a distinct neural representation of brain activity that correctly distinguishes human vocalizations from other auditory object categories. Across a series of auditory categorization tests, we found that bilateral superior and middle temporal cortex consistently exhibited robust sensitivity to human vocal sounds. Although the strongest categorization was in distinguishing human voice from other categories, subsets of these regions were also able to distinguish reliably between nonhuman categories, suggesting a general role in auditory object categorization. Our findings complement the current evidence of cortical sensitivity to human vocal sounds by revealing that the greatest sensitivity during categorization tasks is devoted to distinguishing voice from nonvoice categories within human temporal cortex. Copyright © 2015 the American Physiological Society.

Trailblazers and Cassandras: Other Voices in Northern Ireland

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

McQuaid, Sara Dybris

2012-01-01

’ voices and alternative positions in the process of conflict interpretation and resolution. This essay will outline a ‘thumbnail’ sketch of three areas in which ‘other’ voices are sidelined or silenced: in terms of political discourses; community discourses; and wider academic and public discourses......’ and ‘Cassandras’ the essay concludes that the arguments forwarded by other voices are not disappeared but adapted and realigned to the reigning discourses, and that there is not so much a culture of silence surrounding ‘other’ voices as a certain selective and sectarian hearing in picking them up. Whilst...... it follows that ‘other’ voices have failed to dissolve the magnetic field of Northern Irish politics, the essay suggests that in order to rise to current political challenges in Northern Ireland it is worthwhile sounding out the historical and contemporary ‘other’ voices for carefully thought out and non...

The Show with the Voice: An [Au]/-[o]-tophonographic Parody

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David D.J. Sander Scheidt

2008-05-01

Full Text Available According to my claim that voice as a phenomenon cannot be materialised or located, neither in the (voice organ of the self nor in the (ear of the other, I coined the term [au]/[o]-tophonography for my examination of the possibilities of performing subjectivity in writing and in sound productions. Drawing on the theory of performativity in its deconstructive senses (see BUTLER, 1993, 1997, 1999/1990; DERRIDA, 1988/1972, 1997/1967, 2002/1981; SMITH, 1995 my performative epistemology reaches beyond the theoretical, including the practical and the aesthetical, aiming at questioning notions of "self", "audience", "voice", "writing" and "communication". "The show with the voice" (http://www.qualitative-research.net/fqs-texte/2-08/08-2-27_audio.mp3 is an example of this practice. It parodies the medico-scientific approach to the human voice by presenting some of its possible appearances (the "normal", the "disordered", the "homosexual" and the "transsexual" voice in an audio collage that takes the shape of a mock tutorial. Through re-contextualising and re-compiling voice samples from different sources that are usually kept apart (e.g. the lecturer's voice, the researcher's voice, the artist's voice, the autobiographer's voice I open a space for a multidisciplinary and creative perspective to the examination of voice. URN: urn:nbn:de:0114-fqs0802279

Muted 'voice': The writing of two groups of postgraduate ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

The purpose of this article is to demonstrate and account for the weak emergence of 'voice' in the writing of students embarking upon their postgraduate studies in Geosciences. The two elements of 'voice' that are emphasised are 'voice' as style of expression and 'voice' as the ability to write distinctly, yet building upon ...

Investigating the Effects of Glottal Stop Productions on Voice in Children With Cleft Palate Using Multidimensional Voice Assessment Methods.

Science.gov (United States)

Aydınlı, Fatma Esen; Özcebe, Esra; Kulak Kayıkçı, Maviş E; Yılmaz, Taner; Özgür, Fatma F

2016-11-01

The aim was to investigate the effects of glottal stop productions (GS) on voice in children with cleft palate using multidimensional voice assessment methods. This is a prospective case-control study. Children with repaired cleft palate (n = 34) who did not have any vocal fold lesions were separated into two groups based on the results of the articulation test. The glottal stop group (GSG) consisted of 17 children who had GS. The control group (CG) consisted of an equal number of age- and gender-matched children who did not have GS. The voice evaluation protocol included acoustic analysis, Pediatric Voice Handicap Index (pVHI), and perceptual analysis (Grade, Roughness, Breathiness, Asthenia, Strain method). The velopharyngeal statuses of the groups were compared using the nasopharyngoscopy and the nasometer. The total pVHI score and the subscales of the pVHI were found to be significantly higher in the GSG. The F0, jitter, and shimmer were found to be numerically higher in the GSG with the difference being statistically significant in jitter (P speech and language pathology intervention including voice therapy techniques. Copyright © 2016 The Voice Foundation. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

The effectiveness of voice therapy for teachers with dysphonia.

Science.gov (United States)

Niebudek-Bogusz, E; Sznurowska-Przygocka, B; Fiszer, M; Kotyło, P; Sinkiewicz, A; Modrzewska, M; Sliwinska-Kowalska, M

2008-01-01

An incorrect voice emission is a risk factor for developing occupational voice disorders. The study aimed at assessing the effectiveness of voice therapy in female teachers with dysphonia. The study comprised 133 subjects with voice disorders, taking part in a vocal training programme. A reference group for the present study included 53 teachers with dysphonia. Questionnaire surveys, phoniatric examination and videostroboscopic evaluation were conducted at initial and control examination. In the study group, an improvement after the vocal training was noted in most of the reported symptoms and also in some quantitative parameters of phoniatric examinations compared to the findings for the reference group. The number of patients who assessed their voice as normal increased significantly after the vocal training (2.3 vs. 46.6%). A significant increase in the mean maximum phonation time, from 13.3 to 16.6 s, was observed. The same applied to voice frequency range (increase from 171 to 226.8 Hz). The outcomes of vocal training, such as a subjective improvement of voice quality and an increase in the quantitative parameters (prolonged maximum phonation time, extended voice range) seem to be important parameters for monitoring the effectiveness of training in correct voice emission. 2008 S. Karger AG, Basel.

Querying Natural Logic Knowledge Bases

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Andreasen, Troels; Bulskov, Henrik; Jensen, Per Anker

2017-01-01

This paper describes the principles of a system applying natural logic as a knowledge base language. Natural logics are regimented fragments of natural language employing high level inference rules. We advocate the use of natural logic for knowledge bases dealing with querying of classes...... in ontologies and class-relationships such as are common in life-science descriptions. The paper adopts a version of natural logic with recursive restrictive clauses such as relative clauses and adnominal prepositional phrases. It includes passive as well as active voice sentences. We outline a prototype...... for partial translation of natural language into natural logic, featuring further querying and conceptual path finding in natural logic knowledge bases....

Colour and texture associations in voice-induced synaesthesia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Anja eMoos

2013-09-01

Full Text Available Voice-induced synaesthesia, a form of synaesthesia in which synaesthetic perceptions are induced by the sounds of people’s voices, appears to be relatively rare and has not been systematically studied. In this study we investigated the synaesthetic colour and visual texture perceptions experienced in response to different types of voice quality (e.g. nasal, whisper, falsetto. Experiences of three different groups – self-reported voice synaesthetes, phoneticians and controls – were compared using both qualitative and quantitative analysis in a study conducted online. Whilst, in the qualitative analysis, synaesthetes used more colour and texture terms to describe voices than either phoneticians or controls, only weak differences, and many similarities, between groups were found in the quantitative analysis. Notable consistent results between groups were the matching of higher speech fundamental frequencies with lighter and redder colours, the matching of whispery voices with smoke-like textures and the matching of harsh and creaky voices with textures resembling dry cracked soil. These data are discussed in the light of current thinking about definitions and categorizations of synaesthesia, especially in cases where individuals apparently have a range of different synaesthetic inducers.

Color and texture associations in voice-induced synesthesia

Science.gov (United States)

Moos, Anja; Simmons, David; Simner, Julia; Smith, Rachel

2013-01-01

Voice-induced synesthesia, a form of synesthesia in which synesthetic perceptions are induced by the sounds of people's voices, appears to be relatively rare and has not been systematically studied. In this study we investigated the synesthetic color and visual texture perceptions experienced in response to different types of “voice quality” (e.g., nasal, whisper, falsetto). Experiences of three different groups—self-reported voice synesthetes, phoneticians, and controls—were compared using both qualitative and quantitative analysis in a study conducted online. Whilst, in the qualitative analysis, synesthetes used more color and texture terms to describe voices than either phoneticians or controls, only weak differences, and many similarities, between groups were found in the quantitative analysis. Notable consistent results between groups were the matching of higher speech fundamental frequencies with lighter and redder colors, the matching of “whispery” voices with smoke-like textures, and the matching of “harsh” and “creaky” voices with textures resembling dry cracked soil. These data are discussed in the light of current thinking about definitions and categorizations of synesthesia, especially in cases where individuals apparently have a range of different synesthetic inducers. PMID:24032023

A critical reflexive Perspective on othering in collaborative knowledge production

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jakobsen, Helle Nordentoft; Olesen, Birgitte Ravn

2018-01-01

Purpose The purpose of the article is to show power mechanisms of in- and exclusion in moments where certain participants appeared to be othered in two collaborative research and development projects in a health care setting. Design/methodology/approach The article contributes to critical......-reflexive analyses of reflexive processes within collaborative knowledge production We use an analytical framework combining Bakhtin and Foucault to investigate processes of inclusion and exclusion in the interplay between dominant and subordinated voices in a moment-by-moment analysis of two incidents from...... interdisciplinary workshops. Findings The analysis illuminates how differences between voices challenge participants’ reflexive awareness and lead to the reproduction of contextual power and knowledge hierarchies and the concomitant silencing of particular participants. Thus, the findings draw attention...

Falling Out: Authoritative Knowledge and Women’s Experience with Pelvic Organ Prolapse

Science.gov (United States)

Low, Lisa Kane; Tumbarello, Julie A.

2014-01-01

Introduction Despite the high prevalence of pelvic organ prolapse many women suffer in silence, lacking the language and opportunity to describe their condition. There are limited descriptions of women’s experiences with pelvic organ prolapse in the literature. This qualitative study addressed the knowledge and experience of women with pelvic organ prolapse. Methods Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 13 women who had been previously diagnosed with pelvic organ prolapse. Transcripts of the interviews were reviewed and coded using a process of content analysis compared against the framework of authoritative knowledge, developed by Bridgitte Jordan. Results By applying the concept of “authoritative knowledge,” we identified three themes of how women construct understanding about their pelvic organ prolapse and how they demonstrate deference to the authoritative knowledge of medical providers. First, we found through women’s narratives that authoritative knowledge was held by the health care provider and is considered consequential and legitimate by all participants. Second, women reported that the health care provider’s authoritative knowledge was valued over personal, experiential knowledge. Finally, women describe how they work with their health care providers to create a system of authoritative knowledge as they seek treatment for or discuss their condition. Throughout the narratives, women’s experiences are not well acknowledged by themselves or the medical community, perpetuating the “hidden” nature of these conditions. Discussion This analysis provides qualitative evidence of Jordan’s authoritative knowledge: women and health care providers contribute to dimensions of authoritative knowledge surrounding pelvic organ prolapse. Despite what women experience, the health care provider’s definition and understanding of pelvic organ prolapse is seen as legitimate and consequential. Because of their construction of their condition, and

Psychological effects of dysphonia in voice professionals.

Science.gov (United States)

Salturk, Ziya; Kumral, Tolgar Lutfi; Aydoğdu, Imran; Arslanoğlu, Ahmet; Berkiten, Güler; Yildirim, Güven; Uyar, Yavuz

2015-08-01

To evaluate the psychological effects of dysphonia in voice professionals compared to non-voice professionals and in both genders. Cross-sectional analysis. Forty-eight 48 voice professionals and 52 non-voice professionals with dysphonia were included in this study. All participants underwent a complete ear, nose, and throat examination and an evaluation for pathologies that might affect vocal quality. Participants were asked to complete the Turkish versions of the Voice Handicap Index-30 (VHI-30), Perceived Stress Scale (PSS), and the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS). HADS scores were evaluated as HADS-A (anxiety) and HADS-D (depression). Dysphonia status was evaluated by grade, roughness, breathiness, asthenia, and strain (GRBAS) scale perceptually. The results were compared statistically. Significant differences between the two groups were evident when the VHI-30 and PSS data were compared (P = .00001 and P = .00001, respectively). However, neither HADS score (HADS-A and HADS-D) differed between groups. An analysis of the scores in terms of sex revealed that females had significantly higher PSS scores (P = .006). The GRBAS scale revealed no difference between groups (P = .819, .931, .803, .655, and .803, respectively). No between-sex differences in the VHI-30 or HADS scores were evident We found that voice professionals and females experienced more stress and were more dissatisfied with their voices. 4. © 2015 The American Laryngological, Rhinological and Otological Society, Inc.

Letters: In search of a voice

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lochran Fallon

2013-06-01

Full Text Available What follows is a case study of a freshman at Millersville University who shall be referred to under the pseudonym “Root Beer,” who is enrolled in her first semester in the Spring semester of the 2010-2011 academic year. This case study began with an inquiry-based approach which was applied by presenting the student with a survey of questions which would help to identify the student, her background, and the various characteristics of her writing. This inquiry-based approach was utilized throughout the case study to address the puzzles of practice that came up during the course of determining this student’s needs as a writer. As the research process continued, the center of gravity for this student was identified as voice. Utilizing the knowledge gained about the writer, this researcher was able to provide materials that were selected based on the writer’s profile as a unique individual, in order to provide a familiar foundation to the student writer Root Beer as she worked through the difficulty of expressing voice in her writing. This case study with Root Beer was completed over the course of five separate one-on-one meetings with the student outside of class, each of which was at least one hour in length, although at least one meeting with the student ran two hours in length. This case study also included five observations of Root Beer’s English Composition class with Dr. Shea, conducted in Byerly Hall, Room 120, from 9 AM – 10:15 AM, Tuesdays and Thursdays. This case study will include a detailed explanation of the exercises employed to address the center of gravity issue of voice, the reasoning behind the selection of these exercises, an analysis the results, and how these results were employed in the selection of successive exercises. The potential implications and possible future applications of these exercises toward addressing this issue within a classroom of student writers in the future will also be expounded on in the

Voice disorders in Nigerian primary school teachers.

Science.gov (United States)

Akinbode, R; Lam, K B H; Ayres, J G; Sadhra, S

2014-07-01

The prolonged use or abuse of voice may lead to vocal fatigue and vocal fold tissue damage. School teachers routinely use their voices intensively at work and are therefore at a higher risk of dysphonia. To determine the prevalence of voice disorders among primary school teachers in Lagos, Nigeria, and to explore associated risk factors. Teaching and non-teaching staff from 19 public and private primary schools completed a self-administered questionnaire to obtain information on personal lifestyles, work experience and environment, and voice disorder symptoms. Dysphonia was defined as the presence of at least one of the following: hoarseness, repetitive throat clearing, tired voice or straining to speak. A total of 341 teaching and 155 non-teaching staff participated. The prevalence of dysphonia in teachers was 42% compared with 18% in non-teaching staff. A significantly higher proportion of the teachers reported that voice symptoms had affected their ability to communicate effectively. School type (public/private) did not predict the presence of dysphonia. Statistically significant associations were found for regular caffeinated drink intake (odds ratio [OR] = 3.07; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.51-6.62), frequent upper respiratory tract infection (OR = 3.60; 95% CI: 1.39-9.33) and raised voice while teaching (OR = 10.1; 95% CI: 5.07-20.2). Nigerian primary school teachers were at risk for dysphonia. Important environment and personal factors were upper respiratory infection, the need to frequently raise the voice when teaching and regular intake of caffeinated drinks. Dysphonia was not associated with age or years of teaching. © The Author 2014. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society of Occupational Medicine. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Teachers’ voice use in teaching environment. Aspects on speakers’ comfort

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Lyberg-Åhlander, Viveka; Rydell, Roland; Löfqvist, Anders

2015-01-01

use and prevalence of voice problems in teachers and to explore their ratings of vocally loading aspects of their working environment. Method: A questionnaire-survey in 467 teachers aiming to explore the prevalence of voice problems in teaching staff identified teachers with voice problems and vocally...... in the teaching environment and aspects of the classroom environment were also measured. Results: Teachers with voice problems were more affected by any loading factor in the work-environment and were more perceptive of the room acoustics. Differences between the groups were found during field......-measurements of the voice, while there were no differences in the findings from the clinical examinations of larynx and voice. Conclusion: Teachers suffering from voice problems react stronger to loading factors in the teaching environment. It is in the interplay between the individual and the work environment that voice...

Assessments of Voice Use and Voice Quality among College/University Singing Students Ages 18–24 through Ambulatory Monitoring with a Full Accelerometer Signal

Science.gov (United States)

Schloneger, Matthew; Hunter, Eric

2016-01-01

The multiple social and performance demands placed on college/university singers could put their still developing voices at risk. Previous ambulatory monitoring studies have analyzed the duration, intensity, and frequency (in Hz) of voice use among such students. Nevertheless, no studies to date have incorporated the simultaneous acoustic voice quality measures into the acquisition of these measures to allow for direct comparison during the same voicing period. Such data could provide greater insight into how young singers use their voices, as well as identify potential correlations between vocal dose and acoustic changes in voice quality. The purpose of this study was to assess the voice use and estimated voice quality of college/university singing students (18–24 y/o, N = 19). Ambulatory monitoring was conducted over three full, consecutive weekdays measuring voice from an unprocessed accelerometer signal measured at the neck. From this signal were analyzed traditional vocal dose metrics such as phonation percentage, dose time, cycle dose, and distance dose. Additional acoustic measures included perceived pitch, pitch strength, LTAS slope, alpha ratio, dB SPL 1–3 kHz, and harmonic-to-noise ratio. Major findings from more than 800 hours of recording indicated that among these students (a) higher vocal doses correlated significantly with greater voice intensity, more vocal clarity and less perturbation; and (b) there were significant differences in some acoustic voice quality metrics between non-singing, solo singing and choral singing. PMID:26897545

Whose power? Whose knowledge? Tensions in collaborative production of knowledge

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Olesen, Birgitte Ravn

to produce long-lasting, relevant and socially robust knowledge where complexity is seen as a quality rather than a problem. Looking back at the many rich processes I have been involved in makes it clear to me how the quality of the relations which were established became crucial for the outcome......This speech is a critical, reflexive gaze on my own research practices and ideals about creating knowledge through collaboration between researchers from universities and professionals in dialogical processes. Here the aim is often to give voice to differences and dissenting meanings in order...... of the research projects In social sciences and humanities it is possible to find especially poststructuralist (and feminist) researchers who refer to a discourse about knowledge production as a messy and entangled way of extending our understanding of the world. Social and natural phenomena are recognized...

Voice pitch influences perceptions of sexual infidelity.

Science.gov (United States)

O'Connor, Jillian J M; Re, Daniel E; Feinberg, David R

2011-02-28

Sexual infidelity can be costly to members of both the extra-pair and the paired couple. Thus, detecting infidelity risk is potentially adaptive if it aids in avoiding cuckoldry or loss of parental and relationship investment. Among men, testosterone is inversely related to voice pitch, relationship and offspring investment, and is positively related to the pursuit of short-term relationships, including extra-pair sex. Among women, estrogen is positively related to voice pitch, attractiveness, and the likelihood of extra-pair involvement. Although prior work has demonstrated a positive relationship between men's testosterone levels and infidelity, this study is the first to investigate attributions of infidelity as a function of sexual dimorphism in male and female voices. We found that men attributed high infidelity risk to feminized women's voices, but not significantly more often than did women. Women attributed high infidelity risk to masculinized men's voices at significantly higher rates than did men. These data suggest that voice pitch is used as an indicator of sexual strategy in addition to underlying mate value. The aforementioned attributions may be adaptive if they prevent cuckoldry and/or loss of parental and relationship investment via avoidance of partners who may be more likely to be unfaithful.

Voice Pitch Influences Perceptions of Sexual Infidelity

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jillian J.M. O'Connor

2011-01-01

Full Text Available Sexual infidelity can be costly to members of both the extra-pair and the paired couple. Thus, detecting infidelity risk is potentially adaptive if it aids in avoiding cuckoldry or loss of parental and relationship investment. Among men, testosterone is inversely related to voice pitch, relationship and offspring investment, and is positively related to the pursuit of short-term relationships, including extra-pair sex. Among women, estrogen is positively related to voice pitch, attractiveness, and the likelihood of extra-pair involvement. Although prior work has demonstrated a positive relationship between men's testosterone levels and infidelity, this study is the first to investigate attributions of infidelity as a function of sexual dimorphism in male and female voices. We found that men attributed high infidelity risk to feminized women's voices, but not significantly more often than did women. Women attributed high infidelity risk to masculinized men's voices at significantly higher rates than did men. These data suggest that voice pitch is used as an indicator of sexual strategy in addition to underlying mate value. The aforementioned attributions may be adaptive if they prevent cuckoldry and/or loss of parental and relationship investment via avoidance of partners who may be more likely to be unfaithful.

The development of the Spanish verb ir into auxiliary of voice

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Vinther, Thora

2005-01-01

spanish, syntax, grammaticalisation, past participle, passive voice, middle voice, language development......spanish, syntax, grammaticalisation, past participle, passive voice, middle voice, language development...

Branding, legitimation and the power of museums: The case of the Louvre Abu Dhabi

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Btihaj Ajana

2015-07-01

Full Text Available Museums and cultural developments are on the rise in the Gulf region. The United Arab Emirates is home to some of the most ambitious and extravagant museum projects in the world. In this article, I consider the example of the Louvre Abu Dhabi, exploring some of its underlying dynamics and context. I focus mainly on the relationship between branding and legitimation while placing my analysis within a wider critical debate, which includes discussions on the link between museums and identity, the legitimizing role of architecture, and the various contentious concerns and controversies surrounding the Louvre Abu Dhabi project. I conclude that the United Arab Emirates and other neighbouring countries have an excellent opportunity for innovation in the cultural field if they are willing to critically and ethically found their cultural developments on an ethos of inclusivity, openness, experimentation, non-exploitation and curatorial courage.

Experiences of mental health nursing staff working with voice hearers in an acute setting: An interpretive phenomenological approach.

Science.gov (United States)

McMullan, E; Gupta, A; Collins, S C

2018-04-01

WHAT IS KNOWN ON THE SUBJECT?: Community mental health staff and their service users have reported mixed views on the importance of talking about the content of voices. Community staff have reported feeling that they do not have the skills to explore voice content and worry about making things worse. Voice hearers experiencing extreme distress due to the content of their voices can access support through acute inpatient mental health services. No previous studies have focused on the experiences of staff who nurse voice hearers at a time of acute distress. WHAT DOES THIS STUDY ADD TO EXISTING KNOWLEDGE?: MHNs and HSWs working with voice hearers in acute distress report feeling powerless and helpless, as they feel that they cannot lessen the distress experienced by the voice hearer. Despite these difficult feelings, staff report finding ways of coping, including using structured tools to help make sense of their service users' voice-hearing experiences and accessing reflective practice forums. WHAT ARE THE IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE?: Due to the current context of increased acuity and limited resources in acute services, there may be a need to further protect time for staff to access reflective practice groups and supervision forums to help them manage the difficult feelings arising from their work with voice hearers. Introduction Mental health nursing (MHN) staff in acute settings work with voice hearers at times of crises when they experience high levels of distress. Previous research has focused on community mental health staff's experiences and their service users views on exploring the content of voices. No studies have explored this from an acute mental health service perspective. Aim This study therefore sought to explore the experiences of staff working with voice hearers in an acute mental health service. Method Due to the exploratory nature of the research, a qualitative design was chosen. Three MHNs and five healthcare support workers (HSWs) were

Overgeneral autobiographical memory bias in clinical and non-clinical voice hearers.

Science.gov (United States)

Jacobsen, Pamela; Peters, Emmanuelle; Ward, Thomas; Garety, Philippa A; Jackson, Mike; Chadwick, Paul

2018-03-14

Hearing voices can be a distressing and disabling experience for some, whilst it is a valued experience for others, so-called 'healthy voice-hearers'. Cognitive models of psychosis highlight the role of memory, appraisal and cognitive biases in determining emotional and behavioural responses to voices. A memory bias potentially associated with distressing voices is the overgeneral memory bias (OGM), namely the tendency to recall a summary of events rather than specific occasions. It may limit access to autobiographical information that could be helpful in re-appraising distressing experiences, including voices. We investigated the possible links between OGM and distressing voices in psychosis by comparing three groups: (1) clinical voice-hearers (N = 39), (2) non-clinical voice-hearers (N = 35) and (3) controls without voices (N = 77) on a standard version of the autobiographical memory test (AMT). Clinical and non-clinical voice-hearers also completed a newly adapted version of the task, designed to assess voices-related memories (vAMT). As hypothesised, the clinical group displayed an OGM bias by retrieving fewer specific autobiographical memories on the AMT compared with both the non-clinical and control groups, who did not differ from each other. The clinical group also showed an OGM bias in recall of voice-related memories on the vAMT, compared with the non-clinical group. Clinical voice-hearers display an OGM bias when compared with non-clinical voice-hearers on both general and voices-specific recall tasks. These findings have implications for the refinement and targeting of psychological interventions for psychosis.

Relationship Between Voice and Motor Disabilities of Parkinson's Disease.

Science.gov (United States)

Majdinasab, Fatemeh; Karkheiran, Siamak; Soltani, Majid; Moradi, Negin; Shahidi, Gholamali

2016-11-01

To evaluate voice of Iranian patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) and find any relationship between motor disabilities and acoustic voice parameters as speech motor components. We evaluated 27 Farsi-speaking PD patients and 21 age- and sex-matched healthy persons as control. Motor performance was assessed by the Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale part III and Hoehn and Yahr rating scale in the "on" state. Acoustic voice evaluation, including fundamental frequency (f0), standard deviation of f0, minimum of f0, maximum of f0, shimmer, jitter, and harmonic to noise ratio, was done using the Praat software via /a/ prolongation. No difference was seen between the voice of the patients and the voice of the controls. f0 and its variation had a significant correlation with the duration of the disease, but did not have any relationships with the Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale part III. Only limited relationship was observed between voice and motor disabilities. Tremor is an important main feature of PD that affects motor and phonation systems. Females had an older age at onset, more prolonged disease, and more severe motor disabilities (not statistically significant), but phonation disorders were more frequent in males and showed more relationship with severity of motor disabilities. Voice is affected by PD earlier than many other motor components and is more sensitive to disease progression. Tremor is the most effective part of PD that impacts voice. PD has more effect on voice of male versus female patients. Copyright © 2016 The Voice Foundation. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Speaking with the voice of authority

CERN Multimedia

2002-01-01

GPB Consulting has developed a scientific approach to voice coaching. A digital recording of the voice is sent to a lab in Switzerland and analyzed by a computer programme designed by a doctor of psychology and linguistics and a scientist at CERN (1 page).

Risk factors for voice quality after radiotherapy for early glottic cancer

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hocevar-Boltezar, Irena; Zargi, Miha; Strojan, Primoz

2009-01-01

Background and purpose: In the majority of patients irradiated for early glottic cancer an abnormal voice was reported. The purpose of the study was to determine the factors influencing voice quality after radiotherapy for T1 glottic cancer. Methods: The voices of 75 male patients irradiated for T1 glottic carcinoma were assessed subjectively and objectively by acoustic analyses and aerodynamic measurements. The laryngeal function and morphology were evaluated by videolaryngostroboscopy. The data on smoking habits, the associated diseases influencing voice quality, the extent of the tumor, the type of biopsy, and the irradiation technique were collected from the medical records. The data on the factors influencing voice quality were compared for patients with a normal/near-normal voice and those with a hoarse voice. Results: Voice quality was at least slightly abnormal in 94.7% and 81.3% of patients, when assessed perceptively and objectively, respectively. Smoking after the completed treatment, more severe morphologic alterations of the vocal folds, dryness of the throat, incomplete closure of the vocal folds and functional voice disorders expressed as supraglottic activity adversely influenced the voice quality. A good correlation between the perceptive voice assessment and the acoustic analyses was established. Conclusions: After the successful irradiation for T1 glottic carcinoma, the great majority of the patients have at least a slightly hoarse voice. A better voice outcome could be achieved if radiotherapy was followed by the patient's cessation of smoking and the appropriate voice therapy.

The big bug: The legitimation of the edible insect sector in the Netherlands

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Marberg, A.L.; Kranenburg, H.L. van; Korzilius, H.P.L.M.

2017-01-01

This study analyzes the legitimation process of an emerging novel food sector in the European Union (EU). Current EU policies are cautious with regard to new food sources and new food technology, and we aim to determine how the sector is addressing both this caution as well as a general public that

Influence of Smartphones and Software on Acoustic Voice Measures.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Elizabeth U. Grillo

2016-12-01

Full Text Available This study assessed the within-subject variability of voice measures captured using different recording devices (i.e., smartphones and head mounted microphone and software programs (i.e., Analysis of Dysphonia in Speech and Voice (ADSV, Multi-dimensional Voice Program (MDVP, and Praat.  Correlations between the software programs that calculated the voice measures were also analyzed.  Results demonstrated no significant within-subject variability across devices and software and that some of the measures were highly correlated across software programs.  The study suggests that certain smartphones may be appropriate to record daily voice measures representing the effects of vocal loading within individuals.  In addition, even though different algorithms are used to compute voice measures across software programs, some of the programs and measures share a similar relationship.

Psychosocial risk factors which may differentiate between women with Functional Voice Disorder, Organic Voice Disorder and a Control group.

Science.gov (United States)

Baker, Janet; Ben-Tovim, David; Butcher, Andrew; Esterman, Adrian; McLaughlin, Kristin

2013-12-01

This study aimed to explore psychosocial factors contributing to the development of functional voice disorders (FVD) and those differentiating between organic voice disorders (OVD) and a non-voice-disordered control group. A case-control study was undertaken of 194 women aged 18-80 years diagnosed with FVD (n = 73), OVD (n = 55), and controls (n = 66). FVD women were allocated into psychogenic voice disorder (PVD) (n = 37) and muscle tension voice disorder (MTVD) (n = 36) for sub-group analysis. Dependent variables included biographical and voice assessment data, the number and severity of life events and difficulties and conflict over speaking out (COSO) situations derived from the Life Events and Difficulties Schedule (LEDS), and psychological traits including emotional expressiveness scales. Four psychosocial components differentiated between the FVD and control group accounting for 84.9% of the variance: severe events, moderate events, severe COSO, and mild COSO difficulties. Severe events, severe and mild COSO difficulties differentiated between FVD and OVD groups, accounting for 80.5% of the variance. Moderate events differentiated between PVD and MTVD sub-groups, accounting for 58.9% of the variance. Psychological traits did not differentiate between groups. Stressful life events and COSO situations best differentiated FVD from OVD and control groups. More refined aetiological studies are needed to differentiate between PVD and MTVD.

Smart meter data: Balancing consumer privacy concerns with legitimate applications

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

McKenna, Eoghan; Richardson, Ian; Thomson, Murray

2012-01-01

Smart meters are being rolled out in large numbers throughout the world, with proponents claiming they are a critical step in the transition to a low-carbon economy. Yet there are significant unresolved negative reactions to smart meters, principally based on the concern that smart meters might be used to infer the private activities that occur within a dwelling. Though smart meter data is classified as personal data, and as such protected under existing data protection frameworks in the EU, there are relevant exceptions, notably where the data is required for legitimate applications associated with the performance of 'regulated duties'. This paper contributes to this debate by examining the data requirements for some of the proposed applications of smart meter data within the electricity supply industry, and investigates whether the use of personal data can be minimized or even avoided. The discussion includes system balancing, demand reduction, demand response and distribution network operation and planning, and indicates that, for most of these applications, the requirements for personal data can indeed be minimized. 'Privacy friendly' alternatives are discussed. - Highlights: ▶ Current smart meter systems provide a strong indication of occupancy. ▶ This will have important implications for external and internal home privacy. ▶ Personal data requirements within legitimate applications are discussed. ▶ 'Privacy friendly' techniques are suggested that minimize the use of personal data. ▶ Distribution network operator has strongest claim for data from each household.

Benefits for Voice Learning Caused by Concurrent Faces Develop over Time.

Science.gov (United States)

Zäske, Romi; Mühl, Constanze; Schweinberger, Stefan R

2015-01-01

Recognition of personally familiar voices benefits from the concurrent presentation of the corresponding speakers' faces. This effect of audiovisual integration is most pronounced for voices combined with dynamic articulating faces. However, it is unclear if learning unfamiliar voices also benefits from audiovisual face-voice integration or, alternatively, is hampered by attentional capture of faces, i.e., "face-overshadowing". In six study-test cycles we compared the recognition of newly-learned voices following unimodal voice learning vs. bimodal face-voice learning with either static (Exp. 1) or dynamic articulating faces (Exp. 2). Voice recognition accuracies significantly increased for bimodal learning across study-test cycles while remaining stable for unimodal learning, as reflected in numerical costs of bimodal relative to unimodal voice learning in the first two study-test cycles and benefits in the last two cycles. This was independent of whether faces were static images (Exp. 1) or dynamic videos (Exp. 2). In both experiments, slower reaction times to voices previously studied with faces compared to voices only may result from visual search for faces during memory retrieval. A general decrease of reaction times across study-test cycles suggests facilitated recognition with more speaker repetitions. Overall, our data suggest two simultaneous and opposing mechanisms during bimodal face-voice learning: while attentional capture of faces may initially impede voice learning, audiovisual integration may facilitate it thereafter.

Analog voicing detector responds to pitch

Science.gov (United States)

Abel, R. S.; Watkins, H. E.

1967-01-01

Modified electronic voice encoder /Vocoder/ includes an independent analog mode of operation in addition to the conventional digital mode. The Vocoder is a bandwidth compression equipment that permits voice transmission over channels, having only a fraction of the bandwidth required for conventional telephone-quality speech transmission.

Speaking in Character: Voice Communication in Virtual Worlds

Science.gov (United States)

Wadley, Greg; Gibbs, Martin R.

This chapter summarizes 5 years of research on the implications of introducing voice communication systems to virtual worlds. Voice introduces both benefits and problems for players of fast-paced team games, from better coordination of groups and greater social presence of fellow players on the positive side, to negative features such as channel congestion, transmission of noise, and an unwillingness by some to use voice with strangers online. Similarly, in non-game worlds like Second Life, issues related to identity and impression management play important roles, as voice may build greater trust that is especially important for business users, yet it erodes the anonymity and ability to conceal social attributes like gender that are important for other users. A very different mixture of problems and opportunities exists when users conduct several simultaneous conversations in multiple text and voice channels. Technical difficulties still exist with current systems, including the challenge of debugging and harmonizing all the participants' voice setups. Different groups use virtual worlds for very different purposes, so a single modality may not suit all.

Voice Based City Panic Button System

Science.gov (United States)

Febriansyah; Zainuddin, Zahir; Bachtiar Nappu, M.

2018-03-01

The development of voice activated panic button application aims to design faster early notification of hazardous condition in community to the nearest police by using speech as the detector where the current application still applies touch-combination on screen and use coordination of orders from control center then the early notification still takes longer time. The method used in this research was by using voice recognition as the user voice detection and haversine formula for the comparison of closest distance between the user and the police. This research was equipped with auto sms, which sent notification to the victim’s relatives, that was also integrated with Google Maps application (GMaps) as the map to the victim’s location. The results show that voice registration on the application reaches 100%, incident detection using speech recognition while the application is running is 94.67% in average, and the auto sms to the victim relatives reaches 100%.

Voice Recognition in Face-Blind Patients

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Ran R.; Pancaroglu, Raika; Hills, Charlotte S.; Duchaine, Brad; Barton, Jason J. S.

2016-01-01

Right or bilateral anterior temporal damage can impair face recognition, but whether this is an associative variant of prosopagnosia or part of a multimodal disorder of person recognition is an unsettled question, with implications for cognitive and neuroanatomic models of person recognition. We assessed voice perception and short-term recognition of recently heard voices in 10 subjects with impaired face recognition acquired after cerebral lesions. All 4 subjects with apperceptive prosopagnosia due to lesions limited to fusiform cortex had intact voice discrimination and recognition. One subject with bilateral fusiform and anterior temporal lesions had a combined apperceptive prosopagnosia and apperceptive phonagnosia, the first such described case. Deficits indicating a multimodal syndrome of person recognition were found only in 2 subjects with bilateral anterior temporal lesions. All 3 subjects with right anterior temporal lesions had normal voice perception and recognition, 2 of whom performed normally on perceptual discrimination of faces. This confirms that such lesions can cause a modality-specific associative prosopagnosia. PMID:25349193

Reproducibility of Automated Voice Range Profiles, a Systematic Literature Review

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Printz, Trine; Rosenberg, Tine; Godballe, Christian

2018-01-01

literature on test-retest accuracy of the automated voice range profile assessment. Study design: Systematic review. Data sources: PubMed, Scopus, Cochrane Library, ComDisDome, Embase, and CINAHL (EBSCO). Methods: We conducted a systematic literature search of six databases from 1983 to 2016. The following......Objective: Reliable voice range profiles are of great importance when measuring effects and side effects from surgery affecting voice capacity. Automated recording systems are increasingly used, but the reproducibility of results is uncertain. Our objective was to identify and review the existing...... keywords were used: phonetogram, voice range profile, and acoustic voice analysis. Inclusion criteria were automated recording procedure, healthy voices, and no intervention between test and retest. Test-retest values concerning fundamental frequency and voice intensity were reviewed. Results: Of 483...

Voice- and swallow-related quality of life in idiopathic Parkinson's disease.

Science.gov (United States)

van Hooren, Michel R A; Baijens, Laura W J; Vos, Rein; Pilz, Walmari; Kuijpers, Laura M F; Kremer, Bernd; Michou, Emilia

2016-02-01

This study explores whether changes in voice- and swallow-related QoL are associated with progression of idiopathic Parkinson's disease (IPD). Furthermore, it examines the relationship between patients' perception of both voice and swallowing disorders in IPD. Prospective clinical study, quality of life (QoL). One-hundred mentally competent IPD patients with voice and swallowing complaints were asked to answer four QoL questionnaires (Voice Handicap Index, MD Anderson Dysphagia Inventory, Visual Analog Scale [VAS] voice, and Dysphagia Severity Scale [DSS]). Differences in means for the QoL questionnaires and their subscales within Hoehn and Yahr stage groups were calculated using one-way analysis of variance. The relationship between voice- and swallow-related QoL questionnaires was determined with the Spearman correlation coefficient. Scores on both voice and swallow questionnaires suggest an overall decrease in QoL with progression of IPD. A plateau in QoL for VAS voice and the DSS was seen in the early Hoehn and Yahr stages. Finally, scores on voice-related QoL questionnaires were significantly correlated with swallow-related QoL outcomes. Voice- and swallow-related QoL decreases with progression of IPD. A significant association was found between voice- and swallow-related QoL questionnaires. Healthcare professionals can benefit from voice- and swallow-related QoL questionnaires in a multidimensional voice- or swallow-assessment protocol. The patient's perception of his/her voice and swallowing disorders and its impact on QoL in IPD should not be disregarded. 2b. © 2015 The American Laryngological, Rhinological and Otological Society, Inc.

Voice and Narrative in L1 Writing

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Krogh, Ellen; Piekut, Anke

2015-01-01

This paper investigates issues of voice and narrative in L1 writing. Three branches of research are initial-ly discussed: research on narratives as resources for identity work, research on writer identity and voice as an essential aspect of identity, and research on Bildung in L1 writing. Subsequ...... training of voice and narratives as a resource for academic writing, and that the Bildung potential of L1 writing may be tied to this issue.......This paper investigates issues of voice and narrative in L1 writing. Three branches of research are initial-ly discussed: research on narratives as resources for identity work, research on writer identity and voice as an essential aspect of identity, and research on Bildung in L1 writing...... in lower secondary L1, she found that her previous writing strategies were not rewarded in upper secondary school. In the second empiri-cal study, two upper-secondary exam papers are investigated, with a focus on their approaches to exam genres and their use of narrative resources to address issues...

Analysis of the Auditory Feedback and Phonation in Normal Voices.

Science.gov (United States)

Arbeiter, Mareike; Petermann, Simon; Hoppe, Ulrich; Bohr, Christopher; Doellinger, Michael; Ziethe, Anke

2018-02-01

The aim of this study was to investigate the auditory feedback mechanisms and voice quality during phonation in response to a spontaneous pitch change in the auditory feedback. Does the pitch shift reflex (PSR) change voice pitch and voice quality? Quantitative and qualitative voice characteristics were analyzed during the PSR. Twenty-eight healthy subjects underwent transnasal high-speed video endoscopy (HSV) at 8000 fps during sustained phonation [a]. While phonating, the subjects heard their sound pitched up for 700 cents (interval of a fifth), lasting 300 milliseconds in their auditory feedback. The electroencephalography (EEG), acoustic voice signal, electroglottography (EGG), and high-speed-videoendoscopy (HSV) were analyzed to compare feedback mechanisms for the pitched and unpitched condition of the phonation paradigm statistically. Furthermore, quantitative and qualitative voice characteristics were analyzed. The PSR was successfully detected within all signals of the experimental tools (EEG, EGG, acoustic voice signal, HSV). A significant increase of the perturbation measures and an increase of the values of the acoustic parameters during the PSR were observed, especially for the audio signal. The auditory feedback mechanism seems not only to control for voice pitch but also for voice quality aspects.

Translators’ voices in Norwegian retranslations of Bob Dylan’s songs

OpenAIRE

Greenall, Annjo Klungervik

2015-01-01

This chapter tackles several questions relating to the issue of the translator’s voice in retranslation: how do others’ voices (including other (re)translations) interact with the translator’s voice in the production of a translation? How does the intersubjectively constituted voice of the translator manifest itself in paratexts, in the translated text and, in the case of singer-translators, in the translator’s physical, performing voice? The case discussed is that of Bob Dylan in (re)transl...

Speaking comfort and voice use of teachers in classrooms

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Brunskog, Jonas; Pelegrin Garcia, David

2010-01-01

Teachers suffer from voice problems more often than the rest of the population, as a consequence of the intensive use of their voices during teaching. Noise and classroom acoustics have been defined as hazards eventually leading to voice problems. In order to make a good classroom acoustic design...... to preserve the teachers’ voices and maximize their comfort, it is necessary to understand the underlaying relationship between classroom acoustics and teachers’ voice production. This paper presents a brief summary of investigations looking into this relationship. A pilot study, carried out in different...... located at various distances, in rooms with very different acoustics. A field study in schools of southern Sweden found out that teachers with and without voice problems, during actual teaching, are affected differently by the support of the classroom. A last laboratory experiment was carried out...

Constructing (IlLegitimate Democracy: Populism and Power Concentration in Newspaper Discourse on Venezuela

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ernesto Abalo

2014-10-01

Full Text Available Despite scholarly consensus about the importance of the media for democracy, scant attention has been paid to what democracy means to journalistic discourse and how discourses on democracy are interrelated with legitimacy. The aim of this paper is to explore how (illegitimate democracy is constructed in newspaper discourse. By using critical discourse analysis, this paper examines foreign news items about Venezuela, a country that under the presidency of Hugo Chávez has challenged the hegemonic global political and economic orders. The analysis section focuses on two main findings about the Venezuelan government: the constructions of populism and power concentration, which serve to mark deviance from what is perceived as legitimate democracy. This paper argues that a liberal perception of democracy constitutes a central framework for the construction of (illegitimate democracy, which is revealed not least by news discourse’s focus on what is morally unacceptable political conduct according to liberal democratic norms. In this sense, such constructions serve to denounce potential governmental power abuses but also to legitimize the hegemonic economic and political orders.

Influence of Smartphones and Software on Acoustic Voice Measures.

OpenAIRE

Elizabeth U. Grillo; Jenna N. Brosious; Staci L. Sorrell; Supraja Anand

2016-01-01

This study assessed the within-subject variability of voice measures captured using different recording devices (i.e., smartphones and head mounted microphone) and software programs (i.e., Analysis of Dysphonia in Speech and Voice (ADSV), Multi-dimensional Voice Program (MDVP), and Praat).  Correlations between the software programs that calculated the voice measures were also analyzed.  Results demonstrated no significant within-subject variability across devices and software and that some o...

Methods of legitimation: how ethics committees decide which reasons count in public policy decision-making.

Science.gov (United States)

Edwards, Kyle T

2014-07-01

In recent years, liberal democratic societies have struggled with the question of how best to balance expertise and democratic participation in the regulation of emerging technologies. This study aims to explain how national deliberative ethics committees handle the practical tension between scientific expertise, ethical expertise, expert patient input, and lay public input by explaining two institutions' processes for determining the legitimacy or illegitimacy of reasons in public policy decision-making: that of the United Kingdom's Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) and the United States' American Society for Reproductive Medicine (ASRM). The articulation of these 'methods of legitimation' draws on 13 in-depth interviews with HFEA and ASRM members and staff conducted in January and February 2012 in London and over Skype, as well as observation of an HFEA deliberation. This study finds that these two institutions employ different methods in rendering certain arguments legitimate and others illegitimate: while the HFEA attempts to 'balance' competing reasons but ultimately legitimizes arguments based on health and welfare concerns, the ASRM seeks to 'filter' out arguments that challenge reproductive autonomy. The notably different structures and missions of each institution may explain these divergent approaches, as may what Sheila Jasanoff (2005) terms the distinctive 'civic epistemologies' of the US and the UK. Significantly for policy makers designing such deliberative committees, each method differs substantially from that explicitly or implicitly endorsed by the institution. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Unfolding Urban Geographies of Water-Related Vulnerability and Inequalities: Recognising Risks in Knowledge Building in Lima, Peru

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Miranda Sara, L.; Pfeffer, K.; Baud, I.; Bell, S.; Allen, A.; Hofmann, P.; Teh, T.-H.

2017-01-01

This chapter analyses how different discourses influence knowledge-building processes in terms of their main concerns, water sector boundaries, and types of information considered legitimate, in the context of Lima. It shows how these processes are embedded in urban configurations, and how the

Massed versus Spaced Practice in Vocology: Effect of a Short-Term Intensive Voice Training versus a Longer-Term Traditional Voice Training

Science.gov (United States)

Meerschman, Iris; Van Lierde, Kristiane; Van Puyvelde, Caro; Bostyn, Astrid; Claeys, Sofie; D'haeseleer, Evelien

2018-01-01

Background: In contrast with most medical and pharmaceutical therapies, the optimal dosage for voice therapy or training is unknown. Aims: The aim of this study was to compare the effect of a short-term intensive voice training (IVT) with a longer-term traditional voice training (TVT) on the vocal quality and vocal capacities of vocally healthy…

Alexa, Siri, Cortana, and More: An Introduction to Voice Assistants.

Science.gov (United States)

Hoy, Matthew B

2018-01-01

Voice assistants are software agents that can interpret human speech and respond via synthesized voices. Apple's Siri, Amazon's Alexa, Microsoft's Cortana, and Google's Assistant are the most popular voice assistants and are embedded in smartphones or dedicated home speakers. Users can ask their assistants questions, control home automation devices and media playback via voice, and manage other basic tasks such as email, to-do lists, and calendars with verbal commands. This column will explore the basic workings and common features of today's voice assistants. It will also discuss some of the privacy and security issues inherent to voice assistants and some potential future uses for these devices. As voice assistants become more widely used, librarians will want to be familiar with their operation and perhaps consider them as a means to deliver library services and materials.

[Psychological effects of preventive voice care training in student teachers].

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Nusseck, M; Richter, B; Echternach, M; Spahn, C

2017-07-01

Studies on the effectiveness of preventive voice care programs have focused mainly on voice parameters. Psychological parameters, however, have not been investigated in detail so far. The effect of a voice training program for German student teachers on psychological health parameters was investigated in a longitudinal study. The sample of 204 student teachers was divided into the intervention group (n = 123), who participated in the voice training program, and the control group (n = 81), who received no voice training. Voice training contained ten 90-min group courses and an individual visit by the voice trainer in a teaching situation with feedback afterwards. Participants were asked to fill out questionnaires (self-efficacy, Short-Form Health Survey, self-consciousness, voice self-concept, work-related behaviour and experience patterns) at the beginning and the end of their student teacher training period. The training program showed significant positive influences on psychological health, voice self-concept (i.e. more positive perception and increased awareness of one's own voice) and work-related coping behaviour in the intervention group. On average, the mental health status of all participants reduced over time, whereas the status in the trained group diminished significantly less than in the control group. Furthermore, the trained student teachers gained abilities to cope with work-related stress better than those without training. The training program clearly showed a positive impact on mental health. The results maintain the importance of such a training program not only for voice health, but also for wide-ranging aspects of constitutional health.

Searching for a legitimate television journalism: quality criteria in the critic work of Arthur da Távola in the 1970s

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Fernanda Mauricio da Silva

2014-07-01

Full Text Available In the 1970s, the TV reviews published by Artur da Távola rose a new discursive place for TV journalism: instead of the approach with an impoverishing entertainment, a legitimate discourse through technology. This article discusses how Távola legitimated television journalism through a discourse of quality compared to other media, showing power struggles around the representation of reality, emotional speech and compared with everyday life.

Guided self-help cognitive-behaviour Intervention for VoicEs (GiVE): Results from a pilot randomised controlled trial in a transdiagnostic sample.

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Hazell, Cassie M; Hayward, Mark; Cavanagh, Kate; Jones, Anna-Marie; Strauss, Clara

2017-10-12

Few patients have access to cognitive behaviour therapy for psychosis (CBTp) even though at least 16 sessions of CBTp is recommended in treatment guidelines. Briefer CBTp could improve access as the same number of therapists could see more patients. In addition, focusing on single psychotic symptoms, such as auditory hallucinations ('voices'), rather than on psychosis more broadly, may yield greater benefits. This pilot RCT recruited 28 participants (with a range of diagnoses) from NHS mental health services who were distressed by hearing voices. The study compared an 8-session guided self-help CBT intervention for distressing voices with a wait-list control. Data were collected at baseline and at 12weeks with post-therapy assessments conducted blind to allocation. Voice-impact was the pre-determined primary outcome. Secondary outcomes were depression, anxiety, wellbeing and recovery. Mechanism measures were self-esteem, beliefs about self, beliefs about voices and voice-relating. Recruitment and retention was feasible with low study (3.6%) and therapy (14.3%) dropout. There were large, statistically significant between-group effects on the primary outcome of voice-impact (d=1.78; 95% CIs: 0.86-2.70), which exceeded the minimum clinically important difference. Large, statistically significant effects were found on a number of secondary and mechanism measures. Large effects on the pre-determined primary outcome of voice-impact are encouraging, and criteria for progressing to a definitive trial are met. Significant between-group effects on measures of self-esteem, negative beliefs about self and beliefs about voice omnipotence are consistent with these being mechanisms of change and this requires testing in a future trial. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Safety voice for ergonomics (SAVE project: protocol for a workplace cluster-randomized controlled trial to reduce musculoskeletal disorders in masonry apprentices

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Laurel D. Kincl

2016-04-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Masons have the highest rate of overexertion injuries among all construction trades and rank second for occupational back injuries in the United States. Identified ergonomic solutions are the primary method of reducing exposure to risk factors associated with musculoskeletal disorders. However, many construction workers lack knowledge about these solutions, as well as basic ergonomic principles. Construction apprentices, as they embark on their careers, are greatly in need of ergonomics training to minimize the cumulative exposure that leads to musculoskeletal disorders. Apprentices receive safety training; however, ergonomics training is often limited or non-existent. In addition, apprenticeship programs often lack “soft skills” training on how to appropriately respond to work environments and practices that are unsafe. The SAVE program – SAfety Voice for Ergonomics – strives to integrate evidence-based health and safety training strategies into masonry apprenticeship skills training to teach ergonomics, problem solving, and speaking up to communicate solutions that reduce musculoskeletal injury risk. The central hypothesis is that the combination of ergonomics training and safety voice promotion will be more effective than no training or either ergonomics training alone or safety voice training alone. Methods/design Following the development and pilot testing of the SAVE intervention, SAVE will be evaluated in a cluster-randomized controlled trial at 12 masonry training centers across the U.S. Clusters of apprentices within centers will be assigned at random to one of four intervention groups (n = 24 per group: (1 ergonomics training only, (2 safety voice training only, (3 combined ergonomics and safety voice training, or (4 control group with no additional training intervention. Outcomes assessed at baseline, at the conclusion of training, and then at six and 12 months post training will include

Safety voice for ergonomics (SAVE) project: protocol for a workplace cluster-randomized controlled trial to reduce musculoskeletal disorders in masonry apprentices.

Science.gov (United States)

Kincl, Laurel D; Anton, Dan; Hess, Jennifer A; Weeks, Douglas L

2016-04-27

Masons have the highest rate of overexertion injuries among all construction trades and rank second for occupational back injuries in the United States. Identified ergonomic solutions are the primary method of reducing exposure to risk factors associated with musculoskeletal disorders. However, many construction workers lack knowledge about these solutions, as well as basic ergonomic principles. Construction apprentices, as they embark on their careers, are greatly in need of ergonomics training to minimize the cumulative exposure that leads to musculoskeletal disorders. Apprentices receive safety training; however, ergonomics training is often limited or non-existent. In addition, apprenticeship programs often lack "soft skills" training on how to appropriately respond to work environments and practices that are unsafe. The SAVE program - SAfety Voice for Ergonomics - strives to integrate evidence-based health and safety training strategies into masonry apprenticeship skills training to teach ergonomics, problem solving, and speaking up to communicate solutions that reduce musculoskeletal injury risk. The central hypothesis is that the combination of ergonomics training and safety voice promotion will be more effective than no training or either ergonomics training alone or safety voice training alone. Following the development and pilot testing of the SAVE intervention, SAVE will be evaluated in a cluster-randomized controlled trial at 12 masonry training centers across the U.S. Clusters of apprentices within centers will be assigned at random to one of four intervention groups (n = 24 per group): (1) ergonomics training only, (2) safety voice training only, (3) combined ergonomics and safety voice training, or (4) control group with no additional training intervention. Outcomes assessed at baseline, at the conclusion of training, and then at six and 12 months post training will include: musculoskeletal symptoms, general health perceptions, knowledge of

Student Voice and the Common Core

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Yonezawa, Susan

2015-01-01

Common Core proponents and detractors debate its merits, but students have voiced their opinion for years. Using a decade's worth of data gathered through design-research on youth voice, this article discusses what high school students have long described as more ideal learning environments for themselves--and how remarkably similar the Common…

Student Voices in School-Based Assessment

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Tong, Siu Yin Annie; Adamson, Bob

2015-01-01

The value of student voices in dialogues about learning improvement is acknowledged in the literature. This paper examines how the views of students regarding School-based Assessment (SBA), a significant shift in examination policy and practice in secondary schools in Hong Kong, have largely been ignored. The study captures student voices through…

Measurement errors in voice-key naming latency for Hiragana.

Science.gov (United States)

Yamada, Jun; Tamaoka, Katsuo

2003-12-01

This study makes explicit the limitations and possibilities of voice-key naming latency research on single hiragana symbols (a Japanese syllabic script) by examining three sets of voice-key naming data against Sakuma, Fushimi, and Tatsumi's 1997 speech-analyzer voice-waveform data. Analysis showed that voice-key measurement errors can be substantial in standard procedures as they may conceal the true effects of significant variables involved in hiragana-naming behavior. While one can avoid voice-key measurement errors to some extent by applying Sakuma, et al.'s deltas and by excluding initial phonemes which induce measurement errors, such errors may be ignored when test items are words and other higher-level linguistic materials.

Quick Statistics about Voice, Speech, and Language

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... here Home » Health Info » Statistics and Epidemiology Quick Statistics About Voice, Speech, Language Voice, Speech, Language, and ... no 205. Hyattsville, MD: National Center for Health Statistics. 2015. Hoffman HJ, Li C-M, Losonczy K, ...

[Role of aerodynamic parameters in voice function assessment].

Science.gov (United States)

Guo, Yong-qing; Lin, Sheng-zhi; Xu, Xin-lin; Zhou, Li; Zhuang, Pei-yun; Jiang, Jack J

2012-10-01

To investigate the application and significance of aerodynamic parameters in voice function assessment. The phonatory aerodynamic system (PAS) was used to collect aerodynamic parameters from subjects with normal voice, vocal fold polyp, vocal fold cyst, and vocal fold immobility. Multivariate statistical analysis was used to compare measurements across groups. Phonation threshold flow (PTF), mean flow rate (MFR), maximum phonation time (MPT), and glottal resistance (GR) in one hundred normal subjects were significantly affected by sex (P efficiency (VE) were not (P > 0.05). PTP, PTF, MFR, SGP, and MPT were significantly different between normal voice and voice disorders (P 0.05). Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis found that PTP, PTF, SGP, MFR, MPT, and VE in one hundred thirteen voice dis orders had similar diagnostic utility (P aerodynamic parameters of the three degrees of voice dysfunction due to vocal cord polyps were compared and found to have no significant differences (P > 0.05). PTP, PTF, MFR, SGP and MPT in forty one patients with vocal polyps were significantly different after surgical resection of vocal cord polyps (P aerodynamic parameters can objectively and effectively evaluate the variations of vocal function, and have good auxiliary diagnostic value.

English Voicing in Dimensional Theory*

Science.gov (United States)

Iverson, Gregory K.; Ahn, Sang-Cheol

2007-01-01

Assuming a framework of privative features, this paper interprets two apparently disparate phenomena in English phonology as structurally related: the lexically specific voicing of fricatives in plural nouns like wives or thieves and the prosodically governed “flapping” of medial /t/ (and /d/) in North American varieties, which we claim is itself not a rule per se, but rather a consequence of the laryngeal weakening of fortis /t/ in interaction with speech-rate determined segmental abbreviation. Taking as our point of departure the Dimensional Theory of laryngeal representation developed by Avery & Idsardi (2001), along with their assumption that English marks voiceless obstruents but not voiced ones (Iverson & Salmons 1995), we find that an unexpected connection between fricative voicing and coronal flapping emerges from the interplay of familiar phonemic and phonetic factors in the phonological system. PMID:18496590

Comparison of acoustic voice characteristics in smoking and nonsmoking teachers

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Šehović Ivana

2012-01-01

Full Text Available Voice of vocal professionals is exposed to great temptations, i.e. there is a high probability of voice alterations. Smoking, allergies and respiratory infections greatly affect the voice, which can change its acoustic characteristics. In smokers, the vocal cords mass increases, resulting in changes in vocal fold vibratory cycle. Pathological changes of vocal folds deform the acoustic signal and affect voice production. As vocal professionals, teachers are much more affected by voice disorders than average speakers. The aim of this study was to examine the differences in acoustic parameters of voice between smoking and nonsmoking teachers, in a sample of vocal professionals. The sample consisted of 60 female subjects, aged from 25 to 59. For voice analysis we used Computer lab, model 4300, 'Kay Elemetrics Corporation'. The statistical significance of differences in the values of acoustic parameters between smokers and nonsmokers was tested by ANOVA. Results showed that in the sample of female teachers, professional use of voice combined with the smoking habit can be linked to the changes in voice parameters. Comparing smokers and nonsmokers, average values of the parameters in short-term and long-term disturbances of frequency and amplitude proved to be significantly different.

Communicating the right emotion makes violence seem less wrong : Power-congruent emotions lead outsiders to legitimize violence of powerless and powerful groups in intractable conflict

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Kamans, Elanor; van Zomeren, Martijn; Gordijn, Ernestine H.; Postmes, Tom

In intractable intergroup conflicts, groups often try to frame intergroup violence as legitimate through the use of emotional appeals. Two experiments demonstrate that outsiders' perception of which emotion conflict parties communicate influences the extent to which they legitimize their violence.

Voice-associated static face image releases speech from informational masking.

Science.gov (United States)

Gao, Yayue; Cao, Shuyang; Qu, Tianshu; Wu, Xihong; Li, Haifeng; Zhang, Jinsheng; Li, Liang

2014-06-01

In noisy, multipeople talking environments such as a cocktail party, listeners can use various perceptual and/or cognitive cues to improve recognition of target speech against masking, particularly informational masking. Previous studies have shown that temporally prepresented voice cues (voice primes) improve recognition of target speech against speech masking but not noise masking. This study investigated whether static face image primes that have become target-voice associated (i.e., facial images linked through associative learning with voices reciting the target speech) can be used by listeners to unmask speech. The results showed that in 32 normal-hearing younger adults, temporally prepresenting a voice-priming sentence with the same voice reciting the target sentence significantly improved the recognition of target speech that was masked by irrelevant two-talker speech. When a person's face photograph image became associated with the voice reciting the target speech by learning, temporally prepresenting the target-voice-associated face image significantly improved recognition of target speech against speech masking, particularly for the last two keywords in the target sentence. Moreover, speech-recognition performance under the voice-priming condition was significantly correlated to that under the face-priming condition. The results suggest that learned facial information on talker identity plays an important role in identifying the target-talker's voice and facilitating selective attention to the target-speech stream against the masking-speech stream. © 2014 The Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences and Wiley Publishing Asia Pty Ltd.

One Voice Too Many: Echoes of Irony and Trauma in Oedipus the King

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Joshua Waggoner

2017-11-01

Full Text Available Sophocles’ Oedipus the King has often inspired concurrent interpretations examining the tragic irony of the play and the traumatic neurosis of its protagonist. The Theban king epitomizes a man who knows everything but himself, and Sophocles’ use of irony allows Oedipus to discover the truth in a manner that Freud viewed in The Interpretation of Dreams as “comparable to the work of a psychoanalysis.” Psychoanalytical readings of Oedipus at times depend greatly on his role as a doubled figure, but this article specifically investigates his doubled voice in order to demonstrate the interrelated, chiasmic relationship between Oedipus’ trauma and the trope of irony. It argues, in fact, that irony serves as the language, so to speak, of the traumatic experiences haunting the king and his city, but it also posits that this doubled voice compounds the irony of the play and its hero. In other words, in addition to the Sophoclean irony that dominates the work, the doubling of the king’s voice reveals a modified form of Socratic irony that contributes to the tragedy’s power. Consequently, even after the king’s recognition of the truth ultimately resolves the work’s tragic irony, Oedipus remains divided by a state of simultaneous knowledge and ignorance.

A Wireless LAN and Voice Information System for Underground Coal Mine

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Yu Zhang

2014-06-01

Full Text Available In this paper we constructed a wireless information system, and developed a wireless voice communication subsystem based on Wireless Local Area Networks (WLAN for underground coal mine, which employs Voice over IP (VoIP technology and Session Initiation Protocol (SIP to achieve wireless voice dispatching communications. The master control voice dispatching interface and call terminal software are also developed on the WLAN ground server side to manage and implement the voice dispatching communication. A testing system for voice communication was constructed in tunnels of an underground coal mine, which was used to actually test the wireless voice communication subsystem via a network analysis tool, named Clear Sight Analyzer. In tests, the actual flow charts of registration, call establishment and call removal were analyzed by capturing call signaling of SIP terminals, and the key performance indicators were evaluated in coal mine, including average subjective value of voice quality, packet loss rate, delay jitter, disorder packet transmission and end-to- end delay. Experimental results and analysis demonstrate that the wireless voice communication subsystem developed communicates well in underground coal mine environment, achieving the designed function of voice dispatching communication.

Using PhotoVoice to Promote Land Conservation and Indigenous Well-Being in Oklahoma.

Science.gov (United States)

Carroll, Clint; Garroutte, Eva; Noonan, Carolyn; Buchwald, Dedra

2018-03-26

Indigenous ancestral teachings commonly present individual and community health as dependent upon relationships between human and nonhuman worlds. But how do persons conversant with ancestral teachings effectively convey such perspectives in contemporary contexts, and to what extent does the general tribal citizenry share them? Can media technology provide knowledge keepers with opportunities to communicate their perspectives to larger audiences? What are the implications for tribal citizens' knowledge and views about tribal land use policies? Using a PhotoVoice approach, we collaborated with a formally constituted body of Cherokee elders who supply cultural guidance to the Cherokee Nation government in Oklahoma. We compiled photographs taken by the elders and conducted interviews with them centered on the project themes of land and health. We then developed a still-image documentary highlighting these themes and surveyed 84 Cherokee citizens before and after they viewed it. Results from the pre-survey revealed areas where citizens' perspectives on tribal policy did not converge with the elders' perspectives; however, the post-survey showed statistically significant changes. We conclude that PhotoVoice is an effective method to communicate elders' perspectives, and that tribal citizens' values about tribal land use may change as they encounter these perspectives in such novel formats.

The Voice of the Technical Writer.

Science.gov (United States)

Euler, James S.

The author's voice is implicit in all writing, even technical writing. It is the expression of the writer's attitude toward audience, subject matter, and self. Effective use of voice is made possible by recognizing the three roles of the technical writer: transmitter, translator, and author. As a transmitter, the writer must consciously apply an…

Predictors of Choral Directors' Voice Handicap

Science.gov (United States)

Schwartz, Sandra

2013-01-01

Vocal demands of teaching are considerable and these challenges are greater for choral directors who depend on the voice as a musical and instructive instrument. The purpose of this study was to (1) examine choral directors' vocal condition using a modified Voice Handicap Index (VHI), and (2) determine the extent to which the major variables…

Understanding Legitimate Teacher Authority in a Cross-Cultural Teaching Context: Pre-Service Chinese Language Teachers Undertaking Teaching Practicum in International Schools in Hong Kong

Science.gov (United States)

Lai, Chun; Gu, Mingyue; Hu, Jingjing

2015-01-01

Legitimate teacher authority is fundamental to effective teaching, but is often a thorny issue that teachers need to grapple with when teaching in cross-cultural teaching contexts. By interviewing 18 pre-service Chinese language teachers on their understanding of legitimate teacher authority throughout teaching practicum at international schools…

The Legitimation of Self-Regulation and Co-Regulation in Corporatist Concepts of Legal Scholars in the Weimar Republic

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Peter Collin

2017-03-01

Full Text Available Corporatist regulation has a hybrid structure in that it covers state regulation, regulated self-regulation as well as private-public co-regulation. Notably diverging from the standard mode of state regulation, such arrangements required a higher degree of legitimation. Corporatist concepts flourished in the Weimar Republic. This paper deals with three legal scholars’ considerations regarding how to legitimize corporatist models, namely Edgar Tatarin-Tarnheyden, Heinrich Herrfahrdt, and Friedrich Glum. Their institutional touchstone was the Imperial Economic Council, as provided for by article 165 of the Weimar Constitution. This article envisioned a multi-level system of economic councils ranging from regional economic councils up to the Imperial Economic Council and involving representatives of all occupational groups in the performance of state tasks. However, only a Provisional Imperial Economic Council, with a restricted consultative remit, was ever actually established. Based on this model, Tatarin-Tarnheyden, Heinrich Herrfahrdt, and Friedrich Glum conceptualized organizational structures aiming at the comprehensive inclusion of non-state actors. They were legitimized primarily with reference to their output; that is, these organizational forms were supposed to enable a more appropriate and efficient realization of public interests. The input-based argument was basically a question of participation, which implies considerable proximity to typical topoi of democratic legitimation. This similarity is perhaps counter-intuitive, given that corporatist concepts are traditionally associated with anti-democratic ideologies due to their anti-parliamentarian slant. The numerous points of convergence between corporatist and democratic thought simultaneously reflect the heterogeneity of democratic reasoning in the Weimar period and the openness for ideas that were sceptical of—or even hostile to—parliamentary democracy and the party

High quality voice synthesis middle ware; Kohinshitsu onsei gosei middle war

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

2000-03-01

Toshiba Corp. newly developed a natural voice synthesis system, TOS Drive TTS (TOtally speaker Driven Text-To-Speech) system, in which natural high-quality read-aloud is greatly improved, and also developed as its application a voice synthesis middle ware. In the newly developed system, using as a model a narrator's voice recorded preliminarily, a metrical control dictionary is automatically learned that reproduces the characteristics of metrical patters such as intonation or rhythm of a human voice, as is a voice bases dictionary that reproduces the characteristics of a voice quality, enabling natural voice synthesis to be realized that picks up human voice characteristics. The system is high quality and also very compact, while the voice synthesis middle ware utilizing this technology is adaptable to various platforms such as MPU or OS. The system is very suitable for audio response in the ITS field having car navigation systems as the core; besides, expanded application is expected to an audio response system that used to employ a sound recording and reproducing system. (translated by NEDO)

AUTHORIAL VOICE IN ISLAMIC COLLEGE ENGLISH DEPARTMENT STUDENTS’ ARGUMENTATIVE WRITING

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Nur Afifi

2014-11-01

Full Text Available While considered elusive and abstract, authorial voice is paramount in English writing. Unfortunately, many of Indonesian EFL learners found it is highly challeging to show their voice in their writing. The importance of voice is even exaggerated in argumentative writing, since this kind of writing needs obvious stance of the writer. This study investigates the authorial voice students made in their argumentative writing. The purpose of this study is to gain the picture of students‟ writing ability especially in authorial voice to map the road in guiding the next writing classes. The object of the study is the argumentative writing made by English department students at one Indonesian State College of Islamic Studies in their writing III course. Using Hyland‟s interactional model of voice (2008 the data analysis results the authorial presence in the essays is in position 2 at 0 – 4 scale which means the reader feels somehow weak presence of the authorial voice in the essay. This result confirms the findings of some previous studies that EFL learners especially from „interdependent‟ cultural background tend to find this authorial voice difficult in writing English essay.

Understanding the mechanisms of familiar voice-identity recognition in the human brain.

Science.gov (United States)

Maguinness, Corrina; Roswandowitz, Claudia; von Kriegstein, Katharina

2018-03-31

Humans have a remarkable skill for voice-identity recognition: most of us can remember many voices that surround us as 'unique'. In this review, we explore the computational and neural mechanisms which may support our ability to represent and recognise a unique voice-identity. We examine the functional architecture of voice-sensitive regions in the superior temporal gyrus/sulcus, and bring together findings on how these regions may interact with each other, and additional face-sensitive regions, to support voice-identity processing. We also contrast findings from studies on neurotypicals and clinical populations which have examined the processing of familiar and unfamiliar voices. Taken together, the findings suggest that representations of familiar and unfamiliar voices might dissociate in the human brain. Such an observation does not fit well with current models for voice-identity processing, which by-and-large assume a common sequential analysis of the incoming voice signal, regardless of voice familiarity. We provide a revised audio-visual integrative model of voice-identity processing which brings together traditional and prototype models of identity processing. This revised model includes a mechanism of how voice-identity representations are established and provides a novel framework for understanding and examining the potential differences in familiar and unfamiliar voice processing in the human brain. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Voice Activated Cockpit Management Systems: Voice-Flight NexGen, Phase I

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National Aeronautics and Space Administration — Speaking to the cockpit as a method of system management in flight can become an effective interaction method, since voice communication is very efficient. Automated...

The electronic cry: Voice and gender in electroacoustic music

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Bosma, H.M.

2013-01-01

The voice provides an entrance to discuss gender and related fundamental issues in electroacoustic music that are relevant as well in other musical genres and outside of music per se: the role of the female voice; the use of language versus non-verbal vocal sounds; the relation of voice, embodiment

Voices Falling Through the Air

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Paul Elliman

2012-11-01

Full Text Available Where am I? Or as the young boy in Jules Verne’s Journey to the Centre of the Earth calls back to his distant-voiced companions: ‘Lost… in the most intense darkness.’ ‘Then I understood it,’ says the boy, Axel, ‘To make them hear me, all I had to do was to speak with my mouth close to the wall, which would serve to conduct my voice, as the wire conducts the electric fluid’ (Verne 1864. By timing their calls, the group of explorers work out that Axel is separated from them by a distance of four miles, held in a cavernous vertical gallery of smooth rock. Feeling his way down towards the others, the boy ends up falling, along with his voice, through the space. Losing consciousness he seems to give himself up to the space...

Audiovisual speech facilitates voice learning.

Science.gov (United States)

Sheffert, Sonya M; Olson, Elizabeth

2004-02-01

In this research, we investigated the effects of voice and face information on the perceptual learning of talkers and on long-term memory for spoken words. In the first phase, listeners were trained over several days to identify voices from words presented auditorily or audiovisually. The training data showed that visual information about speakers enhanced voice learning, revealing cross-modal connections in talker processing akin to those observed in speech processing. In the second phase, the listeners completed an auditory or audiovisual word recognition memory test in which equal numbers of words were spoken by familiar and unfamiliar talkers. The data showed that words presented by familiar talkers were more likely to be retrieved from episodic memory, regardless of modality. Together, these findings provide new information about the representational code underlying familiar talker recognition and the role of stimulus familiarity in episodic word recognition.

Who speaks for extinct nations? The Beothuk and narrative voice

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C. Leggo

1995-04-01

Full Text Available The Beothuk of Newfoundland were among the first inhabitants of North America to encounter European explorers and settlers. By the first part of the nineteenth century the Beothuk were extinct, exterminated by the fishers and soldiers and settlers of western Europe. The last Beothuk was a woman named Shanadithit. She was captured and lived with white settlers for a few years before she died in 1829. Today all that remains of the Beothuk nation, which once numbered seven hundred to one thousand people, are some bones, arrowheads, tools, written records of explorers and settlers, and copies of drawings by Shanadithit in the Newfoundland Museum. In recent years several writers (all are white and male have written fiction and poetry and drama about the Beothuk, including Peter Such (Riverrun, 1973, Paul O'Neill (Legends of a Lost Tribe, 1976, Sid Stephen (Beothuk Poems, 1976, Al Pittman ("Shanadithit," 1978, Geoffrey Ursell (The Running of the Deer; A Play, 1981, Donald Gale (Sooshewan: A Child of the Beothuk, 1988, and Kevin Major (Blood Red Ochre, 1990. A recurring theme in all these narratives is the theme of regret and guilt. These narrative accounts of the Beothuk raise significant questions about voice and narrative, including: Who can speak for Native peoples? Who can speak for extinct peoples? Are there peoples without voices? How is voice historically determined? What is the relationship between voice and power? How are the effects of voice generated? What is an authentic voice? How is voice related to the illusion of presence? What is the relation between voice and silence? In examining contemporary narrative accounts of the Beothuk my goal is to reveal the rhetorical ways in which the Beothuk are given voice(s and to interrogate the ethical and pedagogical implications of contemporary authors revisiting and revisioning and re-voicing a nation of people long extinct.

Voice disorders in teachers: occupational risk factors and psycho-emotional factors.

Science.gov (United States)

van Houtte, Evelyne; Claeys, Sofie; Wuyts, Floris; van Lierde, Kristiane

2012-10-01

Teaching is a high-risk occupation for developing voice disorders. The purpose of this study was to investigate previously described vocal risk factors as well as to identify new risk factors related to both the personal life of the teacher (fluid intake, voice-demanding activities, family history of voice disorders, and children at home) and to environmental factors (temperature changes, chalk use, presence of curtains, carpet, or air-conditioning, acoustics in the classroom, and noise in and outside the classroom). The study group comprised 994 teachers (response rate 46.6%). All participants completed a questionnaire. Chi-square tests and logistic regression analyses were performed. A total of 51.2% (509/994) of the teachers presented with voice disorders. Women reported more voice disorders compared to men (56.4% versus 40.4%, P history of voice disorders (P = 0.005), temperature changes in the classroom (P = 0.017), the number of pupils per classroom (P = 0.001), and noise level inside the classroom (P = 0.001). Teachers with voice disorders presented a higher level of psychological distress (P < 0.001) compared to teachers without voice problems. Voice disorders are frequent among teachers, especially in female teachers. The results of this study emphasize that multiple factors are involved in the development of voice disorders.

Effect of voice therapy in sulcus vocalis: A single case study

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R. Rajasudhakar

2016-02-01

Full Text Available Background: Sulcus vocalis is a structural deformity of the vocal ligament. It is the focal invagination of the epithelium deeply attaching to the vocal ligament. There is a dearth of literature on the outcome of voice therapy in sulcus vocalis condition.Objective: The primary objective of this study was to document voice characteristics of sulcus vocalis and the secondary objective was to establish the efficacy of voice therapy in a patient with sulcus vocalis.Method: A trial of voice therapy was given to the client who was diagnosed as having sulcus vocalis. Boon’s facilitation techniques were used in voice therapy along with other techniques such as breath holding and push and pull approach prior to surgery. Acoustic, aerodynamic, perceptual, quantitative measures of voice quality and self-rating measurements were performed before and after voice therapy.Results: Improvement was noticed in 10/10 acoustic, 4/4 aerodynamic, perceptual, dysphonia severity index and voice handicap index scores, which hinted that voice therapy can be an option critically for clients with sulcus vocalis in the initial stage.Conclusion: Voice therapy showed promising improvement in the study and it must be recommended as the initial treatment option before any surgical management.

A Wireless LAN and Voice Information System for Underground Coal Mine

OpenAIRE

Yu Zhang; Wei Yang; Dongsheng Han; Young-Il Kim

2014-01-01

In this paper we constructed a wireless information system, and developed a wireless voice communication subsystem based on Wireless Local Area Networks (WLAN) for underground coal mine, which employs Voice over IP (VoIP) technology and Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) to achieve wireless voice dispatching communications. The master control voice dispatching interface and call terminal software are also developed on the WLAN ground server side to manage and implement the voice dispatching co...

Why Is My Voice Changing? (For Teens)

Science.gov (United States)

... enter puberty earlier or later than others. How Deep Will My Voice Get? How deep a guy's voice gets depends on his genes: ... of Use Notice of Nondiscrimination Visit the Nemours Web site. Note: All information on TeensHealth® is for ...

Institutional Tendencies of Legitimate Evaluation: A Comparison of Finnish and English Higher Education Evaluations

Science.gov (United States)

Vartiainen, Pirkko

2005-01-01

This article analyses institutional evaluations of higher education in England and Finland through the concept of legitimacy. The focus of the article is on the institutional tendencies of legitimacy. This author's hypothesis is that evaluation is legitimate when the evaluation process is of a good quality and accepted both morally and in practice…

Acoustic Analysis of Voice in Singers: A Systematic Review

Science.gov (United States)

Gunjawate, Dhanshree R.; Ravi, Rohit; Bellur, Rajashekhar

2018-01-01

Purpose: Singers are vocal athletes having specific demands from their voice and require special consideration during voice evaluation. Presently, there is a lack of standards for acoustic evaluation in them. The aim of the present study was to systematically review the available literature on the acoustic analysis of voice in singers. Method: A…

Acoustic analysis with vocal loading test in occupational voice disorders: outcomes before and after voice therapy.

Science.gov (United States)

Niebudek-Bogusz, Ewa; Kotyło, Piotr; Politański, Piotr; Sliwińska-Kowalska, Mariola

2008-01-01

To assess the usefulness of acoustic analysis with vocal loading test for evaluating the treatment outcomes in occupational voice disorders. Fifty-one female teachers with dysphonia were examined (Voice Handicap Index--VHI, laryngovideostroboscopy and acoustic analysis with vocal loading) before and after treatment. The outcomes of teachers receiving vocal training (group I) were referred to outcomes of group II receiving only voice hygiene instructions. The results of subjective assessment (VHI score) and objective evaluation (acoustic analysis) improved more significantly in group I than in group II. The post-treatment examination revealed a decreased percentage of subjects with deteriorated jitter parameters after vocal loading, particularly in group I. Acoustic analysis with vocal loading test can be a helpful tool in the diagnosis and evaluation of treatment efficacy in occupational dysphonia.

Voice Quality Measuring Setup with Automatic Voice over IP Call Generator and Lawful Interception Packet Analyzer

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PLEVA Matus

Full Text Available This paper describes the packet measuring laboratory setup, which could be used also for lawful interception applications, using professional packet analyzer, Voice over IP call generator, free call server (Asterisk linux setup and appropriate software and hardware described below. This setup was used for measuring the quality of the automatically generated VoIP calls under stressed network conditions, when the call manager server was flooded with high bandwidth traffic, near the bandwidth limit of the connected switch. The call generator realizes 30 calls simultaneously and the packet capturer & analyzercould decode the VoIP traffic, extract RTP session data, automatically analyze the voice quality using standardized MOS (Mean Opinion Score values and describe also the source of the voice degradation (jitter, packet loss, codec, delay, etc..

Trends in Singing Voice Research: An Innovative Approach.

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Pestana, Pedro Melo; Vaz-Freitas, Susana; Manso, Maria Conceição

2018-01-11

The objectives of this study were to trace and describe research patterns in singing voice, to compare the amount of published research over time, to identify journals that published most papers on "singing voice," and to establish the most frequent research topics. The study uses qualitative and quantitative approaches through descriptive statistics, text mining, and clustering. The authors conducted a search to identify scientific papers. The titles and abstracts were analyzed regarding word frequency and relations between them, through hierarchical cluster analysis and co-occurrence networks. The frequency of journals was calculated, as well as the amount of papers across time. Since 1949, 754 papers were published and an increase was noticed. Even though 162 journals were identified by the authors, the Journal of Voice holds the majority of papers, in every analyzed period. An evolution of studied topics is described. Up to 2010, the main theme was professional singers, especially classical and opera interpreters. Since then, voice quality and the effects of training gathered more attention. The growing interest in singing has been conspicuous since the first indexed paper. However, it has been slightly slowing down. Until 2010, great importance was given to the voice quality of singers and their occupational demands. Acoustic analysis was widely used to study the effects of training. Since 2010, the concern with functionality is increasing, rather than the organic voice structures. Musical perception studies have been a trend, as well as the use of electroglottography. Copyright © 2017 The Voice Foundation. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Stated product formulation preferences for HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis among women in the VOICE-D (MTN-003D) study.

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Luecke, Ellen H; Cheng, Helen; Woeber, Kubashni; Nakyanzi, Teopista; Mudekunye-Mahaka, Imelda C; van der Straten, Ariane

2016-01-01

The effectiveness of HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) requires consistent and correct product use, thus a deeper understanding of women's stated product formulation preferences, and the correlates of those preferences, can help guide future research. VOICE-D (MTN-003D), a qualitative ancillary study conducted after the VOICE trial, retrospectively explored participants' tablet and gel use, as well as their preferences for other potential PrEP product formulations. We conducted an analysis of quantitative and qualitative data from VOICE-D participants. During in-depth interviews, women were presented with pictures and descriptions of eight potential PrEP product formulations, including the oral tablet and vaginal gel tested in VOICE, and asked to discuss which product formulations they would prefer to use and why. Seven of the original product formulations displayed were combined into preferred product formulation categories based on exploratory factor and latent class analyses. We examined demographic and behavioural correlates of these preferred product formulation categories. In-depth interviews with participants were conducted, coded, and analysed for themes related to product preference. Of the 68 female participants who completed in-depth interviews (22 South Africa, 24 Zimbabwe, 22 Uganda), median age was 28 (range 21-41), 81% were HIV negative, and 49% were married or living with a partner. Four preferred product formulation categories were identified via exploratory factor analysis: 1) oral tablets; 2) vaginal gel; 3) injectable, implant, or vaginal ring; and 4) vaginal film or suppository. A majority of women (81%) expressed a preference for product formulations included in category 3. Characteristics significantly associated with each preferred product category differed. Attributes described by participants as being important in a preferred product formulation included duration of activity, ease of use, route of administration, clinic- versus self

Discriminating male and female voices: differentiating pitch and gender.

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Latinus, Marianne; Taylor, Margot J

2012-04-01

Gender is salient, socially critical information obtained from faces and voices, yet the brain processes underlying gender discrimination have not been well studied. We investigated neural correlates of gender processing of voices in two ERP studies. In the first, ERP differences were seen between female and male voices starting at 87 ms, in both spatial-temporal and peak analyses, particularly the fronto-central N1 and P2. As pitch differences may drive gender differences, the second study used normal, high- and low-pitch voices. The results of these studies suggested that differences in pitch produced early effects (27-63 ms). Gender effects were seen on N1 (120 ms) with implicit pitch processing (study 1), but were not seen with manipulations of pitch (study 2), demonstrating that N1 was modulated by attention. P2 (between 170 and 230 ms) discriminated male from female voices, independent of pitch. Thus, these data show that there are two stages in voice gender processing; a very early pitch or frequency discrimination and a later more accurate determination of gender at the P2 latency.

Student voice: An emerging discourse in Irish education policy

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Domnall Fleming

2015-09-01

Full Text Available In positioning student voice within the Irish education policy discourse it is imperative that this emergent and complex concept is explored and theorized in the context of its definition and motivation. Student voice can then be positioned and critiqued as it emerged within Irish education policy primarily following Ireland’s ratification of the United Nations Charter on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC in 1992. Initially emerging in policy from a rights-based and democratic citizenship perspective, the student council became the principal construct for student voice in Irish post-primary schools. While central to the policy discourse, the student council construct has become tokenistic and redundant in practice. School evaluation policy, both external and internal, became a further catalyst for student voice in Ireland. Both processes further challenge and contest the motivation for student voice and point to the concept as an instrument for school improvement and performativity that lacks any centrality for a person-centered, rights-based, dialogic and consultative student voice within an inclusive classroom and school culture.

Perception of Paralinguistic Traits in Synthesized Voices

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Baird, Alice Emily; Hasse Jørgensen, Stina; Parada-Cabaleiro, Emilia

2017-01-01

Along with the rise of artificial intelligence and the internet-of-things, synthesized voices are now common in daily–life, providing us with guidance, assistance, and even companionship. From formant to concatenative synthesis, the synthesized voice continues to be defined by the same traits we...

Peripheral and subversive: Women making connections and challenging the boundaries of the science community

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Davis, Kathleen S.

2001-07-01

Researchers continue to report the underrepresentation of females in the science professions (AAUW, 1992; NSF, 1999; Vetter, 1992). Investigators have illuminated many factors that contribute to the insider status in the science community of some groups and the peripheral/outsider status of women and girls (Brickhouse, 1994; Delamont, 1989; Harding, 1991; Schiebinger, 1989). Some research has shown that supportive science networks have had a positive influence on women's participation and retention in science practices (AAUW, 1992; Keith & Keith, 1989; Kreinberg & Lewis, 1996; Varanka-Martin, 1996). In order to provide a better understanding of the role social capital plays in women's legitimate participation in science, I draw upon the findings of a qualitative study that examines the valued capital, ways, and practices of a support group for women working in the sciences at an academic research institution. Findings from this study indicate how women 1) were given little access to powerful networks in science that would provide them with opportunities to acquire the knowledge, skills, and resources necessary to be legitimate in the traditional sense, and 2) encountered many obstacles in their attempts to develop networks and make such connections between themselves and other women. Findings also indicate that, despite these impediments, the support group provided a meaningful and resourceful network through which they developed a critical perspective of legitimacy as they sought to make explicit the culture of science. Participants not only employed the traditional methods of scientific inquiry, but also acknowledged and valued the voices and experiences of those from nondominant groups. They constructed a new discourse that was inclusive of diverse voices, created new career pathways, and developed a vision of mentoring that facilitated females' development of a critical view of the science community and their legitimate participation.

Voice as Form of Life and Life Form

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Sandra Laugier

2015-10-01

Full Text Available This paper studies the concept of form of life as central to ordinary language philosophy (as understood in Wittgenstein’s, Austin’s and Stanley Cavell’s work: philosophy of our language as spoken; pronounced by a human voice within a form of life. Such an approach to Wittgenstein’s later philosophy shifts the question of the common use of language – central to Wittgenstein’s Investigations – to the definition of the subject as voice, and to the reinvention of subjectivity in language. The voice is both a subjective and common expression: it is what makes it possible for my individual voice, or claim, to become shared and for our forms of life to be intertwined with a lifeform.

The effect of singing training on voice quality for people with quadriplegia.

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Tamplin, Jeanette; Baker, Felicity A; Buttifant, Mary; Berlowitz, David J

2014-01-01

Despite anecdotal reports of voice impairment in quadriplegia, the exact nature of these impairments is not well described in the literature. This article details objective and subjective voice assessments for people with quadriplegia at baseline and after a respiratory-targeted singing intervention. Randomized controlled trial. Twenty-four participants with quadriplegia were randomly assigned to a 12-week program of either a singing intervention or active music therapy control. Recordings of singing and speech were made at baseline, 6 weeks, 12 weeks, and 6 months postintervention. These deidentified recordings were used to measure sound pressure levels and assess voice quality using the Multidimensional Voice Profile and the Perceptual Voice Profile. Baseline voice quality data indicated deviation from normality in the areas of breathiness, strain, and roughness. A greater percentage of intervention participants moved toward more normal voice quality in terms of jitter, shimmer, and noise-to-harmonic ratio; however, the improvements failed to achieve statistical significance. Subjective and objective assessments of voice quality indicate that quadriplegia may have a detrimental effect on voice quality; in particular, causing a perception of roughness and breathiness in the voice. The results of this study suggest that singing training may have a role in ameliorating these voice impairments. Copyright © 2014 The Voice Foundation. Published by Mosby, Inc. All rights reserved.

Voice hearing within the context of hearers' social worlds: an interpretative phenomenological analysis.

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Mawson, Amy; Berry, Katherine; Murray, Craig; Hayward, Mark

2011-09-01

Research has found relational qualities of power and intimacy to exist within hearer-voice interactions. The present study aimed to provide a deeper understanding of the interpersonal context of voice hearing by exploring participants' relationships with their voices and other people in their lives. This research was designed in consultation with service users and employed a qualitative, phenomenological, and idiographic design using semi-structured interviews. Ten participants, recruited via mental health services, and who reported hearing voices in the previous week, completed the interviews. These were transcribed verbatim and analysed using interpretative phenomenological analysis. Five themes resulted from the analysis. Theme 1: 'person and voice' demonstrated that participants' voices often reflected the identity, but not always the quality of social acquaintances. Theme 2: 'voices changing and confirming relationship with the self' explored the impact of voice hearing in producing an inferior sense-of-self in comparison to others. Theme 3: 'a battle for control' centred on issues of control and a dilemma of independence within voice relationships. Theme 4: 'friendships facilitating the ability to cope' and theme 5: 'voices creating distance in social relationships' explored experiences of social relationships within the context of voice hearing, and highlighted the impact of social isolation for voice hearers. The study demonstrated the potential role of qualitative research in developing theories of voice hearing. It extended previous research by highlighting the interface between voices and the social world of the hearer, including reciprocal influences of social relationships on voices and coping. Improving voice hearers' sense-of-self may be a key factor in reducing the distress caused by voices. ©2010 The British Psychological Society.

Employee voice and engagement : Connections and consequences

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Rees, C.; Alfes, K.; Gatenby, M.

2013-01-01

This paper considers the relationship between employee voice and employee engagement. Employee perceptions of voice behaviour aimed at improving the functioning of the work group are found to have both a direct impact and an indirect impact on levels of employee engagement. Analysis of data from two

Voices in Suicide. The Relationship between the Firestone Voice Scale for Self-Destructive Behavior and Self-Destructive Life-Styles.

Science.gov (United States)

Firestone, Robert W.

This article presents findings from recent research demonstrating a significant relationship between parental introjects or "voices," and self-destructive behavior. The "voice" is defined as a systematized, integrated pattern of negative thoughts accompanied by angry affect, that is the basis of an individual's maladaptive…

Controlling An Electric Car Starter System Through Voice

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A.B. Muhammad Firdaus

2015-04-01

Full Text Available Abstract These days automotive has turned into a stand out amongst the most well-known modes of transportation on the grounds that a large number of Malaysians could bear to have an auto. There are numerous decisions of innovations in auto that have in the market. One of the engineering is voice controlled framework. Voice Recognition is the procedure of consequently perceiving a certain statement talked by a specific speaker focused around individual data included in discourse waves. This paper is to make an car controlled by voice of human. An essential pre-processing venture in Voice Recognition systems is to recognize the vicinity of noise. Sensitivity to speech variability lacking recognition precision and helplessness to mimic are among the principle specialized obstacles that keep the far reaching selection of speech-based recognition systems. Voice recognition systems work sensibly well with a quiet conditions however inadequately under loud conditions or in twisted channels. The key focus of the project is to control an electric car starter system.

Shielding voices: The modulation of binding processes between voice features and response features by task representations.

Science.gov (United States)

Bogon, Johanna; Eisenbarth, Hedwig; Landgraf, Steffen; Dreisbach, Gesine

2017-09-01

Vocal events offer not only semantic-linguistic content but also information about the identity and the emotional-motivational state of the speaker. Furthermore, most vocal events have implications for our actions and therefore include action-related features. But the relevance and irrelevance of vocal features varies from task to task. The present study investigates binding processes for perceptual and action-related features of spoken words and their modulation by the task representation of the listener. Participants reacted with two response keys to eight different words spoken by a male or a female voice (Experiment 1) or spoken by an angry or neutral male voice (Experiment 2). There were two instruction conditions: half of participants learned eight stimulus-response mappings by rote (SR), and half of participants applied a binary task rule (TR). In both experiments, SR instructed participants showed clear evidence for binding processes between voice and response features indicated by an interaction between the irrelevant voice feature and the response. By contrast, as indicated by a three-way interaction with instruction, no such binding was found in the TR instructed group. These results are suggestive of binding and shielding as two adaptive mechanisms that ensure successful communication and action in a dynamic social environment.

Irish Accents, Foreign Voices: Mediated Agency and Authenticity in In the Name of the Father and Fifty Dead Men Walking

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Nicole Ives-Allison

2013-06-01

Full Text Available Given the intensity of narrative contestation over the public history of and discourse around the modern period of Northern Irish civil conflict known locally as ‘the Troubles’, for filmmakers from outside of Northern Ireland to be seen as making a legitimate contribution to existing debates, there is a pressure for their film texts to be read as ‘authentic’. This desire for authenticity fundamentally shapes the narrative approach taken by these filmmakers. Various filmmaking strategies have been employed in the pursuit of authenticity, but both Jim Sheridan’s In the Name of the Father (1993 and Kari Skogland’s Fifty Dead Men Walking (2008 have taken a distinctly narrative approach, relying upon local written autobiographical material. However, the way in which Sheridan and Skogland have sought to deploy the authenticity embedded in locally grounded source material flirts with self-defeatism as both films problematically obscure the limitations on agency imposed by the filmmakers on the local voices upon who claims of authenticity, and thus the films’ legitimacy, depend.

Speech-Language Pathology production regarding voice in popular singing.

Science.gov (United States)

Drumond, Lorena Badaró; Vieira, Naymme Barbosa; Oliveira, Domingos Sávio Ferreira de

2011-12-01

To present a literature review about the Brazilian scientific production in Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology regarding voice in popular singing in the last decade, as for number of publications, musical styles studied, focus of the researches, and instruments used for data collection. Cross-sectional descriptive study carried out in two stages: search in databases and publications encompassing the last decade of researches in this area in Brazil, and reading of the material obtained for posterior categorization. The databases LILACS and SciELO, the Databasis of Dissertations and Theses organized by CAPES, the online version of Acta ORL, and the online version of OPUS were searched, using the following uniterms: voice, professional voice, singing voice, dysphonia, voice disorders, voice training, music, dysodia. Articles published between the years 2000 and 2010 were selected. The researches found were classified and categorized after reading their abstracts and, when necessary, the whole study. Twenty researches within the proposed theme were selected, all of which were descriptive, involving several musical styles. Twelve studies focused on the evaluation of the popular singer's voice, and the most frequently used data collection instrument was the auditory-perceptual evaluation. The results of the publications found corroborate the objectives proposed by the authors and the different methodologies. The number of studies published is still restricted when compared to the diversity of musical genres and the uniqueness of popular singer.

Violence in schools and the voice of teachers.

Science.gov (United States)

Dornelas, Rodrigo; Santos, Thaynara Alves Dos; Oliveira, Daniela Sena de; Irineu, Roxane de Alencar; Brito, Aline; Silva, Kelly

2017-08-10

To correlate self-reporting of voice disorders with habits that impact voice production and situations of violence experienced by teachers. The study involved 41 elementary-school teachers of rural and urban areas. Two instruments were used for data collection: The Vocal Production Condition - Teacher (CPV-P) questionnaire and the Screening Index for Voice Disorders - ITDV. The chi-square test was used to verify association among variables with a significance level of 5%. The sample consisted of 8 men and 33 women aged 25-66 years with a median of 39 years. Regarding vocal habits, 33 people (80.5%) mentioned the screaming as usual practice, 40 people (97.5%) declared they talk a lot. As for voice care, 31 people (73.1%) reported drinking water while using their voice. As for the ITDV total score, 30 teachers (73.1%) were above the score threshold set for predisposition to vocal disorders. Statistical analysis revealed a significant association between female participants and complaint of graffiti writings as a type of violence. No significant correlation between the ITDV results with gender and the ITDV with forms of violence evaluated in the study was indicated. Self-reporting of voice disorders showed no significant relationship with acts of violence. However, analysis of the context of violence in schools and vocal problems are issues worthy of attention, particularly the observed naturalization of gender inssues, which is seldom problematized.

[The prevalence, causes and specific features of voice disturbances in teachers].

Science.gov (United States)

Orlova, O S; Vasilenko, Iu S; Zakharova, A F; Samokhvalova, L O; Kozlova, P A

2000-01-01

The paper analyzes voice disturbances, their causes and specific features in teachers based on the questionnaires filled by 934 general educational school teachers. The teachers have been found to associate voice disturbances not only with changes in the voice timbre, but with different subjective feelings that make their professional activity difficult. The major factors that cause voice disturbances are the voice overloads that differ in teachers of different specialities, their inability to use the voice, psychoemotional stresses, and frequent colds, as well as a combination of several factors. The incidence of vocal apparatus diseases does not tend to decrease, which makes it necessary to implement combined medical and pedagogical prophylactic measures to prevent dysphonia.

Construção, usos sociais e busca de legitimidade das tecnologias da geoinformação do INPE | Construction, social uses and legitimation of geioinformational technologies at INPE

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Paulo Augusto Sobral Escada

2012-04-01

Full Text Available Resumo Este artigo analisa a experiência de um grupo de cientistas e especialistas do Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas Espaciais (INPE que buscou consolidar e legitimar, ao longo de duas décadas, um modo próprio de produção de conhecimento científico e tecnológico. Mudanças de paradigma da Política de C&T, nos anos 1990, retiraram o apoio governamental de seus desenvolvimentos, obrigando-os a mudar suas ações estratégicas para que permitisse manter e preservar o modelo endógeno e autônomo de produção do conhecimento. O artigo trabalha com a perspectiva de Pierre Bourdieu (2001, aplicada ao campo científico, e a noção de “translação” de Bruno Latour (2000. A abordagem sociológica contempla e naturaliza os jogos de interesses e disputas no interior do campo científico, bem como destaca o processo de legitimação científica e social do conhecimento. O artigo tem como objetivo principal oferecer uma contribuição aos processos de discussão do modelo das políticas de CTI, principalmente na definição dos conhecimentos a serem produzidos e absorvidos pelo processo de desenvolvimento econômico e social do país. O artigo destaca a necessidade de se ampliar e aprofundar mecanismos democráticos, adotando maior inclusão e transparência nas disputas do campo científico e das políticas de C&T, condições básicas para alcançar um consenso geral que permita emergir um desenvolvimento desejado e planejado por boa parte da sociedade. Palavras-chave Sociologia do Conhecimento, produção de conhecimento, legitimação, democracia e desenvolvimento Abstract This article analyzes the experience of a group of scientists and specialists from the National Institute of Space Research (INPE who aimed to consolidate and legitimize, throughout two decades, its own way of producing scientific and technological knowledge. Changes of paradigm in Science, Technology and Innovation (STI Politics, during the 90s, removed governmental

The Virtual Man Project's CD-ROM "Voice Assessment: Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology & Medicine", Vol.1

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Millena Maria Ramalho Matta Vieira

2009-01-01

Full Text Available The CD-ROM "Voice Assessment: Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology & Medicine" was developed as a teaching tool for people interested in the production of the spoken or sung human voice. Its content comprises several subjects concerning the anatomy and physiology of spoken and sung voice. A careful assessment becomes necessary in order to ensure the effectiveness of teaching and learning educational materials, whether related to education or health, within the proposal of education mediated by technology. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to evaluate the efficacy of the Virtual Man Project's CD-ROM "Voice Assessment: Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology & Medicine", as a self-learning material, in two different populations: Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology students and Lyrical Singing students. The participants were instructed to study the CD-ROM during 1 month and answer two questionnaires: one before and another one after studying the CD-ROM. The quantitative results were compared statistically by the Student's t-test at a significance level of 5%. RESULTS: Seventeen out of the 28 students who completed the study, were Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology students, while 11 were Lyrical Singing students (dropout rate of 44%. Comparison of the answers to the questionnaires before and after studying the CD-ROM showed a statistically significant increase of the scores for the questionnaire applied after studying the CD-ROM for both Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology and Lyrical Singing students, with p<0.001 and p<0.004, respectively. There was also a statistically significant difference in all topics of this questionnaire for both groups of students. CONCLUSION: The results concerning the evaluation of the Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology and Lyrical Singing students' knowledge before and after learning from the CD-ROM allowed concluding that the participants made significant improvement in their knowledge of the proposed

Voluntary disclosures of intangible assets and legitimization: The production industry of olive oil Divulgación voluntaria de intangibles y legitimación: La industria productora de aceite de oliva Voluntary disclosures of intangible assets and legitimization: The production industry of olive oil

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Francisca Castilla-Polo

2012-12-01

Full Text Available Purpose: The aim of this paper is to analyze whether the decision to disclose intangible assets could be explained by Institutional Theory. Our interest is to provide evidence of his interpretative capacity through an empirical study applied to the olive oil mill industry. Design/methodology/approach: We used a mixed methodological design that combines quantitative and qualitative methods. Findings: In an industry like olive oil mills, not use to providing additional information on intangible assets on a voluntary basis, social legitimization can be seen as a long-term objective because of the lack of urgency associated to it. Instead, a more pragmatic behavior concerned with economic legitimization has been observed, such as those that have been already found. Research limitations/implications: Greater efforts should be made to complete comparative results in a specific industry as well as we consider necessary to analyze longitudinally the evolution of the relationship legitimation-disclosure of intangibles. Originality/value: The results obtained help contribute to the literature coming from Institutional Theory in the sense that the legitimization of a new practice can vary between industries according to the state of the process of its institutionalization in each of them.Objeto: El objetivo de este trabajo es analizar si la decisión de divulgar información sobre intangibles puede ser explicada por la Teoría Institucional. Nuestro interés es proporcionar evidencia de su capacidad interpretativa a través del estudio de la industria productora de aceite de oliva. Diseño/metodología: Empleamos un diseño mixto que combina métodos cuantitativos y cualitativos. Aportaciones y resultados: En una industria como la del aceite de oliva, poco dada a proporcionar información adicional sobre intangibles de manera voluntaria, la legitimación social se considera un objetivo a largo plazo, no así la legitimación económica que sí se asocia al

Performer's attitudes toward seeking health care for voice issues: understanding the barriers.

Science.gov (United States)

Gilman, Marina; Merati, Albert L; Klein, Adam M; Hapner, Edie R; Johns, Michael M

2009-03-01

Contemporary commercial music (CCM) performers rely heavily on their voice, yet may not be aware of the importance of proactive voice care. This investigation intends to identify perceptions and barriers to seeking voice care among CCM artists. This cross-sectional observational study used a 10-item Likert-based response questionnaire to assess current perceptions regarding voice care in a population of randomly selected participants of professional CCM conference. Subjects (n=78) were queried regarding their likelihood to seek medical care for minor medical problems and specifically problems with their voice. Additional questions investigated anxiety about seeking voice care from a physician specialist, speech language pathologist, or voice coach; apprehension regarding findings of laryngeal examination, laryngeal imaging procedures; and the effect of medical insurance on the likelihood of seeking medical care. Eighty-two percent of subjects reported that their voice was a critical part of their profession; 41% stated that they were not likely to seek medical care for problems with their voice; and only 19% were reluctant to seek care for general medical problems (Peducation about the importance of voice care is needed in this population of vocal performers.

Voice Disorder Classification Based on Multitaper Mel Frequency Cepstral Coefficients Features

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Ömer Eskidere

2015-01-01

Full Text Available The Mel Frequency Cepstral Coefficients (MFCCs are widely used in order to extract essential information from a voice signal and became a popular feature extractor used in audio processing. However, MFCC features are usually calculated from a single window (taper characterized by large variance. This study shows investigations on reducing variance for the classification of two different voice qualities (normal voice and disordered voice using multitaper MFCC features. We also compare their performance by newly proposed windowing techniques and conventional single-taper technique. The results demonstrate that adapted weighted Thomson multitaper method could distinguish between normal voice and disordered voice better than the results done by the conventional single-taper (Hamming window technique and two newly proposed windowing methods. The multitaper MFCC features may be helpful in identifying voices at risk for a real pathology that has to be proven later.

[Voice assessment and demographic data of applicants for a school of speech therapists].

Science.gov (United States)

Reiter, R; Brosch, S

2008-05-01

Demographic data, subjective und objective voice analysis as well as self-assessment of voice quality from applicants for a school of speech therapists were investigated. Demographic data from 116 applicants were collected and their voice quality assessed by three independent judges. An objective evaluation was done by maximum phonation time, average fundamental frequency, dynamic range and percent of jitter and shimmer by means of Goettinger Hoarseness diagram. Self-assessment of voice quality was done by "voice handicap index questionnaire". The twenty successful applicants had a physiological voice in 95 %, they were all musical and had university entrance qualifications. Subjective voice assessment showed in 16 % of the applicants a hoarse voice. In this subgroup an unphysiological vocal use was observed in 72 % and a reduced articulation in 45 %. The objective voice parameters did not show a significant difference between the 3 groups. Self-assessment of the voice was inconspicuous in all applicants. Applicants with general qualification for university entrance, musicality and a physiological voice were more likely to be successful. There were main differences between self assessment of voice and quantitative analysis or subjective assessment by three independent judges.

Compliance and quality of life in patients on prescribed voice rest.

Science.gov (United States)

Rousseau, Bernard; Cohen, Seth M; Zeller, Amy S; Scearce, Leda; Tritter, Andrew G; Garrett, C Gaelyn

2011-01-01

To determine patient compliance with voice rest and the impact of voice rest on quality of life (QOL). Prospective. University hospital. Demographics, self-reported compliance, QOL impact on a 100-mm visual analog scale (VAS), and communication methods were collected from 84 participants from 2 academic voice centers. Of 84 participants, 36.9% were men, 63.1% were women, and 64.3% were singers. The mean age of participants was 47.2 years. The mean duration of voice rest was 8.8 days (range, 3-28), and the median was 7 days. Overall compliance was 34.5%. Postoperative voice rest patients were more compliant than non-postoperative patients (42.4% vs 16.0%, P = .04, χ(2)). Voice rest had an impact on QOL (mean ± SD, 68.5 ± 27.7). Voice rest also had a greater impact on singers than nonsingers (mean VAS 77.2 vs 63.6, P = .03, t test) and on those age <60 years than those age ≥ 60 years (mean VAS 74.4 vs 46.7, P < .001, t test). More talkative patients and those with longer periods of voice rest had worse QOL scores (Spearman correlation = 0.35, P = .001 and Spearman correlation = 0.24, P = .03, respectively). Restrictions in personal and social life were noted in 36.9% of patients, 46.4% were unable to work, 44.0% felt frustrated, and 38.1% reported feeling handicapped while on voice rest. Given poor patient compliance and the significant impact of voice rest on QOL, further studies are warranted to examine the efficacy of voice rest and factors that may contribute to patient noncompliance with treatment.

Detection of Pathological Voice Using Cepstrum Vectors: A Deep Learning Approach.

Science.gov (United States)

Fang, Shih-Hau; Tsao, Yu; Hsiao, Min-Jing; Chen, Ji-Ying; Lai, Ying-Hui; Lin, Feng-Chuan; Wang, Chi-Te

2018-03-19

Computerized detection of voice disorders has attracted considerable academic and clinical interest in the hope of providing an effective screening method for voice diseases before endoscopic confirmation. This study proposes a deep-learning-based approach to detect pathological voice and examines its performance and utility compared with other automatic classification algorithms. This study retrospectively collected 60 normal voice samples and 402 pathological voice samples of 8 common clinical voice disorders in a voice clinic of a tertiary teaching hospital. We extracted Mel frequency cepstral coefficients from 3-second samples of a sustained vowel. The performances of three machine learning algorithms, namely, deep neural network (DNN), support vector machine, and Gaussian mixture model, were evaluated based on a fivefold cross-validation. Collective cases from the voice disorder database of MEEI (Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary) were used to verify the performance of the classification mechanisms. The experimental results demonstrated that DNN outperforms Gaussian mixture model and support vector machine. Its accuracy in detecting voice pathologies reached 94.26% and 90.52% in male and female subjects, based on three representative Mel frequency cepstral coefficient features. When applied to the MEEI database for validation, the DNN also achieved a higher accuracy (99.32%) than the other two classification algorithms. By stacking several layers of neurons with optimized weights, the proposed DNN algorithm can fully utilize the acoustic features and efficiently differentiate between normal and pathological voice samples. Based on this pilot study, future research may proceed to explore more application of DNN from laboratory and clinical perspectives. Copyright © 2018 The Voice Foundation. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

CONVERSATIONS -- AND NEGOTIATED INTERACTION -- IN TEXT AND VOICE CHAT ROOMS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kevin Jepson

2005-09-01

Full Text Available Despite the expanded use of the Internet for language learning and practice, little attention if any has been given to the quality of interaction among English L2 speakers in conversational text or voice chat rooms. This study explored the patterns of repair moves in synchronous non-native speaker (NNS text chat rooms in comparison to voice chat rooms on the Internet. The following questions were posed: (a Which types of repair moves occur in text and voice chats; and (b what are the differences, if any, between the repair moves in text chats and voice chats when time is held constant? Repair moves made by anonymous NNSs in 10, 5-minute, synchronous chat room sessions (5 text-chat sessions, 5 voice-chat sessions were counted and analyzed using chi-square with alpha set at .05. Significant differences were found between the higher number of total repair moves made in voice chats and the smaller number in text chats. Qualitative data analysis showed that repair work in voice chats was often pronunciation-related. The study includes discussion that may affect teachers' and learners' considerations of the value of NNS chat room interaction for second language development.

The Voice Pump: an Affectively Engaging Interface for Changing Attachments

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Fritsch, Jonas; Jacobsen, Mogens

2017-01-01

In this paper, we present the preliminary results from an ongoing interaction design experiment, the Voice Pump. The Voice Pump is an affectively engaging air-based interface for attuning to the differential qualities of voices in order to change attachments between native Danish speakers and non-native...

Bodies and Voices

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

A wide-ranging collection of essays centred on readings of the body in contemporary literary and socio-anthropological discourse, from slavery and rape to female genital mutilation, from clothing, ocular pornography, voice, deformation and transmutation to the imprisoned, dismembered, remembered...

47 CFR 90.233 - Base/mobile non-voice operations.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... 47 Telecommunication 5 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Base/mobile non-voice operations. 90.233... SERVICES PRIVATE LAND MOBILE RADIO SERVICES Non-Voice and Other Specialized Operations § 90.233 Base/mobile non-voice operations. The use of A1D, A2D, F1D, F2D, G1D, or G2D emission may be authorized to base...

Giving Voice to Emotion: Voice Analysis Technology Uncovering Mental States is Playing a Growing Role in Medicine, Business, and Law Enforcement.

Science.gov (United States)

Allen, Summer

2016-01-01

It's tough to imagine anything more frustrating than interacting with a call center. Generally, people don't reach out to call centers when they?re happy-they're usually trying to get help with a problem or gearing up to do battle over a billing error. Add in an automatic phone tree, and you have a recipe for annoyance. But what if that robotic voice offering you a smorgasbord of numbered choices could tell that you were frustrated and then funnel you to an actual human being? This type of voice analysis technology exists, and it's just one example of the many ways that computers can use your voice to extract information about your mental and emotional state-including information you may not think of as being accessible through your voice alone.

Carbon footprints and legitimation strategies: Symbolism or action?

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hrasky, S. [Univ. of Tasmania (Australia)

2009-07-01

The term 'carbon footprint' is now firmly entrenched in the common vernacular where it tends to function ideographically, representing a range of concerns about environmental impacts and degradation. Political and consumer concern about the related issues of carbon emissions, climate change and global warming has been heightened by a number of factors. It is often claimed that, along with the US, Australia has one of the heaviest carbon footprints. However, according to KPMG's (2008) survey results only 32 per cent of the Australian companies included in its survey report specifically on their carbon footprints. Nonetheless, KPMG (2007) reports that around 85 per cent of the 500 largest listed Australian companies do report on the related issues of climate change and greenhouse gas emissions. Motivations for making such disclosures can vary widely but legitimacy theory has been used extensively to explain environmental disclosure decisions in the context of maintaining an implicit social contract between the company and its stakeholders. While, prima facie, increased levels of voluntary disclosures may be a constructive outcome there is the associated risk that, in pursuit of legitimation, such disclosure can actually 'thicken' the corporate veil. This can occur because organizational action to maintain the social contact can be both symbolic and behavioral. That is, the disclosure response might be calculated to create a positive impression of the firm's activities with no associated change in operations (symbolism) or it might convey a message about how operational changes have been effected that are more consistent with societal expectations. This study examines the disclosure strategies of large Australian companies in light of the heightened societal awareness and concern about issues related to carbon footprints. This first aim is to determine whether, consistent with a general need for legitimation, companies are addressing

Speaker-Sex Discrimination for Voiced and Whispered Vowels at Short Durations.

Science.gov (United States)

Smith, David R R

2016-01-01

Whispered vowels, produced with no vocal fold vibration, lack the periodic temporal fine structure which in voiced vowels underlies the perceptual attribute of pitch (a salient auditory cue to speaker sex). Voiced vowels possess no temporal fine structure at very short durations (below two glottal cycles). The prediction was that speaker-sex discrimination performance for whispered and voiced vowels would be similar for very short durations but, as stimulus duration increases, voiced vowel performance would improve relative to whispered vowel performance as pitch information becomes available. This pattern of results was shown for women's but not for men's voices. A whispered vowel needs to have a duration three times longer than a voiced vowel before listeners can reliably tell whether it's spoken by a man or woman (∼30 ms vs. ∼10 ms). Listeners were half as sensitive to information about speaker-sex when it is carried by whispered compared with voiced vowels.

Phonological experience modulates voice discrimination: Evidence from functional brain networks analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Hu, Xueping; Wang, Xiangpeng; Gu, Yan; Luo, Pei; Yin, Shouhang; Wang, Lijun; Fu, Chao; Qiao, Lei; Du, Yi; Chen, Antao

2017-10-01

Numerous behavioral studies have found a modulation effect of phonological experience on voice discrimination. However, the neural substrates underpinning this phenomenon are poorly understood. Here we manipulated language familiarity to test the hypothesis that phonological experience affects voice discrimination via mediating the engagement of multiple perceptual and cognitive resources. The results showed that during voice discrimination, the activation of several prefrontal regions was modulated by language familiarity. More importantly, the same effect was observed concerning the functional connectivity from the fronto-parietal network to the voice-identity network (VIN), and from the default mode network to the VIN. Our findings indicate that phonological experience could bias the recruitment of cognitive control and information retrieval/comparison processes during voice discrimination. Therefore, the study unravels the neural substrates subserving the modulation effect of phonological experience on voice discrimination, and provides new insights into studying voice discrimination from the perspective of network interactions. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier Inc.

A pilot study of the relations within which hearing voices participates: Towards a functional distinction between voice hearers and controls

NARCIS (Netherlands)

McEnteggart, C.; Barnes-Holmes, Y.; Egger, J.I.M.; Barnes-Holmes, D.

2016-01-01

The current research used the Implicit Relational Assessment Procedure (IRAP) as a preliminary step toward bringing a broad, functional approach to understanding psychosis, by focusing on the specific phenomenon of auditory hallucinations of voices and sounds (often referred to as hearing voices).

A Robust Multimodal Bio metric Authentication Scheme with Voice and Face Recognition

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kasban, H.

2017-01-01

This paper proposes a multimodal biometric scheme for human authentication based on fusion of voice and face recognition. For voice recognition, three categories of features (statistical coefficients, cepstral coefficients and voice timbre) are used and compared. The voice identification modality is carried out using Gaussian Mixture Model (GMM). For face recognition, three recognition methods (Eigenface, Linear Discriminate Analysis (LDA), and Gabor filter) are used and compared. The combination of voice and face biometrics systems into a single multimodal biometrics system is performed using features fusion and scores fusion. This study shows that the best results are obtained using all the features (cepstral coefficients, statistical coefficients and voice timbre features) for voice recognition, LDA face recognition method and scores fusion for the multimodal biometrics system

Voice-activated intelligent radiologic image display

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fisher, P.

1989-01-01

The authors present a computer-based expert computer system called Mammo-Icon, which automatically assists the radiologist's case analysis by reviewing the trigger phrase output of a commercially available voice transcription system in he domain of mammography. A commercially available PC-based voice dictation system is coupled to an expert system implemented on a microcomputer. Software employs the LISP and C computer languages. Mammo-Icon responds to the trigger phrase output of a voice dictation system with a textual discussion of the potential significance of the findings that have been described and a display of reference images that may help the radiologist to confirm a suspected diagnosis or consider additional diagnoses. This results in automatic availability of potentially useful computer-based expert advice, making such systems much more likely to be used in routine clinical practice

Engaging with voices: rethinking the clinical treatment of psychosis.

Science.gov (United States)

Jones, Nev; Shattell, Mona

2013-07-01

Although the hearing voices movement (HVM) has yet to take root in the US to the extent it has in the UK (and parts of Australia and Europe), recent publications and events, including a keynote presentation by UK hearing voices trainer Ron Coleman at the 2012 Annual NAMI convention and a TED 2013 talk in Los Angeles by British voice hearer and psychologist Eleanor Longden, suggest that the tide is starting to turn (Arenella, 2012; Grantham, 2012; Thomas, 2012). At its core, the HVM emphasizes a few basic, but important, points: that antipsychotic pharmacotherapy and various forms of psychotherapy that aim to suppress psychotic experiences are often--for too many people--ineffective or insufficient; that voices and other extreme experiences and beliefs carry important messages that need to be explored rather than silenced, and that voices themselves are often less of the problem than the difficulties individuals have in coping and negotiating with them (Corstens, Escher, & Romme, 2008; Longden, Corstens, Escher, & Romme, 2012; Place, Foxcroft, & Shaw, 2011).

Keep Your Voice Sound: How to Prevent and Avoid Voice Problems

Science.gov (United States)

... Brain Listen Up! Wise Choices Avoid Voice Problems Drink 6 to 8 glasses of water a day. This helps keep your vocal folds moist and healthy. Limit intake of caffeinated or alcoholic drinks. These can dehydrate your body and make the ...

Educational Technology and Student Voice: Examining Teacher Candidates' Perceptions

Science.gov (United States)

Byker, Erik Jon; Putman, S. Michael; Handler, Laura; Polly, Drew

2017-01-01

Student Voice is a term that honors the participatory roles that students have when they enter learning spaces like classrooms. Student Voice is the recognition of students' choice, creativity, and freedom. Seminal educationists--like Dewey and Montessori--centered the purposes of education in the flourishing and valuing of Student Voice. This…

Stage Voice Training in the London Schools.

Science.gov (United States)

Rubin, Lucille S.

This report is the result of a six-week study in which the voice training offerings at four schools of drama in London were examined using interviews of teachers and directors, observation of voice classes, and attendance at studio presentations and public performances. The report covers such topics as: textbooks and references being used; courses…

Inspired Leadership: Engaging the Voice and Embodying Advocacy

OpenAIRE

Jacobs, Kamra Angelica

2017-01-01

The journey of finding my voice has forced me to show up and be seen in my work. I silenced my own voice at a dehumanizing call center, as a faceless target for frustrated customers. l discovered the power of connection by embodying advocacy and engaging my voice and body in my work. Primarily, I listen to my gut and trust my intuition. Secondly, I advocate by speaking up for those who cannot advocate for themselves. During the Streamers production process, when I felt the twinge in my gut,...

A FRAMEWORK FOR INTELLIGENT VOICE-ENABLED E-EDUCATION SYSTEMS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Azeta A. A.

2009-07-01

Full Text Available Although the Internet has received significant attention in recent years, voice is still the most convenient and natural way of communicating between human to human or human to computer. In voice applications, users may have different needs which will require the ability of the system to reason, make decisions, be flexible and adapt to requests during interaction. These needs have placed new requirements in voice application development such as use of advanced models, techniques and methodologies which take into account the needs of different users and environments. The ability of a system to behave close to human reasoning is often mentioned as one of the major requirements for the development of voice applications. In this paper, we present a framework for an intelligent voice-enabled e-Education application and an adaptation of the framework for the development of a prototype Course Registration and Examination (CourseRegExamOnline module. This study is a preliminary report of an ongoing e-Education project containing the following modules: enrollment, course registration and examination, enquiries/information, messaging/collaboration, e-Learning and library. The CourseRegExamOnline module was developed using VoiceXML for the voice user interface(VUI, PHP for the web user interface (WUI, Apache as the middle-ware and MySQL database as back-end. The system would offer dual access modes using the VUI and WUI. The framework would serve as a reference model for developing voice-based e-Education applications. The e-Education system when fully developed would meet the needs of students who are normal users and those with certain forms of disabilities such as visual impairment, repetitive strain injury (RSI, etc, that make reading and writing difficult.

The Influence of the Authoritarian Syndrome on the Process of Legitimation of Government Institutions in Today’s Russia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Елена Борисовна Григорьева

2013-12-01

Full Text Available The article examines the influence of the authoritarian syndrome on the process of legitimization of various bodies and institutions of government, in particular, to establish and maintain a personal type of legitimation. The author offers the analysis of prospects for the transformation of Russian political regime, namely the transfer from the personal type of legitimacy of the political system to the structural type. It shows the dynamics of components of the authoritarian syndrome is widely spread in the mass consciousness of Russians from 1992 to 2012. The article describes a new approach to the authoritarianism, along with cultural, neo-institutional, institutional explanation of the reasons supporting the communication, trust, and an uncritical attitude to the president, stands authoritarian syndrome.

Stakeholder perspectives on a financial sector legitimation process: the case of NGOs and the Equator Principles

NARCIS (Netherlands)

O'Sullivan, N.; O'Dwyer, B.

2009-01-01

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to present an in-depth, context rich, and stakeholder-focused perspective on the legitimation dynamics surrounding the initiation and evolution of one of the key financial sector environmental and social responsibility initiatives in recent years, the Equator

Lactobacilli : Important in biofilm formation on voice prostheses

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Buijssen, Kevin J. D. A.; Harmsen, Hermie J. M.; van der Mei, Henny C.; Busscher, Henk J.; van der Laan, Bernard F. A. M.

OBJECTIVE: We sought to identify bacterial strains responsible for biofilm formation on silicone rubber voice prostheses. STUDY DESIGN: We conducted an analysis of the bacterial population in biofilms on used silicone rubber voice prostheses by using new microbiological methods. METHODS: Two

(ReClaiming Voices: Digital Storytelling and Second Language Learners

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Grigsby Yurimi

2015-06-01

Full Text Available With almost five million English language learners in the United States, digital storytelling is increasingly being used in second language learning classrooms. As a teaching and learning strategy, digital storytelling can promote critical thinking, connect new content with prior knowledge, enhance memory, and foster confidence and motivation for learning. Digital stories possess unique narrative qualities that often center on identity negotiation and the ways culturally and linguistically diverse students make meaning out of their lives. Fostering hands-on, active learning, digital storytelling is an interactive way to include culturally and linguistically diverse students’ voices in a curriculum that may not easily represent them. Practical implementation of digital storytelling is included.

Combined Functional Voice Therapy in Singers With Muscle Tension Dysphonia in Singing.

Science.gov (United States)

Sielska-Badurek, Ewelina; Osuch-Wójcikiewicz, Ewa; Sobol, Maria; Kazanecka, Ewa; Rzepakowska, Anna; Niemczyk, Kazimierz

2017-07-01

The purpose of this study was to evaluate vocal tract function and the voice quality in singers with muscle tension dysphonia (MTD) after undergoing combined functional voice therapy of the singing voice. This is a prospective, randomized study. Forty singers (29 females and 11 males, mean age: 24.6 ± 8.8 years) with MTD were enrolled in the study. The study group consisted of 20 singers who underwent combined functional voice therapy (10-15 individual sessions, 30-40 minutes each). Singers who did not opt for vocal rehabilitation consisted of the control group. Effects of rehabilitation were assessed with videolaryngostroboscopy, palpation of the vocal tract structures, flexible fiberoptic evaluation of the pharynx and the larynx, perceptual speaking and singing voice assessment, acoustic analysis, maximal phonation time, and the Voice Handicap Index. After combined functional voice therapy in the study group, great improvement was noticed in palpation of the vocal tract structures (P singing range obtained from acoustic analysis of glissando (P singing. Development of palpation and perceptual singing voice examination protocols enables one to compare results before and after rehabilitation in clinics. Copyright © 2017 The Voice Foundation. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Using Hierarchical Time Series Clustering Algorithm and Wavelet Classifier for Biometric Voice Classification

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Simon Fong

2012-01-01

Full Text Available Voice biometrics has a long history in biosecurity applications such as verification and identification based on characteristics of the human voice. The other application called voice classification which has its important role in grouping unlabelled voice samples, however, has not been widely studied in research. Lately voice classification is found useful in phone monitoring, classifying speakers’ gender, ethnicity and emotion states, and so forth. In this paper, a collection of computational algorithms are proposed to support voice classification; the algorithms are a combination of hierarchical clustering, dynamic time wrap transform, discrete wavelet transform, and decision tree. The proposed algorithms are relatively more transparent and interpretable than the existing ones, though many techniques such as Artificial Neural Networks, Support Vector Machine, and Hidden Markov Model (which inherently function like a black box have been applied for voice verification and voice identification. Two datasets, one that is generated synthetically and the other one empirically collected from past voice recognition experiment, are used to verify and demonstrate the effectiveness of our proposed voice classification algorithm.

Voice disorders in teachers and their associations with work-related factors: a systematic review.

Science.gov (United States)

Cantor Cutiva, Lady Catherine; Vogel, Ineke; Burdorf, Alex

2013-01-01

To provide a quantitative assessment of the occurrence of voice disorders among teachers and to identify associated work-related and individual factors in the teaching profession. A systematic review was conducted using three computerized databases on the occurrence of voice disorders among teachers and their associations with work-related and individual factors. Some of the keywords used were: "teacher", "voice disorder", "voice problem", and "dysphonia". Information regarding the occurrence of voice disorders and associations between work-related and individual factors and voice disorders were extracted from each paper. Occurrence and associations were expressed in prevalence and odds ratios, respectively. In total, 23 publications met the criteria for inclusion. All publications were cross-sectional studies. Prevalence estimates varied widely, reflecting disparity in definitions of "voice problem". Teachers had a significantly increased occurrence of voice disorders compared to other occupations. Several work-related and individual factors were consistently associated with voice disorders, most notably high levels of noise in classrooms, being a physical education instructor, and habitual use of a loud speaking voice. This review shows that teachers report voice disorders more often than non-teachers. Various work-related and individual factors are associated with reported voice disorders. Longitudinal studies are urgently required to get more insight into the development of voice disorders, their work-related determinants, and the consequences of these voice disorders for functioning and work performance among teachers. Describe the occurrence of voice disorders among teachers. Identify some work-related factors of voice disorders among teachers. Interpret the quality of the publications to describe or analyze the relationship between working conditions and voice disorders among teachers. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Predicting Voice Disorder Status From Smoothed Measures of Cepstral Peak Prominence Using Praat and Analysis of Dysphonia in Speech and Voice (ADSV).

Science.gov (United States)

Sauder, Cara; Bretl, Michelle; Eadie, Tanya

2017-09-01

The purposes of this study were to (1) determine and compare the diagnostic accuracy of a single acoustic measure, smoothed cepstral peak prominence (CPPS), to predict voice disorder status from connected speech samples using two software systems: Analysis of Dysphonia in Speech and Voice (ADSV) and Praat; and (2) to determine the relationship between measures of CPPS generated from these programs. This is a retrospective cross-sectional study. Measures of CPPS were obtained from connected speech recordings of 100 subjects with voice disorders and 70 nondysphonic subjects without vocal complaints using commercially available ADSV and freely downloadable Praat software programs. Logistic regression and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analyses were used to evaluate and compare the diagnostic accuracy of CPPS measures. Relationships between CPPS measures from the programs were determined. Results showed acceptable overall accuracy rates (75% accuracy, ADSV; 82% accuracy, Praat) and area under the ROC curves (area under the curve [AUC] = 0.81, ADSV; AUC = 0.91, Praat) for predicting voice disorder status, with slight differences in sensitivity and specificity. CPPS measures derived from Praat were uniquely predictive of disorder status above and beyond CPPS measures from ADSV (χ 2 (1) = 40.71, P disorder status using either program. Clinicians may consider using CPPS to complement clinical voice evaluation and screening protocols. Copyright © 2017 The Voice Foundation. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Sustainable Consumer Voices

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Klitmøller, Anders; Rask, Morten; Jensen, Nevena

2011-01-01

Aiming to explore how user driven innovation can inform high level design strategies, an in-depth empirical study was carried out, based on data from 50 observations of private vehicle users. This paper reports the resulting 5 consumer voices: Technology Enthusiast, Environmentalist, Design Lover...

Voice problems among Slovenian physicians compared to the teachers: Prevalence and risk factors

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Maja Šereh Bahar

2012-09-01

Conclusions: The prevalence of voice disorders among outpatients’ physicians in Slovenia is high and is comparable to the incidence of voice problems in Slovenian teachers. URI is the most common cause of these voice problems. GERD, allergies and an age over 40 years were stated as the risk factors for voice disorders. In order to reduce the extent of voice problems, lessons on vocal hygiene, and additional information about diseases causing voice disorders should be included in their postgraduate education.

Bibliography: a Voice of the Interpretation of Knowledge

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Attilio Mauro Caproni

2015-09-01

Full Text Available In the paper, Bibliography as a discipline is examined as a form and a tool for understanding knowledge built by society. While outlining the main characteristics of an historia literaria for each indexed text, Bibliography selects writing in order to delineate the fundamental appearance of a certain period of time. These peculiarities are faraway from creating the false identity that social networks and the Internet offer to many users in present times, causing to them an overload of communication instead of information.

Representing Voices from the Life-World in Evidence-Based Practice

Science.gov (United States)

Kovarsky, Dana

2008-01-01

Background: Current models of evidence-based practice marginalize and even silence the voices of those who are the potential beneficiaries of assessment and intervention. These missing voices can be found in the reflections of clients on their own life-world experiences. Aims: This paper examines how voices from the life-world are silenced in…

Correlations between Sportsmen’s Morpho-Functional Measurements and Voice Acoustic Variables

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rexhepi Agron M.

2016-12-01

Full Text Available Purpose. Since human voice characteristics are specific to each individual, numerous anthropological studies have been oriented to find significant relationships between voice and morpho-functional features. The goal of this study was to identify the correlation between seven morpho-functional variables and six voice acoustic parameters in sportsmen. Methods. Following the protocols of the International Biological Program, seven morpho-functional variables and six voice acoustic parameters have been measured in 88 male professional athletes from Kosovo, aged 17-35 years, during the period of April-October 2013. The statistical analysis was accomplished through the SPSS program, version 20. The obtained data were analysed through descriptive parameters and with Spearman’s method of correlation analysis. Results. Spearman’s method of correlation showed significant negative correlations (R = -0.215 to -0.613; p = 0.05 between three voice acoustic variables of the fundamental frequency of the voice sample (Mean, Minimum, and Maximum Pitch and six morpho-functional measures (Body Height, Body Weight, Margaria-Kalamen Power Test, Sargent Jump Test, Pull-up Test, and VO2max.abs. Conclusions. The significant correlations imply that the people with higher stature have longer vocal cords and a lower voice. These results encourage investigations on predicting sportsmen’s functional abilities on the basis of their voice acoustic parameters.

Some objective measures indicative of perceived voice robustness in student teachers.

Science.gov (United States)

Orr, Rosemary; de Jong, Felix; Cranen, Bert

2002-01-01

One of the problems confronted in the teaching profession is the maintenance of a healthy voice. This basic pedagogical tool is subjected to extensive use, and frequently suffers from overload, with some teachers having to give up their profession altogether. In some teacher training schools, it is the current practice to examine the student's voice, and to refer any perceived susceptibility to strain to voice specialists. For this study, a group of vocally healthy students were examined first at the teacher training schools, and then at the ENT clinic at the University Hospital of Nijmegen. The aim was to predict whether the subject's voice might be at risk for occupational dysphonia as a result of the vocal load of the teaching profession. We tried to find objective measures of voice quality in student teachers, used in current clinical practice, which reflect the judgements of the therapists and phoniatricians. We tried to explain such measures physiologically in terms of robustness of, and control over voicing. Objective measures used included video-laryngostroboscopy, phonetography and spectrography. Maximum phonation time, melodic range in conjunction with maximum intensity range, and the production of soft voice are suggested as possible predictive parameters for the risk of occupational voice strain.

Flow Glottogram and Subglottal Pressure Relationship in Singers and Untrained Voices.

Science.gov (United States)

Sundberg, Johan

2018-01-01

This article combines results from three earlier investigations of the glottal voice source during phonation at varying degrees of vocal loudness (1) in five classically trained baritone singers (Sundberg et al., 1999), (2) in 15 female and 14 male untrained voices (Sundberg et al., 2005), and (3) in voices rated as hyperfunctional by an expert panel (Millgård et al., 2015). Voice source data were obtained by inverse filtering. Associated subglottal pressures were estimated from oral pressure during the occlusion for the consonant /p/. Five flow glottogram parameters, (1) maximum flow declination rate (MFDR), (2) peak-to-peak pulse amplitude, (3) level difference between the first and the second harmonics of the voice source, (4) closed quotient, and (5) normalized amplitude quotient, were averaged across the singer subjects and related to associated MFDR values. Strong, quantitative relations, expressed as equations, are found between subglottal pressure and MFDR and between MFDR and each of the other flow glottogram parameters. The values for the untrained voices, as well as those for the voices rated as hyperfunctional, deviate systematically from the values derived from the equations. Copyright © 2018 The Voice Foundation. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Consumption and money: legitimate transactions, agreements and interpersonal conflicts in a microcredit program

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Adrián Koberwein

2011-12-01

Full Text Available The objective of this paper is to analyze the production of legitimate transactions in a microcredit policy and to explore the creation of interpersonal agreements and conflicts related to these transactions. Based on an ethnographic approach, the paper focuses on the meanings that actors give to the allocation of money, emphasizing the creation as well as the expression of both ‘economic’ and ‘non-economic’ debts and obligations.

Voice and choice in health care in England: understanding citizen responses to dissatisfaction.

Science.gov (United States)

Dowding, Keith; John, Peter

2011-01-01

Using data from a five-year online survey the paper examines the effects of relative satisfaction with health services on individuals' voice-and-choice activity in the English public health care system. Voice is considered in three parts – individual voice (complaints), collective voice voting and participation (collective action). Exercising choice is seen in terms of complete exit (not using health care), internal exit (choosing another public service provider) and private exit (using private health care). The interaction of satisfaction and forms of voice and choice are analysed over time. Both voice and choice are correlated with dissatisfaction with those who are unhappy with the NHS more likely to privately voice and to plan to take up private health care. Those unable to choose private provision are likely to use private voice. These factors are not affected by items associated with social capital – indeed, being more trusting leads to lower voice activity.

Challenging stereotyping and bias: a voice simulation study.

Science.gov (United States)

Dearing, Karen S; Steadman, Sheryl

2008-02-01

Stigma is a barrier to mental health care access for patients with schizophrenia and can interfere with developing therapeutic relationships. This study demonstrates success of a voice simulation experience during orientation in changing the biases of nursing students and the effect on the development of the nurse-patient relationship. Ninety-four individuals participated; 52 received a voice simulation experience during orientation, and 42 received orientation with no voice simulation experience. The Medical Condition Regard Scale was administered before and after orientation. Posttest paired t test results show significant differences in attitudes toward patients with voice hearing experiences between the two groups. The themes of personal growth from the focus groups postorientation include Affective Experience, Physical Experience, and Empathy. Findings demonstrate that the orientation process should include methods to challenge stereotyping and bias to decrease stigma, improve service access, and enhance the ability to develop therapeutic relationships.

Lax Vox as a Voice Training Program for Teachers: A Pilot Study.

Science.gov (United States)

Mailänder, Eva; Mühre, Lea; Barsties, Ben

2017-03-01

The objective of this study was to explore the effectiveness of a 3-week training program with the voice therapy "Lax Vox" for teachers. Four healthy female teachers participated as volunteers for the study. Several voice measurements of perception, acoustics, aerodynamics, and self-evaluation were investigated. Furthermore, a survey to rate the applicability of Lax Vox was also part of the study. To assess the treatment effects of the Lax Vox training, an effect size analysis (d unb ) was conducted. After 3 weeks of training, medium and large improvements were found in some parameters of perceptual and acoustic voice quality assessments (d unb >0.50 and d unb >0.80, respectively). Furthermore, medium improvements were revealed in some parameters of self-evaluation (ie, physical and total scale of the Voice Handicap Index) and aerodynamic (ie, maximum phonation time) assessments (all d unb >0.50). Additionally, acoustic measures of vocal function showed an expansion in the upper contour of voice range profiles after training. Particularly, the main improvements in the voice range profile was found in the modal and the beginning of the falsetto voice registers. There was an increase of the intensity levels of about 4.6 dB. No changes were revealed in some acoustic measures of the voice range profile, self-evaluation measurements, and the perception of breathy voice quality (all d unb teachers appears to improve select measures of voice quality, maximum phonation time, vocal function, self-evaluation, and perceived applicability. Copyright © 2017 The Voice Foundation. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Speaker-Sex Discrimination for Voiced and Whispered Vowels at Short Durations

OpenAIRE

Smith, David R. R.

2016-01-01

Whispered vowels, produced with no vocal fold vibration, lack the periodic temporal fine structure which in voiced vowels underlies the perceptual attribute of pitch (a salient auditory cue to speaker sex). Voiced vowels possess no temporal fine structure at very short durations (below two glottal cycles). The prediction was that speaker-sex discrimination performance for whispered and voiced vowels would be similar for very short durations but, as stimulus duration increases, voiced vowel pe...

Intra-oral pressure-based voicing control of electrolaryngeal speech with intra-oral vibrator.

Science.gov (United States)

Takahashi, Hirokazu; Nakao, Masayuki; Kikuchi, Yataro; Kaga, Kimitaka

2008-07-01

In normal speech, coordinated activities of intrinsic laryngeal muscles suspend a glottal sound at utterance of voiceless consonants, automatically realizing a voicing control. In electrolaryngeal speech, however, the lack of voicing control is one of the causes of unclear voice, voiceless consonants tending to be misheard as the corresponding voiced consonants. In the present work, we developed an intra-oral vibrator with an intra-oral pressure sensor that detected utterance of voiceless phonemes during the intra-oral electrolaryngeal speech, and demonstrated that an intra-oral pressure-based voicing control could improve the intelligibility of the speech. The test voices were obtained from one electrolaryngeal speaker and one normal speaker. We first investigated on the speech analysis software how a voice onset time (VOT) and first formant (F1) transition of the test consonant-vowel syllables contributed to voiceless/voiced contrasts, and developed an adequate voicing control strategy. We then compared the intelligibility of consonant-vowel syllables among the intra-oral electrolaryngeal speech with and without online voicing control. The increase of intra-oral pressure, typically with a peak ranging from 10 to 50 gf/cm2, could reliably identify utterance of voiceless consonants. The speech analysis and intelligibility test then demonstrated that a short VOT caused the misidentification of the voiced consonants due to a clear F1 transition. Finally, taking these results together, the online voicing control, which suspended the prosthetic tone while the intra-oral pressure exceeded 2.5 gf/cm2 and during the 35 milliseconds that followed, proved efficient to improve the voiceless/voiced contrast.

Voice Over Internet Protocol Testbed Design for Non-Intrusive, Objective Voice Quality Assessment

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Manka, David L

2007-01-01

Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) is an emerging technology with the potential to assist the United States Marine Corps in solving communication challenges stemming from modern operational concepts...

Collective resistance despite complicity : High identifiers rise above the legitimization of disadvantage by the in-group

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Jimenez-Moya, Gloria; Rodriguez-Bailon, Rosa; Spears, Russell; de Lemus, Soledad

How do individuals deal with group disadvantage when their fellow in-group members conceive it as legitimate? Integrating research on the normative conflict model (Packer, 2008, Pers. Soc. Psychol. Rev., 12, 50) and collective action, we expect high identifiers to reject the in-group norm of

Do the disadvantaged legitimize the social system? A large-scale test of the status–legitimacy hypothesis

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Brandt, M.J.

2013-01-01

System justification theory (SJT) posits that members of low-status groups are more likely to see their social systems as legitimate than members of high-status groups because members of low-status groups experience a sense of dissonance between system motivations and self/group motivations (Jost,

Finite element modelling of vocal tract changes after voice therapy

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Vampola, T.; Laukkanen, A. M.; Horáček, Jaromír; Švec, J. G.

2011-01-01

Roč. 5, č. 1 (2011), s. 77-88 ISSN 1802-680X R&D Projects: GA ČR GA101/08/1155 Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z20760514 Keywords : biomechanics of human voice * voice production modelling * vocal excersing * voice training Subject RIV: BI - Acoustics http://www.kme.zcu.cz/acm/index.php/acm/article/view/138

A Novel Chaos-Based Voice Controlled FTP Tool

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Muhammed Maruf Ozturk

2015-08-01

Full Text Available To manage file transfer operation various tools have been developed so far. However these tools can not respond adequately for conduct a secure transfer. Also few works have been done using encrypted voice controlled system yet. By regarding this lack we investigate how to built a useful and secure tool. This work presents a novel improved voice controlled FTP tool Wb-CFTP using chaotic system. A chaotic system called as logistic map is associated with Wb-FTP designed on the basis of Asp.Net and C. Here we depict the prominence of encryption in voice controlled systems.

VOICE DISORDERS AMONG TEACHERS IN SLOVENIA: PREVALENCE AND SOME RISK FACTORS

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Tanja Soklič

2004-06-01

Full Text Available Background. Teachers as voice professionals with heavy vocal load represent a population at high risk of vocal problems. Until now there has not been any study evaluating prevalence and risk factors for voice disorders among teachers in Slovenia.Methods. Questionnaires about voice disorders and vocal habits were sent to randomly chosen 10% of elementary, middle schools and kindergarten in Slovenia. Answers from 1509 completed questionnaires were analyzed by statistical program SPSS 11.0.Results. In the school year 2002/03 51% of teachers occasionally experienced voice disorders and 15% did frequently. The prevalence of transient voice problems was therefore about 66%. By univariate χ 2 test we found statistically significant relationship to frequent voice disorders for female sex (p < 0.02, middle school teachers (p < 0.02, age over 40 years (p < 0.0005 and atopic constitution (p < 0.006; voice disorders during study showed borderline significance (p < 0.07. There was no significant relationship to voice problems for yelling, talking loudly or rapidly, using chalk while talking, cigarette smoking, water intake and gastroesophageal reflux. Statistically significant variates were included in the multivariate logistic regression model. There was 1.9-times higher risk of experiencing frequent voice disorders in females than for males (p < 0.003. Risk of vocal problems in middle school teachers was 1.5-times higher than in kindergarten teachers (p < 0.01 and 1.8-times higher than in elementary school teachers (p < 0.0005. Age over 40 years carried 2,3-times higher risk for hoarseness than age under 40 years (p < 0.0005. Voice disorders during study showed 1.7-times higher risk for later occupational vocal problems (p < 0.02. Atopic constitution had 1.6-times higher risk for frequent vocal problems (p < 0.008. The questionaire also showed how unfamiliar to vocal hygiene Slovene teachers are.Conclusions. The prevalence of voice disorders among

Voice and Video Telephony Services in Smartphone

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2006-01-01

Full Text Available Multimedia telephony is a delay-sensitive application. Packet losses, relatively less critical than delay, are allowed up to a certain threshold. They represent the QoS constraints that have to be respected to guarantee the operation of the telephony service and user satisfaction. In this work we introduce a new smartphone architecture characterized by two process levels called application processor (AP and mobile termination (MT, respectively. Here, they communicate through a serial channel. Moreover, we focus our attention on two very important UMTS services: voice and video telephony. Through a simulation study the impact of voice and video telephony is evaluated on the structure considered using the protocols known at this moment to realize voice and video telephony

Variation in stop consonant voicing in two regional varieties of American English

Science.gov (United States)

Jacewicz, Ewa; Fox, Robert Allen; Lyle, Samantha

2010-01-01

This study is an acoustic investigation of the nature and extent of consonant voicing of the stop /b/ in two dialectal varieties of American English spoken in south-central Wisconsin and western North Carolina. The stop /b/ occurred at the juncture of two words such as small bids, in a position between two voiced sonorants, i.e. the liquid /l/ and a vowel. Twenty women participated, ten representing the Wisconsin and ten the North Carolina variety, respectively. Significant dialectal differences were found in the voicing patterns. The Wisconsin stop closures were usually not fully voiced and terminated in a complete silence followed by a closure release whereas North Carolina speakers produced mostly fully voiced closures. Further dialectal differences included the proportion of closure voicing as a function of word emphasis. For Wisconsin speakers, the proportion of closure voicing was smallest when the word was emphasized and it was greatest in non-emphatic positions. For North Carolina speakers, the degree of word emphasis did not have an effect on the proportion of closure voicing. The results suggest different mechanisms by which closure voicing is maintained in these two dialects, pointing to active articulatory maneuvers in North Carolina speakers and passive in Wisconsin speakers. PMID:20198112

When legitimate claims collide: communities, media and dialogue

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Klas Grinell

2011-11-01

Full Text Available This paper discusses the exhibition Jerusalem at the Museum of World Culture (MoWC in Gothenburg, Sweden. The exhibition mixes photographs of LGBTQ (LesbianGayBiTransQueer persons in Jerusalem, with quotes from the three Abrahamitic Holy Scriptures condemning homosexual activities and behaviours. MoWC held dialogues with religious persons. Although no-one wanted to stop the exhibition, many were critical of the artist’s mixing of Holiness and Nudity/Sexuality. The Museum was criticized for bending to fundamentalist pressure, assuming that it had plans to stop the exhibition, and a media debate on censorship and freedom of speech followed. This paper analyzes the situatedness of MoWC, and its discursive belonging. How can a state governed institution deal with legitimate and opposing claims, and counter both heteronormativity and islamophobia? What discourses is the Museum institution inscribed in? What power relations follow from that? Is it, due to historic, bureaucratic, and cultural legacies, tied to certain positions and affiliations in the public space?

ORIENTASI GRUP VOKAL AWAN VOICE PADA IDEOLOGI PASAR MUSIK INDONESIA

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Ari Widyaningrum

2014-08-01

Full Text Available Penelitian ini bertujuan memberikan gambaran ciri khas musik grup vokal Awan, dinamika perkembangan komposisi dan aransemen lagu Awan Voice, serta orientasi grup Awan Voice pada ideologi pasar musik Indonesia. Penelitian dilakukan dengan metode penelitian analisis kualitatif dengan lokasi penelitian di Kota Semarang, adapun wujud dan sumber data terdiri dari sumber dan wujud data tertulis maupun tidak tertulis. Instrumen dan teknik pengambilan data mengunakan observasi, wawancara dan studi dokumentasi. Teknik keabsahan data menggunakan teknik triangulasi data. Sedangkan teknik analisis dan pengolahan data pengumpulan, reduksi, klarifikasi dan verifikasi data. Ciri khas musik dari Awan Voice adalah musik yang berformat acapella dengan sentuhan beatbox. Selain itu dalam setiap performnya diselingi dengan guyonan sehingga menarik perhatian penikmatnya. Dinamika perkembangan komposisi dan arransemen karya Awan voice dapat dilihat dari aspek judul lagu, komposisi lagu, struktur lagu, melodi, harmonisasi, pangsa pasar dan motif lagunya. Sedangkan orientasi terhadap ideologi pasar musik Indonesia adalah musik Awan voice menerapkan melodi yang mudah diingat dan di mainkan fleksibel, lagunya mudah dinyanyikan dan diserap maknanya. Harmoni yang tidak terlalu muluk. Dapat dipadukan dengan instrumen atau jenis musik yang tidak biasa seperti classic, blues dan lain-lain. Karya mereka disesuaikan dengan waktu dan tempat atau pangsa pasar yang akan ditujunya, dan mempunyai profitabilitas.This study aims at describing vocal group Awan Voice characteristics, dynamic development of music composition, Awan Voice vocal arrangement and Awan Voice music market ideology. This study uses qualitative method in Semarang City. The data and data sources consist of written data and unwritten data. Data instruments and techniques of collecting data are observation, interview and documentation. The data validity uses triangulation. The analysis data consists of collecting

Claiming Voice on the Future of Higher Education

Science.gov (United States)

Roper, Larry D.

2016-01-01

Higher education reform is a prominent topic among state and federal governments. However, the discussions regarding higher education are narrowly focused and not always inclusive of the voices of postsecondary leaders. Higher education officials must find approaches to ensure their voices are appropriately represented in these crucial…

Correlation of the Voice Handicap Index-10 (VHI-10) and Voice-Related Quality of Life (V-RQOL) in patients with dysphonia.

Science.gov (United States)

Romak, Jonathan J; Orbelo, Diana M; Maragos, Nicolas E; Ekbom, Dale C

2014-03-01

This study examines the correlation between two voice-specific patient-reported outcome measures: the Voice Handicap Index-10 (VHI-10) and Voice-Related Quality of Life (V-RQOL). Retrospective chart review. Eight hundred four patients presenting to our voice clinic between May 2009 and August 2011. All patients completed the VHI-10 and V-RQOL in a single sitting. Correlation between the two scales was examined using Spearman rank analysis. Calculated VHI-10 score was derived from V-RQOL score by direct conversion equation and compared with measured VHI-10 score. Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) curves were derived for diagnostic groups. Spearman correlation coefficient between the VHI-10 and V-RQOL was -0.91 (P dysphonia (V-RQOL AUC = 0.536 [SE ± 0.026]; VHI-10 AUC = 0.508 [SE ± 0.26]; P = 0.018) groups, with the V-RQOL showing relatively greater sensitivity. The VHI-10 and V-RQOL are highly correlated. However, VHI-10 score cannot be calculated from V-RQOL score using the tested equation. The V-RQOL may be more sensitive than the VHI-10 in detecting the impact of presbyphonia and muscle tension dysphonia. Copyright © 2014 The Voice Foundation. Published by Mosby, Inc. All rights reserved.

Multi-modal assessment of on-road demand of voice and manual phone calling and voice navigation entry across two embedded vehicle systems

Science.gov (United States)

Mehler, Bruce; Kidd, David; Reimer, Bryan; Reagan, Ian; Dobres, Jonathan; McCartt, Anne

2016-01-01

Abstract One purpose of integrating voice interfaces into embedded vehicle systems is to reduce drivers’ visual and manual distractions with ‘infotainment’ technologies. However, there is scant research on actual benefits in production vehicles or how different interface designs affect attentional demands. Driving performance, visual engagement, and indices of workload (heart rate, skin conductance, subjective ratings) were assessed in 80 drivers randomly assigned to drive a 2013 Chevrolet Equinox or Volvo XC60. The Chevrolet MyLink system allowed completing tasks with one voice command, while the Volvo Sensus required multiple commands to navigate the menu structure. When calling a phone contact, both voice systems reduced visual demand relative to the visual–manual interfaces, with reductions for drivers in the Equinox being greater. The Equinox ‘one-shot’ voice command showed advantages during contact calling but had significantly higher error rates than Sensus during destination address entry. For both secondary tasks, neither voice interface entirely eliminated visual demand. Practitioner Summary: The findings reinforce the observation that most, if not all, automotive auditory–vocal interfaces are multi-modal interfaces in which the full range of potential demands (auditory, vocal, visual, manipulative, cognitive, tactile, etc.) need to be considered in developing optimal implementations and evaluating drivers’ interaction with the systems. Social Media: In-vehicle voice-interfaces can reduce visual demand but do not eliminate it and all types of demand need to be taken into account in a comprehensive evaluation. PMID:26269281

Multi-modal assessment of on-road demand of voice and manual phone calling and voice navigation entry across two embedded vehicle systems.

Science.gov (United States)

Mehler, Bruce; Kidd, David; Reimer, Bryan; Reagan, Ian; Dobres, Jonathan; McCartt, Anne

2016-03-01

One purpose of integrating voice interfaces into embedded vehicle systems is to reduce drivers' visual and manual distractions with 'infotainment' technologies. However, there is scant research on actual benefits in production vehicles or how different interface designs affect attentional demands. Driving performance, visual engagement, and indices of workload (heart rate, skin conductance, subjective ratings) were assessed in 80 drivers randomly assigned to drive a 2013 Chevrolet Equinox or Volvo XC60. The Chevrolet MyLink system allowed completing tasks with one voice command, while the Volvo Sensus required multiple commands to navigate the menu structure. When calling a phone contact, both voice systems reduced visual demand relative to the visual-manual interfaces, with reductions for drivers in the Equinox being greater. The Equinox 'one-shot' voice command showed advantages during contact calling but had significantly higher error rates than Sensus during destination address entry. For both secondary tasks, neither voice interface entirely eliminated visual demand. Practitioner Summary: The findings reinforce the observation that most, if not all, automotive auditory-vocal interfaces are multi-modal interfaces in which the full range of potential demands (auditory, vocal, visual, manipulative, cognitive, tactile, etc.) need to be considered in developing optimal implementations and evaluating drivers' interaction with the systems. Social Media: In-vehicle voice-interfaces can reduce visual demand but do not eliminate it and all types of demand need to be taken into account in a comprehensive evaluation.

Voices of courage

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Noraida Abdullah Karim

2007-07-01

Full Text Available In May 2007 the Women’s Commission for Refugee Women and Children1 presented its annual Voices of Courage awards to three displaced people who have dedicated their lives to promoting economic opportunities for refugee and displaced women and youth. These are their (edited testimonies.

A Qualitative Examination of Youth Voice in the Decision-Making Process within the 4-H Youth Development Program: Promoting Promising Practices in Overcoming Barriers

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Janet Fox

2008-12-01

Full Text Available This paper discusses a national study designed to identify and describe obstacles to youth voice in the decision-making process in the 4-H youth development program from the perception of three distinct populations - State 4-H Program Leaders, 4-H State Youth Development Specialists, and 4-H Youth Agents/Educators. When examining these professionals’ views on the barriers affecting youth voice in the decision-making process, time and scheduling seem to consistently present the largest barrier to youth voice. Involvement in the decision-making process provides a wide range of hurdles including the opportunity structures, involvement procedures, representation and dynamics within the process. Adult power and control provides a significant hurdle to authentic engagement of youth voice in the decision-making progress. Respect barriers were described by concepts such as preconceived notions, trust and valuing input. Additional barriers were identified including organizational culture, lack of transportation, lack of knowledge/experience, lack of preparation, lack of training, fear, misguided leadership, unclear expectations, participation, staffing and lack of resources.

Influence of consonant voicing characteristics on sentence production in abductor versus adductor spasmodic dysphonia.

Science.gov (United States)

Cannito, Michael P; Chorna, Lesya B; Kahane, Joel C; Dworkin, James P

2014-05-01

This study evaluated the hypotheses that sentence production by speakers with adductor (AD) and abductor (AB) spasmodic dysphonia (SD) may be differentially influenced by consonant voicing and manner features, in comparison with healthy, matched, nondysphonic controls. This was a prospective, single blind study, using a between-groups, repeated measures design for the independent variables of perceived voice quality and sentence duration. Sixteen subjects with ADSD and 10 subjects with ABSD, as well as 26 matched healthy controls produced four short, simple sentences that were systematically loaded with voiced or voiceless consonants of either obstruant or continuant manner categories. Experienced voice clinicians, who were "blind" as to speakers' group affixations, used visual analog scaling to judge the overall voice quality of each sentence. Acoustic sentence durations were also measured. Speakers with ABSD or ADSD demonstrated significantly poorer than normal voice quality on all sentences. Speakers with ABSD exhibited longer than normal duration for voiceless consonant sentences. Speakers with ADSD had poorer voice quality for voiced than for voiceless consonant sentences. Speakers with ABSD had longer durations for voiceless than for voiced consonant sentences. The two subtypes of SD exhibit differential performance on the basis of consonant voicing in short, simple sentences; however, each subgroup manifested voicing-related differences on a different variable (voice quality vs sentence duration). Findings suggest different underlying pathophysiological mechanisms for ABSD and ADSD. Findings also support inclusion of short, simple sentences containing voiced or voiceless consonants as part of the diagnostic protocol for SD, with measurement of sentence duration in addition to judments of voice quality severity. Copyright © 2014 The Voice Foundation. Published by Mosby, Inc. All rights reserved.

Factors affecting the quality of voice in the early glottic cancer treated with radiotherapy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Agarwal, Jai Prakash; Baccher, Gurmit K.; Waghmare, Chaitali M.; Mallick, Indranil; Ghosh-Laskar, Sarbani; Budrukkar, Ashwini; Pai, Prathamesh; Chaturvedi, Pankaj; D'Cruz, Anil; Shrivastava, Shyam K.; Dinshaw, Ketayun A.

2009-01-01

Aims: To prospectively analyze the objective voice quality before and after radiotherapy (RT) for early glottic cancer and to evaluate the role of different factors that may affect it. Methods: Patients with T1-T2N0M0 glottic cancer underwent voice quality assessment before treatment and after radical RT. Post-RT voice quality was compared to the voice at diagnosis and the voice of healthy individuals used as controls. A comprehensive set of voice parameters were measured. The effects of age, smoking history, T stage, anterior commissure (AC) involvement, radiation dose, fractionation and volumes on pre-treatment and post-treatment voice quality were analyzed. Results: The voice quality data of 50 patients were analyzed. Following treatment, there was a significant improvement in the majority of measured parameters. However, perturbation and HNR remained inferior compared to controls. A history of smoking, AC involvement and larger RT volumes resulted in poorer voice parameters following RT. There was no significant impact of age alone. T2 tumors had an inferior voice quality before treatment, but did not remain inferior following RT. Hypofractionated RT did not show any negative impact. Conclusions: There is a considerable improvement of voice quality following RT. Several factors may have specific effects on pre-treatment and post-treatment voice

Effects of Voice on Emotional Arousal

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Psyche eLoui

2013-10-01

Full Text Available Music is a powerful medium capable of eliciting a broad range of emotions. Although the relationship between language and music is well documented, relatively little is known about the effects of lyrics and the voice on the emotional processing of music and on listeners’ preferences. In the present study, we investigated the effects of vocals in music on participants’ perceived valence and arousal in songs. Participants (N = 50 made valence and arousal ratings for familiar songs that were presented with and without the voice. We observed robust effects of vocal content on perceived arousal. Furthermore, we found that the effect of the voice on enhancing arousal ratings is independent of familiarity of the song and differs across genders and age: females were more influenced by vocals than males; furthermore these gender effects were enhanced among older adults. Results highlight the effects of gender and aging in emotion perception and are discussed in terms of the social roles of music.

Stigma and need for care in individuals who hear voices.

Science.gov (United States)

Vilhauer, Ruvanee P

2017-02-01

Voice hearing experiences, or auditory verbal hallucinations, occur in healthy individuals as well as in individuals who need clinical care, but news media depict voice hearing primarily as a symptom of mental illness, particularly schizophrenia. This article explores whether, and how, public perception of an exaggerated association between voice hearing and mental illness might influence individuals' need for clinical care. A narrative literature review was conducted, using relevant peer-reviewed research published in the English language. Stigma may prevent disclosure of voice hearing experiences. Non-disclosure can prevent access to sources of normalizing information and lead to isolation, loss of social support and distress. Internalization of stigma and concomitantly decreased self-esteem could potentially affect features of voices such as perceived voice power, controllability, negativity and frequency, as well as distress. Increased distress may result in a decrease in functioning and increased need for clinical care. The literature reviewed suggests that stigma has the potential to increase need for care through many interrelated pathways. However, the ability to draw definitive conclusions was constrained by the designs of the studies reviewed. Further research is needed to confirm the findings of this review.

Evidence-Based Clinical Voice Assessment: A Systematic Review

Science.gov (United States)

Roy, Nelson; Barkmeier-Kraemer, Julie; Eadie, Tanya; Sivasankar, M. Preeti; Mehta, Daryush; Paul, Diane; Hillman, Robert

2013-01-01

Purpose: To determine what research evidence exists to support the use of voice measures in the clinical assessment of patients with voice disorders. Method: The American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) National Center for Evidence-Based Practice in Communication Disorders staff searched 29 databases for peer-reviewed English-language…

Acquisition of Morpho-Phonology: the Dutch voicing alternation

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Kerkhoff, A.O.

2007-01-01

This dissertation investigates how and when the Dutch voicing alternation is acquired. In Dutch, final neutralisation of the voice contrast (or ‘final devoicing’) leads to alternations in singular - plural pairs such as bed ~ bedden ‘bed(s)’. In such pairs, the singular always ends in a voiceless

Voice loops as coordination aids in space shuttle mission control.

Science.gov (United States)

Patterson, E S; Watts-Perotti, J; Woods, D D

1999-01-01

Voice loops, an auditory groupware technology, are essential coordination support tools for experienced practitioners in domains such as air traffic management, aircraft carrier operations and space shuttle mission control. They support synchronous communication on multiple channels among groups of people who are spatially distributed. In this paper, we suggest reasons for why the voice loop system is a successful medium for supporting coordination in space shuttle mission control based on over 130 hours of direct observation. Voice loops allow practitioners to listen in on relevant communications without disrupting their own activities or the activities of others. In addition, the voice loop system is structured around the mission control organization, and therefore directly supports the demands of the domain. By understanding how voice loops meet the particular demands of the mission control environment, insight can be gained for the design of groupware tools to support cooperative activity in other event-driven domains.

Perceptual complexity of faces and voices modulates cross-modal behavioral facilitation effects

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Frédéric Joassin

2018-04-01

Full Text Available Joassin et al. (Neuroscience Letters, 2004,369,132-137 observed that the recognition of face-voice associations led to an interference effect, i.e. to decreased performances relative to the recognition of faces presented in isolation. In the present experiment, we tested the hypothesis that this interference effect could be due to the fact that voices were more difficult to recognize than faces. For this purpose, we modified some faces by morphing to make them as difficult to recognize as the voices. Twenty one healthy volunteers performed a recogniton task of previously learned face-voice associations in 5 conditions: voices (A, natural faces (V, morphed faces (V30, voice-natural face associations (AV and voice-morphed faces associations (AV30. As expected, AV led to interference, as it was less well and slower performed than V. However, when faces were as difficult to recognize as voices, their simultaneous presentation produced a clear facilitation, AV30 being significantly better and faster performed than A and V30. These results demonstrate that matching or not the perceptual complexity of the unimodal stimuli modulates the potential cross-modal gains of the bimodal situations.

Effectiveness of a Voice Training Program for Student Teachers on Vocal Health.

Science.gov (United States)

Richter, Bernhard; Nusseck, Manfred; Spahn, Claudia; Echternach, Matthias

2016-07-01

The effectiveness of a preventive training program on vocal health for German student teachers was investigated on specific vocal parameters. The voice quality as described by the Dysphonia Severity Index of 204 student teachers (training group: n = 123; control group: n = 81) was measured at the beginning and at the end of the student teachers training period (duration 1.5 years). Additionally, for investigating the voice-carrying capacity, a vocal loading test (VLT) was performed. Finally, participants had to provide a subjective judgment of a possible Voice Handicap Index. The training program improved the voice quality of the trained group compared with that of the control group, whose voice quality declined. The trained group was also able to better sustain their voice quality across the VLT than the control group. Both groups, however, reported a similar increase in subjective vocal strain. The presented training program clearly showed a positive impact on the voice quality and the vocal capacity. The results maintain the importance of such a training program to be integrated in the education and occupational routine of teachers. Copyright © 2016 The Voice Foundation. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

The eye-voice span during reading aloud

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Jochen eLaubrock

2015-09-01

Full Text Available Although eye movements during reading are modulated by cognitive processing demands, they also reflect visual sampling of the input, and possibly preparation of output for speech or the inner voice. By simultaneously recording eye movements and the voice during reading aloud, we obtained an output measure that constrains the length of time spent on cognitive processing. Here we investigate the dynamics of the eye-voice span (EVS, the distance between eye and voice. We show that the EVS is regulated immediately during fixation of a word by either increasing fixation duration or programming a regressive eye movement against the reading direction. EVS size at the beginning of a fixation was positively correlated with the likelihood of regressions and refixations. Regression probability was further increased if the EVS was still large at the end of a fixation: if adjustment of fixation duration did not sufficiently reduce the EVS during a fixation, then a regression rather than a refixation followed with high probability. We further show that the EVS can help understand cognitive influences on fixation duration during reading: in mixed model analyses, the EVS was a stronger predictor of fixation durations than either word frequency or word length. The EVS modulated the influence of several other predictors on single fixation durations. For example, word-N frequency effects were larger with a large EVS, especially when word N-1 frequency was low. Finally, a comparison of single fixation durations during oral and silent reading showed that reading is governed by similar principles in both reading modes, although EVS maintenance and articulatory processing also cause some differences. In summary, the eye-voice span is regulated by adjusting fixation duration and/or by programming a regressive eye movement when the eye-voice span gets too large. Overall, the EVS appears to be directly related to updating of the working memory buffer during reading.

Facial Visualizations of Women's Voices Suggest a Cross-Modality Preference for Femininity

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Susanne Röder

2013-01-01

Full Text Available Women with higher-pitched voices and more feminine facial features are commonly judged as being more attractive than are women with lower-pitched voices and less feminine faces, possibly because both features are affected by (age-related variations in endocrine status. These results are primarily derived from investigations of perceptions of variations in single-modality stimuli (i.e., faces or voices in samples of young adult women. In the present study we sought to test whether male and female perceptions of women's voices affect visual representations of facial femininity. Eighty men and women judged voice recordings of 10 young girls (11–15 years, 10 adult women (19–28 years and 10 peri-/post-menopausal women (50–64 years on age, attractiveness, and femininity. Another 80 men and women were asked to indicate the face they think each voice corresponded to using a video that gradually changed from a masculine looking male face into a feminine looking female face. Both male and female participants perceived voices of young girls and adult women to be significantly younger, more attractive and feminine than those of peri-/post-menopausal women. Hearing young girls' and adult women's voices resulted in both men and women selecting faces that differed markedly in apparent femininity from those associated with peri-/post-menopausal women's voices. Voices of young girls had the strongest effect on visualizations of facial femininity. Our results suggest a cross-modal preference for women's vocal and facial femininity, which depends on female age and is independent of the perceiver's sex.

Correlation Between Acoustic Measurements and Self-Reported Voice Disorders Among Female Teachers.

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Lin, Feng-Chuan; Chen, Sheng Hwa; Chen, Su-Chiu; Wang, Chi-Te; Kuo, Yu-Ching

2016-07-01

Many studies focused on teachers' voice problems and most of them were conducted using questionnaires, whereas little research has investigated the relationship between self-reported voice disorders and objective quantification of voice. This study intends to explore the relationship of acoustic measurements according to self-reported symptoms and its predictive value of future dysphonia. This is a case-control study. Voice samples of 80 female teachers were analyzed, including 40 self-reported voice disorders (VD) and 40 self-reported normal voice (NVD) subjects. The acoustic measurements included jitter, shimmer, and noise-to-harmonics ratio (NHR). Levene's t test and logistic regression were used to analyze the differences between VD and NVD and the relationship between self-reported voice conditions and the acoustic measurements. To examine whether acoustic measurements can be used to predict further voice disorders, we applied a receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve to determine the cutoff values and the associated sensitivity and specificity. The results showed that jitter, shimmer, and the NHR of VD were significantly higher than those of NVD. Among the parameters, the NHR and shimmer demonstrated the highest correlation with self-reported voice disorders. By using the NHR ≥0.138 and shimmer ≥0.470 dB as the cutoff values, the ROC curve displayed 72.5% of sensitivity and 75% of specificity, and the overall positive predictive value for subsequent dysphonia achieved 60%. This study demonstrated a significant correlation between acoustic measurements and self-reported dysphonic symptoms. NHR and ShdB are two acoustic parameters that are more able to reflect vocal abnormalities and, probably, to predict subsequent subjective voice disorder. Future research recruiting more subjects in other occupations and genders shall validate the preliminary results revealed in this study. Copyright © 2016 The Voice Foundation. Published by Elsevier Inc. All

Investing in a new generation of knowledge leaders | CRDI - Centre ...

International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Digital Library (Canada)

Investing in a new generation of knowledge leaders. 27 avril 2015. Image. IDRC Communications. Where are they now? Awatef Ketiti · Clarence Batan · Deirdre Anne McKay · Henry Juarez. Awatef Ketiti Linking ICTs, gender, and societies across the Mediterranean Sea. Clarence Batan Giving a voice to Filipino Youth.

Performance of the phonatory deviation diagram in the evaluation of rough and breathy synthesized voices.

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Lopes, Leonardo Wanderley; Freitas, Jonas Almeida de; Almeida, Anna Alice; Silva, Priscila Oliveira Costa; Alves, Giorvan Ânderson Dos Santos

2017-07-05

Voice disorders alter the sound signal in several ways, combining several types of vocal emission disturbances and noise. The Phonatory Deviation Diagram (PDD) is a two-dimensional chart that allows the evaluation of the vocal signal based on the combination of periodicity (jitter, shimmer, and correlation coefficient) and noise (Glottal to Noise Excitation - GNE) measurements. The use of synthesized signals, where one has a greater control and knowledge of the production conditions, may allow a better understanding of the physiological and acoustic mechanisms underlying the vocal emission and its main perceptual-auditory correlates regarding the intensity of the deviation and types of vocal quality. To analyze the performance of the PDD in the discrimination of the presence and degree of roughness and breathiness in synthesized voices. 871 synthesized vocal signals were used corresponding to the vowel /ɛ/. The perceptual-auditory analysis of the degree of roughness and breathiness of the synthesized signals was performed using Visual Analogue Scale (VAS). Subsequently, the signals were categorized regarding the presence/absence of these parameters based on the VAS cutoff values. Acoustic analysis was performed by assessing the distribution of vocal signals according to the PDD area, quadrant, shape, and density. The equality of proportions and the chi-square tests were performed to compare the variables. Rough and breathy vocal signals were located predominantly outside the normal range and in the lower right quadrant of the PDD. Voices with higher degrees of roughness and breathiness were located outside the area of normality in the lower right quadrant and had concentrated density. The normality area and the PDD quadrant can discriminate healthy voices from rough and breathy ones. Voices with higher degrees of roughness and breathiness are proportionally located outside the area of normality, in the lower right quadrant and with concentrated density. Copyright

THE REPRESENTATION OF EGYPTIAN PEOPLE’S VOICE IN THE JAKARTA GLOBE NEWS PHOTOGRAPHS

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Fini Fitriani

2012-07-01

Full Text Available Abstract: As a product of mass media, news photograph is an image which provides the viewers with a valuable source of information and news story. All events captured in photographs turn into a news photo. Besides covering the news with fact, news photographs do not only have surface meanings, but also deeper meanings to be interpreted by each viewer. The phenomenon of demonstration, particularly the massive demonstration in Egypt in 2011, offers a good chance to discover how visual messages have been presented to guide interpretation of foreign news events. Principally, demonstration is an expression of the people’s voices, and thus, their voices are related closely with their demands, grievances and wishes related to the new government. Here, the photographs are able to portray and reflect the people’s voices through the compositions and contents (meanings involved in the photos. This study is aimed at discovering the portrayal of the voice of the people (the protesters in the news photographs of the Indonesian online newspaper, The Jakarta Globe. The data consist of 15 news photographs taken from The Jakarta Globe online newspaper published in January – October 2011. The study employs qualitative method framed with semiotic analysis using Roland Barthes’ theory of orders of signification and photographic message. The results of the study show that The Jakarta Globe visually constructs this event (demonstration by focusing on the human action (the protesters. Thus, the voice of the people is portrayed in the photo subjects (the protesters and the included objects of the photo. Meanwhile, the technical aspects of the photos play a meaningful role in emerging the portrayal of the people’s voice. There are four voices revealed by the people in the 15 photographs, namely the voice of freedom, the voice of peace, the voice of justice and the voice of human rights. The photo text including headlines and captions also interact with

The sound of trustworthiness: Acoustic-based modulation of perceived voice personality.

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Pascal Belin

Full Text Available When we hear a new voice we automatically form a "first impression" of the voice owner's personality; a single word is sufficient to yield ratings highly consistent across listeners. Past studies have shown correlations between personality ratings and acoustical parameters of voice, suggesting a potential acoustical basis for voice personality impressions, but its nature and extent remain unclear. Here we used data-driven voice computational modelling to investigate the link between acoustics and perceived trustworthiness in the single word "hello". Two prototypical voice stimuli were generated based on the acoustical features of voices rated low or high in perceived trustworthiness, respectively, as well as a continuum of stimuli inter- and extrapolated between these two prototypes. Five hundred listeners provided trustworthiness ratings on the stimuli via an online interface. We observed an extremely tight relationship between trustworthiness ratings and position along the trustworthiness continuum (r = 0.99. Not only were trustworthiness ratings higher for the high- than the low-prototypes, but the difference could be modulated quasi-linearly by reducing or exaggerating the acoustical difference between the prototypes, resulting in a strong caricaturing effect. The f0 trajectory, or intonation, appeared a parameter of particular relevance: hellos rated high in trustworthiness were characterized by a high starting f0 then a marked decrease at mid-utterance to finish on a strong rise. These results demonstrate a strong acoustical basis for voice personality impressions, opening the door to multiple potential applications.

Investigations of Hemispheric Specialization of Self-Voice Recognition

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Rosa, Christine; Lassonde, Maryse; Pinard, Claudine; Keenan, Julian Paul; Belin, Pascal

2008-01-01

Three experiments investigated functional asymmetries related to self-recognition in the domain of voices. In Experiment 1, participants were asked to identify one of three presented voices (self, familiar or unknown) by responding with either the right or the left-hand. In Experiment 2, participants were presented with auditory morphs between the…

Cognitive Load in Voice Therapy Carry-Over Exercises

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Iwarsson, Jenny; Morris, David Jackson; Balling, Laura Winther

2017-01-01

Purpose: The cognitive load generated by online speech production may vary with the nature of the speech task. This article examines 3 speech tasks used in voice therapy carry-over exercises, in which a patient is required to adopt and automatize new voice behaviors, ultimately in daily spontaneous communication. Method: Twelve subjects produced…

Academic voice: On feminism, presence, and objectivity in writing.

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Mitchell, Kim M

2017-10-01

Academic voice is an oft-discussed, yet variably defined concept, and confusion exists over its meaning, evaluation, and interpretation. This paper will explore perspectives on academic voice and counterarguments to the positivist origins of objectivity in academic writing. While many epistemological and methodological perspectives exist, the feminist literature on voice is explored here as the contrary position. From the feminist perspective, voice is a socially constructed concept that cannot be separated from the experiences, emotions, and identity of the writer and, thus, constitutes a reflection of an author's way of knowing. A case study of how author presence can enhance meaning in text is included. Subjective experience is imperative to a practice involving human interaction. Nursing practice, our intimate involvement in patient's lives, and the nature of our research are not value free. A view is presented that a visible presence of an author in academic writing is relevant to the nursing discipline. The continued valuing of an objective, colorless academic voice has consequences for student writers and the faculty who teach them. Thus, a strategically used multivoiced writing style is warranted. © 2017 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Acoustic and aerodynamic measures of the voice during pregnancy.

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Hancock, Adrienne B; Gross, Heather E

2015-01-01

Known influences of sex hormones on the voice would suggest pregnancy hormones could have an effect, yet studies using acoustic measures have not indicated changes. Additionally, no examination of the voice before the third trimester has been reported. Effect of pregnancy on the voice is relatively unexplored yet could be quite relevant to female speakers and singers. It is possible that spectral and aerodynamic measures would be more sensitive to tissue-level changes caused by pregnancy hormones. In this first longitudinal study of a 32-year-old woman's pregnancy, weekly voice samples were analyzed for acoustic (fundamental frequency, perturbation ratios of shimmer and jitter, Harmonic-to-Noise Ratio, spectral measures, and maximum phonation time) and aerodynamic (average airflow, peak flow, AC/DC ratio, open quotient, and speed quotient) parameters. All measures appeared generally stable during weeks 11-39 of pregnancy compared with 21 weeks postpartum. Slight decrease in minimum airflow and open speed quotient may reflect suspected vocal fold tissue changes. It is recommended that future studies monitor and test correlations among hormone levels, visual analyses of vocal fold mucosa, aerodynamic function, and glottal efficiency. Copyright © 2015 The Voice Foundation. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Evolving Spiking Neural Networks for Recognition of Aged Voices.

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Silva, Marco; Vellasco, Marley M B R; Cataldo, Edson

2017-01-01

The aging of the voice, known as presbyphonia, is a natural process that can cause great change in vocal quality of the individual. This is a relevant problem to those people who use their voices professionally, and its early identification can help determine a suitable treatment to avoid its progress or even to eliminate the problem. This work focuses on the development of a new model for the identification of aging voices (independently of their chronological age), using as input attributes parameters extracted from the voice and glottal signals. The proposed model, named Quantum binary-real evolving Spiking Neural Network (QbrSNN), is based on spiking neural networks (SNNs), with an unsupervised training algorithm, and a Quantum-Inspired Evolutionary Algorithm that automatically determines the most relevant attributes and the optimal parameters that configure the SNN. The QbrSNN model was evaluated in a database composed of 120 records, containing samples from three groups of speakers. The results obtained indicate that the proposed model provides better accuracy than other approaches, with fewer input attributes. Copyright © 2017 The Voice Foundation. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Legitimation for Early and Rapid Internationalization: A Review of Research in International Entrepreneurship

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Laine, Igor; Kuivalainen, Olli; Marinova, Svetla Trifonova

In this paper we respond to Cavusgil and Knight’s call for future research to address the question of born global firms overcome inherent liabilities to achieve legitimacy in foreign markets. To contribute to this call, we have systematically reviewed the extant international entrepreneurship...... literature. By analyzing existing evidence on building organizational legitimacy by early and rapidly internationalizing firms, our review helps to understand reasons and underlying mechanisms of successful legitimation of early and rapid internationalization thus ultimately explaining existence...... entrepreneurship....

Masculine Voices Predict Well-Being in Female-to-Male Transgender Individuals.

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Watt, Seth O; Tskhay, Konstantin O; Rule, Nicholas O

2018-05-01

Voices convey important social information about an individual's identity, including gender. This is especially relevant to transgender individuals, who cite voice alteration as a primary goal of the gender alignment process. Although the voice is a primary target of testosterone therapy among female-to-male (FTM) trans people, little research has explored the effects of such changes on their psychological well-being. Here, we investigated how FTMs' vocal gender related to their well-being. A total of 77 FTMs (M age  = 25.45 years, SD = 6.77) provided voice samples and completed measures of their well-being and psychological health. An independent group of 32 naïve raters (M age  = 22.16 years, SD = 8.21) subsequently rated the voice samples for masculinity. We found that FTMs whose voices sounded more congruent with their experienced gender (i.e., sounded more masculine) reported greater well-being (better life satisfaction, quality of life, and self-esteem; lower levels of anxiety and depression) than FTMs with less gender congruent (i.e., more feminine) voices (β = .48). The convergence between outwardly perceived vocal gender and gender identity brought about through hormone replacement therapy may therefore support greater well-being for FTMs.

Voice Range Profiles of Middle School and High School Choral Directors

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Schwartz, Sandra M.

2009-01-01

Vocal demands of teaching are significant, and this challenge is compounded for choral directors who depend on the voice for communicating information or demonstrating music concepts. The purpose of this study is to examine the frequency and intensity of middle and high school choral directors' voices and to compare choral directors' voices with…