published_or_final_version / Speech and Hearing Sciences / Master / Master of Science in Audiology

Submitted by Filipe dos Santos (fsantos@pucsp.br) on 2018-04-05T12:25:01Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Tatiana Medeiros Deperon.pdf: 3084468 bytes, checksum: 25c018058ea863a026fad05f4842617b (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2018-04-05T12:25:01Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Tatiana Medeiros Deperon.pdf: 3084468 bytes, checksum: 25c018058ea863a026fad05f4842617b (MD5) Previous issue date: 2018-02-27 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior - CAPES / Introduction: The child's auditory experiences are influenced by the audibility of speech sounds. These experiences are modified by hearing loss, thereby altering developmental opportunities. Audibility, which can be measured by SII, has been shown to be a necessary condition for language development, since it allows access to the linguistic input. Several factors influence the development of these children and will moderate the relationship between their hearing loss and the results that each child will achieve. Vocabulary development has been shown to be a good indicator of language development. On this perspective, considering that audibility for speech sounds may not be sufficient for the development of oral language, it is necessary to analyze how these factors can interfere in the course and in ways to develop processes that facilitate rehabilitation. Objective: To identify the factors related to the development of oral language when audibility was established for speech sounds in hearing impaired children using who are hearing aid (HA) users. Methods: Sixty-five children aged 6 to 17 years old, HA users and based in the state of São Paulo, were evaluated for their receptive vocabulary performance (PPVT-4) and the relation to the following aspects: socioeconomic status, maternal education level, speech-language therapy, etiology, risk factors for hearing loss, age at diagnosis and intervention, use of the device, hearing and language categories, speech perception and audibility. Results: Within the population analyzed, audibility did not determine vocabulary performance. The variables: socioeconomic level, etiology, number of risk factors for hearing impairment, device usage and speech perception interfered in vocabulary performance. It was also verified that the chance of belonging to the group which scored greater vocabulary performance gets 84% smaller upon the increase of 1 risk factor, but increases in 55% when using the device for one extra hour per day. By relating chronological age and age equivalent in vocabulary performance, it was noted that the difference between the two indexes increases as subjects move away from the normal curve. It was observed that audibility tends to be higher in the group with higher vocabulary performance, and decreases with distance. In the group with good audibility and poor performance, late diagnosis and intervention and inconsistent device use may have been responsible for below-expected vocabulary performance. Conclusions: Factors such as: early diagnosis and intervention, device use, audibility and speech therapy are essential for language development. However, none of them stand-alone is sufficient to make this development happen, and aspects such as early diagnosis and intervention, device use, audibility and speech therapy are also fundamental for the language development to occur / dos sons de fala. Essas experiências são modificadas pela perda de audição, alterando consequentemente as oportunidades de desenvolvimento. A audibilidade, que pode ser medida pelo SII, tem se mostrado como uma condição necessária para o desenvolvimento de linguagem, pois permite o acesso ao input linguístico. Diversas variáveis influenciam o desenvolvimento destas crianças e irão moderar a relação entre a perda de audição e os resultados que cada criança vai alcançar. O desenvolvimento de vocabulário tem se mostrado um bom indicador do desenvolvimento de linguagem. Nesta perspectiva, considerando que a audibilidade para sons de fala pode não ser suficiente para o desenvolvimento da linguagem oral, cabe analisar quais e como estas variáveis podem interferir no percurso e desenvolver processos facilitadores na reabilitação. Objetivo: identificar os fatores relacionados ao desenvolvimento de linguagem oral quando estabelecida a audibilidade para sons de fala em crianças com deficiência auditiva usuárias de aparelho de amplificação sonora individual (AASI). Método: foram avaliadas 65 crianças entre 6 e 17 anos, usuárias de AASI de um centro de saúde auditiva no estado de São Paulo, quanto ao desempenho de vocabulário receptivo (PPVT-4) e sua relação com seguintes aspectos: nível socioeconômico, escolaridade materna, terapia fonoaudiológica, etiologia, fatores de risco para deficiência auditiva, idade no diagnóstico e na intervenção, uso do dispositivo, categorias de audição e linguagem, percepção de fala e audibilidade. Resultados: para a população estudada, a audibilidade não determinou o desempenho do vocabulário. As variáveis: nível socioeconômico, etiologia, número de fatores de risco para deficiência auditiva, uso do dispositivo e percepção de fala interferiram no desempenho de vocabulário. Verificou-se ainda que a chance de pertencer ao grupo com melhor desempenho de vocabulário fica 84% menor com o aumento de um fator de risco para deficiência, e aumenta 55% com o aumento de 1 hora/dia no uso do dispositivo. Ao relacionar a idade cronológica e a idade equivalente no desempenho de vocabulário, notou-se que a diferença entre os dois índices aumenta à medida que os sujeitos se afastam da curva de normalidade. Observou-se que a audibilidade tende a ser maior no grupo com desempenho de vocabulário superior, e diminui com a distância. No grupo com boa audibilidade e desempenho insatisfatório, o diagnóstico e intervenção tardios e uso inconsistente do dispositivo podem ter sido responsáveis pelo desempenho de vocabulário abaixo do esperado. Conclusões: fatores como: diagnóstico e intervenção precoces, uso do dispositivo, audibilidade e terapia fonoaudiológica são essenciais para o desenvolvimento de audição e linguagem. Entretanto, nenhum deles isoladamente é suficiente para ocasionar este desenvolvimento, e aspectos como: diagnóstico e intervenção precoces, uso do dispositivo, audibilidade e terapia fonoaudiológica também são fundamentais para que o desenvolvimento de audição e linguagem ocorra

Clear speech is a type of speaking style that improves speech intelligibility for many individuals. For example, one study showed a 17 percentage point increase in intelligibility over conversational speech for individuals with sensorineural hearing loss (Picheny et al., 1985). The clear speech benefit also extends to children with learning disabilities (Bradlow et al., 2003), non-native listeners (Bradlow and Bent, 2002), and other populations. Although clear speech is typically slower than conversational speech, it can be produced, naturally, at normal rates with training. For young listeners with normal hearing, clear speech at normal rates (clear/normal) is more intelligible than conversational speech (conv/normal) and is almost as beneficial as clear speech at slow rates (clear/slow) (Krause and Braida, 2002). However, a preliminary study by Krause (2001), found that clear/normal speech may benefit some older listeners with hearing loss but not others, suggesting that age may be a factor in the clear speech benefit at normal rates. It is evident, though, that clear speech at slow rates benefits this population (Picheny et al., 1985; Payton et al., 1994; Schum, 1996; Helfer, 1998). Therefore, the purpose of the study was to examine older listeners with normal hearing to determine how speech intelligibility, measured by % correct keyword scores, varies with speaking mode, speaking rate, talker and listener. Results were then compared to previously collected data from younger listeners with normal hearing (Krause and Braida, 2002) in order to isolate the effect of age on the size of clear speech benefit at slow and normal speaking rates.Eight adults (ages 55-68) with normal hearing participated in speech intelligibility tests.

The object of the study. Short impulse acoustic signals in the frequency range from 500 to 4000 Hz and intensity from 30 to 85 dB. The aim of the study. To estimate and assess the quality of the speech and acoustic signals from the perspective of various background noises of different frequency spectra. The tasks of the study: 1. To evaluate the effects of noise of various intensity on identification of short impulse signals and speech intelligibility in noise; 2. To analyse the audibility of signals in the frequency range of verbal communication (500–4000 Hz) in noise of various intensity and frequency content and to determine the characteristics of signals to be identified in noise; 3. To determine the influence of signals’ duration to the quality of its qualitative subjective identification; 4. To assess the masking effects of the background noise on speech and other informative signals under the combinations if different intensity. Practical value. The data obtained and method developed can be used for the assessment of the acoustic signals in noise. The method is also applicable to the description of background noise from the perspective of verbal communication. Such methodology and results can be adopted for the quality prognostication of audible information and its loss in various background noises of different spectral pattern. / Temos aktualumas. Triukšmo poveikis darbo aplinkoje dažnai siejamas su dirbančiųjų produktyvumo mažėjimu, o triukšmingoje aplinkoje neišgirsti arba neadekvačiai išgirsti akustiniai signalai dažnai būna mašinų trikčių ar traumų darbe pasekmė. Šie pavyzdžiai aiškiai rodo būtinybę spręsti problemas, susietas su girdimosios informacijos sklaida ir kokybe triukšmingoje aplinkoje. Įspėjamųjų ar pavojaus signalų darbo aplinkoje naudojimas standartizuotas ir dažniausiai sprendžiamas energiniu požiūriu, t. y. teikiant ženkliai didesnio intensyvumo akustinius signalus. Šių signalų girdimumas vidutinio intensyvumo triukšmingoje aplinkoje keblumų nesukelia, tačiau realiomis sąlygomis tokios aplinkybės retai pasitaikančios. Daugelyje mokslinių darbų, nagrinėjant garsinės informacijos kokybės klausimus, keliamos tik visiško arba pakankamo suprantamumo problemos, tačiau praktikoje svarbus dalinis šių signalų suvokimas (egzistavimo fakto nustatymas), kuris tyrinėtas menkai. Šiame darbe tiriami ir nagrinėjami reiškiniai, turintys įtakos akustinių garsų girdimumui triukšmingoje aplinkoje bei girdimumą sąlygojančios aplinkybės o taip pat siūlomi sprendimai garsinės informacijos kokybės sistemoje „žmogus – mašina – aplinka“ patikimumo didinimui. Darbo tikslas – triukšmo šaltinių sukuriamą triukšmo foną akustinėje erdvėje ištirti trumpalaikių informacinių akustinių garsų suvokimo požiūriu ir įvertinti triukšmingos aplinkos įtaką naudingų akustinių signalų identifikavimo kokybei. Darbo... [toliau žr. visą tekstą]

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Thesis (M.Eng.(Bio-Engineering))--University of Pretoria, 2008. / Summaries in Afrikaans and English. Includes bibliographical references.

Orientador: Dalton Soares Arantes / Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Faculdade de Engenharia Elétrica e de Computação / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-25T15:09:09Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Leite_HarleiMigueldeArruda_M.pdf: 3631088 bytes, checksum: b997adfa6f8915d31a23e0eb6daf0cc3 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2014 / Resumo: A principal contribuição desta dissertação é a proposta de uma metodologia de avaliação de voz sintetizada. O método consiste em um conjunto de etapas que buscam auxiliar o avaliador nas etapas de planejamento, aplicação e análise dos dados coletados. O método foi originalmente desenvolvido para avaliar um conjunto de vozes sintetizadas para encontrar a voz que melhor se adapta a ambientes de educação a distância usando avatares. Também foram estudadas as relações entre inteligibilidade, compreensibilidade e naturalidade a fim conhecer os fatores a serem considerados para aprimorar os sintetizadores de fala. Esta dissertação também apresenta os principais métodos de avaliação encontrados na literatura e o princípio de funcionamento dos sistemas TTS / Abstract: This thesis proposes, as main contribution, a new synthesized voice evaluation methodology. The method consists of a set of steps that seek to assist the assessor in the stages of planning, implementation and analysis of data collected. The method was originally developed to evaluate a set of synthesized voices to find the voice that best fits the environments for distance education using avatars. Relations between intelligibility, comprehensibility and naturalness were studied in order to know the factors to be considered to enhance the speech synthesizers. This thesis also presents the main evaluation methods in the literature and how TTS (Text-to-Speech) systems work / Mestrado / Telecomunicações e Telemática / Mestre em Engenharia Elétrica

The prevailing speech therapy techniques for treating hypokinetic dysarthria in individuals with Parkinson's disease (PD) yields improvements within the clinical setting, however, maintenance and generalization of acquired behaviors continue to be a challenge. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of portable therapeutic devices including Ambulatory Phonation Monitor with biofeedback (APM) and auditory masker in maintenance and carryover of improved speech. Our participant was an individual diagnosed with PD for the past 25 years who continued to display speech disturbances despite undergoing several behavioral speech therapy programs and neurosurgical procedures. Speech intelligibility and average intensity measures under automatic, elicited, and spontaneous speech tasks were recorded pre- and postusage of APM and auditory masker for a period of 1 week each. Preliminary findings showed no significant difference in the measures between means (P>0.05) across all tasks for both the devices. Suggestions for future research on therapeutic devices are discussed.

Speech often occurs in challenging listening environments, such as masking noise. Visual cues have been found to enhance speech intelligibility in noise. Although the facilitatory role of audiovisual integration for perception of speech has been established in native speech, it is relatively unclear whether it also holds true for speech produced by nonnative speakers. Native listeners were presented with English sentences produced by native English and native Korean speakers. The sentences were in either audio-only or audiovisual conditions. Korean speakers were rated as more accented in audiovisual than in the audio-only condition. Visual cues enhanced speech intelligibility in noise for native English speech but less so for nonnative speech. Reduced intelligibility of audiovisual nonnative speech was associated with implicit Asian-Foreign association, suggesting that listener-related factors partially influence the efficiency of audiovisual integration for perception of speech produced by nonnative speakers. / text

Die chirurgische und strahlentherapeutische Behandlung oropharyngealer Tumoren führt häufig zu einer Beeinträchtigung des Schluckens und Sprechens. Das Ziel dieser Arbeit ist die Untersuchung des Schweregrades der Schluck- und Sprechprobleme bei Patienten, die wegen Tumoren der Regio tonsillaris nach unterschiedlichen Operationsmethoden behandelt wurden. 54 Patienten mit oropharyngealen Tumoren (unterteilt nach den Operationsmethoden: A: Tumortonsillektomie; B: Oropharynxteilresektion mit primärem Wundverschluß; C: Oro-pharynxteilresektion mit plastischer Rekonstruktion) wurden mittels Befragung, mit einem standarisierten Fragebogen, einem kompletten HNO-Status inklusive transnasaler Endo-skopie, mit drei unterschiedlichen Sprachverständlichkeitstests und einer Röntgenkine-matographie untersucht. Die besten funktionellen Resultate (sowohl der Schluck- als auch der Sprechfunktion) zeigten sich in Gruppe A, während sich in den Gruppen B und C deutlich schlechtere Ergebnisse fanden. Zwischen den Gruppen B und C ließen sich nur geringe Unterschiede feststellen. Die statistische Analyse konnte eine positive Korrelation der Ergebnisse innerhalb der Sprach-verständlichkeitstests sowie der drei Tests untereinander nachweisen. Die Arbeit zeigt, daß durch Oropharynxteilresektionen mit primärem Wundverschluß und mit plastischer Rekonstruktion annähernd gleichwertige Resultate erzielt werden, obwohl der operationsbedingte Gewebedefekt vor plastischer Rekonstruktion deutlich größer ist. Diese Ergebnisse widersprechen einigen Literaturangaben, die schlechtere funktionelle Ergebnisse nach plastischer Rekonstruktion beschreiben. Die Arbeit zeigt außerdem, daß sich die drei verwendeten Sprachverständlichkeitstests für die Untersuchung der beeinträchtigten Sprech-funktion nach operativer Behandlung oropharyngealer Tumoren eignen. / The surgical and radiotherapeutical treatment of oropharyngeal tumors often results in swallowing and speech malfunction. The purpose of this study is to investigate the severity of swallowing and speech malfunction in patients with tumors of the tonsillar region, which were treated by different surgical strategies. 54 Patients with oropharyngeal tumors (seperated according to the surgical strategy: A: radical tonsillectomy; B: partial oropharyngectomy and primary closure; C: partial oropharyngectomy and plastic reconstruction) were investigated by interrogation, a standardized questionaire, a full otorhinolaryngological examination including transnasal endoscopy, three different speech tests and a radiographic swallow examination. The best functional results (regarding swallow- as well as speech function) were found in group A. The functional results in group B and C were distinctly worse, but only minimal differences could be found between these two groups. Statistical analysis confirmed a positive correlation of the results of the three speech tests and beetween the three speech tests. The study shows very similar functional results after partial oropharyngectomy with primary closure and partial oropharyngectomy with plastic reconstruction, although the tissue defect before plastic reconstruction was distinctly greater. These results differ from some results in the literature, which describe worse functional results after plastic reconstruction. The study also shows the usability of the three speech tests to assess variant degrees of speech malfunction after surgical and radiotherapeutical treatment of oropharyngeal tumors.