There has been relatively little scholarship to date on Mahler’s Kindertotenlieder. The writings about this song cycle that do exist primarily focus on the disparate nature of the poems and justify Kindertotenlieder as a cycle by highlighting various musical connections between the songs, such as keys and motivic continuity. Mahler, however, has unified the cycle in a much more complex and sophisticated way. His familiarity with Wagner’s music and methods, and his mastery of the human voice and orchestral voices allowed him to weave a dramatic grief-laden narrative.

Magister Artium - MA / This project was born after the researcher, a practicing social worker at a psychiatric facility, observed the presence of high rates of anxiety and depressive disorders among transgender patients. These patients were often also abandoned by their family or primary caregivers. This research was part of a larger National Research Foundation (NRF) project in the Western Cape and Gauteng, which explored LGBT older persons’ care needs. It differed from the main project in that it focused on the mental health care challenges experienced by older transgender people. The project was funded by the NRF and the researcher was allocated funding from that project to explore LGBT aging and care in the marginalised areas. LGBT discrimination has been indicated as a key factor in the onset of mental health issues later in adulthood. Older adults are generally at a higher risk of developing mental disorders. The older transgender community with mental health care needs thus often suffers multiple forms of oppression within a heteronormative society. The aim of the research was to determine the mental health care challenges experienced by older transgender people in the Cape Metropole, Western Cape. Objectives to reach this aim included exploring and describing the unique challenges faced by older transgender people, their experiences when accessing mental health care, and describing strategies of addressing their mental health care needs. The research methodology entailed a qualitative approach. Snowball sampling was applied for selecting five older transgender participants and five key informants. Photo voice, a Participatory Action Research (PAR) design, was used. Data collection consisted of in-depth interviewing, focus groups, and photo journaling. Themes were developed from the data utilising Thematic Analysis, aided by Atlas.ti software. Ethics and trustworthiness were certified through guidance by the research supervisor. This research was classified as high risk, since it involved marginalised individuals from the aged LGBT community. Anxiety in the group was anticipated and dealt with by providing further counselling where needed. The findings indicate that older transgender people experience minority stress across all racial and age cohorts. They suffer heightened anxiety when accessing healthcare services, as they anticipate transphobia and oppression. In addition, the intersectional socio-economic status of age and gender identity seems to contribute to building resilience within the participants. Lastly, substance use and social and professional support were identified as coping strategies in the face of on-going discrimination.

Laryngopharyngeal reflux (LPR) is a prevalent disorder which can lead to voice disorders, but its diagnosis is difficult. Consequently, various tools and methods have been explored for the diagnosis of LPR. A link may exist between vocal characteristics and reflux symptoms which may improve the diagnosis of LPR. This study’s objective was to investigate the associations between reflux symptoms, acoustic-, perceptual-, and physical vocal characteristics, the glottal function index (GFI) and the voice handicap index (VHI), in adults with non-organic voice disorders. A retrospective cohort explorative research design was employed by investigating, analysing and describing the existing database of an ear, nose and throat specialist (ENT) in the form of administrative data sets, case histories, questionnaires, and patient and stroboscopy reports. Data collection took place at an ENT practice at a private hospital in Gauteng, South Africa. The data of 51 individuals with non-organic voice disorder, aged 18 and older, were included in this study. Comparisons were made between the reflux symptom index (RSI), acoustic characteristics (jitter, shimmer and fundamental frequency (fo), maximum phonation time (MPT), perceptual characteristics (grade of hoarseness, roughness, breathiness, asthenia, strain and instability), physical vocal characteristics, GFI and VHI. Fair correlations were found between RSI and phase closure (rs=0.424; p=0.035), RSI and GFI (rs=0.366; p=0.008), RSI and VHIP (rs=0.302; p=0.035) and between RSI and caffeine intake (rs=0.322); p=0.043). Results indicated that underlying associations exist between reflux symptoms, vocal characteristics, the GFI and the VHI. Used in conjunction, these measurement tools could improve the clinical diagnosis of LPR. The implications of these findings are promising but further research is recommended. / Dissertation (MA)--University of Pretoria, 2020. / 2022/12/31 / Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology / MA (Speech-Language Pathology) / Unrestricted

Creating inclusive environments that are safe and respectful of all students in the spectrum is paramount to students’ success and well-being in music (Carter, 2011). When students feel safe and supported, they may express themselves more freely and participate in music more fully (Hill, 2019). Yet, freedom to express oneself is inhibited by heteronormative beliefs and practices that perpetuate gender stereotypes, suppress queer thinking, and form the origins of homophobia and transphobia (Butler, 2004; Sedgwick, 1990/2008; Warner, 1993). This study featured a narrative inquiry design which utilized the lens of queer theory and Butler’s (1990/1999) concept of gender performativity to examine high school musical engagement through the recollections and perceptions of three trans young adults. The purpose of this study was to explore ways that gender and music intersect in high school, as well as illuminate behaviors that constrained or enabled the participants’ abilities to participate fully in school music. Data was gathered through interviews with the participants during which they recounted past musical experiences in school, family, and community contexts. Findings from a comparative analysis revealed eight areas that were crucial to the participants’ affirmation of identity and musical engagement: supportive people, singing alone and with others, negotiating traditions, meaningful performing experiences, safe spaces and safe people, role of media, personal agency, and role of the music teacher. This study contributes to a growing body of music education research rooted in queer theory that dismantles the binary gender categories of “male” and “female” and, instead, considers the entire spectrum of gender. Results of this study may help educators remove barriers between gender identity and musical engagement by informing practice that opens channels for learning and builds stronger connections to music.

Freedom is human’s natural instinct, which was limited by Ethernet and Fixed Telephony Era. With the emergence of new technologies like wireless fidelity (WiFi) and voice over IP (VoIP) humans once again have freedom of movement; which at the very same time provides enough reasons to change the market dynamics of communication industry. The buzz of Voice over WiFi (VoWiFi) in recent years indicates that VoWiFi is shaping up as the next big challenge to traditional telephony, not only due to cost, but also due to range of services and amount of freedom it can offer. However, at the very same time these technologies have evolved to threaten the well-established telephony markets. Enterprise solutions for VoWiFi require enhanced security mechanism and seamless handovers. To address security related issues Wi-Fi Alliance in conjunction with IEEE introduced an enhanced and interoperable security scheme called WiFi Protected Access (WPA). Real time services are sensitive to latency, hence requiring bounded delay time throughout an ongoing session. Handovers in WiFi networks can take fairly long time which real time services cannot tolerate. The problem is further elevated when WiFi networks are secured by using WPA Enterprise. In this thesis we will examine the complete handoff process in WiFi networks. The impact of handovers on VoIP traffic will also be observed. Following the detailed analysis some suggestions will be presented concerning how to reduce this handoff latency. / Friheten som ligger i människans natur begränsades av Ethernet och den fasta telefonin. Med uppkomsten av nya teknologier så som Wireless Fidelity (WiFi) och Voice over IP (VoIP) återfår människan den en gång förlorade friheten. Samtidigt kommer telekommunikationsindustrin att kunna ändras till sin struktur genom WiFi och VoIP. Integreringen av Voice over IP och WiFi , även mer känd som Voice over WiFi, (VoWiFi) har under senare år indikerat att det är en potentiell utmanare till traditionell telefoni inte bara ur ett kostnadsperspektiv utan också för att denna teknologi medför ökade möjligheter när det gäller nya tjänster. Dock återstår en del arbete för VoWiFi för att kunna rubba den fasta telefonin. Företagslösningar av denna teknologi kräver att säkerhetsaspekterna ses över dessutom måste seamless handover fungera på ett tillfredställande sätt. För att se över säkerhetsaspekterna har Wi-Fi Alliance i samarbete med IEEE introducerat säkehetsmekanismen WiFi Protected Access (WPA). Realtidstjänster är känsliga mot fördröjningar. Handover i ett WiFi nätverk kan ta relativt lång tid vilket är oacceptabelt för realtidstjänster. Problemet blir än mer påtagligt när WiFi-nätet är säkrat med hjälp av WPA. I denna exjobbsrapport kommer handoff processen för WiFi nätverk att behandlas. Effekten av handover för VoIP trafik kommer också att beskrivas. Resultat och analyser kommer att föreslås för hur man kan reducera handoff-fördröjningar.

The purpose of this single-subject case study was to determine if vocal changes can be used to implicate deceit based on a suspect’s involuntary vocal responses when placed in a high stress situation such as being interrogated for a crime. This study also identified justification for the use of SLPs in the criminal justice system for the purpose of voice analysis. 10 truthful and 10 deceitful statements were analyzed from a suspect charged with the crime of murder using the voice analysis software Praat to determine differences in vocal attributes with varying speech characteristics. These statements were analyzed in the areas of intensity, hesitations/pausing, speech rate, and disfluencies. It was found that changes in maximum intensity and total number of words per statement implicate that a person is being deceitful.

No description available.

Maximum phonation time has been widely utilized as a simple clinical evaluation of the vocal function. Its importance has been emphasized by Van Riper (1954), Westlake and Rutherford (1961), Boone (1971), and other authors. A review of the literature revealed three trials of sustained phonation have been utilized by most researchers to determine maximum duration of phonation. Additionally, the review revealed a lack of test-retest reliability in maximum phonation time in children. The present study was designed to determine the variability in test-retest of maximum duration of· sustained /a/ among prepubescent male and female children. Eighty subjects, twenty at each of the four age levels, seven, eight, nine and ten, were selected from a larger pool using a random order table. Each age level was further divided into two groups of ten male and ten female subjects. A tape recording of twenty maximum phonations of /a/. was obtained for each subject. A second measure of maximum phonation time was recorded between two weeks and a month following the original run. The essential questions of this investigation were: 1. Given the means of age and sex groups of the longest performance of maximum duration of sustained /a/, is there a significant difference between runs one and two? 2. In the test cohort does the rank order of maximum phonation time differ between runs one and two? The following secondary questions were also posed: 1. Is there a significantly greater duration of the longest sustained /a/ when given twenty trials as opposed to the first three trials? 2. Is there a relationship between sex and the duration of sustained /a/? 3. Given four prepubescent age groups, is age a factor in relation to length of phonation?

In the clinical management of voice clients, it is important to measure accurate pitch ranges in order to determine if a client has a normal range or is speaking at an optimum pitch. It is not clear from the literature which vowel should be used in determining these pitch ranges. The purpose of this investigation was to determine the phonational frequency ranges in adults with no vocal training when phonating the cardinal vowels of /i/, /u/, and /a/. The investigation sought to answer the following question: Does the phonational frequency range in vocally untrained adults vary significantly when phonating the cardinal vowels of /i/, /u/, and /a/?

This learner-oriented study investigated the character and Bushou information from first year textbooks, Integrated Chinese Level 1 Part 1 and Integrated Chinese Level 1 Part 2, that are used by the participants; participants’ understanding and acquisition of Bushou; and their attitude on bringing in formal Bushou instruction to first year Chinese language courses. The study first classified all the characters that appear in the vocabulary lists in the 20 lessons from a set of first year textbooks that the participants use. Then it identified, organized, and analyzed the Bushou that appear in the characters. After soliciting and understanding students’ perceptions of Bushou and opinions on Bushou teaching and learning, and their acquisition of Bushou knowledge, a suggestion will be made on whether or not Bushou should be taught in class in this particular program. Sixty-eight students in Chinese classes from the elementary and intermediate Chinese classes participated in the study. The study findings revealed that students in both levels have a fragmented understanding of the concept of Bushou and a low level of Bushou knowledge; however, based on the descriptive analyses of the survey on Bushou teaching and learning, students in these two levels consider Bushou knowledge to be helpful for character learning and the majority of the participant want like to receive formal in-class instruction on Bushou. The study results suggest that curriculum developers should consider incorporating formal Bushou instruction into their first year Chinese language program.