Voice Quality of Life and Musculoskeletal Symptoms of Pregnant Women.

Introduction: Quality of life in terms of voice and musculoskeletal symptoms can be affected, especially at the end of pregnancy when major physical changes occur.

Objective: To analyze the results of vocal self-assessment and musculoskeletal symptoms of pregnant women in the second and third trimester.

Methods: Forty-nine pregnant women in the second and third trimester aged between 18 and 40years were examined using the Nordic Musculoskeletal Questionnaire and the Voice-Related Quality of Life Questionnaire.

Evidence of validity and reliability of the Compressed Speech Test with Figures.

Purpose: To seek evidence of validity and reliability for the Compressed Speech Test with Figures.

Methods: The study was subdivided into three stages: construct validation, criteria and reliability. All participants were aged between 6:00 and 8:11.

Maximum Phonation Times as Biomarkers of Lung Function.

Purpose: To verify whether measurements of maximal phonation times are biomarkers of forced vital capacity in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and to characterize the vocal aspects of these patients, taking into account variables, such as age, body mass index, use of bronchodilators, presence of symptoms, and quality of life related to voice.

Methods: Complete records of 25 subjects with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, both sexes, aged 31 to 85 years, evaluated by forced vital capacity, maximum phonation times of /a/, and numerical count and number reached at this count, Vocal Symptom Scale, Voice Quality of Life. Data were presented descriptively and statistically analyzed using Student's t test for independent samples and Mann-Whitney U test.

Increased frequency of detection of anti-Toxoplasma gondii antibodies in domestic cats after outbreak of human toxoplasmosis.

Toxoplasmosis affects various organisms, including humans. In 2018, the largest outbreak of human toxoplasmosis described so far was reported in southern Brazil, with 809 human cases reported, and water as the potentially primary source of infection. Therefore, in this study, we aimed to evaluate the seroprevalence of Toxoplasma gondii in naturally infected domestic cats before and after the human toxoplasmosis outbreak, as well as the potential for environmental contamination by the number of cats infected after the outbreak.

Aerodynamic and Manovacuometric Vocal Measurements in Pregnant Women in the Second and Third Trimesters of Pregnancy.

Objective: To describe and to correlate the aerodynamic and manovacuometric voice measurements of pregnant women.

Methods: The following evaluations were carried out on 49 pregnant women - between 18 and 40 years old - in the second and third trimesters of gestational age: respiratory muscle strength, maximum phonation time of /a/, habitual, minimum, and maximum sound pressure levels. The data were statistically described and tested for the hypothesis of no association between voice measurements and refence levels, and for the correlation between voice measurements.

The effect of child development on the components of the Frequency Following Response: Child development and the Frequency Following Response.

During childhood, neuronal modifications occur so that typical childhood communicative development occurs. This work aims to contribute to the understanding of differences in the speech encoding of infants and school-age children by assessing the effects of child development, in different phases of early childhood, on the encoding of speech sounds. There were 98 subjects of both sexes, aged from 1 day to 8 years and 9 months who participated in the study.

Acoustic and Physiological Voice Assessment And Maximum Phonation Time In Patients With Different Types Of Dysarthria.

Objective: To compare the maximum phonation time of /a/, acoustic glottal source parameters, and physiological measures in patients with dysarthria.

Method: Thirteen patients were classified according to dysarthria type and divided into functional profiles (hypofunctional, hyperfunctional, and mixed). Assessments of maximum phonation time of /a/, glottal source parameters, electroglottography, and nasometry were performed.

Tongue movements in the production of /l/ in children with and without speech sound disorders in different ages.

Purpose: this study used the ultrasonography of the tongue movements and the dynamic models of speech production to characterize the articulatory gestures of in the production of /l/ at the Brazilian Portuguese in different age groups, comparing them between typical and atypical children.

Methods: the sample consisted of 30 typical and 30 atypical children between ages of four and eight-years-old, who underwent speech-language and ultrasonographic evaluations. The evaluation was realized by recording words reproduction with the sound /l/ and the following vocalic contexts: /a/, /i/ and /u/, repeating six times for each word.

Spectrographic Vocal Assessment Protocol (SVAP): Reliability and Criterion Validity.

Objective: To present evidence of the reliability and validity in the Spectrographic Vocal Assessment Protocol.

Methods: The sample consisted of 50 female participants, aged 25-62 years old, 24 with a otorhinolaryngological diagnosis of the normal larynx or posterior glottal gap, and 26 diagnosed with vocal fold disturbances. The emission of the vowel /a:/ was analyzed by the Real Time Spectrogram software.

Ultrasound analysis of tongue contour for the sound [j] in adults and children.

Purpose: Analyze and compare the mean tongue contours and articulatory gestures in the production of the sound [j] in adults and children with typical and atypical speech development. The children with atypical development presented speech sound disorders.

Methods: The diagnosis was determined by speech assessments.