Cross-Linguistic Nasalance Comparisons: A Review of Speech Sample Sets and Preliminary Consideration of Effect of Lexical Tone.

Introduction: Nasalance is an acoustic representation of perceived nasality with proven clinical and research utility. Its validity is contingent on appropriate speech sample sets and distinct normative databases based on known impact factors such as language and phonetic environment, but little is known about the potential effects of lexical tone on nasalance. Its use in international cross-linguistic studies necessitates definition and added considerations of speech sampling protocol.

Effect of Age and Gender on Nasalance Across the Lifespan: A Systematic Review.

The Nasometer is a widely used clinical and research tool with diagnosis and outcome measurement utility. The objective of this study was to systematically examine the effect of age and gender on nasalance across the lifespan. A systematic review was performed according to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews (PRISMA 2020).

Applying Computer-Based Language Test to Young Children.

Introduction: This study aimed at exploring the feasibility of applying a computer-based language test to young children aged 2-4 years.

Methods: Thirty-two Cantonese-speaking children, aged 2-4 years, were recruited from local kindergartens. All participants underwent an assessment using both the computer-based and paper-pencil versions of the Macau Cantonese Language Screening Scale for Preschool Children, following a crossover study design.

Are Vowels Normalized After Maxillary Osteotomy? An Acoustic Study in Cleft Lip and Palate.

Background: Maxillary hypoplasia is a common skeletal condition in cleft lip and palate (CLP). Maxillary osteotomy is typically used to reposition the maxilla in CLP with maxillary hypoplasia. Previous studies have suggested that vowel articulations are adjusted postsurgically due to altered vocal tract configuration and articulatory reorganization.

The Cutoff Point and Diagnostic Accuracy of the Voice Handicap Index in Cantonese-Speaking Population.

Background: Voice Handicap Index (VHI) has been used extensively in research and clinical settings. It has been suggested to be used as a diagnostic tool in the literature. However, little is known if it could be applied as a diagnostic tool to the Cantonese-speaking population.

Rhythmic speech and stuttering reduction in a syllable-timed language.

Speaking rhythmically, also known as syllable-timed speech (STS), has been known for centuries to be a fluency-inducing condition for people who stutter. Cantonese is a tonal syllable-timed language and it has been shown that, of all languages, Cantonese is the most rhythmic (Mok, 2009). However, it is not known if STS reduces stuttering in Cantonese as it does in English.

The Topography of Stuttering in Cantonese.

Objective: This is the first study to investigate the behavioral nature (topography) of stuttering in Cantonese. Cantonese, a Sino-Tibetan language, is both tonal and syllable-timed. Previous studies of stuttering topography have mainly been in Western languages, which are mainly stress-timed.

Lexical tone and stuttering in Cantonese.

Cantonese is a tone language, in which the variation of the fundamental frequency contour of a syllable can change meaning. There are six different lexical tones in Cantonese. While research with Western languages has shown an association between stuttering and syllabic stress, nothing is known about whether stuttering in Cantonese speakers is associated with one or more of the six lexical tones.

Effects of electrical stimulation on vocal functions in patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma.

Objectives/hypothesis: This study aimed to evaluate the effects of neuromuscular electrical stimulation (NMES) on vocal functions in patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma following radiation therapy.

Study Design: Prospective, randomized controlled trial.

Methods: One hundred forty newly treated NPC patients were recruited and randomized into NMES or traditional swallowing exercise (TE) group.

An Application of Item Response Theory and the Rasch Model in Speech Recognition Test Materials.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to describe an attempt to apply item-response theory (IRT) and the Rasch model to construction of speech-recognition tests. A set of word-recognition test items applicable to children as young as 3 years old-with any level of hearing sensitivity, with or without using hearing devices-was developed.

Method: Test items were constructed through expert consultation and by reference to some established language corpora, validated with 121 participants with various degrees of hearing loss and 255 with typical hearing.

Evaluation of quantitative miRNA expression platforms in the microRNA quality control (miRQC) study.

MicroRNAs are important negative regulators of protein-coding gene expression and have been studied intensively over the past years. Several measurement platforms have been developed to determine relative miRNA abundance in biological samples using different technologies such as small RNA sequencing, reverse transcription-quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR) and (microarray) hybridization. In this study, we systematically compared 12 commercially available platforms for analysis of microRNA expression.

Lexical tone perception in native speakers of Cantonese.

Purpose: This study aimed at investigating (1) tone perception development among typically-developing Cantonese speakers and (2) the hierarchy of tone perception difficulty among the 15 tone contrasts.

Method: Two-hundred typically-developing children aged 3-10 and a group of 25 normal hearing adults were recruited. They were tested on a pool of 75-item calibrated recorded speech signals.

Cantonese tone production performance of mainstream school children with hearing impairment.

This study investigated the Cantonese tone production ability of children with hearing impairment studying in mainstream schools. The participants were 87 Cantonese-speaking children with mild-to-profound degrees of hearing loss aged 5.92-13.

Comparison of Rater's reliability on perceptual evaluation of different types of voice sample.

Objective/hypothesis: The objective of this study was to determine whether different types of voice samples affect rater reliability and which type of sample can be rated most reliably, with particular reference to two types of connected speech-passage reading and conversational speech.

Study Design: Prospective reliability study.

Methods: One hundred fifty voice samples from 40 speakers were presented to 14 speech pathologists experienced in managing voice disorders.

Silent aspiration and swallowing physiology after radiotherapy in patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma.

Background: There is a paucity of knowledge on dysphagia in patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma postradiotherapy (NPC post-RT). The purpose of this study was to establish silent aspiration occurrence, safe bolus consistency, and their relationship with swallowing physiology in patients with dysphagic NPC post-RT.

Methods: Eighty-five patients with dysphagic NPC post-RT were assessed across 4 bolus consistencies.

The effectiveness of group voice therapy: a group climate perspective.

Objectives/hypothesis: Group therapy has frequently been adopted as a service delivery model for providing voice therapy. However, currently no literature has focused on understanding the underlying processes that are unique to group therapy, which contribute to treatment success. This study aimed at investigating the role of group climate in voice group therapy.

Lexical tone perception ability of profoundly hearing-impaired children: performance of cochlear implant and hearing aid users.

Objective: In tone languages such as Cantonese, a change in tone denotes a change in lexical meaning. The present study investigates the functional benefit of hearing devices in assisting tone perception among children with profound hearing impairment.

Subjects: Fifty-two children with profound hearing loss were categorized into two groups based on their primary type of hearing device - a hearing aid group and cochlear implant group.

Age sensitivity in the acquisition of lexical tone production: evidence from children with profound congenital hearing impairment after cochlear implantation.

Objectives: This study investigated the effects of implant experience and age at implantation on the Cantonese tone production of children with cochlear implants. The study also examined whether there was a particular age at which children were more responsive to acquiring tones.

Methods: The study included 45 children who had received unilateral cochlear implants at a mean age of 65.

Laryngopharyngeal sensory deficits and impaired pharyngeal motor function predict aspiration in patients irradiated for nasopharyngeal carcinoma.

Objectives/hypothesis: To assess the contribution of laryngopharyngeal sensory deficits and impaired pharyngeal motor function to aspiration in patients irradiated for nasopharyngeal carcinoma.

Study Design: A retrospective study at a tertiary referral university teaching hospital.

Methods: One hundred consecutive patients who underwent radiotherapy for nasopharyngeal carcinoma referred to a dysphagia clinic underwent sensory testing of their laryngopharynx and endoscopic evaluation of their swallowing.

Do Chinese speakers need a specialized cochlear implant system?

Background: Cochlear implants are a standard treatment option for the profoundly deaf, but have only recently become a treatment option in China. Chinese is a tonal language, and a change in the lexical tone almost always changes the meaning of a word.

Methods: A critical review of the strategies for improving the outcome of cochlear implantation in Chinese speakers was made.

Tone perception results with Harmony and HiRes 120 in Cantonese-speaking subjects.

The goal of this study was to examine tonal language perception in adults with cochlear implants who are native speakers of Cantonese. Ten adult subjects were implanted with HiRes 90K devices and participated in the study. Baseline data were obtained with standard HiRes and compared with HiRes 120.

Tone perception in Cantonese-speaking children with hearing aids.

Objectives: In this study we investigated the benefit of using hearing aids for Cantonese tone perception among children with various degrees of hearing impairment.

Methods: Forty-eight children with moderate to profound hearing loss were investigated. They were required to perform a lexical tone perception test with recorded test stimuli presented at 65 dB in soundproof booths.

Age and outcome of cochlear implantation for patients with bilateral congenital deafness in a Cantonese-speaking population.

Objective: To evaluate the effect of age at implantation by assessment of speech perception in cochlear implant users with bilateral congenital deafness.

Design: A retrospective cohort analysis of 60 cochlear implant users (age at implantation, 1.01 to 22.