Validation of the Dysphonia Severity Index in the Dr. Speech Program.

Purpose: The Dysphonia Severity Index (DSI) is an objective multiparameter index of voice quality that measures and describes overall voice quality. Some studies have suggested that the reliability of devices for DSI measurement should be examined. We explored the feasibility of DSI measurements using the Dr.

Dialectal and gender differences in nasalance for a Mandarin population.

The purpose of this study was to determine whether there are dialectal and gender related differences in nasalance of main Mandarin vowels and three sentences in 400 Chinese normal adults. The mean nasalance score difference for dialect and gender was significant (p < .001) in all speech materials.

[Suprapubic puncture: preferable to transurethral catheterization for pressure-flow determination in BPH patients].

Objective: To compare suprapubic puncture and transurethral catheterization for pressure-flow determination during voiding in BPH patients.

Methods: Both suprapubic puncture and transurethral catheterization were used for pressure-flow determinations during voiding in 23 BPH patients at the mean age of 69.3 years (range 57-77 years) and the related parameters were compared by t-test.

[Effects of transurethral catheterization on uroflow rate in the pressure-flow study of patients with benign prostatic hyperplasia].

Objective: To investigate the effects of transurethral catheterization on the uroflow rate in the pressure-flow study of patients with benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH).

Methods: Thirty-nine men with BPH underwent free uroflowmetry and pressure-flow analysis respectively. With an 8 F urethral catheter, the standard pressure-flow variables such as the maximum flow rate, detrusor pressure at the maximum flow rate and so on were recorded.

Analytical solutions of coupled-mode equations for multiwaveguide systems, obtained by use of Chebyshev and generalized Chebyshev polynomials.

A novel approach is proposed for obtaining the analytical solutions of the coupled-mode equations (CMEs); the method is applicable for an arbitrary number of coupled waveguides. The mathematical aspects of the CMEs and their solution by use of Chebyshev polynomials are discussed. When mode coupling between only adjacent waveguides is considered (denoted weak coupling), the first and second kinds of the usual Chebyshev polynomials are appropriate for evaluating the CMEs for linearly distributed and circularly distributed multiwaveguide systems, respectively.