Development of the voiceless sibilant fricative contrast in three-year-olds: an ultrasound and acoustic study.

The study analysed spectral and tongue shape dynamics of voiceless alveolar and postalveolar fricatives produced by ten children learning Scottish English. Synchronised ultrasound tongue imaging data and acoustic data were used to characterise children's productions of the phonemic contrast. Six children had consistently accurate productions of both fricative targets, with some cross-consonant phonetic differences in the direction previously demonstrated for older children and adults, as well as some immature acoustic and articulatory dynamic patterns.

The Impact of Real-Time Articulatory Information on Phonetic Transcription: Ultrasound-Aided Transcription in Cleft Lip and Palate Speech.

Objective: This study investigated whether adding an additional modality, namely ultrasound tongue imaging (UTI), to perception-based phonetic transcription impacted on the identification of compensatory articulations and on interrater reliability.

Patients And Methods: Thirty-nine English-speaking children aged 3-12 years with cleft lip and palate (CLP) were recorded producing repetitions of /aCa/ for all places of articulation with simultaneous audio recording and probe-stabilized ultrasound (US). Three types of transcriptions were performed: (1) descriptive observations from the live US by the clinician recording the data, (2) US-aided transcription (UA) by two US-trained clinicians, and (3) traditional phonetic transcription by two CLP specialists from audio recording.

The dynamics of voiceless sibilant fricative production in children between 7 and 13 years old: An ultrasound and acoustic study.

This study reports on dynamic tongue shape and spectral characteristics of sibilant fricatives /s/ and /ʃ/ in Scottish English speaking children aged between 7 and 13 years old. The sequences /əCa/ and /əCi/ were produced by 40 children, with ten participants in each age group, and two-year intervals between successive groups. Productions of the same sequences by ten adults were used for comparison with the children's data.

An Ultrasound Study of the Development of Lingual Coarticulation during Childhood.

Background/aims: There is growing evidence that coarticulation development is protracted and segment-specific, and yet very little information is available on the changes in the extent of coarticulation across different phonemes throughout childhood. This study describes lingual coarticulatory patterns in 6 age groups of Scottish English-speaking children between 3 and 13 years old.

Methods: Vowelon-consonant anticipatory coarticulation was analysed using ultrasound imaging data on tongue shape from 4 consonants that differ in the degree of constraint, i.

Voiceless alveolar stop coarticulation in typically developing 5-year-olds and 13-year-olds.

In this study, vowel-on-consonant lingual coarticulation at [t] closure offset was compared in 5-year-old children and 13-year-old adolescents. The study aimed to establish whether, by the end of the closure, children from the younger age group adjust the tongue shape to the following vowels to the same extent as adolescents. Ten 5-year-olds and ten 13-year-olds, all speakers of Scottish Standard English, produced [t]-vowel syllables with the vowels [i] and [a], in a carrier phrase.

Using ultrasound tongue imaging to identify covert contrasts in children's speech.

Ultrasound tongue imaging has become a promising technique for detecting covert contrasts, due to the developments in data analysis methods that allow for processing information on tongue shape from young children. An important feature concerning analyses of ultrasound data from children who are likely to produce covert contrasts is that the data are likely to be collected without head-to-transducer stabilisation, due to the speakers' age. This article is a review of the existing methods applicable in analysing data from non-stabilised recordings.

Ultrasound and acoustic analysis of sibilant fricatives in preadolescents and adults.

This study describes the production of sibilant fricatives /s/ and /∫/, comparing Scottish English speaking preadolescent children with adults. The materials were the sequences /əCa/ and /əCi/ produced by 15 adults and 15 children aged between 10 and 12 years old. Quantitative analyses were carried out on both spectral information and on ultrasound imaging data on tongue shape, taken from nine successive time points during the fricative.

Quantifying lingual coarticulation using ultrasound imaging data collected with and without head stabilisation.

Previous studies reporting the use of ultrasound tongue imaging with clinical populations have generally provided qualitative information on tongue movement. Meaningful quantitative measures for use in the clinic typically require the speaker's head to be stabilised in relation to a transducer, which may be uncomfortable, and unsuitable for young children. The objective of this study was to explore the applicability of quantitative measurements of stabilisation-free tongue movement data, by comparing ultrasound data collected from 10 adolescents, with and without head stabilisation.

Spatial and temporal lingual coarticulation and motor control in preadolescents.

PURPOSE In this study, the authors compared coarticulation and lingual kinematics in preadolescents and adults in order to establish whether preadolescents had a greater degree of random variability in tongue posture and whether their patterns of lingual coarticulation differed from those of adults. METHOD High-speed ultrasound tongue contour data synchronized with the acoustic signal were recorded from 15 children (ages 10-12 years) and 15 adults. Tongue shape contours were analyzed at 9 normalized time points during the fricative phase of schwa-fricative-/a/ and schwa-fricative-/i/ sequences with the consonants /s/ and /ʃ/.

A normative-speaker validation study of two indices developed to quantify tongue dorsum activity from midsagittal tongue shapes.

This study reported adult scores on two measures of tongue shape, based on midsagittal tongue shape data from ultrasound imaging. One of the measures quantified the extent of tongue dorsum excursion, and the other measure represented the place of maximal excursion. Data from six adult speakers of Scottish Standard English without speech disorders were analyzed.

Rhythms of cell division of different periodicity in small intestinal cryptic epithelium and their contribution to circadian rhythm formation.

We used an improved method of chronobiological information processing enabling not only to detect oscillations with different frequencies, but also to determine the significance of each harmonic. This has made it possible to identify significant high-power harmonics present in the majority of cell positions in the crypt. These harmonics make the major contribution to the formation of diurnal rhythm of cell division in the crypt and hence determine spatial and temporal organization of the proliferative system in the crypt.

Nitrogen metabolism in rats with experimental diabetes during acute alcohol intoxication.

The concentrations of urea and uric acid increased, while the content of free amino acids decreased in blood serum from rats with alloxan-induced diabetes during acute alcohol intoxication. Activities of glutamate dehydrogenase, AMP deaminase, and tyrosine aminotransferase in the liver of experimental animals increased.

[The effect of acute alcohol intoxication on some parameters of nitrogenous metabolism in rats with alloxan diabetes].

Acute alcohol intoxication in rats with alloxan diabetes is accompanied by the increase of urea and uric acid and by the decrease in free fatty acids in serum. In the liver of experimental animals the increase of activity of glutamate dehydrogenase, AMP deaminase, and tyrosine transaminase was found.

Using ultrasound to quantify tongue shape and movement characteristics.

Objective : Previous experimental studies have demonstrated abnormal lingual articulatory patterns characterizing cleft palate speech. Most articulatory information to date has been collected using electropalatography, which records the location and size of tongue-palate contact but not the tongue shape. The latter type of data can be provided by ultrasound.

Coarticulation as an indicator of speech motor control development in children: an ultrasound study.

There are still crucial gaps in our knowledge about developmental paths taken by children to adult-like speech motor control. Mature control of articulators during speaking is manifested in the appropriate extent of coarticulation (the articulatory overlap of speech sounds). This study compared lingual coarticulatory properties of child and adult speech, using ultrasound tongue imaging.

[The use of mGlu2/3 receptors as a new approach to treat schizophrenia: results of a randomized double-blind trial].

Glutamate neurotransmission has been considered as one of pathogenetic factors of schizophrenia though all antipsychotics widely used in modern psychiatric practice are dopamine antagonists. LY2140023 is a selective agonist for metabotropic glutamate 2/3 (mGlu2/3) receptors with antipsychotic effect. In the present study, we have assessed clinical efficacy of LY2140023 in patients with schizophrenia compared to the control group receiving olanzapine in a randomized double-blind placebo-controlled trial.

Adult speakers' tongue-palate contact patterns for bilabial stops within complex clusters.

Previous studies using Electropalatography (EPG) have shown that individuals with speech disorders sometimes produce articulation errors that affect bilabial targets, but currently there is limited normative data available. In this study, EPG and acoustic data were recorded during complex word final /sps/ clusters spoken by 20 normal adults. A total contact (TC) index measured amount of tongue-palate contact during clusters in words such as 'crisps'.

Study of biological rhythms of small intestinal cryptic epithelial mitosis of different periodicity by fourier analysis.

Rhythms of cell division with different periods in the mouse small intestinal cryptic epithelium were studied using Fourier analysis. It was found that the proliferative system of the crypt is characterized by an intricate spatial and temporal organization. The amplitude of low-frequency rhythms increases, while the amplitude of high-frequency rhythms decreased in the direction from the crypt bottom to the neck.

Regularities of spatial and time organization of the proliferative system of small intestinal cryptic epithelium in intact mice in the circahoralian biological rhythm of its cells multiplication.

The proliferative system of the small intestinal cryptic epithelium in intact mice in circahoralian rhythm of mitotic activity of its cells (with a 80-140-min period) is characterized by spatial and time organization. The characteristics of the studied proliferative system do not dub it in individual parts, but present new properties intrinsic of this system in general. The features are greatly similar to the features of spatial and time organization of this proliferative system in circadian rhythm of cell division.

[Parameters of platelet serotonin system in patients with schizophrenia treated with olanzapine: a search for the serotonergic predictors of therapeutic efficacy].

Fifty-nine patients, 21 women and 38 men, with ICD-10 diagnosis of schizophrenia (F20.0), attack-like type, were treated with olanzapine during 28 weeks (8-weeks of acute and 20-weeks of maintenance therapy). Evaluation of clinical symptoms measured by the Positive and Negative Syndromes scale (PANSS) revealed that female patients responded better to therapy as compared to male ones, with PANSS total, PANSS negative and PANSS general psychopathological scores being significantly reduced (p < 0.

Spatiotemporal organization of the proliferative system in small intestinal crypt epithelium of intact mice.

We studied spatiotemporal organization of the proliferative system in small intestinal crypt epithelium of normal mice. Close relationships were found between circadian rhythms of cell proliferation and their position in the crypt. These peculiarities reflected spatiotemporal organization of the crypt epithelium.

[The experience of application of olanzapine: an atypical neuroleptic in acute schizophrenia].

Thirty adult patients with acute schizophrenia were included into six-week open-labelled, non-comparative trial of olanzapine with free dosing from 5 to 20 mg per day. For assessment of efficacy and safety of the treatment PANSS, BPRS, CGL and ESRS scales were used. The main criterion of improvement was the percentage of reduction of BPRS score to the end of the trial.