Purpose: This study investigated the acoustic properties of 6 Taiwan Southern Min vowels produced by 10 laryngeal speakers (LA), 10 speakers with a pneumatic artificial larynx (PA), and 8 esophageal speakers (ES).
Method: Each of the 6 monophthongs of Taiwan Southern Min (/i, e, a, ɔ, u, ə/) was represented by a Taiwan Southern Min character and appeared randomly on a list 3 times (6 Taiwan Southern Min characters × 3 repetitions = 18 tokens). Each Taiwan Southern Min character in this study has the same syllable structure, /V/, and all were read with tone 1 (high and level). Acoustic measurements of the 1st formant, 2nd formant, and 3rd formant were taken for each vowel. Then, vowel space areas (VSAs) enclosed by /i, a, u/ were calculated for each group of speakers. The Euclidean distance between vowels in the pairs /i, a/, /i, u/, and /a, u/ was also calculated and compared across the groups.
Results: PA and ES have higher 1st or 2nd formant values than LA for each vowel. The distance is significantly shorter between vowels in the corner vowel pairs /i, a/ and /i, u/. PA and ES have a significantly smaller VSA compared with LA.
Conclusions: In accordance with previous studies, alaryngeal speakers have higher formant frequency values than LA because they have a shortened vocal tract as a result of their total laryngectomy. Furthermore, the resonance frequencies are inversely related to the length of the vocal tract (on the basis of the assumption of the source filter theory). PA and ES have a smaller VSA and shorter distances between corner vowels compared with LA, which may be related to speech intelligibility. This hypothesis needs further support from future study.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1044/2016_AJSLP-15-0068 | DOI Listing |
Nat Commun
January 2025
Department of Biological Sciences, Dedman College of Humanities and Sciences, Southern Methodist University, Dallas, TX, 75275, USA.
The 40S ribosomal subunit recycling pathway is an integral link in the cellular quality control network, occurring after translational errors have been corrected by the ribosome-associated quality control (RQC) machinery. Despite our understanding of its role, the impact of translation quality control on cellular metabolism remains poorly understood. Here, we reveal a conserved role of the 40S ribosomal subunit recycling (USP10-G3BP1) complex in regulating mitochondrial dynamics and function.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Hazard Mater
January 2025
Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Biotechnology for Plant Development, Guangzhou Key Laboratory of Subtropical Biodiversity and Biomonitoring, College of Life Science, South China Normal University, West 55 of Zhongshan Avenue, Guangzhou 510631, China. Electronic address:
Domoic acid (DA), a well-known marine neurotoxin, is produced by toxic Pseudo-nitzschia species. However, the knowledge of DA in Chinese coastal waters remains limited, and the primary biological sources in these waters are still unknown. In this study, 200 surface phytoplankton samples were collected during summer and spring, covering the entire Chinese coastline.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFArch Gerontol Geriatr
January 2025
Department of Health Economics and Health Services Research, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg Center for Health Economics, Hamburg, Germany.
Objectives: To examine how homeboundness is associated with psychosocial outcomes in terms of life satisfaction, positive affect, negative affect and loneliness among middle-aged and older adults.
Methods: Longitudinal data were taken from the nationally representative sample German Ageing Survey (wave 1 to wave 4; n = 18,491 observations). This study included community-dwelling individuals aged 40 years and over in Germany.
Sensors (Basel)
January 2025
Department of Civil Engineering and Engineering Management, National Quemoy University, Kinmen 89250, Taiwan.
Ground-based LiDAR technology has been widely applied in various fields for acquiring 3D point cloud data, including spatial coordinates, digital color information, and laser reflectance intensities (I-values). These datasets preserve the digital information of scanned objects, supporting value-added applications. However, raw point cloud data visually represent spatial features but lack attribute information, posing challenges for automated object classification and effective management.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCancers (Basel)
January 2025
Division of Hematology-Oncology, Department of Internal Medicine, E-Da Hospital, I-Shou University, Kaohsiung 82445, Taiwan.
Background/objectives: The aim of this study is to assess the effectiveness of cetuximab combination therapy in patients with recurrent or metastatic head and neck cancer treated at a hospital in Southern Taiwan.
Methods: This study analyzed a retrospective cohort of 67 patients who were treated between January 2020 and May 2024 with two cetuximab regimens, cetuximab combined with cisplatin and 5-Fu, which were administered every four weeks during hospitalization (CPF4) and every two weeks as outpatient treatment (CPF2), respectively. The clinical outcomes, including overall survival and progression-free survival (PFS), were compared across the treatment regimens and age groups using Kaplan-Meier survival curves and Cox proportional hazard models.
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