Reliability of Clinician-Based (GRBAS and CAPE-V) and Patient-Based (V-RQOL and IPVI) Documentation of Voice Disorders

This study examined the reliability of two methods for documenting voice quality by clinicians and compared the methods for documenting patients' perceptions of voice quality. It involved a prospective reliability study and a retrospective chart review. Reliability of two clinician-based voice assessment protocols-Grade, Roughness, Breathiness, Asthenia, Strain (GRBAS) and Consensus Auditory Perceptual Evaluation-Voice (CAPE-V)-was evaluated. These two protocols were then compared after use in voice assessments of 42 males and 61 females performed by a certified speech-language pathologist specializing in the assessment of voice disorders. In addition, two patient-based scales (Voice Related Quality of Life, or V-RQOL, and Iowa Patient's Voice Index, or IPVI) obtained from the same patients were compared with each other and with the clinician-based scales. Reliability of clinicians' ratings of overall severity of dysphonia using GRBAS and CAPE-V scales was very good (r>0.80). Agreement between V-RQOL Total scores and IPVI ratings of the patient's perceptions of impact of dysphonia was less strong (Spearman's r=-0.76). There was relatively weak agreement between patient-based and clinician-based scales. Clinician's perceptions of dysphonia appeared to be reliable and unaffected by rating tool, as indicated by the high level of agreement between the two rating systems when they were used together. The CAPE-V system appeared to be more sensitive to small differences within and among patients than the GRBAS system. The V-RQOL and IPVI approaches to documenting patient's perceptions of dysphonia agreed less well possibly due to differences in patient dependence on voice and on interpretation of the rating tool items. The differences between clinician-based and patient-based data support the conclusion that clinicians and patients experience and consider dysphonia very differently.     

Whither belting?

An explanation of belting appears necessary for practical as well as scholarly reasons. Tentative definitions are available in the literature; however, they are controversial, especially since most are based on personal opinion. Further, many individuals involved in the use and care of the voice believe that singers who employ this technique have a disproportionately high incidence of vocal dysfunction. In any event, a review of what is known about belting, its nature, and the difficulties associated with it would appear helpful in its understanding and the prediction of fruitful avenues of research.     

Objective Voice Quality Analysis Before and After Onset of Unilateral Vocal Fold Paralysis

This study was designed to investigate objective voice quality measurements in unilateral vocal fold paralysis (UVFP) by eliminating intersubject variability. To our knowledge this is the first report objectively analyzing paralytic dysphonia as compared to the same voice before onset of UVFP. The voices of two male subjects were prospectively recorded before and after the onset of iatrogenic UVFP (thoracic surgery).The following acoustic measurements of the vowel /a/ were performed using the CSL and MDVP (Kay Elemetrics): jitter, shimmer, harmonics-to-noise ratio, cepstral peak prominence, the relative energy levels of the first harmonic, the first formant and the third formant, the spectral slope in the low-frequency zone (0-1 kHz and 0-2 kHz), and the relative level of energy above 6 kHz. Distribution of spectral energy was analyzed from a long-term average spectrum of 40 seconds of text. Laryngeal aerodynamic measurements were obtained for one patient before and after onset of paralysis using the Aerophone II (Kay Elemetrics). Pitch and amplitude perturbation increased secondary to UVFP, while the harmonics-to-noise ratio and the cepstral peak prominence decreased. A relative increase in the mid-frequency and high-frequency ranges and a decrease in the low-frequency spectral slope were observed. Mean airflow rate and intraoral pressure increased, and glottal resistance and vocal efficiency decreased secondary to UVFP. The findings of this self-paired study confirm some but not all the results of previous studies. Measures involving the fundamental and the formants did not corroborate previous findings. Further investigation with vocal tract modeling is warranted.     

职业认同、团队认同对员工建言行为影响的实证研究

基于社会认同理论,试图考察职业认同和团队认同对员工建言行为的影响及其交互作用.研究共收集347份有效问卷,数据处理主要运用了相关性分析、内部一致性信度分析、验证性因子分析以及层次回归分析.结果表明,在控制人口统计学变量和持续承诺后,职业认同和团队认同的提高均能有效促进员工做出建言行为;同时职业认同和团队认同对建言行为存在交互作用:在低职业认同水平下,团队认同与建言行为的正相关关系比高职业认同水平下更强.     

自主气体轴承控制系统分析及实验研究

提出1种采用音圈电机作为可控节流器的自主电控式气体轴承新方案,可以有效提高大型光电精密仪器回转基准的精度,在实时测量回转基准径向运动误差的同时,通过主动节流器自主调节气场分布而产生控制力和调节轴承的偏移位置,达到减小径向运动量和提高回转精度的目的,同时分析了整个系统数学模型,设计了控制补偿器.采用自主控制方案后,轴承回转精度从控制前的0.3 μm提高到约0.08 μm.结果表明,该轴承系统具有良好动态品质和较高回转精度,能够广泛用于航空航天高精密惯导测试设备中.     

Shortness of the palate: A cause of problems in singing

Constriction of the pharynx used to compensate for a palate that is slightly too short interferes with relaxed voice production. The condition can be diagnosed by simple means and can be confirmed by lateral radiographs of the skull. Treatment consists of pushback surgery of the soft palate and pharyngoplasty.