Plasticity of Voice Quality: A Prognostic Factor for Outcome of Voice Therapy?

Plasticity of voice quality is defined here as the degree of improvement in deviant voice quality that can be achieved immediately or quasi-immediately by changing basic voicing conditions, posture, articulation or resonance, breathing mechanics, laryngeal position, or auditory feedback. Thirty-two adult patients with various benign organic voice pathologies, and who had a (preoperative) functional voice therapy, were scored before therapy using a weighted multidimensional Index of Voice Plasticity (IVP). The hypothesis is that IVP could be a predictor of the final outcome of functional voice therapy, and therefore a correlation with a comparable quantification of the actual results of the therapy was investigated. The IVP shows a satisfactory correlation (Spearman's rho = 0.68) with the efficacy of (preoperative) voice therapy. The IVP also significantly differs between diagnostic categories. Although its predictive value remains limited, the Index of Voice Plasticity seems helpful in decision making for indication of (presurgical) voice therapy.     

Should Singing Activities Be Included in Speech and Voice Therapy for Prepubertal Children?

Customarily, speaking and singing have tended to be regarded as two completely separate sets of behaviors in clinical and educational settings. The treatment of speech and voice disorders has focused on the client's speaking ability, as this is perceived to be the main vocal behavior of concern. However, according to a broader voice-science perspective, given that the same vocal structure is used for speaking and singing, it may be possible to include singing in speech and voice therapy. In this article, a theoretical framework is proposed that indicates possible benefits from the inclusion of singing in such therapeutic settings. Based on a literature review, it is demonstrated theoretically why singing activities can potentially be exploited in the treatment of prepubertal children suffering from speech and voice disorders. Based on this theoretical framework, implications for further empirical research and practice are suggested.     

Muon Anomalous Magnetic Moment in the Supersymmetric Models with and Without Right—Handed Neutrinos

We discuss the anomalous magnetic moment of muon in the minimal supersymmetric model with and without right-handed neutrinos.In the same framework,the decay width of τ→μγ is also evaluated.Considering the measured g-2 value of muon in the E821 experiment and other experimental constraints on the lepton-flavor-violation processes,we carry out numerical analysis on the concerned observables in the minimal supergravity scenario.     

Clinical studies on rising and re-rising neurological diseases in Japan – A personal contribution –

Throughout my research life, I experienced to discover the causes of some neurological diseases in Japan.

1. SMON (subacute myelo-optico-neuropathy). Since the early 1960s, a peculiar neurological disease became prevalent throughout Japan. Through the chemical analysis of the green urine, characteristic of this disease, it was found that this disease was caused by intoxication of the administered clioquinol, an anti-diarrheal drug. This discovery is a big topic in the history of Japanese medicine.
2. In early 1970s, I experienced many young patients with oedema and polyneuropathy in Kagoshima. Finally it was found that the disease was the long-forgotten beriberi, which had disappeared several decades ago. We must always be aware of beriberi even now, as far as we eat well-polished rice.
3. In 1972, we noticed a group of sporadic paraparesis in Kagoshima, which was 20 years later confirmed to be induced by human T lymphotropic virus type-I (HTLV-I). We named this disease as “HTLV-I associated myelopathy” (HAM). It gave a strong impact that the causative virus of adult T cell leukemia (ATL) can induce entirely different diseases, in terms of both the clinical course and the pathological features. It was also proven that HAM was identical with tropical spastic paraparesis, (TSP), which had been prevalent in many areas of tropical zones.

These experiences are good examples of our slogan “to keep in mind to send message of scientific progress from the local area to the international stage”.     

Matrix Elements of One— and Two—Body Operators in the Unitary Group Approach （Ⅱ）—Application

Simple analytical expressions for one-and two-body matrix elements in the unitary group approach to the configuration interaction problems of many-electron systems are obtained based on the previous results for general Un irreps.     

Transport and percolation in disordered systems—A self-consistent time-local approach

A new self-consistent equation for the transport of excitations in disordered systems, which forms the basis for a new class of time-domain coherent potential approximations, is developed. As an example, we calculate the probability of remaining in the original site G₀(t) as well as the second moment of the distribution of excitations r²(t) for a random mixture of donors which satisfy a master equation with short-range transition rates. A percolation-type transition is observed and its characteristics are analyzed both above and below the transition point.Alfred P. Sloan fellow, Camille and Henry Dreyfus teacher-scholar.     

Interfaces and ripple states in ferroelastic crystals—A simple model

A simple atomistic model with two harmonic potentials between layers of atoms describes surface relaxations equivalent to those found as kink solitary waves in ferroelastic crystals. The parameters of the model are expressed in terms of the entropy term in a Landau potential and the Ginzburg gradient energy. We discuss the possibility that metastable ripple states exist in which a modulation is superimposed to an underlying uniform order parameter. Such ripple states can occur at temperatures close to the transition point between a ferroelastic phase and an incommensurate phase. In the ripple state, domain walls consist of kinks with modulations on either side of the kink.