Exploring the Relationship Between Acoustic Measurements and Self-Perception of Voice in Trans Women.

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to explore the strength and direction of the relationship between spectral cepstral-based, time-based acoustic measures and the self-perception of voice in trans women. METHODS: Forty-eight trans women were included in the study. Analysis of the sustained vowel phonation was performed using Multidimensional Voice Profile Analysis (MDVP), and spectral-cepstral analyses of the sustained vowel phonation, all-voiced weighted sentence, and spontaneous speech were made via Analysis of Dysphonia in Speech and Voice (ADSV) software. For self-perceptual evaluations, the Trans Woman Voice Questionnaire (TWVQ) and the Self-perception of Voice Femininity Scale (SPVF) were used. The correlation between MDVP, spectral-cepstral parameters, and TWVQ and SPVF scores was calculated. RESULTS: The present study found a positive relationship between F0, SPVF, and TWVQ. Among the perturbation parameters, the jitter was the only one found to correlate with SPVF and TWVQ. The CPPF0 parameter was found to be associated with a more feminine voice perception and a higher voice-related quality of life in all speech samples in the present study. In addition, higher CPP values achieved from vowel phonation were associated with less feminine voice perception and lower voice-related quality of life. The present study also suggests a weak correlation with the SPVF and Cepstral Peak Prominence Standard Deviation (CPPF0 SD) of the spontaneous speech sample in a negative direction. CONCLUSIONS: This study found weak and moderate levels of correlations between F0, jitter (%), CPP, CPPF0, CPPF0 SD parameters, and self-perceptual measures. These findings suggested that such a level of relationship is attributable to the fact that these tools evaluate different aspects of voice in accordance with the International Classification of Functioning System. According to this pioneering study, it would be beneficial to incorporate spectral-cepstral measures into the objective assessment protocol for trans women's voices.

Investigating Validity and Reliability of the Turkish Version of Transsexual Voice Questionnaire (Male to Female).

OBJECTIVE: The problems faced by trans women with regard to their voice may affect their quality of life. For the evaluation of trans women's voice, tools assessing their self-perception are very important, with the Transsexual Voice Questionnaire (TVQMtF ) being one of the most frequently used. The purpose of this study was to investigate the validity and reliability of the Turkish version of the TVQMtF (TVQMtF -TR), which was previously translated into 12 languages. STUDY DESIGN: Cross-sectional study. METHOD: A total of 41 trans women participated in this study. The participants filled out the TVQMtF -TR, the self-perceptions of voice femininity questionnaire, and the World Health Organization Quality of Life Questionnaire-Short Form (WHOQOL-BREF-TR). Additionally, 58.5% of the participants filled out the TVQMtF -TR again two weeks after the first interview. RESULTS: The total Cronbach's-α value of the TVQMtF -TR was 0.972, and the item-total correlation values were found to be between 0.323 and 0.876. The intraclass correlation coefficient value was 0.931. There was a strong negative correlation between TVQMtF -TR and self-perceptions of voice femininity. There was a significant negative correlation between TVQMtF -TR and the psychological and environmental domains of WHOQOL-BREF-TR. However, there was no significant relationship found between the social and physical domains. CONCLUSION: According to the results of the study, the Turkish version of TVQMtF -TR was considered a valid and reliable tool.

DNA-damage and cell cycle arrest initiated anti-cancer potency of super tiny carbon dots on MCF7 cell line.

While carbon-based materials have spearheaded numerous breakthroughs in biomedicine, they also have procreated many logical concerns on their overall toxicity. Carbon dots (CDs) as a respectively new member have been extensively explored in nucleus directed delivery and bioimaging due to their intrinsic fluorescence properties coupled with their small size and surface properties. Although various in vitro/in vivo studies have shown that CDs are mostly biocompatible, sufficient information is lacking regarding genotoxicity of them and underlying mechanisms. This study aims to analyze the real-time cytotoxicity of super tiny CDs (2.05 ± 0.22 nm) on human breast cancer cells (MCF7) and human primary dermal fibroblast cell cultures (HDFa) by xCELLigence analysis system for further evaluating their genotoxicity and clastogenicity to evaluate the anti-tumor potential of CDs on breast adenocarcinoma. As combined with flow cytometry studies, comet assay and cytokinesis-block micronucleus assay suggest that the CDs can penetrate to the cell nuclei, interact with the genetic material, and explode DNA damage and G0/G1 phase arrest in cancer cells even at very low concentrations (0.025 ppm) which provide a strong foundation for the design of potentially promising CD-based functional nanomaterials for DNA-damage induced treatment in cancer therapy.

Fluorescent Carbon Dots from Nerium oleander: Effects of Physical Conditions and the Extract Types.

In this original research, the synthesis of carbon nanodots (CDs) from two different solvent extracts of Nerium oleander by the thermal method was investigated under various physical conditions such as pH, reaction temperature, ionic strength, and surface passivation agent (polyethylene glycol, PEG) presence in the reaction media. The effects of extract types and physical conditions on CDs formation were characterized by UV-Visible spectrophotometry, fluorescence spectrophotometry, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and dynamic light scattering analysis. Fluorescent CDs were obtained from PEG included reaction media. Additionally, the enhanced fluorescence intensity correlated with ascending reaction temperature was reported. The hydrodynamic particle size of CDs in aqueous solution was determined between ~1 and 235 nm with negative surface potential in the range of -6 mV and -28 mV. Moreover, CDs synthesized from aqueous extract mostly resulted in smaller size than that of ethanol extract based ones. The impact of surface passivation with PEG on the fluorescence feature of CDs was verified. For the relevant extracts of Oleander, CDs synthesized from PEG included formulations at pH 5 and NaCl free reaction media found as better alternatives than CDs synthesized under other conditions taking account their effect on fluorescence feature, hydrodynamic size and etc. Graphical Abstract.