Relationship of cepstral analysis with voice self-assessments in dysphonic and normal speakers.

PURPOSE: This study aimed to investigate the relationship of cepstral analysis (Cepstral Peak Prominence [CPP] and Cepstral Peak Prominence-Smoothed [CPPS]) with voice self-assessments (The Persian version of vocal tract discomfort [VTDp] scale and non-standard hoarseness self-assessment [NHS] questionnaire). METHODS: 223 participants (159 with and 64 without dysphonia) were asked to utter the vocal tasks namely vowels /a/ and /e/, six standard sentences, and a non-standard connected speech sample. CPP and CPPS were calculated in these three vocal tasks using the "Praat" software. The participants also asked to complete the VTDp scale and the NHS questionnaire. RESULTS: The means of frequency and severity the VTDp and the means of NHS were statistically different between the dysphonic and normal voice groups (P < 0.05), except for tickling (P > 0.05). There was a very low significant correlation between cepstral analysis with aching and in the dysphonic group (P < 0.05). However, a very low to low significant correlation between cepstral analysis with burning, tight, aching, tickling, sore, and both frequency and severity subscales scores of the VTDp in the normal voice group (P < 0.05). Moreover, the means of the cepstral analysis did not differ significantly between all scores of the NHS in the dysphonic the normal voice groups (P > 0.05), except for 1 with 3, 4, and 5 in the dysphonic group (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: The cepstral analysis can provide some information about the status of vocal tract and person's perception of his/her own voice quality.

Relationship among five-factor personality traits and psychological distress with acoustic analysis.

Objectives: The relationship between personality traits and psychological distress with acoustic characteristics was investigated in the present study, regarding the existence of dysphonia, abnormal overall voice quality (AOVQ), and dysphonia type. Methods: Fifty-five participants with dysphonia and 64 participants without dysphonia completed NEO Five-Factor Inventory and Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale-21. Jitter, shimmer, noise-to-harmonic ratio (NHR), cepstral peak prominence (CPP), and cepstral peak prominence-smoothed (CPPS) were calculated in sustained vowel /a/ by Praat. Three expert speech and language pathologists divided participants with dysphonia into mild, moderate, and severe, based on the AOVQ. Pearson and Spearman correlation tests were performed by IBM SPSS Statistics. Results: The findings were indicative of large correlations between agreeableness with CPP, conscientiousness with shimmer, depression with jitter and shimmer, and anxiety with shimmer in patients with functional dysphonia (p < 0.05). The results showed small to medium significant correlations between agreeableness with jitter and NHR, conscientiousness with CPP in participants without dysphonia, and depression with jitter in the participants with dysphonia (p < 0.05). Lastly, no significant correlation was observed between personality traits and psychological distress with acoustic characteristics in mild, moderate, and severe AOVQ groups (p > 0.05). Conclusion: In participants with functional dysphonia, personality traits and psychological distress can provide some information about acoustic characteristics and vice versa. Level of Evidence: 3.

Validation of the Acoustic Voice Quality Index and the Acoustic Breathiness Index in the Persian Language.

OBJECTIVES/HYPOTHESIS: This study aimed to validate the acoustic voice quality index version 03.01 (AVQIv3) and the acoustic breathiness index (ABI) in the Persian language. METHODS: Six judges assessed the severity degree of the abnormal overall voice quality (hoarseness) and breathiness from continuous speech (cs) and sustained vowel (sv) in 136 voices samples of dysphonic and 45 vocally healthy participants. Firstly, the time length of cs and sv was balanced out for a higher level of ecological validity. Secondly, the concurrent validity and diagnostic accuracy were statistically analyzed with the Spearman rank-order correlation, and the receiver operating characteristics, likelihood ratio, and Youden index. RESULTS: There was substantial inter-rater reliability between judges regarding hoarseness and breathiness. Twenty syllables were identified as the standardized number of syllables for the cs part. Sufficient correlations were found between AVQI and hoarseness (rs = 0.74), and between ABI and breathiness (rs = 0.74), respectively. The thresholds of 1.63 (sensitivity of 73.2% and specificity of 91%) and 2.97 (sensitivity of 70% and specificity of 87%) yielded the highest level of diagnostic findings for AVQI and ABI, respectively. CONCLUSION: The AVQIv3 and ABI are reliable indices to quantify the abnormal overall voice quality and breathiness in the Persian language.

Relationship Between Aerodynamic Measurement of Maximum Phonation Time With Acoustic Analysis and the Effects of Sex and Dysphonia Type.

OBJECTIVES/HYPOTHESIS: This study set out to uncover the correlation between maximum phonation time (MPT) with acoustic and cepstral analysis in the dysphonic and control groups, considering the effects of sex and dysphonia type. METHODS: For this cross-sectional study, a sample of 179 attendees (141 dysphonic and 38 control) were randomly selected and requested to sustain the vowel /a/ as long as they could with their habitual pitch and loudness. Reading standard sentences and conversational connected speech tasks were obtained too. Using Praat, the MPT, jitter, shimmer, noise-to-harmonic ratio, cepstral peak prominence (CPP), and smoothed cepstral peak prominence (CPPS) were calculated in the target vocal tasks. RESULTS: There was a very low to low significant correlation (r = 0.00-0.50) between MPT amounts and acoustic analysis in the dysphonic group (P < 0.05), except for between MPT with shimmer (P > 0.05). In contrast, findings showed no significant correlation between MPT and acoustic analysis in the control group, not even separated by sex (P > 0.05). There was a very low to low correlation between MPT amounts and acoustic analysis in the male dysphonic group (P < 0.05), except for the MPT with shimmer (P > 0.05). There was no significant correlation between MPT and acoustic analysis in the female dysphonic group (P > 0.05), except for MPT with CPP (sustained vowel) (P < 0.05). Finally, very low to high correlations between MPT and some of the acoustic analysis in all the different dysphonia types were observed (P < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: MPT contains some information about the acoustic features of the dysphonic voice, specifically the CPP and smoothed cepstral peak prominence. The data suggested that the observed relationship between MPT and the acoustic analysis has the capacity to be considered for the development of new multiparametric tests of voice assessment in dysphonia, regarding the sex and dysphonia type.

The Validity of Cepstral Analysis to Distinguish Between Different Levels of Perceptual Dysphonia in the Persian Vocal Tasks

OBJECTIVES/HYPOTHESIS: The validity of cepstral analysis (Cepstral Peak Prominence [CPP] and Cepstral Peak Prominence-Smoothed [CPPS]) as an indicator of perceptual dysphonia was investigated in the Persian language STUDY DESIGN: Cross-sectional study. METHODS: A total of 223 participants (159 with and 64 without dysphonia) uttered vowels /a/ and /i/, six standard sentences, and non-standard connected speech. All vocal samples were perceptually evaluated by three raters on a visual analog scale and put into four groups (normal voice, mild, moderate, and severe perpetual dysphonia). CPP and CPPS of sustained vowel /a/, reading the second standard sentence, and a sentence extracted from non-standard connected speech were established using "Praat" software. Statistical analysis involved a one-way factorial analysis of variance (ANOVA), Kruskal-Wallis H, Kendall's Tau-b correlation, t test, and receiver operating characteristics (ROC) curve. RESULTS: The results showed that CPP of sustained vowels and reading the standard sentence and CPPS of sustained vowel differed significantly (P < 0.05), except between the normal voice and mild perpetual dysphonia groups (P > 0.05). The CPP of non-standard connected speech, CPPS of reading the standard sentence, and non-standard connected speech differed significantly between all groups (P < 0.05). The mean of cepstral analysis of all tasks, "averaged CPP," and "averaged CPPS" were significantly different between two groups of the normal voice and perceptual dysphonia (P < 0.05). Correlation between the cepstral analysis and the perceptual ratings demonstrated that the correlation coefficients for CPP and CPPS were between 0.4 and 0.6 (P < 0.05). ROC curve analysis revealed that the area under the ROC curve for "averaged CPP" and "averaged CPPS" was greater than 0.8 (P < 0.05). The values of 22.11 and 12.29 were determined as cut-off scores of "averaged CPP" and "averaged CPPS," respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Cepstral analysis was known as useful clinical tool for diagnosis of perpetual dysphonia and determining its severity level in the Persian language.

Ecosystem services mapping for green infrastructure planning-The case of Tehran.

Cities are responsible for more than 70% of carbon-related energy emissions. In order to cope with the widespread effects of these emissions-in addition to improving technology and the use of green energy-it is necessary to reduce the volume of emissions with the help of green spaces at the point of origin. Green spaces provide extensive ecosystem services that improve the quality of life and urban ecosystem livability. Due to the expansion of urban areas, the volume of ecological resources has declined and these resources have become more disconnected. The ongoing reduction of these ecological resources makes their management and planning a critical necessity. We need to evaluate the multiple benefits of urban ecosystem services for appropriate ecosystem management and integrate those ecological benefits with the social characteristics of neighborhoods. This paper provides some analysis, as the first step, to assess the ecosystem services (ES) provided by the green spaces (supply analyses) and the social-ecological needs in these spaces (needs analyses). Next, these assessments are used to find the urban areas with the highest social-ecological needs and with the lowest supply of green spaces in order to provide a reliable basis for the multi-functional planning of green spaces. These assessments are also used to analyze the status of services provided in the environment and the services needed to respond to the people's cultural and ecological needs.