This community event raises awareness about the resources available to individuals with various speech & language impairments, their family members and friends, and other allied professionals in the San Diego area.
Click below for details and to rsvp!
This community event raises awareness about the resources available to individuals with various speech & language impairments, their family members and friends, and other allied professionals in the San Diego area.
Click below for details and to rsvp!
This community event raises awareness about the resources available to individuals with various speech & language impairments, their family members and friends, and other allied professionals in the San Diego area.
Click below for details and to rsvp!
Perfect (100%) absorption by thin structures consisting of a periodic arrangement of rectangular quarter-wavelength channels with side detuned quarter-wavelength resonators is demonstrated. The thickness of these structures is 13–17 times thinner than the acoustic wavelength. This low frequency absorption is due to a slow sound wave propagating in the main rectangular channel. A theoretical model is proposed to predict the complex wavenumber in this channel. It is shown that the speed of sound in the channel is much lower than in the air, almost independent of the frequency in the low frequency range, and it is dispersive inside the induced transparency band which is observed. The perfect absorption condition is found to be caused by a critical coupling between the rectangular channel (sub-wavelength resonators) and the incoming wave. It is shown that the width of a large absorption peak in the frequency spectrum can be broadened if several rectangular channels in the unit cell are detuned. The detuning is achieved by varying the length of the side resonators for each channel. The predicted absorption coefficients are validated experimentally. Two resonant cells were produced with stereolithography which enabled the authors to incorporate curved side resonators.
The quality of communication may be affected by listeners' perception of talkers' characteristics. This study examined if there were effects of talker and listener age on the perception of speech and voice qualities. Younger and older listeners judged younger and older talkers' gender and age, then rated speech samples on pleasantness, naturalness, clarity, ease of understanding, loudness, and the talker's suitability to be an audiobook reader. For the same talkers, listeners also rated voice samples on pleasantness, roughness, and power. Younger and older talkers were perceived to be similar on most qualities except age. Younger and older listeners rated talkers similarly, except that younger listeners perceived younger voices to be more pleasant and less rough than older voices. For vowel samples, younger listeners were more accurate than older listeners at age estimation, while older listeners were more accurate than younger listeners at gender identification, suggesting that younger and older listeners differ in their evaluation of specific talker characteristics. Thus, the perception of quality was generally more affected by the age of the listener than the age of the talker, and age-related differences between listeners depended on whether voice or speech samples were used and the rating being made.
In this work, the use of binary amplitude holography is investigated as a mechanism to focus broadband acoustic pulses generated by high peak-power pulsed lasers. Two algorithms are described for the calculation of the binary holograms; one using ray-tracing, and one using an optimization based on direct binary search. It is shown using numerical simulations that when a binary amplitude hologram is excited by a train of laser pulses at its design frequency, the acoustic field can be focused at a pre-determined distribution of points, including single and multiple focal points, and line and square foci. The numerical results are validated by acoustic field measurements from binary amplitude holograms, excited by a high peak-power laser.
This study investigates the effect of speech rate on spoken word recognition across the adult life span. Contrary to previous studies, conversational materials with a natural variation in speech rate were used rather than lab-recorded stimuli that are subsequently artificially time-compressed. It was investigated whether older adults' speech recognition is more adversely affected by increased speech rate compared to younger and middle-aged adults, and which individual listener characteristics (e.g., hearing, fluid cognitive processing ability) predict the size of the speech rate effect on recognition performance. In an eye-tracking experiment, participants indicated with a mouse-click which visually presented words they recognized in a conversational fragment. Click response times, gaze, and pupil size data were analyzed. As expected, click response times and gaze behavior were affected by speech rate, indicating that word recognition is more difficult if speech rate is faster. Contrary to earlier findings, increased speech rate affected the age groups to the same extent. Fluid cognitive processing ability predicted general recognition performance, but did not modulate the speech rate effect. These findings emphasize that earlier results of age by speech rate interactions mainly obtained with artificially speeded materials may not generalize to speech rate variation as encountered in conversational speech.
Music appreciation and music listening in prelingual and postlingually deaf adult cochlear implant recipients.
Int J Audiol. 2016 Apr 4;:1-7
Authors: Moran M, Rousset A, Looi V
Abstract
OBJECTIVE: To explore the music appreciation of prelingually deaf adults using cochlear implants (CIs).
DESIGN: Cohort study. Adult CI recipients were recruited based on hearing history and asked to complete the University of Canterbury Music Listening Questionnaire (UCMLQ) to assess each individual's music listening and appreciation. Results were compared to previous responses to the UCMLQ from a large cohort of postlingually deaf CI recipients.
STUDY SAMPLE: Fifteen prelingually deaf and 15 postlingually deaf adult cochlear implant recipients.
RESULTS: No significant differences were found between the prelingual and postlingual participants for amount of music listening or music listening enjoyment with their CI. Sound quality of common instruments was favourable for both groups, with no significant difference in the pleasantness/naturalness of instrument sounds between the groups. Prelingually deaf CI recipients rated themselves as significantly less able to follow a melody line and identify instrument styles compared to their postlingual peers.
CONCLUSIONS: The results suggest that the pre- and postlingually deaf CI recipients demonstrate equivalent levels of music appreciation. This finding is of clinical importance, as CI clinicians should be actively encouraging all of their recipients to explore music listening as a part of their rehabilitation.
PMID: 27045837 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]
Music appreciation and music listening in prelingual and postlingually deaf adult cochlear implant recipients.
Int J Audiol. 2016 Apr 4;:1-7
Authors: Moran M, Rousset A, Looi V
Abstract
OBJECTIVE: To explore the music appreciation of prelingually deaf adults using cochlear implants (CIs).
DESIGN: Cohort study. Adult CI recipients were recruited based on hearing history and asked to complete the University of Canterbury Music Listening Questionnaire (UCMLQ) to assess each individual's music listening and appreciation. Results were compared to previous responses to the UCMLQ from a large cohort of postlingually deaf CI recipients.
STUDY SAMPLE: Fifteen prelingually deaf and 15 postlingually deaf adult cochlear implant recipients.
RESULTS: No significant differences were found between the prelingual and postlingual participants for amount of music listening or music listening enjoyment with their CI. Sound quality of common instruments was favourable for both groups, with no significant difference in the pleasantness/naturalness of instrument sounds between the groups. Prelingually deaf CI recipients rated themselves as significantly less able to follow a melody line and identify instrument styles compared to their postlingual peers.
CONCLUSIONS: The results suggest that the pre- and postlingually deaf CI recipients demonstrate equivalent levels of music appreciation. This finding is of clinical importance, as CI clinicians should be actively encouraging all of their recipients to explore music listening as a part of their rehabilitation.
PMID: 27045837 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]
Music appreciation and music listening in prelingual and postlingually deaf adult cochlear implant recipients.
Int J Audiol. 2016 Apr 4;:1-7
Authors: Moran M, Rousset A, Looi V
Abstract
OBJECTIVE: To explore the music appreciation of prelingually deaf adults using cochlear implants (CIs).
DESIGN: Cohort study. Adult CI recipients were recruited based on hearing history and asked to complete the University of Canterbury Music Listening Questionnaire (UCMLQ) to assess each individual's music listening and appreciation. Results were compared to previous responses to the UCMLQ from a large cohort of postlingually deaf CI recipients.
STUDY SAMPLE: Fifteen prelingually deaf and 15 postlingually deaf adult cochlear implant recipients.
RESULTS: No significant differences were found between the prelingual and postlingual participants for amount of music listening or music listening enjoyment with their CI. Sound quality of common instruments was favourable for both groups, with no significant difference in the pleasantness/naturalness of instrument sounds between the groups. Prelingually deaf CI recipients rated themselves as significantly less able to follow a melody line and identify instrument styles compared to their postlingual peers.
CONCLUSIONS: The results suggest that the pre- and postlingually deaf CI recipients demonstrate equivalent levels of music appreciation. This finding is of clinical importance, as CI clinicians should be actively encouraging all of their recipients to explore music listening as a part of their rehabilitation.
PMID: 27045837 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]
Music appreciation and music listening in prelingual and postlingually deaf adult cochlear implant recipients.
Int J Audiol. 2016 Apr 4;:1-7
Authors: Moran M, Rousset A, Looi V
Abstract
OBJECTIVE: To explore the music appreciation of prelingually deaf adults using cochlear implants (CIs).
DESIGN: Cohort study. Adult CI recipients were recruited based on hearing history and asked to complete the University of Canterbury Music Listening Questionnaire (UCMLQ) to assess each individual's music listening and appreciation. Results were compared to previous responses to the UCMLQ from a large cohort of postlingually deaf CI recipients.
STUDY SAMPLE: Fifteen prelingually deaf and 15 postlingually deaf adult cochlear implant recipients.
RESULTS: No significant differences were found between the prelingual and postlingual participants for amount of music listening or music listening enjoyment with their CI. Sound quality of common instruments was favourable for both groups, with no significant difference in the pleasantness/naturalness of instrument sounds between the groups. Prelingually deaf CI recipients rated themselves as significantly less able to follow a melody line and identify instrument styles compared to their postlingual peers.
CONCLUSIONS: The results suggest that the pre- and postlingually deaf CI recipients demonstrate equivalent levels of music appreciation. This finding is of clinical importance, as CI clinicians should be actively encouraging all of their recipients to explore music listening as a part of their rehabilitation.
PMID: 27045837 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]
Compound heterozygous GJB2 mutations associated to a consanguineous Han family with autosomal recessive non-syndromic hearing loss.
Acta Otolaryngol. 2016 Apr 4;:1-4
Authors: Xia H, Xu H, Deng X, Yuan L, Xiong W, Yang Z, Deng H
Abstract
CONCLUSION: This study demonstrates that the gap junction protein beta-2 gene (GJB2) p.R32C and p.L79Cfs*3 variants are associated to a consanguineous family with autosomal recessive non-syndromic hearing loss (ARNSHL). The p.R32C variant is found for the first time in the NSHL patients of Han Chinese origin. The finding sheds new light on the accurate genetic diagnosis and counseling for the family.
OBJECTIVE: ARNSHL is a highly heterogeneous genetic disease. ARNSHL usually displays non-progressive congenital or pre-lingual deafness. In this study, the aim is to detect the disease-causing mutation(s) in a Han family with ARNSHL.
METHODS: A consanguineous Han family with ARNSHL was enrolled. Two hundred ethnicity-matched unrelated subjects without any hearing impairments were used as normal controls. Exome sequencing and Sanger sequencing were applied to identify the causative mutation in the ARNSHL family.
RESULTS: Compound heterozygous variants c.94C > T (p.R32C) and c.235delC (p.L79Cfs*3) in the GJB2 gene were identified in the two patients of the ARNSHL family, and the heterozygous GJB2 c.94C > T and c.235delC variants were identified in his unaffected father and mother, respectively. The two variants in the GJB2 gene were absent in the 200 unrelated controls.
PMID: 27045574 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]
