Monthly Archives: June 2011
Insights Into the Role of Elastin in Vocal Fold Health and Disease
Elastic fibers are large, complex, and surprisingly poorly understood extracellular matrix macromolecules. The elastin fiber, generated from a single human gene—elastin, is a self assembling integral protein that endows critical mechanical proprieties to elastic tissues and organs such as the skin, lungs, and arteries. The biology of elastic fibers is complex because they have multiple components, a tightly regulated developmental deposition, a multistep hierarchical assembly, and unique biomechanical functions. Elastin is present in vocal folds, where it plays a pivotal role in the quality of phonation. This review article provides an overview of the genesis of elastin and its wide-ranging structure and function. Specific distribution within the vocal fold lamina propria across the lifespan in normal and pathological states and its contribution to vocal fold biomechanics will be examined. Elastin and elastin-derived molecules are increasingly investigated for their application in tissue engineering. The properties of various elastin-based materials will be discussed and their current and future applications evaluated. A new level of understanding of the biomechanical properties of vocal fold elastin composites and their molecular basis should lead to new strategies for elastic fiber repair and regeneration in aging and disease.
from the Journal of Voice
Visualizing Phase Relations of the Vocal Folds by Means of High-Speed Videoendoscopy
Conclusions
The method presented herein can be used to display functional vocal fold properties including the absence of oscillation, glottal insufficiency, and phase relations within one single image. The reference data showed that phase asymmetries seem to be frequent even in normophonic speakers.
from the Journal of Voice
The validity of psychiatric diagnoses: The case of ‘specific’ developmental disorders
We tested whether developmental coordination disorder (DCD) and mixed receptive expressive language disorder (RELD) are valid diagnoses by assessing whether they are separated from each other, from other childhood disorders, and from normality by natural boundaries termed zones of rarity. Standardized measures of intelligence, language, motor skills, social cognition, and executive functioning were administered to children with DCD (n = 22), RELD (n = 30), autistic disorder (n = 30), mental retardation (n = 24), attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (n = 53) and to a representative sample of children (n = 449). Discriminant function scores were used to test whether there were zones of rarity between the DCD, RELD, and other groups. DCD and RELD were reliably distinguishable only from the mental retardation group. Cluster and latent class analyses both resulted in only two clusters or classes being identified, one consisting mainly of typical children and the other of children with a disorder. Fifty percent of children in the DCD group and 20% in the RELD group were clustered with typical children. There was no evidence of zones of rarity between disorders. Rather, with the exception of mental retardation, the results imply there are no natural boundaries between disorders or between disorders and normality.
Writing the smile: Language ideologies in, and through, sign language scripts
This article explores the relationship between language ideology and script by detailing an emerging set of practices for writing sign languages. Though sign languages have often been considered un-writable, signers worldwide are increasingly producing written sign language texts using Sutton SignWriting (SW), a writing system originally developed for dance notation. After comparing SW to Stokoe Notation, a sign language script developed by a prominent sign language linguist, this article draws on texts produced by SW users, and the metalinguistic discussion of these texts on an email listserve, to demonstrate that use of SW allows its users to articulate and challenge dominant, and often tacit, ideologies about the nature of language and writing.
A New Hypothesis for Fluidification of Vocal-Fold Mucus: Scintigraphic Study
Conclusion
The results indicate that an increased volume of saliva enters the larynx and is adsorbed in its mucosa, producing mucus fluidification. This supports our alternative hypothesis to the unlikely concept that hydration by water ingestion is the factor responsible for reduction of the mucus viscosity of the vocal folds.
from the Journal of Voice
Consequences of Chronic Nasal Obstruction on the Laryngeal Mucosa and Voice Quality of 4- to 12-Year-Old Children
Conclusions
Relevant changes in perceptual auditory and acoustic vocal analyses and in the videolaryngoscopy were detected in children with nasal obstruction. These results showed the importance of the assessment of nasal obstruction in dysphonic children.
from the Journal of Voice
Digital Voice Analysis in Patients With Advanced Parkinson’s Disease Undergoing Deep Brain Stimulation Therapy
Conclusions
Nearly all acoustic analysis parameters during phonation of a sustained /a/ improved after DBS, but the factor that was most sensitive to the impact of both surgical and medical therapy was jitter.
from the Journal of Voice
Dynamic Viscosity of Implantable Autologous Materials Into the Vocal Fold
Conclusion
DV of SLTF is lower than of other tissues tested.
from the Journal of Voice
Investigating the Effects of Caffeine on Phonation
Conclusions
Our findings contribute to emerging knowledge on the effects of caffeine on voice production. Recommendations to completely eliminate caffeine from the diet, as a component of a vocal hygiene program, should be evaluated on an individual basis.
from the Journal of Voice
Vocal Symptoms, Voice Activity, and Participation Profile and Professional Performance of Call Center Operators
Conclusions
The presence of vocal symptoms does not necessarily relate to decreased professional performance. However, an association between higher vocal activity limitation and participation scores and poorer professional performance was observed.
from the Journal of Voice
Screening for delayed-onset hearing loss in preschool children who previously passed the newborn hearing screening
Conclusions
A significant proportion of preschool children have undiagnosed delayed-onset hearing loss. Hearing screening in preschool is recommended for an early detection.
from the International Journal of Pediatric Otorhinolaryngology
Age of acquisition effects on the functional organization of language in the adult brain
Using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), we neuroimaged deaf adults as they performed two linguistic tasks with sentences in American Sign Language, grammatical judgment and phonemic-hand judgment. Participants’ age-onset of sign language acquisition ranged from birth to 14 years; length of sign language experience was substantial and did not vary in relation to age of acquisition. For both tasks, a more left lateralized pattern of activation was observed, with activity for grammatical judgment being more anterior than that observed for phonemic-hand judgment, which was more posterior by comparison. Age of acquisition was linearly and negatively related to activation levels in anterior language regions and positively related to activation levels in posterior visual regions for both tasks.
from Brain and Language
Unbalanced oxidative status in idiopathic sudden sensorineural hearing loss
An impaired cochlear perfusion seems to be an important etiopathogenetic event in idiopathic sudden sensorineural hearing loss (ISSNHL). Recently, oxidative stress has been proposed as risk factors of microvascular damage. This observational study aimed to evaluate the possible role of oxidative stress in ISSNHL. In thirty-nine ISSNHL patients and seventy healthy subjects serum reactive oxygen species concentrations (ROS) and total antioxidant capacity (TAC) were measured by spectrophotometric methods on F.R.E.E. analyzer (Diacron International, Italy). Moreover, a global oxidative stress index (Oxidative-INDEX), reflecting both oxidative and antioxidant counterparts, was also calculated. 25/39 patients showed oxidative stress due to ROS levels significantly higher than controls (348.2 ± 84.8 vs. 306.75 ± 46.7 UCarr; p = 0.001). The Oxidative-INDEX was significantly higher in patients than in controls (0.75 ± 2.4 vs. −0.0007 ± 1.28 AU, p = 0.03). As oxidative stress is a key determinant in endothelial dysfunction, our findings could suggest vascular impairment involvement in ISSNHL etiopathogenesis.
Management of total laryngectomy patients over time: from the consultation announcing the diagnosis to long term follow-up
Throat cancer has always struck people’s imagination. This type of cancer affects some of the patient’s most essential physiological functions: speaking, swallowing and breathing. At advanced stages, radical surgery is disabling. The impact of a mutilated larynx corresponds to a very real trauma that is both individual and social. Our aim is to define how a total laryngectomy (TL) is represented by both the surgeon and the patient. The history of TL makes it possible to understand the changes that were needed for the key players in the subject to impose or accept this operation. Without doubt, the implementation of the “cancer plan” in the early 2000s was a major turning point in the management of patients with neoplasia. Increased awareness among the elite, encouraged by the mobilisation of patients and their families, is the explanation for the new role played by TL in 2008. The progress made in medical and surgical techniques, modifications to the patient–carer relationship and the appearance of the concept of Quality of Life are all themes that have changed the approach to this operation and the management of patients undergoing a TL.
The Broad Autism Phenotype Questionnaire: Mothers Versus Fathers of Children with an Autism Spectrum Disorder
Parents of individuals with autism were examined using the Broad Autism Phenotype Questionnaire (BAPQ; Hurley et al. in J Autism Dev Disord 37:1679–1690, 2007) assessing BAP-related personality and language characteristics. The BAPQ was administered to parents as a self-report and as an informant (spouse)-based measure. Results indicated the same pattern of differences for the informant and best-estimate (average between self-report and informant scores) reports. Fathers were rated as more “aloof” than mothers, whereas mothers were rated as more “rigid” than fathers. Fathers described their wives as less “aloof” and more “rigid” compared to the mothers’ self-descriptions. Correlational analyses revealed no significant associations among parent/child characteristics and parents’ BAPQ scores. Results are discussed in reference to sex differences in BAP-related characteristics in parents of children with autism.
