Objective:To compare the differences in important parameters between the articulation assessment and training system of intelligently extracted speech with those from the Praat acoustic software and those manually extracted.Methods:The speech of thirty-two normal subjects was captured using the intelligent articulation assessment and training system and using Praat acoustic software. The former analyzed the mean fundamental frequencies (mF0s), the first formant peaks (F1s) and the second formant peak (F2s) of the sustained vowels /a/, /i/ and /u/. The speech parameters collected by the traditional Praat software were extracted and analyzed by professionals. The two tools′ consistency in terms of these important acoustic parameters was analyzed.Results:The results with all 32 subjects when retested returned ICC values above 0.9 with all three vowels with the exception of mF0 for /u/ (ICC=0.75), indicating excellent retest reliability for the articulation assessment and training system. The ICC values also indicated excellent consistency between the two kinds of software in analyzing mF0, F1 and F2 of the three vowels. The mF0, F1, F2, FCR, VAI, tongue spacing, VSA, and mandibular spacing of all three vowels were mostly distributed within the 95% confidence interval of the data points in Bland-Altman plots, indicating the high accuracy of both acoustic analysis systems in speech measurement. The mean fundamental frequency values of the male long vowels /a/, /i/ and /u/ were all significantly lower than for the female long versions.Conclusions:The retest reliability of the articulation assessment and training system was good, and the results of the articulation check in the natural state were in good consistency compared to the Praat check and were interchangeable in the articulation check.

Objective : To explore from the perspective of microorganisms the changes in plaque microbial community of children with severe early childhood caries (S-ECC) before and 3 months after dental treatment. Meanwhile to show the effect of treatment on the maintenance of long- term caries-free state. Methods: S-ECC children completed dental treatment under general anesthesia. We collected plaque from caries-free dental surfaces before treatment (caries, C) and at the postoperative follow-up review time points of 7 days (C-7D), 1 month (C-1 M), and 3 months (C-3 M). We included caries-free children (caries free, CF) as the control group to analyze the dynamic modification process of the plaque microbial community in the short-term pre- and postdental treatment. Results: Species clustering analysis showed that the compositions of the microbial communities of the S-ECC and CF groups were highly similar. The α diversity index was not statistically significant (P>0.05). From the analysis of the relative abundance, Leptotrichia spp. and Aggregatibacter spp. decreased after treatment compared with before treatment (P<0.05). Streptococcus sanguinis in the C-7D group increased compared with that in the C group and gradually decreased within 3 months. Veillonella spp., Actinomyces spp., Allprevotella spp., Capnocytophaga spp., and Streptococcus mutans differed between the C and CF groups (P<0.05), Streptococcus mutans did not differ significantly between the C-7D and C-1 M groups and the CF group after treatment, while C-3 M showed an increase compared with the CF group (P<0.01). Conclusion The rapid change in the structure of the flora of children with S-ECC after treatment. The plaque microbial community structure in a caries-free state gradually starts to be established 1-3 months after treatment. There is a "core microbiota" in the oral plaque community that jointly maintains microecological stability. Veillonella spp., Allprevotella spp. and Streptococcus mutans have potential as possible microbial markers.