BACKGROUND: SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) is transmitted via infectious respiratory particles. Infectious respiratory particles are released when an infected person breathes, coughs, or speaks. Several studies have measured respiratory particle concentrations through focusing on activities such as breathing, coughing, and short speech. However, few studies have investigated the effect of speech duration. METHODS: This study aimed to clarify the effects of speech duration and volume on the respiratory particle concentration. Study participants were requested to speak at three voice volumes across five speech durations, generating 15 speech patterns. Participants spoke inside a clean booth where particle concentrations and voice volumes were measured and analyzed during speech. RESULTS: Our findings suggest that as speech duration increased, the aerosol number concentration also increased. Through focusing on individual differences, we considered there might be super-emitters who emit more aerosol particles than the average human. Two participants were identified as statistical outliers (aerosol number concentration, n = 1; mass concentration, n = 1). CONCLUSIONS Considering speech duration may improve our understanding of respiratory particle concentration dynamics. Two participants were identified as potential super-emitters.
Humans ; Male ; Speech/physiology* ; Adult ; Female ; COVID-19/transmission* ; Respiratory Aerosols and Droplets ; Voice ; SARS-CoV-2 ; Time Factors ; Young Adult ; Aerosols/analysis*

Objective:Patients with Laryngopharyngeal Reflux（LPR） have chronic inflammation of the laryngeal mucosa leading to a high response state in the larynx, which may make the vocal fold movement too fast. This paper discusses the characteristics of vocal fold movement and voice onset by analyzing laryngeal high-speed videoendoscopy in patients with LPR. Methods:Forty patients with LPR were enrolled as LPR group. The diagnostic criteria of LPR included positive reflux symptom index（RSI） and reflux syndrome score（RFS） to identify suspected LPR, objective oropharyngeal DX pH monitoring was carried out, and positive Ryan index indicated reflux. According to age and sex matching, 40 healthy volunteers were selected as the normal group. Laryngeal high-speed videoendoscopy, and the vocal fold motion and vibration parameters, including vocal fold adduction time, vocal fold abduction time, vocal fold vibration onset mode（vocal onset time and mode） and the opening quotient of vocal fold vibration cycle. Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS 25.0. Results:The time of vocal fold adduction in LPR group（mean 225.81ms） was less than that in normal group（mean 277.01 ms）, and the difference was statistically significant（P<0.05）. There was no significant difference in adduction time between LPR group and normal group（P>0.05）. The vocal onset time in LPR group was significantly longer than that in normal group（P<0.05）. High speed video endoscope showed that there were 17 patients with hard onset in LPR group and 8 patients with hard onset in normal group, the difference was statistically significant（P<0.05）. There was no significant difference in the open quotient of vocal fold vibration between LPR group and normal group（P>0.05）. The vocal fold abduction time in LPR group（mean 372.92 ms） was less than that in normal group（mean 426.98ms）, but the difference was not statistically significant（P>0.05）. The time difference of bilateral abduction of vocal fold in LPR group was significantly higher than that in normal group（P<0.05）. Conclusion:The larynx of LPR patients is in a high response state, the vocal fold moves faster, and it is more likely to have a hard vocal onset. These may result in voice dysfunction.
Humans ; Vocal Cords/physiopathology* ; Laryngopharyngeal Reflux/diagnosis* ; Laryngoscopy/methods* ; Male ; Video Recording ; Female ; Middle Aged ; Adult ; Voice/physiology* ; Case-Control Studies ; Vibration

Objective:Voice is a vital tool for human communication, and its health spans across various stages of an individual's life cycle. This article discuss the importance of voice health from a lifecycle perspective, exploring the needs of voice, phonatory organ changes, the main etiologies and their incidence, the impact on social function, and treatment of voice disorders at different stages （childhood, adolescence, adulthood, and old age）. During childhood, due to incomplete vocal cords development and weak behavioral control, the incidence of voice disorders is high, which adversely affects children's psychological and social function development. The most common condition is vocal nodules, and there has been insufficient attention to the treatment of voice disorders in this stage. Voice disorders during adolescence are mainly related to physiological development and hormonal changes. In the elderly, the larynx undergoes structural and functional aging, which can be delayed with active intervention and treatment. Therefor, maintaining voice health should focus on preventing and managing voice problems throughout the entire life cycle, with targeted voice care and intervention at each stage. Establishing a comprehensive voice health management framework thereby upholds an individual's optimal health status and social function.
Humans ; Voice Disorders/etiology* ; Adolescent ; Child ; Adult ; Voice/physiology* ; Voice Quality ; Vocal Cords ; Aging/physiology* ; Aged

Objective:This study aims to explore the influence of vowels and sound intensity on formant, so as to provide reference for the selection of sound samples and vocal methods in acoustic detection. Methods:Thirty-eight healthy subjects, 19 male and 19 female, aged 19-24 years old were recruited. The formants of different vowels（/a/, //, /i/ and /u/） and different sound intensities（lowest sound, comfort sound, highest true sound and highest falsetto sound） were analyzed, and pairings were compared between groups with significant differences. Results:①The vowels /a/ and // in the first formant were larger than /i/ and /u/, and /i/ was the largest in the second formant. The minimum value of the first formant is the lowest sound of /i/ and the maximum is the highest sound of /a/. ②In the first formant, the chest sound area increases with the increase of sound intensity, while the second formant enters the highest falsetto and decreases significantly. Conclusion:Different vowels and sound intensity have different distribution of formant, that is, vowel and sound intensity have different degree of influence on formant. According to the extreme value of the first formant, the maximum normal range is determined initially, which is helpful to improve the acoustic detection.
Humans ; Male ; Female ; Young Adult ; Speech Acoustics ; Voice Quality ; Phonetics ; Voice/physiology* ; Adult

The anatomy of the voice is not limited to the region of the larynx. Practically all body systems affect the voice. The larynx receives the greatest attention because it is the most sensitive and expressive component of the vocal mechanism, but anatomic interactions throughout the singer's body must be considered in making the singing voice. The physiology of voice production is exceedingly complex. The voice requires interactions among the power source, the oscillator, and the resonator. The review of functional anatomy and physiology in vocal technique would provide information on the terminology, components, and workings of the voice to permit an understanding of practical, every clinical problems and their solutions. The otolaryngologist, speech language pathologist, singing or acting teacher, singer, and actor would have benefit greatly from more extensive study of voice science.
Electric Power Supplies ; Larynx ; Physiology* ; Singing ; Voice

Separation anxiety (SA) is a serious behavioral problem in dogs. In this study, salivary cortisol was studied to determine if the owner's odor or voice could reduce SA in dogs. Twenty-eight dogs with SA were divided into three groups: group 1 (control), group 2 (with owner's clothes during the separation period; SP) and group 3 (a recording of the owner's voice was played during SP). The dog's saliva was collected after the owner and their dog were in the experimental room for 5 min (PRE). The dog was then separated from the owner for 20 min and saliva collected four times at intervals of 5 min (SP1-4). Finally, the owner was allowed back into the room to calm the dog for 5 min, after which saliva was collected (POST). Evaluation of salivary cortisol concentrations by ELISA revealed that the ratios of SP1 concentration to PRE or POST concentrations were significantly higher in group 1 than in group 2 or 3. Additionally, the concentrations of SP1-PRE and SP1-POST among groups differed significantly. These findings indicate that the owner's odor or voice may be helpful to managing stress in dogs with SA.
Acoustic Stimulation* ; Animals ; Anxiety, Separation* ; Clothing ; Dogs* ; Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay ; Hydrocortisone* ; Odors ; Physiology ; Problem Behavior ; Saliva ; Voice

Adult ; Aged ; Aphasia, Broca ; physiopathology ; therapy ; Cues ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Speech ; physiology ; Voice

This work is directed at developing a virtual instrument system as an accessorial diagnostic instrument for laryngeal diseases. Programmed with LabWindows/CVI, the system combines the voice acoustic analyzing function with the glottal image measuring function. The voice acoustic analyzing system can sample, store and replay vocal signals; can extract and analyze parameters, including fundamental frequency (F0), frequency perturbation quotient (FPQ), amplitude perturbation quotient(APQ), harmonics-to-noise ratio (HNR), jitter frequency (JF), Shimmer; and can do 3D sound graph analysis. The glottal image analyzing system can sample and store the image observed by the laryngostroboscope; can display any phase in one cycle of the vibration of the vocal cords or a slow and continuous movement of vibrating vocal cords; can snap and save the diagnostic frame of image; and can extract the parameters of the image such as the length and area of the glottis, the length and area of the vocal cords and the diseased part.
Computer Simulation ; Diagnosis, Computer-Assisted ; instrumentation ; methods ; Glottis ; physiology ; Humans ; Image Processing, Computer-Assisted ; Laryngeal Diseases ; diagnosis ; User-Computer Interface ; Voice ; physiology

PURPOSE: Many studies have shown that subjects show a change of vocal fundamental frequency (F0) when phonating subjects hear their vocal pitch feedback shifted upward or downward. This study was performed to demonstrate whether vocal parameters [F0, intensity, jitter, shimmer, and noise to harmonic ratio (NHR)] in normal males respond to changes in frequency of pure tone masking. MATERIALS and METHODS: Twenty healthy male subjects participated in this study. Subjects vocalized /a/ vowel sounds while listening to a pitch- shift pure tone through headphones (upward pitch-shift in succession: 1kHz to 2kHz and 1kHz to 4kHz at 50dB or 80dB, respectively, downward pitch-shift in succession: 1kHz to 250Hz and 1kH to 500Hz at 50dB or 80dB, respectively). RESULTS: Vocal intensity, F0, was increased, whereas jitter was decreased as the pitch of pure tone was shifted upward. However, there was no correlation between shimmer and NHR with pitch-shift feedback for pure tones. Unlike vocal pitch- shift feedback in other studies, upward pitch-shift feedback of pure tones caused the vocal F0 and intensity to change in the same direction as pitch-shift. CONCLUSION: The results of this study demonstrated that auditory kinesthetic feedback is affected by pitch-shift in pure tone.
Acoustic Stimulation ; Adult ; *Feedback ; Humans ; Male ; Pitch Perception/*physiology ; Voice/*physiology

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the influence of age and gender on the parameters of voice, in order to make baseline data for the diagnosis and therapy of voice disorders. METHOD: One hundred and thirty two normal subjects were randomly selected in Shanghai, which were divided into two groups: one aged 18-40 and another aged 60-90. Each group included 33 male subjects and 33 female subjects. All subjects were assessed by VA (Tiger DRS. Inc), selected parameters including: F0, Jitter, Shimmer, NNE, CQ. RESULT: The factors of age and gender had the significant difference on voice, and there were interaction between age and gender. Sensitive parameters are F0, Jitter, NNE, CQ. CONCLUSION There are some characteristic change of voice associated with aging. There is vast difference between aging male and aging female. Furthermore, aging voice can be improved by voice training.
Adolescent ; Adult ; Age Factors ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Sex Factors ; Speech Acoustics ; Voice Quality ; physiology ; Young Adult