Frame by frame analysis of glottic closure in fasting subjects

Objective: The purpose of the study is to examine vocal fold closure in fasting subjects using frame by frame analysis

Subjects and Methods: Twenty-two male subjects were recruited for this study. All subjects were evaluated while fasting and non fasting. Frame by frame analysis of at least three glottic cycles was performed and reported as a mean closed quotient. The degree of phonatory effort and vocal fatigue was also reported

Results: The mean closed quotient for all subjects while non fasting was 0.427 +/- 0.098 and while fasting 0.441 +/- 0.073, with no significant difference between the two [p value 0.417]. There was a significant increase in the phonatory effort while fasting [0.23 non fasting vs. 0.77 fasting, p value 0.036]

Conclusion: There is no change in the mean closed quotient in male subjects while fasting. However, most subjects exhibit a significant increase in phonatory effort

Formant characteristics of English-speaking Lebanese men

Objective : To report the formant characteristics of English-speaking Lebanese men during steady prolongation of vowels /a/ and /i/

Design : Cross-sectional study involving volunteer participants

Participants : Fifty healthy English-speaking males with a mean age of 32 +/- 4.027 years and a range of 42 years [18-60]

Materials and Methods : A total of 50 healthy males between the age of 18 and 60 were recruited for the study. Each subject was asked to phonate a sustained /a/ and /i/ sound at a comfortable pitch and intensity level. Measures were made in real-time and formant frequencies across F1, F2, F3 and F4 were determined using the Real-time Spectrogram VP 3950 [Kay Elemetrics, New Jersey]

Main outcome measures : The formant frequencies across F1, F2, F3 and F4 were recorded

Results: For the vowel /a/, the mean values of F1, F2, F3 and F4 were 622.86 +/- 61.293 Hz, 1264 +/- 78.602 Hz, 2610.90 +/- 206.359Hz and 3483.56 +/- 206.833 Hz, respectively. For the vowel /i/, the corresponding values were 378.88 +/- 51.825 Hz, 2210.34 +/- 124.077 Hz, 2847 +/- 168.770 Hz and 3576.82 +/- 242.760 Hz, respectively

Conclusion: Formant characteristics vary among cultures and ethnic groups