11 research outputs found
Envelhecimento vocal: estudo acústico-articulatório das alterações de fala com a idade
Background: Although the aging process causes specific alterations in the
speech organs, the knowledge about the age effects in speech production is still
disperse and incomplete. Objective: To provide a broader view of the age-related
segmental and suprasegmental speech changes in European Portuguese (EP),
considering new aspects besides static acoustic features, such as dynamic and
articulatory data. Method: Two databases, with speech data of Portuguese
adult native speakers obtained through standardized recording and segmentation
procedures, were devised: i) an acoustic database containing all EP oral
vowels produced in similar context (reading speech), and also a sample of semispontaneous
speech (image description) collected from a large sample of adults
between the ages 35 and 97; ii) and another with articulatory data (ultrasound
(US) tongue images synchronized with speech) for all EP oral vowels produced in
similar contexts (pseudowords and isolated) collected from young ([21-35]) and
older ([55-73]) adults. Results: Based on the curated databases, various aspects
of the aging speech were analyzed. Acoustically, the aging speech is characterized
by: 1) longer vowels (in both genders); 2) a tendency for F0 to decrease
in women and slightly increase in men; 3) lower vowel formant frequencies in
females; 4) a significant reduction of the vowel acoustic space in men; 5) vowels
with higher trajectory slope of F1 (in both genders); 6) shorter descriptions with
higher pause time for males; 7) faster speech and articulation rate for females;
and 8) lower HNR for females in semi-spontaneous speech. In addition, the total
speech duration decrease is associated to non-severe depression symptoms and
age. Older adults tended to present more depressive symptoms that could impact
the amount of speech produced. Concerning the articulatory data, the tongue
tends to be higher and more advanced with aging for almost all vowels, meaning
that the vowel articulatory space tends to be higher, advanced, and bigger in older
females. Conclusion: This study provides new information on aging speech for
a language other than English. These results corroborate that speech changes
with age and present different patterns between genders, and also suggest that
speakers might develop specific articulatory adjustments with aging.Contextualização: Embora o processo de envelhecimento cause alterações
específicas no sistema de produção de fala, o conhecimento sobre os efeitos da
idade na fala é ainda disperso e incompleto. Objetivo: Proporcionar uma visão
mais ampla das alterações segmentais e suprassegmentais da fala relacionadas
com a idade no Português Europeu (PE), considerando outros aspetos, para além
das características acústicas estáticas, tais como dados dinâmicos e articulatórios.
Método: Foram criadas duas bases de dados, com dados de fala de adultos
nativos do PE, obtidos através de procedimentos padronizados de gravação e
segmentação: i) uma base de dados acústica contendo todas as vogais orais do
PE em contexto semelhante (leitura de palavras), e também uma amostra de fala
semiespontânea (descrição de imagem) produzidas por uma larga amostra de
indivíduos entre os 35 e os 97 anos; ii) e outra com dados articulatórios (imagens
de ultrassom da língua sincronizadas com o sinal acústico) de todas as vogais
orais do PE produzidas em contextos semelhantes (pseudopalavras e palavras
isoladas) por adultos de duas faixas etárias ([21-35] e [55-73]). Resultados:
Tendo em conta as bases de dados curadas, foi analisado o efeito da idade em
diversas características da fala. Acusticamente, a fala de pessoas mais velhas é
caracterizada por: 1) vogais mais longas (ambos os sexos); 2) tendência para
F0 diminuir nas mulheres e aumentar ligeiramente nos homens; 3) diminuição
da frequência dos formantes das vogais nas mulheres; 4) redução significativa
do espaço acústico das vogais nos homens; 5) vogais com maior inclinação da
trajetória de F1 (ambos os sexos); 6) descrições mais curtas e com maior tempo
de pausa nos homens; 7) aumento da velocidade articulatória e da velocidade de
fala nas mulheres; e 8) diminuição do HNR na fala semiespontânea em mulheres.
Além disso, os idosos tendem a apresentar mais sintomas depressivos que podem
afetar a quantidade de fala produzida. Em relação aos dados articulatórios, a
língua tende a apresentar-se mais alta e avançada em quase todas as vogais com
a idade, ou seja o espaço articulatório das vogais tende a ser maior, mais alto
e avançado nas mulheres mais velhas. Conclusão: Este estudo fornece novos
dados sobre o efeito da idade na fala para uma língua diferente do inglês. Os
resultados corroboram que a fala sofre alterações com a idade, que diferem em
função do género, sugerindo ainda que os falantes podem desenvolver ajustes
articulatórios específicos com a idade.Programa Doutoral em Gerontologia e Geriatri
Análise acústica das vogais orais de isosos no português europeu
Mestrado em Ciências da Fala e da AudiçãoEnquadramento: Com o decorrer dos anos, fruto das alterações verificadas
nas estruturas que participam na produção de fala, a qualidade vocal do
indivíduo altera-se, com impacto ao nível dos parâmetros acústicos.
Objetivo: Este estudo tem como objetivo determinar a influência da idade, do
género e do tipo de vogal na variação dos parâmetros acústicos (frequência
fundamental (F0), primeiro formante (F1), segundo formante (F2) e duração)
das vogais orais produzidas por idosos falantes do Português Europeu (PE).
Método: Os dados utilizados foram recolhidos pela Microsoft Language
Development Center (MLDC) através da campanha “Doar a Voz”. Da amostra
selecionada fazem parte 78 informantes com idades compreendidas entre os
60 e os 90 anos, divididos em seis grupos de acordo com o género e a faixa
etária. Foram analisadas todas as vogais em posição tónica e contexto de
oclusivas e fricativas. As palavras que continham as vogais alvo foram
anotadas manualmente no Praat e os parâmetros em análise foram extraídos
de forma semiautomática.
Resultados: Em relação à idade, verificou-se que a duração é o único
parâmetro que varia de forma significativa com o aumento dos anos, sendo os
seus valores superiores nos indivíduos de [81-90] anos. No que concerne ao
género, todos os parâmetros, exceto a duração, revelaram diferenças
estatisticamente significativas, sendo os valores de F0, F1 e F2 superiores no
género feminino. Os parâmetros acústicos também variam significativamente
em função da vogal, permitindo distingui-las entre si. O F1 e o F2 são os que
melhor permitem essa diferenciação. Quando comparados os resultados
obtidos para os idosos com os referidos na literatura para os adultos do PE,
observou-se que a F0 diminuiu no género feminino e aumentou no género
masculino, com o envelhecimento. Quanto ao F1, observou-se um aumento
generalizado nos idosos de ambos os géneros. Por outro lado, F2 aumentou
nas vogais posteriores e diminuiu nas vogais anteriores. Em relação à
duração, esta foi inferior nos idosos comparativamente aos adultos.
Conclusão: Os resultados obtidos neste estudo evidenciam que os
parâmetros F0, F1, F2 e duração variam com o envelhecimento. No entanto, o
impacto da idade é diferente em cada parâmetro.Background: With aging the vocal quality of the speaker changes due to
speech production structural changes affecting the acoustic parameters.
Objective: The goal of this study is to determine the influence of age, gender
and type of vowel in the acoustic parameters (fundamental frequency (F0), first
formant (F1), second formant (F2) and duration) of the vowels produced by
elderly speakers of European Portuguese.
Method: The data used was obtained by Microsoft Language Development
Center (MLDC) through “Doar a Voz” campaign. The selected sample is
composed by 78 speakers between 60 and 90 years old, the sample was
divided into six groups according to their gender and age. All the vowels in
stressed position and in plosive and fricative context were analysed. The words
with target vowels were manually annotated in Praat and the parameters under
analysis were semi-automatically extracted.
Results: Regarding the age, it was observed that duration is the only
parameter that significantly changes with aging, the higher value was obtained
for the age of [81-90]. Concerning the gender, all the parameters, except
duration, present statistically significant differences, the maximum values for
F0, F1 and F2 was observed in females. Moreover, the acoustic parameters
also change significantly with the vowel, allowing to distinguish between them.
F1 and F2 are those which best allow this differentiation. Comparing the results
obtained with the ones referred in the literature for adult speakers of European
Portuguese, F0 reduces for females and increases for males with aging. On the
one hand, it was verified that F1 generally increases with aging. On the other
hand, F2 only increases for back vowels, whereas, for front vowels, F2
decreases with aging. The comparison also reveals that duration is lower for
elderly speaker than for adult speakers.
Conclusion: The results of this study show that the parameters F0, F1, F2 and
duration change with aging. However, the impact of the age is different in each
parameter
Pervasive gaps in Amazonian ecological research
Biodiversity loss is one of the main challenges of our time,1,2 and attempts to address it require a clear un derstanding of how ecological communities respond to environmental change across time and space.3,4
While the increasing availability of global databases on ecological communities has advanced our knowledge
of biodiversity sensitivity to environmental changes,5–7 vast areas of the tropics remain understudied.8–11 In
the American tropics, Amazonia stands out as the world’s most diverse rainforest and the primary source of
Neotropical biodiversity,12 but it remains among the least known forests in America and is often underrepre sented in biodiversity databases.13–15 To worsen this situation, human-induced modifications16,17 may elim inate pieces of the Amazon’s biodiversity puzzle before we can use them to understand how ecological com munities are responding. To increase generalization and applicability of biodiversity knowledge,18,19 it is thus
crucial to reduce biases in ecological research, particularly in regions projected to face the most pronounced
environmental changes. We integrate ecological community metadata of 7,694 sampling sites for multiple or ganism groups in a machine learning model framework to map the research probability across the Brazilian
Amazonia, while identifying the region’s vulnerability to environmental change. 15%–18% of the most ne glected areas in ecological research are expected to experience severe climate or land use changes by
2050. This means that unless we take immediate action, we will not be able to establish their current status,
much less monitor how it is changing and what is being lostinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio
Pervasive gaps in Amazonian ecological research
Biodiversity loss is one of the main challenges of our time,1,2 and attempts to address it require a clear understanding of how ecological communities respond to environmental change across time and space.3,4 While the increasing availability of global databases on ecological communities has advanced our knowledge of biodiversity sensitivity to environmental changes,5,6,7 vast areas of the tropics remain understudied.8,9,10,11 In the American tropics, Amazonia stands out as the world's most diverse rainforest and the primary source of Neotropical biodiversity,12 but it remains among the least known forests in America and is often underrepresented in biodiversity databases.13,14,15 To worsen this situation, human-induced modifications16,17 may eliminate pieces of the Amazon's biodiversity puzzle before we can use them to understand how ecological communities are responding. To increase generalization and applicability of biodiversity knowledge,18,19 it is thus crucial to reduce biases in ecological research, particularly in regions projected to face the most pronounced environmental changes. We integrate ecological community metadata of 7,694 sampling sites for multiple organism groups in a machine learning model framework to map the research probability across the Brazilian Amazonia, while identifying the region's vulnerability to environmental change. 15%–18% of the most neglected areas in ecological research are expected to experience severe climate or land use changes by 2050. This means that unless we take immediate action, we will not be able to establish their current status, much less monitor how it is changing and what is being lost
Implementation of a Brazilian Cardioprotective Nutritional (BALANCE) Program for improvement on quality of diet and secondary prevention of cardiovascular events: A randomized, multicenter trial
Background: Appropriate dietary recommendations represent a key part of secondary prevention in cardiovascular disease (CVD). We evaluated the effectiveness of the implementation of a nutritional program on quality of diet, cardiovascular events, and death in patients with established CVD. Methods: In this open-label, multicenter trial conducted in 35 sites in Brazil, we randomly assigned (1:1) patients aged 45 years or older to receive either the BALANCE Program (experimental group) or conventional nutrition advice (control group). The BALANCE Program included a unique nutritional education strategy to implement recommendations from guidelines, adapted to the use of affordable and regional foods. Adherence to diet was evaluated by the modified Alternative Healthy Eating Index. The primary end point was a composite of all-cause mortality, cardiovascular death, cardiac arrest, myocardial infarction, stroke, myocardial revascularization, amputation, or hospitalization for unstable angina. Secondary end points included biochemical and anthropometric data, and blood pressure levels. Results: From March 5, 2013, to Abril 7, 2015, a total of 2534 eligible patients were randomly assigned to either the BALANCE Program group (n = 1,266) or the control group (n = 1,268) and were followed up for a median of 3.5 years. In total, 235 (9.3%) participants had been lost to follow-up. After 3 years of follow-up, mean modified Alternative Healthy Eating Index (scale 0-70) was only slightly higher in the BALANCE group versus the control group (26.2 ± 8.4 vs 24.7 ± 8.6, P <.01), mainly due to a 0.5-serving/d greater intake of fruits and of vegetables in the BALANCE group. Primary end point events occurred in 236 participants (18.8%) in the BALANCE group and in 207 participants (16.4%) in the control group (hazard ratio, 1.15; 95% CI 0.95-1.38; P =.15). Secondary end points did not differ between groups after follow-up. Conclusions: The BALANCE Program only slightly improved adherence to a healthy diet in patients with established CVD and had no significant effect on the incidence of cardiovascular events or death. © 2019 The Author
NEOTROPICAL ALIEN MAMMALS: a data set of occurrence and abundance of alien mammals in the Neotropics
Biological invasion is one of the main threats to native biodiversity. For a species to become invasive, it must be voluntarily or involuntarily introduced by humans into a nonnative habitat. Mammals were among first taxa to be introduced worldwide for game, meat, and labor, yet the number of species introduced in the Neotropics remains unknown. In this data set, we make available occurrence and abundance data on mammal species that (1) transposed a geographical barrier and (2) were voluntarily or involuntarily introduced by humans into the Neotropics. Our data set is composed of 73,738 historical and current georeferenced records on alien mammal species of which around 96% correspond to occurrence data on 77 species belonging to eight orders and 26 families. Data cover 26 continental countries in the Neotropics, ranging from Mexico and its frontier regions (southern Florida and coastal-central Florida in the southeast United States) to Argentina, Paraguay, Chile, and Uruguay, and the 13 countries of Caribbean islands. Our data set also includes neotropical species (e.g., Callithrix sp., Myocastor coypus, Nasua nasua) considered alien in particular areas of Neotropics. The most numerous species in terms of records are from Bos sp. (n = 37,782), Sus scrofa (n = 6,730), and Canis familiaris (n = 10,084); 17 species were represented by only one record (e.g., Syncerus caffer, Cervus timorensis, Cervus unicolor, Canis latrans). Primates have the highest number of species in the data set (n = 20 species), partly because of uncertainties regarding taxonomic identification of the genera Callithrix, which includes the species Callithrix aurita, Callithrix flaviceps, Callithrix geoffroyi, Callithrix jacchus, Callithrix kuhlii, Callithrix penicillata, and their hybrids. This unique data set will be a valuable source of information on invasion risk assessments, biodiversity redistribution and conservation-related research. There are no copyright restrictions. Please cite this data paper when using the data in publications. We also request that researchers and teachers inform us on how they are using the data
Núcleos de Ensino da Unesp: artigos 2008
Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq