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Purpose: The purpose of this study was to quantify changes in acoustic distinctiveness in two groups of talkers with Parkinson's disease as they modify across a wide range of speaking rates. Method: People with Parkinson's disease with and without deep brain stimulation and older healthy controls read 24 carrier phrases at different speech rates. Target nonsense words in the carrier phrases were designed to elicit stop consonants and corner vowels. Participants spoke at seven self-selected speech rates from very slow to very fast, elicited via magnitude production. Speech rate was measured in absolute words per minute and as a proportion of each talker's habitual rate. Measures of segmental distinctiveness included a temporal consonant measure, namely, voice onset time, and a spectral vowel measure, namely, vowel articulation index. Results: All talkers successfully modified their rate of speech from slow to fast. Talkers with Parkinson's disease and deep brain stimulation demonstrated greater baseline speech impairment and produced smaller proportional changes at the fast end of the continuum. Increasingly slower speaking rates were associated with increased temporal contrasts (voice onset time) but not spectral contrasts (vowel articulation). Faster speech was associated with decreased contrasts in both domains. Talkers with deep brain stimulation demonstrated more aberrant productions across all speaking rates. Conclusions: Findings suggest that temporal and spectral segmental distinctiveness are asymmetrically affected by speaking rate modifications in Parkinson's disease. Talkers with deep brain stimulation warrant further investigation with regard to speech changes they make as they adjust their speaking rate.

Purpose: Hypophonia (low speech intensity) is the most common speech symptom experienced by individuals with Parkinson's disease (IWPD). Previous research suggests that, in IWPD, there may be abnormal integration of sensory information for motor production of speech intensity. In the current study, intensity of auditory feedback was systematically manipulated (altered in both positive and negative directions) during sensorimotor conditions that are known to modulate speech intensity in everyday contexts in order to better understand the role of auditory feedback for speech intensity regulation. Method: Twenty-six IWPD and 24 neurologically healthy controls were asked to complete the following tasks--converse with the experimenter, start vowel production, and read sentences at a comfortable loudness, while hearing their own speech intensity randomly altered. Altered intensity feedback conditions included 5-, 10-, and 15-dB reductions and increases in the feedback intensity. Speech tasks were completed in no noise and in background noise. Results: IWPD displayed a reduced response to the altered intensity feedback compared to control participants. This reduced response was most apparent when participants were speaking in background noise. Specific task-based differences in responses were observed such that the reduced response by IWPD was most pronounced during the conversation task. Conclusions: The current study suggests that IWPD have abnormal processing of auditory information for speech intensity regulation, and this disruption particularly impacts their ability to regulate speech intensity in the context of speech tasks with clear communicative goals (i.e., conversational speech) and speaking in background noise.

Purpose: The aim of this study was to quantify changes in speech intelligibility in two cohorts of people with Parkinson's disease (PD; those with and without deep brain stimulation [DBS]) across a broad range of self-selected speech rate alterations in: (1) read sentences; and (2) extemporaneous speech (monologues). Method: Four speaker groups participated in this study: younger and older controls, people with PD undergoing standard pharmaceutical treatment, and people with PD and DBS. Naïve listeners rated the intelligibility of read sentences and extemporaneous monologues, spoken by participants at seven self-selected speech rates from very slow to very fast. Intelligibility was modeled as a function of group, speech rate condition, and speech task. Results: Overall, compared to habitual speech rate, slower speech rate conditions were not associated with changes in speech intelligibility, whereas faster-than-habitual conditions were associated in declines in intelligibility. Results were mediated by group and task effects, such that talkers with PD and DBS were more likely to see intelligibility benefits at slower self-selected speech rates and less likely to see detriments at faster rates, and these differences were amplified in monologues compared to sentences. Conclusion: Findings suggest differences in the ways in which slower and faster speech rate adjustments impact speech intelligibility in people with PD with and without DBS, with the latter demonstrating greater magnitudes of change.

Rationale: Chronic lung diseases (CLDs) have been variably associated with a risk for more severe manifestations and death with coronavirus disease (COVID-19). Objectives: To determine the risk overall and by type of CLD for severity of COVID-19 outcomes in a U.S. national cohort. Methods: Using data from the Veterans Health Administration, we determined the risk associated with CLDs, including chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) (mild or severe), asthma (mild, active, or severe), idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), sarcoidosis, and other interstitial lung diseases (ILDs) for outcomes among veterans with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2)-positive tests between March 1, 2020 and April 30, 2021. We used multinomial regression to estimate risk of four mutually exclusive COVID-19 outcomes within 30 days: outpatient management, hospitalization, hospitalization with indicators of critical illness, or death. We calculated the overall proportion with each outcome, the absolute risk difference, and risk ratios for each outcome between those with and without CLD. We also describe clinical and laboratory abnormalities by CLD in those hospitalized. Results: We included 208,283 veterans with COVID-19; 35,587 (17%) had CLD. Compared with no CLD, veterans with CLD were older and had more comorbidities. Hospitalized veterans with CLD were more likely to have low temperature, mean arterial pressure, oxygen saturation, and leukopenia and thrombocytopenia and were more likely to receive oxygen, mechanical ventilation, and vasopressors. Veterans with CLD were significantly less likely to have mild COVID-19 (−4.5%; adjusted risk ratio [aRR], 0.94; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.94–0.95), and more likely to have a moderate (+2.5%; aRR, 1.21; 95% CI, 1.18–1.24), critical (+1.4%; aRR, 1.38; 95% CI, 1.32–1.45), or fatal (+0.7%; aRR, 1.15; 95% CI, 1.10–1.20) outcome. IPF was most strongly associated with COVID-19 severity, especially mortality (+3.2%; aRR, 1.69; 95% CI, 1.46–1.96), followed by other ILDs and COPD, whereas asthma was less likely to be associated with severity of COVID-19. In veterans younger than age 65 years, worse COVID-19 outcomes were generally more likely with IPF, sarcoidosis, and other ILDs. Conclusions: Veterans who had CLD, particularly IPF, other ILDs, and COPD, had an increased probability of more severe 30-day outcomes with COVID-19. These results provide insight into the absolute and relative risk of different CLDs with severity of COVID-19 outcomes and can help inform considerations of healthcare utilization and prognosis. Observational clinical epidemiology study registered with (NCT04628039). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to quantify changes in acoustic distinctiveness in two groups of talkers with Parkinson's disease as they modify across a wide range of speaking rates. Method: People with Parkinson's disease with and without deep brain stimulation and older healthy controls read 24 carrier phrases at different speech rates. Target nonsense words in the carrier phrases were designed to elicit stop consonants and corner vowels. Participants spoke at seven self-selected speech rates from very slow to very fast, elicited via magnitude production. Speech rate was measured in absolute words per minute and as a proportion of each talker's habitual rate. Measures of segmental distinctiveness included a temporal consonant measure, namely, voice onset time, and a spectral vowel measure, namely, vowel articulation index. Results: All talkers successfully modified their rate of speech from slow to fast. Talkers with Parkinson's disease and deep brain stimulation demonstrated greater baseline speech impairment and produced smaller proportional changes at the fast end of the continuum. Increasingly slower speaking rates were associated with increased temporal contrasts (voice onset time) but not spectral contrasts (vowel articulation). Faster speech was associated with decreased contrasts in both domains. Talkers with deep brain stimulation demonstrated more aberrant productions across all speaking rates. Conclusions: Findings suggest that temporal and spectral segmental distinctiveness are asymmetrically affected by speaking rate modifications in Parkinson's disease. Talkers with deep brain stimulation warrant further investigation with regard to speech changes they make as they adjust their speaking rate., Imprecise articulation is a prominent perceptual feature of dysarthria associated with Parkinson's disease (PD). Consonant and vowel imprecision is hypothesized to be related to articulatory undershoot in this dysarthria (Ackermann [...]

Purpose: This study compared the performance of three amplification devices hypothesized to improve speech communication in individuals with hypophonia (HP), as well as to identify individuals' device preferences. Method: Twenty-two individuals with HP and their primary communication partners participated in a cross-over design study comparing three different speech amplification devices--a wired portable amplifier (Device A), a wireless stationary amplifier (Device B), and a one-way personal communication system (Device C). Participants attended one laboratory visit followed by 1-week trial periods with each device. At the first visit, HP participants completed speech tasks with and without the devices, in quiet and in noise. Following the in-laboratory test period, participants trialed each device at home for approximately 1 week per device. Following completion of the study, participants indicated whether or not they would like to continue using a device. Results: Overall, in the presence of noise, all three devices demonstrated significant improvements in speech-to-noise levels and speech intelligibility compared to no device. A clear device hierarchy emerged such that the personal communication device (Device C) was associated with significantly better speech outcomes compared to the other two devices. The majority of participants elected to continue using a device at the completion of the study. Device preferences, however, did not clearly reflect the objective device hierarchy that was found for the objective speech measures. Each of the three devices was selected as a preferred device by at least three participants at the completion of the study. Conclusion: Results from this study demonstrated clear differences in device performance in three distinct forms of amplification devices for individuals with HP. Findings suggest that amplification device use may be beneficial for this clinical population and underscore the potential to improve device availability and device selection criteria in future research.

Contribution: This paper demonstrated on a large scale that explicit articulation of creativity-related learning goals on engineering syllabi is quite limited, and primarily limited to the first year of study. Engineering educators may need to do more to ensure creativity is explicitly addressed as an expected learning outcome within engineering syllabi. Background: Prior studies have shown inclusion of creativity within engineering syllabi and course activities are generally limited. Students may perceive educators do not value creativity, and their studies have limited influence on their creative skills. Studies conflict on whether creativity skills increase over completing an engineering degree. Creativity has been demonstrated to be an important skill for engineering professionals, but one not necessarily appropriately addressed in engineering programs. Few studies have attempted to quantify coverage of creativity material on a nation-wide scale, as opposed to in a single or select few institutions. Research Questions: 1) To what extent do engineering educators explicitly articulate creativity and innovation-related learning goals and material on their course syllabi? and 2) To what extent do engineering educators explicitly articulate exposure to, or instruction in the use of, creativity heuristics within their course syllabi? Methodology: The online publicly accessible course outlines of 1109 compulsory courses from 42 degree programs accredited by two national engineering accreditation bodies were qualitatively analyzed in a two-stage approach using document analysis. Findings: Approximately 2% of compulsory electrical engineering course outlines explicitly articulate creativity-related material; only one course articulated engaging students in using creativity heuristics.

Purpose: Hypophonia (low speech intensity) is the most common speech symptom experienced by individuals with Parkinson's disease (IWPD). Previous research suggests that, in IWPD, there may be abnormal integration of sensory information for motor production of speech intensity. In the current study, intensity of auditory feedback was systematically manipulated (altered in both positive and negative directions) during sensorimotor conditions that are known to modulate speech intensity in everyday contexts in order to better understand the role of auditory feedback for speech intensity regulation. Method: Twenty-six IWPD and 24 neurologically healthy controls were asked to complete the following tasks: converse with the experimenter, start vowel production, and read sentences at a comfortable loudness, while hearing their own speech intensity randomly altered. Altered intensity feedback conditions included 5-, 10-, and 15-dB reductions and increases in the feedback intensity. Speech tasks were completed in no noise and in background noise. Results: IWPD displayed a reduced response to the altered intensity feedback compared to control participants. This reduced response was most apparent when participants were speaking in background noise. Specific task-based differences in responses were observed such that the reduced response by IWPD was most pronounced during the conversation task. Conclusions: The current study suggests that IWPD have abnormal processing of auditory information for speech intensity regulation, and this disruption particularly impacts their ability to regulate speech intensity in the context of speech tasks with clear communicative goals (i.e., conversational speech) and speaking in background noise., Parkinson's disease (PD) is a neurodegenerative movement disorder characterized by major motor features of rest tremor (3-5 Hz frequency), rigidity (increased, sustained muscle tone), akinesia (reduced number of spontaneous movements), [...]

Purpose: The aim of this study was to quantify changes in speech intelligibility in two cohorts of people with Parkinson's disease (PD; those with and without deep brain stimulation [DBS]) across a broad range of self-selected speech rate alterations in (a) read sentences and (b) extemporaneous speech (monologues). Method: Four speaker groups participated in this study: younger and older controls, people with PD undergoing standard pharmaceutical treatment, and people with PD and DBS. Naive listeners rated the intelligibility of read sentences and extemporaneous monologues, spoken by participants at seven self-selected speech rates from very slow to very fast. Intelligibility was modeled as a function of group, speech rate condition, and speech task. Results: Overall, compared to habitual speech rate, slower speech rate conditions were not associated with changes in speech intelligibility, whereas faster-than-habitual conditions were associated in declines in intelligibility. Results were mediated by group and task effects, such that talkers with PD and DBS were more likely to see intelligibility benefits at slower self-selected speech rates and less likely to see detriments at faster rates, and these differences were amplified in monologues compared to sentences. Conclusion: Findings suggest differences in the ways in which slower and faster speech rate adjustments impact speech intelligibility in people with PD with and without DBS, with the latter demonstrating greater magnitudes of change., Improving speech intelligibility, that is, the degree to which a spoken utterance is understood by a typical listener (N. Miller, 2013; Weismer, 2008; Yorkston, Strand, & Kennedy, 1996), is one [...]

The aim of this paper is to investigate technological advancements made to a robotic tele-ultrasound system for musculoskeletal imaging, the MSK-TIM (Musculoskeletal Telerobotic Imaging Machine). The hardware was enhanced with a force feedback sensor and a new controller was introduced. Software improvements were developed which allowed the operator to access ultrasound functions such as focus, depth, gain, zoom, color, and power Doppler controls. The device was equipped with Wi-Fi network capability which allowed the master and slave stations to be positioned in different locations. A trial assessing the system to scan the wrist was conducted with twelve participants, for a total of twenty-four arms. Both the participants and radiologist reported their experience. The images obtained were determined to be of satisfactory quality for diagnosis. The system improvements resulted in a better user and patient experience for the radiologist and participants. Latency with the VPN configuration was similar to the WLAN in our experiments. This research explores several technologies in medical telerobotics and provides insight into how they should be used in future. This study provides evidence to support larger-scale trials of the MSK-TIM for musculoskeletal imaging. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Speech rate reduction is a global speech therapy approach for speech deficits in Parkinson's disease (PD) that has the potential to result in changes across multiple speech subsystems. While the overall goal of rate reduction is usually improvements in speech intelligibility, not all people with PD benefit from this approach. Speech rate is often targeted as a means of improving articulatory precision, though less is known about rate-induced changes in other speech subsystems that could help or hinder communication. The purpose of this study was to quantify phonatory changes associated with speech rate modification across a broad range of speech rates from very slow to very fast in talkers with and without PD. Four speaker groups participated: younger and older healthy controls, and people with PD with and without deep brain stimulation of the subthalamic nucleus (STN-DBS). Talkers read aloud standardized sentences at 7 speech rates elicited using magnitude production: habitual, three slower rates, and three faster rates. Acoustic measures of speech intensity, cepstral peak prominence, and fundamental frequency were measured as a function of speech rate and group. Overall, slower rates of speech were associated with differential effects on phonation across the four groups. While all talkers spoke at a lower pitch in slow speech, younger talkers showed increases in speech intensity and cepstral peak prominence, while talkers with PD and STN-DBS showed the reverse pattern. Talkers with PD without STN-DBS and older healthy controls behaved in between these two extremes. At faster rates, all groups uniformly demonstrated increases in cepstral peak prominence. While speech rate reductions are intended to promote positive changes in articulation to compensate for speech deficits in dysarthria, the present results highlight that undesirable changes may be invoked across other subsystems, such as at the laryngeal level. In particular, talkers with STN-DBS, who often demonstrate speech deterioration following DBS surgery, demonstrated more phonatory detriments at slowed speech rates. Findings have implications for speech rate candidacy considerations and speech motor control processes in PD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Solar panels are an environmentally friendly alternative to fossil fuels; however, their useful life is limited to approximately 25 years, after which they become a waste management issue. Proper management and recycling of end-of-life (EOL) solar panels are paramount. It protects the environment because of the high energy consumption of silicon production. We can effectively decrease energy and cost requirements by recovering silicon from recycled solar panels. This is one-third of those needed for manufacturing silicon directly. Moreover, solar panels include heavy metals, such as lead, tin, and cadmium, which pose risks to human health and the environment. Empirical evidence suggests that the costs of mining materials can exceed those of recycled materials, thereby making recycling a more cost-effective means of resource harvesting. This review paper focuses on the techniques developed to delaminate solar panels, which are considered a crucial step in the recycling of EOL solar panels. Initially, various classifications of solar panels are given. Subsequently, an analysis of the diverse methods of solar panel delamination and their efficacy in the retrieval of valued materials is presented. This investigation has identified three primary modes of delamination, namely mechanical, thermal, and chemical. Among these, mechanical delamination is deemed to be a sustainable and cost-effective option when compared to thermal and chemical delamination. The current most popular method of thermal delamination is characterized by its high energy consumption and potential emission, and the chemical delamination generates hazardous liquids that pose their own threat to the environment. This study emphasizes the mechanical delamination techniques, characterized by their environmentally friendly nature, minimal ecological footprint, and capacity to retrieve entire glass panels intact. This paper also discusses the current gaps and potential enhancements for mechanical delamination techniques. For example, some delamination techniques result in crushed materials. Thus, the handling and recovery of materials such as glass and silicon cells require the implementation of an appropriate sorting technique. Also, the value obtained from recovering crushed materials is lower than that of intact glass and silicon cells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]