Search

Background/Aim: The purpose of this study was to provide preliminary data concerning the effect of clear speech (CS) on Cantonese alaryngeal speakers' intelligibility. Methods: Voice recordings of 11 sentences randomly selected from the Cantonese Sentence Intelligibility Test (CSIT) were obtained from 31 alaryngeal speakers (9 electrolarynx [EL] users, 10 esophageal speakers and 12 tracheoesophageal [TE] speakers) in habitual speech (HS) and CS. Two naïve listeners orthographically transcribed a total of 1,364 sentences. Results: Significant effects of speaking condition on speaking rate and CSIT scores were observed, but no significant effect of alaryngeal communication methods was noted. CS was significantly slower than HS by 0.78 syllables/s. Esophageal speakers demonstrated the slowest speech rate when using CS, while EL users demonstrated the largest decrease in speaking rate when using CS compared to HS. TE speakers had the highest CSIT scores in HS (listener 1 = 81.4%; listener 2 = 81.3%), and esophageal speakers had the highest CSIT scores in CS (listener 1 = 87.5%; listener 2 = 89.7%). EL users experienced the largest increase in intelligibility while using CS compared to HS (9.1%) followed by esophageal speakers (8.9%) and TE speakers (1.4%). Conclusion: Preliminary data indicate that CS may significantly affect Cantonese alaryngeal speakers' speaking rate and intelligibility. However, intelligibility appeared to vary considerably across speakers. Further research involving larger, heterogeneous groups of speakers and listeners alongside longer and more refined CS training protocols should be conducted to confirm that CS can improve Cantonese alaryngeal speakers' intelligibility. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a degradation-based procedure for estimating the full and residual lifetime distribution of a single-unit system subject to Markovian deterioration. The hybrid approach unites real degradation measures with analytical, stochastic failure models to numerically compute the distributions and their moments. Two distinct models are shown to perform well when compared with simulated data. Moreover, results obtained from the second model are compared with empirically generated lifetimes of 2024-T3 aluminum alloy specimens. The numerical experiments indicate that the proposed techniques are useful for remaining lifetime prognosis in both cases., 1. Introduction In this paper, we consider the problem of using sensor data to estimate full and residual lifetime distributions for a single-unit system subject to a stochastically evolving environment. [...]

Polyurethane foam (PUF) is widely used in indoor consumer products. Despite strong potential interactions with volatile organic compounds (VOCs), the effect of PUF on indoor concentrations of VOCs has not been examined. This study determines the behavior of PUF as a potential sink for or source of VOCs in indoor air. A flexible polyether-type foam and eight aromatic VOCs ranging in molecular weight from naphthalene to benzene were studied. Rapid determinations of PUF-air partition coefficient (K) and PUF-phase diffusion coefficient (D) were achieved using a dynamic microbalance procedure. A diffusion model was applied to interpret the experimental data. The PUF sample was assumed to conform to semi-infinite cylindrical geometry with solid-phase diffusion being the rate limiting step. The results indicate that sorption of VOCs by PUF is fully reversible. For the VOCs studied, K can be correlated with vapor pressure and D with molecular free surface area. Humidity appears to reduce the extent of sorption and slow the sorption kinetics. These findings should facilitate the prediction of the source/sink behavior of PUF and the related impact on VOC concentrations in the indoor environment. CE Database subject headings: Desorption; Diffusion; Indoor air pollution; Models; Sorption; Polyurethane; Volatile organic chemicals.