Query: Saudi Arabia phonetics

title: Longitudinal Effects of Habit breaking Appliances on Tongue and Dento alveolar Relations and Speech in Children with Oral Habits
abstract: A longitudinal pilot study to compare, in children with reduced overbite malocclusions associated with oral habits (finger sucking and tongue thrusting) the effects of the experimental Myofunctional Trainer (MFT; Myofunctional Research Co. and the conventional Bluegrass appliance (BG) on dento alveolar relations, tongue position, and on speech.  The experimental group received the MFT appliance while the control group received the BG appliance. Dento alveolar changes were assessed by cephalometry and study models. Longitudinal midsagittal 2 dimensional B mode ultrasound scans of the tongue surface were performed to determine tongue position. Speech acceptability tests were also performed.  The BG appliance was successful in breaking the finger sucking habit. The MFT appliance showed only partial success which could be attributed to lack of compliance. At the end of treatment, the open bite was reduced in both groups due to dentoalveolar changes. The BG appliance had a deleterious effect on speech acceptability while in place, while there was no such effect with the MFT appliance.

title: The relationship between sports activities and permanent incisor crown fractures in a group of school children aged 7 9 and 11 13 in Ankara, Turkey.
abstract: The objective of the study was to determine the distribution, aetiology of the crown fractures of permanent anterior teeth in children aged 7 9 and 11 13 years and to identify the role of participation in sports associated with crown fractures. The study population comprised 2570 students from 10 primary schools randomly selected from five municipalities in Ankara, Turkey. Two paediatric dentists examined all permanent maxillary and mandibular incisors for evidence of fracture and completed a standardized examination form to obtain information on the age, gender, severity of incisor injury and frequency and type of sports participation for each child, as well as whether or not children used mouthguards during sports activities. Chi square and z tests were used to determine differences. A total of 191 (7.43% of the 2570 subjects examined were affected by dental trauma. The proportion of fractured incisors was significantly higher in males than in females among older children (P 0.01) Out of a total of 222 fractured teeth, 84% involved the maxillary central incisors. Bicycling caused significantly higher rates of crown fractures than other types of sports (P 0.05) The percentage of incisal fractures caused by sports related accidents was 14.14% The number of children interested in sports is high, and the sports chosen are generally contact sports. The high rate (14.14% of crown injuries caused by sports activities supports these findings.

title: Application of Smooth Ergodic Hidden Markov Model in Text to Speech Systems
abstract: In developing a text to speech system, it is well known that the accuracy of information extracted from a text is crucial to produce high quality synthesized speech. In this paper, a new scheme for converting text into its equivalent phonetic spelling is introduced and developed. This method is applicable to many applications in text to speech converting systems and has many advantages over other methods. The proposed method can also complement the other methods with a purpose of improving their performance. The proposed method is a probabilistic model and is based on Smooth Ergodic Hidden Markov Model. This model can be considered as an extension to HMM. The proposed method is applied to Persian language and its accuracy in converting text to speech phonetics is evaluated using simulations.  Hidden Markov Models, text, synthesis.

title: HIV/AIDS Prevention in the Nepalese Context
abstract: With their numbers now approaching almost 30 million, Nepalese feature importantly in the South Asian demography. Yet, it has been only 60 years since Nepal gained international recognition as a nation state. Nepal at present is one of the world's poorest countries and is in dire need of development, especially in the area of health. Given the current civil instability coupled with rapid modernization, the health and well being of the Nepalese people have been increasingly affected by newer threats, such as HIV/AIDS. The present study discusses the uniqueness of the Nepalese context in relation to HIV/AIDS prevention. The authors suggest that HIV/AIDS prevention programs in Nepal should now focus more on adolescents from rural regions. The authors also suggest the ways one may approach the task of developing a prevention program targeting rural youths.

title: Weighing the benefits of studying a foreign language at a younger starting age in a minimal input situation
abstract: This study examined whether a younger starting age is advantageous in a situation of minimal exposure to an instructed foreign language 4 hours classroom contact per week) Previous theoretical and empirical studies indicated there should be no advantage for an earlier start. Japanese college students who started studying English between ages three and twelve (n 61) were examined on a phonemic discrimination /l/w) and grammaticality judgement task (GJT) After controlling for language aptitude and amount of input, statistical correlations were found between starting age and scores on the GJT (r .38) but not the phonemic task (r .03) These earlier starters were also compared to peers who began study in junior high at age twelve or thirteen (n 139) on the same measures. The earlier starters were found to score statistically higher on the phonemic but not morphosyntactic measure, and this remained true in an ANCOVA analysis where total amount of hours of study input were controlled for. A robust ANCOVA testing for differences at different levels of input found interesting interactions between group affiliation and amount of input. Language attitudes were also tested. The evidence shows there can be perceivable age effects for linguistic measures even in a situation of minimal exposure to a foreign language, but these may not emerge until a substantial amount of input has been gained.

title: Research in the supporting sciences
abstract: The literature dealing with a phonetic approach to the problem of the comparability between human and animal communication is reviewed. Frequency modulation in the calls of several monkey species has been found to influence significantly conspecifics' responses. Changes in the power spectrum of calls appear to have a communicative function in certain species. Amplitude modulation can be categorically differentiated by squirrel monkeys according to the number of peaks in a call. Duration of calls also appears to have significance. All these components are found in human speech with grammatical and/or lexical function. Only accurate measurement of conspecifics' responses can confirm the existence of structural components such as phonemes, morphemes, clauses, etc. in animal calls. At present the difference between human and monkey communication seems to be quantitative rather than qualitative.

title: Why did the United States Overthrow the Prime Minister of Iran in 1953? A Review Essay on the Historiography of the Archetypical Intervention in the Third World During the Cold War
abstract: This review essay looks at the causes of the covert U.S. intervention in Iran in 1953, which overthrew the government of Prime Minister Mohammed Musaddiq, and turned Iran into a de facto autocracy. The argument of the essay is that, as opposed to economic inter ests or strategic considerations, it was American perceptions of Musaddiq and of the Iranian people in general that determined the course of U.S. foreign policy towards Iran.

title: Korean EFL Learners' Interlanguage Speech Intelligibility Benefit: Focusing on English Phrasal Verbs

title: Analysis of Pronunciation Errors of Saudi ESL Learners

title: Cross Linguistic Influence