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Summary Past studies on the maximum phonation time (MPT) in children have shown different results in duration. This factor may reflect the neuromuscular and aerodynamic control of phonation in patients; such control might be used as an indicator of other evaluation methods on a qualitative and quantitative basis. Aim to verify measures of MPT and voice acoustic characteristics in 23 children aged four to six year and eight months. Method The sampling process comprised a questionnaire that was sent to parents, followed by auditory screening and a voice perceptive-auditory assessment based on the R.A.S.A.T. scale. Data collection included the MPT. Study a prospective and cross-sectional study. Results The MPT was 7.42s, 6.35s and 7.19s; as age increased, the MPT also increase significantly; the s/z relation at all ages was close to one. Conclusions The results mostly agree with the medical literature. MPT values, however, were higher than in other Brazilian studies. It may be concluded that the ages that were analyzed are going through neuromuscular maturation; lack of structural maturity and neuromuscular control was more evident in chidlren aged four years.

Summary Evaluation is the first step for any treatment. Therefore, normal parameters are the bases for proper evaluation. Aim Verify measures and vocal acoustic characteristics of 23 pre-school aged children of both genders, aged four to six years and eight months. Methods The sampling process comprised a questionnaire -that was sent to parents, auditory screening and vocal-perception auditory assessment, based on the R.A.S.A.T. scale. Acoustic analysis was carried out through the Multi Dimensional Voice Program. Study Prospective and cross-sectional. Results The noise-harmonic ratio (NHR) and frequency variation (vf0) of the total sample was higher than what was found for five and six-year-olds. As age increased, NHR values decreased. As the total mean of amplitude perturbation quotient (APQ) increased, vf0, variation of amplitude (vAm) soft phonation index (SPI) and NHR also increased; the same occurred between mean total NHR and vf0. As the total means of pitch perturbation quotient (PPQ) and voice turbulence index (VTI) increased, SPI mean value decreased. Conclusions The results of the acoustic parameters at the age of four years seem to show an immaturity of the structures and lack of neuro-muscular control at that age and the maturation process onset happens near five and six years old.

By detecting ionised-gas emission in 75% of the cases, the SAURON integral-field spectroscopic survey has further demonstrated that early-type galaxies often display nebular emission. Furthermore, the SAURON data have shown that such emission comes with an intriguing variety of morphologies, kinematic behaviours and line ratios. Perhaps most puzzling was the finding that round and slowly rotating objects generally display uncorrelated stellar and gaseous angular momenta, consistent with an external origin for the gas, whereas flatter and fast rotating galaxies host preferentially co-rotating gas and stars, suggesting internal production of gas. Alternatively, a bias against the internal production of ionised gas and against the acquisition of retrograde material may be present in these two kinds of objects, respectively. In light of the different content of hot gas in these systems, with slowly rotating objects being the only systems capable of hosting massive X-ray halos, we suggest that a varying importance of evaporation of warm gas in the hot interstellar medium can contribute to explain the difference in the relative behaviour of gas and stars in these two kinds of objects. Namely, whereas in X-ray bright and slowly rotating galaxies stellar-loss material would quickly evaporate in the hot medium, in X-ray faint and fast rotating objects such material would be allowed to lose angular momentum and settle in a disk, which could also obstruct the subsequent acquisition of retrograde gas. Evidence for a connection between warm and hot gas phases, presumably driven by heat conduction, is presented for four slowly rotating galaxies with CHANDRA observations., 10 pages to be published in the proceedings of "The Fate of Gas in Galaxies", held in Dwingeloo, July 2006