Clomiphene citrate (CC) has been widely used for induction of ovulation; however, despite the high rate of ovulation, the pregnancy rate is only 30%. The anti-estrogenic effect of CC on the endometrium is one explanation for this finding. It is well known that repeated administration of CC enhances its anti-estrogenic effect. To overcome this adverse affect, a number of techniques have been used. One technique is the early administration of CC, in an attempt to decrease the anti-estrogenic effects of CC on the endometrium. The aim of the present study was to retrospectively evaluate if repeated administration of CC at varying times may affect the endometrium during preovulatory period; pregnancy rates were compiled for patients with unexplained infertility undergoing intrauterine insemination (IUI). The patients were divided into four groups based on the number of repeat administrations and the time of CC administration. The endometrial thickness at the day of human chorionic gonadotropin administration was greater in early administration within three consecutive CC cycles than the others. When the endometrium is thin during classical administration of CC, it is worth attempting the early administration of CC in the CC/IUI treatment for patients with unexplained infertility. However, this effect disappeared over the duration of the three consecutive CC cycles. (Reprod Med Biol 2004; : 153-157).
The physiological study of prosody is indispensable in terms not only of the physiological interest but also of the evaluation and treatment for pathological cases of prosody. In free talk, the changes of vocal fold vibration are found frequently and these phenomena are very important prosodic events. To analyze quantitatively the vocal fold vibration at the register change as the model of prosodic event, our high-speed digital imaging system was used at a rate of 4500 images of 256–256 pixels per second. Four healthy Japanese adults (2 males and 2 females) were served as subjects. Tasks were sustained phonation containing register changes. Two major categories (Category A and B) were found in the ways of changing of vocal fold vibrations at the register change. In Category A, changes were very smooth in terms of the vocal fold vibration. In Category B, changes were not so smooth with some additional events at the register change, such as the anterior–posterior phase difference of the vibration, the abduction of the vocal folds, or the interruption of the phonation. The number of the subtypes for Category B is thought to increase if more subjects with a wider range of variety are analyzed. For the study of prosody, our high-speed digital imaging system is a very powerful tool by which physiological information can be obtained.
A physiological study of prosody is indispensable in terms of the physiological interest as well as of the evaluation and treatment for pathological cases of prosody. We have already reported the study with our high speed digital imaging system [143rd ASA Meeting, 2002] that two major categories (Categories A and B) were found in the ways of changing of vocal fold vibrations at the register change in sustained phonations. In Category A, changes were very smooth in terms of the vibration of the vocal fold vibration. In Category B, changes were not so smooth with some additional events at the register change, such as the anterior–posterior phase difference of the vibration, the abduction of the vocal folds, or the interruption of the phonation. The number of the subtypes for Category B was thought to increase if more subjects with more range of variety are analyzed. In this study, the changes of vocal fold vibration on prosodic events in free talk as the pitch changes were analyzed, using two types of high speed digital imaging system: the one with recording time of two seconds at a rate of 4,500 images of ∼256 pixels per second; the other with a recording time of seven seconds at the same rate with the same spacial resolution as the former. This study showed that high speed digital imaging systems were very powerful tools for the study of prosody.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.