48,319 research outputs found
Speech quality monitoring in czech national research network
This paper deals with techniques of measuring
and assessment of the voice transmitted in IP networks and
describes design of quality measurement, which can be
used for Cisco Gateways. Cisco gateways send Calculated
Planning Impairment Factor in every CDR (Call Detail
Record). Our design is based on collection of CDR's, their
storing into SQL database and their visualization through
web page. This design was implemented and successfully
tested in CESNET network.8511711
Augmented Reality-based Feedback for Technician-in-the-loop C-arm Repositioning
Interventional C-arm imaging is crucial to percutaneous orthopedic procedures
as it enables the surgeon to monitor the progress of surgery on the anatomy
level. Minimally invasive interventions require repeated acquisition of X-ray
images from different anatomical views to verify tool placement. Achieving and
reproducing these views often comes at the cost of increased surgical time and
radiation dose to both patient and staff. This work proposes a marker-free
"technician-in-the-loop" Augmented Reality (AR) solution for C-arm
repositioning. The X-ray technician operating the C-arm interventionally is
equipped with a head-mounted display capable of recording desired C-arm poses
in 3D via an integrated infrared sensor. For C-arm repositioning to a
particular target view, the recorded C-arm pose is restored as a virtual object
and visualized in an AR environment, serving as a perceptual reference for the
technician. We conduct experiments in a setting simulating orthopedic trauma
surgery. Our proof-of-principle findings indicate that the proposed system can
decrease the 2.76 X-ray images required per desired view down to zero,
suggesting substantial reductions of radiation dose during C-arm repositioning.
The proposed AR solution is a first step towards facilitating communication
between the surgeon and the surgical staff, improving the quality of surgical
image acquisition, and enabling context-aware guidance for surgery rooms of the
future. The concept of technician-in-the-loop design will become relevant to
various interventions considering the expected advancements of sensing and
wearable computing in the near future
Self-imitating Feedback Generation Using GAN for Computer-Assisted Pronunciation Training
Self-imitating feedback is an effective and learner-friendly method for
non-native learners in Computer-Assisted Pronunciation Training. Acoustic
characteristics in native utterances are extracted and transplanted onto
learner's own speech input, and given back to the learner as a corrective
feedback. Previous works focused on speech conversion using prosodic
transplantation techniques based on PSOLA algorithm. Motivated by the visual
differences found in spectrograms of native and non-native speeches, we
investigated applying GAN to generate self-imitating feedback by utilizing
generator's ability through adversarial training. Because this mapping is
highly under-constrained, we also adopt cycle consistency loss to encourage the
output to preserve the global structure, which is shared by native and
non-native utterances. Trained on 97,200 spectrogram images of short utterances
produced by native and non-native speakers of Korean, the generator is able to
successfully transform the non-native spectrogram input to a spectrogram with
properties of self-imitating feedback. Furthermore, the transformed spectrogram
shows segmental corrections that cannot be obtained by prosodic
transplantation. Perceptual test comparing the self-imitating and correcting
abilities of our method with the baseline PSOLA method shows that the
generative approach with cycle consistency loss is promising
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A review of ten years of implementation and research in aligning learning design with learning analytics at the Open University UK
There is an increased recognition that learning design drives both student learning experience and quality enhancements of teaching and learning. The Open University UK (OU) has been one of few institutions that have explicitly and systematically captured the designs for learning at a large scale. By applying advanced analytical techniques on large and fine-grained datasets, the OU has been unpacking the complexity of instructional practices, as well as providing conceptual and empirical evidence of how learning design influences student behaviour, satisfaction, and performance. This study discusses the implementation of learning design at the OU in the last ten years, and critically reviews empirical evidence from eight recent large-scale studies that have linked learning design with learning analytics. Four future research themes are identified to support future adoptions of learning design approaches
Feasibility of intensity-modulated and image-guided radiotherapy for functional organ preservation in locally advanced laryngeal cancer
Purpose: The study aims to assess the feasibility of intensity-modulated and image-guided radiotherapy (IMRT, and IGRT, respectively) for functional preservation in locally advanced laryngeal cancer. A retrospective review of 27 patients undergoing concurrent chemoradiation for locally advanced laryngeal cancers (8 IMRT, 19 IGRT) was undertaken. In addition to regular clinical examinations, all patients had PET imaging at 4 months and 10 months after radiotherapy, then yearly. Loco-regional control, speech quality and feeding-tube dependency were assessed during follow-up visits. Results: At a median follow-up of 20 months (range 6-57 months), four out of 27 patients (14.8%) developed local recurrence and underwent salvage total laryngectomy. One patient developed distant metastases following salvage surgery. Among the 23 patients who conserved their larynx with no sign of recurrence at last follow-up, 22 (95%) reported normal or near normal voice quality, allowing them to communicate adequately. Four patients (14.8%) had long-term tube feeding-dependency because of severe dysphagia (2 patients) and chronic aspiration (2 patients, with ensuing death from aspiration pneumonia in one patient). Conclusions and Clinical Relevance: Functional laryngeal preservation is feasible with IMRT and IGRT for locally advanced laryngeal cancer. However, dysphagia and aspiration remain serious complications, due most likely to high radiation dose delivery to the pharyngeal musculatures. © 2012 Nguyen et al
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