721 research outputs found

    Cardiovascular Effects of Vibration Semiannual Report, 1 Aug. 1965 - 28 Feb. 1966

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    Vibration induced cardiovascular changes in anesthetized dog

    Combining vocal tract length normalization with hierarchial linear transformations

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    Recent research has demonstrated the effectiveness of vocal tract length normalization (VTLN) as a rapid adaptation technique for statistical parametric speech synthesis. VTLN produces speech with naturalness preferable to that of MLLR-based adaptation techniques, being much closer in quality to that generated by the original av-erage voice model. However with only a single parameter, VTLN captures very few speaker specific characteristics when compared to linear transform based adaptation techniques. This paper pro-poses that the merits of VTLN can be combined with those of linear transform based adaptation in a hierarchial Bayesian frame-work, where VTLN is used as the prior information. A novel tech-nique for propagating the gender information from the VTLN prior through constrained structural maximum a posteriori linear regres-sion (CSMAPLR) adaptation is presented. Experiments show that the resulting transformation has improved speech quality with better naturalness, intelligibility and improved speaker similarity. Index Terms — Statistical parametric speech synthesis, hidden Markov models, speaker adaptation, vocal tract length normaliza-tion, constrained structural maximum a posteriori linear regression 1

    Cardiovascular Effects of Vibration Semiannual Report, 1 Feb. - 31 Jul. 1966

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    Cardiovascular changes and noise reduction in electrocardiograph signals studied on human and dog during vibratio

    Revision Total Shoulder Arthroplasty is Associated with Increased Thirty-Day Postoperative Complications and Wound Infections Relative to Primary Total Shoulder Arthroplasty

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    © 2017, Hospital for Special Surgery. Background: With an increasing volume of primary total shoulder arthroplasties (TSA), the number of revision TSA cases is expected to increase as well. However, the postoperative medical morbidity of revision TSA has not been clearly described. Questions/Purposes: The purpose of this study was to determine the rate of postoperative complications following revision TSA, relative to primary TSA. In addition, we sought to identify independent predictors of complications, as well as to compare operative time and postoperative length of stay between primary and revision TSA. Methods: Patients who underwent primary/revision TSA between 2005 and 2015 were identified in the American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Program. Differences in complications, readmission rates, operative time, length of stay, and predictors of complications were evaluated using bivariate and multivariate analyses. Results: A total of 10,371 primary TSA (95.4%) and 496 revision TSA cases (4.6%) were identified. The overall complication rate was 6.5% in primary and 10.7% in revision TSA patients (p \u3c 0.001). Multivariate analysis identified an increased risk of any complication (odds ratio 1.73, p \u3c 0.001), major complication (2.08, p = 0.001), and wound infection (3.45, p = 0.001) in revision TSA patients, relative to primary cases. Operative time was increased in revision cases (mean ± standard deviation, 125 ± 62.5), relative to primary (115 ± 47.7, p \u3c 0.001). Age \u3e 75, female sex, history of diabetes or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and American Society of Anesthesiologists classification ≄ 3 were associated with increased risk of any complication. Smoking history was the only significant predictor of wound infection. Conclusion: Revision TSA, in comparison to primary, poses an increased risk of postoperative complications, particularly wound infections. A history of smoking was an independent predictor of wound infections

    Epidemiology and Impact of Abdominal Oblique Injuries in Major and Minor League Baseball.

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    BACKGROUND: Oblique injuries are known to be a common cause of time out of play for professional baseball players, and prior work has suggested that injury rates may be on the rise in Major League Baseball (MLB). PURPOSE: To better understand the current incidence of oblique injuries, determine their impact based on time out of play, and to identify common injury patterns that may guide future injury prevention programs. STUDY DESIGN: Descriptive epidemiological study. METHODS: Using the MLB Health and Injury Tracking System, all oblique injuries that resulted in time out of play in MLB and Minor League Baseball (MiLB) during the 2011 to 2015 seasons were identified. Player demographics such as age, position/role, and handedness were included. Injury-specific factors analyzed included the following: date of injury, timing during season, days missed, mechanism, side, treatment, and reinjury status. RESULTS: A total of 996 oblique injuries occurred in 259 (26%) MLB and 737 (74%) MiLB players. Although the injury rate was steady in MiLB, the MLB injury rate declined (P = .037). A total of 22,064 days were missed at a mean rate of 4413 days per season and 22.2 days per injury. The majority of these occurred during batting (n = 455, 46%) or pitching (n = 348, 35%), with pitchers losing 5 days more per injury than batters (P \u3c .001). The leading side was injured in 77% of cases and took 5 days longer to recover from than trailing side injuries (P = .009). Seventy-nine (7.9%) players received either a corticosteroid or platelet-rich plasma injection, and the mean recovery time was 11 days longer compared with those who did not receive an injection (P \u3c .001). CONCLUSION: Although the rate of abdominal oblique injuries is on the decline in MLB, this is not the case for MiLB, and these injuries continue to represent a significant source of time out of play in professional baseball. The vast majority of injuries occur on the lead side, and these injuries result in the greatest amount time out of play. The benefit of injections for the treatment of oblique injuries remains unknown

    Can ion mobility mass spectrometry and density functional theory help elucidate protonation sites in 'small' molecules?

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    Ion mobility spectrometry-mass spectrometry (IMS-MS) offers an opportunity to combine measurements and/or calculations of the collision cross-sections and subsequent mass spectra with computational modelling in order to derive the three-dimensional structure of ions. IMS-MS has previously been reported to separate two components for the compound norfloxacin, explained by protonation on two different sites, enabling the separation of protonated isomers (protomers) using ion mobility with distinguishable tandem mass spectrometric (MS/MS) data. This study reveals further insights into the specific example of norfloxacin and wider implications for ion mobility mass spectrometry

    Flint’s Children: Narratives on Hope

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    Hope plays an important role in resiliency, well-being, and buffering against adversity. To explore children’s experiences with hope while developing in low-income communities, we conducted interviews with twenty-one children residing in Flint, Michigan, ages 9-12 years. Research questions focused on the specific hopes children have, the importance they ascribe to different hopes, and their experiences of feeling hopeful or less hopeful about desired outcomes. Children expressed interrelated hopes across multiple social-ecological domains, including hopes for themselves, hopes for their interpersonal relationships, and hopes for the community. Children placed particular importance on their hopes of helping others, which included providing for their families and aiding others in the community. Children, however, expressed uncertainty regarding their hopes related to career aspirations, academic achievement, financial stability, and obtaining basic needs. Our findings expand upon what is known about children’s internal dialogues with feeling hopeful or less hopeful about desired outcomes in low-income communities. These findings can enhance community and school-based programming so they further align with the specific hopes that children have, and attune to areas in which children in impoverished communities are most in need of hope-engendering strategies

    Creative Reverse Engineering – from remote sensuality to haptic metrology

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    Our ongoing experimentation in close-range Photogrammetry has overcome common challenges to generate accurate, high-resolution 3D models using a single DSLR camera and innovative approaches and computer-coded devices. More recent investigations across disciplines sought to bridge the gap between traditional creative skills and modes of visualisation, and what can be made possible through digital means. Working as artists and designers alongside museums and historians, we have developed new photogrammetry equipment and approaches to help overcome the complex fluid geometry, shadowy occlusions and delicate lamina edges of challenging monochromatic garments. The resulting 3D models have allowed the rapid extraction of faithful seams and surfaces direct from the processed ‘mesh’ and into CAD modelling environments for the production of new designs, patterns and production tooling. Current collaborations seek to apply these developments to the capture, visualisation and reverse engineering of iconic garments and museum artefacts, alongside the 'remote sensing' of traditional pattern cutters whose eyes, minds and hands are the equivalent of the digital approaches explored in our paper. The second phase sought to unpick some of the familiar structures of object- and asset creation in and for Virtual and Augmented Reality. Experimenting with equipment, methods and processing techniques allowed us to explore the potential of 3D visualisations and readily available tools within Virtual and Augmented Reality for garment design and other forms of object-based creative ideation, sketching and prototyping. In the next stages of our ongoing research we explored a more haptic form of CAD-enabled modelling and metrology, aiming to bring these approaches within the reach of a wider range of creative users: enabling artists, designers and makers to move more seamlessly between digital tools and virtual environments, and actual things in real time and space

    Building better Sex Robots: Lessons from Feminist Pornography

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    How should we react to the development of sexbot technology? Taking their cue from anti-porn feminism, several academic critics lament the development of sexbot technology, arguing that it objectifies and subordinates women, is likely to promote misogynistic attitudes toward sex, and may need to be banned or restricted. In this chapter I argue for an alternative response. Taking my cue from the sex positive ‘feminist porn’ movement, I argue that the best response to the development of ‘bad’ sexbots is to make better ones. This will require changes to the content, process and context of sexbot development. Doing so will acknowledge the valuable role that technology can play in human sexuality, and allow us to challenge gendered norms and assumptions about male and female sexual desire. This will not be a panacea to the social problems that could arise from sexbot development, but it offers a more realistic and hopeful vision for the future of this technology in a pluralistic and progressive society

    The effect of RaceRunning on cardiometabolic disease risk factors and functional mobility in young people with moderate-to-severe cerebral palsy:A feasibility study

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    Introduction: There is consistent evidence that people with cerebral (CP) do not engage in the recommended physical activity guidelines for the general population from a young age. Participation in moderate-to-vigorous physical activity is particularly reduced in people with CP who have moderate-to-severe disability. RaceRunning is a growing disability sport that provides an opportunity for people with moderate-to-severe disability to participate in physical activity in the community. It allows those who are unable to walk independently, to propel themselves using a RaceRunning bike, which has a breastplate for support but no pedals. The aim of this study is to examine the feasibility and acceptability of RaceRunning for young people with moderate-to-severe CP and the feasibility of conducting a definitive study of the effect of RaceRunning on cardiometabolic disease risk factors and functional mobility. Methods and analysis: Twenty-five young people (age 5-21 yr) with CP or acquired brain injury affecting co-ordination will be included in this single arm intervention study. Participants will take part in one RaceRunning session each week for 24 weeks. Outcomes assessed at baseline, 12 and 24 weeks include body mass index, waist circumference, blood pressure, muscle strength, cardiorespiratory fitness, physical activity and sedentary behaviour, functional mobility, activity competence and psychosocial impact. Adverse events will be systematically recorded throughout the 24 weeks. Focus groups will be conducted with participants and/or parents to explore their views and experiences of taking part in RaceRunning. Ethics and dissemination: Approval has been granted by Queen Margaret University Research Ethics Committee (REC) and the South East of Scotland REC. Results will be disseminated through peer-reviewed journals and distributed to people with CP and their families through RaceRunning and Athletic Clubs, NHS trusts, and organisations for people with disabilities
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