675 research outputs found
Inference and Denoise: Causal Inference-based Neural Speech Enhancement
This study addresses the speech enhancement (SE) task within the causal
inference paradigm by modeling the noise presence as an intervention. Based on
the potential outcome framework, the proposed causal inference-based speech
enhancement (CISE) separates clean and noisy frames in an intervened noisy
speech using a noise detector and assigns both sets of frames to two mask-based
enhancement modules (EMs) to perform noise-conditional SE. Specifically, we use
the presence of noise as guidance for EM selection during training, and the
noise detector selects the enhancement module according to the prediction of
the presence of noise for each frame. Moreover, we derived a SE-specific
average treatment effect to quantify the causal effect adequately. Experimental
evidence demonstrates that CISE outperforms a non-causal mask-based SE approach
in the studied settings and has better performance and efficiency than more
complex SE models.Comment: Submitted to ICASSP 202
EPG2S: Speech Generation and Speech Enhancement based on Electropalatography and Audio Signals using Multimodal Learning
Speech generation and enhancement based on articulatory movements facilitate
communication when the scope of verbal communication is absent, e.g., in
patients who have lost the ability to speak. Although various techniques have
been proposed to this end, electropalatography (EPG), which is a monitoring
technique that records contact between the tongue and hard palate during
speech, has not been adequately explored. Herein, we propose a novel multimodal
EPG-to-speech (EPG2S) system that utilizes EPG and speech signals for speech
generation and enhancement. Different fusion strategies based on multiple
combinations of EPG and noisy speech signals are examined, and the viability of
the proposed method is investigated. Experimental results indicate that EPG2S
achieves desirable speech generation outcomes based solely on EPG signals.
Further, the addition of noisy speech signals is observed to improve quality
and intelligibility. Additionally, EPG2S is observed to achieve high-quality
speech enhancement based solely on audio signals, with the addition of EPG
signals further improving the performance. The late fusion strategy is deemed
to be the most effective approach for simultaneous speech generation and
enhancement.Comment: Accepted By IEEE Signal Processing Lette
PreFallKD: Pre-Impact Fall Detection via CNN-ViT Knowledge Distillation
Fall accidents are critical issues in an aging and aged society. Recently,
many researchers developed pre-impact fall detection systems using deep
learning to support wearable-based fall protection systems for preventing
severe injuries. However, most works only employed simple neural network models
instead of complex models considering the usability in resource-constrained
mobile devices and strict latency requirements. In this work, we propose a
novel pre-impact fall detection via CNN-ViT knowledge distillation, namely
PreFallKD, to strike a balance between detection performance and computational
complexity. The proposed PreFallKD transfers the detection knowledge from the
pre-trained teacher model (vision transformer) to the student model
(lightweight convolutional neural networks). Additionally, we apply data
augmentation techniques to tackle issues of data imbalance. We conduct the
experiment on the KFall public dataset and compare PreFallKD with other
state-of-the-art models. The experiment results show that PreFallKD could boost
the student model during the testing phase and achieves reliable F1-score
(92.66%) and lead time (551.3 ms)
A Study of Low-Resource Speech Commands Recognition based on Adversarial Reprogramming
In this study, we propose a novel adversarial reprogramming (AR) approach for
low-resource spoken command recognition (SCR), and build an AR-SCR system. The
AR procedure aims to modify the acoustic signals (from the target domain) to
repurpose a pretrained SCR model (from the source domain). To solve the label
mismatches between source and target domains, and further improve the stability
of AR, we propose a novel similarity-based label mapping technique to align
classes. In addition, the transfer learning (TL) technique is combined with the
original AR process to improve the model adaptation capability. We evaluate the
proposed AR-SCR system on three low-resource SCR datasets, including Arabic,
Lithuanian, and dysarthric Mandarin speech. Experimental results show that with
a pretrained AM trained on a large-scale English dataset, the proposed AR-SCR
system outperforms the current state-of-the-art results on Arabic and
Lithuanian speech commands datasets, with only a limited amount of training
data.Comment: Submitted to ICASSP 202
ECG Signal Super-resolution by Considering Reconstruction and Cardiac Arrhythmias Classification Loss
With recent advances in deep learning algorithms, computer-assisted
healthcare services have rapidly grown, especially for those that combine with
mobile devices. Such a combination enables wearable and portable services for
continuous measurements and facilitates real-time disease alarm based on
physiological signals, e.g., cardiac arrhythmias (CAs) from electrocardiography
(ECG). However, long-term and continuous monitoring confronts challenges
arising from limitations of batteries, and the transmission bandwidth of
devices. Therefore, identifying an effective way to improve ECG data
transmission and storage efficiency has become an emerging topic. In this
study, we proposed a deep-learning-based ECG signal super-resolution framework
(termed ESRNet) to recover compressed ECG signals by considering the joint
effect of signal reconstruction and CA classification accuracies. In our
experiments, we downsampled the ECG signals from the CPSC 2018 dataset and
subsequently evaluated the super-resolution performance by both reconstruction
errors and classification accuracies. Experimental results showed that the
proposed ESRNet framework can well reconstruct ECG signals from the 10-times
compressed ones. Moreover, approximately half of the CA recognition accuracies
were maintained within the ECG signals recovered by the ESRNet. The promising
results confirm that the proposed ESRNet framework can be suitably used as a
front-end process to reconstruct compressed ECG signals in real-world CA
recognition scenarios
New Plasma Separation Glucose Oxidase-based Glucometer in Monitoring of Blood With Different PO2 Levels
BackgroundThe PalmLab glucometer is a newly designed plasma separation glucose oxidase (GO)-based glucometer. Past studies have shown that the accuracy of GO-based glucometers is compromised when measurements are taken in patients with high PO2 levels. We performed a two-arm study comparing the fitness of the PalmLab blood glucometer with that of a standard glucose analyzer in monitoring blood glucose levels in pediatric patients, especially when arterial partial pressure of oxygen (PO2) was high.MethodsIn the first arm of the study, arterial blood samples from pediatric patients were measured by the PalmLab blood glucometer and the YSI 2302 Plus Glucose/Lactate analyzer. In the second arm of the study, venous blood samples from adult volunteers were spiked with glucose water to prepare three different levels of glucose (65, 150, and 300mg/dL) and then oxygenated to six levels of PO2 (range, 40â400mmHg). The biases of the PalmLab glucometer were calculated.ResultsA total of 162 samples were collected in the first arm of the study. Results of linear regression showed that the coefficient of determination (R2) between PalmLab glucometer and standard glucose analyzer was 0.9864. Error grid analysis revealed that all the results were within Zone A (clinically accurate estimate zone). The biases between the two systems were low at different PO2 levels. In the second arm of the study, the results were also unaffected by changes in PO2.ConclusionThe PalmLab glucometer provides accurate results in samples with high PO2 and is suitable for measuring arterial glucose levels in pediatric patients
Assessing the Decision-Making Process in Human-Robot Collaboration Using a Lego-like EEG Headset
Human-robot collaboration (HRC) has become an emerging field, where the use of a robotic agent has been shifted from a supportive machine to a decision-making collaborator. A variety of factors can influence the effectiveness of decision-making processes during HRC, including the system-related (e.g., robot capability) and human-related (e.g., individual knowledgeability) factors. As a variety of contextual factors can significantly impact the human-robot decision-making process in collaborative contexts, the present study adopts a Lego-like EEG headset to collect and examine human brain activities and utilizes multiple questionnaires to evaluate participantsâ cognitive perceptions toward the robot. A user study was conducted where two levels of robot capabilities (high vs. low) were manipulated to provide system recommendations. The participants were also identified into two groups based on their computational thinking (CT) ability. The EEG results revealed that different levels of CT abilities trigger different brainwaves, and the participantsâ trust calibration of the robot also varies the resultant brain activities
Pyr3 Induces Apoptosis and Inhibits Migration in Human Glioblastoma Cells
Background/Aims: Glioblastoma, also known as glioblastoma multiforme (GBM), is a fast-growing type of tumor that is the most aggressive brain malignancy in adults. According to GEO profile analysis, patients with high transient receptor potential canonical 3 (TRPC3) expression have poor survival rates. The aim of this study is to evaluate the effects of Ethyl-1-(4-(2,3,3-trichloroacrylamide)phenyl)-5-(trifluoromethyl)-1H-pyrazole-4-carboxylate (Pyr3), a selective TRPC3 channel blocker, on the proliferation and migration of human glioblastoma cells. Methods: We first analyzed the TRPC3 mRNA expression in Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database. Then, TRPC3 protein expression was analyzed by Western blotting in three human GBM cell lines. The survival rate was measured by sulforhodamine B. JC1 staining was used to analyze the mitochondria membrane potential by flow cytometric analysis. Besides, the migration and invasion were evaluated by wound healing and Transwell assays. Annexin V and 7-aminoactinomycin D staining was used to monitor the apoptosis by flow cytometric analysis. The expression of apoptotic-related and migration-related proteins after Pyr3 treatment was detected by Western blotting. In addition, an orthotropic xenograft mouse model was used to assay the effect of Pyr3 in the in vivo study. Results: Basis on the results of bioinformatics study, glioma patients with higher TRPC3 expression had a shorter survival time than those with lower TRPC3 expression. GBM cell proliferation was decreased by Pyr3 treatment. The migration and invasion abilities of glioma cells were also inhibited via focal adhesion kinase and myosin light chain dephosphorization after Pyr3 treatment. Moreover, Pyr3 induced caspase-dependent apoptosis and mitochondria membrane potential imbalance in the GBM cells. In a xenograft animal model, Pyr3 in combination with temozolomide (TMZ) inhibited GBM tumor growth. Conclusion: Pyr3 inhibited GBM tumor growth in vitro and in vivo. Pyr3-TMZ combination therapy could be used to treat glioblastoma in the future
Hedgehog overexpression leads to the formation of prostate cancer stem cells with metastatic property irrespective of androgen receptor expression in the mouse model
<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Hedgehog signalling has been implicated in prostate tumorigenesis in human subjects and mouse models, but its effects on transforming normal basal/stem cells toward malignant cancer stem cells remain poorly understood.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We produced pCX-shh-IG mice that overexpress Hedgehog protein persistently in adult prostates, allowing for elucidation of the mechanism during prostate cancer initiation and progression. Various markers were used to characterize and confirm the transformation of normal prostate basal/stem cells into malignant cancer stem cells under the influence of Hedgehog overexpression.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The pCX-shh-IG mice developed prostatic intraepithelial neoplasia (PIN) that led to invasive and metastatic prostate cancers within 90 days. The prostate cancer was initiated through activation of P63<sup>+ </sup>basal/stem cells along with simultaneous activation of Hedgehog signalling members, suggesting that P63<sup>+</sup>/Patch1<sup>+ </sup>and P63<sup>+</sup>/Smo<sup>+ </sup>cells may serve as cancer-initiating cells and progress into malignant prostate cancer stem cells (PCSCs). In the hyperplastic lesions and tumors, the progeny of PCSCs differentiated into cells of basal-intermediate and intermediate-luminal characteristics, whereas rare ChgA<sup>+ </sup>neuroendocrine differentiation was seen. Furthermore, in the metastatic loci within lymph nodes, kidneys, and lungs, the P63<sup>+ </sup>PCSCs formed prostate-like glandular structures, characteristic of the primitive structures during early prostate development. Besides, androgen receptor (AR) expression was detected heterogeneously during tumor progression. The existence of P63<sup>+</sup>/AR<sup>-</sup>, CK14<sup>+</sup>/AR<sup>- </sup>and CD44<sup>+</sup>/AR<sup>- </sup>progeny indicates direct procurement of AR<sup>- </sup>malignant cancer trait.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>These data support a cancer stem cell scenario in which Hedgehog signalling plays important roles in transforming normal prostate basal/stem cells into PCSCs and in the progression of PCSCs into metastatic tumor cells.</p
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