Robust Speech Detection for Noisy Environments

This paper presents a robust voice activity detector (VAD) based on hidden Markov models (HMM) to improve speech recognition systems in stationary and non-stationary noise environments: inside motor vehicles (like cars or planes) or inside buildings close to high traffic places (like in a control tower for air traffic control (ATC)). In these environments, there is a high stationary noise level caused by vehicle motors and additionally, there could be people speaking at certain distance from the main speaker producing non-stationary noise. The VAD presented in this paper is characterized by a new front-end and a noise level adaptation process that increases significantly the VAD robustness for different signal to noise ratios (SNRs). The feature vector used by the VAD includes the most relevant Mel Frequency Cepstral Coefficients (MFCC), normalized log energy and delta log energy. The proposed VAD has been evaluated and compared to other well-known VADs using three databases containing different noise conditions: speech in clean environments (SNRs mayor que 20 dB), speech recorded in stationary noise environments (inside or close to motor vehicles), and finally, speech in non stationary environments (including noise from bars, television and far-field speakers). In the three cases, the detection error obtained with the proposed VAD is the lowest for all SNRs compared to Acero¿s VAD (reference of this work) and other well-known VADs like AMR, AURORA or G729 annex b

AN ON-LINE INTELLIGENT ADAPTIVE CONTROLLER FOR MANUFACTURING OPERATIONS BASED ON AN OPEN ARCHITECTURE

In the development of the unattended and self-adjust machining system, where the human operator must be replaced by a Computer Numerical Control, the control system should properly process information with its varying environment in an intelligent way. The intelligent CNC must be able to recognize, in real time, major problems of operation connected to the machining process like chipping problems or tool breakage. To do that, the CNC intelligent system must be able to receive, process, and analyze inputs from multiple types of external sensor attached to it. This approach can only be possible on the base of an Open Architecture. The author of this paper proposes the use of fuzzy logic to develop an intelligent adaptive controller for manufacturing operations based on an open architecture that must be able to face problems of control, monitoring and fault diagnosis in real time

Redisseny i ampliació de la pàgina web arxiuadg.org

Memòria del projecte de final de carrera consistent en el redisseny i l'ampliació de la pàgina web arxiuadg.org. Les millores i ampliacions realitzades al lloc web afecten al disseny, interficie, usabilitat, base de dades i continguts del mateix

Implementation of control measures against an outbreak due to Clostridioides difficile producing toxin B in a tertiary hospital in Mexico

Objective. To describe the outbreak of Clostridioides difficile infection (CDI), and the impact of the prevention and control measures that were implemented in the “Hospital Juárez de México” (HJM) for its control. Study design. A cross-sectional, descriptive, observational, and retrospective study was designed. Methods. Information on the hospital outbreak and on health care-associated infections (HCAI) was obtained from the files of the Hospital Epidemiological Surveillance Unit (HESU) of the HJM. Results. A total of 15 cases of CDI were detected from February 20th to May 22nd, 2018, which represented 55.6% and 44.4% for the male and female gender, respectively, with an average age of 56 years and a range of 24 to 86 years old. It was possible to identify six failures and deficiencies that involved health personnel and hospital logistics through analyses based on the situational diagnosis in the services involved and through the construction of cause-effect diagrams. Additionally, through the detection of the outbreak by means of laboratory tests and timeline, the HESU team implemented measures and prospective surveillance to control and prevent the emergence of new cases. Conclusions. The implementation of basic quality tools, control measures, and the prospective epidemiological surveillance had a positive impact on the control against the outbreak of C. difficile producing toxin B

Alternative hosts of Phakopsora pachyrhizi in the Americas: an analysis of their role in the epidemiology of Asian soybean rust in the continental U.S.

Role of susceptible hosts of Phakopsora pachyrhizi in the occurrence of epidemics of Asian soybean rust (ASR) in the U.S. was assessed. Phenology of kudzu (Pueraria montana var. lobata) along a ∼800 km transect in the U.S. was characterized in 2003 and 2004 to assess the potential for kudzu to serve as an inoculum source for occurrence of ASR and subsequent spread to the north central soybean growing regions. Also, the occurrence, distribution, and growing periods of six potential hosts of P. pachyrhizi (including kudzu and soybean), in Central America, the Caribbean, and Mexico, were delineated. Sampling data revealed that bud break of kudzu plants in the two consecutive years of study occurred as early as April 7 from southern Louisiana (29.8 N latitude) to northern Mississippi (35.0 N latitude); kudzu green leaf area index decreased linearly with increasingly northern latitude (R2 and regression coefficient = 0.750 & --0.097, respectively, for 2003 and 0.654 & --0.384 for 2004). Further, results of modeling predicted that in southern Mississippi (31.5 N latitude), kudzu plants broke dormancy in the second and first week of March in 2003 and 2004, respectively. Modeling also showed that kudzu vines may break dormancy prior to March 1st in areas of southern and central Florida and southern Louisiana. Amount of kudzu foliage increased abruptly from April to May and June. Five out of the six hosts investigated in Central America, the Caribbean, and Mexico, were found to occur in such regions. Occurrence of selected hosts in each region was documented and maps of distribution and cultivation period schemes were generated