A Case Study of Bootstrap Masker Quality Assessment for Speech-Privacy Protection

In this paper, we discuss the quality assessment of a new method for thegeneration of a masker for speech privacy protection. This masker includes speech characteristicsthat prevent eavesdroppers from overhearing conversations in public spaces.Previous research shows that maskers generated from the target speech perform betterin interfering with the listening, than the other maskers. Therefore, we propose a bootstrap(BS) masker method that efficiently generates a masker from a small sample of therecorded speech. We evaluate the subjective speech intelligibility and establish that the BSmasker can achieve the same level of intelligibility as that of the conventional additionalmasker at an approximately 4 dB lower target-to-masker ratio

Use of Human Epidermal Cells in the Study of Carcinogenesis

Because of the importance of human cells, particularly human epithelial cells, in cancer research, we have studied certain phases or events of carcinogenesis using human epidermal cells in primary culture. 1) We found that human epidermal cells are capable of metabolizing benzo[a]pyrene. Large inter-individual variations are found in the basal and induced arylhydrocarbon-hydroxylase activities. 2) UV-in-duced unscheduled DNA synthesis was demonstrated in human epidermal cells on autoradiographs. We also found that DNA repair is defective in epidermal cells isolated from xeroderma pigmentosum by a new explant-outgrowth culture. 3) Human epidermal cells are unique in that there is a large number of binding sites to phorbol esters compared with mouse epidermal cells, but there is no down-regulation. Further, human epidermal cells show essentially negative responses to tumor promoters, i.e., no stimulation of DNA synthesis, sugar uptake, and no induction of ornithine decarboxylase activity. 4) Human epidermal cells contain 1.5 × 105 binding sites per cell for epidermal growth factor (EGF), whereas squamous cell carcinomas of skin and oral cavity have larger amounts of EGF receptors in the order of 106 per cell. 5) Based on the above results, we attempted to transform human epidermal cells by the treatment with chemical carcinogens, but until now no transformation was obtained. J Invest Dermatol 92:271S–274S, 198

Japanese speech intelligibility estimation and prediction using objective intelligibility indices under noisy and reverberant conditions

Objective measures of intelligibility are preferable to subjective ones in the evaluation of speech systems used in real environments. In this study, subjective evaluations of eight types of indoor noise environments were used to compare four intelligibility indices to objectively evaluate Japanese speech intelligibility. These indices were as follows: short-time objective intelligibility (STOI), which has been widely used in recent years; speech intelligibility prediction based on mutual information (SIMI), which is derived from STOI; extended STOI (ESTOI), which is an improved version of STOI; and frequency weighted segmental signal to noise ratio (fwSNRseg), which incorporates both time and frequency components. These indices were subjectively evaluated in the eight noisy environments included in the corpus and environments for noisy speech recognition 4 (CENSREC-4) dataset using the familiarity-controlled word lists 2007 (FW07) as the speech data for the intelligibility evaluations. The results of the subjective evaluation of the four indices were then used to train predictive intelligibility estimation models. We evaluated the model performance using cross validation, which involved repeated training of seven of the eight environments and predicting the speech intelligibility under the remaining one environment. In the simulation results, the prediction accuracy of the SIMI index was significantly higher than that of the other indices, with a root mean squared error of 0.160 and a correlation coefficient of 0.934

Prevalence and profile of depressive mixed state in patients with autism spectrum disorder

Purpose: The present study aimed to clarify prevalence and profile of depressive mixed state (DMX) in depressed individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Patients and methods: The Quick Inventory of Depressive Symptomatology Self-Report Japanese version (QIDS-SR-J) and global assessment of functioning (GAF) were administered to 182 consecutive patients (36 ASD and 146 non-ASD subjects) with a major depressive episode (MDE). DMX was categorically diagnosed according to the criteria for mixed depression (MD) by Benazzi and mixed features (MF) specifier by DSM-5. Severity of DMX was assessed by the self-administered 12-item questionnaire for DMX (DMX-12). Clinical backgrounds and incidence/severity of DMX were compared between the ASD and non-ASD groups. Results: ASD patients showed higher prevalence of MD than non-ASD patients (36.1% versus 18.5%). Mood lability, distractibility, impulsivity, aggression, irritability, dysphoria and risk-taking behavior as mixed symptoms were more prevalent in ASD patients than those in non-ASD patients, together with higher scores of total DMX-12 and its disruptive emotion/behavior cluster. Multiple regression analysis revealed significant contribution of ASD to the disruptive emotion/behavior symptoms. Conclusion: Careful monitoring and management of potential DMX are warranted in depressed ASD individuals

Development of a 20-item questionnaire for drinking behavior pattern (DBP-20) toward personalized behavioral approaches for alcohol use disorder

Although screening tools are available for alcohol use disorders (AUD), such as the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT), these tools do not directly characterize individual drinking behavior for patients with AUD. Therefore, the aim of this study was to develop a new self-report questionnaire to identify the characteristics of drinking behavior patterns in patients with AUD. The study team developed a self-administered 20-item questionnaire for drinking behavior pattern (DBP-20) based on semistructured interviews of patients with AUD. The DBP-20 and AUDIT were administered to 232 patients with AUD and 222 normal drinkers (1 ≤ AUDIT <20) as controls. Exploratory factor analysis of the DBP-20 was conducted for patients with AUD, followed by comparisons of its item and subscale scores between patients with AUD and controls. Correlations of AUDIT with total and subscale scores of the DBP-20 were also analyzed. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analyses for the DBP-20 and its subscales were performed to distinguish patients with AUD from controls. Exploratory factor analysis revealed a multidimensional 4-factor model of the DBP-20: coping with negative affect, automaticity, enhancement, and social use. Significant differences in DBP-20 total and subscale scores were observed for patients with AUD versus controls for all factors, except the social use subscale. Both the coping with negative affect and automaticity subscale scores as well as total DBP-20 scores were highly correlated with AUDIT scores. Total DBP-20 scores showed the greatest sensitivity, negative predictive value, and area under the ROC curve to distinguish patients with AUD from normal drinkers. Drinking as a means of coping with negative affect and automaticity may be specific for patients with AUD. DBP-20 may help patients with AUD to be aware of their own targeted problematic drinking behaviors and to seek their personalized behavioral approaches in a collaborative relationship with therapists

Liver Abscess after Common Hepatic Artery Embolization for Delayed Hemorrhage Following Pancreaticoduodenectomy: A Case Report

A 55-year-old man underwent pancreaticoduodenectomy for bile duct carcinoma in March 2009. The patient developed anastomotic leakage and had a short episode of hemorrhage from the drainage tubes with spontaneous disappearance. CT and upper endoscopy did not reveal the source of bleeding. A massive life-threatening hemorrhage occurred on the 18th postsurgical day. Emergency angiography showed a 2.7-cm pseudoaneurysm of the gastroduodenal artery stump, and hepatic artery embolization was performed. After embolization, an abscess appeared in segments 2/3 of the liver without involving the right lobe. We treated conservatively by drainage and antibiotics. During the course of therapy after embolization, the patient experienced several episodes of high fever but did not develop hepatic failure. On the 68th day after embolization, the abscess had penetrated to the lesser sac, which was immediately treated by percutaneous drainage. Anastomotic leakage was treated by continuous irrigation from the drain, for which complete resolution was achieved by the 34th day after embolization. The patient was discharged 101 days after embolization. Imaging and the clinical course demonstrate a unique mechanism of abscess formation after embolization