Asynchronous-Transition HMM

We propose a new class of hidden Markov model (HMM) called asynchronous-transition HMM (AT-HMM). Opposed to conventional HMMs where hidden state transition occurs simultaneously to all features, the new class of HMM allows state transitions asynchronized between individual features to better model asynchronous timings of acoustic feature changes. In this paper, we focus on a particular class of AT-HMM with sequential constraints based on a novel concept of “state tying along time”. To maximize the advantage of the new model, we also introduce a feature-wise state tying technique. Speaker-dependent speech recognition experiments demonstrated error reduction rates more than 30% and 50% in phoneme and isolated word recognitions, respectively, compared with conventional HMM

Feature-Dependent Allophone Clustering

We propose a novel method for clustering allophones called Feature-Dependent Allophone Clustering (FD-AC) that determines feature-dependent HMM topology automatically. Existing methods for allophone clustering are based on parameter sharing between the allophone models that resemble each other in behaviors of feature vector sequences. However, all the features of the vector sequences may not necessarily have a common allophone clustering structures It is considered that the vector sequences can be better modeled by allocating the optimal allophone clustering structure to each feature. In this paper, we propose Feature-Dependent Successive State Splitting (FD-SSS) as an implementation of FD-AC. In speaker-dependent continuous phoneme recognition experiments, HMMs created by FD-SSS reduced the error rates by about 10% compared with the conventional HMMs that have a common allophone clustering structure for all the features

The Relationship between Women\u27s Work and their Psychological Distress in Japan : Family Friendly Policies and Quality of Roles

家族と職業へのストレス論的アプローチの研究では,女性就業が本人の心理的状態に及ぼす効果について役割展開仮説と役割過重仮説が提示されている.米国の研究においては子どもを持つ女性では基本的に後者が支持されているが,わが国では両仮説とも明確に支持されず,その理由が問題にされている.この理由は,従来の研究が女性就業を常用雇用,臨時雇用,無職という区分で分析しており,有業者の働き方の中身を考慮していなかったことにある.この点を考慮することが,女性就業と心理的状態の関係の理解を助ける.本稿では,ファミリー・フレンドリー制度の変数を導入してわが国における女性就業とディストレスの関係を分析した結果,小学生以下の子どもがいて同制度が整備されていない職場に勤める常雇女性は,無職女性よりも役割過重であることが見出された.この結果をふまえて,新たに役割の質仮説を提示する.個人の心理的状態は役割の質に依存する.According to theoretical approach of stress theory to family and work life, role expansion hypothesis and role overload hypothesis are framed in the studies which research the relationship between women\u27s work and their psychological conditions. Neither former nor latter one were supported among women having children in Japan, instead the latter was supported in the United States. The reason of Japanese results is caused by the variable of working status in the previous research, which used the category: full-time worker, part-time worker, not employed, and didn\u27t classify the difference among employment. This article uses variable of family friendly policy in office. The results support the role overload hypothesis among full-time worker having under primary school children. This paper present ""Quality of Roles Hypothesis"" based on the results. Individual psychological condition is depended upon quality of roles

Context-dependent substroke model for HMM-based on-line handwriting recognition

Describes context-dependent substroke hidden Markov models (HMMs)for on-line handwritten recognition of cursive Kanji and Hiragana characters. In order to tackle this problem, we have proposed the substroke HMM approach where a modeling unit "substroke" that is much smaller than a whole character is employed and each character is modeled as a concatenation of only 25 kinds of substroke HMMs. One of the drawbacks of this approach is that the recognition accuracy deteriorates in the case of scribbled characters, and characters where the shape of the substrokes varies a lot. We show that the context-dependent substroke modeling which depends on how the substroke connects to the adjacent substrokes is effective for achieving robust recognition of low quality characters, The successive state splitting algorithm which was mainly developed for speech recognition is employed to construct the context dependent substroke HMMs. Experimental results show that the correct recognition rate improved from 88% to 92% for cursive Kanji handwriting and from 90% to 98% for Hiragana handwriting

ANALYSIS OF MATCH ACTIVITIES IN HIGH SCHOOL SOCCER PLAYERS USING A MOBILE GPS AND VTR METHODS

The purposes of this study were to obtain the match activity of high school soccer player, and to examine the measured value between GPS and VTR methods during a match play. The players' match activity ratios of total distance covered were walking 37.8%, jogging 16.6%, running 32.2%, sprinting 6.8%, back-walking 3.9% and back-running 3.1%, respectively. The total distance covered by GPS method was 5140.7 ± 476.6 m, and by VTR method was 5105.6 ± 459.8 m. As for the total distance covered, no significant difference was found between GPS and VTR methods. These finding,s gave suggestion that the distance covered by soccer player could be used with mobile GPS receiver. In the near future, more new accurate data will be got with GPS technique of new receiver in high quality

Dome-type carcinoma of the colon; a rare variant of adenocarcinoma resembling a submucosal tumor: a case report

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Dome-type carcinoma (DC) is a distinct variant of colorectal adenocarcinoma and less than 10 cases have been described in the literature. Most of the previously reported cases were early lesions and no endoscopic observations have been described so far. We herein report a case of a DC invading the subserosal layer, including endoscopic findings.</p> <p>Case presentation</p> <p>A highly elevated lesion in the transverse colon was diagnosed by colonoscopy in a 77-year-old man. The tumor appeared to be similar to a submucosal tumor (SMT), however, a demarcated area of reddish and irregular mucosa was observed at the top of the tumor. There were no erosions or ulcers. Laparoscopic-assisted right hemicolectomy was performed and pathological examination revealed a well-circumscribed tumor invading the subserosal layer. The tumor was a well-differentiated adenocarcinoma associated with a dense lymphocytic infiltration and showed expansive growth. The overlying mucosal layer showed high-grade dysplasia.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The present lesion was diagnosed as a DC of the colon invading the subserosal layer. Because the association of mucosal dysplasia is common in DCs, the detection of dysplastic epithelium would be important to discriminate DCs from SMTs.</p

Chemical labelling for visualizing native AMPA receptors in live neurons

The location and number of neurotransmitter receptors are dynamically regulated at postsynaptic sites. However, currently available methods for visualizing receptor trafficking require the introduction of genetically engineered receptors into neurons, which can disrupt the normal functioning and processing of the original receptor. Here we report a powerful method for visualizing native α-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazolepropionic acid (AMPA)-type glutamate receptors (AMPARs) which are essential for cognitive functions without any genetic manipulation. This is based on a covalent chemical labelling strategy driven by selective ligand-protein recognition to tether small fluorophores to AMPARs using chemical AMPAR modification (CAM) reagents. The high penetrability of CAM reagents enables visualization of native AMPARs deep in brain tissues without affecting receptor function. Moreover, CAM reagents are used to characterize the diffusion dynamics of endogenous AMPARs in both cultured neurons and hippocampal slices. This method will help clarify the involvement of AMPAR trafficking in various neuropsychiatric and neurodevelopmental disorders

Impact of noncontrast PCI for ACS

Purpose : Contrast-induced acute kidney injury (CI-AKI) is one of the common serious complications of percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) in patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS). This study aimed to assess the significance of noncontrast strategy in the setting of ACS. Methods : CI-AKI was defined as an increase in serum creatinine of ≥ 0.5 mg / dL or ≥ 1.25 times from the baseline. One-year worsening renal function (WRF) was defined as an increase of ≥ 0.3 mg / dL in serum creatinine from the baseline after PCI. Results : Of 250 ACS patients, 81 were treated with noncontrast PCI. The average doses of contrast medium in the noncontrast and conventional groups were 17 (9–22) ml and 150 (120–200) ml, respectively. CI-AKI was observed in 4 patients (5%) in the noncontrast group and 29 patients (17%) in the conventional group. Noncontrast PCI was associated with a lower incidence of CI-AKI (adjusted odds ratio, 0.26 ; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.08–0.82). The bootstrap method and inverse probability weighting led to similar results. CI-AKI was associated with a higher incidence of 1-year WRF (adjusted hazard ratio, 2.30 ; 95% CI, 1.12–4.69), while noncontrast PCI was not. Conclusions : Noncontrast PCI was associated with the lower incidence of CI-AKI in ACS patients