Automatic age detection in normal and pathological voice

Systems that automatically detect voice pathologies are usually trained with recordings belonging to population of all ages. However such an approach might be inadequate because of the acoustic variations in the voice caused by the natural aging process. In top of that, elder voices present some perturbations in quality similar to those related to voice disorders, which make the detection of pathologies more troublesome. With this in mind, the study of methodologies which automatically incorporate information about speakers’ age, aiming at a simplification in the detection of voice disorders is of interest. In this respect, the present paper introduces an age detector trained with normal and pathological voice, constituting a first step towards the study of age-dependent pathology detectors. The proposed system employs sustained vowels of the Saarbrucken database from which two age groups are examinated: adults and elders. Mel frequency cepstral coefficients for characterization, and Gaussian mixture models for classification are utilized. In addition, fusion of vowels at score level is considered to improve detection performance. Results suggest that age might be effectively recognized using normal and pathological voices when using sustained vowels as acoustical material, opening up possibilities for the design of automatic age-dependent voice pathology detection systems

ELEMENTOS DE LOS MODELOS DETERMINANTES DEL CLIMA ORGANIZACIONAL

From importing the organizational climate has with in organizations, since it is the perception of human capital in relationtotheenvironment in which it is developed and share dwithco workers, is considered as a factor that reflects the facilities or obstaclesfacedby the worker to work in the employment context, for this reasonis considered extremely important and essential to have instrumentsto determine thelevel of organization alclimateperceivedby workers. There for edocumentaryre search, is ananalysis of the various existing measurement instruments in the literature regarding the organizational climate in differentareas (private companies, educational organizations, government agencies, health care organizations, and others) purpose. The importance of the analysis of the seinstruments is that they are indispensable to assessthe climate with in organization stool, there by generating strategies to directthea ctions, in orderto balance and achieve organizational behavior, group and individual positive. To measure the organizational climate has been identified in the literature to develop a largenumber of measuring instruments, amongwhichmay be mentione distheonepreparedby Mellado (2004), Chiang (2003), Brown and Leigh (1996) between other. They consider different dimensions of the work environment, such as individual responsibility, remuneration, risk and decisionmaking, support, tolerance, conflict, amongothers. The methodology consisted of literature review to identify various measurement instruments developed. Of which the definitions of organization alclimate addressed by the authors, measuring instruments, the oretical approaches, dimensions and values of validity and reliability in each were analyzed to determine if they are useful and feasible to apply to the Mexican contextd etermined by the investigat or according to the irinterests, stillarises at theend of the presentres earch findings and recommend ations for the selection and analysis instruments forme asuringorganizational climate, according to the type of organization, purposesassessment and identified organizational problems

Hypoglycemiating effect of the mazahua Salvia amarissima Ortega medicinal plant on mice

Introducción: La Diabetes Mellitus (DM) es una enfermedad metabólica que se caracteriza por presentar valores elevados de glicemia debido a la disminución total o parcial de la insulina en el organismo o resistencia a la misma por los tejidos periféricos. Las complicaciones de la DM son frecuentes, por lo tanto se hace necesario incentivar la búsqueda de nuevos fármacos hipoglucemiantes que complementen el protocolo actual de tratamiento. Las complicaciones de la DM son cada vez más frecuentes, por ende se requiere incentivar la búsqueda de nuevas alternativas terapéuticas que complementen el protocolo actual de tratamiento de la DM. La planta medicinal Salvia amarissima Ortega es una planta abundante en el Estado de México, usada ampliamente en la medicina tradicional para el control de la DM. Objetivo: comprobar el efecto hipoglucemiante de Salvia amarissima Ortega, para lo cual se realizó un estudio experimental, tipo exploratorio, descriptivo y analítico. Material y Métodos: se determinó la DL50 empleando el método de Lorke y se realizó una curva de tolerancia a la glucosa con ratones macho de la cepa C57BL/6J con un peso de 25 g + 5 g, con dextrosa al 35% a dosis de una centésima parte de su peso, se dividieron en nueve grupos con una n:6 cada grupo. El extracto etanólico se administró vía intragástrica, se midió la glucosa a los 0, 30 y 60 y 90 minutos. Resultados: Las hojas de Salvia amarissima Ortega presenta dosis letal 50 a los 5,3 g/kg de peso y presenta actividad hipoglucemiante a dosis de 125, 250, 500 y 1000 mg/kg de peso.Introduction: Diabetes mellitus (DM) is a metabolic disease characterized by high blood glucose levels due to the total or partial decrease of insulin in the body or insulin resistance by peripheral tissues. Complications of DM are frequent, and as a consequence, it is necessary to encourage the search for new therapeutic alternatives that complement the current DM treatment protocol. The Salvia amarissima Ortega is an abundant medicinal plant in the State of Mexico, widely used in traditional medicine to control DM. General objective: To identify the hypoglycemic effect of Salvia amarissima Ortega. With this objective, an experimental, exploratory, descriptive, and analytical study was carried out. Materials and Methods: the LD50 was determined using Locke’s method, and glucose tolerance curve was performed with male mice of the C57BL/6J strain weighing 25 g + 5 g, with 35% of dextrose at doses of onehundredth of their weight, divided into nine groups with an n:6 each group. The ethanolic extract was administered intragastric route, and glucose was measured at 0, 30, and 60 and 90 minutes. Results: Salvia amarissima Ortega leaves have a lethal dose of 50 at 5,3 g/kg of weight and have a hypoglycemic activity at 125, 250, 500, and 1000 mg/kg of weight

Adynaton 5

Revista de narrativa y poesía escrita en los talleres literarios de CETYS Universidad."Adynaton" es una revista del Círculo de Letras de CETYS Universidad

Innovación del Diseño para el Desarrollo Social

Una labor de síntesis alrededor de la gran temática de este libro que surge a partir de una serie de reflexiones y propuestas encaminadas desde la innovación del diseño para el desarrollo social, refleja una invitación al lector para enunciar a partir de su lectura nuevas discusiones sobre el quehacer del diseño con una perspectiva de innovación para este tipo de desarrollo, es pues este texto una invitación a enunciar nuevos retos y diálogos partiendo de reconocer al desarrollo social como uno de los pilares fundamentales desde la Organización de las Naciones Unidas (ONU) como parte fundamental para garantizar el mejoramiento de la vida de las personas. Desde la disciplina del diseño y retomado como eje para su discusión se pretendería establecer una serie de reflexiones y acciones que permitan atender situaciones para grupos minoritarios y vulnerables, así como apoyar esfuerzos encaminados a mejorar la calidad de vida de los integrantes de grupos y sociedades establecidas y recuperar el patrimonio cultural como parte fundamental de las identidades culturales y por tanto de la historia de la humanidad.A lo largo de la historia, el diseño, en cualquiera de sus manifestaciones, ha estado presente en todos los ámbitos. Se ha convertido en una disciplina que evoluciona al ritmo de las sociedades, que se pone al servicio de las necesidades de mercado pero también de las que requieren un abordaje distinto, observadas desde una mirada que concierne a lo social, entendido éste como lo que se reproduce o se instaura en el colectivo, en el grupo, en las comunidades, en las sociedades como parte significativa de sus cotidianeidades. El Diseño desde esta perspectiva acompaña al ser humano produciendo una significación de los objetos como parte fundamental de sus vidas, que transforma una realidad deseada en una realidad concreta, de aquí la importancia de crear una conciencia social para la praxis laboral de esta disciplina. En este sentido el campo profesional, académico y de investigación del diseño debe ocuparse de crear, difundir y divulgar el quehacer de la misma, manifestando un equilibrio entre conciencia, racionalidad y la realidad. Desde el contexto planteado, la Universidad Autónoma del Estado de México, a través de su Facultad de Arquitectura y Diseño presenta en esta obra una serie de reflexiones en torno al papel que desempeña el diseño humanístico, científico y tecnológico desde un enfoque de vanguardia e innovación para el desarrollo social, como resultado de la experiencia vertida en el Coloquio Internacional de Diseño que organiza éste año este espacio académico, en donde cada una de las aportaciones refleja la experiencia de cada uno de sus participantes; con base en ello, el presente libro integrado por una compilación de trabajos ofrece descripciones, análisis y propuestas que contribuyen a la solución de problemas procurando un desarrollo social

Mis casos clínicos de especialidades odontológicas

Libro que muestra la atención de casos clínicos particulares referente a las diferentes especialidades odontológicasLibro que muestra la atención de casos clínicos particulares referente a las diferentes especialidades odontológicasUniversidad Autónoma de Campeche Universidad Autónoma del Estado de Hidalgo Universidad Autónoma del Estado de Méxic

An insight to the automatic categorization of speakers according to sex and its application to the detection of voice pathologies : a comparative study

An automatic categorization of the speakers according to their sex improves the performance of an automatic detector of voice pathologies. This is grounded on findings demonstrating perceptual, acoustical and anatomical differences in males’ and females’ voices. In particular, this paper follows two objectives: 1) to design a system which automatically discriminates the sex of a speaker when using normophonic and pathological speech, 2) to study the influence that this sex detector has on the accuracy of a further voice pathology detector. The parameterization of the automatic sex detector relies on MFCC applied to speech; and MFCC applied to glottal waveforms plus parameters modeling the vocal tract. The glottal waveforms are extracted from speech via iterative lattice inverse filters. Regarding the pathology detector, a MFCC parameterization is applied to speech signals. Classification, in both sex and pathology detectors, is carried out using state of the art techniques based on universal background models. Experiments are performed in the Saarbrücken database, employing the sustained phonation of vowel /a/. Results indicate that the sex of the speaker may be discriminated automatically using normophonic and pathological speech, obtaining accuracy up to 95%. Moreover, including the a-priori information about the sex of the speaker produces an absolute performance improvement in EER of about 2% on pathology detection tasks. RESUMEN. Una categorización automática de los hablantes de acuerdo con su sexo mejora el rendimiento de un detector automático de patologías de voz. Esto se fundamenta en hallazgos que demuestran diferencias perceptuales, acústicas y anatómicas en voces masculinas y femeninas. En particular, este trabajo persigue dos objetivos: 1) diseñar un sistema que discrimine automáticamente el sexo de hablantes utilizando habla normofónica y patológica, 2) estudiar la influencia que este detector de sexo tiene sobre el acierto de un posterior detector de patologías de voz. La parametrización del detector automático de sexo se basa en MFCC aplicados sobre señales de voz; y MFCC aplicados a formas de onda glotal junto a parámetros que modelan el tracto vocal. Las formas de onda glotal se extraen de la voz a través de un filtrado inverso iterativo en celosía. En cuanto al detector de patologías, una parametrización MFCC se aplica a señales de voz. La clasificación, tanto en los detectores de sexo como de patología, se lleva a cabo con técnicas del estado del arte basadas en modelos de base universal. Experimentos son realizados sobre la base de datos Saarbrücken empleando la fonación sostenida de la vocal /a/. Los resultados indican que el sexo del hablante puede ser discriminado automáticamente utilizando habla normofónica y patológica, obteniendo una precisión de hasta un 95%. Por otra parte, al incluir información a priori sobre el sexo del hablante se produce una mejora de alrededor del 2% de rendimiento absoluto en EER, en tareas de detección de patología

Emulating the perceptual capabilities of a human evaluator to map the GRB scale for the assessment of voice disorders

This paper presents the design of an automatic voice quality analysis system for the assessment of voice pathologies, which emulates the perceptual capabilities of a human evaluator according the GRB scale. For this purpose, a novel methodology based on multiple sets of characteristics, ordinal classification and Gaussian regression is proposed. In particular, a reduced subset of characteristics is identified, and the regressor is used to convert the discrete perceptual scale to a continuum, more in agreement to the nature of the problem under study. The robustness of the system is evaluated in several cross-dataset experiments. Similarly, a clinical evaluation of the predictions provided by the system is carried out. Results indicate that the proposed methodology is proficient in modelling the perceptual capabilities of the human evaluator. They also show that it is possible to extend the GRB scale to a continuum through regression techniques while maintaining the consistency of the results. On average, the deviation between the labels assessed by the expert and the ones provided by the system is of about 0.5 units (in a scale from 0 to 3) for G and B, and of 0.7 units for R. Similarly, the deviation of the labels predicted by the system in the clinical assessment trials is about 0.3 units for G, 0.4 units for B, and 0.5 units for

Emulating the perceptual capabilities of a human evaluator to map the GRB scale for the assessment of voice disorders

This paper presents the design of an automatic voice quality analysis system for the assessment of voice pathologies, which emulates the perceptual capabilities of a human evaluator according the GRB scale. For this purpose, a novel methodology based on multiple sets of characteristics, ordinal classification and Gaussian regression is proposed. In particular, a reduced subset of characteristics is identified, and the regressor is used to convert the discrete perceptual scale to a continuum, more in agreement to the nature of the problem under study. The robustness of the system is evaluated in several cross-dataset experiments. Similarly, a clinical evaluation of the predictions provided by the system is carried out. Results indicate that the proposed methodology is proficient in modelling the perceptual capabilities of the human evaluator. They also show that it is possible to extend the GRB scale to a continuum through regression techniques while maintaining the consistency of the results. On average, the deviation between the labels assessed by the expert and the ones provided by the system is of about 0.5 units (in a scale from 0 to 3) for G and B, and of 0.7 units for R. Similarly, the deviation of the labels predicted by the system in the clinical assessment trials is about 0.3 units for G, 0.4 units for B, and 0.5 units for

Management of the hemophilic pseudotumor of the abdomen: A rare pathological entity

INTRODUCTION: Hemophilic pseudotumor is a rare complication that occurs in patients with severe hemophilia. Results from multiple episodes of bleeding into the bones and soft tissues. PRESENTATION OF CASE: A 31 years old male patient, with severe hemophilia A. Diagnosed with an abdominal tumor 10 years ago during routine screening, that progressively grew to encompass the entire abdominal area, with symptoms of intestinal obstruction. DISCUSSION: Hemophilic pseudotumor appears as a painless tumor of slow growth that can compress vital organs producing bone destruction, muscle and skin necrosis. The tumor may have fistulas or break spontaneously. CONCLUSION: The abdominal hemophilic pseudotumor is a rare pathological entity, with few reports worldwide, but must be considered in hemophilic patients with a well documented abdominal tumor