AMR Compressed-Domain Analysis for Multimedia Forensics Double Compression Detection

An audio recording must be authentic to be admitted as evidence in a criminal prosecution so that the speech is saved with maximum fidelity and interpretation mistakes are prevented. AMR (adaptive multi-rate) encoder is a worldwide standard for speech compression and for GSM mobile network transmission, including 3G and 4G. In addition, such encoder is an audio file format standard with extension AMR which uses the same compression algorithm. Due to its extensive usage in mobile networks and high availability in modern smartphones, AMR format has been found in audio authenticity cases for forgery searching. Such exams compound the multimedia forensics field which consists of, among other techniques, double compression detection, i. e., to determine if a given AMR file was decompressed and compressed again. AMR double compression detection is a complex engineering problem whose solution is still underway. In general terms, if an AMR file is double compressed, it is not an original one and it was likely doctored. The published works in literature about double compression detection are based on decoded waveform AMR files to extract features. In this paper, a new approach is proposed to AMR double compression detection which, in spite of processing decoded audio, uses its encoded version to extract compressed-domain linear prediction (LP) coefficient-based features. By means of feature statistical analysis, it is possible to show that they can be used to achieve AMR double compression detection in an effective way, so that they can be considered a promising path to solve AMR double compression problem by artificial neural networks

Evaluation for speech spectral scramblers applied to the mobile radio channel

Dissertação (mestrado)—Universidade de Brasília, Faculdade de Tecnologia, Departamento de Engenharia Elétrica, 2004.No presente trabalho é realizada a implementação de algoritmos e a avaliação de desempenho de sistemas misturadores no domínio da freqüência para a criptografia em nível tático de sinais de voz (scramblers). A comparação de desempenho é feita para o canal rádio móvel, onde ocorrem fenômenos físicos de degradação do sinal recebido. Para o estabelecimento das condições de contorno e avaliação de desempenho, foram implementados modelos lineares discretos variantes no tempo em MATLAB do comportamento dos canais rádio nas faixas de HF, VHF e UHF. Para uma compreensão dos modelos, foi realizada inicialmente uma revisão dos conceitos envolvidos na caracterização do canal rádio móvel, particularizando os mesmos até o caso de uso consagrado do canal WSSUS (Wide Sense Stationary Uncorrelated Scattering). Com as definições pertinentes ao modelo geral, foram utilizados modelos particulares baseados na técnica de geração de números aleatórios denominada Método de Monte-Carlo. Foram implementados misturadores espectrais utilizando a Transformada Discreta de Fourier (DFT-Discrete Fourier Trcmsform), a Transformada Discreta de Cossenos (DCT-Discrete Cosine Trcmsform), a Transformada Discreta de Senos (DST-Discrete Sine Transform) e a Transformada Modulada com Superposição (MLT-Modulated Lapped Trcmsform). A avaliação de desempenho foi baseada em simulações em MATLAB utilizando medidas objetivas consagradas de comparação, tais como a distância de Itakura, EMBSD (Enhanced Modified Bark Spectral Distortion) e SSNR (Segmentai Spectral Signal do Noise Ratio). Uma série de resultados de simulação foram obtidos com os diversos scramblers implementados em MATLAB. Nesses resultados foram utilizadas as transformadas DFT, DCT, DST e MLT, com troca dinâmica de permutações no tempo e com ajuste da largura de banda a ser permutada dentro da faixa de passagem do canal rádio. Por fim, as medidas objetivas computadas na avaliação de desempenho foram utilizadas para avaliar a distância entre os sinais originais e os sinais distorcidos. Nesse processo foram levados em consideração a sensibilidade do algoritmo com respeito à transformada ortogonal utilizada. O confronto dos resultados objetivos mostrou que, para os critérios adotados, a Transformada de Cossenos Discreta (DCT) apresentou o melhor desempenho.The algorithms implementation and the system performance evaluation for frequency domain scramblers applied to tactical speech cryptography are accomplished in this work. A performance comparison is made concerned to the mobile radio channel where physical phenomena degrade received signal. In order to define boundary conditions and the performance evaluation itself, MATLAB linear time variant discrete models of radio channel behavior were developed for HF, VHF and UHF bands. A review of the concepts related to the mobile radio channel characterization was initially made to improve the model comprehension and then narrowing the models until the well known WSSUS (Wide Sense Stationary Uncorrelated Scattering) channel model. After grabbing the general model definitions, specific models were adopted based on the random number generation technique called Monte-Carlo method. Some spectral scramblers were implemented based on the Discrete Fourier Transform (DFT), the Discrete Cosine Transform (DCT), the Discrete Sine Transform (DST) and the Modulated Lapped Transform (MLT). The performance evaluation was based on MATLAB simulations using known performance objective measures, as the Itakura distance, EMBSD (Enhanced Modified Bark Spectral Distortion) and SSNR (Segmental Spectral Signal do Noise Ratio). Several simulation results were taken using the scramblers implemented in MATLAB language. To reach these results, the DFT, DCT, DST and MLT were applied with rolling code encryption dynamic scrambling and bandwidth adjustment for the bands to be mixed within the radio channel bandwidth. At last, the objective measures computed during performance evaluation were used to evaluate the distance between original and distorted signals. The algorithm sensibility related to the employed orthogonal transform were taken account in the distance evaluation. The objective result comparison showed that, according to the adopted criterions, the Discrete Cosine Transform (DCT) revealed the better performance

Adaptive multi-rate compressed-domain analysis for multimedia forensics double compression detection

Propõe uma nova abordagem para o problema da detecção de dupla compressão AMR em que, ao invés de se utilizar o áudio decodificado, é usada a sua versão codificada para a extração de características no domínio da compressão baseadas nos coeficientes de predição linear (LP). Afirma que as características no domínio da compressão podem ser consideradas um caminho promissor para a resolução do problema da dupla compressão AMR por meio de redes neurais artificiais. Esclarece que para ser aceita como prova no processo criminal, uma gravação de áudio deve ser autêntica de modo a se preservar com a máxima fidelidade possível as falas registradas e evitar erros de interpretação

Rinossinusites: evidências e experiências. Um resumo

Universidade de São Paulo Faculdade de Medicina de Ribeirão PretoUniversidade Estadual de CampinasUniversidade Federal do CearáFaculdade de Medicina de São José do Rio PretoUniversidade Federal do Rio Grande do SulUniversidade de São Paulo Faculdade de Medicina Hospital das ClínicasUniversidade Federal de São Paulo (UNIFESP)Universidade Federal de São Paulo (UNIFESP) Faculdade de Ciências MédicasSanta Casa de São Paulo Faculdade de Ciências MédicasUniversidade de BrasíliaHospital Instituto Paranaense de OtorrinolaringologiaUniversidade Federal da Bahia Faculdade de MedicinaUniversidade Federal de Minas Gerais Faculdade de MedicinaUniversidade Estadual Paulista Faculdade de Medicina de BotucatuUNIFESP, Faculdade de Ciências MédicasSciEL

Rhinosinusitis: evidence and experience: October 18 and 19, 2013 - São Paulo

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Effects of hospital facilities on patient outcomes after cancer surgery: an international, prospective, observational study

© 2022 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an Open Access article under the CC BY 4.0 licenseBackground: Early death after cancer surgery is higher in low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs) compared with in high-income countries, yet the impact of facility characteristics on early postoperative outcomes is unknown. The aim of this study was to examine the association between hospital infrastructure, resource availability, and processes on early outcomes after cancer surgery worldwide. Methods: A multimethods analysis was performed as part of the GlobalSurg 3 study—a multicentre, international, prospective cohort study of patients who had surgery for breast, colorectal, or gastric cancer. The primary outcomes were 30-day mortality and 30-day major complication rates. Potentially beneficial hospital facilities were identified by variable selection to select those associated with 30-day mortality. Adjusted outcomes were determined using generalised estimating equations to account for patient characteristics and country-income group, with population stratification by hospital. Findings: Between April 1, 2018, and April 23, 2019, facility-level data were collected for 9685 patients across 238 hospitals in 66 countries (91 hospitals in 20 high-income countries; 57 hospitals in 19 upper-middle-income countries; and 90 hospitals in 27 low-income to lower-middle-income countries). The availability of five hospital facilities was inversely associated with mortality: ultrasound, CT scanner, critical care unit, opioid analgesia, and oncologist. After adjustment for case-mix and country income group, hospitals with three or fewer of these facilities (62 hospitals, 1294 patients) had higher mortality compared with those with four or five (adjusted odds ratio [OR] 3·85 [95% CI 2·58–5·75]; p<0·0001), with excess mortality predominantly explained by a limited capacity to rescue following the development of major complications (63·0% vs 82·7%; OR 0·35 [0·23–0·53]; p<0·0001). Across LMICs, improvements in hospital facilities would prevent one to three deaths for every 100 patients undergoing surgery for cancer. Interpretation: Hospitals with higher levels of infrastructure and resources have better outcomes after cancer surgery, independent of country income. Without urgent strengthening of hospital infrastructure and resources, the reductions in cancer-associated mortality associated with improved access will not be realised. Funding: National Institute for Health and Care Research

Global variation in postoperative mortality and complications after cancer surgery: a multicentre, prospective cohort study in 82 countries

© 2021 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an Open Access article under the CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 licenseBackground: 80% of individuals with cancer will require a surgical procedure, yet little comparative data exist on early outcomes in low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs). We compared postoperative outcomes in breast, colorectal, and gastric cancer surgery in hospitals worldwide, focusing on the effect of disease stage and complications on postoperative mortality. Methods: This was a multicentre, international prospective cohort study of consecutive adult patients undergoing surgery for primary breast, colorectal, or gastric cancer requiring a skin incision done under general or neuraxial anaesthesia. The primary outcome was death or major complication within 30 days of surgery. Multilevel logistic regression determined relationships within three-level nested models of patients within hospitals and countries. Hospital-level infrastructure effects were explored with three-way mediation analyses. This study was registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT03471494. Findings: Between April 1, 2018, and Jan 31, 2019, we enrolled 15 958 patients from 428 hospitals in 82 countries (high income 9106 patients, 31 countries; upper-middle income 2721 patients, 23 countries; or lower-middle income 4131 patients, 28 countries). Patients in LMICs presented with more advanced disease compared with patients in high-income countries. 30-day mortality was higher for gastric cancer in low-income or lower-middle-income countries (adjusted odds ratio 3·72, 95% CI 1·70–8·16) and for colorectal cancer in low-income or lower-middle-income countries (4·59, 2·39–8·80) and upper-middle-income countries (2·06, 1·11–3·83). No difference in 30-day mortality was seen in breast cancer. The proportion of patients who died after a major complication was greatest in low-income or lower-middle-income countries (6·15, 3·26–11·59) and upper-middle-income countries (3·89, 2·08–7·29). Postoperative death after complications was partly explained by patient factors (60%) and partly by hospital or country (40%). The absence of consistently available postoperative care facilities was associated with seven to 10 more deaths per 100 major complications in LMICs. Cancer stage alone explained little of the early variation in mortality or postoperative complications. Interpretation: Higher levels of mortality after cancer surgery in LMICs was not fully explained by later presentation of disease. The capacity to rescue patients from surgical complications is a tangible opportunity for meaningful intervention. Early death after cancer surgery might be reduced by policies focusing on strengthening perioperative care systems to detect and intervene in common complications. Funding: National Institute for Health Research Global Health Research Unit