Search results

Vowel-based voice analysis is gaining attention as a potential non-invasive tool for COPD classification, offering insights into phonatory function. The growing need for voice data has necessitated the adoption of various techniques, including segmentation, to augment existing datasets for training comprehensive Machine Learning (ML) modelsThis study aims to investigate the possible effects of seg

Time-frequency (TF) postprocessing methods are often used to form concentrated TF representations (TFRs) for nonstationary signals. Regrettably, most such techniques are sensitive to noise and tend to underestimate weak components when dealing with transient signals, resulting in sidelobes and low-resolution TFRs. In this work, we introduce a generalized group delay (GD) weighted sparse TF (GWSTF)

Hexavalent chromium (Cr(VI)) can induce oxidative stress, genomic instability, and epigenetic modifications. In occupational settings, Cr(VI)-exposed workers may also be exposed to other toxicants, such as elements besides Cr, and per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). However, research on the extent of these co-exposures and their combined effects remains limited. The objective of this study

In this work, we study the problem of estimating the in-ear sound field using microphone measurements at nearby positions. Typically, the sound field is first interpolated to the position of the head under free-field assumptions, followed by filtering through pre-measured head-related transfer functions (HRTFs). While properties of free-field interpolation methods have been well studied with respe

Electric power is the foundation of modern society, yet Europe is currently facing an energy crisis, increasing interest in power generation, energy infrastructure, and grid resilience. However, power plant data are complex and multidimensional, making it difficult to gain an overview or understanding. Visualization methods can help to reduce cognitive load and facilitate exploration of such data.

Many forms of small-size radars suffer from minor clock oscillations due to crystalline impurities in their internal clocks, causing time-varying clock offsets between the transmitter and the receivers. This offset causes a bias and an increased variance in the positioning of close-range targets, limiting the achievable accuracy well beyond the expected estimation limitations. This performance is

This paper develops an adaptive grid two-dimensional (2-D) direction-of-arrival (DOA) estimation technique employing an integrated dictionary framework. In contrast to using a traditional grid over distinct angles, combined angle information atoms are adopted to construct the dictionary, using a SPICE-based noise power estimate to select the active regions. To compensate for off-grid bias effects,

BACKGROUND: Problems in social functioning (e.g., unemployment, social isolation), are common in people with a psychotic disorder. Social cognition is a treatment target to improve social functioning, as it is a proximal predictor of social functioning. Social Cognition Training (SCT) improves social cognition, but may not generalize (enduringly) to social functioning, perhaps due to insufficient

Post-marketing reports of suspected adverse drug reactions are important for establishing the safety profile of a medicinal product. However, a high influx of reports poses a challenge for regulatory authorities as a delay in identification of previously unknown adverse drug reactions can potentially be harmful to patients. In this study, we use natural language processing (NLP) to predict whether

The axillary lymph node status remains an important prognostic factor in breast cancer, and nodal staging using sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB) is routine. Randomized clinical trials provide evidence supporting de-escalation of axillary surgery and omission of SLNB in patients at low risk. However, identifying sentinel lymph node macrometastases (macro-SLNMs) is crucial for planning treatment ta

This article addresses the problem of multi-target localization from acoustic time delay measurements in a 3-D underwater environment, taking into account the depth-dependent sound speed of the underwater wave propagation. Specifically, we formulate the problem as an optimal mass transport (OMT) optimization over a grid of potential candidate positions. By exploiting an iterative refinement approa

The separation of multiple transmit waveforms with time and frequency synchronization constitutes a considerable challenge for multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) synthetic aperture radar (SAR) systems. It is well-known that aliased signal returns may be separable by digital beamforming (DBF) on receive in elevation. However, the current orthogonal-waveform beamforming schemes significantly incr

Background: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a severe condition affecting millions worldwide, leading to numerous annual deaths. The absence of significant symptoms in its early stages promotes high underdiagnosis rates for the affected people. Besides pulmonary function failure, another harmful problem of COPD is the systemic effects, e.g., heart failure or voice distortion. Howeve

Current literature show that frequency diverse arrays (FDAs) are able of producing range–angle-dependent and time-variant transmit beampatterns, but the resulting time and range dependencies and their characteristics are still not well understood. This paper examines the FDA transmission model with an emphasis on analyzing the beam auto-scanning characteristics and the equivalence with the MIMO be

In this paper, we considered the real-time modeling of an underwater channel impulse response (CIR), exploiting the inherent structure and sparsity of such channels. Building on the recent development in the modeling of acoustic channels using a Kronecker structure, we approximated the CIR using a structured and sparse model, allowing for a computationally efficient sparse block-updating algorithm

Background: Breathlessness is a troublesome and prevalent symptom in the population, but knowledge of related factors is scarce. The aim of this study was to identify the factors most strongly associated with breathlessness in the general population and to describe the shapes of the associations between the main factors and breathlessness.Methods: a cross-sectional analysis of the multicentre popu