Speech recognition in reverberant environments is still a challenge problem. In this paper, we first investigated the reverberation effect on subband temporal envelopes by using the modulation transfer function (MTF). Based on the investigation, we proposed an algorithm which normalizes the subband temporal modulation spectrum (TMS) to reduce the diffusion effect of the reverberation. During th...

In the subband coding of images, directionality of image features has thus far been exploited very little. The proposed subband coding scheme utilizes orientation of local image features to avoid the highly objectionable Gibbs-like phenomena observed at reconstructed image edges with conventional subband schemes at low bit rates, At comparable bit rates, the subjective image quality obtained by...

Southern Africa continues to be the epicenter of the HIV/AIDS epidemic. This HIV-1 subtype C epidemic has a predominantly heterosexual mode of virus transmission and high (>15%) HIV prevalence among adults. The epidemiological dynamics of the HIV-1C epidemic in southern Africa are still poorly understood. Here, we aim at a better understanding of HIV transmission dynamics by analyzing HIV-1 sub...

OBJECTIVE To describe changes in prevalence of child undernutrition in Northeastern Brazil in two successive time periods, identifying, in each period, the major factors responsible for these changes. METHODS Data analyzed are from probabilistic samples of underfives from three Demographic Health Surveys carried out in 1986 (n=1,302), 1996 (n=1,108), and 2006 (n=950). Identification of factor...

OBJECTIVES To present evidence to support a higher priority for injury prevention in initiatives, research, and budget allocations. METHODS Recent data (2000) for deaths from injury, infectious disease, heart disease, and cancer from 11 countries in the Region of the Americas were analyzed. Analyses focused on: first, Potentially Productive Years of Life Lost (PPYLL, discounted) from deaths o...

BACKGROUND Childhood unintentional injury represents an important global health problem. Most of these injuries occur at home, and many are preventable. The main aim of this study was to identify key facilitators and barriers for parents in keeping their children safe from unintentional injury within their homes. A further aim was to develop an understanding of parents' perceptions of what migh...

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is a group of disorders that involve the heart and blood vessels. Acculturation is associated with CVD risk factors among immigrants in Western countries. In this study, the association between acculturation and CVD risk factors was examined among English teachers from Europe and the USA living in Korea. English teachers were defined as those who reported their prof...

BACKGROUND Doctor-patient communication has far reaching influences on the overall well-being of the patients. Words are powerful tools in the doctor's armamentarium, having both healing as well as harming effects. Doctors need to be conscious about the choice of their words. This study aimed to determine the frequency and pattern of Nocebo Phenomenon (NP) un-intentionally induced by the commun...

OBJECTIVES We conducted an epidemiological study of the relationship between lung cancer incidence and smoking, with special reference to the benefits of smoking cessation for reducing lung cancer incidence, to promote a local smoking control program. METHODS The study was a retrospective cohort study. The population studied was 16,383 male examinees of lung cancer health examinations in 1995...

This paper presents design methods for boundary filters for the processing of finite-length signals. In particular, it is shown how vanishing moments can be imposed during the design. Applications are found in segmentation-based audio and shape-adaptive image compression.