and MS Thesis defense Date: 13th April 2009 Automatic Speech Recognition systems (ASRs) recognize word sequences by employing algorithms such as Hidden Markov Models. Given the same speech to recognize, the different ASRs may output very similar results but with errors such as insertion, substitution or deletion of incorrect words. Since different ASRs may be based on different algorithms, it i...

BACKGROUND Hong Kong is non-signatory to the 1951 Refugee Convention and its 1967 Protocol, and has no systematic domestic policies committed to the rights of asylum-seekers and refugees (ASRs). This creates a tenuous setting for African ASRs there. This study explored how mapped social determinates of health has impacted the mental health and wellbeing of African ASR's in Hong Kong. METHODS ...

BACKGROUND Opportunities for face-to-face communication with patients is increasing in modern hospital pharmacist practice. This may impose new burdens on hospital pharmacists. We performed a cross-sectional study to examine the prevalence of psychological distress, burnout, and compassion fatigue among hospital pharmacists. We also investigated possible relevant factors, such as sex, years of ...

OBJECTIVE The marked increase in the prevalence of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) among university students gives rise to questions about how best to diagnose in this setting. The aim of the present study was to calculate ADHD prevalence in a large non-clinical sample of medical students using a stepwise design and to determine whether ADHD diagnosis varies if interviewees use ...

BACKGROUND Adult attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is underdiagnosed in the primary care setting despite 3% to 6% of adults having ADHD-like symptoms. The Adult ADHD Self-Report Scale-V1.1 (ASRS-V1.1) is a validated, 6-question screen for adult ADHD. Our purpose was to analyze this tool for evaluating patients in a busy primary care setting. METHODS The ASRS-V1.1 was administere...

Creating architecture for a complex telecommunication system is a difficult task and requires expertise of many different stakeholders. The software architecture design process relies on understanding the architecturally significant requirements (ASRs) for the system under design. This paper describes experiences in creating a new base station product line. A goal was to create a process to fac...

Age-standardized rates (ASRs; using 1985 Japanese standard population) for Breast cancer mortality for 1960–2000 are shown for Japan, the USA, the UK, France and Italy (Fig. 1). Over this period, ASRs of breast cancer among women from the USA, the UK, France and Italy decreased following the peak around 1990. ASRs for Japanese women were much lower than those observed among women in the USA, th...

Subjective attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) symptoms seen in adult depressive patients have often become a pathophysiological topic recent years. Screening questionnaires are widely used for detecting ADHD; however, the risk of misdiagnosis exists. The present study examined whether self-perceptions ADHD-related characteristics were consistent regardless changes severity symptoms...

Exposure to lateral fluid percussion (LFP) injury consistent with mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) persistently attenuates acoustic startle responses (ASRs) in rats. Here, we examined whether the experience of head trauma affects stress reactivity. Male Sprague-Dawley rats were matched for ASRs and randomly assigned to receive mTBI through LFP or experience a sham surgery (SHAM). ASRs were me...