Performance Analysis of Cardioid and Omnidirectional Microphones in Spherical Sector Arrays for Coherent Source Localization.

Traditional spherical sector microphone arrays using omnidirectional microphones face limitations in modal strength and spatial resolution, especially within spherical sector configurations. This study aims to enhance array performance by developing a spherical sector array employing first-order cardioid microphones. A model based on spherical sector harmonic (SSH) functions is introduced to extend the benefits of spherical harmonics to sector arrays.

Cervical Spondylosis Diagnosis Based on Convolutional Neural Network with X-ray Images.

The increase in Cervical Spondylosis cases and the expansion of the affected demographic to younger patients have escalated the demand for X-ray screening. Challenges include variability in imaging technology, differences in equipment specifications, and the diverse experience levels of clinicians, which collectively hinder diagnostic accuracy. In response, a deep learning approach utilizing a ResNet-34 convolutional neural network has been developed.

A Coherent Wideband Acoustic Source Localization Using a Uniform Circular Array.

In modern applications such as robotics, autonomous vehicles, and speaker localization, the computational power for sound source localization applications can be limited when other functionalities get more complex. In such application fields, there is a need to maintain high localization accuracy for several sound sources while reducing computational complexity. The array manifold interpolation (AMI) method applied with the Multiple Signal Classification (MUSIC) algorithm enables sound source localization of multiple sources with high accuracy.

A Deep CNN Transformer Hybrid Model for Skin Lesion Classification of Dermoscopic Images Using Focal Loss.

Skin cancers are the most cancers diagnosed worldwide, with an estimated > 1.5 million new cases in 2020. Use of computer-aided diagnosis (CAD) systems for early detection and classification of skin lesions helps reduce skin cancer mortality rates.

A Lower Bound on the Estimation Variance of Direction-of-Arrival and Skew Angle of a Biaxial Velocity Sensor Suffering from Stochastic Loss of Perpendicularity.

The biaxial velocity sensor comprises two nominally perpendicular particle velocity sensors and a collocated pressure sensor. Due to real-world imperfections in manufacturing or setup errors, the two axes may suffer from perpendicularity losses. To analytically study how skewness affects its direction-finding performance, the hybrid Cramér-Rao bound (HCRB) of the directions-of-arrival for the polar angle, azimuth angle and the skew angle of a biaxial velocity sensor that suffers from stochastic loss of perpendicularity were derived in closed form.

A deep learning approach for detecting drill bit failures from a small sound dataset.

Monitoring the conditions of machines is vital in the manufacturing industry. Early detection of faulty components in machines for stopping and repairing the failed components can minimize the downtime of the machine. In this article, we present a method for detecting failures in drill machines using drill sounds in Valmet AB, a company in Sundsvall, Sweden that supplies equipment and processes for the production of pulp, paper, and biofuels.

A Study on the Correlation between Change in the Geometrical Dimension of a Free-Falling Molten Glass Gob and Its Viscosity.

To produce flawless glass containers, continuous monitoring of the glass gob is required. It is essential to ensure production of molten glass gobs with the right shape, temperature, viscosity and weight. At present, manual monitoring is common practice in the glass container industry, which heavily depends on previous experience, operator knowledge and trial and error.

Multi-Camera Based Setup for Geometrical Measurement of Free-Falling Molten Glass Gob.

High temperatures complicate the direct measurements needed for continuous characterization of the properties of molten materials such as glass. However, the assumption that geometrical changes when the molten material is in free-fall can be correlated with material characteristics such as viscosity opens the door to a highly accurate contactless method characterizing small dynamic changes. This paper proposes multi-camera setup to achieve accuracy close to the segmentation error associated with the resolution of the images.

Paperboard Coating Detection Based on Full-Stokes Imaging Polarimetry.

The manufacturing of high-quality extruded low-density polyethylene (PE) paperboard intended for the food packaging industry relies on manual, intrusive, and destructive off-line inspection by the process operators to assess the overall quality and functionality of the product. Defects such as cracks, pinholes, and local thickness variations in the coating can occur at any location in the reel, affecting the sealable property of the product. To detect these defects locally, imaging systems must discriminate between the substrate and the coating.

Single-Nucleotide Polymorphisms and Cancer Risk, Tumor Recurrence, or Survival of Head and Neck Cancer Patients.

Objective: This paper aims at studying the influence of single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) on cancer risk, tumor recurrence, and survival in head and neck (H&N) cancer patients.

Methods: A total of 45 SNPs in 41 genes were investigated. A total of 174 Caucasian H&N cancer patients and 245 healthy blood donors were enrolled in the study.

Perforin, CD28 and CD95 expression in circulating CD4 and CD8 cells as predictors of head and neck (H&N) cancer patient survival.

Long-term survival of H&N cancer patients has not improved significantly over the last 30 years. The possibility of using circulating blood cell phenotypes as a prognostic biomarker of H&N cancer patient was investigated in this study. Pre-treatment, circulating T lymphocyte subpopulations as well as the survival time of the patients in question were studied.

Plasma tumor necrosis factor-α and C-reactive protein as biomarker for survival in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma.

Purpose: Tumor TNM staging is the main basis for prognosis and treatment decision for head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) despite significant heterogeneity in terms of outcome among patients with the same clinical stage. In this study, a possible role of plasma interleukin-2 (IL-2), interleukin-6 (IL-6), granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF), tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) and C-reactive protein (CRP) as biomarkers for survival of HNSCC patients was investigated.

Methods: In this prospective study, plasma levels of IL-2, IL-6, GM-CSF, TNF-α and CRP in patients (n = 100) and controls (n = 48) were analyzed.

DNA content and methylation of p16, DAPK and RASSF1A gene in tumour and distant, normal mucosal tissue of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma patients.

Unlabelled: Long-term survival of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) patients has not improved significantly during the last 20 years and recurrent disease is frequently observed. In this study, the potential presence of pre-malignant cells or rare malignant cells at the time of diagnosis in HNSCC was investigated.

Patients And Methods: Fifty-nine biopsies obtained from 41 HNSCC patients were analysed.

Hypoglossal schwannoma-successful reinnervation and functional recovery of the tongue following tumour removal and nerve grafting.

Objective: Hypoglossal nerve schwannomas are rare tumours that usually cause ipsilateral hypoglossal palsy. This report describes such lesions in two patients and suggests nerve grafting as part of the treatment regimen.

Method: Two patients with intra- and extra-dural hypoglossal schwannomas respectively were treated by direct surgery via a postero-lateral approach to the posterior fossa, hypoglossal canal and carotid sheath.

In vitro effect of radiation, antibody to epidermal growth factor receptor and Docetaxel in human head and neck squamous carcinoma cells with mutant P53 and over-expressed EGFR.

Purpose: Radiotherapy is the most frequently used and cheapest treatment both for curative and palliative purposes in HNSCC. Despite advances in technology and intensive treatments with radiation, only half of the patients are cured. New therapeutic approaches focusing on the molecular mechanism that mediate tumour cell growth or cell death in combination with radiotherapy have been suggested.

Clinical outcome following radiotherapy and planned neck dissection in N+ head and neck cancer patients.

Conclusions: This study confirms earlier findings that patients with viable tumour cells in the neck after external beam radiotherapy (EBRT) have a poor prognosis. The study also indicates that neck dissection (ND) does not change the prognosis for patients with a complete clinical response in the neck. At the moment our guidelines concerning this matter are being reviewed.

Mobile phone use and risk of parotid gland tumor.

Handheld mobile phones were introduced in Denmark and Sweden during the late 1980s. This makes the Danish and Swedish populations suitable for a study aimed at testing the hypothesis that long-term mobile phone use increases the risk of parotid gland tumors. In this population-based case-control study, the authors identified all cases aged 20-69 years diagnosed with parotid gland tumor during 2000-2002 in Denmark and certain parts of Sweden.

Significance of RNA reference in tumour-related gene expression analyses by cDNA array.

The cDNA array technique is an efficient approach for studying the expression of a large number of genes in a single experiment. The cDNA array analysis indicates the relative level of corresponding gene expression from a specimen and a reference. Our investigation was performed to address the significance of reference RNA on the outcome of the cancer-related gene expression profile obtained from cDNA array analysis.

Telehomecare: quality, perception, satisfaction.

The aim of this study was to demonstrate that telehomecare linking homebound patients with their home health-care nurses over the plain old telephone system (POTS) provides high-quality, clinically useful, and patient satisfactory interactions. Congestive heart failure, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and chronic wound-care patients receiving skilled home nursing care were randomized into control (standard home health care, HHC) and two intervention (standard care plus video conferencing/Internet access; the above plus physiological monitoring) groups. Virtual visits (VVs), consisting of two-way audio and video interactions between the central site HHC nurse and the subject at home, were compared for technical quality and clinical usefulness by the HHC nurses who performed the VVs.

When does my treatment start?--The continuum of care for patients with head and neck cancer.

Background And Purpose: The clinical workup of patients with head and neck (H&N) cancer is often time-consuming. The overall time involved is obviously important to the treatment results, since delays in time can increase the risk for clinical upstaging resulting in a worse outcome. Although for ethical considerations, time delay is impossible to study in randomised trials.