Voice conversion involves transforming segments of speech from a source speaker to make them to be perceived as if spoken by a target speaker. Generally, this process involves the estimation of vocal tract parameters and an excitation signal that match the target speaker. The work presented here proposes an algorithm for estimating the excitation residuals of the target speaker using a weighted...

In order to enhance the safety of new advanced reactors, optimization of the design of the implemented passive systems is required. Therefore, a reliability-based approach to the design of a thermal–hydraulic passive system is being considered, and a limit state function (LSF)-based approach elicited from mechanical reliability is developed. The concept of functional failure, i.e., the possibil...

General stochastic dynamics, developed in a framework of Feynman path integrals, have been applied to Lewinian field–theoretic psychodynamics [1,2,13], resulting in the development of a new concept of life–space foam (LSF) as a natural medium for motivational and cognitive psychodynamics. According to LSF formalisms, the classic Lewinian life space can be macroscopically represented as a smooth...

BACKGROUND People with schizophrenia demonstrate perceptual organization impairments, and these are thought to contribute to their face processing difficulties. METHOD We examined the neural substrates of emotionally neutral face processing in schizophrenia by investigating neural activity under three stimulus conditions: faces characterized by the full spectrum of spatial frequencies, faces ...

We devised a new noise filtering method to reduce the noise in the line spread function (LSF) for presampled modulation transfer function (MTF) analysis with the edge method. A filter was designed to reduce noise effectively using a position-dependent filter controlled by the boundary frequency b for low-pass filtering, which is calculated by 1/2d (d: distance from the LSF center). In this filt...

BACKGROUND To date, standardized methods for assessing the disease progression of linear scleroderma of the face (LSF) are lacking. OBJECTIVES We investigated whether Cone Beam Computed Tomography (CBCT) may represent a reliable tool for assessing linear scleroderma of the face (LSF). METHODS Ten patients with LSF and five age-matched controls underwent CBCT assessment. The transverse secti...

The Off-plane Grating Rocket Experiment (OGRE) is a soft x-ray grating spectrometer to be flown on suborbital rocket. payload designed obtain the highest-resolution spectrum of Capella date with resolution goal R ( λ / Δλ ) > 2000 at select wavelengths in its 10 55 Å bandpass interest. optical design realizes theoretical maximum ≈ 5000, but this performance does not consider finite individual c...

OBJECTIVE To investigate which spinal mobility measures (SMMs) are most frequently impaired in patients with ankylosing spondylitis (AS), whether a hierarchy of impairment can be established, and whether assessing fewer measures sufficiently captures impairment in spinal mobility. METHODS Patients from the Outcome in Ankylosing Spondylitis International Study were followed up for 12 years. SM...

The line spectral frequency (LSF) representation has been proposed by Itakura [l] as an alternative linear prediction (LP) parametric representation. In the context of speech coding, it has been shown [2-61 that this representation has better quantization properties than the other LP parametric representations (such as log area ratios and reflection coefficients). The LSF representation is capa...

STUDY DESIGN A cost-effectiveness analysis conducted alongside a randomized clinical trial. OBJECTIVE To assess the cost-effectiveness of a preoperative cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) intervention compared to usual care for patients undergoing lumbar spinal fusion surgery (LSF). SUMMARY OF BACKGROUND DATA The clinical effectiveness of a preoperative CBT intervention for patients undergo...