Showing papers by "Arnon D. Cohen published in 2004"

Detection of K-complexes in sleep EEG using CD-HMM

Abstract: In the current paper a new approach for K-complex detection using a continuous density hidden Markov model (CD-HMM) is presented. The system performance was evaluated in two manners. First using three seconds long segments of K-complexes and of background EEG (classification problem). Second using a whole night record and detecting the K complexes (detection problem). The fist test achieved an equal error rate of 7%. In the second test the system performance was compared to four trained scores that scored the signal independently. The performance of the algorithm was within the variance of the human scorers.

A randomized controlled trial of silver sulfadiazine, biafine, and saline-soaked gauze in the treatment of superficial partial-thickness burn wounds in pigs.

Abstract: UNLABELLED Silver sulfadiazine 1% cream (SSD) and biafine (an oil-in-water emulsion containing alginate) are used for the treatment of superficial partial-thickness burns, but comparative effectiveness studies are lacking. OBJECTIVES To compare the uses of SSD, Biafine (Labortoires Medix, Houdan, France), and saline-soaked gauze in the treatment of superficial partial-thickness burns in pigs. METHODS This was a randomized controlled trial in four anesthetized young pigs. Four equal sets of partial-thickness contact burns were inflicted on the pigs. Each burn was randomly assigned to treatment with biafine, SSD, or saline-soaked gauze with dressing changes every other day. Assessment of wound re-epithelialization was performed every other day, for a total of two weeks. The treatment groups were compared by univariable and multivariable analyses of variance (ANOVAs), controlling for the pig and the location of the burns on each pig. RESULTS Thirty-two burns were inflicted on the pigs. Time to re-epithelialization of the burns was 13.5 days (SD +/- 0.9 days) in pigs treated with biafine, 13.3 days (+/-1.3 days) in pigs treated with SSD, and 13.5 days (+/-1.0 days) in pigs treated with saline-soaked gauze (p = not significant [NS]). The decreases in burn area from day 2 to day 12 were 21.4 cm(2) (+/-6.0 cm(2)) in pigs treated with biafine, 20.0 cm(2) (+/-6.3 cm(2)) in pigs treated with SSD, and 19.8 cm(2) (+/-5.9 cm(2)) in pigs treated with saline-soaked gauze (p = NS). A multivariable ANOVA showed a similar decrease in burn area between the treatment arms (p = NS) and a significant difference between the pigs (p = 0.015). CONCLUSION Partial-thickness porcine burns treated with SSD, biafine, and soaked saline gauze re-epithelialize at similar rates.

Text-dependent speaker verification using feature selection with recognition related criterion.

Abstract: Speaker verification and identification systems most often employ HMMs and GMMs as recognition engines. This paper describes an algorithm for the optimal selection of the feature space, suitable for these engines. In verification systems, each speaker (target) is assigned an “individual” optimal feature space in which he/she is best discriminated against impostors. Several feature selection procedures were tested for the selection process. A Recognition Related Criterion (RRC), correlated with the recognition rate, was developed and evaluated. The algorithm was evaluated on a text-dependent database. A significant improvement (over the “standard” MFCC space) in verification results was demonstrated with the selected individual feature space. An EER of 0.7% was achieved when the feature set was the “almost standard” Mel Frequency Cepstrum Coefficients (MFCC) space (12 MFCC + 12 ∆MFCC). Under the same conditions, a system based on the selected feature space yielded an EER of only 0.48%.

In vitro interferon-gamma release test in the diagnosis of drug-induced erythema nodosum.

Abstract: Erythema nodosum is a skin reaction manifested by tender or painful erythematous subcutaneous nodules, located usually on the extensor aspects of the lower extremities. Histologically, a mononuclear inflammatory cell infiltrate occurs in the septa of the subcutaneous fat lobules. It is likely that erythema nodosum results from an immunologic reaction that can be triggered by a wide range of antigenic stimuli, including drugs, benign and malignant systemic diseases, and bacterial viral and fungal infections [1]. Frequently, the cause is unknown. Although drugs have been implicated as the cause of erythema nodosum, the etiologic relationship between the drug and the skin disorder is often unclear [2]. In view of recent studies implying that drug-related T cell activity may be assessed by in vitro cytokine release tests [3,4], the role of drugs in inducing erythema nodosum was evaluated in the present study by interferon-gamma release from peripheral blood lymphocytes.

Detection of one lung intubation by monitoring lungs sounds

Abstract: Analysis of lungs sounds for monitoring and diagnosis of pulmonary function is well known One of the applications of this method is detection of one lung intubation (OLI) during anesthesia or intensive care An algorithm for detection the one-lung ventilation situation from the lungs sounds is presented The algorithm assumes a MIMO (Multiple Input Multiple Output) system, in which a multidimensional AR (Auto-Regressive) model relates the input (lungs) and the output (recorded sounds) The unknown AR parameters are estimated, and a detector based on the estimated eigenvalues of the source covariance matrix is developed, in order to detect one lung ventilation situation Testing the algorithm on real breathing sounds, which were recorded in a surgery room, shows more than 90% accuracy in OLI detection

Pityriasis Amiantacea Associated with Staphylococcus aureus Super-infection in Bedouin Patients

Abstract: Pityriasis amiantacea (PA) is an inflammatory disease of the scalp characterized by asbestos-like shiny scales that bind to the proximal part of the hair shaft. PA may be an isolated disorder or a reaction pattern associated with other inflammatory disorders. Previous reports did not demonstrate a clear association between PA and bacterial infections. A controlled prospective study was performed to identify the role of bacterial skin infections in patients with PA. In all patients, bacterial cultures were taken from the scalp. A group of 32 patients with various other scalp disorders served as a control group. Thirty-two patients were included in the study. There were 30 women (93.8%) and 2 men (6.2%) with a mean age of 23.1 years (SD 11.9 years). Twenty-five patients (78.1%) were of Bedouin origin and 7 were of Jewish origin (21.9%). Staphylococcus aureus was isolated in 26 patients with PA (81.3%) as compared with 1 patient (3.1%) from the control group (p=0.0001). The patients were treated by a combine...