Voice Activity Detection (VAD) is considered as an important pre-processing step in speech processing systems such as speech enhancement, speech recognition, gender and age identification. VAD helps in reducing the time required to process speech data and to improve final system accuracy by focusing the work on the voiced part of the speech. An automatic technique for VAD using Fuzzy-Neuro technique (FN-AVAD) is presented in this paper. The aim of this work is to alleviate the problem of choosing the best threshold value in traditional VAD methods and achieves automaticity by combining fuzzy clustering and machine learning techniques. Four features are extracted from each speech segment, which are short term energy, zero-crossing rate, auto

The Normalization Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), for many years, was widely used in remote sensing for the detection of vegetation land cover. This index uses red channel radiances (i.e., 0.66 μm reflectance) and near-IR channel (i.e., 0.86 μm reflectance). In the heavy chlorophyll absorption area, the red channel is located, while in the high reflectance plateau of vegetation canopies, the Near-IR channel is situated. Senses of channels (Red & Near- IR) read variance depths over vegetation canopies. In the present study, a further index for vegetation identification is proposed. The normalized difference vegetation shortwave index (NDVSI) is defined as the difference between the cubic bands of Near- IR and Shortwave infrared

    The present work aims to evaluate the content of some toxic metals in chemical and organic fertilizers purchased from local markets in Baghdad, Iraq. The analysis was performed by laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) system. The emission spectral lines of lead (Pb), chromium (Cr), cadmium (Cd) and cobalt (Co) have been recorded to determine the best peak representing each element according to the NIST database. The validity of the LIBS procedure was checked by cross-validating the obtained results using atomic absorption spectroscopy (AAS) with a maximum relative error of 5.3%. Moreover, for qualitative analysis, Pb I 296.64 nm emission line was determined to be superior for the evaluation of lead content in terms of three

n the present work, a study is carried out to remove chromium (III) from
aqueous solution by: activated charcoal , attapulgite and date palm leaflet powder
(pinnae). The effect of various parameters such as contact time, and temperature has
been studied. The isotherm equilibrium data were well fitted by Freundlich and
Langmuir isotherm models. The adsorption capacity of chromium (III) that was
observed by activated charcoal , attapulgite and date palm leaflet powder (pinnae)
increased with the rise of temperature when the concentrations of Cr (III) were 600,
700 and 100mg/L respectively. The greatest adsorption capacity ofactivated
charcoal , attapulgite and date palm leaflet powder (pinnae) at 10°C was 7.51, 5.3

Cover crops (CC) improve soil quality, including soil microbial enzymatic activities and soil chemical parameters. Scientific studies conducted in research centers have shown positive effects of CC on soil enzymatic activities; however, studies conducted in farmer fields are lacking in the literature. The objective of this study was to quantify CC effects on soil microbial enzymatic activities (β-glucosidase, β-glucosaminidase, fluorescein diacetate hydrolase, and dehydrogenase) under a corn (Zea mays L.)–soybean (Glycine max (L.) Merr.) rotation. The study was conducted in 2016 and 2018 in Chariton County, Missouri, where CC were first established in 2012. All tested soil enzyme levels were significantly different between 2016 and 2018

The effect of water stress induced by using polyethylene glycol (PEG-6000) on germination of seeds and growth of seedlings of Silybum marianum was studied.  Two  concentrations  of PEG  were used to get two water stresses (-0.4 & -0.8 bar) as well as the control for comparison. The results showed a significant decrease (P<0.05) in germination  ratio compared  with  the control.  The ratio did  not slow down to less than 50% which indicates the ability of the seeds to resist water stress to some extent. Also, a significant decrease (P<0.05)  in the  length  of  shoot  and  root was  observed  compared with the control. This plant showed

Aluminum plasma was generated by the irradiation of the target
with Nd: YAG laser operated at a wavelength of 1064 nm. The
effect of laser power density and the working pressure on spectral
lines generating by laser ablation, were detected by using optical
spectroscopy. The electron density was measured using the Stark
broadening of aluminum lines and the electron temperature by
Boltzmann plot method it is one of the methods that are used. The
electron temperature Te, electron density ne, plasma frequency
and Debye length increased with increasing the laser peak
power. The electron temperature decrease with increasing gas
pressure.

Leishmaniasis is a widespread parasitic disease that occurs as a result of infection with a unicellular parasite belonging to the genus Leishmania. Diagnosis by conventional methods is inaccurate and is not sensitive to confirm the genus infection. Here, we have investigated a methods for Leishmania genus diagnosis, which includes the technique of polymerase chain reaction to detect the presence of the parasite at in vitro for promastigote cultures using three genus-specific primer pairs to amplify HSP70, ITS, and ITS2. The results showed single band of ~1422, ~1020, and ~550 respectively. This study has proved the ability of these primer pairs to detect Leishmania infection and recommend them to be used for detection of leishmaniasis in

In this study, 25 clinical isolates of Proteus spp. were collected from urine, wounds and burns specimens from different hospitals in Baghdad city, all isolates were identified by using different bacteriological media, biochemical assays and Vitek-2 system. It was found that 15 (60%) isolates were identifies as Proteus mirabilis and 10 (40 %) isolates were Proteus vulgaris. The susceptibility of P. mirabilis and P. vulgaris isolates towards cefotaxime was (66.6 %) and (44.4 %) respectively; while the susceptibility of P. mirabilis and P. vulgaris isolates towards ceftazidime was (20%). Extended spectrum β-lactamses producing Proteus was (30.7 %). DNA of 10 isolates of P. mirabilis and 4 isolates of P. vulgaris were extracted and detecti