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, autocorrelation, and log energy. A modified version of fuzzy C-Means is then used to cluster speech segments into three clusters; two clusters for voice and one for unvoiced. After that, three feed forward neural networks are trained to adjust their weights, in which each network represents one cluster. To make the final decision regarding the class type of a given speech segment, the membership degrees of this segment in all clusters along with neural networks' decisions are given to a defuzzification step which finally gives the class type of that segment. The proposed FN-AVAD is tested on the public multimodal emotion database, Surrey AudioVisual Expressed Emotion (SAVEE), and the error rate was 2.08%. The achieved results are comparable to the results achieved by the current published works in the literature.
Copper is a cheaper alternative to various noble metals with a range of potential applications in the field of nanoscience and nanotechnology. However, copper nanoparticles have major limitations, which include rapid oxidation on exposure to air. Therefore, alternative pathways have been developed to synthesize metal nanoparticles in the presence of polymers and surfactants as stabilizers, and to form coatings on the surface of nanoparticles. These surfactants and polymeric ligands are made from petrochemicals which are non- renewable. As fossil resources are limited, finding renewable and biodegradable alternative is promising.The study aimed at preparing, characterizing and evaluating the antibacterial properties of copper nanoparticle
... Show MoreThis research deals with the qualitative and quantitative interpretation of Bouguer gravity anomaly data for a region located to the SW of Qa’im City within Anbar province by using 2D- mapping methods. The gravity residual field obtained graphically by subtracting the Regional Gravity values from the values of the total Bouguer anomaly. The residual gravity field processed in order to reduce noise by applying the gradient operator and 1st directional derivatives filtering. This was helpful in assigning the locations of sudden variation in Gravity values. Such variations may be produced by subsurface faults, fractures, cavities or subsurface facies lateral variations limits. A major fault was predicted to extend with the direction NE-
... Show MoreA nonlinear filter for smoothing color and gray images
corrupted by Gaussian noise is presented in this paper. The proposed
filter designed to reduce the noise in the R,G, and B bands of the
color images and preserving the edges. This filter applied in order to
prepare images for further processing such as edge detection and
image segmentation.
The results of computer simulations show that the proposed
filter gave satisfactory results when compared with the results of
conventional filters such as Gaussian low pass filter and median filter
by using Cross Correlation Coefficient (ccc) criteria.
Evolutionary algorithms are better than heuristic algorithms at finding protein complexes in protein-protein interaction networks (PPINs). Many of these algorithms depend on their standard frameworks, which are based on topology. Further, many of these algorithms have been exclusively examined on networks with only reliable interaction data. The main objective of this paper is to extend the design of the canonical and topological-based evolutionary algorithms suggested in the literature to cope with noisy PPINs. The design of the evolutionary algorithm is extended based on the functional domain of the proteins rather than on the topological domain of the PPIN. The gene ontology annotation in each molecular function, biological proce
... Show MoreThe main purpose of the work is to analyse studies of themagnetohydrodynamic “MHD” flow for a fluid of generalized Burgers’ “GB” within an annular pipe submitted under impulsive pressure “IP” gradient. Closed form expressions for the velocity profile, impulsive pressure gradient have been taken by performing the finite Hankel transform “FHT” and Laplace transform “LT” of the successive fraction derivatives. As a result, many figures are planned to exhibit the effects of (different fractional parameters “DFP”, relaxation and retardation times, material parameter for the Burger’s fluid) on the profile of velocity of flows. Furthermore, these figures are compa
Background: Cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) is a neglected disease in tropical countries, including Iraq. Several studies have sought to examine chemotherapies for leishmaniasis treatment but most of them are of toxic and/or undesirable side effect, therefore, the need for investigating new fewer toxic therapies is essential. Aim of study: In this study, the cytotoxic effect of Artemisinin (ART), a novel herbal compound, was screened against the two forms, promastigotes and amastigotes, of the Iraqi isolate of Leishmania tropica, the causative agent of Baghdad boil. Material and methods: Different concentrations (1000, 500, 250, 125, 62.5, 31.25, 15.6 and 7.8) µM of Artemisinin were screened to investigate the leishmanic
... Show MoreBackground: Cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) is a neglected disease in tropical countries, including Iraq. Several studies have sought to examine chemotherapies for leishmaniasis treatment but most of them are of toxic and/or undesirable side effect, therefore, the need for investigating new fewer toxic therapies is essential. Aim of study: In this study, the cytotoxic effect of Artemisinin (ART), a novel herbal compound, was screened against the two forms, promastigotes and amastigotes, of the Iraqi isolate of Leishmania tropica, the causative agent of Baghdad boil. Material and methods: Different concentrations (1000, 500, 250, 125, 62.5, 31.25, 15.6 and 7.8) µM of Artemisinin were screened to investigate the leishmanicidal activity of th
... Show MoreIn-vitro biological activities of the free new H4L ( indole-7-thiocarbohydrazone) ligand and its Ni(II), Pd(II) , Pt(II), Cu(II), Ag(I), Zn(II) and Cd(II) complexes are screened against two cancerous cell lines, that revealed significant activity only for [Cu2Cl2(H4L)2(PPh3)2] after 72 h treatment by the highest tested concentrations. The Copper(I) complex was characterized by X-ray Crystallography and the NMR spectra, whereas it has been confirmed to have momentous cytotoxicity against ovarian, breast cancerous cell lines (Caov-3, MCF-7). The apoptosis-inducing properties of the Cu(I) complex have been investigated through fluorescence microscopy visualization, DNA fragmentation analysis and propidium iodide flow cytometry.
A total of four types of instant dry yeast
The study aims to investigate the antimicrobial activity of propolis obtained from different regions of Iraq compared with that of propolis obtained from Iran. Samples were investigated for their antimicrobial activity against Staphylococcus aureus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Eschericha coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Bacillus cereus , Staphylococcus epidermidis and Candida albicans using standard antimicrobial assays. Marked variations in the antimicrobial activity of the different propolis samples were observed, the method of extraction selected gives the highest antimicrobial activity and the best alcohol concentration using in the extraction of propolis , then the crude extract of propolis showed synergistic effect with some antibiotics in
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