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.
Narcissism is a complicated phenomenon that can be reflected in the narcissist’s language. Investigating narcissism in terms of linguistics, and pragmatics in particular, does not seem to have been given its due attention, as this study reveals. Thus, this study is an endeavor to discover how narcissism is reflected in the American movie Big Eyes (2014). It is known for introducing narcissistic behaviors. This paper aims to identify the types, motivations, and pragmatic manifestations of narcissism in the selected movie. Three pragmatic theories are chosen to scrutinize narcissism in the data: Searle’s speech acts (1969), Grice’s maxims breaching (1975), and Culppeper’s impoliteness (1996). To cope with the nature of the
... Show MoreRecently, the theory of Complex Networks gives a modern insight into a variety of applications in our life. Complex Networks are used to form complex phenomena into graph-based models that include nodes and edges connecting them. This representation can be analyzed by using network metrics such as node degree, clustering coefficient, path length, closeness, betweenness, density, and diameter, to mention a few. The topology of the complex interconnections of power grids is considered one of the challenges that can be faced in terms of understanding and analyzing them. Therefore, some countries use Complex Networks concepts to model their power grid networks. In this work, the Iraqi Power Grid network (IPG) has been modeled, visua
... Show MoreThis research dealt with the analysis of murder crime data in Iraq in its temporal and spatial dimensions, then it focused on building a new model with an algorithm that combines the characteristics associated with time and spatial series so that this model can predict more accurately than other models by comparing them with this model, which we called the Combined Regression model (CR), which consists of merging two models, the time series regression model with the spatial regression model, and making them one model that can analyze data in its temporal and spatial dimensions. Several models were used for comparison with the integrated model, namely Multiple Linear Regression (MLR), Decision Tree Regression (DTR), Random Forest Reg
... Show MoreIn this research work, synthesis, antimicrobial and antioxidant bioactivity of a chain of compounds having unsaturated ketones bond and isoxazoline moiety have been described. New chalcone derivatives containing isoxazoline moiety have been synthesized. Generally, Chalcones are unsaturated ketones bearing (-CO-CH=CH-) as reactive ketoethylenic group that give the bright yellow colored compounds due to this chromophore group. Firstly, chalcones (IIa-d) have been prepared by cyclocondensation (Claisen-Schmidt condensation) of triphenyl aminobenzaldehyde with different substituted acetophenone in ethyl alcohol to produce a series of chalcones compounds with bright yellow colored as a
... Show MoreIn this paper, some commonly used hierarchical cluster techniques have been compared. A comparison was made between the agglomerative hierarchical clustering technique and the k-means technique, which includes the k-mean technique, the variant K-means technique, and the bisecting K-means, although the hierarchical cluster technique is considered to be one of the best clustering methods. It has a limited usage due to the time complexity. The results, which are calculated based on the analysis of the characteristics of the cluster algorithms and the nature of the data, showed that the bisecting K-means technique is the best compared to the rest of the other methods used.
Coaches and analysts face a significant challenge of inaccurate estimation when analyzing Men's 100 Meter Sprint Performance, particularly when there is limited data available. This necessitates the use of modern technologies to address the problem of inaccurate estimation. Unfortunately, current methods used to estimate Men's 100 Meter Sprint Performance indexes in Iraq are ineffective, highlighting the need to adopt new and advanced technologies that are fast, accurate, and flexible. Therefore, the objective of this study was to utilize an advanced method known as artificial neural networks to estimate four key indexes: Accelerate First of 10 meters, Speed Rate, Time First of 10 meters, and Reaction Time. The application of artifi
... Show MoreMedicinal plants contain bioactive substances that are highly bioavailable in extracts or pure molecules, making them promising for therapeutic applications and precursors for chemo-pharmaceutical semi-synthesis. Harpagophytum procumbens (Devil’s Claw) is widely recognized as one of the most potent therapeutic herbs. This study aimed to extract seeds from H. procumbens using two types of solvents and to assess both qualitative and quantitative aspects of the extracts. The two extracts were evaluated for antibacterial and anti-biofilm activities using agar well diffusion assays against four bacterial isolates and two yeast isolates. Qualitative analysis identified the presence of alkaloids, flavonoids, tannins, saponins, and terpen
... Show MoreMedicinal plants contain bioactive substances that are highly bioavailable in extracts or pure molecules, making them promising for therapeutic applications and precursors for chemo-pharmaceutical semi-synthesis. Harpagophytum procumbens (Devil’s Claw) is widely recognized as one of the most potent therapeutic herbs. This study aimed to extract seeds from H. procumbens using two types of solvents and to assess both qualitative and quantitative aspects of the extracts. The two extracts were evaluated for antibacterial and anti-biofilm activities using agar well diffusion assays against four bacterial isolates and two yeast isolates. Qualitative analysis identified the presence of alkaloids, flavonoids, tannins, saponins, and terpen
... Show MoreThe current study aimed to identify the role of the theatrical technical supervisor in developing and enhancing the skills of middle school students in Baghdad. The sample consisted of 73% of the original community of theatrical technical supervisors, randomly selected from those working in the first, second, and third educational directorates in the Rassafa and Karkh areas. The sample size was 32 theatrical technical supervisors. The study used a questionnaire to collect data on three axes: the cognitive skills developed by the theatrical technical supervisor, the voice and speech skills developed by the supervisor, and the body movement skills developed by the supervisor. The results showed that the theatrical technical supervisor play
... Show MorePropaganda speech in the Gulf press articles about the Qatari crisis, an analytical study in the political articles published in the newspapers (Riyadh) Saudi Arabia and (Al-Ittihad) UAE from 5/6/2017 to 5/9/2017, University of Baghdad, College of Media, Press Department, 2019. The problem of the research was to monitor the contents of propaganda messages to Saudi Arabia and the UAE regarding the Qatari crisis, especially with the escalation of propaganda media campaigns between the four boycotting countries on the one hand and Qatar on the other hand, in light of crises and conflicts in the Gulf region and the Arab region in general. The researcher used the survey method to answer the research questions and achieve its results. This res
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