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.
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
The aim of the present study was to characterize the Iraqi Tribulus terrestris for the presence of biologically active phyto-chemicals using methanolic extracts of the plant (aerial parts) by Gas Chromatography –Mass spectrometry (GC/MS), while the mass spectra of the compounds found in the extract was matched with the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) library , in addition to study the antioxidant activity of plant extract , results confirmed the presence of therapeutically potent compounds in the Iraqi Tribulus terrestris extract predominantly alkaloids, flavonoids, saponins, tannins and terpenoids. Antioxidant potential of Iraqi Tribulus terrestris
... 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 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
Non-thermal (low-temperature) plasma may act as an alternative approach to control superficial wound and skin infections when the effectiveness of chemical agents is weak due to natural pathogen or biofilm resistance. In this paper an atmospheric pressure plasma needle jet device which generates a cold plasma jet is used to measure the effectiveness of plasma treatment against different pathogenic bacteria and to test the individual susceptibility of pathogenic bacteria to non-thermal argon plasma. It is found that, Gram-negative bacteria were more susceptible to plasma treatment than Gram-positive bacteria. For the Gram-negative bacteria Pseudomonas aeruginosa, there were no survivors among the initial 1x108C.F.U (Co
... Show MoreIntroduction and Aim: Bacteriocins are antimicrobial peptides that have bactericidal and/or bacteriostatic activity against other bacteria. The aim of this study was to assess the antibacterial efficiency of Klebocin a K. pneumoniae bacteriocin, against biofilm formation by clinical isolates of methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus MRSA. Materials and Methods: S. aureus isolated from clinical samples was identified according to vitek 2 system Antibiotic susceptibility test was performed according to disc diffusion method. Vitek 2 compact system was also used to detect MRSA strains. Agar well diffusion method was used to evaluate the antibacterial activity of klebocin from K. pneumoniae towards 11 strains of S. aureus by
... Show MoreEleven yoghurt samples were collected from local markets in Baghdad to isolate Lactobacillus buchneri. Only 3 isolates of L. buchneri were found and the isolate No. 3 was the most producer of bacteriocin. Bacteriocin was adsorbed 100% onto silicic acid at pH 6.0-7.0. Below or above these pH values, adsorption was decreased, ranging between 35 and 90%. Therefore, pH 6.0 was used for the purification procedure. The purification procedure including silicic acid adsorption/desorption and cation-exchange chromatography (CEC) resulted in a 11.11 fold increase in the final specific activity of pure bacteriocin (1176.47 Au/mg) compared to the culture supernatant which was 32.64 Au/mg. The molecular weight was determined to be about 3.4 kDa. The bac
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