A Transfer Learning End-to-End ArabicText-To-Speech (TTS) Deep Architecture

Speech synthesis is the artificial production of human speech. A typical text-to-speech system converts a language text into a waveform. There exist many English TTS systems that produce mature, natural, and human-like speech synthesizers. In contrast, other languages, including Arabic, have not been considered until recently. Existing Arabic speech synthesis solutions are slow, of low quality, and the naturalness of synthesized speech is inferior to the English synthesizers. They also lack essential speech key factors such as intonation, stress, and rhythm. Different works were proposed to solve those issues, including the use of concatenative methods such as unit selection or parametric methods. However, they required a lot of laborious work and domain expertise. Another reason for such poor performance of Arabic speech synthesizers is the lack of speech corpora, unlike English that has many publicly available corpora and audiobooks. This work describes how to generate high quality, natural, and human-like Arabic speech using an end-to-end neural deep network architecture. This work uses just $\langle$ text, audio $\rangle$ pairs with a relatively small amount of recorded audio samples with a total of 2.41 hours. It illustrates how to use English character embedding despite using diacritic Arabic characters as input and how to preprocess these audio samples to achieve the best results

An Enhanced Fuzzy K-means Clustering with Application to Missing Data Imputation

In this paper an adjustment on the Fuzzy K-means (FKM) clustering method was suggested to improve the process of clustering. Also, a novel technique for missing data imputation was proposed and it was implemented twice: (1) using FKM and (2) using the Enhanced Fuzzy K-means (EFKM) clustering. The suggested model for imputing missing data consists of three phases: (1) Input Vectors Partitioning, (2) Enhanced Fuzzy Clustering, and(3) Missing Data Imputation. The implementation and experiments showed a clear improvement in the imputation accuracy in favor of the EFKM according to the value of RMSE

Docking Study to Predict the Efficacy of Phosphatidylinositol 3-Kinase α Inhibitors

The phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K) family comprises lipid kinases that cross-link signals between living cells and their surroundings. PI3Ks are classified into several groups and isoforms with specific characteristics and functions. Genes encoding PI3Ks are mutated in several types of cancer, and their isoforms have varying capacity in promoting cell signaling and cancer progression. Many compounds have been introduced as PI3Kα inhibitors, but not all of them have the same inhibitory effects. For successful PI3K-related biomedical experiments, it is vital to select the most specific and potent compounds with the highest inhibitory effects for targeting this kinase. In this study, we investigate 28 well-recognized PI3Kα inhibitors through predicting their specificity and potency using the docking software AutoDock Vina. Our data showed that PF 05212384 had the highest docking score (−9.2 kcal/mol), and 3-methyladenine had the lowest docking score (−4.8 kcal/mol). Our data also showed different types of interactions and bonds formed between the inhibitors and protein residues. In conclusion, PF 05212384 and AZD 6482 compounds are the best candidates for targeting PI3Kα. In addition to hydrophobic interactions in the PI3Kα binding pocket, the formation of hydrogen bonds between these inhibitors and binding pocket residues was confirmed

Work-Integrated and Cooperative Learning Effects on Micro-Electronics Design Classes

Cooperative learning and work-integrated learning are the latest trends in information delivery at high schools and universities. In cooperative learning, teachers organize students' interactions and educate them to work in small groups to enhance each other's learning. Whereas, work-integrated learning, is a type of experiential learning that allows students to participate in real-world work during their studies. Both approaches help bridge the gap between theoretical knowledge gained from classrooms and professional market needs. Electrical engineering is a field that could highly benefit from such a scheme. Having to be continuously up-to-date with the latest advances in the field of micro-electronics is difficult. Consequently, Several challenges are imposed on faculty members and academics who teach micro-electronics circuit design courses in electrical engineering for senior undergraduate or graduate students. This paper presents a case study of the apparent benefits and effectiveness of cooperative learning and work-integrated learning in the Electronics II and VLSI classes offered at a university. Furthermore, it aids programs in electrical engineering to meet ABET students' outcome (4)

Nonlinear Analysis of Circular Plates on Nonlinear Foundation

Galerkin\u27s procedure and the modified energy expression of Banerjee are used to obtain the central deflection of circular plates with linearly varying thicknesses, resting on a linear as well as a nonlinear elastic foundation. A new series formula for the deflection has been considered. The accuracy of the method has been tested for clamped plates with movable and immovable ends under uniform static patch loading. Graphical results are drawn for the central deflection for different end conditions, different plate thicknesses and different foundation properties. Comparison of the results are made with other known results and shows a good agreement in most tested cases

Comparison of Post-Operative Analgesic Effects of Peritonsillar Infiltration of Dexmedetomidine, Lidocaine or Both in Children Following Tonsillectomy

Background: Peritonsillar infiltration of local anesthetics has efficient pain relief in children undergoing tonsillectomy. We hypothesize that lidocaine plus dexmedetomidine will potentiate the analgesic effect of each other rather than. Objectives: This study aimed to compare the analgesic effect of peritonsillar infiltration of lidocaine, dexmedetomidine, or lidocaine/dexmedetomidine on post-tonsillectomy pain. The primary outcome is the time of analgesia. The secondary outcomes are postoperative pain score, the effect of study medications on postoperative hemodynamic, and complications. Patients and Methods: Ninety patients were randomly allocated to three groups, 30 patients each. L group, patients received 2mg/kg lidocaine. D group, patients received 1 μg/kg of dexmedetomidine. LD group, patients received 1 μg/kg of dexmedetomidine plus 2 mg/kg lidocaine. Results: The time of the first analgesia request (h.) was longer in the LD group (13.70 ± 2.91) when compared with the L and D groups. Postoperative pain score was significantly lower in LD and D groups compared with the L group (P <0.05) On the other hand, there was a significantly lower median VAS score in the LD group when compared with the D group (P1 <0.05) Postoperative paracetamol consumption was significantly lower in LD group (0.55 ± 0.51 gm/24h) when compared with D and L groups (0.65 ± 0.59, 2.25 ± 0.44 gm/24h respectively). Conclusion: the use of lidocaine with dexmedetomidine is better than using each drug alone in decreasing posttonsillectomy pain and increasing the time to first request for analgesia with no significant postoperative side effects

Organizational Agility among Academic Leaders at Umm Al- Qura University & Ajloun National University: Faculty Members Perspective

The paper pinpoints organizational agility among academic leaders at Umm Al-Qura University and Ajloun National University from the faculty members various perspectives according to gender, university, faculty, academic rank, and the number of years of experience. The descriptive approach is used to achieve the research objectives. The research sample consists of (475) randomly selected faculty members. A 17-item questionnaire is used as a research instrument. The findings indicate that the degree of organizational agility is medium with a mean of (3.25) without statistically significant differences due to the university and faculty variables. The results also show differences due to the variables of gender, academic rank, and number of years of experience in favor of males, the two categories of assistant professor, professor, and the category of 5-10 years, respectively. Given these findings, the research recommends enabling employees to participate in decision-making and use modern techniques and mechanisms that contribute to developing work and evaluating work environments

Antifungal Activity of Green and Chemically Synthesized ZnO Nanoparticles against Alternaria citri, the Causal Agent Citrus Black Rot

Citrus black rot is a serious disease of citrus plants caused by Alternaria citri. The current study aimed to synthesize zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO-NPs) by chemically or green method and investigate their anti -fungal activity against A. citri. The sizes of synthesized as measured by transmission electron microscope of ZnO-NPs were 88 and 65 nm for chemical and green methods, respectively. The studied prepared ZnO-NPs were applied, in vitro and in situ, at different concen-trations (500, 1,000, and 2,000 & mu;g/ml) in post-harvest treatment on navel orange fruits to verify the possible control effect against A. citri. Results of in vitro assay demonstrated that, at concentration 2,000 & mu;g/ml, the green ZnO-NPs was able to inhibit about 61% of the fungal growth followed by 52% of chemical ZnO-NPs. In addition, scanning electron microscopy of A. citri treated in vitro with green ZnO-NPs showed swelling and deformation of conidia. Results showed also that, using a chemically and green ZnO-NPs at 2,000 & mu;g/ml in situ in post-harvest treatment of orange, artificially -infected with A. citri, has reduced the disease severity to 6.92% and 9.23%, respectively, compared to 23.84% of positive control (non-treated fruits) after 20 days of storage. The out findings of this study may contribute to the development of a natural, effective, and eco-friendly strategy for eradicating harmful phytopatho-genic fungi