Voice Identity Finder Using the Back Propagation Algorithm of an Artificial Neural Network

AbstractVoice recognition systems are used to distinguish different sorts of voices. However, recognizing a voice is not always successful due to the presence of different parameters. Hence, there is a need to create a set of estimation criteria and a learning process using Artificial Neural Network (ANN). The learning process performed using ANN allows the system to mimic how the brain learns to understand and differentiate among voices. The key to undergo this learning is to specify the free parameters that will be adapted through this process of simulation. Accordingly, this system will store the knowledge processed after performing the back propagation learning and will be able to identify the corresponding voices. The proposed learning allows the user to enter a number of different voices to the system through a microphone

Analysis of changes in gingiva-occlusal parameters as perceived by three Middle-East population.

Purpose. This study aims to compare the effect of various smile parameters (buccal corridor, gummy smile, midline to face discrepancy, with and without upper lip filling) on the perception of smile attractiveness by applying the digital modification of images judged by laypersons from different Middle East populations. Materials and Methods. One hundred and eighty participants are divided into 3 groups (n=60: 30 men and 30 women): Lebanese, Syrian, and Egyptian laypersons. A frontal photo of a woman\u27s smile is manipulated with Photoshop to modify each smile parameter gradually into 3 grades. The total number of smiles assessed is 18. In addition, each evaluator must indicate which feature she or he finds most attractive in a face. Analysis of repeated measures variances followed by univariate analyses and multiple comparisons of Bonferroni are performed. Results: Eyes and smile are the most attractive elements in the face. For midline to face discrepancy, only Lebanese laypeople and Egyptian women prefer the coincidence of the midline to face compared with other positions with significant difference (p value 0.05). Concerning the buccal corridor, its size does not influence smile attractive (p value\u3e 0.05). Upper lip filling affected the perception of smile aesthetics for the midline (for Syrians and Egyptians). Conclusion: Sex and culture affect the perception of the smile attractiveness for certain parameters. Alteration of the buccal corridor does not seem to influence the smile attractiveness. Upper lip filling may be advantageous in some cases and unfavorable in others. Clinical significance: Dentists should take into consideration cultural differences when restoring smile aesthetics

Bipolar disorders in the Arab world: a critical review

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/111799/1/nyas12652.pd

Bilateral Pulmonary Embolism associated with Varicella Zoster Meningoencephalitis in an Immunocompetent Adult: A case report and literature review

Association of Varicella Zoster Virus (VZV) with a considerable variety of complications has been well documented throughout literature. Primary infection, most often seen in children, is generally characterized by mild symptoms, as opposed to the more severe presentations in adult and immunocompromised populations. Manifestations of disseminated VZV include dermatologic, pulmonary, neurologic, and ocular involvement. Vascular and hematologic complications are also reported and sometimes pose serious health threat. We present an interesting case of disseminated VZV infection, complicated by meningitis, encephalitis, and bilateral pulmonary embolism in an otherwise immunocompetent 52-year-old man with no prior chicken pox exposure

Did the post war repatriation of Lebanese physicians drive recent Lebanese medical graduates to emigrate? An observational study

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>A significant number of Lebanese medical graduates have emigrated from Lebanon. The objective of this study was to evaluate the hypothesis that the repatriation of Lebanese physicians educated abroad has contributed to the international emigration of recent Lebanese medical graduates.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We analyzed the demographic and educational characteristics and the year of registration of physicians registered with the two physician associations in Lebanon as of 2007. We then analyzed the number of new and total registrants and the physician density for the years 1977–2006. Finally we calculated the percentage of Lebanese graduates of the years 1977–2006 registered as of 2007.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>As of 2007, 10,918 physicians were registered in Lebanon. Most were male (80.4%) and graduated from either Lebanese (36.4%) or Eastern European (30.6%) medical schools. The top three regions of specialty training were Western Europe (31.8%), Eastern Europe (28.4%) and Lebanon (25.7%). About half the physicians registered with the Lebanese Order of Physicians as of 2007 joined during the 1990s decade; only 26.2% of these graduated from Lebanese medical schools during that decade. The number of new registrants increased dramatically in the early 1990s and started decreasing in the early 2000s. About 60% of Lebanese medical graduates of the years 1977–2006 were registered in Lebanon as of 2007. Categorizing Lebanese medical graduates by their year of graduation, the percentage registered in Lebanon as of 2007 showed a "dip" for those who graduated in the early 1990s.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The high number of physicians educated abroad returning to Lebanon after the end of the civil war may have driven recent Lebanese medical graduates to emigrate.</p

MODEL PEMBELAJARAN BAHASA INDONESIA BERBASIS LESSON STUDY ( MODEL-PBIBLS)

Buku model ini berisikan teori-teori yang mendukung pengembangan model pembelajaran bahasa Indonesia berbasis lesson study. Model pembelajaran bahasa Indonesia berbasis Lesson Study merupakan salah satu bentuk dari praktik belajar bahasa Indonesia, yaitu suatu inovasi pembelajaran yang dirancang untuk membantu peserta didik memahami konsep-konsep, prinsip-prinsip, teori-teori bahasa Indonesia secara mendalam melalui pengalaman belajar praktik-empirik secara kolaborasi antara siswa dengan siswa, siswa dengan guru, dan guru dengan guru

Exploring environmental variables based on ecotopes derived by remote sensing

LifewatchWB contributes to the European Research Infrastructure Consortium for biodiversity and ecosystem research (Lifewatch) by providing online tools for the visualization of environmental variables. It consists in two Web portals (www.uclouvain.be/lifewatch) providing data about i) weekly anomalies of the dynamic land cover properties (snow cover and vegetation greenness) and ii) high resolution characterization of ecotopes. The topic of this abstract is the ecotope visualization interface. Ecotopes are the smallest ecologically functional units. They can be mapped by intersecting a large number of thematic layers (soil type, land cover, topographic types). However, this creates a lot of polygons with an exponentially increasing number of categorical values combinations. The visualization and analysis of those polygons is therefore difficult. On the other hand, the LifewatchWB ecotopes consist in irregular polygons derived from geographic object-based image analysis (grouping adjacent pixels of similar properties to create a partition of irregular polygons). Each polygon is then characterized using a set of continuous fields: quantitative variables (climate, elevation, slope, artificial light, contextual variables…) are either interpolated or averaged at the level of the ecotopes depending on the resolution of the input layers; categorical variables (soil types, land cover types…) are provided as proportions inside the ecotopes. The ecotope database is an open data layer currently available for the Walloon Region (Belgium). It consists in 1.2 million polygons with more than 80 quantitative fields. Those fields cannot be visualized together, therefore several visualization tools are provided on the interface: 1) each variable can be visualized individually in grey level, 2) any set of three variables can be visualized as a color composite and 3) queries based on potentially all variables can provide binary outputs. In addition, an online tool is available to extract the values of the ecotope characteristics in a set of point locations for further analysis in other softwares. With its polygon-based structure that is homogeneous with respect to the land cover and the topography, ecotopes provides meaningful landscape units with a large set of precomputed variables. Those variables are easy to visualize in a WebGIS and have been combined with species observations to run habitat and biotope models

Pengaruh Penambahan Kolin Klorida Pada Pakan Terhadap Kadar Kolesterol Dan Lipoprotein Darah Sapi Perah Laktasi

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of choline chloride addition in feed on cholesterol, low density lipoprotein (LDL), and high density lipoprotein (HDL) levels in blood of lactating dairy cow, as indicator of lipid anabolism in the body. Eight of lactating dairy cows (61 to 91 days in milk; 2nd lactation period and 456 ± 31 kg of BW average as equal to 99 ± 5 kg BW0.75) were fed total mixed diet containing Napier grass and concentrate (40:60) and additive 30 g/d choline chloride 60% corn-cob as 18 g/d choline chloride (as equal to 0.02 % BW0.75). The experiment was set as cross-over designs with two experiments and eight replications. The treatments were T0 = 0 g/d choline chloride and T1= 30 g/d choline chloride, within 2 periods in which each period was 4 weeks and the data was analyzed using analysis of variance (ANOVA). The results showed that the addition of 30 g/d choline chloride in feed did not affect (P&gt;0,05) the cholesterol, LDL and HDL levels in blood of lactating dairy cows. The conclusion of this study was the choline chloride addition in feed did not increase cholesterol, LDL, and HDL levels in blood of lactating dairy cows as the indicator of lipid anabolism

Combining acetabular and femoral morphology improves our understanding of the down syndrome hip.

Background: Hip instability is frequent in patients with Down syndrome. Recent studies have suggested that skeletal hip alterations are responsible for this instability; however, there are currently no studies simultaneously assessing femoral and acetabular anatomy in subjects with Down syndrome in the standing position. The aim was to analyze the three-dimensional anatomy of the Down syndrome hip in standing position. Methods: Down syndrome subjects were age and sex-matched to asymptomatic controls. All subjects underwent full body biplanar X-rays with three-dimensional reconstructions of their pelvises and lower limbs. Parameter means and distributions were compared between the two groups. Findings: Forty-one Down syndrome and 41 control subjects were recruited. Acetabular abduction (mean=52° [SD=9°] vs. mean=56° [SD=8°]) and anteversion (mean=14° [SD=8°] vs. mean=17.5° [SD=5°]) as well as posterior acetabular sector angle (mean=91° [SD=7°] vs. mean=94° [SD=7°]) were significantly lower in Down syndrome subjects compared to controls (P < 0.01). Anterior acetabular sector angle (mean=62° [SD=10°] vs. mean=59° [SD=7°]; P < 0.01) was significantly higher in Down syndrome compared to controls. The distributions of acetabular anteversion (P=0.002;V=0.325), femoral anteversion (P=0.004;V=0.309) and the instability index (P < 0.001;V=0.383) were significantly different between the two groups, with subjects with Down syndrome having both increased anteversion and retroversion for each of these parameters. Interpretation: Subjects with Down syndrome were found to have a significantly altered and more heterogeneous anatomy of their proximal hips compared to controls. This heterogeneity suggests that treatment strategies of hip instability in Down syndrome should be subject-specific and should rely on the understanding of the underlying three-dimensional anatomy of each patient.This research was funded by the University of Saint-Joseph (grant# FM183). The authors did not receive any external funding for this stud

Cancer immunotherapy: A comprehensive appraisal of its modes of application.

peer reviewedConventional cancer treatments such as chemotherapy and radiation therapy have reached their therapeutic potential, leaving a gap for developing more effective cancer therapeutics. Cancer cells evade the immune system using various mechanisms of immune tolerance, underlying the potential impact of immunotherapy in the treatment of cancer. Immunotherapy includes several approaches such as activating the immune system in a cytokine-dependent manner, manipulating the feedback mechanisms involved in the immune response, enhancing the immune response via lymphocyte expansion and using cancer vaccines to elicit long-lasting, robust responses. These techniques can be used as monotherapies or combination therapies. The present review describes the immune-based mechanisms involved in tumor cell proliferation and maintenance and the rationale underlying various treatment methods. In addition, the present review provides insight into the potential of immunotherapy used alone or in combination with various types of therapeutics