SRoL - Web-based Resources for Languages and Language Technology e-Learning

The SRoL Web-based spoken language repository and tool collection includes thousands of voice recordings grouped on sections like "Basic sounds of the Romanian language", "Emotional voices", "Specific language processes", "Pathological voices", "Comparison of natural and synthetic speech", "Gnathophonics and gnathosonics". The recordings are annotated and documented according to proprietary methodology and protocols. Moreover, we included on the site extended documentation on the Romanian language, on speech technology, and on tools, produced by the SRoL team, for voice analysis. The resources are a part of the CLARIN European Network for Language Resources. The resources and tools are useful in virtual learning for phonetics of the Romanian language, speech technology, and medical subjects related to voice. We report on several applications in language learning and voice technology classes. Here, we emphasize the utilization of the SRoL resources in education for medicine and speech rehabilitation

Hints About Some Baseful but Indispensable Elements in Speech Recognition and Reconstruction

The cochlear implant (CI) is a device used to reconstruct the hearing capabilities of a person diagnosed with total cophosis. This impairment may occur after some accidents, chemotherapy etc., the person still having an intact hearing nerve. The cochlear implant has two parts: a programmable, external part, the Digital Signal Processing (DSP) device which process and transform the speech signal, and another surgically implanted part, with a certain number of electrodes (depending on brand) used to stimulate the hearing nerve. The speech signal is fully processed in the DSP external device resulting the ``coded'' information on speech. This is modulated with the support of the fundamental frequency F0 and the energy impulses are inductively sent to the hearing nerve. The correct detection of this frequency is very important, determining the manner of hearing and making the difference between a "computer'' voice and a natural one. The results are applicable not only in the medical domain, but also in the Romanian speech synthesis

Fuzzy Rule-based System for Pattern Recognition and Automated Classification

The sorting method contains a fuzzy system that classifies waste into three classes: dangerous (toxic, flammable, harmful to the environment), recyclable and undetermined. To increase the decision weight since some waste is perilous (eg. batteries, spray bottle under pressure, oil drums, etc.), we implement a shape-signature identification algorithm.The extraction of objects contour in order to obtain the signature is done with contour tracking algorithm. The appropriate determination of contour also enables efficient calculation of shape and size – features used in fuzzy system. The elaborated system aims to detect dangerous wastes that arrive among the recyclable waste because of people ignorance

Knowledge Representation

Research in cognitive psychology demonstrated that human knowledge is mostly stored by the connections between neurons rather than in the nervous cells themselves. The attempt to model such an idea leads to an interactive network, where information is represented by some set of neuromimetic descriptors. These descriptors can be either objectual or attributive, i.e. specifying an object or a property. The paper aims at processing the pieces of knowledge from a certain field in order to determine the weights of the connections between descriptors. The interrogation of the knowledge base is then possible, which provides information about the characteristics of the objects and the way they are associated

Novel Design of Neuropeptide-Based Drugs with β-Sheet Breaking Potential in Amyloid-Beta Cascade: Molecular and Structural Deciphers

Our work discusses the investigation of 75 peptide-based drugs with the potential ability to break the β-sheet structures of amyloid-beta peptides from senile plaques. Hence, this study offers a unique insight into the design of neuropeptide-based drugs with β-sheet breaker potential in the amyloid-beta cascade for Alzheimer’s disease (AD). We started with five peptides (15QKLVFF20, 16KLVFF20, 17LVFF20, 16KLVF19 and 15QKLV18), to which 14 different organic acids were attached at the N-terminal. It was necessary to evaluate the physiochemical features of these sequences due to the biological correlation with our proposal. Hence, the preliminary analysis of different pharmacological features provided the necessary data to select the peptides with the best biocompatibility for administration purposes. Our approaches demonstrated that the peptides 17LVFF20, NA-17LVFF20, 16KLVF19 and NA-16KLVF19 (NA-nicotinic acid) have the ability to interfere with fibril formation and hence improve the neuro and cognitive functions. Moreover, the peptide conjugate NA-16KLVF19 possesses attractive pharmacological properties, demonstrated by in silico and in vitro studies. Tandem mass spectrometry showed no fragmentation for the spectra of 16KLVF19. Such important results suggest that under the action of protease, the peptide cleavage does not occur at all. Additionally, circular dichroism confirmed docking simulations and showed that NA-16KLVF19 may improve the β-sheet breaker mechanism, and thus the entanglement process of amyloid-beta peptides can be more effective