Classification of Malaysian vowels using formant based features

Automatic speech recognition (ASR) has made great strides with the development of digital signal processing hardware and software, especially using English as the language of choice. Despite of all these advances, machines cannot match the performance of their human counterparts in terms of accuracy and speed, especially in case of speaker independent speech recognition. In this paper, a new feature based on formant is presented and evaluated on Malaysian spoken vowels. These features were classified and used to identify vowels recorded from 80 Malaysian speakers. A back propagation neural network (BPNN) model was developed to classify the vowels. Six formant features were evaluated, which were the first three formant frequencies and the distances between each of them. Results, showed that overall vowel classification rate of these three formant combinations are comparatively the same but differs in terms of individual vowel classification

Very Massive Stars and the Eddington Limit

We use contemporary evolutionary models for Very Massive Stars (VMS) to assess whether the Eddington limit constrains the upper stellar mass limit. We also consider the interplay between mass and age for the wind properties and spectral morphology of VMS, with reference to the recently modified classification scheme for O2-3.5If*/WN stars. Finally, the death of VMS in the local universe is considered in the context of pair instability supernovae.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figures, from "Four Decades of Massive Star Research" (Quebec, Jul 2011), ASP Conf Ser, in press (L. Drissen, C. Robert, N. St-Louis, A.F.J. Moffat, eds.

A modified kohonen self-organizing map (KSOM) clustering for four categorical data

The Kohonen Self-Organizing Map (KSOM) is one of the Neural Network unsupervised learning algorithms. This algorithm is used in solving problems in various areas, especially in clustering complex data sets. Despite its advantages, the KSOM algorithm has a few drawbacks; such as overlapped cluster and non-linear separable problems. Therefore, this paper proposes a modified KSOM that inspired from pheromone approach in Ant Colony Optimization. The modification is focusing on the distance calculation amongst objects. The proposed algorithm has been tested on four real categorical data that are obtained from UCI machine learning repository; Iris, Seeds, Glass and Wisconsin Breast Cancer Database. From the results, it shows that the modified KSOM has produced accurate clustering result and all clusters can clearly be identified

Traffic sign detection based on simple XOR and discriminative features

Traffic Sign Detection (TSD) is an important application in computer vision. It plays a crucial role in driver assistance systems, and provides drivers with safety and precaution information. In this paper, in addition to detecting Traffic Signs (TSs), the proposed technique also recognizes the shape of the TS. The proposed technique consist of two stages. The first stage is an image segmentation technique that is based on Learning Vector Quantization (LVQ), which divides the image into six different color regions. The second stage is based on discriminative features (area, color, and aspect ratio) and the exclusive OR logical operator (XOR). The output is the location and shape of the TS. The proposed technique is applied on the German Traffic Sign Detection Benchmark (GTSDB), and achieves overall detection and shape matching of around 97% and 100% respectively. The testing speed is around 0.8 seconds per image on a mainstream PC, and the technique is coded using the Matlab toolbox

Sport event attributes influencing sport tourists' attendance at Sepak Takraw event

The use of traditional sports events as modern sport tourism products has grown rapidly over recent decades. This article investigated differences in sport attributes that influence sport tourists' behavioral choices for attending a sepak takraw event using the human and nucleus component of Leiper's tourism attraction system. The study uses a sample of 316 sport tourists including domestic sport tourists (n=224) and foreign sport tourists (n=92) attending ISTAF Super Series. The findings reveal different factors were important to domestic sport tourists compared to foreign sport tourists. Domestic respondents reported that sport event attributes such as convenience and accessibility, game attractiveness, and sport facility were important in their decisions to attend a sepak takraw event while foreign sport tourists perceived cost to be a necessary sport attribute for their attendance. This article provides support for a sepak takraw as an event product that offers new sport marketing opportunities for particular target market segments within small-scale sport tourism

Radiation-induced non-cancer risks in interventional cardiology: Optimisation of procedures and staff and patient dose reduction

Concerns about ionizing radiation during interventional cardiology have been increased in recent years as a result of rapid growth in interventional procedure volumes and the high radiation doses associated with some procedures. Non-cancer radiation risks to cardiologists and medical staff in terms of radiation-induced cataracts, and skin injuries for patients appear clear potential consequences of interventional cardiology procedures, while radiation-induced potential risk of developing cardiovascular effects remain less clear. This paper provides an overview of the evidence-based reviews of concerns about non-cancer risks of radiation exposure in interventional cardiology. Strategies commonly undertaken to reduce radiation doses to both medical staff and patients during interventional cardiology procedures are discussed; optimisation of interventional cardiology procedures is highlighted

Synthesis, characterization and antibacterial activity of mono-, di- and tri-tosylate of glycerol

Glycerol is a valuable co-product from oleochemical industry such as from fatty acid and biodiesel production. By having three hydroxyl groups in its molecule, glycerol can undergo chemical modifications that lead to many possible applications. This paper reports the tosylation process of glycerol with para-toluenesulfonyl chloride (p-TsCl). Reaction of glycerol with p-TsCl in the presence of a base produced mono-, di- and tri-tosylate of glycerol even though the reaction was carried out at the mole ratio of 1.2:1.0 of glycerol to p-TsCl. The compounds were successfully isolated and characterized. Mono-, di- and tri-tosylate of glycerol exhibited inhibitory activity against Staphylococcus aureus (gram positive bacteria) and Pseudomonas aeruginosa (gram negative bacteria)

Building and Managing Social Capital in Virtual Communities

We suggest that the development and sustainability of social capital is related to the social context in which individuals, groups or firms operate. Therefore, we argue that there is a direct relationship between how one party conceives to be benefited from being part of another group or network and its implication for the development of social capital. In this paper, we use a social exchange metaphor for understanding the challenges related to the management of social capital in a virtual community. First, we provide an overview of virtual community and discuss the application of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) for supporting this type of community. Second, we address the management challenges for the development process of social capital from a sociological standpoint. Lastly, we suggest the implications of study for the management of social capital in virtual community. The following research questions guide this study—What is/are the key strategic challenges for the management of social capital in virtual community? How do establish an effective knowledge sharing process for supporting the development of social capital in a virtual community? How can the social exchange metaphor help in managing the strategic challenges related to the formation of social capital in a virtual community