Research Title: Automatic Diagnosis of Distortion Type of Arabic /r/ Phoneme Using Feed Forward Neural Network

Author: Ibtisam Hussein Jamil, Published Year: 2014

Computer Engineering and Intelligent Systems , V 5 - N 12

Faculty: Arts

Abstract: The paper is not for recognizing normal formed speech but for distorted speech via examining the ability of feed forward Artificial Neural Networks (ANN) to recognize speech flaws. In this paper we take the Arabic /r/ phoneme distortion that is somewhat common among native speakers as a case study.To do this, r-Distype program is developed as a script written using Praat speech processing software tool. r-Distype program automatically develops a feed forward ANN that tests the spoken word (which includes /r/ phoneme) to detect any possible type of distortion. Multiple feed forward ANNs of different architectures have been developed and their achievements reported. Training data and testing data of the developed ANNs are sets of spoken Arabic words that contain /r/ phoneme in different positions so they cover all distortion types of Arabic /r/ phoneme. These sets of words were produced by different genders and different ages.The results obtained from developed ANNs were used to draw a conclusion about automating the detection of pronunciation problems in general.Such computerised system would be a good tool for diagnosing speech flaws and gives a great help in speech therapy. Also, the idea itself may open a new research subarea of speech recognition that is automatic speech therapy.

Keywords: Distortion, Arabic /r/ phoneme, articulation disorders, Artificial Neural Network, Praat

Research Title: Deglottalization in Jordanian Arabic: Syntax-Prosody interface

Author: Ibtisam Hussein Jamil, Published Year: 2016

Faculty: Arts

Abstract: Deglottalization occurs when a word starts with the definite article hamzatu l-waSl 'connective glottal stop' and in some noun and verb cases. In this paper, we address deglottalization in Jordanian Arabic (JA) from the standpoint of syntax-prosody interface. We study the mapping of syntactic phrases onto phonological ones. We argue that JA marks left edges of phonological phrases in the case of deglottalization. We discuss the role of epenthesis in easing the transition between words when the first ends with a closed syllable. We also maintain that Arabic resorts to compensating the deleted syllables so as to preserve the structure of syllables before the application of the rule; the syllable produced after deglottalization has the same structure as that of the definite article before the application of deglottalization

Keywords: Arabic, Syntax-Prosody Interface, Edge Marking, Deglottalization, Phonology.

Research Title: Evaluation of dynamic current testing for CMOS domino circuits

Author: Anis Mousa Al-Nazer, Published Year: 2005

IEEE International Workshop on Defect Based Testing, Palm Springs, CA

Faculty: Engineering and Technology

Abstract: Transient current (iDDT) refers to the current drawn from the power supply during the transient switching of CMOS gates. Testing based on the transient current can detect many of the defects that can occur in ICs, such as resistive opens, which may not be detected by traditional voltage testing or by Leakage current (I DDQ) testing methods. A major set back for IDDQ testing methods is the increased leakage currents in today's ICs. Thus iDDT based testing has been often investigated as an alternative or supplement to (IDDQ) testing. Little work has focused on iDDT testing for domino circuits. In this thesis, we propose a method for testing domino CMOS circuits using the transient power supp ly current. The method is based on monitoring the peak value of the transient current. This peak varies considerably with process variations, so each process ha s different thresholds; this problem will be addressed by proposing a normalization procedure that allows us to use a single threshold for all processes. We present also a test vector generation algorithm for testing large domino circuits. We evaluate the effectiveness of this testing method by simulation on various domino circuits of different sizes. We develop and implement a partitioning technique to improve the fault coverage of the test method when used with large circuits. The algorithm divides the circuit into different clusters where each cluster is fed by a different power suppl y branch. We also provide an automation system to simplify the process of genera ting the simulation files, injecting the defects in the circuit, running the simulations, storing the simulations output, processing the output signals, and fin ally gathering and analyzing the results.

Keywords: iddt testing, VLSI testing, Domino curcuit testing

Research Title: Ubiquitous Robotics for Knowledge-based Auto-configuration System within Smart Home Environment

Author: Mustafa Awwad Al Khawaldeh, Published Year: 2016

Faculty: Engineering and Technology

Abstract: The present paper is anchored in the area of Embedded System and Robot and Ambient Intelligent which considered in the ICICS 2016. The wide availability of services and devices within contemporary smart home environments make their management a challenging and rewarding task. Maintaining complex smart home systems throughout their lifecycle entails considerable resources and effort. These challenges have stimulated the need for dynamic auto-configurable services amongst such distributed systems. Although significant research has been directed towards achieving auto-configuration, none of the existing solutions is sufficient to achieve auto-configuration within smart home environments. This research aims to devise methods to automate the activities associated with customised service delivery for dynamic home environments by exploiting recent advances in the field of ubiquitous robotics and Semantic Web technologies. It introduces a novel approach called the Knowledge-based Auto-configuration Ubiquitous Robotics for Smart Home Environments, which utilises the Sobot to achieve auto-configuration of the system. A proof-of-concept testbed has been designed, implemented and validated via several case studies.

Keywords: Smart home, ubiquitous robotics, and Semantic Web.

Research Title: " Individual Character Comparison Technique for Improving the Internal Memory Performance"...British Journal of Mathematics & Computer Science , 12(3): 1-13, 2016.

Author: Jasim Abdullah Ghaeb, Published Year: 2016

Faculty: Engineering and Technology

Abstract: The efficiency of the cache mapping technique depends on how the cache lines are organized and the way that is used to look for and hit the target cache line. In this paper, an efficient technique is proposed to obtain a significant improvement in average hit time of a line in the cache. The paper presents Distributive Comparison Approach (DCA) that significantly minimizes the hit time and improve cache hit ratio. The efficient of DCA is based on how the cache lines are compared and picked up the coveted one leading to a low cache hit ratio. In DCA, the cache line is assigned by multi tags where each individual tag is only one character. Then, instead of one line tag of complete characters per a comparison cycle, the comparator is flushed by multi tags of different lines in the cache. Also the cache lines that are come from the main memory classified into two groups; even and odd line's tags to reject the unwanted lines form the multi-tag comparison. These two procedures practically speed up the repelling of misfit tagged lines and consequently the hitting of the target line in the cache. Simulation results show that the DCA outperforms well-known mapping techniques including FAMT and SMT.

Keywords: Cache memory; memory hierarchy; cache hit ratio; tw o-level memory; cache mapping.

Research Title: Banking Regulations and Supervising, and the Soundness of Banks in MENA Countries

Author: Mohammad Oqlah Al-Smadi, Published Year: 2015

European Journal of Business and Management , 7

Faculty: Business

Abstract: The consequences of the last financial crisis have increased the debates about the role of banking regulations and supervision in maintaining banks' soundness. This study investigates the impact of banking regulations, supervision on bank soundness, using a sample of 177 banks operating in 10 MENA countries. Four explanatory variables were used: capital regulatory requirements, regulatory restrictions on banks' activities, independence of supervisory authorities, and official supervisory power, while controlling for other macroeconomic and banking industry characteristics. The results show that bank soundness increases when the stringency of capital requirements increase. Greater restrictions on bank activities enhance bank soundness. Moreover, banks operating in countries with greater independence of supervisory authorities have more soundness, while official supervisory power does not have an impact on bank soundness. The outcome of the study provides empirical evidence for supervising authorities and banks' management about the role of banking regulations and supervising in maintaining banks' safety and soundness in MENA countries.

Keywords: Regulations, Supervising, Soundness, MENA banks.

Research Title: An Adaptive ECO-Path Recommendation Protocol for VANETs

Author: Maram Bani Younes, Published Year: 2015

Faculty: Information Technology

Abstract: Traveling vehicles increase the harmful gases (e.g., CO, CO2, HC, NOx, etc) all over the atmosphere. This problem becomes more serious year after year by increasing the number of vehicles over roads every year. In this work, we aim at introducing an environmentally-friendly path recommendation protocol for downtown grid-layout areas. The introduced protocol recommends each driver to take the path that consumes the least amount of fuel and releases the least amount of gases to the atmosphere. We introduce our protocol details, compare it to other path recommendation protocols in this field and report on its performance using an extensive set of scenarios and experiments implemented by the NS-2 simulator. From the experiments results, we can infer that our protocol provides 30% and 20% better performance than the Shortest and Fastest paths respectively, in terms of fuel consumption and gas emission metrics.

Keywords: Path Recommendation, Traveling Time, Traveling Distance, Fuel Consumption, Gas Emission

Research Title: BOOK CHAPTER- ( Essential Oils in Food Preservation, Flavor and Safety.) Ajwain (Trachyspermum ammi L.) Oils

Author: Yousef Abdel-Kareem Abusamra, Published Year: 2016

Faculty: Pharmacy

Abstract: Trachyspermum ammi (L.)—commonly known as ajwain or caraway—is native to Egypt and widely grown all over Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and India. The seeds of T. ammi (L.) are widely used in India and eastern Asia, both in diet and in traditional medicine. They contain fiber (11.9%), carbohydrates (38.6%), tannins, glycosides, moisture (8.9%), protein (15.4%), fat (18.1%), saponins, flavone, and mineral matter (7.1%). Essential oil prepared from seeds contains thymol (50–60%), γ-terpinene, and p-cymene, along with α- and β-pinenes, α-thujen, myrcene, 1,8-cineole, and carvacrol. Ajwain is an important commercial plant due to its essential oil, which is used in the flavor/food industries. Ajwain oil contributes to a wide range of medicinal applications, such as antibacterial, antifungal, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, antibacterial, cytotoxic, antilithiasis, nematicidal, anthelmintic, and antifilarial activities. Its seeds exhibit remarkable digestive and antiseptive properties and are used in traditional medicine, primarily to control bowel disorders such as indigestion, flatulence, colic, and diarrhea. They are also used as a stimulant, stomachic, carminative, aromatic, antispasmodic, antihypertensive, antiseptic, antiparasitic, antiscorbutic, antihistamine, vermicide, emmenagogue, and sialagogue. The ajwain oil components, thymol and carvacrol, have attributes for antibacterial and antifungal action against wide range of microbes. This distinctive contribution by ajwain oil components makes it a good food preservative candidate to prevent food spoilage caused by bacteria and fungi.

Keywords: Ajwain oil, flavor, preservation, anti bacterial, anti oxidant, anti fungal, anti spoilage

Research Title: Preclinical Data Supporting/Refuting the Use of Hypericum perforatum in the Treatment of Depression

Author: Yousef Abdel-Kareem Abusamra, Published Year: 2013

Faculty: Pharmacy

Abstract: Extracts of Hypericum perforatum (St. John's wort) have gained popularity as an alternative to synthetic antidepressants or behavioural therapy in the treatment of mild to moderate forms of depressive disorders. The present article reviews and discusses the available preclinical data that are in favour of or against the use of Hypericum perforatum as an antidepressant. Multiple chemical entities constitute extracts from Hypericum perforatum. The effects of Hypericum perforatum extracts have been compared with those of conventional antidepressants in different in vitro and in vivo biochemical studies of antidepressant-like activity and in behavioural pharmacology studies using animal models of depression. Recent investigations have indicated that Hypericum perforatum, like conventional antidepressants, is involved in the regulation of genes that control hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis function and influence, at least in part, stress-induced effects on neuroplasticity and neurogenesis. From the available evidence it can be concluded that data supporting the use of Hypericum perforatum for the treatment of depression are present in literature. However, results from experiments carried out with extracts or pure compounds do not always resemble biochemical and pharmacological profile characteristic of synthetic antidepressants. In particular, the majority of findings in preclinical studies have been obtained with high doses of pure compounds and extracts that are not comparable to the concentrations of single active constituents after oral administration in humans.

Keywords: Hypericum perforatum; St. John's wort; antidepressant activity; depression; mice; rats

Research Title: Evaluation of putative cytotoxic activity of crude extracts from Onopordum acanthium leaves and Spartium junceum flowers against the U-373 glioblastoma cell line

Author: Yousef Abdel-Kareem Abusamra, Published Year: 2015

Faculty: Pharmacy

Abstract: Crude hydromethanolic (80% methanol) extracts produced by maceration of Onopordum acanthium leaves and Spartium junceum flowers were tested for cytotoxic effects against glioblastoma U-373 tumour cells. Onopordum acanthium extract was found to be ~5 times more cytotoxic than Spartium junceum (IC50 values of 309 and 1602µg/ml, respectively). Similar to most chemotherapeutic agents killing through the intrinsic pathway, Onopordum killed the cells via apoptosis, which was confirmed by the activation of caspase-3. Spartium exerted its weak cytotoxic effect, presumably by a caspase-independent, non-apoptotic form of necrotic-like programmed cell death. Onopordum acanthium is considered a promising plant for the researchers investigating putative biological activities, particularly antitumour and immune-related activity.

Keywords: Onopordum acanthium, Spartium junceum, glioblastoma U-373, cytotoxicity, apoptosis.