Speech-Music-Noise Discrimination in Sound Indexing of Multimedia Documents

Sound indexing and segmentation of digital documents especially in the internet and digital libraries are very useful to simplify and to accelerate the multimedia document retrieval. We can imagine that we can extract multimedia files not only by keywords but also by speech semantic contents. The main difficulty of this operation is the parameterization and modelling of the sound track and the discrimination of the speech, music and noise segments. In this paper, we will present a Speech/Music/Noise indexing interface designed for audio discrimination in multimedia documents. The program uses a statistical method based on ANN and HMM classifiers. After pre-emphasis and segmentation, the audio segments are analysed by the cepstral acoustic analysis method. The developed system was evaluated on a database constituted of music songs with Arabic speech segments under several noisy environments.     

Modification of Arabinogalactan Isolated from Larix sibirica Ledeb. into Sulfated Derivatives with the Controlled Molecular Weights

The process of sulfation of arabinogalactan—a natural polysaccharide from Larix sibirica Ledeb.—with sulfamic acid in 1,4-dioxane using different activators has been studied for the first time. The dynamics of the molecular weight of sulfated arabinogalactan upon variation in the temperature and time of sulfation of arabinogalactan with sulfamic acid in 1,4-dioxane has been investigated. It has been found that, as the sulfation time increases from 10 to 90 min, the molecular weights of the reaction products grow due to the introduction of sulfate groups without significant destruction of the initial polymer and sulfation products. Sulfation at 95 °C for 20 min yields the products with a higher molecular weight than in the case of sulfation at 85 °C, which is related to an increase in the sulfation rate; however, during the further process occurring under these conditions, sulfation is accompanied by the destruction and the molecular weight of the sulfated polymer decreases. The numerical optimization of arabinogalactan sulfation process has been performed. It has been shown that the optimal parameters for obtaining a product with a high sulfur content are a sulfamic acid amount of 20 mmol per 1 g of arabinogalactan, a process temperature of 85 °C, and a process time of 2.5 h.     

Trigonometrical sums connected with the chiral Potts model,Verlinde dimension formula,two-dimensional resistor network,and number theory

We have recently developed methods for obtaining exact two-point resistance of the complete graph minus N$N$ edges. We use these methods to obtain closed formulas of certain trigonometrical sums that arise in connection with one-dimensional lattice, in proving Scott’s conjecture on permanent of Cauchy matrix, and in the perturbative chiral Potts model. The generalized trigonometrical sums of the chiral Potts model are shown to satisfy recursion formulas that are transparent and direct, and differ from those of Gervois and Mehta. By making a change of variables in these recursion formulas, the dimension of the space of conformal blocks of SU(2)$SU\left(2\right)$ and SO(3)$SO\left(3\right)$ WZW models may be computed recursively. Our methods are then extended to compute the corner-to-corner resistance, and the Kirchhoff index of the first non-trivial two-dimensional resistor network, 2×N$2\times N$. Finally, we obtain new closed formulas for variant of trigonometrical sums, some of which appear in connection with number theory.     

Pickering emulsion polymerization of polyaniline/LiCoO2 nanoparticles used as cathode materials for lithium batteries

The oil in water (o/w) emulsions were prepared using aniline dissolved in toluene and LiCoO₂ particles as stabilizers (Pickering emulsions). Pickering emulsions are stabilized by adsorbed solid particles instead of emulsifier molecules. The mean droplet diameter of emulsions was controlled by the mass ratio M (oil)/M (solid particles). The emulsions showed great stability during 3 days. The composite materials containing LiCoO₂ and the conductive polymer polyaniline (PANI) have been prepared by means of polymerization of aniline emulsion stabilized by LiCoO₂ particles. The composite materials were characterized by nanosphere and nanofiber-like structures. The nanofiber-like morphology of the powdered material was distinctly different of the morphologies of the parent materials. The electrochemical reactivity of PANI/LiCoO₂ composites as positive electrode in a lithium battery was examined during lithium ion deinsertion and insertion by galvanostatic charge–discharge testing; PANI/LiCoO₂ (1:4) composite materials exhibited the best electrochemical performance by increasing the reaction reversibility and capacity compared to that of the pristine LiCoO₂ cathode. The first discharge capacity of PANI/LiCoO₂ (1:4) was 167 mAh/g, while that of LiCoO₂ was136 mAh/g.     

Analysis of the local structure of phosphorus-substituted LAMOX oxide ion conductors

The effect of partial substitution of molybdenum by phosphorus on the global and local structural arrangement of the fast oxide-ion conductor La(2)Mo(2)O(9) (LAMOX) has been studied by X-ray powder diffraction as well as (139)La and (31)P solid state NMR. The diffraction patterns show that La(2)Mo(2-y)P(y)O(9-y/2) forms a solid solution at low phosphorus concentrations, and that there is a structural phase transition upon increasing phosphorus concentration. This phase transition is also reflected in (139)La and (31)P NMR spectra. The possibility to excite (31)P multiple-quantum coherences of one of the (31)P NMR signals gives evidence of an accumulation of phosphorus atoms on neighbouring Mo-type sites already before formation of three-dimensional precipitates. On the basis of our X-ray and NMR results we propose a possible structural arrangement of the compound La(2)Mo(2-y)P(y)O(9-y/2) that explains the experimental observations by crystal twinning.     

Evidential evolving Gustafson–Kessel algorithm for online data streams partitioning using belief function theory

A new online clustering method called E2GK (Evidential Evolving Gustafson–Kessel) is introduced. This partitional clustering algorithm is based on the concept of credal partition defined in the theoretical framework of belief functions. A credal partition is derived online by applying an algorithm resulting from the adaptation of the Evolving Gustafson–Kessel (EGK) algorithm. Online partitioning of data streams is then possible with a meaningful interpretation of the data structure. A comparative study with the original online procedure shows that E2GK outperforms EGK on different entry data sets. To show the performance of E2GK, several experiments have been conducted on synthetic data sets as well as on data collected from a real application problem. A study of parameters’ sensitivity is also carried out and solutions are proposed to limit complexity issues.     

Synthesis of bismuth mixed oxide by thermal decomposition of a coprecipitate precursor

Bismuth mixed oxide powders were prepared by oxalate coprecipitation process. The thermal decomposition behaviour of the coprecipitate precursors has been followed by thermal analysis (TG-DTA) and FTIR spectroscopy. During the decomposition of the precursor, several intermediates species were detected and a mechanism of formation of mixed oxide by this method is proposed. After the thermal treatment, the precursor obtained of suggested formula Ca₃[Bi₆O₆(C₂O₄)₄(OH)₃NO₃]0.5H₂O, has led to the formation of CaBi₂O₄ at shorter reaction time than the traditional ceramic method. In order to consolidate the results, the coprecipitation in absence of oxalic precipitant under the same conditions was examined. XRD and scanning electron spectroscopy were used to study particles sizes and morphology.     

Thermomechanical behaviors and dielectric properties of polyaniline‐doped para‐toluene sulfonic acid/epoxy resin composites

Composites based on conductive organic/inorganic fillers dispersed in insulating matrix have been widely investigated because of their widespread applications such as electromagnetic shielding, electrostatic discharge, and sensors. In this context, novel composite materials based on epoxy resin matrix charged with polyaniline (PANI)‐doped para‐toluene sulfonic acid were elaborated. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, X‐ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy were used to check the structure and the morphology of the samples. Viscoelastic behavior and thermal stability of the composites were explored by dynamic mechanical thermal analysis and thermogravimetric analysis. It was shown that the PANI particles exhibited a partial crystalline structure and were homogeneously dispersed in epoxy matrix. Consequently, this structure affected the thermal stability and viscoelastic properties of the composites. Furthermore, the dielectric and electrical properties were investigated up to 1 MHz. Measurements of dielectric properties revealed that with loading fillers in matrix, the dielectric parameters increased to high values at low frequency then decreased at values around 40 and 32 of real and imaginary parts, respectively, at 1 MHz with 15% of PANI content. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Transmission loss of periodically stiffened laminate composite panels: shear deformation and in-plane interaction effects

This paper investigates the transmission loss of symmetric and asymmetric laminate composite panels periodically reinforced by composite stiffeners. A comprehensive model based on periodic structure theory is developed. First order shear deformation theory is used and the coupling of the in-plane motion of the panel with its out-of-plane motion is taken into account. Stiffeners interact with the panel through three forces (two in-plane, one out-of-plane) and a torsion moment. Three types of cross sections are investigated for the composite stiffeners: I-shaped, C-shaped, and omega-shaped cross-sections. The model is validated numerically by comparison with the finite element/boundary element method. Experimental validations are also conducted. In both cases, excellent agreement is obtained. Numerical results show that the in-plane coupling effect is increased by increasing the panel thickness and the stiffener's eccentricity. The in-plane coupling effect is also found to increase with frequency.     

Synthesis,spectroscopic and structural studies of <Emphasis Type="Italic">N</Emphasis>-(1<Emphasis Type="Italic">H</Emphasis>-benzimidazol-2-yl)-<Emphasis Type="Italic">N</Emphasis>′-benzyl propionamidine

N-(1H-Benzimidazol-2-yl) propionimidic acid ethyl ester (1) reacts with benzylamine to yield the corresponding N-(1H-Benzimidazol-2-yl)-N′-benzyl proponamidine (2). The structure and conformation of the amidine 2 were determined by ¹H and ¹³C NMR and X-ray diffraction. The product crystallizes in monoclinic system with space group P2₁/c, a = 10.7913 ?, b = 15.5164 ?, c = 9.1130 ?, β = 108.378° and Z = 4. In the crystal there are two N–HN hydrogen bonds, the first is intramolecular H-Bond links H4 to N1; the second one is intermolecular and it links H2 to N3 of a second molecule leading to inversion-related dimers. The X-ray results were compared with those obtained by semi-empirical and ab-initio calculations.