The whole song is greater than the sum of its parts: Local and structural features in music listening

Four experiments reported here demonstrate the importance of structural as well as local features in listening to contemporary popular music. Experiment 1 established that listeners without formal musical training regard as salient the formal structure that links individual sections of songs. When asked to listen to and assemble the individual sections of unfamiliar contemporary songs to form new compositions, participants positioned the sections in ways consistent with the true structure of the music. In Experiment 2, participants were provided with only the song lyrics with which to arrange the individual sections of contemporary songs. It was found that in addition to musical features
studied in Experiment 1, lyrical content of contemporary music also acts as a strong cue to a song’s formal structure. Experiments 3 and 4 revealed that listeners’ enjoyment of music is influenced both by structural features and local features of music, which were carried by the individual song sections.
The influence of structural features on music listening was most apparent over repeated hearings. In Experiment 4, listeners’ liking for contemporary music followed an inverted U-shape trend with repeated exposure, in which liking for music took a downward turn after just four repeated hearings. In contrast, liking for restructured music increased with repeated hearings and almost eliminated an initial negative effect of restructuring by the sixth hearing. In sum, our findings demonstrate that structural features as well as local features of contemporary music are salient and important to
listeners.

Experiment of Digital Directional Modulation Transmitters

A digital directional modulation (DM) transmitter structure is proposed from a practical implementation point of view in this paper. This digital DM architecture is built with the help of several off-the-shelf physical layer wireless experiment platform hardware boards. When compared with previous analogue DM transmitter architectures, the digital means offers more precise and fast control on the updates of the array excitations. More importantly, it is an ideal physical arrangement to implement the most universal DM synthesis algorithm, i.e., the orthogonal vector approach. The practical issues in digital DM system calibrations are described and solved. The bit error rates (BERs) are measured via real-time data transmissions to illustrate the DM advantages, in terms of secrecy performance, over conventional non-DM beam-steering transmitters.

In Helicobacter pylori auto-inducer-2, but not LuxS/MccAB catalysed reverse transsulphuration, regulates motility through modulation of flagellar gene transcription

BACKGROUND: LuxS may function as a metabolic enzyme or as the synthase of a quorum sensing signalling molecule, auto-inducer-2 (AI-2); hence, the mechanism underlying phenotypic changes upon luxS inactivation is not always clear. In Helicobacter pylori, we have recently shown that, rather than functioning in recycling methionine as in most bacteria, LuxS (along with newly-characterised MccA and MccB), synthesises cysteine via reverse transsulphuration. In this study, we investigated whether and how LuxS controls motility of H. pylori, specifically if it has its effects via luxS-required cysteine metabolism or via AI-2 synthesis only.

RESULTS: We report that disruption of luxS renders H. pylori non-motile in soft agar and by microscopy, whereas disruption of mccAHp or mccBHp (other genes in the cysteine provision pathway) does not, implying that the lost phenotype is not due to disrupted cysteine provision. The motility defect of the DeltaluxSHp mutant was complemented genetically by luxSHp and also by addition of in vitro synthesised AI-2 or 4, 5-dihydroxy-2, 3-pentanedione (DPD, the precursor of AI-2). In contrast, exogenously added cysteine could not restore motility to the DeltaluxSHp mutant, confirming that AI-2 synthesis, but not the metabolic effect of LuxS was important. Microscopy showed reduced number and length of flagella in the DeltaluxSHp mutant. Immunoblotting identified decreased levels of FlaA and FlgE but not FlaB in the DeltaluxSHp mutant, and RT-PCR showed that the expression of flaA, flgE, motA, motB, flhA and fliI but not flaB was reduced. Addition of DPD but not cysteine to the DeltaluxSHp mutant restored flagellar gene transcription, and the number and length of flagella.

CONCLUSIONS: Our data show that as well as being a metabolic enzyme, H. pylori LuxS has an alternative role in regulation of motility by modulating flagellar transcripts and flagellar biosynthesis through production of the signalling molecule AI-2.

A Review of Directional Modulation Technology

Directional modulation (DM) is an emerging technology for securing wireless communications at the physical layer. This promising technology, unlike the conventional key-based cryptographic methods and the key-based physical layer security approaches, locks information signals without any requirements of keys. The locked information can only be fully recovered by the legitimate receiver(s) priory known by DM transmitters. This paper reviews the origin of the DM concept and, particularly, its development in recent years, including its mathematical model, assessment metrics, synthesis approaches, physical realizations, and finally its potential aspects for future studies.

Immune modulation in advanced radiotherapies: Targeting out-of-field effects

By virtue of being a localized treatment modality, radiotherapy is unable to deliver a tumoricidal radiation dose to tissues outside of the irradiated field. Nevertheless, ionizing radiation may result in radiation damage mediated by a bystander like effect away from the irradiated field, but this response is likely to be modest when radiotherapy is the sole treatment modality. Over the last decade there has been a re-emergence of immune modulating therapies as anti-cancer treatment modalities. Clinical trials on vaccines have on the whole been largely disappointing, but greater response rates have been observed from the immune checkpoint modulators. A clinical benefit of using such agents has been shown in disease sites such as melanoma and non-small cell lung cancer. There is growing pre-clinical data and a number of case reports which suggest the presence of abscopal effects when radiotherapy is co-administered with immune checkpoint inhibitors, suggesting that this combination may lead to an enhanced tumour response outside of the primary treatment field. In this review, the mechanisms of such an enhanced out-of-field tumour response, the potential clinical utilities, the optimal radiotherapy delivery and considerations for clinical follow-up following treatment are discussed.

Musicologist-driven writer identification in early music manuscripts

Recent renewed interest in computational writer identification has resulted in an increased number of publications. In relation to historical musicology its application has so far been limited. One of the obstacles seems to be that the clarity of the images from the scans available for computational analysis is often not sufficient. In this paper, the use of the Hinge feature is proposed to avoid segmentation and staff-line removal for effective feature extraction from low quality scans. The use of an auto encoder in Hinge feature space is suggested as an alternative to staff-line removal by image processing, and their performance is compared. The result of the experiment shows an accuracy of 87 % for the dataset containing 84 writers’ samples, and superiority of our segmentation and staff-line removal free approach. Practical analysis on Bach’s autograph manuscript of the Well-Tempered Clavier II (Additional MS. 35021 in the British Library, London) is also presented and the extensive applicability of our approach is demonstrated.

MIMO Inspired Synthesis of Directional Modulation Systems

By identifying the similarities and differences between multiple-input and multiple-output (MIMO) and directional modulation (DM) technologies, a new approach for the synthesis of DM transmitters is proposed in this paper. The synthesis method is validated using DM simulation examples, in free space and in a simplified multipath environment, using bit error rate (BER) as the performance metric.

Developments in Directional Modulation Technology

Directional modulation (DM), as a promising physical-layer security technique, is able to secure wireless communications by virtue of the property of its direction-dependent signal modulation format transmission. Here modulated signal waveform signatures can only be detected by legitimate receiver(s) positioned along a-prior assigned directions. This paper reviews the development in DM technology over recent years, and provides some recommendations for future studies.

A Far-field Pattern Separation Approach for the Synthesis of Directional Modulation Transmitter Arrays (Invited)

In this paper a far-field power pattern separation approach is proposed for the synthesis of directional modulation (DM) transmitter arrays. Separation into information pattern and interference patterns is enabled by far-field pattern null steering. Compared with other DM synthesis methods, e.g., BER-driven DM optimization and orthogonal vector injection, this approach facilitates manipulation of artificial interference spatial distributions. With such capability more interference power can be projected into those most vulnerable to eavesdropping spatial directions in free space, i.e., the information sidelobes. In such a fashion information leaked through radiation sidelobes can be effectively mitigated in a transmitter power efficient manner. The proposed synthesis approach is further validated via bit error rate (BER) simulations.

Modulation of human corticospinal excitability by paired associative stimulation

Paired Associative Stimulation (PAS) has come to prominence as a potential therapeutic intervention for the treatment of brain injury/disease, and as an experimental method with which to investigate Hebbian principles of neural plasticity in humans. Prototypically, a single electrical stimulus is directed to a peripheral nerve in advance of transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) delivered to the contralateral primary motor cortex (M1). Repeated pairing of the stimuli (i.e., association) over an extended period may increase or decrease the excitability of corticospinal projections from M1, in manner that depends on the interstimulus interval (ISI). It has been suggested that these effects represent a form of associative long-term potentiation (LTP) and depression (LTD) that bears resemblance to spike-timing dependent plasticity (STDP) as it has been elaborated in animal models. With a large body of empirical evidence having emerged since the cardinal features of PAS were first described, and in light of the variations from the original protocols that have been implemented, it is opportune to consider whether the phenomenology of PAS remains consistent with the characteristic features that were initially disclosed. This assessment necessarily has bearing upon interpretation of the effects of PAS in relation to the specific cellular pathways that are putatively engaged, including those that adhere to the rules of STDP. The balance of evidence suggests that the mechanisms that contribute to the LTP- and LTD-type responses to PAS differ depending on the precise nature of the induction protocol that is used. In addition to emphasizing the requirement for additional explanatory models, in the present analysis we highlight the key features of the PAS phenomenology that require interpretation.

Improvisation, Indeterminacy and Game-Mediated Participation in Network Music Performance

This chapter focuses on the relationship between improvisation and indeterminacy. We discuss the two practices by referring to play theory and game studies and situate it in recent network music performance. We will develop a parallel with game theory in which indeterminacy is seen as a way of articulating situations where structural decisions are left to the discernment of the performers and discuss improvisation as a method of play. The improvisation-indeterminacy relationship is discussed in the context of network music performance, which employs digital networks in the exchange of data between performers and hence relies on topological structures with varying degrees of openness and flexibility. Artists such as Max Neuhaus and The League of Automatic Music Composers initiated the development of a multitude of practices and technologies exploring the network as an environment for music making. Even though the technologies behind “the network” have shifted dramatically since Neuhaus’ use of radio in the 1960’s, a preoccupation with distribution and sharing of artistic agency has remained at the centre of networked practices. Gollo Föllmer, after undertaking an extensive review of network music initiatives, produced a typology that comprises categories as diverse as remix lists, sound toys, real/virtual space installations and network performances. For Föllmer, “the term ‘Net music’ comprises all formal and stylistic kinds of music upon which the specifics of electronic networks leave considerable traces, whereby the electronic networks strongly influence the process of musical production, the musical aesthetic, or the way music is received” (2005: 185).

Modulation of intracellular calcium homeostasis blocks autophagosome formation

Cellular stress responses often involve elevation of cytosolic calcium levels, and this has been suggested to stimulate autophagy. Here, however, we demonstrated that agents that alter intracellular calcium ion homeostasis and induce ER stress-the calcium ionophore A23187 and the sarco/endoplasmic reticulum Ca (2+)-ATPase inhibitor thapsigargin (TG)-potently inhibit autophagy. This anti-autophagic effect occurred under both nutrient-rich and amino acid starvation conditions, and was reflected by a strong reduction in autophagic degradation of long-lived proteins. Furthermore, we found that the calcium-modulating agents inhibited autophagosome biogenesis at a step after the acquisition of WIPI1, but prior to the closure of the autophagosome. The latter was evident from the virtually complete inability of A23187- or TG-treated cells to sequester cytosolic lactate dehydrogenase. Moreover, we observed a decrease in both the number and size of starvation-induced EGFP-LC3 puncta as well as reduced numbers of mRFP-LC3 puncta in a tandem fluorescent mRFP-EGFP-LC3 cell line. The anti-autophagic effect of A23187 and TG was independent of ER stress, as chemical or siRNA-mediated inhibition of the unfolded protein response did not alter the ability of the calcium modulators to block autophagy. Finally, and remarkably, we found that the anti-autophagic activity of the calcium modulators did not require sustained or bulk changes in cytosolic calcium levels. In conclusion, we propose that local perturbations in intracellular calcium levels can exert inhibitory effects on autophagy at the stage of autophagosome expansion and closure.