Professional musicians are often exposed to high noise levels and thus face the risk of noise-induced hearing loss. Yet, adoption rates for hearing protection among musicians are low. Previous ...surveys indicate that the chief concern is the effect of hearing protection use on performance. However, few studies have investigated actual changes in performance when wearing hearing protection. We report an experiment investigating differences in pianists’ performance and experience with and without hearing protection. We compare the effect of foam earplugs and musician earplugs, designed to preserve sound quality with a flat frequency response. The analysis revealed that participants performed overall more loudly with the foam earplugs than with the musician earplugs, and in turn performances with the musician earplugs were louder than the open condition, indicating a compensatory effect. However, this effect was stronger for novel excerpts than for familiar excerpts. No effect was observed on dynamic range. Furthermore, we observed an acclimatization effect, whereby the effect of hearing protection use, observed on the first performance, decreased on the second performance. In terms of experience, participants reported changes in coloration, difficulties gauging dynamics and articulation, and increased effort required when performing with hearing protection. These effects were more pronounced when wearing the foam earplugs, and the participants reported finding the musician earplugs more comfortable to wear and play with. In conclusion, hearing protection use affects pianists’ performance particularly in terms of dynamics and their experience more so in terms of coloration. But the effects are less marked for familiar pieces and after repetition, suggesting that pianists can quickly adjust their playing when playing familiar pieces with hearing protection.
Music composition using artificial intelligence has gained increasing research attention recently. However, existing methods often generate music that needs more coherence and authenticity. This ...paper proposes an evolutionary computation-based deep learning approach for music composition with data analysis. Specifically, we utilize long short-term memory (LSTM) networks for generating melodic sequences and adopt a grey wolf optimizer to optimize LSTM hyperparameters. The training data is first converted to musical instrument digital interface (MIDI) format for data analysis, and melody lines are extracted using a similarity matrix method. The MIDI data is then encoded for input into the LSTM networks. The generated music is evaluated using objective metrics like mean squared error and subjective methods, including surveys of music professionals. Comparisons made to benchmark algorithms like generative adversarial networks demonstrate the advantages of our approach in accurately capturing tone, rhythm, artistic conception, and other attributes of high-quality music. The proposed mechanism provides a practical framework for AI-based music generation while ensuring authenticity.
•This study introduces a novel approach that combines GWO and LSTM for music composition.•This study employs GWO to optimize the hyperparameters of LSTM, enhancing the effectiveness of music generation.•The training data is converted to MIDI format, and melody lines are extracted using a similarity matrix method.•LSTM focuses on the input of capturing tone, rhythm, artistic conception, and other attributes of high-quality music.
This paper presents a method for systematic investigations on static and dynamic roll behavior and improvement to the stability dynamics based on increasing roll stiffness of the suspension. One of ...the major differences of this study from previous work is that it includes parametric sensitivity analysis in order to increase the safety margin from the roll angle threshold using the static and dynamic tests and it compares the results within themselves. As the physical tilt table test cannot be continued until vehicle rollover actually occurs, this test was performed in a simulation with verified vehicle model using Adams/Car. Three different front anti-roll bars and two different front leaf springs were used during the tests in order to perform parametric sensitivity analysis and examine the effect of components on the stability performance.
In summary, within the scope of this work, unlike the previous studies, experiments involving physical tests (i.e. tilt table, fishhook and cornering) and numerical calculations are included. In addition, verification of the virtual model, parametric sensitivity analysis and the comparison of the virtual test and the physical test is performed. Because of the vigorous verification, sensitivity analysis and validation process, the results can be more reliable compared to previous studies.
The Arduino platform provides a virtually limitless range of creative opportunities to musicians who are interested to explore new technologies. In Arduino for Musicians, Brent Edstrom provides a ...comprehensive guide to the underlying technologies enabling the creation of custom instruments that respond to light, touch, breath, and other forms of control.
The market for specialty coffee is growing as consumer preferences for high quality coffee become more complex. Identifying the sources of heterogeneity in consumer preferences for specialty coffee ...is essential to optimizing producer marketing strategies to ensure they both fully capitalize on and satisfy consumer demand. One source of increasing interest is consumer personality profiles, specifically those categorized by the Big Six personality traits. We use the Midlife Development Inventory to investigate the effect of consumer personality traits on willingness to pay for coffee produced by farmer cooperatives. Results from a field experiment using a Becker-DeGroot-Marschak mechanism indicate that, on average, consumers are willing to pay a $1.31 premium for a cup of pour over coffee that was produced by a cooperative member farmer. Consumers exhibiting the extraversion and conscientiousness traits were, on average, willing to pay an even higher premium while those with higher levels of agency had a lower willingness to pay. Results further highlight that sociodemographic characteristics do not always drive consumer purchase decisions and, in the absence of significant sociodemographic influence, intrinsic consumer characteristics like personality traits can better explain preferences.
Display omitted
•Personality traits influence preferences for specialty coffee.•Consumers are willing to pay premiums for coffee produced by farmer cooperatives.•Extraversion and conscientiousness increase preference for cooperative-grown coffee.•Agency decreases willingness to pay for cooperative-grown coffee.
Large deformation in soils and frictional soil-structure contact are important geotechnical processes that should be considered when designing protective structures to cushion the impact of mass ...flows. In this paper, a numerical model combining the material point method and finite element method (MPM-FEM) is developed to simulate three-dimensional soil-structure interactions. In this model, soil with large deformation is discretized by using the MPM, while structures with small deformation are discretized by using the FEM. A hybrid contact method combining the advantages of point-point and point-segment contacts is used to model frictional soil-structure contact. In addition, to estimate energy dissipation properly, the Drucker-Prager model with the MiDi rheological relation is adopted as the constitutive model to characterize the dynamic characteristics of soil. The MPM-FEM is first validated for several geotechnical cases, including deformation of a flexible retaining wall and granular collapse, and achieves good agreement with an error smaller than 5.82%. Then, two numerical cases, i.e. impact of granular flow on a rigid structure and design of deformable structures, are studied by using the present model. It is demonstrated that the MPM-FEM model has potential applications in geotechnical engineering, especially when modelling the interaction between soil with large deformation and structures.
Mitochondrial fission is critical for mitochondrial dynamics and homeostasis. The dynamin superfamily GTPase DRP1 is recruited by three functionally redundant receptors, MFF, MiD49, and MiD51, to ...mitochondria to drive fission. Here, we exploit high-content live-cell imaging to screen for mitochondrial fission inhibitors and have developed a covalent compound, mitochondrial division inhibitor (MIDI). MIDI treatment potently blocks mitochondrial fragmentation induced by mitochondrial toxins and restores mitochondrial morphology in fusion-defective cells carrying pathogenic mitofusin and OPA1 mutations. Mechanistically, MIDI does not affect DRP1 tetramerization nor DRP1 GTPase activity but does block DRP1 recruitment to mitochondria. Subsequent biochemical and cellular characterizations reveal an unexpected mechanism that MIDI targets DRP1 interaction with multiple receptors via covalent interaction with DRP1-C367. Taken together, beyond developing a potent mitochondrial fission inhibitor that profoundly impacts mitochondrial morphogenesis, our study establishes proof of concept for developing protein-protein interaction inhibitors targeting DRP1.
Display omitted
•MIDI is identified as a potent mitochondrial fission inhibitor•MIDI blocks mitochondrial fragmentation induced by stresses and genetic lesions•MIDI covalently interacts with DRP1-C367 to block mitochondrial fission•MIDI disrupts DRP1 interaction with its mitochondrial receptors
Yang et al. report a potent mitochondrial fission inhibitor MIDI. Cellular and biochemical investigations demonstrate that MIDI interacts with DRP1-C367 to disrupt DRP1 interaction with its mitochondrial receptors MFF and MiD49/51, thus blocking DRP1 recruitment to mitochondria and subsequent mitochondrial fission.
Chromosome Microdissection on Semi‐Archived Material Al‐Rikabi, Ahmed B. Hamid; Cioffi, Marcelo de Bello; Liehr, Thomas
Cytometry. Part A,
December 2019, 2019-12-00, 20191201, Volume:
95, Issue:
12
Journal Article
•Personality traits characterize segments for Medjool date choices.•The largest segment prefers both GMO-free and pesticide-free labeling.•Low agency and high extraversion foster preferences for more ...labels in general.•Openness is associated with a preference only for production method labelling.•Conscientiousness characterizes a restricted choice pattern.
Consumers are increasingly concerned about food production methods. In this research, we focus on GMO-free and pesticide-free labeling for Medjool dates, a fruit that has recently received more attention due to its nutritious properties. In addition to accounting for preferences, we choose a latent class approach to explain choice behavior among different consumer segments. We focus on personality traits because personality can explain preference heterogeneity, and can be utilized for marketing activities. Findings indicate that consumer preferences are different across segments and can be described with personality traits. Openness, neuroticism and agency are associated with a preference for production method labeling, but not region of origin. Extraversion fosters preferences for more labels, while conscientiousness leads to a restricted choice pattern. Agreeableness did not discriminate choice behavior. Marketers and policy makers can use these insights to design activities in alignment with the target segments’ prevalent personality traits.
Musik orisinal merupakan komposisi baru yang diciptakan dengan memodifikasi elemen-elemen musik menggunakan metode yang belum pernah dilakukan sebelumnya. Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengembangkan ...sistem pembangkitan musik Barat orisinal yang diukur berdasarkan pola urutan nada dan distribusinya yang diakuisisi dari musik Gamelan, musik tradisional dari Jawa. Lembar musik Gamelan yang digunakan sebagai sumber data dikonversi ke dalam format MIDI untuk dijadikan input bagi pelatihan jaringan LSTM berdasarkan informasi nada, langkah dan durasi. Selanjutnya, teknik sequence prediction digunakan untuk membangkitkan output nada berdasarkan input nada sebelumnya. Hasil pembangkitan musik Barat orisinal berupa data dalam format file MIDI dan visualisasinya dalam format notasi Balok. Evaluasi pada pelatihan jaringan LSTM menunjukkan hasil yang baik dengan tingkat loss sebesar 0,1. Evaluasi tingkat kemiripan pola urutan nada dan distribusinya dilakukan menggunakan grafik distribusi sampel nada, langkah dan durasi, dan hasilnya menunjukkan tingkat kemiripan yang baik.
PDF
