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Cognition Apr 2023Music is a complex system consisting of many dimensions and hierarchically organized information-the organization of which, to date, we do not fully understand. Network...
Music is a complex system consisting of many dimensions and hierarchically organized information-the organization of which, to date, we do not fully understand. Network science provides a powerful approach to representing such complex systems, from the social networks of people to modelling the underlying network structures of different cognitive mechanisms. In the present research, we explored whether network science methodology can be extended to model the melodic patterns underlying expert improvised music. Using a large corpus of transcribed improvisations, we constructed a network model in which 5-pitch sequences were linked depending on consecutive occurrences, constituting 116,403 nodes (sequences) and 157,429 edges connecting them. We then investigated whether mathematical graph modelling relates to musical characteristics in real-world listening situations via a behavioral experiment paralleling those used to examine language. We found that as melodic distance within the network increased, participants judged melodic sequences as less related. Moreover, the relationship between distance and reaction time (RT) judgements was quadratic: participants slowed in RT up to distance four, then accelerated; a parallel finding to research in language networks. This study offers insights into the hidden network structure of improvised tonal music and suggests that humans are sensitive to the property of melodic distance in this network. More generally, our work demonstrates the similarity between music and language as complex systems, and how network science methods can be used to quantify different aspects of its complexity.
Topics: Humans; Auditory Perception; Language; Judgment; Reaction Time; Music
PubMed: 36628852
DOI: 10.1016/j.cognition.2022.105362 -
Annual Review of Physical Chemistry Apr 2022We review a suite of stochastic vector computational approaches for studying the electronic structure of extended condensed matter systems. These techniques help reduce... (Review)
Review
We review a suite of stochastic vector computational approaches for studying the electronic structure of extended condensed matter systems. These techniques help reduce algorithmic complexity, facilitate efficient parallelization, simplify computational tasks, accelerate calculations, and diminish memory requirements. While their scope is vast, we limit our study to ground-state and finite temperature density functional theory (DFT) and second-order many-body perturbation theory. More advanced topics, such as quasiparticle (charge) and optical (neutral) excitations and higher-order processes, are covered elsewhere. We start by explaining how to use stochastic vectors in computations, characterizing the associated statistical errors. Next, we show how to estimate the electron density in DFT and discuss effective techniques to reduce statistical errors. Finally, we review the use of stochastic vectors for calculating correlation energies within the second-order Møller-Plesset perturbation theory and its finite temperature variational form. Example calculation results are presented and used to demonstrate the efficacy of the methods.
Topics: Electronics
PubMed: 35081326
DOI: 10.1146/annurev-physchem-090519-045916 -
Chemical Society Reviews Mar 2024Exploration for commercially viable natural hydrogen accumulations within the Earth's crust, here compared to 'foraging' for wild food, holds promise. However, a... (Review)
Review
Exploration for commercially viable natural hydrogen accumulations within the Earth's crust, here compared to 'foraging' for wild food, holds promise. However, a potentially more effective strategy lies in the artificial generation of hydrogen in natural underground reservoirs, akin to 'farming'. Both biotic and abiotic processes can be employed, converting introduced or indigenous components, gases, and nutrients into hydrogen. Through studying natural hydrogen-generating reactions, we can discern pathways for optimized engineering. Some reactions may be inherently slow, allowing for a 'seed and leave' methodology, where sites are infused with gases, nutrients, and specific bacterial strains, then left to gradually produce hydrogen. However, other reactions could offer quicker outcomes to harvest hydrogen. A crucial element of this strategy is our innovative concept of 'X' components-ranging from trace minerals to bioengineered microbes. These designed components enhance biotic and/or abiotic reactions and prove vital in accelerating hydrogen production. Drawing parallels with our ancestors' transition from hunter-gathering to agriculture, we propose a similar paradigm shift in the pursuit of hydrogen energy. As we transition towards a hydrogen-centric energy landscape, the amalgamation of geochemistry, advanced biology, and engineering emerges as a beacon, signalling a pathway towards a sustainable and transformative energy future.
Topics: Hydrogen; Agriculture; Physical Phenomena
PubMed: 38323342
DOI: 10.1039/d3cs00723e -
JCO Clinical Cancer Informatics Feb 2022This is an update to a previously published report characterizing the impact that efforts to control the COVID-19 pandemic have had on the normal course of...
PURPOSE
This is an update to a previously published report characterizing the impact that efforts to control the COVID-19 pandemic have had on the normal course of cancer-related encounters.
METHODS
Data were analyzed from 22 US health care organizations (members of the TriNetX global network) having relevant, up-to-date encounter data. Although the original study compared encounter data pre-COVID-19 (January-April 2019) with the corresponding months in 2020, this update considers data through April 2021. As before, cohorts were generated for all neoplasm patients (malignant, benign, in situ, and of unspecified behavior), all new incidence neoplasm patients, exclusively malignant neoplasm patients, and new incidence malignant neoplasm patients. Data on the initial cancer stage were available for calendar year 2020 from about one third of the study's organizations.
RESULTS
Although COVID-19 cases fluctuated through 2021, newly diagnosed cancers closely paralleled the prepandemic base year 2019. Similarly, screening for breast, colorectal, and cervical cancers quickly recovered beginning in May 2020 to prepandemic numbers. Preliminary data for the initial cancer stage showed no significant difference ( > .10) in distribution for breast or colon cancers between 2019 and 2020.
CONCLUSION
Although the number of COVID-19 cases fluctuated, the steep declines observed during March and April 2020 in screening for breast and colon cancer and patients with newly diagnosed cancer did not continue through the rest of 2020 and into April 2021. Screening and new incidence cancer numbers quickly rose compared with prepandemic levels. The concern that more patients with advanced-stage cancer would be seen in the months following the drastic dips of March-April 2020 was not realized as the major disruption to normal cancer care was limited to these 2 months.
Topics: COVID-19; Humans; Incidence; Neoplasms; Pandemics; SARS-CoV-2
PubMed: 35258986
DOI: 10.1200/CCI.21.00200 -
American Journal of Pharmaceutical... Aug 2022The primary objective of this study was to gain an understanding of student pharmacist learning that occurs during international advanced pharmacy practice experiences...
The primary objective of this study was to gain an understanding of student pharmacist learning that occurs during international advanced pharmacy practice experiences (APPEs). The secondary objective was to direct the development of suitable predeparture orientation activities for pharmacy students. University of Kentucky College of Pharmacy students authored blogs between 2012 and 2019 describing patient care and non-patient care international APPEs. This study utilized inductive thematic analysis to analyze the blogs and define codes, categories, and themes from the data set. The entire data set was used to generate changes to an orientation program delivered to students before they study abroad (predeparture orientation). The analysis included 47 blogs from which seven pictorial codes and 24 text codes were isolated to ultimately form four categories: Learning About Health Care; My Surroundings; Logistics; and Me, Myself, and I. Two overall themes emerged from the codes and categories: Everything Is Different and Here's What I Think and Feel. Through examining the data and reviewing other studies focusing on study abroad experiences, the results indicate that the themes isolated in this study parallel previously described benefits of studying abroad. Additionally, analysis of the blogs suggested that expanding the predeparture orientation for students and including follow-up discussions may facilitate student understanding prior to travel. This study gives unique insight into thoughts and the relative importance of pharmacy students' experiences while studying abroad. The resulting data, considered along with previously published studies, can guide educators in refining predeparture materials. Further studies are needed to evaluate the effectiveness of revised predeparture orientation.
Topics: Education, Pharmacy; Humans; Pharmaceutical Services; Pharmacists; Pharmacy; Students, Pharmacy
PubMed: 34785494
DOI: 10.5688/ajpe8673 -
Sleep Nov 2023Insufficient sleep is a concerning hallmark of modern society because sleep deprivation (SD) is a risk factor for neurodegenerative and cardiometabolic disorders. SD...
STUDY OBJECTIVES
Insufficient sleep is a concerning hallmark of modern society because sleep deprivation (SD) is a risk factor for neurodegenerative and cardiometabolic disorders. SD imparts an aging-like effect on learning and memory, although little is known about possible common molecular underpinnings of SD and aging. Here, we examine this question by profiling metabolic features across different tissues after acute SD in young adult and aged mice.
METHODS
Young adult and aged mice were subjected to acute SD for 5 hours. Blood plasma, hippocampus, and liver samples were subjected to UPLC-MS/MS-based metabolic profiling.
RESULTS
SD preferentially impacts peripheral plasma and liver profiles (e.g. ketone body metabolism) whereas the hippocampus is more impacted by aging. We further demonstrate that aged animals exhibit SD-like metabolic features at baseline. Hepatic alterations include parallel changes in nicotinamide metabolism between aging and SD in young animals. Overall, metabolism in young adult animals is more impacted by SD, which in turn induces aging-like features. A set of nine metabolites was classified (79% correct) based on age and sleep status across all four groups.
CONCLUSIONS
Our metabolic observations demonstrate striking parallels to previous observations in studies of learning and memory and define a molecular metabolic signature of sleep loss and aging.
Topics: Mice; Animals; Sleep Deprivation; Chromatography, Liquid; Tandem Mass Spectrometry; Sleep; Aging
PubMed: 37738102
DOI: 10.1093/sleep/zsad246 -
Current Research in Food Science 2022Studying the composition of a certain food is not enough to predict its health benefits. Research over the past decades has decisively strengthened the notion that any... (Review)
Review
Studying the composition of a certain food is not enough to predict its health benefits. Research over the past decades has decisively strengthened the notion that any putative health benefit is best related to the fraction of compounds transferred from ingested foods into the body since the absorption may be incomplete after oral consumption. In other words, the bioavailability of food components is crucial information. Therefore, a variety of models have been developed to predict their bioaccessibility and bioavailability in the most diverse food matrices and food products. These models can also be applied to study the impact of several endogenous or exogenous factors on the bioaccessibility and bioavailability of nutrients and bioactive compounds, guiding nutrition and food scientists, technologists, and engineers towards the development of strategies to optimize the positive impact of the diet on well-being and quality of life. While bioavailability is ideally examined in human volunteers, digestion methods, as well as intestinal absorption and microphysiological models, simulate human physiological conditions. Additionally, methods are alternatives to offset ethical, economical, and experimental limitations associated with studies conducted either with individuals or animals. This graphical review draws parallels between models mimicking digestion processes, uptake, absorption, metabolism, and distribution of dietary compounds and human physiology.
PubMed: 35106487
DOI: 10.1016/j.crfs.2022.01.002 -
Ecology and Evolution May 2022Studying the genetics of phenotypic convergence can yield important insights into adaptive evolution. Here, we conducted a comparative genomic study of four lineages...
Studying the genetics of phenotypic convergence can yield important insights into adaptive evolution. Here, we conducted a comparative genomic study of four lineages (species and subspecies) of anadromous shad () that have independently evolved life cycles entirely completed in freshwater. Three naturally diverged (. , .. , and .), and the fourth (. ) was artificially landlocked during the last century. To conduct this analysis, we assembled and annotated a draft of the . genome and generated whole-genome sequencing for 16 anadromous and freshwater populations of shad. Widespread evidence for parallel genetic changes in freshwater populations within lineages was found. In freshwater . , which have only been diverging for tens of generations, this shows that parallel adaptive evolution can rapidly occur. However, parallel genetic changes across lineages were comparatively rare. The degree of genetic parallelism was not strongly related to the number of shared polymorphisms between lineages, thus suggesting that other factors such as divergence among ancestral populations or environmental variation may influence genetic parallelism across these lineages. These overall patterns were exemplified by genetic differentiation involving a paralog of - that appears to be under selection in just two of the more distantly related lineages studied, .. and . . Our findings provide insights into the genetic architecture of adaptation and parallel evolution along a continuum of population divergence.
PubMed: 35646309
DOI: 10.1002/ece3.8908 -
Annals of Anatomy = Anatomischer... Jan 2021To describe the BV anatomy in detail, to compare previous BV descriptions and illustrations to the current study's findings and photograms, to show the BV topographic...
BACKGROUND
To describe the BV anatomy in detail, to compare previous BV descriptions and illustrations to the current study's findings and photograms, to show the BV topographic relation of the BV to the urethral meatus, to document the BV anatomy using photograms.
METHODS
Ten fresh human female adult cadavers were used. Stratum-by-stratum anatomical dissections in sagittal, transverse, and coronal planes were performed. The BV was dissected-off from the original location of the posterior-distal vaginal wall and the anterior anal wall.
RESULTS
The BV was located within the posterior-distal vagina and composed of two vertical legs, which fused to one another. The inferior pars intermedia fused both descending legs to the anterior-proximal perineal urethral wall, and BV embraced the anterior-proximal urethra. The superior pars intermedia connects the BV to the posterior-distal clitoral body. The BV legs traversed parallel to and aside from the vaginal introitus and the lateral urethra and not crossing the anterior-distal urethra. The tile-end was a tapered end which terminates in the vicinity of Bartholin glands. Laterally, the BV legs outspread to the medial labia minora and attach to the ischiopubic ramus. The anatomical site-specific defect (s) occurs within the BV.
CONCLUSIONS
The present study resolves the BV anatomical controversy and shows that the BV runs parallel to and aside from the anterior-distal urethra and the BV. The site-specific defect(s) can occur within the BV. This study provides important information for anatomy educators and surgeons.
Topics: Adult; Cadaver; Clitoris; Dissection; Female; Humans; Male; Urethra; Vagina
PubMed: 32889108
DOI: 10.1016/j.aanat.2020.151588 -
International Journal of Offender... Oct 2023This study explored emotional patterns in relation to the Offence Paralleling Behavior and the schema mode frameworks. The study retrospectively assesses schema modes in...
This study explored emotional patterns in relation to the Offence Paralleling Behavior and the schema mode frameworks. The study retrospectively assesses schema modes in the events prior and during criminal and institutional violent behavior. It draws upon observer-ratings of schema modes by 42 male patients who received mandated clinical care in a forensic hospital in the Netherlands. Wilcoxon Signed Ranked tests showed no differences between events prior crimes and incidents with regard to schema modes that relate to universal childhood needs with the exception of impulsive child mode. States of intoxication were more prevalent prior and during the crimes than during the incidents. Furthermore, modes tended to be less activated during incidents, particularly low self-control, conning and manipulating, and self-aggrandizer modes. It is hoped that criminal justice institutions and their staff would benefit from being more aware of schema mode in order to prevent and deal with incidental violence.
PubMed: 37902405
DOI: 10.1177/0306624X231206516