Institute for Musicology

A wide range of vibrating structures are characterized by variable structural dynamics resulting from changes in environmental and operational conditions, posing challenges in their identification and associated condition assessment. To tackle this issue, the present contribution introduces a stochastic modeling methodology via Gaussian Process (GP) time-series models. In the presently introduced approach, the vibration response is represented by means of a random coefficient time-series model, whose coefficients comply with a GP regression on the environmental and operational parameters. The approach may be implemented in conjunction to any type of linear-in-the-parameters time-series model, ranging from simple AR models to more complex non-linear or nonstationary time-series models. The obtained GP time-series modeling approach provides an effective and compact global representation of the vibrational response of a structure under a wide span of environmental and operational conditions. The effectiveness of the postulated GP time-series models is demonstrated through two case studies: the first involves the identification of the vertical vibration response of the Humber bridge, evaluated over a period of three years; the second considers the long-term simulated vibration response of a wind turbine featuring non-stationary dynamics stemming from the rotor speed. In both cases, the variation of the average wind speed is the main driver of uncertainty, while, through application of the proposed GP time-series models, it is possible to track the resulting variation in modal quantities.

Humic substances are ubiquitous in soils and waters. These complex superstructures are derived from the decomposition of dead plant and animal matter and are vital to soil health. Their heterogenous composition is specific to their site of origin and is comprised of weakly bound aggregates of small organic compounds that can sequester minerals and make them available to plants. As such, they may possess potential nutritional value for humans, and extractions of fulvic and humic acids can be produced that could be suitable for such purposes. For this reason, we evaluated the toxicological profile of a specific preparation (blk. 333) of fulvic and humic acids derived from a lignite deposit in Alberta, Canada and found it to lack genotoxic potential in a bacterial reverse mutation test, in vitro mammalian chromosomal aberration test, and in vivo mammalian micronucleus test. No general or organ toxicity was observed in Wistar rats following 90 days of continuous exposure, and a no observed adverse effect level (NOEAL) was determined at 2000 mg/kg bw/day, the highest tested dose. Our results suggest the feasibility of further evaluation for development of the preparation as a nutritional supplement in food.

<h3>BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE:</h3> Temporal encephaloceles are increasingly visualized during neuroimaging assessment of individuals with refractory temporal lobe epilepsy, and their identification could indicate an intracranial abnormality that may be related to a potential seizure focus. Careful review by an experienced neuroradiologist may yield improved detection of TEs, and other clinical, neurophysiologic, and radiologic findings may predict their presence. <h3>MATERIALS AND METHODS:</h3> Data were reviewed retrospectively in patients at our institution who were presented at a multidisciplinary conference for refractory epilepsy between January 1, 2010, and December 31, 2016. Clinical, neurophysiologic, and imaging data were collected. An expert neuroradiologist reviewed the latest MR imaging of the brain in patients for whom one was available, noting the presence or absence of temporal encephaloceles as well as other associated imaging characteristics. <h3>RESULTS:</h3> A total of 434 patients were reviewed, 16 of whom were excluded due to unavailable or poor-quality MR imaging. Seven patients had temporal encephaloceles reported on initial imaging, while 52 patients had temporal encephaloceles identified on expert review. MR imaging findings were more often initially normal in patients with temporal encephaloceles (<i>P</i> &lt; .001), and detection of temporal encephaloceles was increased in patients in whom 3T MR imaging was performed (<i>P</i> &lt; .001), the T2 sampling perfection with application-optimized contrasts by using different flip angle evolutions sequence was used (<i>P</i> &lt; .001), or the presence of radiologic findings suggestive of idiopathic intracranial hypertension was noted. Seizure onset by scalp electroencephalogram among patients with temporal encephaloceles was significantly more likely to be temporal compared with patients without temporal encephaloceles (<i>P</i> &lt; .001). A significant correlation between intracranial electroencephalogram seizure onset and patients with temporal encephaloceles compared with patients without temporal encephaloceles was not observed, though there was a trend toward temporal-onset seizures in patients with temporal encephaloceles (<i>P</i> = .06). <h3>CONCLUSIONS:</h3> Careful review of MR imaging in patients with refractory temporal lobe epilepsy by a board-certified neuroradiologist with special attention paid to a high-resolution T2 sequence can increase the detection of subtle temporal encephaloceles, and certain clinical and neurophysiologic findings should raise the suspicion for their presence.

Background: Despite an increasing understanding of atrial fibrillation (AF) pathophysiology, translation into mechanism-based treatment options is lacking. In atrial cardiomyocytes of patients with chronic AF, expression, and function of tandem of P domains in a weak inward rectifying TASK-1 (K + channel–related acid-sensitive K + channel-1) (K 2P 3.1) atrial-specific 2-pore domain potassium channels is enhanced, resulting in action potential duration shortening. TASK-1 channel inhibition prevents action potential duration shortening to maintain values observed among sinus rhythm subjects. The present preclinical study used a porcine AF model to evaluate the antiarrhythmic efficacy of TASK-1 inhibition by adeno-associated viral anti–TASK-1-siRNA (small interfering RNA) gene transfer. Methods: AF was induced in domestic pigs by atrial burst stimulation via implanted pacemakers. Adeno-associated viral vectors carrying anti–TASK-1-siRNA were injected into both atria to suppress TASK-1 channel expression. After the 14-day follow-up period, porcine cardiomyocytes were isolated from right and left atrium, followed by electrophysiological and molecular characterization. Results: AF was associated with increased TASK-1 transcript, protein and ion current levels leading to shortened action potential duration in atrial cardiomyocytes compared to sinus rhythm controls, similar to previous findings in humans. Anti–TASK-1 adeno-associated viral application significantly reduced AF burden in comparison to untreated AF pigs. Antiarrhythmic effects of anti–TASK-1-siRNA were associated with reduction of TASK-1 currents and prolongation of action potential durations in atrial cardiomyocytes to sinus rhythm values. Conclusions Adeno-associated viral-based anti–TASK-1 gene therapy suppressed AF and corrected cellular electrophysiological remodeling in a porcine model of AF. Suppression of AF through selective reduction of TASK-1 currents represents a new option for antiarrhythmic therapy.

The environmental crisis is not only the fault of failed engineering, bad science, ecological misunderstanding, poor accounting, and bitter politics. It is also a failure of holistic problem solving, interpersonal relations, ethics, imagination, and creativity. In short, the environmental crisis is a failure of culture.1 Humanist academics (particularly philosophers, literary scholars, and historians) work to understand the people, cultures, and ethical situations that created, perpetuate, attempt to solve, and face this crisis. In that context, musicologists have perspectives and insights to offer, especially because of the ubiquity of music, the importance that most people accord to it, and the communicative and emotional powers associated with music and the communities who make, enjoy, and consume it. There are good prospects for ecomusicology to contribute to the larger humanistic endeavor of understanding and addressing this crisis of culture, but such possibilities are tempered by problems and challenges. Although a longer list deserves to be enumerated, and numerous examples and lacunae could be proffered, I will outline just a half dozen items

A battery of toxicological studies was conducted in accordance with internationally accepted standards to investigate the genotoxicity and repeated-dose oral toxicity of Fernblock ® , a commercial aqueous extraction of the leaves of the tropical fern Polypodium leucotomos used for its oral and topical photoprotective properties. No evidence of mutagenicity was observed in a bacterial reverse mutation test or in vitro mammalian chromosomal aberration test nor was any genotoxic activity observed in an in vivo mouse micronucleus test. Two repeated-dose oral toxicity studies were conducted in male and female Wistar rats. In the first study, no mortality or toxic effects were observed and no target organs were identified at doses administered for 14 days by gavage up to the maximum dose of 5000 mg/kg bw/day. Based on these results, a 90-day study was conducted at 0, 300, 600, and 1200 mg/kg bw/day. No mortality or treatment-related adverse effects were observed and no target organs were identified. The NOAEL from the 90-day study was determined to be 1200 mg/kg bw/day, the highest dose tested. • Fernblock ® was not mutagenic and showed no genotoxic activity. • The NOAEL of the 14-day study was 5000 mg/kg bw/d—the highest dose tested. • The NOAEL of the 90-day study was 1200 mg/kg bw/d—the highest dose tested. • No target organs or treatment-related toxicological effects were identified. • Our results are relevant to the evaluation of the safety of human ingestion of Fernblock ® .

This study integrates perceived enjoyment and perceived trust into a technology acceptance model (TAM) to understand consumer’s acceptance of online travel products. The data were collected by e-mail questionnaire technique. Furthermore, partial least squares structural equation modelling was applied for data analysis because of the data were non-normally distributed and sample size was small. Structural equation model reveals that perceived ease of use, perceived enjoyment and perceived trust influence consumers’s attitudes toward online shopping. Perceived enjoyment has strong effect on perceived usefulness. Moreover, perceived usefulness has a stronger influence on behavioral intention than on attitudes toward online shopping

The purpose of the present study was to investigate aspects of vibrato performance among high school and university string players. The main questions were to determine whether students consistently initiate vibrato in an upward or downward direction and whether players vibrate continuously when performing slurs. Forty high school and university violin and cello students played exercises that included tones performed with and without vibrato. We measured direction and magnitude of change when initiating vibrato, pitch levels of vibrated and nonvibrated tones, and duration of nonvibrato when performing slurs. Results showed that these high school and university players did not reveal consistent initial vibrato movements in either direction or magnitude. Performers vibrated both above and below conceived pitch, rather than only upward or only downward. All performers stopped vibrating during the transition between slurred notes. Mean duration of nonvibrato portions of university students (0.42 second) was slightly less than that of high school students (0.50 second). Implications of these results for string pedagogy are discussed. March 28, 2005 June 7, 2005

Drug Prescribing for Patients with Chronic Kidney Disease in General Practice: a Cross-Sectional Study

Componente indissociável da fala e do canto, a voz é um objeto fugidio que escapa às abordagens parciais das várias disciplinas que dela se ocupam. A partir desta constatação, discuto o lugar da voz nos saberes sobre a música. As tipologias vocais geradas no canto erudito, comprometidas com as técnicas e estéticas desenvolvidas na Europa, modernamente, não são extensivas às vocalizações populares e folclóricas. As análises musicais que privilegiam o eixo sintático da música também dizem pouco sobre a voz. Revejo, então, alguns aspectos da “cantométrica” de Alan Lomax, metodologia que – juntamente com as etnografias da fala e da música – constitui um avanço na integração de fonética, antropologia e musicologia.

-a tendency for more accessible sequences to occur at the beginning of a phrase, allowing incremental planning later in the same phrase. Our analysis shows consistent evidence of easy first in improvised music, with the beginning of musical phrases containing both more frequent and less complex sequences. The findings indicate that expert jazz musicians, known for spontaneous creative performance, reliably retrieve easily accessed melodic sequences before creating more complex sequences, suggesting that a domain-general sequencing system may support multiple forms of complex human behavior, from language production to music improvisation. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

It can be stated that dance notation was proved to be an established tool for dance research and dance education in understanding and analyzing movement. This theorem is especially valid in cases where, the structure of dance is amorphous, the units of movement sequences differ from that of the accompanying music, the tempo of the dance is high. Dance notation is used rather isolated in the field of traditional dance in Hungary, mainly in dance research. In the light of the research introduced above it is highly recommended to introduce dance notation in research, education, aesthetics and criticism in the other genres of dance.

As a legacy of the Habsburg Empire, performances of Jacques Offenbach's musical stage works played an important role in Budapest musico-theatrical life in the twentieth century. However, between the collapse of the Empire and the 1956 anti-Soviet revolution, political ideologies strongly influenced the character of these productions, when they took place. Public performances of Offenbach's works were prohibited between 1938 and 1945 and they became the bases for propagandadistic adaptations in the 1950s. This element explores how the local operetta tradition and the vogue of operettas featuring composers as characters during the interwar period were also important factors in how Offenbach's stage works were performed in mid-twentieth century Budapest in versions that sometimes bore little resemblance to the originals.

Electroacoustic music has a longstanding relationship with gesture and space. This paper marks the start of a project investigating acousmatic spatial imagery, real gestural behaviour and ultimately the formation of tangible acousmatic images. These concepts are explored experimentally using motion tracking in a source-sound recording context, interactive parameter-mapping sonification in three-dimensional high-order ambisonics, composition and performance. The spatio-musical role of physical actions in relation to instrument excitation is used as a point of departure for embodying physical spatial gestures in the creative process. The work draws on how imagery for music is closely linked with imagery for music-related actions.

Playing helps us in learning and developing more kinds of skills, further in developing our emotional world, not only in traditional society but in any time and any place. Singing strengthens collective consciousness and identity. Besides, playing and singing as basic forms of entertainment assure enjoying ourselves to us. We have to learn and do them for the sake of living a perfect life: to be able to express our joy and to amuse ourselves. *** Igranje pomaga pri učenju in razvijanju številnih sposobnosti, pa tudi pri razvoju čustvenega sveta, ne le v tradicionalni družbi, ampak v katerem koli prostoru in času. Petje krepi kolektivno zavest in identiteto. Poleg tega igranje in petje kot osnovni obliki zabave zagotavljata, da uživamo tudi sami s seboj. Zato se ju moramo učiti in s petjem in igranjem izražati svoje veselje in se zabavati.

Introduction Combating antimicrobial resistance is one of the most pressing public health challenges of our time. The rapid spread of resistant, zoonotic bacterial strains in livestock farming is increasingly raising concerns about the need to reduce antibiotic use. Because of this, there is an urgent need for safe and effective alternatives in animal husbandry. Methods This study aimed to perform an in vivo the dose–response analysis of fenugreek ( Trigonella foenum-graecum ), as a plant-based antibiotic alternative feed supplement in Bábolna Tetra-SL chicks (1–42 days old) with a 1:1 sex ratio. A total of 270 chicks were randomly assigned to 18 groups (15 birds per group) and subjected to six different treatment groups in three replicates: fenugreek at 1×, 10×, and 100× doses, an antibiotic-treated group (enrofloxacin), a positive control group (infection only), and a negative control group (no infection or treatment). The infection was induced using mixed Salmonella Enteritidis and Escherichia coli , administered via gavage on days 3 and 4 of life. The birds were monitored for clinical symptoms, body weight, feed intake, and Salmonella shedding through cloacal swab samples. Statistical analyses included mixed-effect logistic regression for mortality, mixed-effect linear models for weight gain, two-way ANOVA for feed efficiency, and random effects continuation ratio models for Salmonella isolation. Results Significant interactions for Group:Day and Sex:Day in weight gain were identified ( p &amp;lt; 0.0001 for both). Additionally, the 1 × dose group showed significantly reduced Salmonella shedding compared to the positive control group on day 33 ( p = 0.0031). The low-dose group (1×) demonstrated the most promising results, showing a 63% reduction in Salmonella shedding on day 10 and 31% on day 17. This group exhibited the fewest clinical symptoms, no diarrhea, and the lowest individual and specific feed intake up to day 24. Discussion The findings of this study suggest that low-dose fenugreek supplementation could be a viable strategy for reducing Salmonella shedding in poultry, potentially contributing to reduced antibiotic use in poultry farming and thus playing a role in the global effort to combat antimicrobial resistance. Future research will involve large-scale industrial trials and next-generation sequencing to evaluate the additive’s impact on gut microbiota composition.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Extracranial vessel wall MRI (EC-VWI) contributes to vasculopathy characterization. This survey study investigated EC-VWI adoption by American Society of Neuroradiology (ASNR) members and indications and barriers to implementation. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The ASNR Vessel Wall Imaging Study Group survey on EC-VWI use, frequency, applications, MR imaging systems and field strength used, protocol development approaches, vendor engagement, reasons for not using EC-VWI, ordering provider interest, and impact on clinical care was distributed to the ASNR membership between April 2, 2019, to August 30, 2019. RESULTS: There were 532 responses; 79 were excluded due to minimal, incomplete response and 42 due to redundant institutional responses, leaving 411 responses. Twenty-six percent indicated that their institution performed EC-VWI, with 66.3% performing it ≤1-2 times per month, most frequently on 3T MR imaging, with most using combined 3D and 2D protocols. Protocols most commonly included pre- and postcontrast T1-weighted imaging, TOF-MRA, and contrast-enhanced MRA. Inflammatory vasculopathy (63.3%), plaque vulnerability assessments (61.1%), intraplaque hemorrhage (61.1%), and dissection-detection/characterization (51.1%) were the most frequent applications. For those not performing EC-VWI, the reasons were a lack of ordering provider interest (63.9%), lack of radiologist time/interest (47.5%) or technical support (41.4%) for protocol development, and limited interpretation experience (44.9%) and knowledge of clinical applications (43.7%). Reasons given by 46.9% were that no providers approached radiology with interest in EC-VWI. If barriers were overcome, 51.1% of those not performing EC-VWI indicated they would perform it, and 40.6% were unsure; 48.6% did not think that EC-VWI had impacted patient management at their institution. CONCLUSIONS: Only 26% of neuroradiology groups performed EC-VWI, most commonly due to limited clinician interest. Improved provider and radiologist education, protocols, processing techniques, technical support, and validation trials could increase adoption.

The long-term goal of my research has been to systematize and compare by musical criteria the folk songs of Turkic groups and ethnicities living around them. Here I rarely touch on instrumental folk music, the repertoire of professional or semi-professional performers, the most recent strata, seldom or just occasionally discuss art music and the cultural, social and anthropological implications of music are only sporadically considered, too. There are close connections between the languages of Turkic groups but their musical stocks are fundamentally different.

A tanulmányban a szerző áttekinti a Kárpát-medencéből ismert kocsimodelleket a rézkortól a középső bronzkorig. Az elmúlt évtizedek kutatási eredményei (edényekre rajzolt kocsiábrázolás, igavonó állatok torzói, keréklenyomatok ismertté válása, radiocarbon-adatok) jelentősen módosították a kocsi európai megjelenésének időpontját: egyre több bizonyíték szól amellett, hogy a kerekes jármű már a badeni kultúra előtt is létezett. A szerző ezeket a bizonyítékokat veszi sorra egy új kocsimodell közlésének apropóján.

Abstract Deuterium‐labeled compounds play a pivotal role in physical organic chemistry, life sciences, and materials science. This has resulted in a surge of interest in deuterium‐labeled active pharmaceutical ingredients in recent years. In this study, we present a continuous flow Raney nickel‐catalyzed hydrogen isotope exchange process that boasts compatibility with a wide spectrum of nitrogen‐containing heterocycles and pharmaceutical compounds. The broad applicability of the developed method was demonstrated through successful labeling of various purine bases, imidazoles, pyridines, and active pharmaceutical ingredients, including complex structures like abacavir and remdesivir. Control experiments revealed Raney nickel‘s crucial role in the exchange process, showcasing the superiority of the continuous flow approach over batch reactions. Furthermore, a scaled‐up experiment demonstrated the robustness of the catalyst.