Perceptual Issues in Music Pattern Recognition: Complexity of Rhythm and Key Finding

We consider several perceptual issues in the context of machine recognition ofmusic patterns. It is argued that a successful implementation of a musicrecognition system must incorporate perceptual information and error criteria.We discuss several measures of rhythm complexity which are used fordetermining relative weights of pitch and rhythm errors. Then, a new methodfor determining a localized tonal context is proposed. This method is based onempirically derived key distances. The generated key assignments are then usedto construct the perceptual pitch error criterion which is based on noterelatedness ratings obtained from experiments with human listeners.     

The daimler-benz hydride vehicle project

Thirty passenger cars with hydrogen and hydrogen/gasoline hybrid operation and TiFe hydride tanks will be tested in Berlin. A central refueling station will deliver pure hydrogen derived out of the town gas network. High and low temperature hydride tanks will be tested in some vans and passenger cars in Stuttgart. An individual refueling station with integrated heat recovery will demonstrate the possibility of using existing energy infrastructures (electricity, gas) for hydrogen production.     

Unified View of Sediment Transport by Currents and Waves. IV: Application of Morphodynamic Model

The TR2004 transport formulations for clay, silt, and sand as proposed in Parts 1 and 2 have been implemented in morphodynamic models to predict bed level changes. These models have been verified using various laboratory and field data cases concerning coastal flow in offshore and near-shore zones. Furthermore, the model has been applied to two complicated sediment environments concerning the flow around a spurdike in a river and the tidal flow of cohesive sediments in the Yangtze Estuary in China. Overall, it is concluded that the morphodynamic models using default settings performs reasonably well. The applied scaling factors of the sediment transport model are in the generally accepted range of 0.5–2.     

An Organogold Compound as Potential Antimicrobial Agent against Drug-Resistant Bacteria: Initial Mechanistic Insights

The rise of antimicrobial resistance has necessitated novel strategies to efficiently combat pathogenic bacteria. Metal-based compounds have been proven as a possible alternative to classical organic drugs. Here, we have assessed the antibacterial activity of seven gold complexes of different families. One compound, a cyclometalated Au(III) C^N complex, showed activity against Gram-positive bacteria, including multi-drug resistant clinical strains. The mechanism of action of this compound was studied in Bacillus subtilis. Overall, the studies point towards a complex mode of antibacterial action, which does not include induction of oxidative stress or cell membrane damage. A number of genes related to metal transport and homeostasis were upregulated upon short treatment of the cells with gold compound. Toxicity tests conducted on precision-cut mouse tissue slices ex vivo revealed that the organogold compound is poorly toxic to mouse liver and kidney tissues, and may thus, be treated as an antibacterial drug candidate.     

Synthesis and evaluation of TAC-based inhibitors of papain as mimics of cystatin B

An approach for mimicking protein-protein interactions by using a discontinuous epitope to construct a mimic that is about one tenth of the size of a natural inhibitor of papain, namely, cystatin B, is described. The discontinuous epitope of cystatin B, which is involved in the interaction with papain, was mimicked by synthesis of a tripodal molecular construct by using the triazacyclophane (TAC) scaffold. The mimic contains three peptide arms: one that mimics the N terminus, one that mimics the C terminus, and one that mimics the beta-hairpin loop structure of cystatin B. These peptide sequences were assembled on the TAC scaffold. The resulting cystatin mimic, CysTACtin 9, showed excellent inhibition of papain with a K(i) of 12 nM, which approaches the inhibitory potency of cystatin B (K(i)=0.12 nM). Experiments with molecular constructs that contained one or two arms or a mixture of the nonscaffolded peptides showed that both scaffolding and the presence of the three peptide arms are crucial for a successful mimic.     

Discrimination between nontumor bladder tissue and tumor by Raman spectroscopy

We have applied Raman spectroscopy to discriminate between nontumor and tumor bladder tissue and to determine the biochemical differences therein. Tissue samples from 15 patients were collected, and frozen sections were made for Raman spectroscopy and histology. Twenty-five pseudocolor Raman maps were created in which each color represents a cluster of spectra measured on tissue areas of similar biochemical composition. For each cluster, the cluster-averaged spectrum (CAS) was calculated and classified as tumor and nontumor in accordance to pathohistology. Unguided hierarchical clustering was applied to display heterogeneity between and within groups of nontumor and tumor CAS. A linear discriminant analysis model was developed to discriminate between CAS from tumor and nontumor. The model was tested by a leave-one-patient-out validation, 84 of the 90 CAS (93%) were correctly classified with 94% sensitivity and 92% specificity. Biochemical differences between tumor and nontumor CAS areas were analyzed by fitting spectra of pure compounds to the CAS. Nontumor CAS showed higher collagen content while tumor CAS were characterized by higher lipid, nucleic acid, protein, and glycogen content. Raman spectroscopy enabled effective discrimination between tumor and nontumor bladder tissue based on characterized biochemical differences, despite heterogeneity expressed in both tumor and nontumor CAS.     

Theory of serial pattern production: Tree traversals.

Structural information about a serial pattern may be encoded in the form of a hierarchical memory code. Conversely, when the pattern is to be produced, the memory code should be decoded. In this article, a theory on serial pattern production is proposed that builds on F. Restle's (see record 1971-03427-001) theory of structural trees and, especially, on the process models for sequence production developed by J. G. Greeno and H. A. Simon (see record 1974-29157-001). According to the tree traversal interpreter presented in the present paper, a structural tree corresponds to the interpretive process that operates on a hierarchical memory code. A comparative analysis of computational properties and psychological relevance is substantiated by empirical test and extension to recent work on the internal representation of music. (27 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)