Skip the Pre-Concert Demo: How Technical Familiarity and Musical Style Affect Audience Response

This paper explores the roles of technical and musical familiarity in shaping audience response to digital musical instrument (DMI) performances. In an audience study conducted during an evening concert, we examined two primary questions: first, whether a deeper understanding of how a DMI works increases an audience’s enjoyment and interest in the performance; and second, given the same DMI and same performer, whether playing in a conventional (vernacular) versus an experimental musical style affects an audience’s response. We held a concert in which two DMI creator-performers each played two pieces in differing styles. Before the concert, each half the 64-person audience was given a technical explanation of one of the instruments. Results showed that receiving an explanation increased the reported understanding of that instrument, but had no effect on either the reported level of interest or enjoyment. On the other hand, performances in experimental versus conventional style on the same instrument received widely divergent audience responses. We discuss implications of these findings for DMI design

Action-Sound Latency: Are Our Tools Fast Enough?

Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0). Copyright remains with the author(s).Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0). Copyright remains with the author(s).Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0). Copyright remains with the author(s).Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0). Copyright remains with the author(s).Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0). Copyright remains with the author(s).Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0). Copyright remains with the author(s).The importance of low and consistent latency in interactive music systems is well-established. So how do commonly-used tools for creating digital musical instruments and other tangible interfaces perform in terms of latency from user action to sound output? This paper examines several common configurations where a microcontroller (e.g. Arduino) or wireless device communicates with computer-based sound generator (e.g. Max/MSP, Pd). We find that, perhaps surprisingly, almost none of the tested configurations meet generally-accepted guidelines for latency and jitter. To address this limitation, the paper presents a new embedded platform, Bela, which is capable of complex audio and sensor processing at submillisecond latency

Risky business: Disfluency as a design strategy

PosterThis paper presents a study examining the effects of disflu- ent design on audience perception of digital musical instru- ment (DMI) performance. Disfluency, defined as a barrier to effortless cognitive processing, has been shown to gen- erate better results in some contexts as it engages higher levels of cognition. We were motivated to determine if dis- fluent design in a DMI would result in a risk state that audiences would be able to perceive, and if this would have any effect on their evaluation of the performance. A DMI was produced that incorporated a disfluent characteristic: It would turn itself off if not constantly moved. Six phys- ically identical instruments were produced, each in one of three versions: Control (no disfluent characteristics), mild disfluency (turned itself off slowly), and heightened disflu- ency (turned itself off more quickly). 6 percussionists each performed on one instrument for a live audience (N=31), and data was collected in the form of real-time feedback (via a mobile phone app), and post-hoc surveys. Though there was little difference in ratings of enjoyment between the versions of the instrument, the real-time and qualita- tive data suggest that disfluent behaviour in a DMI may be a way for audiences to perceive and appreciate performer skill.This workis funded by the EPSRC through the Media and Arts Technology Centre for Doctoral Training (EP/G03723X/1), and Design for Virtuosity (EP/N005112/1

HelexKids:a word frequency database for Greek and Cypriot primary school children

In this article, we introduce HelexKids, an online written-word database for Greek-speaking children in primary education (Grades 1 to 6). The database is organized on a grade-by-grade basis, and on a cumulative basis by combining Grade 1 with Grades 2 to 6. It provides values for Zipf, frequency per million, dispersion, estimated word frequency per million, standard word frequency, contextual diversity, orthographic Levenshtein distance, and lemma frequency. These values are derived from 116 textbooks used in primary education in Greece and Cyprus, producing a total of 68,692 different word types. HelexKids was developed to assist researchers in studying language development, educators in selecting age-appropriate items for teaching, as well as writers and authors of educational books for Greek/Cypriot children. The database is open access and can be searched online at www.helexkids.org

Correlates of unintended pregnancy among currently pregnant married women in Nepal

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Women living in every country, irrespective of its development status, have been facing the problem of unintended pregnancy. Unintended pregnancy is an important public health issue in both developing and developed countries because of its negative association with the social and health outcomes for both mothers and children. This study aims to determine the prevalence and the factors influencing unintended pregnancy among currently pregnant married women in Nepal.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>This paper reports on data drawn from Nepal Demographic and Health Survey (NDHS) which is a nationally representative survey. The analysis is restricted to currently pregnant married women at the time of survey. Association between unintended pregnancy and the explanatory variables was assessed in bivariate analysis using Chi-square tests. Logistic regression was used to assess the net effect of several independent variables on unintended pregnancy.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>More than two-fifth of the currently pregnant women (41%) reported that their current pregnancy was unintended. The results indicate that age of women, age at first marriage, ideal number of children, religion, exposure to radio and knowledge of family planning methods were key predictors of unintended pregnancy. Experience of unintended pregnancy augments with women's age (odds ratio, 1.11). Similarly, increase in the women's age at first marriage reduces the likelihood of unintended pregnancy (odds ratio, 0.93). Those who were exposed to the radio were less likely (odds ratio, 0.63) to have unintended pregnancy compared to those who were not. Furthermore, those women who had higher level of knowledge about family planning methods were less likely to experience unintended pregnancy (odds ratio, 0.60) compared to those having lower level of knowledge.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>One of the important factors contributing to high level of maternal and infant mortality is unintended pregnancy. Programs should aim to reduce unintended pregnancy by focusing on all these identified factors so that infant and maternal mortality and morbidity as well as the need for abortion are decreased and the overall well-being of the family is maintained and enhanced.</p

3.0 T cardiovascular magnetic resonance in patients treated with coronary stenting for myocardial infarction: evaluation of short term safety and image quality

Purpose To evaluate safety and image quality of cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) at 3.0 T in patients with coronary stents after myocardial infarction (MI), in comparison to the clinical standard at 1.5 T. Methods Twenty-five patients (21 men; 55 ± 9 years) with first MI treated with primary stenting, underwent 18 scans at 3.0 T and 18 scans at 1.5 T. Twenty-four scans were performed 4 ± 2 days and 12 scans 125 ± 23 days after MI. Cine (steady-state free precession) and late gadolinium-enhanced (LGE, segmented inversion-recovery gradient echo) images were acquired. Patient safety and image artifacts were evaluated, and in 16 patients stent position was assessed during repeat catheterization. Additionally, image quality was scored from 1 (poor quality) to 4 (excellent quality). Results There were no clinical events within 30 days of CMR at 3.0 T or 1.5 T, and no stent migration occurred. At 3.0 T, image quality of cine studies was clinically useful in all, but not sufficient for quantitative analysis in 44% of the scans, due to stent (6/18 scans), flow (7/18 scans) and/or dark band artifacts (8/18 scans). Image quality of LGE images at 3.0 T was not sufficient for quantitative analysis in 53%, and not clinically useful in 12%. At 1.5 T, all cine and LGE images were quantitatively analyzable. Conclusion 3.0 T is safe in the acute and chronic phase after MI treated with primary stenting. Although cine imaging at 3.0 T is suitable for clinical use, quantitative analysis and LGE imaging is less reliable than at 1.5 T. Further optimization of pulse sequences at 3.0 T is essential

Low documentation of chronic kidney disease among high-risk patients in a managed care population: a retrospective cohort study

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Early detection of chronic kidney disease (CKD) is sub-optimal among the general population and among high risk patients. The prevalence and impact of major CKD risk factors, diabetes (DM) and hypertension (HTN), on CKD documentation among managed care populations have not been previously reported. We examined this issue in a Kaiser Permanente Georgia (KPG) CKD cohort.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>KPG enrollees were included in the CKD cohort if they had eGFRs between 60 and 365 days apart that were <90 ml/min during 1999-2006. The current analysis is restricted to participants with eGFR 10-59 ml/min/1.73 m². CKD documentation was defined as a presenting diagnosis of CKD by a primary care physician or nephrologist using ICD-9 event codes. The association between CKD documentation and DM and HTN were assessed with multivariate logistic regression models.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Of the 50,438 subjects within the overall KPG CKD cohort, 20% (N = 10,266) were eligible for inclusion in the current analysis. Overall, CKD diagnosis documentation was low; only 14.4% of subjects had an event-based CKD diagnosis at baseline. Gender and types 2 diabetes interacted on CKD documentation. The prevalence of CKD documentation increased with the presence of hypertension and/or type 2 diabetes, but type 2 diabetes had a lower effect on CKD documentation. In multivariate analysis, significant predictors of CKD documentation were eGFR, hypertension, type 2 diabetes, congestive heart failure, peripheral artery disease, statin use, age and gender. CKD documentation was lower among women than similarly affected men.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Among patients with an eGFR 10-59, documentation of CKD diagnosis by primary and subspecialty providers is low within a managed care patient cohort. Gender disparities in CKD documentation observed in the general population were also present among KPG CKD enrollees.</p