Tonality tunes the statistical characteristics in music: Computational approaches on statistical learning

Statistical learning is a learning mechanism based on transition probability in sequences such as music and language. Recent computational and neurophysiological studies suggest that the statistical learning contributes to production, action, and musical creativity as well as prediction and perception. The present study investigated how statistical structure interacts with tonalities in music based on various-order statistical models. To verify this in all 24 major and minor keys, the transition probabilities of the sequences containing the highest pitches in Bach’s Well-Tempered Clavier, which is a collection of two series (No. 1 and No. 2) of preludes and fugues in all of the 24 major and minor keys, were calculated based on nth-order Markov models. The transition probabilities of each sequence were compared among tonalities (major and minor), two series (No. 1 and No. 2), and music types (prelude and fugue). The differences in statistical characteristics between major and minor keys were detected in lower- but not higher-order models. The results also showed that statistical knowledge in music might be modulated by tonalities and composition periods. Furthermore, the principal component analysis detected the shared components of related keys, suggesting that the tonalities modulate statistical characteristics in music. The present study may suggest that there are at least two types of statistical knowledge in music that are interdependent on and independent of tonality, respectively

COMPARISON OF SOLUTION ALGORITHM FOR FLOW AROUND A SQUARE CYLINDER

ABSTRACT Numerical accuracy, numerical stability and calculation time are all important factors in the computational fluid dynamics. In this study, we compare two solution algorithms, the Simplified Marker and Cell (SMAC) method in the MAC-type methods and the Semi-Implicit Method for Pressure-Linked Equation (SIMPLE) algorithm in the SIMPLE-type algorithms, with respect to flow around a square cylinder in constant density and unsteady-state calculations using a staggered grid to investigate the numerical accuracy, the numerical stability and the computational time. For the flow around a square cylinder, the SMAC and SIMPLE solutions are in excellent agreement at the Strouhal number, drag and lift coefficients. However, SMAC is more unstable than SIMLE with a large Courant number. The computational time of the SMAC is shorter than that of the SIMPLE with a small Courant number

Bilinear R-parity violation with flavor symmetry

Bilinear R-parity violation (BRPV) provides the simplest intrinsically supersymmetric neutrino mass generation scheme. While neutrino mixing parameters can be probed in high energy accelerators, they are unfortunately not predicted by the theory. Here we propose a model based on the discrete flavor symmetry $A_4$ with a single R-parity violating parameter, leading to (i) correct Cabbibo mixing given by the Gatto-Sartori-Tonin formula, and a successful unification-like b-tau mass relation, and (ii) a correlation between the lepton mixing angles $\theta_{13}$ and $\theta_{23}$ in agreement with recent neutrino oscillation data, as well as a (nearly) massless neutrino, leading to absence of neutrinoless double beta decay.Comment: 16 pages, 3 figures. Extended version, as published in JHE

Effect of operating conditions on fluid flow over a high speed rotary bell-cup atomizer

Paper presented at the 9th International Conference on Heat Transfer, Fluid Mechanics and Thermodynamics, Malta, 16-18 July, 2012.Using the volume of fluid (VOF) method, we analyze two-dimensional fluid flow over high-speed rotary bell-cup atomizers. The fluid behavior is analyzed and the liquid film thickness is quantitatively evaluated. The atomizer is flat in shape and has a paint supply hole. The bell rotational speed obtained is 15,000, 25,000, and 35,000 rpm; and the liquid flow rate obtained is 150, 300, 450, and 600 mL/min. The liquid used in this experiment is assumed to be water and the gas is assumed to be air. The results show that the liquid flows through the bell-cup surface toward the edge and forms a liquid film. At the measuring point, the film is initially thick but it then decreases to a practically constant value. The increase in the bell rotational speed causes the film thickness to decrease. Furthermore, the increase in the rotational speed causes the film thickness to become constant, whereas the increase in the liquid flow rate causes the film thickness to increase. These results show that the rotational speed and flow rate strongly affect the thickness of the filmdc201

TGF-β-driven reduction of cytoglobin leads to oxidative DNA damage in stellate cells during non-alcoholic steatohepatitis

BACKGROUND: Cytoglobin (CYGB) is a respiratory protein that acts as a scavenger of reactive oxygen species. Although CYGB is expressed uniquely in hepatic stellate cells (HSCs) in the liver, the molecular role of CYGB in human HSC activation and human liver disease remains uncharacterised. The aim of this study was to reveal the mechanism by which TGF-β1/SMAD2 pathway regulates human CYGB promoter and the pathophysiological function of CYGB in human non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH). METHODS: Immunohistochemical staining was performed using human NASH biopsy specimens. Molecular and biochemical analysis were performed by western blotting, quantitative PCR, and luciferase and immunoprecipitation assays. Hydroxyl radicals (•OH) and oxidative DNA damage were measured using an •OH-detectable probe and 8-hydroxy-2’-deoxyguanosine (8-OHdG) ELISA. RESULTS: In culture, TGF-β1-pretreated human hepatic stellate cells (HHSteCs) exhibited lowered CYGB levels together with increased NADPH oxidase 4 (NOX4) expression and were primed for H_{2}O_{2}-triggered OH production and 8-OHdG generation. Overexpression of human CYGB in HHSteCs cancelled out those effects of TGF-β1. Electron spin resonance demonstrated direct •OH-scavenging activity of recombinant human CYGB. Mechanistically, pSMAD2 reduced CYGB transcription by recruiting the M1 repressor isoform of SP3 to the human CYGB promoter at nucleotide positions +2–{+}^13 from the transcription start site. The same repression did not occur on the mouse Cygb promoter. TGF-β1/SMAD3 mediated αSMA and collagen expression. Consistent with those observations in cultured HHSteCs, CYGB expression was negligible, but 8-OHdG was abundant, in activated αSMA^{+}pSMAD2^{+}- and αSMA^{+}NOX4^{+}-positive hepatic stellate cells from human NASH patients with advanced fibrosis. CONCLUSIONS: Downregulation of CYGB by the TGF-β1/pSMAD2/SP3-M1 pathway brings about •OH-dependent oxidative DNA damage in activated hepatic stellate cells from human patients with NASH

CP Violation in Supersymmetric U(1)' Models

The supersymmetric CP problem is studied within superstring-motivated extensions of the MSSM with an additional U(1)' gauge symmetry broken at the TeV scale. This class of models offers an attractive solution to the mu problem of the MSSM, in which U(1)' gauge invariance forbids the bare mu term, but an effective mu parameter is generated by the vacuum expectation value of a Standard Model singlet S which has superpotential coupling of the form SH_uH_d to the electroweak Higgs doublets. The effective mu parameter is thus dynamically determined as a function of the soft supersymmetry breaking parameters, and can be complex if the soft parameters have nontrivial CP-violating phases. We examine the phenomenological constraints on the reparameterization invariant phase combinations within this framework, and find that the supersymmetric CP problem can be greatly alleviated in models in which the phase of the SU(2) gaugino mass parameter is aligned with the soft trilinear scalar mass parameter associated with the SH_uH_d coupling. We also study how the phases filter into the Higgs sector, and find that while the Higgs sector conserves CP at the renormalizable level to all orders of perturbation theory, CP violation can enter at the nonrenormalizable level at one-loop order. In the majority of the parameter space, the lightest Higgs boson remains essentially CP even but the heavier Higgs bosons can exhibit large CP-violating mixings, similar to the CP-violating MSSM with large mu parameter.Comment: 29 pp, 3 figs, 2 table

Towards Minimal S4 Lepton Flavor Model

We study lepton flavor models with the $S_4$ flavor symmetry. We construct simple models with smaller numbers of flavon fields and free parameters, such that we have predictions among lepton masses and mixing angles. The model with a $S_4$ triplet flavon is not realistic, but we can construct realistic models with two triplet flavons, or one triplet and one doublet flavons.Comment: 18 pages, 4 figures, references are adde

Hexa Histidine–Tagged Recombinant Human Cytoglobin Deactivates Hepatic Stellate Cells and Inhibits Liver Fibrosis by Scavenging Reactive Oxygen Species

BACKGROUND & AIMS: Anti-fibrotic therapy remains an unmet medical need in human chronic liver disease. We report the anti-fibrotic properties of cytoglobin (CYGB), a respiratory protein expressed in hepatic stellate cells (HSCs), the main cell type involved in liver fibrosis. APPROACH & RESULTS: Cygb-deficient mice which had bile duct ligation (BDL)-induced liver cholestasis or choline-deficient L-amino acid-defined (CDAA) diet-induced steatohepatitis significantly exacerbated liver damage, fibrosis and reactive oxygen species (ROS) formation. All these manifestations were attenuated in Cygb-overexpressing mice. We produced 6His-tagged recombinant human CYGB (His-CYGB), traced its bio-distribution and assessed its function in HSCs or in mice with advanced liver cirrhosis using thioacetamide (TAA) or 3,5-diethoxycarbonyl-1,4-dihydrocollidine (DDC). In cultured HSCs, extracellular His-CYGB was endocytosed and accumulated in endosomes via clathrin-mediated pathway. His-CYGB significantly impeded ROS formation spontaneously or in the presence of ROS inducers in HSCs, thus leading to the attenuation of collagen type I alpha 1 production and alpha-smooth muscle actin expression. Replacement the iron centre of the heme group with cobalt nullified the effect of His-CYGB. In addition, His-CYGB induced interferon-β secretion by HSCs which partly contributed to its anti-fibrotic function. Momelotinib incompletely reversed the effect of His-CYGB. Intravenously injected His-CYGB markedly suppressed liver inflammation, fibrosis and oxidative cell damage in TAA- or DDC-administered mice without adverse effects. RNA-seq analysis revealed the downregulation of inflammation and fibrosis-related genes and the upregulation of antioxidant genes in both cell culture and liver tissues. The injected His-CYGB predominantly localised to HSCs but not to macrophages, suggesting specific targeting effects. His-CYGB exhibited no toxicity in humanised liver chimeric PXB mice. CONCLUSIONS: His-CYGB could have anti-fibrotic clinical applications for human chronic liver diseases