Improving music genre classification using automatically induced harmony rules

We present a new genre classification framework using both low-level signal-based features and high-level harmony features. A state-of-the-art statistical genre classifier based on timbral features is extended using a first-order random forest containing for each genre rules derived from harmony or chord sequences. This random forest has been automatically induced, using the first-order logic induction algorithm TILDE, from a dataset, in which for each chord the degree and chord category are identified, and covering classical, jazz and pop genre classes. The audio descriptor-based genre classifier contains 206 features, covering spectral, temporal, energy, and pitch characteristics of the audio signal. The fusion of the harmony-based classifier with the extracted feature vectors is tested on three-genre subsets of the GTZAN and ISMIR04 datasets, which contain 300 and 448 recordings, respectively. Machine learning classifiers were tested using 5 × 5-fold cross-validation and feature selection. Results indicate that the proposed harmony-based rules combined with the timbral descriptor-based genre classification system lead to improved genre classification rates

Potential of Probing the Lunar Regolith using Rover-Mounted Ground Penetrating Radar: Moses Lake Dune Field Analog Study

Probing radars have been widely recognized by the science community to be an efficient tool to explore lunar subsurface providing a unique capability to address several scientific and operational issues. A wideband (200 to 1200 MHz) Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) mounted on a surface rover can provide high vertical resolution and probing depth from few tens of centimeters to few tens of meters depending on the sounding frequency and the ground conductivity. This in term can provide a better understand regolith thickness, elemental iron concentration (including ilmenite), volatile presence, structural anomalies and fracturing. All those objectives are of important significance for understanding the local geology and potential sustainable resources for future landing sites in particular exploring the thickness, structural heterogeneity and potential volatiles presence in the lunar regolith. While the operation and data collection of GPR is a straightforward case for most terrestrial surveys, it is a challenging task for remote planetary study especially on robotic platforms due to the complexity of remote operation in rough terrains and the data collection constrains imposed by the mechanical motion of the rover and limitation in data transfer. Nevertheless, Rover mounted GPR can be of great support to perform systematic subsurface surveys for a given landing site as it can provide scientific and operational support in exploring subsurface resources and sample collections which can increase the efficiency of the EVA activities for potential human crews as part of the NASA Constellation Program. In this study we attempt to explore the operational challenges and their impact on the EVA scientific return for operating a rover mounted GPR in support of potential human activity on the moon. In this first field study, we mainly focused on the ability of GPR to support subsurface sample collection and explore shallow subsurface volatiles

The Grosmarin experiment

The GROSMARIN (which stands for GrandROSMARIN) cruise is proposed by UMR Géosciences Azur (with fellow french and italian research groups). Its goals are to better characterize active structures along this zone and to assess the resulting seismic hazard in a sort of continuation with respect to the MALISAR experiment, which has already surveyed some active structures through shallow observations. The GROSMARIN cruise is in fact the necessary counterpart to characterize them at depth

Is there sufficient Ensifer and Rhizobium species diversity in UK farmland soils to support red clover (Trifolium pratense), white clover (T. repens), lucerne (Medicago sativa) and black medic (M. lupulina)?

Rhizobia play important roles in agriculture owing to their ability to fix nitrogen through a symbiosis with legumes. The specificity of rhizobia-legume associations means that underused legume species may depend on seed inoculation with their rhizobial partners. For black medic (Medicago lupulina) and lucerne (Medicago sativa) little is known about the natural prevalence of their rhizobial partner Ensifer meliloti in UK soils, so that the need for inoculating them is unclear. We analysed the site-dependence of rhizobial seed inoculation effects on the subsequent ability of rhizobial communities to form symbioses with four legume species (Medicago lupulina, M. sativa, Trifolium repens and T. pratense). At ten organic farms across the UK, a species-diverse legume based mixture (LBM) which included these four species was grown. The LBM seed was inoculated with a mix of commercial inocula specific for clover and lucerne. At each site, soil from the LBM treatment was compared to the soil sampled prior to the sowing of the LBM (the control). From each site and each of the two treatments, a suspension of soils was applied to seedlings of the four legume species and grown in axenic conditions for six weeks. Root nodules were counted and their rhizobia isolated. PCR and sequencing of a fragment of the gyrB gene from rhizobial isolates allowed identification of strains. The number of nodules on each of the four legume species was significantly increased when inoculated with soil from the LBM treatment compared to the control. Both the proportion of plants forming nodules and the number of nodules formed varied significantly by site, with sites significantly affecting the Medicago species but not the Trifolium species. These differences in nodulation were broadly reflected in plant biomass where site and treatment interacted; at some sites there was a significant advantage from inoculation with the commercial inoculum but not at others. In particular, this study has demonstrated the commercial merit of inoculation of lucerne with compatible rhizobia

Multi-isotopic study of the earliest medieval inhabitants of Santiago de Compostela (Galicia, Spain)

YesSantiago de Compostela is, together with Rome and Jerusalem, one of the three main pilgrimage and religious centres for Catholicism. The belief that the remains of St James the Great, one of the twelve apostles of Jesus Christ, is buried there has stimulated, since their reported discovery in the 9th century AD, a significant flow of people from across the European continent and beyond. Little is known about the practical experiences of people living within the city during its rise to prominence, however. Here, for the first time, we combine multi-isotope analysis (δ13C, δ15N, δ18Oap, δ13Cap, and 87Sr/86Sr) and radiocarbon dating (14C) of human remains discovered at the crypt of the Cathedral of Santiago to directly study changes in diet and mobility during the first three centuries of Santiago’s emergence as an urban centre (9th-12th centuries AD). Together with assessment of the existing archaeological data, our radiocarbon chronology broadly confirms historical tradition regarding the first occupation of the site. Isotopic analyses reveal that the foundation of the religious site attracted migrants from the wider region of the northwest corner of the Iberian Peninsula, and possibly from further afield. Stable isotope analysis of collagen, together with information on tomb typology and location, indicates that the inhabitants of the city experienced increasing socioeconomic diversity as it became wealthier as the hub of a wide network of pilgrimage. Our research represents the potential of multidisciplinary analyses to reveal insights into the origins and impacts of the emergence of early pilgrimage centres on the diets and status of communities within Christian medieval Europe and beyond.This project has been supported by a grant from the ‘la Caixa’ Banking Foundation (ID 100010434; Code: LCF/BQ/ES16/11570006). Patxi Pérez-Ramallo and Patrick Roberts would also like to thank the Max Planck Society for funding for this project. Patxi Pérez-Ramallo, Hannah Koon and Julia Beaumont would like to thank the University of Bradford for funding a support the first osteological and stable isotope analysis conducted in 2015. Two of the isotopic analyses and 14C dates have been carried out with funding from the Xunta de Galicia to the CulXeo Group (ED431B 2018/47) and to the research network ‘Cultural Heritage, archaeological and technical services’ (R2016/023). Open Access funding enabled and organized by Projekt DEAL

Microallopatry Caused Strong Diversification in Buthus scorpions (Scorpiones: Buthidae) in the Atlas Mountains (NW Africa)

The immense biodiversity of the Atlas Mountains in North Africa might be the result of high rates of microallopatry caused by mountain barriers surpassing 4000 meters leading to patchy habitat distributions. We test the influence of geographic structures on the phylogenetic patterns among Buthus scorpions using mtDNA sequences. We sampled 91 individuals of the genus Buthus from 51 locations scattered around the Atlas Mountains (Antiatlas, High Atlas, Middle Atlas and Jebel Sahro). We sequenced 452 bp of the Cytochrome Oxidase I gene which proved to be highly variable within and among Buthus species. Our phylogenetic analysis yielded 12 distinct genetic groups one of which comprised three subgroups mostly in accordance with the orographic structure of the mountain systems. Main clades overlap with each other, while subclades are distributed parapatrically. Geographic structures likely acted as long-term barriers among populations causing restriction of gene flow and allowing for strong genetic differentiation. Thus, genetic structure and geographical distribution of genetic (sub)clusters follow the classical theory of allopatric differentiation where distinct groups evolve without range overlap until reproductive isolation and ecological differentiation has built up. Philopatry and low dispersal ability of Buthus scorpions are the likely causes for the observed strong genetic differentiation at this small geographic scale

Verso una migliore conoscenza delle strutture del margine Ligure: il progetto GROSMARIN

(English Abstract) The Ligurian margin, that is the junction area located between the Ligurian basin and the Southwestern Alps, is a passive margin, seismically active and subjected to gravitative movements. The active deformation in this sector is among the strongest ever experienced in Western Italy and Southern France. The current geodynamics of the basin is not completely understood yet, and somewhat under interest and debate of the scientific community. The latest results on the recent evolution of the Alps-Mediterranean system suggest that the area under study lay close to a domain under extension. The interest for the area is reinforced by its seismic activity that, although of low to moderate energy, acts in an area of high vulnerability. Some historical events involved in fact dramatic social and material damages. The growth of population (that now accounts for more than 2.500.000 inhabitants between Cannes and Genoa), the setting of numerous industries and the tourist business of the area are additional motivation for monitoring the area from the seismic point of view and especially to make specific studies on the seismogenic structures of this sector. Events with magnitude greater than 4.5 to 5.0 are in fact recorded every 5 years, but the area undergoes a rather weak microseismicity that often remains undetected and always poorly located by land seismic networks. The natural risks associated to this sector cannot neglect the presence of steep canyons that incise the offshore margin and favour gravitative slopes. The sediment masses accumulate on top of these canyons and may slip even after an earthquake of moderate magnitude. The GROSMARIN (which stands for GrandROSMARIN) cruise is proposed by UMR Géosciences Azur (with fellow french and italian research groups). It aims at (1) studying the microseismicity along a part of the northern margin of the Ligurian Basin, offshore France and Italy and (2) to realise a 3D tomography by wide-angle seismics. The goal is to better characterize active structures along this zone and to assess the resulting seismic hazard.Published359-360N/A or not JCRope

Nuclear Progesterone Receptors Are Up-Regulated by Estrogens in Neurons and Radial Glial Progenitors in the Brain of Zebrafish

In rodents, there is increasing evidence that nuclear progesterone receptors are transiently expressed in many regions of the developing brain, notably outside the hypothalamus. This suggests that progesterone and/or its metabolites could be involved in functions not related to reproduction, particularly in neurodevelopment. In this context, the adult fish brain is of particular interest, as it exhibits constant growth and high neurogenic activity that is supported by radial glia progenitors. However, although synthesis of neuroprogestagens has been documented recently in the brain of zebrafish, information on the presence of progesterone receptors is very limited. In zebrafish, a single nuclear progesterone receptor (pgr) has been cloned and characterized. Here, we demonstrate that this pgr is widely distributed in all regions of the zebrafish brain. Interestingly, we show that Pgr is strongly expressed in radial glial cells and more weakly in neurons. Finally, we present evidence, based on quantitative PCR and immunohistochemistry, that nuclear progesterone receptor mRNA and proteins are upregulated by estrogens in the brain of adult zebrafish. These data document for the first time the finding that radial glial cells are preferential targets for peripheral progestagens and/or neuroprogestagens. Given the crucial roles of radial glial cells in adult neurogenesis, the potential effects of progestagens on their activity and the fate of daughter cells require thorough investigation