InstructME: An Instruction Guided Music Edit And Remix Framework with Latent Diffusion Models

Music editing primarily entails the modification of instrument tracks or remixing in the whole, which offers a novel reinterpretation of the original piece through a series of operations. These music processing methods hold immense potential across various applications but demand substantial expertise. Prior methodologies, although effective for image and audio modifications, falter when directly applied to music. This is attributed to music's distinctive data nature, where such methods can inadvertently compromise the intrinsic harmony and coherence of music. In this paper, we develop InstructME, an Instruction guided Music Editing and remixing framework based on latent diffusion models. Our framework fortifies the U-Net with multi-scale aggregation in order to maintain consistency before and after editing. In addition, we introduce chord progression matrix as condition information and incorporate it in the semantic space to improve melodic harmony while editing. For accommodating extended musical pieces, InstructME employs a chunk transformer, enabling it to discern long-term temporal dependencies within music sequences. We tested InstructME in instrument-editing, remixing, and multi-round editing. Both subjective and objective evaluations indicate that our proposed method significantly surpasses preceding systems in music quality, text relevance and harmony. Demo samples are available at https://musicedit.github.io/Comment: Demo samples are available at https://musicedit.github.io

Birth of rats following nuclear exchange at the 2-cell stage

We report full-term development of nuclear transfer embryos following nuclear exchange at the 2-cell stage. Nuclei from 2-cell rat embryos were transferred into enucleated 2-cell embryos and developed to term after transfer to recipients (NT2). Pronuclear exchange in zygotes was used for comparison (NT1). Zygotes and 2-cell embryos were harvested from 4-week-old female Sprague-Dawley rats. Nuclear transfer was performed by transferring the pronuclei or karyoplasts into the perivitelline space of recipient embryos followed by electrofusion to reconstruct embryos. Fused couplets were cultured for 4 or 24 h before being transferred into day 1 pseudopregnant recipients (Hooded Wistar) at the 1- or 2-cell stage. In vitro culture was also carried out to check the developmental competence of the embryos. In vitro development to the blastocyst stage was not significantly different between the two groups (NT1, 34.3%; NT2, 45.0%). Two of three recipients from NT1 and two of five recipients from NT2 became pregnant. Six pups (3 from NT1, 3 from NT2) were delivered from the four foster mothers. Three female pups survived; 2 from NT1 and 1 from NT2. At 2 months of age these pups appeared healthy, and were mated with Sprague-Dawley males. One rat derived from NT1 delivered 15 pups (5 males, 10 females) as did the rat from NT2 (7 males, 8 females). Our results show that by using karyoplasts from 2-cell stage embryos as nuclear donors and reconstructing them with enucleated 2-cell embryos, healthy rats can be produced

Review of “Smuggling, State-Building, and Political Economy in Coastal China, 1927-1949” (Ph.D. dissertation, Stanford University, 2013) by Philip Thai. Dissertation Reviews (2016).

International audienceThe history of smuggling in China offers an intriguing window through which to observe law and society. On the one hand, dynastic rulers and local governments continuously banned the import and export of certain commodities, particularly along coastal regions. On the other hand, smuggling continued to flourish, and many regional authorities even engaged in the business they were supposed to quash. During the Ming-Qing period, the rise of local powers and successive waves of commercialization expanded the network of illicit trade. Whether or not this suggests a "decline" of state authority and "lawlessness" in the local world, the state's law and institution provoked resistance, compliance, and varied strategies toward the order and market of this "informal economy." Regulations and local politics gave rise to what Michael Szonyi calls the "regulatory arbitrage"-the practice in which different individuals and groups took advantage of various regulatory systems in order to generate political resources

Analysis of Greenness Value and Photosynthetic Rate of Tomato Leaves Based on Spectral Technologies

Tomatoes, a major vegetable crop, are not only delicious but can also prevent cancer and lower blood pressure. However, they are easily infected with diseases during the growth process, so it is of great significance to find a technology for nondestructive testing of the tomato growth state. In this study, partial least squares regression (PLSR) was used to establish a prediction model of the tomato leaf greenness value and photosynthetic rate based on laser-induced fluorescence spectroscopy and a hyperspectral imaging system. The results showed that the best preprocessing method for the fluorescence spectral model was SD+SNV, and the best methods for the hyperspectral model were FD+SNV and FD+MSC. The results for the prediction of the photosynthetic rate based on the fluorescence spectral and hyperspectral models were as follows: the coefficient of determination (R2) values were 0.9982 and 0.9739, respectively, and the root-mean-square error of prediction (RMSEP) values were 0.2781 and 0.3374, respectively. When measuring greenness, the R2 values were 0.9816 and 0.9595, and the RMSEP values were 0.1696 and 0.4032, respectively. The experimental results showed that the model based on the fluorescence spectrum had higher accuracy and lower deviation in the detection and prediction of the tomato growth state; these results provide a specific method and reference for subsequent research

Aire-Overexpressing Dendritic Cells Induce Peripheral CD4+ T Cell Tolerance

Autoimmune regulator (Aire) can promote the ectopic expression of peripheral tissue-restricted antigens (TRAs) in thymic medullary epithelial cells (mTECs), which leads to the deletion of autoreactive T cells and consequently prevents autoimmune diseases. However, the functions of Aire in the periphery, such as in dendritic cells (DCs), remain unclear. This study’s aim was to investigate the effect of Aire-overexpressing DCs (Aire cells) on the functions of CD4+ T cells and the treatment of type 1 diabetes (T1D). We demonstrated that Aire cells upregulated the mRNA levels of the tolerance-related molecules CD73, Lag3, and FR4 and the apoptosis of CD4+ T cells in STZ-T1D mouse-derived splenocytes. Furthermore, following insulin stimulation, Aire cells decreased the number of CD4+ IFN-γ+ T cells in both STZ-T1D and WT mouse-derived splenocytes and reduced the expression levels of TCR signaling molecules (Ca2+ and p-ERK) in CD4+ T cells. We observed that Aire cells-induced CD4+ T cells could delay the development of T1D. In summary, Aire-expressing DCs inhibited TCR signaling pathways and decreased the quantity of CD4+IFN-γ+ autoreactive T cells. These data suggest a mechanism for Aire in the maintenance of peripheral immune tolerance and provide a potential method to control autoimmunity by targeting Aire

Optimisation of an oviposition protocol employing human chorionic and pregnant mare serum gonadotropins in the Barred Frog <it>Mixophyes fasciolatus</it> (Myobatrachidae)

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Protocols for the hormonal induction of ovulation and oviposition are essential tools for managing threatened amphibians with assisted reproduction, but responses vary greatly between species and even broad taxon groups. Consequently, it is necessary to assess effectiveness of such protocols in representative species when new taxa become targets for induction. The threatened genus <it>Mixophyes</it> (family Myobatrachidae) has amongst the highest proportion of endangered species of all the Australian amphibians. This study developed and optimised the induction of oviposition in a non-threatened member of this taxon, the great barred frog (<it>Mixophyes fasciolatus</it>).</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Gravid female <it>M. fasciolatus</it> were induced to oviposit on one or more occasions by administration of human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) with or without priming with pregnant mare serum gonadotropin (PMSG). Treatments involved variations in hormone doses and combinations (administered via injection into the dorsal lymph sacs), and timing of administration. Pituitary homogenates from an unrelated bufonid species (<it>Rhinella marina</it>) were also examined with hCG.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>When injected alone, hCG (900 to 1400 IU) induced oviposition. However, priming with two time dependent doses of PMSG (50 IU, 25 IU) increased responses, with lower doses of hCG (200 IU). Priming increased response rates in females from around 30% (hCG alone) to more than 50% (p = 0.035), and up to 67%. Increasing the interval between the first PMSG dose and first hCG dose from 3 to 6 days also produced significant improvement (p<0.001). Heterologous pituitary extracts administered with hCG were no more effective than hCG alone (p = 0.628).</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>This study found that <it>M. fasciolatus</it> is amongst the few amphibian species (including <it>Xenopus</it> (<it>Silurana</it>) and some bufonids) that respond well to the induction of ovulation utilising mammalian gonadotropins (hCG). The optimal protocol for <it>M. fasciolatus</it> involved two priming doses of PMSG (50 IU and 25 IU) administered at 6 and 4 days respectively, prior to two doses of hCG (100 IU), 24 hours apart. This study is also the first to demonstrate in an amphibian species that responds to mammalian gonadotropins that an increase in the ovulation rate occurs after priming with a gonadotropin (PMSG) with FSH activity.</p

Contribution of Mouse Embryonic Stem Cells and Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells to Chimeras through Injection and Coculture of Embryos

Blastocyst injection and morula aggregation are commonly used to evaluate stem cell pluripotency based on chimeric contribution of the stem cells. To assess the protocols for generating chimeras from stem cells, 8-cell mouse embryos were either injected or cocultured with mouse embryonic stem cells and induced pluripotent stem cells, respectively. Although a significantly higher chimera rate resulted from blastocyst injection, the highest germline contribution resulted from injection of 8-cell embryos with embryonic stem cells. The fully agouti colored chimeras were generated from both injection and coculture of 8-cell embryos with embryonic stem cells. Additionally, microsatellite DNA screening showed that the fully agouti colored chimeras were fully embryonic stem cell derived mice. Unlike embryonic stem cells, the mouse chimeras were only generated from injection of 8-cell embryos with induced pluripotent stem cells and none of these showed germline transmission. The results indicated that injection of 8-cell embryos is the most efficient method for assessing stem cell pluripotency and generating induced pluripotent stem cell chimeras, embryonic stem cell chimeras with germline transmission, and fully mouse embryonic stem cell derived mice