Understanding Music: Past and Present

Understanding Music: Past and Present is an open Music Appreciation textbook co-authored by music faculty across Georgia. The text covers the fundamentals of music and the physics of sound, an exploration of music from the Middle Ages to the present day, and a final chapter on popular music in the United States. Accessible files with optical character recognition (OCR) and auto-tagging provided by the Center for Inclusive Design and Innovation.https://oer.galileo.usg.edu/arts-textbooks/1000/thumbnail.jp

A molecular shell with star formation toward the supernova remnant G349.7+0.2

A field of ~38'x38' around the supernova remnant (SNR) G349.7+0.2 has been surveyed in the CO J=1-0 transition with the 12 Meter Telescope of the NRAO, using the On-The-Fly technique. The resolution of the observations is 54". We have found that this remnant is interacting with a small CO cloud which, in turn, is part of a much larger molecular complex, which we call the ``Large CO Shell''. The Large CO Shell has a diameter of about 100 pc, an H_2 mass of 930,000 solar masses, and a density of 35 cm-3. We investigate the origin of this structure and suggest that an old supernova explosion ocurred about 4 million years ago, as a suitable hypothesis. Analyzing the interaction between G349.7+0.2 and the Large CO Shell, it is possible to determine that the shock front currently driven into the molecular gas is a non-dissociative shock (C-type), in agreement with the presence of OH 1720 MHz masers. The positional and kinematical coincidence among one of the CO clouds that constitute the Large CO Shell, an IRAS point-like source and an ultracompact H II region, indicate the presence of a recently formed star. We suggest that the formation of this star was triggered during the expansion of the Large CO Shell, and suggest the possibility that the same expansion also created the progenitor star of G349.7+0.2. The Large CO Shell would then be one of the few observational examples of supernova-induced star formation.Comment: accepted in Astronomical Journal, corrected typo in the abstract (in first line, 38' instead of 38"

Counterfactual Explanations via Locally-guided Sequential Algorithmic Recourse

Counterfactuals operationalised through algorithmic recourse have become a powerful tool to make artificial intelligence systems explainable. Conceptually, given an individual classified as y -- the factual -- we seek actions such that their prediction becomes the desired class y' -- the counterfactual. This process offers algorithmic recourse that is (1) easy to customise and interpret, and (2) directly aligned with the goals of each individual. However, the properties of a "good" counterfactual are still largely debated; it remains an open challenge to effectively locate a counterfactual along with its corresponding recourse. Some strategies use gradient-driven methods, but these offer no guarantees on the feasibility of the recourse and are open to adversarial attacks on carefully created manifolds. This can lead to unfairness and lack of robustness. Other methods are data-driven, which mostly addresses the feasibility problem at the expense of privacy, security and secrecy as they require access to the entire training data set. Here, we introduce LocalFACE, a model-agnostic technique that composes feasible and actionable counterfactual explanations using locally-acquired information at each step of the algorithmic recourse. Our explainer preserves the privacy of users by only leveraging data that it specifically requires to construct actionable algorithmic recourse, and protects the model by offering transparency solely in the regions deemed necessary for the intervention.Comment: 7 pages, 5 figures, 3 appendix page

A Multicenter Retrospective Study on Clinical Characteristics, Treatment Patterns, and Outcome in Elderly Patients with Hepatocellular Carcinoma

Background. There is a paucity of information on the clinical presentation and outcome of elderly hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients. We performed a multicenter retrospective comparative study to assess the impact of age on potential differences in clinical characteristics, treatment patterns, and outcome in HCC patients. Methods. We retrospectively analyzed HCC patients treated at two U.S. tertiary institutions from 1998 to 2008. Demographics, tumor parameters, etiology and severity of cirrhosis, treatment, and survival from diagnosis were collected and analyzed. After exclusion of transplanted patients, survival analyses were performed using the Kaplan-Meier method with log-rank tests and Cox proportional hazards models. Results. Three hundred thirty-five HCC patients were divided into two groups: “elderly” (95 patients, age ≥70 years) and “younger” (240 patients, aged <70 years). The male/female (M/F) ratio was 5.8:1 and 1.7:1 in the younger and elderly groups, respectively (p < .0001). Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection rate was 48.3% in younger and 21.1% in elderly patients (p < .0001); Child class B and C cirrhosis accounted for 35.8% in younger and 25.3% in elderly patients (p = .063). Compared with younger patients, the elderly received transplant less frequently (19.6% versus 5.3%, p = .0002) and were more likely to receive supportive care only (22.9% versus 36.8%, p = .01). No significant differences between the two age groups were seen in tumor parameters or other treatments received. Overall (p = .47) and HCC-specific survival rates (p = .38) were similar in both age groups. Conclusions. Characteristics that distinguish elderly from younger HCC patients include lower M/F ratio, worse performance status, lower rate of HCV infection, and less advanced underlying cirrhosis. Elderly patients were less likely to have a liver transplant and more likely to receive supportive care only. However, overall and HCC-specific survival were similar between the two groups

A Data Citation Roadmap for Scholarly Data Repositories [preprint]

This article presents a practical roadmap for scholarly data repositories to implement data citation in accordance with the Joint Declaration of Data Citation Principles, a synopsis and harmonization of the recommendations of major science policy bodies. The roadmap was developed by the Repositories Expert Group, as part of the Data Citation Implementation Pilot (DCIP) project, an initiative of FORCE11.org and the NIH BioCADDIE (https://biocaddie.org) program. The roadmap makes 11 specific recommendations, grouped into three phases of implementation: a) required steps needed to support the Joint Declaration of Data Citation Principles, b) recommended steps that facilitate article/data publication workflows, and c) optional steps that further improve data citation support provided by data repositories

Sexual Relationship Power and Depression among HIV-Infected Women in Rural Uganda

Background: Depression is associated with increased HIV transmission risk, increased morbidity, and higher risk of HIV-related death among HIV-infected women. Low sexual relationship power also contributes to HIV risk, but there is limited understanding of how it relates to mental health among HIV-infected women. Methods: Participants were 270 HIV-infected women from the Uganda AIDS Rural Treatment Outcomes study, a prospective cohort of individuals initiating antiretroviral therapy (ART) in Mbarara, Uganda. Our primary predictor was baseline sexual relationship power as measured by the Sexual Relationship Power Scale (SRPS). The primary outcome was depression severity, measured with the Hopkins Symptom Checklist (HSCL), and a secondary outcome was a functional scale for mental health status (MHS). Adjusted models controlled for socio-demographic factors, CD4 count, alcohol and tobacco use, baseline WHO stage 4 disease, social support, and duration of ART. Results: The mean HSCL score was 1.34 and 23.7% of participants had HSCL scores consistent with probable depression (HSCL>1.75). Compared to participants with low SRPS scores, individuals with both moderate (coefficient b = −0.21; 95%CI, −0.36 to −0.07) and high power (b = −0.21; 95%CI, −0.36 to −0.06) reported decreased depressive symptomology. High SRPS scores halved the likelihood of women meeting criteria for probable depression (adjusted odds ratio = 0.44; 95%CI, 0.20 to 0.93). In lagged models, low SRPS predicted subsequent depression severity, but depression did not predict subsequent changes in SPRS. Results: were similar for MHS, with lagged models showing SRPS predicts subsequent mental health, but not visa versa. Both Decision-Making Dominance and Relationship Control subscales of SRPS were associated with depression symptom severity. Conclusions: HIV-infected women with high sexual relationship power had lower depression and higher mental health status than women with low power. Interventions to improve equity in decision-making and control within dyadic partnerships are critical to prevent HIV transmission and to optimize mental health of HIV-infected women

Computational modelling of reinforcement learning and functional neuroimaging of probabilistic reversal for dissociating compulsive behaviours in gambling and cocaine use disorders.

Background: Individuals with cocaine use disorder or gambling disorder demonstrate impairments in cognitive flexibility: the ability to adapt to changes in the environment. Flexibility is commonly assessed in a laboratory setting using probabilistic reversal learning, which involves reinforcement learning, the process by which feedback from the environment is used to adjust behavior. Aims: It is poorly understood whether impairments in flexibility differ between individuals with cocaine use and gambling disorders, and how this is instantiated by the brain. We applied computational modelling methods to gain a deeper mechanistic explanation of the latent processes underlying cognitive flexibility across two disorders of compulsivity. Method: We present a re-analysis of probabilistic reversal data from individuals with either gambling disorder (n = 18) or cocaine use disorder (n = 20) and control participants (n = 18), using a hierarchical Bayesian approach. Furthermore, we relate behavioural findings to their underlying neural substrates through an analysis of task-based functional magnetic resonanceimaging (fMRI) data. Results: We observed lower 'stimulus stickiness' in gambling disorder, and report differences in tracking expected values in individuals with gambling disorder compared to controls, with greater activity during reward expected value tracking in the cingulate gyrus and amygdala. In cocaine use disorder, we observed lower responses to positive punishment prediction errors and greater activity following negative punishment prediction errors in the superior frontal gyrus compared to controls. Conclusions: Using a computational approach, we show that individuals with gambling disorder and cocaine use disorder differed in their perseverative tendencies and in how they tracked value neurally, which has implications for psychiatric classification