Integrating rhythmic syllable with tonguing drills in elementary brass instruments instruction

Various rhythm syllable systems that are based on the concept that prioritises ‘sound before symbol’ are known to be able to enhance students’ ability to read music notations. To date, these systems are yet to be integrated with basic brass instrumental skills such as tonguing. This research examines the effect of the rhythm syllable system when it is applied as an integrated teaching approach for novice brass instrument learners by combining rhythm learning with articulation. A teaching experiment was conducted with 90 elementary trumpet students assigned randomly into three groups. Each group underwent five weeks of intervention with a single content but using different approaches of rhythm learning. Data analysis showed significant differences among the groups, and the group that used the adapted rhythmic syllable approach achieved the highest both in rhythm accuracy and articulation clarity, followed by the group that used Kodaly syllables and the control group that did not apply any particular syllable system. The integrated rhythmic syllable reduces the time of learning the brass instrument while eliminating the redundancies resulting from compartmentalised teaching. This research has extended the scope of application of the rhythmic syllable system beyond musicianship training. It indicates that methods in musicianship training can be localised for specific purposes in instrumental learning

An Evolutionary Algorithm with Advanced Goal and Priority Specification for Multi-objective Optimization

This paper presents an evolutionary algorithm with a new goal-sequence domination scheme for better decision support in multi-objective optimization. The approach allows the inclusion of advanced hard/soft priority and constraint information on each objective component, and is capable of incorporating multiple specifications with overlapping or non-overlapping objective functions via logical 'OR' and 'AND' connectives to drive the search towards multiple regions of trade-off. In addition, we propose a dynamic sharing scheme that is simple and adaptively estimated according to the on-line population distribution without needing any a priori parameter setting. Each feature in the proposed algorithm is examined to show its respective contribution, and the performance of the algorithm is compared with other evolutionary optimization methods. It is shown that the proposed algorithm has performed well in the diversity of evolutionary search and uniform distribution of non-dominated individuals along the final trade-offs, without significant computational effort. The algorithm is also applied to the design optimization of a practical servo control system for hard disk drives with a single voice-coil-motor actuator. Results of the evolutionary designed servo control system show a superior closed-loop performance compared to classical PID or RPT approaches

Important Parameters for Hand Function Assessment of Stroke Patients

Clinical scales such as Fugl-Meyer Assessment and Motor Assessment Scale are widely used to evaluate stroke patient's motor performance. However, the scoring systems of these assessments provide only rough estimation, making it difficult to objectively quantify impairment and disability or even rehabilitation progress throughout their rehabilitation period. In contrast, robot-based assessments are objective, repeatable, and could potentially reduce the assessment time. However, robot-based assessment scales are not as well established as conventional assessment scale and the correlation to conventional assessment scale is unclear. This paper discusses the important parameters in order to assess the hand function of stroke patients. This knowledge will provide a contribution to the development of a new robot-based assessment device effectively by including the important parameters in the device. The important parameters were included in development of iRest and yielded promising results that illustrate the potential of the important parameters in assessing the hand function of stroke patients

Myocardial collagen deposition and inflammatory cell infiltration in cats with pre-clinical hypertrophic cardiomyopathy

The histological features of feline hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) have been well documented, but there are no reports describing the histological features in mild pre-clinical disease, since cats are rarely screened for the disease in the early stages before clinical signs are apparent. Histological changes at the early stage of the disease in pre-clinical cats could contribute to an improved understanding of disease aetiology or progression. The aim of this study was to evaluate the histological features of HCM in the left ventricular (LV) myocardium of cats diagnosed with pre-clinical HCM. Clinically healthy cats with normal (n = 11) and pre-clinical HCM (n = 6) were identified on the basis of echocardiography; LV free wall dimensions (LVFWd) and/or interventricular septal wall (IVSd) dimensions during diastole of 6–7 mm were defined as HCM, while equivalent dimension

Review of mathematical models for production planning under uncertainty due to lack of homogeneity: proposal of a conceptual model

[EN] Lack of homogeneity in the product (LHP) appears in some production processes that confer heterogeneity in the characteristics of the products obtained. Supply chains with this issue have to classify the product in different homogeneous subsets, whose quantity is uncertain during the production planning process. This paper proposes a generic framework for reviewing in a unified way the literature about production planning models dealing with LHP uncertainty. This analysis allows the identification of similarities among sectors to transfer solutions between them and gaps existing in the literature for further research. The results of the review show: (1) sectors affected by LHP inherent uncertainty, (2) the inherent LHP uncertainty types modelled, and (3) the approaches for modelling LHP uncertainty most widely employed. Finally, we suggest a conceptual model reflecting the aspects to be considered when modelling the production planning in sectors with LHP in an uncertain environment.This research was initiated within the framework of the project funded by the Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad [Ref. DPI2011-23597] entitled ‘Methods and models for operations planning and order management in supply chains characterised by uncertainty in production due to the lack of product uniformity’ (PLANGES-FHP) already finished. After, the project leading to this application has received funding from the European Union’s research and innovation programme under the H2020 Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions with the grant agreement No 691249, Project entitled ’Enhancing and implementing Knowledge based ICT solutions within high Riskand Uncertain Conditions for Agriculture Production Systems’ (RUC-APS).Mundi, I.; Alemany Díaz, MDM.; Poler, R.; Fuertes-Miquel, VS. (2019). 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González-Araya, M. C. Gripe, and S. V. Rodrıguez. 2014. “A Mixed Integer Linear Program for Operational Planning in a Meat Packing Plant.” Accessed January 15, 2015. http://www.researchgate.net/profile/Victor_Albornoz/publication/268687089_A_Mixed_Integer_Linear_Program_for_Operational_Planning_in_a_Meat_Packing_Plant/links/547382bf0cf29afed60f55c7.pdf.José Alem, D., & Morabito, R. (2012). Production planning in furniture settings via robust optimization. Computers & Operations Research, 39(2), 139-150. doi:10.1016/j.cor.2011.02.022Alemany, M. M. E., Lario, F.-C., Ortiz, A., & Gómez, F. (2013). Available-To-Promise modeling for multi-plant manufacturing characterized by lack of homogeneity in the product: An illustration of a ceramic case. Applied Mathematical Modelling, 37(5), 3380-3398. doi:10.1016/j.apm.2012.07.022Alemany, M., Ortiz, A., & Fuertes-Miquel, V. S. (2018). 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IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management, 57(3), 394-404. doi:10.1109/tem.2009.2024506Dong, M., Lu, S., & Han, S. (2011). Production Planning for Hybrid Remanufacturing and Manufacturing System with Component Recovery. Advances in Electrical Engineering and Electrical Machines, 511-518. doi:10.1007/978-3-642-25905-0_66Dubois, D., Fargier, H., & Fortemps, P. (2003). Fuzzy scheduling: Modelling flexible constraints vs. coping with incomplete knowledge. European Journal of Operational Research, 147(2), 231-252. doi:10.1016/s0377-2217(02)00558-1DUENYAS, I., & TSAI, C.-Y. (2000). Control of a manufacturing system with random product yield and downward substitutability. IIE Transactions, 32(9), 785-795. doi:10.1080/07408170008967438Esteso, A., Alemany, M. M. E., & Ortiz, A. (2018). Conceptual framework for designing agri-food supply chains under uncertainty by mathematical programming models. 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Important parameters for hand function assessment of stroke patients

Clinical scales such as Fugl-Meyer Assessment and Motor Assessment Scale are widely used to evaluate stroke patient's motor performance. However, the scoring systems of these assessments provide only rough estimation, making it difficult to objectively quantify impairment and disability or even rehabilitation progress throughout their rehabilitation period. In contrast, robot-based assessments are objective, repeatable, and could potentially reduce the assessment time. However, robot-based assessment scales are not as well established as conventional assessment scale and the correlation to conventional assessment scale is unclear. This paper discusses the important parameters in order to assess the hand function of stroke patients. This knowledge will provide a contribution to the development of a new robot-based assessment device effectively by including the important parameters in the device. The important parameters were included in development of iRest and yielded promising results that illustrate the potential of the important parameters in assessing the hand function of stroke patients

Nrf2 Expression Is Regulated by Epigenetic Mechanisms in Prostate Cancer of TRAMP Mice

Nuclear factor-erythroid 2 p45-related factor 2 (Nrf2) is a transcription factor which regulates the expression of many cytoprotective genes. In the present study, we found that the expression of Nrf2 was suppressed in prostate tumor of the Transgenic Adenocarcinoma of Mouse Prostate (TRAMP) mice. Similarly, the expression of Nrf2 and the induction of NQO1 were also substantially suppressed in tumorigenic TRAMP C1 cells but not in non-tumorigenic TRAMP C3 cells. Examination of the promoter region of the mouse Nrf2 gene identified a CpG island, which was methylated at specific CpG sites in prostate TRAMP tumor and in TRAMP C1 cells but not in normal prostate or TRAMP C3 cells, as shown by bisulfite genomic sequencing. Reporter assays indicated that methylation of these CpG sites dramatically inhibited the transcriptional activity of the Nrf2 promoter. Chromatin immunopreceipitation (ChIP) assays revealed increased binding of the methyl-CpG-binding protein 2 (MBD2) and trimethyl-histone H3 (Lys9) proteins to these CpG sites in the TRAMP C1 cells as compared to TRAMP C3 cells. In contrast, the binding of RNA Pol II and acetylated histone H3 to the Nrf2 promoter was decreased. Furthermore, treatment of TRAMP C1 cells with DNA methyltransferase (DNMT) inhibitor 5-aza-2′-deoxycytidine (5-aza) and histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitor trichostatin A (TSA) restored the expression of Nrf2 as well as the induction of NQO1 in TRAMP C1 cells. Taken together, these results indicate that the expression of Nrf2 is suppressed epigenetically by promoter methylation associated with MBD2 and histone modifications in the prostate tumor of TRAMP mice. Our present findings reveal a novel mechanism by which Nrf2 expression is suppressed in TRAMP prostate tumor, shed new light on the role of Nrf2 in carcinogenesis and provide potential new directions for the detection and prevention of prostate cancer

Joint ancestry and association test indicate two distinct pathogenic pathways involved in classical dengue fever and dengue shock syndrome

Ethnic diversity has been long considered as one of the factors explaining why the severe forms of dengue are more prevalent in Southeast Asia than anywhere else. Here we take advantage of the admixed profile of Southeast Asians to perform coupled association-admixture analyses in Thai cohorts. For dengue shock syndrome (DSS), the significant haplotypes are located in genes coding for phospholipase C members (PLCB4 added to previously reported PLCE1), related to inflammation of blood vessels. For dengue fever (DF), we found evidence of significant association with CHST10, AHRR, PPP2R5E and GRIP1 genes, which participate in the xenobiotic metabolism signaling pathway. We conducted functional analyses for PPP2R5E, revealing by immunofluorescence imaging that the coded protein co-localizes with both DENV1 and DENV2 NS5 proteins. Interestingly, only DENV2-NS5 migrated to the nucleus, and a deletion of the predicted top-linking motif in NS5 abolished the nuclear transfer. These observations support the existence of differences between serotypes in their cellular dynamics, which may contribute to differential infection outcome risk. The contribution of the identified genes to the genetic risk render Southeast and Northeast Asian populations more susceptible to both phenotypes, while African populations are best protected against DSS and intermediately protected against DF, and Europeans the best protected against DF but the most susceptible against DSS.The research leading to these results has received funding from the European Commission Seventh Framework Programme [FP7/2007-2013] for the DENFREE project under Grant Agreement no. 282378. MO has a PhD grant from FCT (The Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology - SFRH/BD/95626/2013). I3S is financed by FEDER - Fundo Europeu de Desenvolvimento Regional funds through the COMPETE 2020 - Competitiveness and Internationalization Operational Programme (POCI), Portugal 2020, and by Portuguese funds through FCT/Ministério da Ciência, Tecnologia e Inovação in the framework of the project "Institute for Research and Innovation in Health Sciences" (POCI-01-0145-FEDER-007274). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript

Health state utilities of a population of Nigerian hypertensive patients

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Establishment of the health impact of hypertension on quality of life of Nigerians is a step towards controlling the disease. The study aimed to provide a Nigerian specific reference list of utility scores of hypertensive patients with various interacting conditions.</p> <p>Findings</p> <p>An interviewer-based, cross-sectional study was conducted using hypertensive patients in two purposively selected tertiary hospitals located in South-Eastern Nigeria. Health Utility Index Mark 3 (HUI3) was used.</p> <p>A total of 384 participants with either hypertension alone or with hypertension-associated complications were interviewed in the two tertiary hospitals.</p> <p>The overall mean utility score was 0.35 +/- 0.42. Patients with hypertension alone had the highest overall mean utility score (0.57 +/- 0.29) while hypertensive patients with stroke had the lowest overall mean score (0.04 +/- 0.36). Being a male, increase in age and mean arterial blood pressure, emergency visit and loss of work due to illness were associated with significant decrease in overall utility scores.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>This study presented a reference for health state utilities of a population of Nigerian hypertensive patients.</p