Studio report: sound synthesis with DDSP and network bending techniques

This paper reports on our experiences synthesizing sounds and building network bending functionality onto the Differentiable Digital Signal Processing (DDSP) system. DDSP is an extension to the TensorFlow API with which we can embed trainable signal processing nodes in neural networks. Comparing DDSP sound synthesis networks to preset finding networks and sample level synthesis networks, we argue that it offers a third mode of working, providing continuous control in real-time of high fidelity synthesizers using low numbers of control parameters. We describe two phases of our experimentation. Firstly we worked with a composer to explore different training datasets and parameters. Secondly, we extended DDSP models with network bending functionality, which allows us to feed additional control data into the network's hidden layers and achieve new timbral effects. We describe several possible network bending techniques and how they affect the sound

Network Bending Neural Vocoders

Network bending [1] aims to elicit interesting creative output from generative neural networks by applying various transformations to the activations of groups of network nodes. This paper describes the investigation of how this emerging technique of ‘network bending’ can be used to provide novel creative control over sound synthesis networks based on the Magenta DDSP API [2] and how best to provide access to the resulting sound synthesis neural networks to creative practitioners

Examining Student Coding Behaviours in Creative Computing Lessons using Abstract Syntax Trees and Vocabulary Analysis

Creative computing is an approach to computing education which emphasises the creation of interactive audiovisual software and an art-school influenced pedagogy. Given this emphasis on Dewey’s "learning by doing”, we set out to investigate the processes students use to develop their programs. We refer to these processes as the students’ ‘coding behaviour’, and we expect that understanding it will provide us with valuable information about how students learn in our creative computing classes. As existing metrics were not sufficient, we introduce a new set of quantitative metrics to describe coding behaviours. The metrics consider factors such as students’ vocabulary use and development, how fast and how much they alter the functionality of code over time and how they iterate on their code through text insert and delete operations. Many of our lessons involve providing students with demonstrator code which they use as a base for the development of their programs, so we use demo code as an entry point to our dataset. We look at programs students have written through developing the demo code in a dataset of over 16,000 programs. We clustered the demo code using the set of descriptive metrics. This lead to a set of clusters containing programs which are associated with distinct coding behaviours. Four was the ideal number of clusters for cluster density and separation. We found that the clusters had distinct behaviour patterns, that they were associated with different instructors and that they contained demo programs with different lengths

Contemporary Machine Learning for Audio and Music Generation on the Web: Current Challenges and Potential Solutions

We evaluate specific Web-based technologies that can be used to implement complex contemporary Machine Learning systems for Computer Music research, in particular for the problem of audio signal generation. As a result of greater investment from large corporations including Google and Facebook in areas such as the development of Web-based, accelerated, cross-platform Machine Learning libraries, alongside greater interest and engagement from the academic community in exploring such approaches, Machine Learning is becoming much more prevalent on the Web. This could have great potential impact for Computer Music research, acting to democratise access to complex, accelerated Machine Learning technologies through increased usability and flexibility, in tandem with clear documentation and examples. However, some problems remain in relation to the creation of more complete Machine Learning pipe-lines for Music and Sound generation. We discuss some key potential challenges in this area, and attempt to evaluate some relevant solutions for developing more accessible Computer Music Machine Learning systems

The critical factors in producing high quality and policy-relevant research: insights from international behavioural science units

Background: There has been a rapid increase in the number of, and demand for, organisations offering behavioural science advice to government over the last ten years. Yet we know little of the state of science and the experiences of these evidence providers. / Aims and objectives: To identify current practice in this emerging field and the factors that impact on the production of high-quality and policy-relevant research. / Methods: A qualitative study using one-to-one interviews with representatives from a purposeful sample of 15 units in the vanguard of international behavioural science research in policy. The data were analysed thematically. / Findings: Relationships with policymakers were important in the inception of units, research conduct, implementation and dissemination of findings. Knowledge exchange facilitated a shared understanding of policy issues/context, and of behavioural science. Sufficient funding was crucial to maintain critical capacity in the units’ workforces, build a research portfolio beneficial to policymakers and the units, and to ensure full and transparent dissemination. / Discussion and conclusion: Findings highlight the positive impact of strong evidence-provider/user relationships and the importance of governments’ commitment to co-produced research programmes to address policy problems and transparency in the dissemination of methods and findings. From the findings we have created a framework, ‘STEPS’ (Sharing, Transparency, Engagement, Partnership, Strong relationships), of five recommendations for units working with policymakers. These findings will be of value to all researchers conducting research on behalf of government

Effectiveness of personal letters to healthcare professionals in changing professional behaviours : a systematic review protocol

Background: Letters are regularly sent by healthcare organisations to healthcare professionals to encourage them to take action, change practice or implement guidance. However, whether letters are an effective tool in delivering a change in healthcare professional behaviour is currently uncertain. In addition, there are currently no evidence-based guidelines to support health providers and authorities with advice on how to formulate the communication, what information and behaviour change techniques to include in order to optimise the potential effect on the behaviour of the receivers. To address this research gap, we seek to inform such guidance through this systematic review, which aims to provide comprehensive evidence of the effectiveness of personal letters to healthcare professionals in changing their professional behaviours. Methods/design: A comprehensive literature search of published and unpublished studies (the grey literature) in electronic databases will be conducted to identify randomised controlled trials (RCTs) that meet our inclusion criteria. We will include RCTs evaluating the effectiveness of personal letters to healthcare professionals in changing professional behaviours. The primary outcome will be behavioural change. The search will be conducted in five electronic databases (from their inception onwards): MEDLINE, Embase, PsycINFO, the Cochrane Library and CINAHL. We will also conduct supplementary searches in Google Scholar, hand search relevant journals, and conduct backward and forward citation searching for included studies and relevant reviews. A systematic approach to searching, screening, reviewing and data extraction will be applied in accordance with the process recommended by the Cochrane Collaboration. Two researchers will examine titles, abstracts, full-texts for eligibility independently. Risk of bias will be assessed using the Cochrane Risk of Bias 2 (RoB 2) tool for randomised controlled trials. Disagreements will be resolved by a consensus procedure. Discussion: Health policy makers across government are expected to benefit from being able to increase compliance in clinical settings by applying theories of behaviour to design of policy communications. The synthesised findings will be disseminated through peer-reviewed publication. Systematic review registration: PROSPERO CRD4202016767

Advanced Glycation End Product Interventions Reduce Diabetes-Accelerated Atherosclerosis

Advanced glycation end product (AGE) formation may contribute to the progression of atherosclerosis, particularly in diabetes. The present study explored atherosclerosis in streptozotocin-induced diabetic apolipoprotein E–deficient (apoE�/�) mice that were randomized (n � 20) to receive for 20 weeks no treatment, the AGE cross-link breaker ALT-711, or the inhibitor of AGE formation aminoguanidine (AG). A sixfold increase in plaque area with diabetes was attenuated by 30 % with ALT-711 and by 40 % in AG-treated mice. Regional distribution of plaque demonstrated no reduction in plaque area or complexity within the aortic arch with treatment, in contrast to the thoracic and abdominal aortas, where significant attenuation was seen. Diabetes-associated accumulation of AGEs in aorta

Anyon in External Electromagnetic Field: Hamiltonian and Lagrangian Formulations

We propose a simple model for a free relativistic particle of fractional spin in 2+1 dimensions which satisfies all the necessary conditions. The canonical quantization of the system leads to the description of one- particle states of the Poincare group with arbitrary spin. Using the Hamil- tonian formulation with the set of constraints, we introduce the electro- magnetic interaction of a charged anyon and obtain the Lagrangian. The Casimir operator of the extended algebra, which is the first-class constraint, is obtained and gives the equation of motion of the anyon. In particular, from the latter it follows that the gyromagnetic ratio for a charged anyon is two due to the parallelness of spin and momentum of the particle in 2+1 dimensions. The canonical quantization is also considered in this case.Comment: 9 pages, Latex, HU-SEFT R 1993-1

Notes on adding D6 branes wrapping RP3 in AdS4 x CP3

We deform the N=6 Chern Simons theory by adding extra matter hypermultiplets in a fundamental representation of one or both gauge groups. We compute the quantum corrected moduli space. We verify that the holographic dual of the modified theory consists of the usual AdS4 x CP3 background in presence of AdS4 filling D6 branes which wrap RP3 in CP3. We extend the correspondence to a similar modification of more general known N=3 dual pairsComment: 16 pages. v2: a reference, the name of a manifold, minor typos correcte