Efficient methods for joint estimation of multiple fundamental frequencies in music signals

This study presents efficient techniques for multiple fundamental frequency estimation in music signals. The proposed methodology can infer harmonic patterns from a mixture considering interactions with other sources and evaluate them in a joint estimation scheme. For this purpose, a set of fundamental frequency candidates are first selected at each frame, and several hypothetical combinations of them are generated. Combinations are independently evaluated, and the most likely is selected taking into account the intensity and spectral smoothness of its inferred patterns. The method is extended considering adjacent frames in order to smooth the detection in time, and a pitch tracking stage is finally performed to increase the temporal coherence. The proposed algorithms were evaluated in MIREX contests yielding state of the art results with a very low computational burden.This study was supported by the project DRIMS (code TIN2009-14247-C02), the Consolider Ingenio 2010 research programme (project MIPRCV, CSD2007-00018), and the PASCAL2 Network of Excellence, IST-2007-216886

TRAUMATIC IDENTITY AND AURA IN DAVID LODGE’S AUTHOR, AUTHOR

This paper delves into David Lodge’s Author, Author (2004) as an example of neo-Victorian celebrity biofiction, more concretely on Henry James. The genre belongs to the wave of Victorian revival in current literature which also affects cultural studies in general. My main contention is that Lodge’s novel responds to current cultural anxieties, particularly the crisis of identity and authorship and the end of Walter Benjamin’s concept of aura, by sublimating them into late-nineteenth-century traumata. The choice of James is, the article argues, not casual. He represents the redeeming figure of a lost auratic world; the human in crisis, traumatized because he does not fit in the new status quo.Este artículo analiza la novela Author, Author (2004) de David Lodge como ejemplo de bioficción neo-victoriana centrada en una celebridad, en este caso concreto, Henry James. El género forma parte del renacimiento victoriano actual que afecta a los estudios culturales en su conjunto. Mi argumento central es que la novela de Lodge constituye una respuesta a las ansiedades culturales actuales, en particular a las que se refieren a la crisis identitaria y autoría literaria, así como a la pérdida del aura artística de Walter Benjamin, sublimándolas a través de los traumas de finales del siglo XIX. La elección de James, como demuestra el artículo, no es casual. Es el último representante de un mundo perdido en el que el aura aún tenía un espacio; el ser humano en crisis y traumatizado porque no encaja en un status quo nuevo

A cartesian ensemble of feature subspace classifiers for music categorization

We present a cartesian ensemble classification system that is based on the principle of late fusion and feature subspaces. These feature subspaces describe different aspects of the same data set. The framework is built on the Weka machine learning toolkit and able to combine arbitrary feature sets and learning schemes. In our scenario, we use it for the ensemble classification of multiple feature sets from the audio and symbolic domains. We present an extensive set of experiments in the context of music genre classification, based on numerous Music IR benchmark datasets, and evaluate a set of combination/voting rules. The results show that the approach is superior to the best choice of a single algorithm on a single feature set. Moreover, it also releases the user from making this choice explicitly.International Society for Music Information Retrieva

Characteristics of organizational structure relating to hybrid competitive strategy: implications for performance

This study examines the characteristics of organizational structure that relate to hybrid competitive strategies. Such strategies seek to obtain higher performance levels by simultaneously emphasizing high differentiation and low-cost levels. In addition, this paper analyzes the mediating role of competitive strategy in the relationship between organizational structure and firm performance. The study examines a sample of large Spanish firms belonging to different sectors. The findings reveal that hybrid competitive strategy influences firm performance positively. Similarly, organizational complexity and the existence of formalization positively influence hybrid competitive strategy, whereas centralization has a negative influence. Organizational structure does not exert a direct influence on performance, but an indirect one, through hybrid competitive strategy

Multiple-instrument polyphonic music transcription using a temporally constrained shift-invariant model

A method for automatic transcription of polyphonic music is proposed in this work that models the temporal evolution of musical tones. The model extends the shift-invariant probabilistic latent component analysis method by supporting the use of spectral templates that correspond to sound states such as attack, sustain, and decay. The order of these templates is controlled using hidden Markov model-based temporal constraints. In addition, the model can exploit multiple templates per pitch and instrument source. The shift-invariant aspect of the model makes it suitable for music signals that exhibit frequency modulations or tuning changes. Pitch-wise hidden Markov models are also utilized in a postprocessing step for note tracking. For training, sound state templates were extracted for various orchestral instruments using isolated note samples. The proposed transcription system was tested on multiple-instrument recordings from various datasets. Experimental results show that the proposed model is superior to a non-temporally constrained model and also outperforms various state-of-the-art transcription systems for the same experiment

Ecofog - Gagner en compétitivité et réduire les impacts environnementaux de la filière foie gras

On a worldwide scale, France is the leading producer of foie gras. To maintain this leadership, the sector must remain competitive and control its production costs while meeting specific societal and environmental expectations such as preservation of product quality, respect for animal welfare or limited use of natural resources. The aim of the project was to develop innovative production systems that would limit the impacts of feed and its surrounding practices on the competitiveness of the sector and the environment. An experimental approach was associated with a multi-criteria sustainability assessment (farm level), complemented by an analysis of production cost (farm level) and environmental impacts (product level). Two domains were studied: one related to feed, and the other related to ambient conditions during breeding and force-feeding. Several issues have been identified to progress. Reducing the amount of food distributed (-10%) appears as a possible solution to reduce feeding costs during rearing. The use of sorghum is also of interest but its use should be limited to the rearing phase. Lastly, semi-open air system, compared to open-air system, helps to improve IC (Consumption Index) and reduces animal heterogeneity and mortality. This project also provided original results related to the understanding of mechanisms involved in body temperature regulation of ducks on the one hand and on the other hand to LCA results of different innovations. Lastly, it contributed to the creation of two tools: one to drill ventilation ducts and another to calculate production costs. The results were disseminated to the professionals throughout the project in order to make all data available.À l’échelle mondiale, la France est le premier producteur de foie gras. Afin de conserver ce leadership, la filière doit rester compétitive et maîtriser ses coûts de production tout en répondant à des attentes sociétales et environnementales spécifiques telles que la préservation de la qualité des produits, le respect du bien-être animal ou la gestion économe des ressources. Le projet ECOFOG avait pour objectif de développer des systèmes de production innovants, permettant de limiter l’impact de l’alimentation des canards et des pratiques qui l’entourent pour gagner en compétitivité de la filière et diminuer l’impact environnemental de la filière. La démarche expérimentale a été associée à une démarche d’évaluation multicritère de la durabilité à l’échelle de l’atelier, complétée par une analyse des coûts de production à l’échelle de l’atelier et des impacts environnementaux à l’échelle du produit. Deux axes d’étude ont en particulier été développés : l’un autour de l’aliment, et l’autre autour des conditions d’ambiance en élevage et en gavage.Plusieurs pistes ont été identifiées pour progresser. La réduction de la quantité d’aliment distribué (-10%) est une solution possible pour réduire les coûts d'alimentation. L’utilisation de sorgho présente par ailleurs un intérêt environnemental mais son utilisation devrait être limitée à la phase d’élevage. En termes de bâtiments enfin, le système semi plein-air, comparé au système plein-air, contribue à améliorer l’IC (Indice de Consommation) et réduit les écarts de poids entre les animaux et la mortalité. Ce projet a permis d’obtenir des résultats originaux sur les mécanismes impliqués dans la régulation de la température corporelle des canards. Il a aussi permis d’évaluer les impacts environnementaux de la production de foie gras, et d’analyser les conséquences des différents systèmes de production innovants sur les performances, les coûts et la durabilité de la production. Il a enfin contribué à la création de deux outils utiles pour la filière : un outil d’aide au perçage des gaines de ventilation en atelier de gavage et un outil de calcul du coût de production. Ces résultats ont été largement diffusés vers les professionnels afin de rendre l’ensemble de ces données disponibles

Retinal Degeneration Progression Changes Lentiviral Vector Cell Targeting in the Retina

In normal mice, the lentiviral vector (LV) is very efficient to target the RPE cells, but transduces retinal neurons well only during development. In the present study, the tropism of LV has been investigated in the degenerating retina of mice, knowing that the retina structure changes during degeneration. We postulated that the viral transduction would be increased by the alteration of the outer limiting membrane (OLM). Two different LV pseudotypes were tested using the VSVG and the Mokola envelopes, as well as two animal models of retinal degeneration: light-damaged Balb-C and Rhodopsin knockout (Rho-/-) mice. After light damage, the OLM is altered and no significant increase of the number of transduced photoreceptors can be obtained with a LV-VSVG-Rhop-GFP vector. In the Rho-/- mice, an alteration of the OLM was also observed, but the possibility of transducing photoreceptors was decreased, probably by ongoing gliosis. The use of a ubiquitous promoter allows better photoreceptor transduction, suggesting that photoreceptor-specific promoter activity changes during late stages of photoreceptor degeneration. However, the number of targeted photoreceptors remains low. In contrast, LV pseudotyped with the Mokola envelope allows a wide dispersion of the vector into the retina (corresponding to the injection bleb) with preferential targeting of Müller cells, a situation which does not occur in the wild-type retina. Mokola-pseudotyped lentiviral vectors may serve to engineer these glial cells to deliver secreted therapeutic factors to a diseased area of the retina