Imaging body composition in cancer patients: visceral obesity, sarcopenia and sarcopenic obesity may impact on clinical outcome

In recent years, there has been increasing interest in the influence of body composition on oncological patient outcomes. Visceral obesity, sarcopenia and sarcopenic obesity have been identified as adverse factors in cancer patients. Imaging quantification of body composition such as lean muscle mass and fat distribution is a potentially valuable tool. This review describes the following imaging techniques that may be used to assess body composition: dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA), computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). CT and MRI are acquired as part of oncological patient care, thus providing an opportunity to integrate body composition assessment into the standard clinical pathway and allowing supportive care to be commenced as appropriate to improve outcome

Realization of pratuokng (bamboo tube zither) repertoire among the Bidayuh of Annah Rais through frequency modulation synthesis sound modeling

Gongs are heard during Gawai celebration on first and second of June every year as an indication of appreciation for the harvest obtained. Gongs are a symbol of prosperity for the Bidayuh (Horsbourgh, 1858). Gong players gather and perform and are frequently joined by the traditional Bidayuh dance at an open space, 'awah' of the longhouse known as 'Kupuo'. There are three levels of tone attribute derivative from the gongs, namely 'canang', 'satu' and 'tawak'. In the community of Annah Rais, Padawan, Sarawak, there are tube zithers known as pratuokng, which contain a similar tone structure as the Bidayuh gong set and offer comparative collections. Seen from the point of view of sound preservation, the Audiovisual Research Collection for Performing Arts (ARCPA) located at the Music Department of Faculty of Human Ecology, UPM is stepping forward in developing elusive learning for a scholarly group to get to far-reaching database collections. In this respect, an exploratory examination concerning pratuokng collection is directed by means of sound simulation via Frequency-Modulation Synthesis (FM Synthesis), draws nearer as a model. The 'Audio Modulation' method, especially by means of frequency modulation, empowers summing sine wave to be a structure at different amplitudes. Subsequently, creating a non-consonant partials of frequencies sidebands will build up a metallic timbre, empowering the acknowledgment of the pratuokng music back in the traditional Bidayuh gong ensemble

Time frequency analysis of peking gamelan

The tone of peking 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 1’ was investigated using time-frequency analysis (TFA). The frequencies were measured using PicoScope oscilloscope, Melda analyzer in Cubase version 9 and Adobe version 3. Three different approaches for time-frequency analysis were used: Fourier spectra (using PicoScope), spectromorphology (using Melda analyzer) and spectrograms (using Adobe). Fourier spectra only identify intensity-frequency within entire signals, while spectromorphology identify the changes of intensity-frequency spectrum at fixed time and Adobe spectrograms identify the frequency with time. PicoScope reading produces the spectra of the fundamental and overtone frequencies in the entire sound. These overtones are non-harmonic since they are non-integral multiples of the fundamental. The fundamental frequencies of peking 1, 2, 3, 5, 6 were 1066Hz (C6), 1178Hz (D6), 1342Hz (E6), 1599Hz (G6) and 1793Hz (A6) respectively while peking 1’ was 2123Hz (C7) i.e. one octave higher than peking 1. Melda analyzer reading proved that all peking sustained the initial fundamental frequency and overtone at t=0 until 2s. TFA from Adobe reading provides a description of the sound in the time-frequency plane. From TFA, peking 1, 2 and 6 exhibited a much gentler attack and more rapid decay than peking 3, 5 and 1’

Reviewing the recording quality of a local string instrument (sape) from the perspective of sound preservation

Although technologies have rapidly advanced in the modern world, musicians and music scholars rarely understand new technologies and hence cannot comprehend the impact of recording technologies on their careers. Recordings of ethnic instruments that are available in the marketplace today show various types of timbre determined by different sampling rates, choice of microphone placements and acoustic environment. In many cases, the timbre produced in recordings of one ethnic instrument called sape is highly diversified. Music recordings available for ethnic instruments such as the sape of the Orang Ulu, Kenyah and other ethnic groups were manipulated either through the sound of the instrument itself or through the original recording that was extracted from various recording mediums, or recorded in a “mock-up” context created by producers. The effects of all these manipulations have misled listeners into thinking that what they are hearing are the original sounds of instruments such as sape. This situation is similar to a live performance. Many audience members are unaware that the final acoustic outcome for the audience is not only the sound produced by the instrument but also through the main speaker monitors of a performance venue. Local folk music instruments such as sape are traditionally played in a rural and/or communal setting with its unique sound environment. This contextual sound environment however tends to be ignored in the sound reinforcement of live performances as well as in audio recordings. All of the above affects the quality of audio recordings. The intention of this article is to compare, analyse and review the quality of audio recordings of sape from various perspectives, including wave analysis and audio signal audibility. This article suggests for a more advanced sound preservation approach through a constructed scheme for recordings

Timbre spectrum of gamelan instruments from four Malay gamelan ensembles

Gamelan in general is categorized as a group of gongs. This traditional Malay gamelan ensemble is in a slendro scale i.e. five notes per octave. The rhythms, pitch, duration and loudness classify the various groups of gongs such as bonang, kenong, gender, peking and gambang. The cast bronze peking, kenong and bonang were chosen from a range of Malay gamelan ensemble from Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (UNIMAS), Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM), Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) and Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM). The sounds were recorded by PicoScope Oscilloscope. The PicoScope software displays waveform and spectrum in time and frequency domain respectively. The peking lowest and highest frequencies from UiTM were 293 Hz and 1867 Hz, from UPM were 644 Hz and 1369 Hz, from UKM were 1064 Hz and 2131 Hz and from UNIMAS were 1072 Hz and 2105 Hz respectively. The kenong lowest and highest frequencies from UiTM were 259 Hz and 463 Hz, from UPM were 294 Hz and 543 Hz, from UKM were 300 Hz and 540 Hz and from UNIMAS were 293 Hz and 519 Hz respectively. The fundamental frequencies of bonang from UPM were higher than that of UKM, UiTM and UNIMAS. The harmonics were not successive but interrupted by another frequency. The harmonics of each bonang was similar except for gamelan from UKM

Priority-Elastic net for binary disease outcome prediction based on multi-omics data

Publisher Copyright: © The Author(s) 2024.Background: High-dimensional omics data integration has emerged as a prominent avenue within the healthcare industry, presenting substantial potential to improve predictive models. However, the data integration process faces several challenges, including data heterogeneity, priority sequence in which data blocks are prioritized for rendering predictive information contained in multiple blocks, assessing the flow of information from one omics level to the other and multicollinearity. Methods: We propose the Priority-Elastic net algorithm, a hierarchical regression method extending Priority-Lasso for the binary logistic regression model by incorporating a priority order for blocks of variables while fitting Elastic-net models sequentially for each block. The fitted values from each step are then used as an offset in the subsequent step. Additionally, we considered the adaptive elastic-net penalty within our priority framework to compare the results. Results: The Priority-Elastic net and Priority-Adaptive Elastic net algorithms were evaluated on a brain tumor dataset available from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA), accounting for transcriptomics, proteomics, and clinical information measured over two glioma types: Lower-grade glioma (LGG) and glioblastoma (GBM). Conclusion: Our findings suggest that the Priority-Elastic net is a highly advantageous choice for a wide range of applications. It offers moderate computational complexity, flexibility in integrating prior knowledge while introducing a hierarchical modeling perspective, and, importantly, improved stability and accuracy in predictions, making it superior to the other methods discussed. This evolution marks a significant step forward in predictive modeling, offering a sophisticated tool for navigating the complexities of multi-omics datasets in pursuit of precision medicine’s ultimate goal: personalized treatment optimization based on a comprehensive array of patient-specific data. This framework can be generalized to time-to-event, Cox proportional hazards regression and multicategorical outcomes. A practical implementation of this method is available upon request in R script, complete with an example to facilitate its application.publishersversionpublishe

The sound and function of different language particles in Zhuang songs of some western areas in Guangxi

The often as ‘ornamental’ syllables named language elements refer to song-text particles, sometimes also named ‘vocables’, or appellations interspersed among the lyrics during the actual singing process of the singer. It appears to some extent in the Zhuang singer’s singing of songs in various regions. Unfortunately, these syllables are often overlooked in textual records because most of them cannot be interpreted in terms of their actual lexical meaning when they are independent of the wording of the phrase. The specific ex-pressions of the singers play an essential role and are an inseparable part of Zhuang songs. If the core text of the lyrics is like the beam of the house, then the vocables are the bricks of the wall. The combination of the two can build a house of Zhuang songs. Based on the audio data of Zhuang songs collected at the border and junction areas of some western areas in Guangxi, this study compares the difference between the song-book texts written by the singers that need a memory tool and the actual singing syllables used. For that, the authors interviewed the singers, analysing the changes produced in sound by the different language particles or short sentences in the singing process and summarizing their laws and functions within the singing events

Social scientists as users: searching for recorded sound in its environment

For social scientists, it is crucial to access complex information on sound production and the recoring environment. They need data derived from professional recordings that help to support conventional observations. Media distributors have long-held the role of environment sounds as disturbing nuisance that had to be eliminated or suppressed. In the best / worst case, side sounds were left unchanged to create a "lively" atmosphere for an anthropological sound recording or a sound recording for a special audience to which the place of the performance is of particular interest. The coughing in a live concert or the dog barking in the background of a village ensemble became then part of the marketed item. In an archive, sound reductions hopefully not take place. Nevertheless, environmental sound inclusions, in certain recordings, are considered to be side effects of the main recording project undertaken by collectors of different disciplines who did not purposely intended to record those noises. Ideally, they were searching for equipment that avoids it best. Unlike this approach, the project at our institution tries to purposely include all possible environment sounds produced during the primary sound production. These sounds come from various distances and or directions. The paper will focus on the scientific potential and the resonance of these recordings among users in order to achieve more reliable research outcomes. Though small in number, researchers of very different social sciences areas might become a strong and supportive group of future users

Radiomics in esophageal and gastric cancer.

Esophageal, esophago-gastric, and gastric cancers are major causes of cancer morbidity and cancer death. For patients with potentially resectable disease, multi-modality treatment is recommended as it provides the best chance of survival. However, quality of life may be adversely affected by therapy, and with a wide variation in outcome despite multi-modality therapy, there is a clear need to improve patient stratification. Radiomic approaches provide an opportunity to improve tumor phenotyping. In this review we assess the evidence to date and discuss how these approaches could improve outcome in esophageal, esophago-gastric, and gastric cancer