Perceptual distance in timbre space

Presented at the 11th International Conference on Auditory Display (ICAD2005)This paper describes a perceptual space for timbre, defines an ob- jective metric that takes into account perceptual orthogonality, and measures the quality of timbre interpolation applicable to percep- tually valid timbral sonification. We discuss two timbre represen- tations and measure perceptual judgment. We determined that a timbre space based on Mel-frequency cepstral coefficients (MFCC) is a good model for perceptual timbre space

C. Elegans Meets Data Sonification: Can We Hear Its Elegant Movement?

(Abstract to follow

The Japanese translation of the Gold-MSI: Adaptation and validation of the self-report questionnaire of musical sophistication

This study presents a Japanese translation of the Goldsmiths Musical Sophistication Index (Gold-MSI). The index consists of 38 self-report questions and provides a general sophistication score as well as subscale scores for Active Engagement, Perceptual Abilities, Musical Training, Singing Abilities, and Emotions. The validation of the translation with 689 native Japanese speakers indicated excellent internal consistency and test–retest reliability. Confirmatory factor analysis revealed that the bifactor model structure formulated by the original study of Gold-MSI is maintained reasonably in our data. The strengths of the Gold-MSI self-report inventory are (1) it offers a multifaceted view of musical sophistication, (2) a subset of five subscales can be used to measure different aspects of musical sophistication independently, and (3) the ease of administration as it is a self-report questionnaire. In view of the fact that this inventory and its translations increasingly contribute to research on musical expertise, skills, and abilities, having a Japanese translation may enhance future research in these areas even further

Novel Anti-Obesity Properties of Palmaria mollis in Zebrafish and Mouse Models

(1) Background: The red seaweed Palmaria mollis (PM), which has a bacon-like taste, is increasingly being included in Western diets. In this study, we evaluate anti-obesity effects of PM using diet-induced obese (DIO) zebrafish and mice models. (2) Methods: We fed PM-containing feed to DIO-zebrafish and mice, and evaluated the anti-obesity effects We also analyzed gene expression changes in their liver and visceral adipose tissues (VAT). (3) Results: PM ameliorated several anti-obesity traits in both animals, including dyslipidaemia, hepatic steatosis, and visceral adiposity. In liver tissues of DIO-zebrafish and mice, PM upregulated gene expressions involved in peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor alpha (PPARA) pathways, and downregulated peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma (PPARG) pathways, suggesting that the lipid-lowering effect of PM might be caused by activation of beta-oxidation and inhibition of lipogenesis. In VAT, PM downregulated genes involved in early and late adipocyte differentiation in zebrafish, but not in mice. (4) Conclusions: We have demonstrated that PM can prevent hepatic steatosis and visceral adiposity for the first time. Dietary supplementation of PM as a functional food may be suitable for obesity prevention and reduction in the prevalence of obesity-related diseases

Rage in Conjunction with the Machine

ABSTRACT This report presents the design and construct ion of Rage in Conjunction with the Machine, a simple but novel pairing of musical interface and sound sculpture. The authors discuss the design and creation of this instrument , focusing on the unique aspects of it, including the use of physical systems, large gestural input, scale, and the electronic coupling of a physical input to a physical output

Sonifying ECoG seizure data with overtone mapping: a strategy for creating auditory gestalt from correlated multichannel data

Presented at the 18th International Conference on Auditory Display (ICAD2012) on June 18-21, 2012 in Atlanta, Georgia.Reprinted by permission of the International Community for Auditory Display, http://www.icad.org.This paper introduces a mapping method, harmonic mapping, which projects multichannel time-series data onto a harmonic series structure. Because of the common fate effect of gestalt principle, correlated signals are perceived as a unity, while uncorrelated signals are perceived segregated. This method is first examined with sonification of simple, generic datasets. Then, harmonic mapping is applied to sonification of an ECoG data of an epileptic seizure episode. The relationship between the gestalt formation the correlation in the data across channels is discussed in detail using a 16 channels reduced dataset. Finally, sonification of a 56 channel ECoG dataset is provided to demonstrate the advantage of the harmonic mapping.JST-PREST