An oft-cited aspiration of digital musical instrument (DMI) design is to create instruments, in the words of Wessel and Wright, with a 'low entry fee and no ceiling on virtuosity'. This is a difficult task to achieve: many new instruments are aimed at either the expert or amateur musician, with few instruments catering for both. There is often a balance between learning curve and the nuance of musical control in DMIs. In this paper we present a study conducted with non-musicians and guitarists playing guitar-derivative DMIs with variable levels of control intimacy: how the richness and nuance of a performer's movement translates into the musical output of an instrument. Findings suggest a significant difference in preference for levels of control intimacy between the guitarists and the non-musicians. In particular, the guitarists unanimously preferred the richest of the two settings whereas the non-musicians generally preferred the setting with lower richness. This difference is notable because it is often taken as a given that increasing richness is a way to make instruments more enjoyable to play, however, this result only seems to be true for expert players.
To help answer questions about availability, accessibility, sustainability and other dimensions of energy security, the vulnerability approach concentrates the attention of policymakers on the assessment of risks associated with natural, technical, political and economic factors. This understanding, combined with a focus on energy services (e.g. lighting, heating, telecommunications, mobility, etc.) helps to prioritize actions to achieve the goal of energy security. This paper conceptualizes energy security as low vulnerability of vital energy systems and sustained provision of modern energy services. Taking Tajikistan as a case, this paper highlights key vulnerabilities including neglect of environmental conditions, insufficient energy production capacity, unreliable and expensive energy imports, dwindling power infrastructure causing technical and economic losses, inadequate transparency in the power sector, lack of regional cooperation in energy and water resources sharing, and inadequate financial resources to address these challenges. Three major proposals presented by the World Bank, the United Nations Development Program, and the Government of Tajikistan to achieve energy security in Tajikistan are evaluated. Specifically, they lack a focus on energy services and therefore overlook people's socio-cultural context and appropriate energy needs. This paper highlights energy services as critical to people's wellbeing and socio-economic development.
So far, NIME research has been mostly inward-looking, dedicated to divulging and studying our own work and having limited engagement with trends outside our community. Though musical instruments as cultural artefacts are inherently political, we have so far not sufficiently engaged with confronting these themes in our own research. In this paper we argue that we should consider how our work is also political, and begin to develop a clear political agenda that includes social, ethical, and cultural considerations through which to consider not only our own musical instruments, but also those not created by us. Failing to do so would result in an unintentional but tacit acceptance and support of such ideologies. We explore one item to be included in this political agenda: the recent trend in music technology of ``democratising music'', which carries implicit political ideologies grounded in techno-solutionism. We conclude with a number of recommendations for stimulating community-wide discussion on these themes in the hope that this leads to the development of an outward-facing perspective that fully engages with political topics.
The use of biodegradable/bio-based polymers is of great importance in addressing several issues related to environmental protection, public health, and new, stricter legislation. Yet some applications require improved properties (such as barrier or mechanical properties), suggesting the use of nanosized fillers in order to obtain bio-based polymer nanocomposites. In this work, bionanocomposites based on two different biodegradable polymers (coming from the Bioflex and MaterBi families) and two different nanosized fillers (organo-modified clay and hydrophobic-coated precipitated calcium carbonate) were prepared and compared with traditional nanocomposites with high-density polyethylene (HDPE) as matrix. In particular, the injection molding processability, as well as the mechanical and rheological properties of the so-obtained bionanocomposites were investigated. It was found that the processability of the two biodegradable polymers and the related nanocomposites can be compared to that of the HDPE-based systems and that, in general, the bio-based systems can be taken into account as suitable alternatives.
11 p., 6 figures, 1 table and references. ; Thyroid hormones influence brain development through regulation of gene expression mediated by nuclear receptors. Nuclear receptor concentration increases rapidly in the human fetus during the secondtrimester,aperiod of high sensitivity of the brain to thyroidhormones.In the rat, the equivalent period is the last quarter of pregnancy. However, little is known about thyroid hormone action in the fetal brain, and in rodents, most thyroid hormone-regulated genes have been identified during the postnatal period. To identify potential targets of thyroid hormone in the fetal brain,weinduced maternal and fetal hypothyroidism by maternal thyroidectomy followed by antithyroid drug (2-mercapto-1-methylimidazole) treatment. Microarray analysis identified differentially expressed genes in the cerebral cortex of hypothyroid fetuses on d 21 after conception. Gene function analysis revealed genes involved in the biogenesis of the cytoskeleton, neuronal migration and growth,and branching of neurites. Twenty percent of the differentially expressed genes were related to each other centered on the Ca2 and calmodulin-activated kinase (Camk4) pathway.Camk4was regulated directly by T3 in primary cultured neurons from fetal cortex, and the Camk4 protein was also induced by thyroid hormone. No differentially expressed genes were recovered when euthyroid fetuses from hypothyroid mothers were compared with fetuses from normal mothers. Although the resultsdonot rule out a specific contribution from the mother, especially at earlier stages of pregnancy, they indicate that the main regulators of thyroid hormone-dependent, fetal brain gene expression near term are the fetal thyroid hormones. ; This work was supported by Grants BFU2005-01740, SAF2008-01168, and SAF2006-14068 from the Ministry of Science and Innovation, Spain, by the European Union Integrated Project CRESCENDO (LSHM- CT-2005-018652), and by the Center for Biomedical Research on Rare Diseases (CIBERER). D.D. was supported by the I3P program of the Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, Spain, and by a postdoctoral fellowship from The Japanese Society for the Promotion of Science. D.N. was supported by a predoctoral fellowship of the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation. ; Peer reviewed
L'entrata nella seconda Repubblica è stata scandita dalla marcia trionfale della sinistra in predicato di vincere le elezioni politiche. I risultati elettorali più gratificanti della sinistra sono stati la traballante vittoria del 1996 e le non vittorie (sostanziali pareggi) del 2006 e del 2013, al contrario erano certe nelle previsioni e nei fatti le vittorie berlusconiane del 2001 e del 2008.
We present the first measurements of femtoscopic correlations between the KS0 and K± particles in pp collisions at √s=7 TeV measured by the ALICE experiment. The observed femtoscopic correlations are consistent with final-state interactions proceeding solely via the a0(980) resonance. The extracted kaon source radius and correlation strength parameters for KS0K− are found to be equal within the experimental uncertainties to those for KS0K+. Results of the present study are compared with those from identical-kaon femtoscopic studies also performed with pp collisions at √s=7 TeV by ALICE and with a KS0K± measurement in Pb–Pb collisions at √sNN=2.76 TeV. Combined with the Pb–Pb results, our pp analysis is found to be compatible with the interpretation of the a0(980) having a tetraquark structure instead of that of a diquark. ; A.I. Alikhanyan National Science Laboratory (Yerevan Physics Institute) Foundation (ANSL), State Committee of Science and World Federation of Scientists (WFS), Armenia; Austrian Academy of Sciences and Nationalstiftung für Forschung, Technologie und Entwicklung, Austria; Ministry of Communications and High Technologies, National Nuclear Research Center, Azerbaijan; Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq), Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), Financiadora de Estudos e Projetos (Finep) and Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP), Brazil; Ministry of Science & Technology of China (MSTC), National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) and Ministry of Education of China (MOEC), China; Ministry of Science and Education, Croatia; Centro de Aplicaciones Tecnológicas y Desarrollo Nuclear (CEADEN), Cubaenergía, Cuba; Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports of the Czech Republic, Czech Republic; The Danish Council for Independent Research Natural Sciences, the Carlsberg Foundation and Danish National Research Foundation (DNRF), Denmark; Helsinki Institute of Physics (HIP), Finland; Commissariat à l'Energie Atomique (CEA) and Institut National de Physique Nucléaire et de Physique des Particules (IN2P3) and Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), France; Bundesministerium für Bildung, Wissenschaft, Forschung und Technologie (BMBF) and GSI Helmholtzzentrum für Schwerionenforschung GmbH, Germany; General Secretariat for Research and Technology, Ministry of Education, Research and Religions, Greece; National Research, Development and Innovation Office, Hungary; Department of Atomic Energy, Government of India (DAE), Department of Science and Technology, Government of India (DST), University Grants Commission, Government of India (UGC) and Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), India; Indonesian Institute of Sciences, Indonesia; Centro Fermi – Museo Storico della Fisica e Centro Studi e Ricerche Enrico Fermi and Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare (INFN), Italy; Institute for Innovative Science and Technology, Nagasaki Institute of Applied Science (IIST), Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) KAKENHI and Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT), Japan; Consejo Nacional de Ciencia (CONACYT) y Tecnología, through Fondo de Cooperación Internacional en Ciencia y Tecnología (FONCICYT) and Dirección General de Asuntos del Personal Academico (DGAPA), Mexico; Nederlandse Organisatie voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek (NWO), Netherlands; The Research Council of Norway, Norway; Commission on Science and Technology for Sustainable Development in the South (COMSATS), Pakistan; Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú, Peru; Ministry of Science and Higher Education and National Science Centre, Poland; Korea Institute of Science and Technology Information and National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF), Republic of Korea; Ministry of Education and Scientific Research, Institute of Atomic Physics and Romanian National Agency for Science, Technology and Innovation, Romania; Joint Institute for Nuclear Research (JINR), Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation and National Research Centre Kurchatov Institute, Russia; Ministry of Education, Science, Research and Sport of the Slovak Republic, Slovakia; National Research Foundation of South Africa, South Africa; Swedish Research Council (VR) and Knut & Alice Wallenberg Foundation (KAW), Sweden; European Organization for Nuclear Research, Switzerland; National Science and Technology Development Agency (NSDTA), Suranaree University of Technology (SUT) and Office of the Higher Education Commission under NRU project of Thailand, Thailand; Turkish Atomic Energy Agency (TAEK), Turkey; National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, Ukraine; Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC), United Kingdom; National Science Foundation of the United States of America (NSF) and United States Department of Energy, Office of Nuclear Physics (DOE NP), United States of America.
This Letter presents the first experimental observation of the attractive strong interaction between a proton and a multistrange baryon (hyperon) Ξ−. The result is extracted from two-particle correlations of combined p−Ξ−⊕¯p−¯Ξ+ pairs measured in p−Pb collisions at √sNN=5.02 TeV at the LHC with ALICE. The measured correlation function is compared with the prediction obtained assuming only an attractive Coulomb interaction and a standard deviation in the range [3.6, 5.3] is found. Since the measured p−Ξ−⊕¯p−¯Ξ+ correlation is significantly enhanced with respect to the Coulomb prediction, the presence of an additional, strong, attractive interaction is evident. The data are compatible with recent lattice calculations by the HAL-QCD Collaboration, with a standard deviation in the range [1.8, 3.7]. The lattice potential predicts a shallow repulsive Ξ− interaction within pure neutron matter and this implies stiffer equations of state for neutron-rich matter including hyperons. Implications of the strong interaction for the modeling of neutron stars are discussed. ; A. I. Alikhanyan National Science Laboratory (Yerevan Physics Institute) Foundation (ANSL), State Committee of Science and World Federation of Scientists (WFS), Armenia; Austrian Academy of Sciences, Austrian Science Fund (FWF): [M 2467-N36] and Nationalstiftung für Forschung, Technologie und Entwicklung, Austria; Ministry of Communications and High Technologies, National Nuclear Research Center, Azerbaijan; Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq), Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), Financiadora de Estudos e Projetos (Finep) and Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP), Brazil; Ministry of Science & Technology of China (MSTC), National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) and Ministry of Education of China (MOEC), China; Croatian Science Foundation and Ministry of Science and Education, Croatia; Centro de Aplicaciones Tecnológicas y Desarrollo Nuclear (CEADEN), Cubaenergía, Cuba; Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports of the Czech Republic, Czech Republic; The Danish Council for Independent Research—Natural Sciences, the Carlsberg Foundation and Danish National Research Foundation (DNRF), Denmark; Helsinki Institute of Physics (HIP), Finland; Commissariat à l'Energie Atomique (CEA), Institut National de Physique Nucléaire et de Physique des Particules (IN2P3) and Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) and Rlégion des Pays de la Loire, France; Bundesministerium für Bildung, Wissenschaft, Forschung und Technologie (BMBF) and GSI Helmholtzzentrum für Schwerionenforschung GmbH, Germany; General Secretariat for Research and Technology, Ministry of Education, Research and Religions, Greece; National Research, Development and Innovation Office, Hungary; Department of Atomic Energy Government of India (DAE), Department of Science and Technology, Government of India (DST), University Grants Commission, Government of India (UGC) and Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), India; Indonesian Institute of Science, Indonesia; Centro Fermi—Museo Storico della Fisica e Centro Studi e Ricerche Enrico Fermi and Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare (INFN), Italy; Institute for Innovative Science and Technology, Nagasaki Institute of Applied Science (IIST), Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) KAKENHI and Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT), Japan; Consejo Nacional de Ciencia (CONACYT) y Tecnología, through Fondo de Cooperación Internacional en Ciencia y Tecnología (FONCICYT) and Dirección General de Asuntos del Personal Academico (DGAPA), Mexico; Nederlandse Organisatie voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek (NWO), Netherlands; The Research Council of Norway, Norway; Commission on Science and Technology for Sustainable Development in the South (COMSATS), Pakistan; Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú, Peru; Ministry of Science and Higher Education and National Science Centre, Poland; Korea Institute of Science and Technology Information and National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF), Republic of Korea; Ministry of Education and Scientific Research, Institute of Atomic Physics and Ministry of Research and Innovation and Institute of Atomic Physics, Romania; Joint Institute for Nuclear Research (JINR), Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation, National Research Centre Kurchatov Institute, Russian Science Foundation and Russian Foundation for Basic Research, Russia; Ministry of Education, Science, Research and Sport of the Slovak Republic, Slovakia; National Research Foundation of South Africa, South Africa; Swedish Research Council (VR) and Knut & Alice Wallenberg Foundation (KAW), Sweden; European Organization for Nuclear Research, Switzerland; National Science and Technology Development Agency (NSDTA), Suranaree University of Technology (SUT) and Office of the Higher Education Commission under NRU project of Thailand, Thailand; Turkish Atomic Energy Agency (TAEK), Turkey; National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, Ukraine; Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC), United Kingdom; National Science Foundation of the United States of America (NSF) and United States Department of Energy, Office of Nuclear Physics (DOE NP), United States of America.