Piano performance evaluation dataset with multilevel perceptual features.

This study aims to build a comprehensive dataset that enables the automatic evaluation of piano performances. In real-world piano performance, especially within the realm of classical piano music, we encounter a vast spectrum of performance variations. The challenge lies in how to effectively evaluate these performances. We must consider three critical aspects: (1) It is essential to gauge how performers express the music and how listeners perceive the performance, rather than focusing on the compositional characteristics of the musical piece. (2) Beyond fundamental elements like pitch and duration, we must also embrace higher-level features such as interpretation. (3) Such evaluation should be done by experts to discern the nuanced performances. Regrettably, there exists no dataset that addresses these challenging evaluation tasks. Therefore, we introduce a pioneering dataset PercePiano, annotated by music experts, with more extensive features capable of representing these nuanced aspects effectively. It encapsulates piano performance with a wide range of perceptual features that are recognized by musicians. Our evaluation benchmark includes a novel metric designed to accommodate the inherent subjectivity of perception. Furthermore, we propose an enhanced baseline framework that grounds performance on score data, aligning model predictions with human perception. Harnessing the aligned features enhances the baseline performance and proves to be adaptable to various model structures. In conclusion, our research opens new possibilities for comprehensive piano performance evaluation.

The Role of Predeployment Retraction in Biopsy Marker Migration During Stereotactic Breast Biopsies: A Randomized Controlled Trial.

OBJECTIVE: Inaccurate breast biopsy marker placement and marker migration during stereotactic biopsy procedures compromise their reliability for lesion localization and precise surgical excision. This trial evaluated the impact of 5-mm predeployment retraction of the marker introducer on marker migration, investigating other potential factors that influence the outcome. METHODS: This parallel, randomized controlled trial enrolled women aged ≥18 years undergoing stereotactic breast biopsy at a single institution from May 2020 through August 2022. The study was approved by the institutional review board at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB). Patients were randomized to intervention (5-mm introducer retraction before marker deployment) or control (standard marker placement) by drawing a labeled paper. The primary outcome was the distance of marker migration on immediate postprocedure mammogram. RESULTS: Of 251 patients enrolled, 223 were analyzed; 104 received the intervention, and 119 received control. Mean (SD) marker migration was 12.1 (14.9) mm in the intervention group vs 9.8 (14.9) mm, with differences between groups estimated at 2.3 mm (SE = 1.9, P = .2312) (d = 0.16; 95% CI, 1.5-6.0). Effects of age, breast density, thickness, and biopsy approach showed no statistical significance. In exploratory models, central lesions exhibited 5.7 mm less migration than proximal lesions (95% CI, 0.7-10.6; P = .025), and each body mass index (BMI) unit increase was associated with 0.3 mm greater migration (95% CI, 0-0.6; P = .044). CONCLUSION: Retracting the marker introducer 5 mm before deployment did not reduce migration. Higher BMI and certain lesion locations were all associated with marker migration, highlighting the need to investigate biomechanical factors and techniques to optimize breast marker placement.Clinical Trials Registration: NCT04398537.

Chromosome-level genome assembly of Korean holoparasitic plants, Orobanche coerulescens.

Orobanche coerulescens is a parasitic plant that cannot complete its life cycle without a host and is incapable of photosynthesis. The habitats of O. coerulescens span the coasts of Korea and its volcanic islands, Ulleungdo and Dokdo. Those on the volcanic islands exhibit morphological differences and have distinct hosts compared to those on the peninsula. The family of Orobanchaceae, encompassing both autotrophic and parasitic species, serves as a model for evolutionary studies of parasitic states. However, there are limited genome assemblies for the Orobanche genus. In our study, we produced approximately 100x ONT long reads to construct a chromosome-level genome of O. coerulescens. The resulting assembly has a total size of 3,648 Mb with an N50 value of 195 Mb, and 82.0% of BUSCO genes were identified as complete. Results of the repeat annotation revealed that 86.3% of the genome consisted of repeat elements, and 29,395 protein-coding genes were annotated. This chromosome-level genome will be an important biological resource for conserving biodiversity and further understanding parasitic plants.

Breast Cancer Genomics: Primary and Most Common Metastases.

Specific genomic alterations have been found in primary breast cancer involving driver mutations that result in tumorigenesis. Metastatic breast cancer, which is uncommon at the time of disease onset, variably impacts patients throughout the course of their disease. Both the molecular profiles and diverse genomic pathways vary in the development and progression of metastatic breast cancer. From the most common metastatic site (bone), to the rare sites such as orbital, gynecologic, or pancreatic metastases, different levels of gene expression indicate the potential involvement of numerous genes in the development and spread of breast cancer. Knowledge of these alterations can, not only help predict future disease, but also lead to advancement in breast cancer treatments. This review discusses the somatic landscape of breast primary and metastatic tumors.

Breast papillomas in the United States: single institution data on underrepresented minorities with a multi-institutional update on incidence.

PURPOSE: To assess the percentage of papillomas from all biopsies performed, comparing differences in patient age and race at a single institution. To assess trends in biopsied papillomas at institutions throughout the United States (US). METHODS: This is a HIPPA-compliant IRB-approved single-institution (Southern1) retrospective review to assess race and age of all-modality-biopsied non-malignant papillomas as a percentage of all biopsies (percentage papillomas calculated as papilloma biopsies/all biopsies) from January 2012 to December 2019. To assess national variation, several academic or large referral centers were contacted to provide data regarding papilloma percentages, biopsy modalities, and trends in case numbers. Trends were estimated using the method of analysis of variance (ANOVA). Comparisons of differences in trends were assessed. RESULTS: Southern1 institution demonstrated a significant association between race and percentage of papillomas (p < 0.0001). After adjustment for multiple comparisons with Bonferroni correction at 5% type I family error, the percentage of biopsied papillomas in Black and Asian patients remained significantly higher than in White patients (p < 0.0001 and p = 0.0032, respectively) using a Chi-square test. The regional variation in percentage of papillomas was found to be 3-9%. Southern1 institution showed a 7-year significant trend of increase in percentage of papillomas. Other institutions showed a decreasing trend (p < 0.05). CONCLUSION: Black and Asian women had significantly higher papilloma percentages compared to white patients in our single institution review. This institution also showed a statistically significant trend of increasing percentage papillomas from 2012 to 2019. Multi-institutional survey found regional variation in percentage papillomas, ranging from 3% to 9%.

Quantitative analysis of piano performance proficiency focusing on difference between hands.

Quantitative evaluation of piano performance is of interests in many fields, including music education and computational performance rendering. Previous studies utilized features extracted from audio or musical instrument digital interface (MIDI) files but did not address the difference between hands (DBH), which might be an important aspect of high-quality performance. Therefore, we investigated DBH as an important factor determining performance proficiency. To this end, 34 experts and 34 amateurs were recruited to play two excerpts on a Yamaha Disklavier. Each performance was recorded in MIDI, and handcrafted features were extracted separately for the right hand (RH) and left hand (LH). These were conventional MIDI features representing temporal and dynamic attributes of each note and computed as absolute values (e. g., MIDI velocity) or ratios between performance and corresponding scores (e. g., ratio of duration or inter-onset interval (IOI)). These note-based features were rearranged into additional features representing DBH by simple subtraction between features of both hands. Statistical analyses showed that DBH was more significant in experts than in amateurs across features. Regarding temporal features, experts pressed keys longer and faster with the RH than did amateurs. Regarding dynamic features, RH exhibited both greater values and a smoother change along melodic intonations in experts that in amateurs. Further experiments using principal component analysis (PCA) and support vector machine (SVM) verified that hand-difference features can successfully differentiate experts from amateurs according to performance proficiency. Moreover, existing note-based raw feature values (Basic features) and DBH features were tested repeatedly via 10-fold cross-validation, suggesting that adding DBH features to Basic features improved F1 scores to 93.6% (by 3.5%) over Basic features. Our results suggest that differently controlling both hands simultaneously is an important skill for pianists; therefore, DBH features should be considered in the quantitative evaluation of piano performance.

Optimization of Fermentation Medium for Indole Acetic Acid Production by Pseudarthrobacter sp. NIBRBAC000502770.

Indole acetic acid (IAA) has been an important compound for plant growth and is widely known to be produced by plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR). The isolate producing the maximum amount of IAA from the Korea shooting range soil was identified as Pseudarthrobacter sp. NIBRBAC000502770, using 16S rRNA gene sequencing. IAA production was determined in Luria-Bertani (LB) broth and optimized using different temperatures, agitation rates, L-tryptophan concentrations, carbon and nitrogen sources, and inorganic salts. The strain NIBRBAC000502770 showed better production of IAA at temperature 30 °C (29.47 mg·L-1) and at an agitation rate of 200 rpm (32.65 mg·L-1). Maltose (0.5%) was found to be the best carbon source for the strain (yielding 36.48 mg·L-1 IAA). IAA yield was 19.17 mg·L-1 and 24.73 mg·L-1 at 1% yeast extract and 1% tryptone as nitrogen sources, respectively. qRT-PCR showed the transcript levels of amiE and aldH genes, which had been predicted to encode indole-3-acetamide hydrolase and indole-3-acetaldehyde dehydrogenase, to be significantly upregulated in response to tryptophan. This study has examined that NIBRBAC000502770 has significant effects as a biological agent such as plant growth promotion, and development of optimal medium could significantly reduce the cost of mass production of microorganisms.

The complete chloroplast genome of Campanula takesimana Nakai from Dokdo Island in Korea (Campanulaceae).

Completed chloroplast genome of Campanula takesimana Nakai isolated from Dokdo island in Korea is 169,719 bp long (GC ratio is 38.8%) and has four subregions: 102,381 bp of large single-copy (37.8%) and 7,750 bp of small single-copy (32.6%) regions are separated by 29,794 bp of inverted repeat (41.3%) regions including 131 genes (87 protein-coding genes, eight rRNAs, and 36 tRNAs). Phylogenetic analyses suggested that C. takesimana from Dokdo Island form a clade with C. takesimana from Ulleungdo Island and that chloroplast genomes of the two accessions are diverged.

Review of Newer Antidiabetic Agents for Diabetes Management in Kidney Transplant Recipients.

OBJECTIVE: This systematic review describes the efficacy, safety, and drug interactions of dipeptidyl peptidase-4 (DPP-4) inhibitors, glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists (GLP-1 RAs), and sodium-glucose transport protein 2 (SGLT2) inhibitors in kidney transplant recipients (KTRs). DATA SOURCES: Articles were identified by English-language MEDLINE search, published prior to May 2020, using the terms kidney transplant, OR PTDM, OR NODAT, AND metformin, OR DPP4, OR GLP1, OR SGLT2. STUDY SELECTION AND DATA EXTRACTION: All selected studies were included if the study population was composed of adult KTRs who were diagnosed with either impaired glucose tolerance, diabetes mellitus (DM), new-onset diabetes after transplant (NODAT), or posttransplantation diabetes mellitus (PTDM). DATA SYNTHESIS: In KTRs, there is evidence for safety with DPP-4 inhibitors, GLP-1 RAs, and SGLT2 inhibitors. However, urinary tract infections and a slight initial decrease in renal function may limit use of SGLT2 inhibitors. As compared with the nontransplant type 2 DM population, SGLT2 inhibitors are not as efficacious in KTRs. RELEVANCE TO PATIENT CARE AND CLINICAL PRACTICE: This review provides an overview of the current literature on newer antidiabetic agents, addressing efficacy, safety, and drug interactions to help guide clinical decision-making for their use in KTRs. CONCLUSION: Newer antidiabetic agents have been recommended by the American Diabetes Association for potential cardiovascular, renal, and hypoglycemic benefits. Particular agents, such as DPP-4 inhibitors and GLP-1 RAs may play a role in correcting PTDM-related defects. Clinicians need to take into account both patient-specific and drug-specific characteristics when initiating these agents in KTRs.

Double trapezia sign: A new radiologic sign of scaphoid nonunion.

In scaphoid nonunion, pseudarthrosis and sclerotic change occur at the nonunion site. These changes make a distal fragment look like a trapezium on plain radiographs and we called this phenomenon the double trapezia sign. The purpose of this study was to estimate the diagnostic reliability of the double trapezia sign and its clinical and prognostic implications for the scaphoid nonunion.A retrospective review of 124 patients who underwent surgical treatment because of scaphoid nonunion between January 2007 and December 2017 was performed. Two hand surgeons and 1 musculoskeletal radiologist reviewed preoperative plain radiographs independently. Each observer evaluated the plain radiographs in 2 separate sessions at least 3 weeks apart to assess intraobserver and interobserver reliabilities of the double trapezia sign. To assess clinical and prognostic implications of the double trapezia sign, the patients were divided into the positive and nonpositive groups, and several variables such as age, sex, duration of nonunion, size of the distal fragment, avascular necrosis (AVN) of the proximal fragment, type of bone graft, healing time, and failure rate were compared between the 2 groups.The kappa values of intraobserver and interobserver reliabilities were >0.8, corresponding to almost perfect agreement. There were 58 patients in the positive group and 66 patients in the nonpositive group. The mean duration of nonunion was 38.5 months in the positive group and 12.2 months in the nonpositive group (P < .001). The size of distal fragment was 49.6% and 60.9%, respectively (P < .001). The AVN of proximal fragment was 24.1% and 54.5%, respectively (P = .001). The mean healing time was 4.1 and 6.4 months, respectively (P < .001). The failure rate was 13.8% and 27.3%, respectively (P = .066).In conclusion, the double trapezia sign is a valuable radiographic sign of scaphoid nonunion. The double trapezia sign is easily identifiable on plain radiographs and has excellent intra- and interobserver reliabilities. The positive double trapezia sign implies mid-waist nonunion, long duration of nonunion, less possibility of AVN, and favorable postoperative prognosis.