bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Abstract We096: Gene therapy of MAOA fine-tunes nuclear cAMP nanodomain and improves cardiac hypertrophy in mice
Authors: Xiang Wenjing , Sun Xingsheng , Su Chunyu , Xiang Yang , Wang Ying
Published: October 2024

Cardiac hypertrophy, a precursor to heart failure, represents a leading cause of global mortality and morbidity. Current therapeutic strategies focused on reducing the heart's workload, demonstrate limited efficacy. Nuclear-localized cAMP emerges as a promising therapeutic target, intervening in hypertrophic gene transcription and exhibiting overactivation in hypertrophic cardiomyocytes. Despite its potential, the spatiotemporal regulation and molecular targets of nuclear-localized cAMP (NLS-cAMP) remain elusive.

Employing super-resolution imaging, we identified a pool of β1 adrenergic receptors (β1AR) at the nuclear envelope that transduces NLS-cAMP-PKA signaling in cardiomyocytes. Utilizing a nuclear-localized FRET biosensor, our investigations revealed that the deletion or inhibition of monoamine oxidase A (MAOA) amplifies the norepinephrine-induced NLS-β1AR activation signal. Conversely, overexpressing MAOA prevents NLS-B1AR activation, underscoring the critical role of MAOA in regulating the NLS-cAMP nanodomain.

Single-cell transcriptome analysis unveiled a decline in MAOA expression in a mouse cardiac hypertrophy model. Cardiac-specific deletion of MAOA in mice led to simultaneous hypertrophy and eventual heart failure. Mechanistically, MAOA deletion increased PKA-dependent phosphorylation of HDAC1, H3K27 acetylation, and chromatin accessibility of hypertrophic genes, including Nppa and Nppb. To validate therapeutic potential, we intraventricularly injected adeno-associated virus (AAV) 9 vectors expressing mcherry or mcherry-MAOA under the control of the cTNT promoter into mice. Inducing cardiac hypertrophy through Angiotensin II infusion five weeks later, mice preinjected with AAV-MAOA exhibited attenuated cardiac hypertrophy and improved cardiac function.

Our findings suggest that MAOA gene therapy holds promise for treating hypertrophy by specifically targeting the NLS-cAMP nanodomain, opening new avenues for targeted interventions in cardiac hypertrophy and heart failure.
Abstract We106: Long Non-Coding RNA
LIPTER
Regulates Lipid Metabolism of Human Cardiomyocytes and Preserves Cardiac Function
Authors: Han Lei , Huang Dayang , Wang Cheng , Liu Sheng , Wan Jun , Yang Lei
Published: October 2024

Background:
Recently, long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) have emerged as novel human-specific (i.e. non-conserved) regulators of cardiovascular development and disease, which possess diverse functions through interacting with other molecules, including DNA, RNA, protein, and lipid. We identified a human lncRNA, LIPTER, which mediates lipid droplet (LD) transport to regulate lipid metabilism of human cardiomyocytes (CMs). Mechanistically, LIPTER binds phospholipids PA and PI4P on the LD membranes and the MYH10 protein, connecting LDs to the cytoskeleton and facilitating LD transport to mitochondria. LIPTER deficiencies led to prominent LD accumulation, mitochondrial dysfunction, and death of human iPS cell-derived CMs. Since downregulation of LIPTER and enahnced LD accumulation are associated with cardiac dysfunction and heart failure in patients with metabolic disorders, such as obesity and diabetes mellitus, we thereby seek to explore the preclinical potential of LIPTER for the therapy of human metabolic disorder associated cardiac dysfunction and heart failure.

Hypothesis:
We hypothesize that transgenic overexpression of the human lncRNA LIPTER in mouse heart could attenuate metabolic syndrome-associated myocardium lipid accumulation and cardiac dysfunction, as well as prevent isoproterenol-induced heart failure through increasing the fatty acid oxidation (FAO) of mouse heart.

Goals:
To evaluate the preclinical potential of human lncRNA LIPTER for the therapy of cardiac dysfunction and heart failure by using mouse cardiac dysfunction and heart failure models.

Methods:
We established a LIPTER transgenic overexpression mouse line (LIPTER
Tg
). Both WT and LIPTER
Tg
mice were fed with high fat diet for 10 months to induce cardiac lipid accumulation and dysfunction. Additionally, heart failure was induced by the chronic isoproterenol administration. After treatment, mice were subjected to histological and molecular analyses.

Results:
We found LIPTER
Tg
significantly enhanced FAO of mouse heart, reduced cardiac lipid accumulation and fibrosis, and alleviated cardiac dysfunction of high-fat-diet fed mice, as well as preserved cardiac function of mice post isoproterenol administration.

Conclusions:
We unveil a crucial role of human lncRNA LIPTER in regulating lipid metabolism of human CMs and testify its clinical potential for treating cardiac dysfunction and heart failure.
Abstract We119: Treatment of Viral Myocarditis by Targeting the TRIM29-PERK Axis-Mediated ER Stress Immune Response
Authors: Wang Junying , Lu Wenting , Zhang Jerry , Du Yong , Fang Mingli , Zhang Ao , Sungcad Gabriel , Chon Samantha , Zhang Zhiqiang , Xing Junji
Published: October 2024

Viral myocarditis, an inflammatory disease of the myocardium, is a significant cause of sudden death in children and young adults. The current coronavirus disease 19 pandemic emphasizes the need to understand the pathogenesis mechanisms and potential treatment strategies for viral myocarditis. Here, we found that TRIM29 was highly induced by cardiotropic viruses and promoted protein kinase RNA-like endoplasmic reticulum kinase (PERK)-mediated endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress, apoptosis, and reactive oxygen species (ROS) responses that promote viral replication in cardiomyocytes
in vitro
. TRIM29 deficiency protected mice from viral myocarditis by promoting cardiac antiviral functions and reducing PERK-mediated inflammation and immunosuppressive monocytic myeloid-derived suppressor cells (mMDSC)
in vivo
. Mechanistically, TRIM29 interacted with PERK to promote SUMOylation of PERK to maintain its stability, thereby promoting PERK-mediated signaling pathways. Finally, we demonstrated that the PERK inhibitor GSK2656157 mitigated viral myocarditis by disrupting the TRIM29-PERK connection, thereby bolstering cardiac function, enhancing cardiac antiviral responses, and curbing inflammation and immunosuppressive mMDSC
in vivo
. Our findings offer insight into how cardiotropic viruses exploit TRIM29-regulated PERK signaling pathways to instigate viral myocarditis, suggesting that targeting the TRIM29-PERK axis could mitigate disease severity.
Abstract We130: Novel Role of RBFox1 in Myocardial Infarction Induced Heart Failure
Authors: He Mengying , Zhu Cansheng , Onubogu Nkechi , Keezer Caitlin , He Xingyu , Wang Yigang , Hu Xinyang , Sheng Shuyuan , Wang Yibin , gao chen
Published: October 2024

Introduction:
Alternative mRNA splicing affects a broad spectrum of cardiac genes during pathological manifestation of heart diseases. Earlier studies from our lab have identified a muscle-specific isoform of RBFox1 to be a key RNA splicing regulator in pressure overload induced heart failure through regulating cardiac transcription factor alternative splicing. However, the physiological impact of RBFox1 in myocardial infarction (MI), and the RBFox1 downstream mRNA alternative splicing events during MI induced cardiac remodeling remains unknown.

Goals:
To investigate the functional impact of RBFox1 in MI induced cardiac remodeling.

Method and Results:
At both mRNA and protein levels, we found RBFox1 to be significantly decreased in Sprague-Dawley Rat hearts post MI. To investigate the functional impact of RBFox1 in myocardial infarction, we utilized AAV9 to achieve cardiac specific expression of RBFox1 in rats. Interestingly, expression of RBFox1 prevented cardiac dysfunction post MI characterized by improved cardiac function based on echocardiography. Expression of RBFox1 further reduced hypertrophy, cell death and fibrotic remodeling at both molecular and histological levels post MI. In vitro, expression of RBFox1 is sufficient to prevent hypoxia induced cardiac cell death based on TUNEL staining and cleaved caspase 3 level, while inactivation of RBFox1 promoted cardiac cell death. To further understand the molecular mechanism underlying RBFox1 mediated cardiac protection, we performed RNA-seq analysis to determine the transcriptome changes in vivo. RNA-seq showed insulin secretion, cAMP signaling and muscle contraction pathways to be top significantly changed pathways in RBFox1 expressed rat hearts post MI. Lastly, we have identified Mbnl1 mRNA alternative splicing to be regulated by RBFox1 through promoting a 36bp exon exclusion at the C-terminal of Mbnl1 protein, potentially affecting the function of Mbnl1.

Conclusion:
In summary, we have identified a previously uncharacterized role of RBFox1 in myocardial infarction injury. RBFox1 expression is critical to preserve cardiac function post MI, potentially through regulating downstream targets alternative splicing, including Mbnl1.
Abstract We133:
In Silico
Model of Cardiomyopathy Caused by a MYBPC3-induced HCM Mutation
Authors: Luanpaisanon Pichayathida , Wolf Matthew , Saucerman Jeffrey
Published: October 2024

Introduction:
Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) is the most frequent hereditary cardiomyopathy and a leading cause of sudden cardiac death, particularly in adolescent. Despite recent improved prognosis and FDA approved drugs, current cardiac therapeutics cannot efficiently prevent remodeling across all HCM patient populations due to genetic variability. Therefore, we require a systems biology approach to understand how the complex cardiac signaling networks regulate cardiomyocyte shape and size due to an HCM mutation.
This study leverages a computational systems approach to explore MYBPC3-induced HCM mutation regulation of cardiomyocyte hypertrophy.

Method:
For the signaling network model, we employed a logic-based differential equations model (NETFLUX) to construct a signaling network validated using
in vitro
data from published studies. This model captured signaling dynamics and cross talks between pathways governing cardiomyocyte size and shape. Additionally, a MYBPC3 HCM mutation is integrated in the model as an input providing a comparison between a control and simulated HCM responses. Sensitivity analyses are performed to investigate the most influential signaling pathways that mediate changes in mass.

Results:
We created a MYBPC3-induced HCM model by integrating an additional cardiac myosin binding protein-C node to a previously validated inherited cardiomyopathy signaling network. This updated model predicted an increase in mass when the HCM mutation is simulated. The simulated inhibition of each node in the model revealed that inhibition of calcium pathway, growth factor receptor, and titin stiffness could mitigate the HCM phenotype by reducing mass. The sensitivity analysis results also suggested PI3K, Ras, and ERK1/2 pathways as potential mechanisms mediating the decrease in mass and served as potential therapeutic targets.

Discussion and Future Work:
Our systems approach gave insights on the mechanisms governing the cardiomyocyte response to a MYBPC3-induced HCM mutation. This will be further validated via a MYBPC3-HCM model using human iPSC-CMs with MYBPC3-induced mutations. This will create a cell line that will provide genetically precise comparisons for identifying new molecular mechanisms of disease, thereby offering a strategy for advancing precision medicine.
A Fast Algorithm for All-Pairs-Shortest-Paths Suitable for Neural Networks
Authors: Jing Zeyu , Meister Markus
Published: October 2024

Given a directed graph of nodes and edges connecting them, a common problem is to find the shortest path between any two nodes. Here we show that the shortest path distances can be found by a simple matrix inversion: if the edges are given by the adjacency matrix Aij, then with a suitably small value of γ, the shortest path distances are Dij=ceil(logγ[(I-γA)-1]ij).We derive several graph-theoretic bounds on the value of γ and explore its useful range with numerics on different graph types. Even when the distance function is not globally accurate across the entire graph, it still works locally to instruct pursuit of the shortest path. In this mode, it also extends to weighted graphs with positive edge weights. For a wide range of dense graphs, this distance function is computationally faster than the best available alternative. Finally, we show that this method leads naturally to a neural network solution of the all-pairs-shortest-path problem.
Optimizing Attention and Cognitive Control Costs Using Temporally Layered Architectures
Authors: Patel Devdhar , Sejnowski Terrence , Siegelmann Hava
Published: October 2024

The current reinforcement learning framework focuses exclusively on performance, often at the expense of efficiency. In contrast, biological control achieves remarkable performance while also optimizing computational energy expenditure and decision frequency. We propose a decision-bounded Markov decision process (DB-MDP) that constrains the number of decisions and computational energy available to agents in reinforcement learning environments. Our experiments demonstrate that existing reinforcement learning algorithms struggle within this framework, leading to either failure or suboptimal performance. To address this, we introduce a biologically inspired, temporally layered architecture (TLA), enabling agents to manage computational costs through two layers with distinct timescales and energy requirements. TLA achieves optimal performance in decision-bounded environments and in continuous control environments, matching state-of-the-art performance while using a fraction of the computing cost. Compared to current reinforcement learning algorithms that solely prioritize performance, our approach significantly lowers computational energy expenditure while maintaining performance. These findings establish a benchmark and pave the way for future research on energy and time-aware control.
Bounded Rational Decision Networks With Belief Propagation
Authors: Schmid Gerrit , Gottwald Sebastian , Braun Daniel A.
Published: October 2024

Complex information processing systems that are capable of a wide variety of tasks, such as the human brain, are composed of specialized units that collaborate and communicate with each other. An important property of such information processing networks is locality: there is no single global unit controlling the modules, but information is exchanged locally. Here, we consider a decision-theoretic approach to study networks of bounded rational decision makers that are allowed to specialize and communicate with each other. In contrast to previous work that has focused on feedforward communication between decision-making agents, we consider cyclical information processing paths allowing for back-and-forth communication. We adapt message-passing algorithms to suit this purpose, essentially allowing for local information flow between units and thus enabling circular dependency structures. We provide examples that show how repeated communication can increase performance given that each unit’s information processing capability is limited and that decision-making systems with too few or too many connections and feedback loops achieve suboptimal utility.
Relating Human Error–Based Learning to Modern Deep RL Algorithms
Authors: Garibbo Michele , Ludwig Casimir J. H. , Lepora Nathan F. , Aitchison Laurence
Published: October 2024

In human error–based learning, the size and direction of a scalar error (i.e., the “directed error”) are used to update future actions. Modern deep reinforcement learning (RL) methods perform a similar operation but in terms of scalar rewards. Despite this similarity, the relationship between action updates of deep RL and human error–based learning has yet to be investigated. Here, we systematically compare the three major families of deep RL algorithms to human error–based learning. We show that all three deep RL approaches are qualitatively different from human error–based learning, as assessed by a mirror-reversal perturbation experiment. To bridge this gap, we developed an alternative deep RL algorithm inspired by human error–based learning, model-based deterministic policy gradients (MB-DPG). We showed that MB-DPG captures human error–based learning under mirror-reversal and rotational perturbations and that MB-DPG learns faster than canonical model-free algorithms on complex arm-based reaching tasks, while being more robust to (forward) model misspecification than model-based RL.
Increasing nutritional value using alternative protein from sago worm in gluten-free biscuit products
Authors: Sanphom T. , Fuengkajornfung N. , Manokit R. , Singkeaw K. , Kamdaeng O.
Published: October 2024

This research aimed to study the nutritional value of sago worm (Rhynchophorus Ferrugineus) powder, evaluate quantity of protein supplementation derived from sago worm in gluten-free biscuit and determine the nutritional value of the gluten-free biscuit products supplemented with protein from sago worm. It was found that the nutritional value in sago worm powder consisting of carbohydrates (11.14%), protein (24.65%), fat (54.18 %), and ash (2.41%) based on total weight. Dietary fibre content was 6.61% and the total energy was 699.99 kilocalories/100 g. As regards physical and chemical properties, increase in inclusion of sago worm powder led to a decrease in moisture content and an increase in quantity of protein. Increasing the sago worm powder resulting to the colour of the biscuits became darker. The results showed that an increase in sago worm hardness and fracturability to decreased. Sensory evaluation using a 9-point hedonic scale showed that the gluten-free biscuit with 5% sago worm powder of the total weight had the highest score. In addition, the developed products contained moisture content, carbohydrate, fat, protein, dietary fibre and ash of 58.86, 32.56, 6.34, 6.61 and 1.02%. The energy value was found to 567.42 Kcal/100 g.
Devadatta adii sp. nov. (Odonata: Zygoptera: Devadattidae) from Upper Siang District, Arunachal Pradesh, India
Authors: SAWANT DATTAPRASAD , JOSHI SHANTANU , PAWAR UJWALA , NAIK PRATIKSHA , KHAN FAHIM , NAWGE VIRAJ , KUNTE KRUSHNAMEGH
Published: October 2024

We erect a new species Devadatta adii sp. nov. based on five males and five females collected from Upper Siang District, Arunachal Pradesh, India. The males of the new taxon are unique in terms of having a golden yellow lateral pterothorax, strongly curved cerci and filamentous genital ligula. We also provide illustrations of male thorax and caudal appendages of Devadatta spp..
Prolegomenon
Authors: Harley James
Published: October 2024

Iannis Xenakis is mostly known as a music composer, but he was actually many things and thought of himself as being formed of a ‘mosaic of coherences’. Xenakis possessed an enormous capacity to absorb a wide range of information, and to apply these inputs to his creative and technical work. Engineering is a discipline where a rigorous training in foundational skills such as mathematics is allied with practical applications. In the realm of Western music, the cross-fertilization with other disciplines became quite restricted. While Music had been one of the foundational elements of Western education (the Quadrivium), the increasingly elaborate techniques being explored in Western music made it more hermetic. For Xenakis, however, his engineering background made it more natural for him to adapt tools and approaches from other disciplines. The transferal of ideas had the effect of creating highly original music: a) The geometrical principles underlying hyperbolic paraboloids as they were being explored in architecture turned into a web of string glissandi in Metastasis (1954); b) the probability functions used in risk analysis were applied to generative applications in creating complex, granular ‘clouds’ of sound in Pithoprakta (1956); c) the detailed understanding of computer programming as well as the intricacies of linking software to digital audio-oriented computer hardware led to a unique graphical-based synthesis system, UPIC, and a series of compositions created using this system, beginning with Mycènes Alpha (1978). His engineering background also supported his ability to develop unique multimedia presentations involving digitally controlled lighting systems with hundreds of flashbulbs and laser displays guided by movable mirrors. Perhaps the epitome of Xenakis’s meta-materiality is his Diatope (1978), a work combining architecture, music with spatialization, lights, and a program text combining philosophy, history, and aesthetics. He had combined elements of this work in previous productions, mainly in his Polytopes (Montréal 1967, Persepolis 1971, Cluny 1972-74, Mycenae 1978). Elements of the music and lighting had appeared earlier, but the opportunity to create the architectural home for the work was unique. For Xenakis the polymath, it was natural to draw concepts and techniques into his creative work from various disciplines. The advice from Olivier Messiaen to his young student who had very little traditional background or training in music proved prescient: ‘I encouraged him to use his mathematical and architectural knowledge in his own music and not to worry about melodic – harmonic – contrapuntal – rhythmic problems’. Of course, these elements are core to whatever music is being created, but the techniques for handling them can come from musical traditions or from other disciplines. The meta-materiality of Xenakis’s work is fundamental to his truly original contributions.
3. Iannis Xenakis in Berlin
Authors: Slavíček Marko
Published: October 2024

The Greek-French avant-garde composer and architect Iannis Xenakis was mostly active in Paris throughout his creative life. However, as a young artist, he took part in a year-long residency in Berlin, where he engaged deeply in artistic and theoretical work. This period proved fruitful, as he formulated certain aspects of his aesthetics in the domains of both music and architecture. After the residency, the composer continued to return to the city following various engagements for more than three decades. This chapter presents an overview of Xenakis’s activities in Berlin throughout his career, as well as the role the city played in his professional life. These activities include architectural competitions, lectures, workshops, musical compositions, and theoretical writings. I also examine the role Berlin-born conductor Hermann Scherchen had in the composer’s breakthrough, the works created during the Berlin residency, Xenakis’s connections to the Technical University of Berlin, and his membership of the Berlin Academy of Arts. To reconstruct the chronology of events, I rely on archival materials such as personal letters, newspaper reviews, flyers, videos, and sound recordings. In the end, we do not only see how Berlin became a pivotal element in Xenakis’s biography but also how the city has kept the composer’s legacy alive through numerous cultural events.
12. Activating Sound Phenomena in the Music of Iannis Xenakis
Authors: Garcia de la Torre Mauricio
Published: October 2024

Acoustic energy is a fundamental resource, although little studied, in the music of Iannis Xenakis. This approach is articulated within the concept of activating sound, a notion from psychoacoustics. According to Eggerman, this is one of the underlying mechanisms that enables emotional responses to music. For this author, musical listening is the final stage of a process of acoustic energy transfer, which has a direct correlation with the sympathetic nervous system and as a response generates a certain orientation, as well as physiological arousals towards the stimulus. Xenakis's music invokes an overwhelming physicality, a by-product of sound constructions endowed with a power emanating from the composer's design and realization strategies. With the intent of displaying how this remarkable quality guides Xenakis's creative endeavor, in this chapter I present a descriptive analysis of some iconic passages in which the Greek musician employs the resource of acoustic energy with exceptional mastery.
13. Spatial Movement of Sound Vectors
Authors: Rodríguez Lara Ambrosio Salvador
Published: October 2024

In this chapter, I discuss the concept and definition of a sound vector in acoustic space. I also explain that and how rhythmic-melodic movement meets this definition. In musical instruments such as the harp, marimba or piano, when a melody is played, sound vectors are projected simultaneously over the acoustical space as well as the physical space throughout the instrument. Using technological resources to synchronize several acoustic sources, it is possible to obtain a projection of sound impulses in wider spaces. In this chapter, electroacoustic sources and means are excluded. Sound vectors are classified in continuous and non-continuous displacement impulses. Examples are provided from some of my own compositions and from those of other composers that show non-continuous displacement impulses. In addition, I propose some compositional possibilities for these types of impulses. It is interesting to consider impulses with relatively fast speed on physical space, like a glissando on the harp or the piano, and the impression that these produce of a near cancelation of both the physical and the acoustical spaces between the sources. Sound vectors are a resource of great expressiveness.
22. Iannis Xenakis/Le Corbusier
Authors: Pimienta Guy
Published: October 2024

Le Corbusier was always able to surround himself with extremely competent people, which was one of his trademarks. As such, Pierre Jeanneret, Charlotte Perriand, Pierre Faucheux, and Iannis Xenakis were exemplary spearheads. Iannis Xenakis introduced himself to Le Corbusier in 1947 to work as an engineer in his Atelier, and the latter immediately integrated him into his AtBat, the agency he had created for the construction of the Housing Unit in Marseille. When Le Corbusier accepted the commission for La Tourette in 1953, he was deeply engaged in his Chandigarh project, so he entrusted the convent project to Xenakis, to whom he said: ‘I have a project which absolutely suits you, a very geometric project’. Xenakis simultaneously worked on the design of the convent and the composition of his first major musical work: Metastasis, contemporary with that of the undulating glass panes of La Tourette. In 1956, Le Corbusier asked Xenakis to design a Pavilion for the Brussels International Exhibition of 1958, a true contemporary form of synthesis of the arts, mathematics, and techniques which, with the passage of time, would appear as a manifesto of experimental architecture. When Xenakis claimed that his name be associated with that of Le Corbusier for the Philips Pavilion, their relationship deteriorated. The master found it fit to specify: ‘it is a common experience that the horse is convinced that it is driving the cart’. Iannis Xenakis demonstrates with this project that he is much more than a junior draftsman-engineer for a demanding architect. Notes in Le Corbusier's sketchbooks prove the importance he attached to the musician-architect. By firing him, Le Corbusier allowed the musical destiny of Iannis Xenakis to fully unfold.
25. La Légende de Xenakis
Authors: Roads Curtis
Published: October 2024

This is a personal account of the impact Xenakis had on my life over several decades. I am not an expert on Xenakis’s life. These recollections view Xenakis through the narrow lens of my encounters with him. The story begins with his course in Formalized Music at Indiana University in 1972. This encounter was life changing. It gave me clear focus and direction, which was crucial in my university studies. The idea of using algorithmic processes in music composition attracted me from an intellectual standpoint as a formidable design problem. In 1973 I flew to Paris to attend the Festival d’Automne. The main goal of my visit to Paris was to experience Xenakis’s sound and light spectacle Polytope de Cluny in the medieval Musée de Cluny. Returning to California, I was determined to synthesize granular sound by computer. I left CalArts for the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) where they had a working computer sound synthesis system. In 1981 I visited the CEMAMu in Issy-les-Moulineaux to see a demonstration of the UPIC system by Xenakis and his assistant Cornelia Colyer. Guy Médigue, the lead engineer of the UPIC, was also present. In the summer of 1987, I had a residency as a visiting composer at the CEMAMu, working with the UPIC system. In 1993 I left IRCAM to teach at Les Ateliers UPIC in the suburb of Massy. It was in this period that I came to know personally Xenakis and his circle.
28. A Pythagorean Wall of Visual and Auditory Drama
Authors: Estrada Julio
Published: October 2024

This chapter focuses on Iannis Xenakis through his perception, affected by a wound in his youth and, in my opinion, the origin of the need to repair the damage by expressing it, not necessarily voluntarily but as a creative manifestation in the face of visual and auditory losses. The permanent musical interest and esteem for Xenakis lead me to speculate here about the link between the man and his work, through the critical analysis of some theoretical aspects in it, the integration of the visual as an auditory resource, as well as from my perceptive experience, perhaps useful for further research on the composer.
36. Mapping the Influence
Authors: Polymeneas-Liontiris Thanos
Published: October 2024

Iannis Xenakis’s pioneering work has been extensively prolific and diverse. Exploring his compositional principles within the context of today’s computational capabilities, today’s state-of-the-art music technologies, and contemporary aesthetics may offer composers and performers the possibility to explore uncharted territories in their music creativity and music making. My latest free improvisation performances have been such kinds of explorations; they extensively rely on the use of Dynamic Stochastic Synthesis combined with real-time data feedback processes. I explore ways of influencing a Dynamic Stochastic Synthesis algorithm in SuperCollider (Gendy1) using its own audio signal. The audio signal either influences parameters of the Gendy1 Unit Generator itself or affects other parameters in the overall digital signal processing that the Gendy1 Unit Generator belongs to. To manage the contribution of the feedback in the process and to control other parameters of the stochastic distributions I use Machine Learning mapping and more specifically the program Wekinator. The combination of these processes offers a great variety of quite harsh, often unstable, and unpredictable spectra of tonal and noisy sounds that call for interaction and playfulness in the context of live improvised music. My essential argument, aside from the technical or aesthetical aspects of it, is that in my case Xenakis’s work has primarily influenced me in being musically curious, explorative, daring to try, daring to borrow processes from different practices, and daring to challenge aesthetics, concepts, techniques, and technologies.
41. The Xenakis Networked Performance Marathon 2022 (Sustainable Resources)
Authors: Zannos Iannis , Carlé Martin , Agiomyrgianakis Vasilis , Ikeda Takumi , Atake Hanako
Published: October 2024

This article examines the conceptual, aesthetic, and technical aspects of a collaborative, multi-sited performance in the main Dance Studio classroom of Athens Conservatoire, presenting sixteen pieces from artists in ten different countries in the span of eight hours, as part of the Meta-Xenakis Symposium held in 2022. The performance strategies include motion sensing, live-coding, and environmental integration, conceived under the imperatives of frugal innovation, in the sense of establishing low-impact practices for the assembling of hardware and software resources, and for the presentation of the event both with the Athens Conservatoire and as a street performance that formed part of a complementary collaborative project. The article discusses in detail the modifications (hacks) of low-cost hardware and open-source software used in the project, together with a discussion of the telematic procedures and aesthetic paradigms used to link the various sites.
42. Japanese Society of Electronic Music (JSEM) Concert
Authors: Mizuno Mikako
Published: October 2024

On December 9, 2022, the JSEM (Japanese Society of Electronic Music) held a concert celebrating Xenakis’s centennial in Shibuya Densyo Hall, Japan. The year 2022 was also monumental year for JSEM as it represented the Society’s 30th anniversary. This concert featured a lecture by Takehito Shimazu, the diffusion of the eight prize-winning pieces of UPISketch International Competition, and the world premieres of five new pieces composed by JSEM composers and dedicated to Xenakis:

1. Kyohei Hayashi: Galactic Blood (fixed audio-visual)

2. Masahiro Oda: Vertigo (fixed audio-visual)

3. Osamu Kadowaki: mesure space X (fixed audio)

4. Satoshi Fukushima: uncountable structures I (fixed audio)

5. Mikako Mizuno: Rosehip Surface (fixed audio)
45. In Memoriam, Joel Chadabe
Authors: Kanach Sharon
Published: October 2024

The inimitable Joel Chadabe…friend, colleague, proverbial big brother for so many. The one and only person I have ever known who never pronounced the words ‘no’ or ‘impossible’.

In this Tribute, we hear from some of the people most touched by you: Bill Blakeney, Mike Kupietz, Lori Freedman, Peter Beyls, Roger Reynolds—in either words or music—or both.

What better occasion to render homage than in the Meta-Xenakis celebration, as Xenakis too would have been right there, had he been able, in recognizing and giving thanks for everything you did to champion his music: from releasing the first CD of his electronic works on your EMF label, to all the concerts and events you organized over the years in North America.

When, at the Xenakis Project of the Americas in 2017, we toyed with the idea of creating an oral history around Xenakis in America, you enthusiastically volunteered to be our ‘guinea pig’ and do a pilot interview, with Olga Touloumi, Laura Cocks, and Anne Lanzilotti. Several significant excerpts from that hour-long interview are rendered public here for the first time, supporting the Chadabe motto: ‘Our mission is to create a gift of knowledge for future generations’.
50. The Iranian Context of Iannis Xenakis’s Persepolis
Authors: Yardumian Aram
Published: October 2024

This contribution reviews the historical turning-point and political climate of the time when Iannis Xenakis’s electro-acoustic work Persépolis (1971) premiered at the Shiraz Arts Festival. It covers criticisms leveled at the time and Xenakis’s response to them. It also points to a historic misconception that emerged from the turmoil of the 1970s. At the time, Iran was undergoing rapid cultural changes and increasing political division that would give way to the Revolution of 1979. Xenakis was hardly unaware of or ambivalent to the heavy-handed methods with which Mohammad Reza Shah conducted his domestic affairs, with routine maiming and killing of dissidents, courtesy of SAVAK. Xenakis’s eventual decision to cut ties with the Shiraz Festival and the Pahlavi court was paralleled by criticisms from all directions: anti-Shah elements living in Paris, the Iranian press, and even students with whom Xenakis met after the event. However, these should be seen as separate from the moral opprobrium heaped on the Shiraz Festival by the followers of the Ayatollah Khomeini. While Xenakis made his views on the regime clear in his 14 December 1971 “Open Letter” in Le Monde, this did not stop certain misconceptions from entering circulation. One of these has been the enduring myth that Persépolis was premiered (or replayed) at the opulent opening event of the 2500th anniversary of the Persian Empire, when in fact it was another work named Persepolis by a different composer altogether. These and other topics explored in my book Iannis Xenakis’s Persepolis, published in early 2023 as part of Bloomsbury’s 33 1/3 series, are highlighted. A vibrant exchange afterwards with participants in the New York leg of the Meta-Xenakis marathon global conference opens new questions of inquiry.
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) in Trauma Patients
Authors: Radow Brandon , Anderson Nathaniel , Richmond Bryan K.
Published: October 2024

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) was first introduced as a diagnosis by the American Psychiatric Association in 1980. This diagnosis, included in the 3rd edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of the American Psychiatric Association (DSM-III), was to be considered after someone was exposed to a traumatic event “outside the range of usual human experience and would be markedly distressing to almost anyone.” Since then, trauma survivors have been identified as being at risk for the development of post-traumatic stress symptom (PTSS) and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Despite the recognition of this fact, the screening, recognition, and diagnosis of PTSD in these at-risk populations are inconsistent. In the following review, which is designed for the clinician who is unfamiliar with PTSD and its recognition, diagnosis, and treatment, we introduce the problem in the trauma patient and define its scope. In addition, we discuss the diagnosis of PTSD in trauma patients, special considerations relating to these patient populations, treatment options, and explore future directions for how best to define, study, recognize, and treat this challenging and potentially devastating condition.
Manufacturing January 6: How Republican County Parties Mobilized Anger to Promote #StopTheSteal
Authors: Dempsey Sadie , Li Jianing , Witkovsky Benny , Wang Yiming , Friedland Lewis A. , Wagner Michael W. , Shah Dhavan V.
Published: October 2024

The #StopTheStealMovement, which culminated in the January 6 attack, was part of a coordinated, months-long campaign to convince the public that the 2020 election was stolen through fraud and that Donald Trump had won. The dominant narrative of how this movement emerged is a national one, with Donald Trump at the center. However, we show how state and local political institutions, events, and actors—in this case, county Republican parties on Facebook—were instrumental in paving the way for January 6.
Leveraging feminist approaches to care
Authors: Warin Megan , Beasley Chris , Chao Sophie
Published: October 2024

The work of thinking about, with, and through care is not the prerogative of any single discipline or positionality, as this Special Issue vividly illustrates. Rather, its wide-ranging and enduring force as empirical reality, conceptual approach and political disposition are best grappled with through a multidisciplinary lens, bringing into meaningful conversation and careful comparison different subjects, sites and scales of care. In the process, care emerges as a contested terrain, an object of debate and difference, as well as an ongoing central dimension to life as lived across the realms of the individual to the collective and the institutional. It is thus our hope that the offerings in this Special Issue invite further attention to care's role in shaping social and political life, in Australia and beyond, and for humans and non-humans. We intend for this Issue to stimulate the kinds of coalitional thinking and acting that care demands of scholars across fields and also across differently situated communities of ‘we’.
Sustainable release artifact in PLGA microspheres for prolonged local aesthetics in postoperative pain management
Authors: Chen Chong , Zhao Yejun , Tang Kaijia , Ning Honglong , Yu Xiaohua , Zhu Yueliang , Shi Qingyu
Published: October 2024

The challenge of effectively managing long-term pain after surgery remains a significant issue in clinical settings. Although local anesthetics are preferred for their effective pain relief and few side effects, their short-lasting effect does not fully meet the pain relief needs after surgery. Articaine, widely used for postoperative pain relief as a local anesthetic, is pharmacologically limited by its short half-life, which reduces the duration of its pain-relieving effects. To overcome this issue, this study presents a new approach using poly (lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA) microspheres for controlled articaine release, aiming to extend its analgesic effect while reducing potential toxicity. The PLGA microspheres were shown to extend the release of articaine for at least 72 h in lab tests, displaying excellent biocompatibility and low toxicity. When used in a rodent model for postoperative pain, the microspheres provided significantly prolonged pain relief, effectively reducing pain for up to 3 days post-surgery, without causing inflammation or tissue damage for over 72 h after being administered. The extended release and high safety profile of these PLGA microspheres highlight their promise as a new method for delivering local anesthetics, opening up new possibilities for pain management in the future.
Adolescent autonomy to make a ‘catastrophically bad’ decision informed by religious beliefs: To respect or protect?
Authors: Dimopoulos Georgina , Shircore Mandy , Hew Eliza
Published: October 2024

This article examines the Australian case law in which medical treatment has been authorised against the wishes of a Gillick competent adolescent, in circumstances where the adolescent’s decision to refuse treatment has been informed by their religious beliefs. We analyse three factors that have shaped the Australian jurisprudence – medical evidence regarding the adolescent’s prognosis and risk of death; the role of religion in adolescents’ medical treatment decision-making; and the adolescent’s own views and wishes – to expose arguably uncomfortable, value-laden judicial attempts to achieve a ‘nice balance’ between the sanctity of human life and individual autonomy. We argue for greater judicial transparency about when, if ever, an adolescent’s Gillick competence will be respected in refusal of medical treatment cases shaped by the adolescent’s faith.
Empirical research on decent work and precarious work for semi-skilled and unskilled blue-collar workers: A scoping review
Authors: Baldry Kim , Koekemoer Eileen , Olckers Chantal
Published: October 2024

Recognising that many workers worldwide often face poverty and exploitation, the International Labour Organisation aims to promote decent and productive work opportunities for all. We conducted a scoping review to get an overall view of current academic literature on decent work and precarious work for samples of blue-collar workers. The studies included in this review, focused on empirical research conducted from 2006 onwards, that primarily investigated decent work or precarious work among semi-skilled and unskilled manual workers. The review team used a data-charting form and collected information from thirty-five articles. Most recent studies (2020–2023) were related to the experiences and livelihoods of non-traditional blue-collar workers namely platform drivers and informal waste pickers. Before 2020, the most commonly studied theme related to the experiences of migrant workers. The findings shed light on the experiences of these workers, particularly in South Africa and India and provide valuable insight into their work experiences for further discussion.
Impact of Shared Decision-Making on Family Satisfaction With Intensive Care Services: ‘Share With Care’ has a New Meaning in ICU
Authors: Bhatt Margiben Tusharbhai , Chaudhuri Souvik , Ravindranath Sunil , Atri Viha , Maddani Sagar Shanmukhappa , P Vishwas , Fernandes Roshan
Published: October 2024

Background: Physician’s clinical inputs and informed bystander opinions are essential for successful intensive care unit (ICU) patient outcomes. There is insufficient data regarding the impact of shared decision-making on treatment outcomes and family satisfaction in Indian ICU settings. We aimed to determine the effect of shared decision-making factors on family satisfaction with ICU services. Patients and Methods: Family bystanders of 336 ICU patients with a stay >72 hours were conveniently surveyed across 13 months prospectively using Family Satisfaction in the Intensive Care Unit 24 Revised (FS-ICU 24R) questionnaire. We analyzed the responses to determine shared decision-making factors impacting family satisfaction. Results: Univariate analysis of ten variables of FS-ICU 24R questionnaire decision-making subscale revealed that consistency of information (OR 8.71, P < 0.001), honesty of information (OR 7.04, P < 0.001), and frequency of communication with doctors (OR 6.25, P < 0.001) were associated with highest odds of family involvement and satisfaction. Multivariable logistic regression showed that consistency of information (adjusted OR 3.85, P < 0.001) and frequent doctor communication (adjusted OR 2.22, P = 0.02) were independent predictors associated with family satisfaction. The number of decision-makers ( P = 0.463) or family’s prior ICU experience ( P = 0.430) was not associated with family satisfaction. Conclusion: A consistent and honest effort to cater to the family’s information needs and frequent physician-bystander interaction is essential for family’s satisfaction with ICU services. This even outweighs other decision-making factors such as number of decision-makers and their prior ICU experience. Incorporating shared decision-making in counseling should be a continuing practice.

Trial registry name: Clinical Trials Registry – India.

Registration number: CTRI/2022/09/045571.
Attitudes to the use of videoconferencing in general and specialist psychiatric services
Authors: Austen Sally , McGrath Melissa
Published: October 2024

Mental health professionals and support staff were invited to complete a questionnaire about their experience of using videoconferencing. Our hypotheses were that mental health professionals in the UK do not have access to videoconferencing and do not believe that videoconferencing is appropriate for their work. Of the 1 34 people who completed and returned a questionnaire, 78 worked in deaf mental health services and 56 worked in general mental health services. The majority were nurses ( n = 33) or psychologists ( n=30). A total of 109 respondents (81 %) knew what videoconferencing was, but only 16 respondents (12%) had ever used it. The majority of the 32 respondents who knew the location of their nearest videoconferencing facility said that it could be accessed in less than 30 min. The 16 people who had previously used videoconferencing identified four different benefits of videoconferencing and eight different drawbacks. We conclude that mental health staff did not have adequate knowledge of, or access to, videoconferencing.
Effects of distribution valve spring stiffness and opening pressure on the volumetric efficiency of micro high-pressure plunger pump
Authors: Wenbin Cao , Ruilin Miao , Yinshui Liu , Defa Wu , Xiaowen Chen
Published: October 2024

With the rapid development of material science and manufacturing capabilities, hydraulic technology is increasingly high-pressure, lightweight and miniaturizing. Micro plunger pump is widely used in the field of deep-sea hydraulic equipment and advanced intelligent hydraulic equipment, owing to its high-power density, high output pressure and many other advantages. Its broad application aims to examine the inlet and outlet distribution valve spring parameters change on the micro high-pressure plunger pump volumetric efficiency, by changing the inlet and outlet distribution valve. This paper is based on the simulation of AMESim engineering software to derive multiple sets of data. It compared and analysed the specific effect of different spring stiffness and opening pressure on the volumetric efficiency of the micro high-pressure plunger pump which was then verified through experiment. Results of this study have certain reference significance for the design of the spring of the inlet and outlet distribution valve of the micro high-pressure plunger pump, which facilitates the optimization and improvement of the dynamic performance of the micro high-pressure plunger pump.