Search Results (303)

This study conducts a systematic qualitative review of empirical research on sense of place within housing contexts, employing the tripartite model of place identity, place attachment, and place dependence. The study employs an expanded model that captures the internal complexity of each indicator by integrating its cognitive, affective, and conative components, which represent the dimensions of human–place interaction. This model conceptualizes sense of place as a multidimensional construct, facilitating thematic synthesis and cross-study comparisons. A structured search of Scopus and Web of Science identified 10 studies that met predefined inclusion criteria. Additionally, eight studies with divergent conceptualizations of sense of place were narratively analyzed to explore the diversity of interpretations across disciplinary perspectives in housing research. The review yields three key findings: (1) The expanded tripartite model provides a framework for understanding the relationships between residents and housing. (2) Sense of place is both a criterion and a catalyst for housing sustainability. (3) The development of a sense of place is influenced by the interaction of physical, spatial, environmental, social, cultural, economic, and institutional housing factors. Sense of place provides insight into how housing becomes home, informing context-dependent strategies that enhance place-based connections and contribute to housing sustainability. Full article

Background: Awake craniotomy (AC) surgeries are less common in the pediatric population in comparison to their adult counterparts. Nonetheless, they can be considered for selected cases whereby speech preservation is paramount during maximal safe resection of intracranial lesions. We describe a case of AC for the excision of a brain arteriovenous malformation (bAVM) with language mapping in a pediatric patient. Methods: A previously well 16-year-old male presented with a spontaneous left frontal intracranial hemorrhage. Neuroimaging confirmed the cause to be a left antero-temporal bAVM centered in the insula. A decision was made for AC bAVM excision with language mapping for speech preservation. Results: As part of the pre-operative preparation, the patient and his caregivers were reviewed by a multidisciplinary team. For the conduct of the AC, the asleep–awake–asleep technique was used with processed EEG to guide anesthesia management. Additional modifications to make the patient comfortable included the avoidance of rigid cranial skull pins, urinary catheterization and central line insertion at the start of the surgery. Conclusions: Our experience concurs with the evidence that AC in children is a feasible option for select individuals. To our knowledge, this is the first detailed case description of a pediatric patient undergoing AC with language mapping for a bAVM. Emphases include a strong rapport between the patient and the managing multidisciplinary team, flexibility to adjust conventional workflows and limitations of neuroimaging adjuncts. Full article

Neuromuscular gait deficits in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are often overlooked. High-intensity training protocols may improve running performance, but their efficacy in pediatric populations is underexplored. This study evaluates the impact of a high-intensity running protocol on locomotor performance in neurotypical and neurodivergent children (children with ASD). Spatiotemporal gait characteristics (speed, stride frequency, stride length, and duty factor), gait symmetry (symmetry ratio), and kinematics were assessed for ten neurodivergent children (10–15 years old) during a 15 m sprint. Locomotor costs (cost of locomotion, transport, and locomotion per stride) were analyzed in six neurodivergent participants (11–14 years old) via open-flow respirometry during treadmill running. Participants completed a 5–12 week, twice-weekly program; neurotypical participants served as a control group. Neurodivergent and neurotypical children exhibited baseline differences in spatiotemporal variables. Following training, neurodivergent participants demonstrated statistically significant improvements in spatiotemporal metrics and locomotor costs. Differences in symmetry between the two groups were not present pre- or post-program. These findings highlight the efficacy of high-intensity running programs in improving sensorimotor function and coordination in children with ASD. This program provides valuable insights into gross motor rehabilitation for neurodivergent children, supporting its potential as an effective intervention. Full article

In this study, we used a causal analysis approach to assess the impact of deforestation on bird abundance in Mexico. Based on records in the eBird and GBIF databases, ten species were selected in 807 grids on the mainland. Relative abundances by species were estimated using a fixed-effects panel data regression for the period 2016–2018. Deforestation was used as a quasi-natural experiment, classifying treatment and control groups according to the distribution of relative abundances by quintiles of gross deforestation rates during the period 2001–2018. The treatment group was defined as relative abundances of birds present in grids in the last deforestation quintile (≥4% to 12%); the control group included relative abundances of birds present in grids of the first four quintiles (<4%). Extended regression models were used to estimate the impacts of high deforestation rates on the relative abundance of birds, finding mixed causal effects: five showed statistically significant declines in abundance (Ruddy Ground Dove (Columbina talpacoti), Black Vulture (Coragyps atratus), Melodious Blackbird (Dives dives), Bewick’s Wren (Thryomanes bewickii), and Rufous-backed Thrush (Turdus rufopalliatus)), while one specie Yellow-winged Cacique (Cassiculus melanicterus) exhibited significant increases. These findings highlight the importance of causal effect studies in contributing to empirical evidence-based conservation decision-making. Full article

Small cell lung cancer (SCLC) is an aggressive form of lung cancer characterized by rapid growth and early metastases. As a neuroendocrine tumour, SCLC is especially notorious for various paraneoplastic syndromes, one of which is a rare neurological syndrome called paraneoplastic limbic encephalitis (PLE) that manifests with amnestic cognitive impairment and seizures. Here, we describe a case of a 53-year-old female who presented with neuropsychiatric symptoms of delusions, hallucinations, and cognitive impairment that started months prior to being diagnosed with extensive-stage SCLC. With no previous neuropsychiatric history, this raised the question of whether her presentation was related to PLE rather than a primary psychiatric condition, as initially diagnosed. Her symptoms improved with chemotherapy and radiation treatment of the underlying cancer, favouring a paraneoplastic etiology. Overall, this case underscores the importance of considering paraneoplastic syndromes in patients presenting with new neuropsychiatric symptoms, as early recognition and treatment can improve prognosis. Full article

This article presents an in-depth examination of the technical and cultural dimensions of singing practices within the traditional music of sub-Saharan Africa. Utilizing an extensive body of theoretical and ethnomusicological research, comparative transcription, and culturally situated observation, it presents a comprehensive framework for understanding the significance of the human voice in various performance contexts. The study revolves around a tripartite model—auditory clarity, ambiguous auditory clarity, and occlusion—that delineates the varying levels of audibility of vocal lines amidst intricate instrumental arrangements. The article examines case studies from West, East, and Southern Africa, highlighting essential vocal techniques such as straight tone, nasal resonance, ululation, and controlled (or delayed) vibrato. It underscores the complex interplay between language, melody, and rhythm in tonal languages. The analysis delves into the influence of sound reinforcement technologies on vocal presence and cultural authenticity, positing that PA systems have the capacity to either enhance or disrupt the equilibrium between traditional aesthetics and modern requirements. This research is firmly rooted in a blend of African and Western theoretical frameworks, drawing upon the contributions of Nketia, Agawu, Chernoff, and Kubik. It proposes a nuanced methodology that integrates technical analysis with cultural significance. It posits that singing in African traditional music transcends mere expression, serving as a vessel for collective memory, identity, and the socio-musical framework. The article concludes by emphasizing the enduring strength and flexibility of African vocal traditions, illustrating their capacity for evolution while preserving fundamental communicative and artistic values. Full article

Exploratory listening encompasses the various ways, contexts, and levels of attention with which listeners engage with their sonic environment. This paper presents findings from qualitative research conducted with audience members during the Stardew Valley: Festival of Seasons concert tour. During these events, attendees encountered music from the widely successful indie video game, reorchestrated in a new context. Just as the game encourages exploration through open-ended gameplay, the concerts prompt listeners to explore how the rearranged music refers to and diverges from its use in the game. Findings suggest that attendees deployed their attention to divergent aspects of the music. While some attendees focused on specific musical aspects like recognizable melodies and instrumentation, others focused on the broader audiovisual and community aspects of the performance. Results also indicate that highly immersed listeners experience diverse thoughts, including those not directly about the immediate musical content. Positioning music-evoked imaginings as a way listeners become immersed in musical experiences, we report on how exploratory listening shapes the dynamics of attention, immersion, and enjoyment within musical and audiovisual contexts. Full article

Lizards are distinguished as the only amniotes, and closest relatives of mammals, capable of multilineage epimorphic regeneration. Tail blastemas of green anole lizards (Anolis carolinensis) consist of col3a1⁺ fibroblastic connective tissue cells enclosed in krt5⁺ wound epidermis (WE), both of which are required for regeneration. Blastema and WE formation are known to be closely associated with phagocytic cell populations, including macrophages and osteoclasts. However, it remains unclear what specific phagocytic cell types are required to stimulate regeneration. Here, we explicitly assess the roles of osteoclast activity during blastema and WE formation in regenerating lizard tails. First, probe sequencing was performed at regenerative timepoints on fibroblasts isolated based on col3a1 expression toward establishing pathways involved in stimulating blastema formation and subsequent tail regrowth. Next, treatments with osteoclast inhibitor zoledronic acid (ZA) were used to assess the roles of osteoclast activity in lizard tail regeneration and fibroblast signaling. ZA treatment stunted lizard tail regrowth, suggesting osteoclast activity was required for blastema formation and regeneration. Transcriptomic profiling of fibroblasts isolated from ZA-treated and control lizards linked inhibition of osteoclast activity with limitations in fibroblasts to form pro-regenerative extracellular matrix and support WE formation. These results suggest that crosstalk between osteoclasts and fibroblasts regulates blastema and WE formation during lizard tail regeneration. Full article

The Mysteries of Udolpho was published at a time when poetry and music were being redefined, along with the notions of imitation and expression. From a precedence of word over music, theorists, musicians and composers started reconsidering the hierarchy of arts, which led to a new appreciation of both sung music and instrumental music. Ann Radcliffe’s novel is replete with pleasing sounds and mysterious melodies, working both as part of her décor and general soundscape and as a key element of the narrative. Given the novel’s musical profusion and versatility, one may wonder how to adapt its musicality into actual music. This paper, therefore, endeavors to define the balance of imitation and expression in The Mysteries of Udolpho and questions the ability of other media, especially those relying on sounds, to adapt its musical richness. It first focuses on the novel’s inscription in the larger context of musical theory, before delving into the limits of language’s sound mimesis and its counteracting expressivity. The final part is a case study of three artworks inspired by Radcliffe’s novel: John Bray’s song “Soft as yon’s silver ray that sleeps”, Catherine Czerkawska’s radio dramatization The Mysteries of Udolpho, and Marc Morvan and Benjamin Jarry’s album Udolpho. Full article

The segmentation of symbolic music phrases is crucial for music information retrieval and structural analysis. However, existing BiLSTM-CRF methods mainly rely on local semantics, making it difficult to capture long-range dependencies, leading to inaccurate phrase boundary recognition across measures or themes. Traditional Transformer models use static embeddings, limiting their adaptability to different musical styles, structures, and melodic evolutions. Moreover, multi-head self-attention struggles with local context modeling, causing the loss of short-term information (e.g., pitch variation, melodic integrity, and rhythm stability), which may result in over-segmentation or merging errors. To address these issues, we propose a segmentation method integrating local context enhancement and global structure awareness. This method overcomes traditional models’ limitations in long-range dependency modeling, improves phrase boundary recognition, and adapts to diverse musical styles and melodies. Specifically, dynamic note embeddings enhance contextual awareness across segments, while an improved attention mechanism strengthens both global semantics and local context modeling. Combining these strategies ensures reasonable phrase boundaries and prevents unnecessary segmentation or merging. The experimental results show that our method outperforms the state-of-the-art methods for symbolic music phrase segmentation, with phrase boundaries better aligned to musical structures. Full article

Pulmonary disfunction is frequent in repaired congenital heart diseases. Both pulmonary regurgitation and pulmonary stenosis are possible complications over time. In the past, the surgical approach was the only feasible management but exposed the patient to a redo-surgery with its consequent risks. Nowadays, the development of novel devices and techniques has made possible a transcatheter pulmonary valve implantation. The Melody Transcatheter Pulmonary Valve (TPV) (Medtronic Inc., Minneapolis, MN, USA) and the Edwards Sapien XT and S3 Transcatheter Heart Valve (Edwards Lifesciences LLC, Irvine, CA, USA) are balloon-expandable valvular bioprostheses approved for pulmonary position. Venus P-Valve (Venus Medtech, Shanghai, China) and Harmony TPV (Medtronic Inc., Minneapolis, MN, USA) are self-expandable pulmonary valves. Alterra Adaptive Prestent (Edwards Lifesciences LLC, Irvine, CA, USA) is an hourglass self-expandable stent that reduces the size of large right ventricular outflow tracts, creating a suitable landing zone to implant an Edwards Sapien S3 THV 29 mm. Novel stents and percutaneous valves are being planned and experimented with to widen the field of transcatheter approach. The aim of this review is to describe both the current approaches, strategies, and techniques as well as the future perspective to deal with the patients with significant pulmonary stenosis and/or regurgitation. Full article

Curiosity, a crucial trigger of exploration and learning, has been described as the antithesis of mind wandering, a state of non-engagement with the external environment or a given task. Findings have confirmed that music’s structure influences levels of curiosity in listeners as they listen and, as such, suggests that this context could be useful in examining the relationship between curiosity and mind wandering. Here, participants were exposed to extended melodies twice, during which they carried out two counterbalanced tasks: one requiring them, whenever probed, to indicate whether they had been mind wandering at that moment and the other requiring them to indicate, when probed, how curious they were feeling about the music at that moment. Critically, participants were probed at the exact same moments in the music when completing the two tasks, allowing the relationship between curiosity and mind wandering to be examined. Results confirmed our prediction of a negative relationship between curiosity and mind wandering, while exploratory analysis further suggested an influence of expertise and the music’s information dynamics on patterns of mind wandering. We discuss the implications of our study for understanding music as an exploration-affording sound environment and outline directions for future work. Full article

Text-to-music generation integrates natural language processing and music generation, enabling artificial intelligence (AI) to compose music from textual descriptions. While AI-enabled music generation has advanced, challenges in aligning text with musical structures remain underexplored. This paper systematically reviews text-to-music generation across symbolic and audio domains, covering melody composition, polyphony, instrumental synthesis, and singing voice generation. It categorizes existing methods into traditional, hybrid, and end-to-end LLM-centric frameworks according to the usage of large language models (LLMs), highlighting the growing role of LLMs in improving controllability and expressiveness. Despite progress, challenges such as data scarcity, representation limitations, and long-term coherence persist. Future work should enhance multi-modal integration, improve model generalization, and develop more user-controllable frameworks to advance AI-enabled music composition. Full article

Advancements in music emotion prediction are driving AI-driven algorithmic composition, enabling the generation of complex melodies. However, bridging neural and auditory domains remains challenging due to the semantic gap between brain-derived low-level features and high-level musical concepts, making alignment computationally demanding. This study proposes a deep learning framework for generating MIDI sequences aligned with labeled emotion predictions through supervised feature extraction from neural and auditory domains. EEGNet is employed to process neural data, while an autoencoder-based piano algorithm handles auditory data. To address modality heterogeneity, Centered Kernel Alignment is incorporated to enhance the separation of emotional states. Furthermore, regression between feature domains is applied to reduce intra-subject variability in extracted Electroencephalography (EEG) patterns, followed by the clustering of latent auditory representations into denser partitions to improve MIDI reconstruction quality. Using musical metrics, evaluation on real-world data shows that the proposed approach improves emotion classification (namely, between arousal and valence) and the system’s ability to produce MIDI sequences that better preserve temporal alignment, tonal consistency, and structural integrity. Subject-specific analysis reveals that subjects with stronger imagery paradigms produced higher-quality MIDI outputs, as their neural patterns aligned more closely with the training data. In contrast, subjects with weaker performance exhibited auditory data that were less consistent. Full article

Preeclampsia is a form of gestational hypertension that usually appears after the 20th week of pregnancy. Evidence suggests that low-dose aspirin (LDA) effectively reduces the risk of developing preeclampsia, but the uptake rate remains low. This scoping review aims to synthesize and integrate existing knowledge domains relevant to the factors that influence women’s medication decisions during pregnancy, and to develop a causal explanation for at-risk women’s LDA uptake decisions. We introduced systems thinking to map the variables and develop causal loops to show variable interactions and causal explanations guided by the Theory of Planned Behavior. We extracted 65 variables, and grouped them into provider- (n = 19), patient- (n = 39), and system-level (n = 7) factors. By identifying variable interactions, we built a theory to explain various causal pathways leading to LDA treatment uptake. Mapping the variables and supporting the relationships of these variables with theories and concepts increases our study’s generalizability to medication decisions for other pregnancy complications. Full article