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The most common way to listen to recorded music nowadays is via streaming platforms, which provide access to tens of millions of tracks. To assist users in effectively browsing these large catalogs, the integration of music recommender systems (MRSs) has become essential. Current real‐world MRSs are often quite complex and optimized for recommendation accuracy. They combine several building blocks based on collaborative filtering and content‐based recommendation. This complexity can hinder the ability to explain recommendations to end users, which is particularly important for recommendations perceived as unexpected or inappropriate. While pure recommendation performance often correlates with user satisfaction, explainability has a positive impact on other factors such as trust and forgiveness, which are ultimately essential to maintain user loyalty. In this article, we discuss how explainability can be addressed in the context of MRSs. We provide perspectives on how explainability could improve music recommendation algorithms and enhance user experience. First, we review common dimensions and goals of recommenders explainability and in general of eXplainable Artificial Intelligence (XAI), and elaborate on the extent to which these apply—or need to be adapted—to the specific characteristics of music consumption and recommendation. Then, we show how explainability components can be integrated within a MRS and in what form explanations can be provided. Since the evaluation of explanation quality is decoupled from pure accuracy‐based evaluation criteria, we also discuss requirements and strategies for evaluating explanations of music recommendations. Finally, we describe the current challenges for introducing explainability within a large‐scale industrial MRS and provide research perspectives.

The use of nerve agents as warfare and in terrorist acts has drawn much attention from the governments and societies. Such toxic organophosphorus compounds are listed in Chemical Weapons Convention as Schedule 1 chemicals. The discussion about the chemical identity of the elusive Novichok agents, more potent compounds than best known G- and V-Agents, which have been implicated in recent rumorous assassination plots, clearly demonstrating the importance of the matter. Furthermore, accidents with pesticides or misuse thereof have been a pressing issue in many countries. In this context, the continued development of novel cholinesterase reactivators, antidotes for organophosphorus poisoning, a rather restricted class of pharmaceutical substances, is warranted. Testing of novel candidates may require use of actual nerve agents. Nonetheless, only a few laboratories comply with the requirements for storing, possession and manipulation of such toxic chemicals. To overcome such limitations, nerve agents’ surrogates may be a useful alternative, as they undergo the same reaction with cholinesterases, yielding similar adducts, allowing assays with novel antidote candidates, among other applications.

La MS avancée, un néoplasme hématologique rare induit par KIT D816V dans environ 95 % des cas, se caractérise par une prolifération, une infiltration et une hyperactivation des mastocytes. Environ 50 % des patients atteints de MS avancée développent une mastocytose cutanée maculopapuleuse pigmentée (MCMP) avec des symptômes cutanés (SC) à long terme. L’avapritinib est un inhibiteur puissant et sélectif de KIT D816V, approuvé par l’Agence européenne du Médicament en monothérapie pour le traitement des adultes atteints de MS avancée après au moins un traitement systémique. Dans l’étude de phase II PATHFINDER (NCT03580655), l’avapritinib a induit un taux de réponse globale de 75 % et a amélioré les résultats rapportés par les patients, y compris les SC. Pour évaluer l’effet de l’avapritinib sur la MCMP, une analyse a été menée par un comité d’évaluation de la peau (CEP) indépendant à l’aide d’une nouvelle technologie d’IA.

Music listening has experienced a sharp increase during the last decade thanks to music streaming and recommendation services. While they offer text-based search functionality and provide recommendation lists of remarkable utility, their typical mode of interaction is unidimensional, i.e., they provide lists of consecutive tracks, which are commonly inspected in sequential order by the user. The user experience with such systems is heavily affected by cognition biases (e.g., position bias, human tendency to pay more attention to first positions of ordered lists) as well as algorithmic biases (e.g., popularity bias, the tendency of recommender systems to overrepresent popular items). This may cause dissatisfaction among the users by disabling them to find novel music to enjoy. In light of such systems and biases, we propose an intelligent audiovisual music exploration system named EmoMTB . It allows the user to browse the entirety of a given collection in a free nonlinear fashion. The navigation is assisted by a set of personalized emotion-aware recommendations, which serve as starting points for the exploration experience. EmoMTB adopts the metaphor of a city, in which each track (visualized as a colored cube) represents one floor of a building. Highly similar tracks are located in the same building; moderately similar ones form neighborhoods that mostly correspond to genres. Tracks situated between distinct neighborhoods create a gradual transition between genres. Users can navigate this music city using their smartphones as control devices. They can explore districts of well-known music or decide to leave their comfort zone. In addition, EmoMTB integrates an emotion-aware music recommendation system that re-ranks the list of suggested starting points for exploration according to the user’s self-identified emotion or the collective emotion expressed in EmoMTB ’s Twitter channel. Evaluation of EmoMTB has been carried out in a threefold way: by quantifying the homogeneity of the clustering underlying the construction of the city, by measuring the accuracy of the emotion predictor, and by carrying out a web-based survey composed of open questions to obtain qualitative feedback from users.

The use of stable isotope analysis as a tool for characterization of carbon turnover (δ13C) in piglet's tissues by tracing its feeding system has drawn attention. Thus, this study aimed at evaluating the influence of dietary glutamine, glutamic acid and nucleotides supplementation on carbon turnover in fundic-stomach region of weaned piglets at an average age of 21 days. The diets consisted of additive-free diet – control (C); 1% glutamine (G); 1% glutamic acid (GA) and 1% nucleotides (Nu). At weaning day (day 0: baseline), 3 piglets were slaughtered to quantify the δ13C of stomach. The remaining 120 piglets were blocked by weight and sex, randomly assigned to pens with 3 piglets slaughtered per treatment at days 1, 2, 4, 5, 7, 9, 13, 20, 27 and 49 after weaning in order to verify the fundic-stomach isotopic composition by treatments. Samples were analyzed in terms of 13C/12C ratio by mass spectrometry and converted to relative isotopic enrichment values (δ13C ‰) used to plot the first order exponential curves over time using OriginPro 8.0 software. The inclusion of glutamine, glutamate and nucleotides in piglet's diets has accelerated the carbon turnover in stomach during the post-weaning period, demonstrating also that glutamate has guaranteed fastest 13C incorporation rate on fundic-stomach region and pH-lowering. Besides that, stable isotopes technique (δ13C) has proved to be an important methodology to determine the time-scales at which piglets shift among diets with different isotopic values, characterizing the trophic effects of additives and the phenotypic flexibility of stomach.

The experiment aimed at determining the nutritional value of integral cassava root silages with yogurt as inoculant or wastewater (manipueira) by liquid addition ensiling process. Eighteen crossbred piglets (Large White × Landrace), castrated males with an initial average weight of 50 kg were allocated in metabolism cages throughout 11-day trial duration (6 days for animal's adaptation to the cages and to the experimental diets, and 5 days of urine and faeces collection). The experimental design was a randomized block arrangement with 3 treatments and 6 replicates: basal diet (100%); mixture composed of 75% basal diet and 25% integral cassava root silage with yogurt as inoculant; a mixture composed of 75% of basal diet and 25% integral cassava root silage with wastewater. The silages with wastewater and yogurt presented the following values of apparent digestibility of dry matter 89.96% and 90.01%, apparent digestibility of crude protein of 60.67% and 66.43%, apparent digestibility of gross energy of 90.43% and 91.48%, gross energy metabolizability coefficients of 87.88% and 88.93%, digestible energy values of 3,705 and 3,783 kcal/kg on a dry matter (DM) basis, and metabolizable energy values of 3,600 and 3,676 kcal/kg DM, respectively. The results have demonstrated that integral cassava root silages with wastewater or yogurt have a high nutritional value and can be used as an alternative energy source in growing pig's diets.

Extracellular purines are a component of the systemic inflammatory response, and their levels are modulated by ectonucleotidases. In addition, nucleotide hydrolysis releases phosphate. We studied serum phosphate levels as a predictor of severity in acute pancreatitis (AP) and their correlation with extracellular purinergic metabolism.

Long-term insulin independence after islet transplantation depends on engraftment of a large number of islets. However, the yield of pancreatic islets from brain-dead donors is negatively affected by the up-regulation of inflammatory mediators. Brain death is also believed to increase tissue factor (TF) expression, contributing to a low rate of engraftment.

Optical photographic imaging is a well known imaging method that has been successfully translated into biomedical applications such as microscopy and endoscopy. Although several advanced medical imaging modalities are used today to acquire anatomical, physiological, metabolic, and functional information from the human body, optical imaging modalities including optical coherence tomography, confocal microscopy, multiphoton microscopy, multispectral endoscopy, and diffuse reflectance imaging have recently emerged with significant potential for non-invasive, portable, and cost-effective imaging for biomedical applications spanning tissue, cellular, and molecular levels. This paper reviews methods for modeling the propagation of light photons in a biological medium, as well as optical imaging from organ to cellular levels using visible and near-infrared wavelengths for biomedical and clinical applications.

To evaluate the effects of nicotine and cigarette smoke exposure on mice submitted to 7,12-dimethylbenzanthracene (DMBA) model of pancreatic carcinogenesis.

The effects of particle discreteness in N-body LCDM simulations are still an intensively debated issue. In this paper we explore such effects, taking into account the scatter caused by the randomness of the initial conditions and focusing on the statistical properties of the cosmological density field. For this purpose, we run large sets of LCDM simulations and analyze them using a wide variety of diagnostics, including new and powerful wavelet statistics. Among other facts, we point out (1) that dynamical evolution does not propagate discreteness noise up from the small scales at which it is introduced and (2) that one should aim to satisfy the condition [?] ~ 2d, where [?] is the force resolution and d is the interparticle distance. We clarify what such a condition means and how to implement it in modern cosmological codes.

ALICE is a general-purpose heavy-ion experiment designed to study the physics of strongly interacting matter and the quark-gluon plasma in nucleus-nucleus collisions at the LHC. It currently involves more than 900 physicists and senior engineers, from both the nuclear and high-energy physics sectors, from over 90 institutions in about 30 countries.The ALICE detector is designed to cope with the highest particle multiplicities above those anticipated for Pb-Pb collisions (dNch/dyup to 8000) and it will be operational at the start-up of the LHC. In addition to heavy systems, the ALICE Collaboration will study collisions of lower-mass ions, which are a means of varying the energy density, and protons (both pp and pA), which primarily provide reference data for the nucleus-nucleus collisions. In addition, the pp data will allow for a number of genuine pp physics studies.The detailed design of the different detector systems has been laid down in a number of Technical Design Reports issued between mid-1998 and the end of 2004. The experiment is currently under construction and will be ready for data taking with both proton and heavy-ion beams at the start-up of the LHC.Since the comprehensive information on detector and physics performance was last published in the ALICE Technical Proposal in 1996, the detector, as well as simulation, reconstruction and analysis software have undergone significant development. The Physics Performance Report (PPR) provides an updated and comprehensive summary of the performance of the various ALICE subsystems, including updates to the Technical Design Reports, as appropriate.The PPR is divided into two volumes. Volume I, published in 2004 (CERN/LHCC 2003-049, ALICE Collaboration 2004 J. Phys. G: Nucl. Part. Phys.301517-1763), contains in four chapters a short theoretical overview and an extensive reference list concerning the physics topics of interest to ALICE, the experimental conditions at the LHC, a short summary and update of the subsystem designs, and a description of the offline framework and Monte Carlo event generators.The present volume, Volume II, contains the majority of the information relevant to the physics performance in proton-proton, proton-nucleus, and nucleus-nucleus collisions. Following an introductory overview, Chapter 5 describes the combined detector performance and the event reconstruction procedures, based on detailed simulations of the individual subsystems. Chapter 6 describes the analysis and physics reach for a representative sample of physics observables, from global event characteristics to hard processes.

Enhancing atom economy of the metal‐catalyzed asymmetric allylic alkylation (AAA) shifts from the usual nucleophilic displacement of a leaving group to an addition of a pronucleophile to a double bond. Using 1‐alkoxyallenes as proelectrophiles, the palladium‐catalyzed AAA proceeds with 1,3‐dicarbonyl compounds as pronucleophiles with excellent regioselectivity and enantiomeric excess under optimized conditions. The pH of the medium proved crucial for reactivity/selectivity. By using the more acidic Meldrum's acids, the reactions required a co‐catalytic amount of Brønsted acid, such as trifluoroacetic acid. Single regioisomeric products of 82–99 % eewere obtained. On the other hand, the less acidic 1,3‐diketones failed to react under such conditions. The fact that a less acidic acid like benzoic acid sufficed, suggested the need for general base catalysis as well. Thus, a mixture of triethylamine and benzoic acid proved optimal (ee's 93–99). Employment of the (R,R)‐phenyl Trost ligand gave a product with Sconfiguration. A model to rationalize the results has been developed.

We present the set of measurements carried out by the NA50 experiment to study J/ψ production in proton- and ion-induced reactions. We also make use of results obtained previously under similar conditions by experiments NA51, NA38 and NA3. All these measurements were performed in fixed target experiments at the CERN SPS. Due to accelerator constraints, momentum was 450, 400 and 200 GeV/c for incident proton beams (corresponding to

Abstract: The NA50 experiment deals with Pb-Pb collisions at 158 GeV/nucleon at the CERN SPS accelerator. TheJ/ψ production is studied through the muon decay channel, using the Drell-Yan dimuons as a reference. New results based on recent analyses, from data taken with improved experimental conditions and using different centrality estimators, are presented and compared to an update of those already obtained from previous data samples. The stepwise pattern of the anomalousJ/ψ suppression as a function of centrality, already present in these previous results, is confirmed. This observation could be a fingerprint of the theoretically predicted melting of charmonia resonances in a deconfined quark-gluon plasma.

From proton, deuteron, S- and Pb-induced reactions, experiments NA38 and NA50 have measured muon pair production with various targets. In particular, the production rates of the φ, ω and ρ mesons have been simultaneously extracted and compared. Preliminary partial results of the most recent Pb–Pb measurement done in year 2000 by NA50 are presented here. They are also included in the comparison with the results obtained with lighter interacting nuclei.

Abstract: We present the measurements of charged particle pseudorapidity distributions dNch/dη performed by the NA50 experiment in Pb-Pb collisions at the CERN SPS. Measurements were done at incident energies of 40 GeV (√s = 8.77 GeV) and 158 GeV (√s = 17.3 GeV) per nucleon over a broad impact parameter range. The multiplicity distributions are studied as a function of centrality using the number of participating nucleons(N part ), or the number of binary nucleon-nucleon collisions (Ncoll). Their values at midrapidity exhibit a linear scaling withN part at both energies. Particle yield increases approximately by a factor of 2 betweeny √s = 8.77 GeV and √s = 17.3 GeV.

TheJ/Ψproduction in 158 A GeV Pb-Pb interactions is studied, in the dimuon decay channel, as a function of centrality, as measured with the electromagnetic or, alternatively, with the very forward hadronic calorimeters. After a first sharp variation at mid-centrality, both patterns continue to fall down and exhibit a curvature change at high centrality values. This trend excludes any conventional hadronic model and finds a natural explanation in a deconfined quark-gluon phase scenario.

The experiment NA50 studies the strangeness production by means of the BR^φ_μμσ_φ/(BR^ρ_μμσ_ρ + BR^ω_μμσ_ω) cross-sections ratio in relativistic heavy ion collisions with respect to proton and light ion collisions. New results for Pb+Pb interactions at 158 A GeV/c are presented (1998 data) and analysed with a different method. The BR^φ_μμσ_φ/(BR^ρ_μμσ_ρ + BR^ω_μμσ_ω) ratio shows an increase with the number of participants, in agreement with previous results. The inverse slope parameter extracted from the M_T universal scaling is also studied.

The observation of an anomalous J/ψsuppression in Pb–Pb collisions by the NA50 Collaboration can be considered as the most striking indication for the deconfinement of quarks and gluons at SPS energies. In this Letter, we determine the J/ψsuppression pattern as a function of the forward hadronic energy EZDCmeasured in a Zero Degree Calorimeter (ZDC). The direct connection between EZDCand the geometry of the collision allows us to calculate, within a Glauber approach, the precise relation between the number of participant nucleons Npartand EZDC. Then, we check if the experimental data can be better explained by a sudden or a smooth onset of the anomalous J/ψsuppression as a function of the number of participants.

Low mass dimuons production has been studied in Pb-Pb collisions at 158 GeV/A . φ, ρand ωcontributions are extracted in different transverse mass and transverse energy domains. Preliminary results of the 1996 run display an increase of the φ/(ρ+ω)ratio, coming from an increase of the φ. Cross sections are presented and temperatures extracted.

During operation of the multiplicity detector in the NA50 experiment the single sided AC-coupled p-on-n silicon strip detectors were exposed to charged particle fluences up to 1014eqn/cm2and ionising doses up to 20Mrad, with a very non-uniform radiation spatial distribution. Radiation effects in the detectors observed during the ’96 lead ion run as well as results of the post-run measurements are presented in this paper.

The study of muon pairs in the mass region 1.5 < M μμ < 2.5 GeV/c in 450 GeV/c p-A, 200 GeV/nucleon S-U and 158 GeV/nucleon Pb-Pb collisions is presented. In p-A interactions, the dimuon signal mass spectra are well described by a superposition of Drell-Yan and charmed meson semi-leptonic decay contributions, in agreement with previous experiments when considering a linear A dependence. In nucleus-nucleus reactions, taking only into account these two physical ingredients, a dimuon enhancement both with increasing A·B and centrality is observed.

The threshold effect in the J/ψ suppression seen in the NA50 data in lead on lead interactions at the CERN SPS [1,2] can't be taken into account by conventional models. Other candidate models [3] use a phase transition, and therefore let suppose that the thermodynamic variables are defined everywhere that is the so-called thermalization. The in-plane elliptic flow, which has been proposed [4] in order to probe the thermalization at these beam energies, is found to be actually present in lead on lead interactions at 158A GeV/ c , but can't be observed in sulphur on sulphur at 200A GeV/ c in the NA38 data [5,6].

The main goal of the NA50 experiment is to study the J/ψ suppression pattern in Pb-Pb interactions, at 158 GeV/c per nucleon at the CERN SPS. We present here the results from the 1996 (final) and 1998 (preliminary) data taking periods. They confirm and extend our previous observation that the J/ψ is anomalously suppressed from peripheral to central collisions. With new event selection procedures and different analysis techniques, we observe that in peripheral collisions the J/ψ cross section per nucleon-nucleon collision agrees with the pattern inferred from a wide range of measurements with lighter systems, from pp up to S-U. When the collisions become more central a clear departure from this behaviour is observed. The 1996 data show a sudden drop in the J/ψ production yield for E T values above 40 GeV, where E T is the neutral transverse electromagnetic energy released in the colision and measured in the EM calorimeter. The 1998 data provide a big improvement in the study of the most central region, where a second change in the pattern becomes visible.

During the operation of the Multiplicity Detector in the NA50 experiment the single sided AC-coupled p-on-nsilicon strip detectors were exposed to charged particle fluences resulting in an equivalent 1MeV neutron fluence up to 1014eq.n/cm2and a total ionising dose up to 20 Mrad, with a very non-uniform radiation spatial distribution. In this paper detailed analysis of radiation effects observed on the detectors during the 1996 lead ion run as well as results of measurements performed after the run are presented.

We present the results of a search for Gamma Ray Bursts at energies Eγ ≥ 10 GeV and Eγ ≥ 100 TeV made by the EAS-TOP Air Shower Array in correlation with ∼ 50 events detected by BATSE in the last 3 years.

We have designed, realized and operated a fast silicon detector system (50MHz sampling frequency) to measure the angular distribution and the multiplicity of charged secondaries produced in high-energy Pb–Pb interactions, within the NA50 experiment. We present here the detector design, discuss some of the problems faced during the commissioning and report on the first results on the operation of the full system. In particular, the questions related to the operation of an integrated high-speed binary readout in a high-radiation environment (1014particles/cm2and about 10Mrads) and to the radiation effects on the system during the run will be addressed.