Abstract
Part of the optical clearing study in biological tissues concerns the determination of the diffusion characteristics of water and optical clearing agents in the subject tissue. Such information is sufficient to characterize the time dependence of the optical clearing mechanisms-tissue dehydration and refractive index (RI) matching. We have used a simple method based on collimated optical transmittance measurements made from muscle samples under treatment with aqueous solutions containing different concentrations of ethylene glycol (EG), to determine the diffusion time values of water and EG in skeletal muscle. By representing the estimated mean diffusion time values from each treatment as a function of agent concentration in solution, we could identify the real diffusion times for water and agent. These values allowed for the calculation of the correspondent diffusion coefficients for those fluids. With these results, we have demonstrated that the dehydration mechanism is the one that dominates optical clearing in the first minute of treatment, while the RI matching takes over the optical clearing operations after that and remains for a longer time of treatment up to about 10 min, as we could see for EG and thin tissue samples of 0.5 mm. (C) 2015 Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers (SPIE)

Abstract
We found two stationary solutions of the cubic complex Ginzburg-Landau equation (CGLE) with an additional term modeling the delayed Raman scattering. Both solutions propagate with nonzero velocity. The solution that has lower peak amplitude is the continuation of the chirped soliton of the cubic CGLE and is unstable in all the parameter space of existence. The other solution is stable for values of nonlinear gain below a certain threshold. The solutions were found using a shooting method to integrate the ordinary differential equation that results from the evolution equation through a change of variables, and their stability was studied using the Evans function method. Additional integration of the evolution equation revealed the basis of attraction of the stable solutions. Furthermore, we have investigated the existence and stability of the high amplitude branch of solutions in the presence of other higher order terms originating from complex Raman, self-steepening, and imaginary group velocity.

Abstract

Abstract
Chord progressions are widely used in music. The automatic generation of chord progressions can be challenging because it depends on many factors, such as the musical context, personal preference, and aesthetic choices. In this work, we propose a penalty function that encodes musical rules to automatically generate chord progressions. Then we use an artificial immune system (AIS) to minimize the penalty function when proposing candidates for the next chord in a sequence. The AIS is capable of finding multiple optima in parallel, resulting in several different chords as appropriate candidates. We performed a listening test to evaluate the chords subjectively and validate the penalty function. We found that chords with a low penalty value were considered better candidates than chords with higher penalty values.

Abstract
In multi-agent systems, local interactions among system components following relatively simple rules often result in complex overall systemic behavior. Complex behavioral and morphological patterns have been used to generate and organize audiovisual systems with artistic purposes. In this work, we propose to use the Actor model of social interactions to drive a concatenative synthesis engine called earGram in real time. The Actor model was originally developed to explore the emergence of complex visual patterns. In turn, earGram was originally developed to facilitate the creative exploration of concatenative sound synthesis. The integrated audiovisual system allows a human performer to interact with the system dynamics while receiving visual and auditory feedback. The interaction happens indirectly by disturbing the rules governing the social relationships amongst the actors, which results in a wide range of dynamic spatiotemporal patterns. A user-performer thus improvises within the behavioral scope of the system while evaluating the apparent connections between parameter values and actual complexity of the system output.

Abstract
ENDURE and BLUECOM+ are two EEA Grants projects that aim at enabling the monitoring of large and remote ocean areas by providing wireless communications and energy to humans and systems, namely unmanned vehicles, which are crucial for making large scale ocean monitoring cost-effective. ENDURE targets enabling autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) to remain in operation for longer periods of time than what is practical today, thus increasing the possibility of covering larger areas at lower costs. BLUECOM+ aims at connecting systems and humans in remote ocean areas by providing cost-effective, broadband, and reliable communications in alternative to satellite communications. Together these projects will bring up the enablers for data collection under the environmental monitoring programme, as well as to the achievement and sustainability of a GES in marine waters. © 2016 Taylor & Francis Group, London.