{"@context":"http://iiif.io/api/presentation/3/context.json","id":"https://ualberta.aviaryplatform.com/iiif/st7dr2rk2n/manifest","type":"Manifest","label":{"en":["An Audio Portrait of NEUROD1 Nuclear Access"]},"logo":"https://d9jk7wjtjpu5g.cloudfront.net/organizations/logo_images/000/000/128/original/UA_Logo_WHT_RGB_%281%29.png?1725471982","metadata":[{"label":{"en":["Agent"]},"value":{"en":["dos Santos, Theodore (Creator)"]}},{"label":{"en":["Date"]},"value":{"en":["2026-01-12 (Published)"]}},{"label":{"en":["Description"]},"value":{"en":["\u003cp\u003eTheodore dos Santos (he/him)\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eDoctoral student\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eFaculty of Medicine and Dentistry, Department of Pharmacology\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eSemifinalist\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eArtist Statement\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThis audio piece transforms my research at the Alberta Diabetes Institute on islet cell dysfunction in type 1 diabetes into an immersive sound experience. The narration guides listeners through two contrasting soundscapes derived from microscopy images of pancreatic tissue biopsies from human donors. One soundscape represents an islet from a donor with type 1 diabetes, while the other is from a donor of similar age, sex, and body mass index but without diabetes. Hearing these clips side by side highlights how subtle, often overlooked microscopic changes within islet cells can manifest as profound physiological effects, including disrupted blood glucose regulation. The goal is to make an invisible biological process feel tangible and intuitive, allowing listeners to hear the difference between a dysfunctional and a healthy islet cell. Through this piece, I hope to convey the complexity of the disease and the importance of understanding the mechanisms that drive islet cell dysfunction to inform future diabetes treatments.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eMedia\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eSonification of imaging data\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eCreative Process\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe audio was created using a data-sonification approach based directly on fluorescence microscopy images of human pancreatic islets that I performed on the STELLARIS imaging platform at the University of Alberta’s Cell Imaging Core. I first extracted fluorescence intensity values from each pixel of the images, focusing on the nuclear presence of the transcription factor NEUROD1. These numeric values were processed in Python (numpy, tifffile), then mapped onto sound parameters where higher pixel intensities triggered more complex harmonics, while lower intensities generated lower pitches. Stereo panning was used to preserve the spatial orientation of the image, so left to right image structure is reflected in the stereo sound field. I generated two separate soundscapes. One from a donor with type 1 diabetes and one from a similar donor without diabetes. I used the same mapping specifications for direct comparison between images. Narration was produced with a text-to-speech engine (pyttsx3). All components were assembled using the Pydub Python library, with added silence between segments and fade-in/fade-out effects applied to the clips. The final audio was exported as a high-quality stereo WAV file.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c/p\u003e"]}},{"label":{"en":["Rights Statement"]},"value":{"en":["\u003cp\u003eThis work is licensed under a Creative Commons licence, Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0): see \u003ca href=\"creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/\"\u003ecreativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/\u003c/a\u003e. To obtain permission for uses beyond those outlined in the Creative Commons licence, please contact: \u003ca href=\"mailto:aviary@ualberta.ca\"\u003eaviary@ualberta.ca\u003c/a\u003e.\u003c/p\u003e"]}}],"summary":{"en":["\u003cp\u003eTheodore dos Santos (he/him)\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eDoctoral student\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eFaculty of Medicine and Dentistry, Department of Pharmacology\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eSemifinalist\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eArtist Statement\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThis audio piece transforms my research at the Alberta Diabetes Institute on islet cell dysfunction in type 1 diabetes into an immersive sound experience. The narration guides listeners through two contrasting soundscapes derived from microscopy images of pancreatic tissue biopsies from human donors. One soundscape represents an islet from a donor with type 1 diabetes, while the other is from a donor of similar age, sex, and body mass index but without diabetes. Hearing these clips side by side highlights how subtle, often overlooked microscopic changes within islet cells can manifest as profound physiological effects, including disrupted blood glucose regulation. The goal is to make an invisible biological process feel tangible and intuitive, allowing listeners to hear the difference between a dysfunctional and a healthy islet cell. Through this piece, I hope to convey the complexity of the disease and the importance of understanding the mechanisms that drive islet cell dysfunction to inform future diabetes treatments.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eMedia\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eSonification of imaging data\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eCreative Process\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe audio was created using a data-sonification approach based directly on fluorescence microscopy images of human pancreatic islets that I performed on the STELLARIS imaging platform at the University of Alberta\u0026rsquo;s Cell Imaging Core. I first extracted fluorescence intensity values from each pixel of the images, focusing on the nuclear presence of the transcription factor NEUROD1. These numeric values were processed in Python (numpy, tifffile), then mapped onto sound parameters where higher pixel intensities triggered more complex harmonics, while lower intensities generated lower pitches. Stereo panning was used to preserve the spatial orientation of the image, so left to right image structure is reflected in the stereo sound field. I generated two separate soundscapes. One from a donor with type 1 diabetes and one from a similar donor without diabetes. I used the same mapping specifications for direct comparison between images. Narration was produced with a text-to-speech engine (pyttsx3). All components were assembled using the Pydub Python library, with added silence between segments and fade-in/fade-out effects applied to the clips. The final audio was exported as a high-quality stereo WAV file.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e"]},"requiredStatement":{"label":{"en":["Attribution"]},"value":{"en":["\u003cp\u003eThis work is licensed under a Creative Commons licence, Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0): see \u003ca href=\"creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/\"\u003ecreativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/\u003c/a\u003e. To obtain permission for uses beyond those outlined in the Creative Commons licence, please contact: \u003ca href=\"mailto:aviary@ualberta.ca\"\u003eaviary@ualberta.ca\u003c/a\u003e.\u003c/p\u003e"]}},"provider":[{"id":"https://ualberta.aviaryplatform.com/aboutus","type":"Agent","label":{"en":["University of Alberta Library"]},"homepage":[{"id":"https://ualberta.aviaryplatform.com/","type":"Text","label":{"en":["University of Alberta Library"]},"format":"text/html"}],"logo":[{"id":"https://d9jk7wjtjpu5g.cloudfront.net/organizations/logo_images/000/000/128/original/UA_Logo_WHT_RGB_%281%29.png?1725471982","type":"Image"}]}],"thumbnail":[{"id":"https://d9jk7wjtjpu5g.cloudfront.net/collection_resource_files/thumbnails/000/299/094/small/thumbnail-6-Theodore.png?1767773655","type":"Image","format":"image/png"}],"items":[{"id":"https://ualberta.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3560/collection_resources/164347/file/299094","type":"Canvas","label":{"en":["Media File 1 of 1 - An Audio Portrait of NEUROD1 Nuclear Access.wav"]},"duration":161.01835,"width":640,"height":40,"thumbnail":[{"id":"https://d9jk7wjtjpu5g.cloudfront.net/collection_resource_files/thumbnails/000/299/094/small/thumbnail-6-Theodore.png?1767773655","type":"Image","format":"image/png"}],"items":[{"id":"https://ualberta.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3560/collection_resources/164347/file/299094/content/1","type":"AnnotationPage","items":[{"id":"https://ualberta.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3560/collection_resources/164347/file/299094/content/1/annotation/1","type":"Annotation","motivation":"painting","body":{"id":"https://aviary-p-ualberta.s3.wasabisys.com/collection_resource_files/resource_files/000/299/094/original/An%20Audio%20Portrait%20of%20NEUROD1%20Nuclear%20Access.wav?1767592315","type":"Audio","format":"audio/wav","duration":161.01835,"width":640,"height":40},"target":"https://ualberta.aviaryplatform.com/collections/3560/collection_resources/164347/file/299094","metadata":[]}]}],"annotations":[]}]}