5,983 research outputs found

    Using Image Translation To Synthesize Amyloid Beta From Structural MRI

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    Amyloid-beta and brain atrophy are known hallmarks of Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) and can be quantified with positron emission tomography (PET) and structural magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), respectively. PET uses radiotracers that bind to amyloid-beta, whereas MRI can measure brain morphology. PET scans have limitations including cost, invasiveness (involve injections and ionizing radiation exposure), and have limited accessibility, making PET not practical for screening early-onset AD. Conversely, MRI is a cheaper, less-invasive (free from ionizing radiation), and is more widely available, however, it cannot provide the necessary molecular information. There is a known relationship between amyloid-beta and brain atrophy. This thesis aims to synthesize amyloid-beta PET images from structural MRI using image translation, an advanced form of machine learning. The developed models have reported high-similarity metrics between the real and synthetic PET images and high-degree of accuracy in radiotracer quantification. The results are highly impactful as it enables amyloid-beta measurements form every MRI, for free

    Multidisciplinary perspectives on Artificial Intelligence and the law

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    This open access book presents an interdisciplinary, multi-authored, edited collection of chapters on Artificial Intelligence (‘AI’) and the Law. AI technology has come to play a central role in the modern data economy. Through a combination of increased computing power, the growing availability of data and the advancement of algorithms, AI has now become an umbrella term for some of the most transformational technological breakthroughs of this age. The importance of AI stems from both the opportunities that it offers and the challenges that it entails. While AI applications hold the promise of economic growth and efficiency gains, they also create significant risks and uncertainty. The potential and perils of AI have thus come to dominate modern discussions of technology and ethics – and although AI was initially allowed to largely develop without guidelines or rules, few would deny that the law is set to play a fundamental role in shaping the future of AI. As the debate over AI is far from over, the need for rigorous analysis has never been greater. This book thus brings together contributors from different fields and backgrounds to explore how the law might provide answers to some of the most pressing questions raised by AI. An outcome of the Católica Research Centre for the Future of Law and its interdisciplinary working group on Law and Artificial Intelligence, it includes contributions by leading scholars in the fields of technology, ethics and the law.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

    LIPIcs, Volume 251, ITCS 2023, Complete Volume

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    LIPIcs, Volume 251, ITCS 2023, Complete Volum

    Effects of municipal smoke-free ordinances on secondhand smoke exposure in the Republic of Korea

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    ObjectiveTo reduce premature deaths due to secondhand smoke (SHS) exposure among non-smokers, the Republic of Korea (ROK) adopted changes to the National Health Promotion Act, which allowed local governments to enact municipal ordinances to strengthen their authority to designate smoke-free areas and levy penalty fines. In this study, we examined national trends in SHS exposure after the introduction of these municipal ordinances at the city level in 2010.MethodsWe used interrupted time series analysis to assess whether the trends of SHS exposure in the workplace and at home, and the primary cigarette smoking rate changed following the policy adjustment in the national legislation in ROK. Population-standardized data for selected variables were retrieved from a nationally representative survey dataset and used to study the policy action’s effectiveness.ResultsFollowing the change in the legislation, SHS exposure in the workplace reversed course from an increasing (18% per year) trend prior to the introduction of these smoke-free ordinances to a decreasing (−10% per year) trend after adoption and enforcement of these laws (β2 = 0.18, p-value = 0.07; β3 = −0.10, p-value = 0.02). SHS exposure at home (β2 = 0.10, p-value = 0.09; β3 = −0.03, p-value = 0.14) and the primary cigarette smoking rate (β2 = 0.03, p-value = 0.10; β3 = 0.008, p-value = 0.15) showed no significant changes in the sampled period. Although analyses stratified by sex showed that the allowance of municipal ordinances resulted in reduced SHS exposure in the workplace for both males and females, they did not affect the primary cigarette smoking rate as much, especially among females.ConclusionStrengthening the role of local governments by giving them the authority to enact and enforce penalties on SHS exposure violation helped ROK to reduce SHS exposure in the workplace. However, smoking behaviors and related activities seemed to shift to less restrictive areas such as on the streets and in apartment hallways, negating some of the effects due to these ordinances. Future studies should investigate how smoke-free policies beyond public places can further reduce the SHS exposure in ROK

    Integrated Geophysical Analysis of Passive Continental Margins: Insights into the Crustal Structure of the Namibian Margin from Magnetotelluric, Gravity, and Seismic Data

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    Passive continental margin research amalgamates the investigation of many broad topics, such as the emergence of oceanic crust, lithospheric stress patterns and plume-lithosphere interaction, reservoir potential, methane cycle, and general global geodynamics. Central tasks in this field of research are geophysical investigations of the structure, composition, and dynamic of the passive margin crust and upper mantle. A key practice to improve geophysical models and their interpretation, is the integrated analysis of multiple data, or the integration of complementary models and data. In this thesis, I compare four different inversion results based on data from the Namibian passive continental margin. These are a) a single method MT inversion; b) constrained inversion of MT data, cross-gradient coupled with a fixed structural density model; c) cross-gradient coupled joint inversion of MT and satellite gravity data; d) constrained inversion of MT data, cross-gradient coupled with a fixed gradient velocity model. To bridge the formal analysis of geophysical models with geological interpretations, I define a link between the physical parameter models and geological units. Therefore, the results from the joint MT and gravity inversion (c) are correlated through a user-unbiased clustering analysis. This clustering analysis results in a distinct difference in the signature of the transitional crust south of- and along the supposed hot-spot track Walvis Ridge. I ascribe this contrast to an increase in magmatic activity above the volcanic center along Walvis Ridge. Furthermore, the analysis helps to clearly identify areas of interlayered massive, and weathered volcanic flows, which are usually only identified in reflection seismic studies as seaward dipping reflectors. Lastly, the clustering helps to differentiate two types of sediment cover. Namely, one of near-shore, thick, clastic sediments, and one of further offshore located, more biogenic, marine sediments

    Queer livability: German sexual sciences and life writing

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    This is the final version. Available on open access from the University of Michigan Press via the DOI in this record. This book brings together an exciting new archive of queer and trans voices from the history of sexual sciences in the German-speaking world. A new language to express possibilities of gender and sexuality emerged at the turn of the twentieth century, from Sigmund Freud's theories of homosexuality in Vienna to Magnus Hirschfeld's "third sex" in Berlin. Together, they provided a language of sex and sexuality that is still recognizable today. Queer Livability: German Sexual Sciences and Life Writing shows that individual voices of trans and queer writers had a significant impact on the production of knowledge about gender and sexuality during this time and introduces lesser known texts to a new readership. It shows the remarkable power of queer life writing in imagining and creating the possibilities of a livable life in the face of restrictive legal, medical, and social frameworks. Queer Livability: German Sexual Sciences and Life Writing will be of interest to anyone who wants to learn more about LGBTQ+ history and literature. It also provides a fascinating insight into the historical roots for our thinking about gender and sexuality today. The book will be of relevance to an academic readership of students and faculty in German studies, literary studies, European history, and the interdisciplinary fields of gender and sexuality studies, medical humanities, and the history of sexuality.Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC)Cambridge Home and EU Scholarship SchemeWellcome TrustModern Humanities Research Associatio

    Historical Burdens on Physics

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    When learning physics, one follows a track very similar to the historical path of the evolution of this science: one takes detours, overcomes superfluous obstacles and repeats mistakes, one learns inappropriate concepts and uses outdated methods. In the book, more than 200 articles present and analyze such obsolete concepts methods. All articles have the same structure: 1. subject, 2. deficiencies, 3. origin, 4. disposal. The articles had originally appeared as columns in various magazines. Accordingly, we had tried to write them in an easily understandable way

    Frivolous Floodgate Fears

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    When rejecting plaintiff-friendly liability standards, courts often cite a fear of opening the floodgates of litigation. Namely, courts point to either a desire to protect the docket of federal courts or a burden on the executive branch. But there is little empirical evidence exploring whether the adoption of a stricter standard can, in fact, decrease the filing of legal claims in this circumstance. This Article empirically analyzes and theoretically models the effect of adopting arguably stricter liability standards on litigation by investigating the context of one of the Supreme Court’s most recent reliances on this argument when adopting a stricter liability standard for causation in employment discrimination claims. In 2013, the Supreme Court held that a plaintiff proving retaliation under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act must prove that their participation in a protected activity was a but-for cause of the adverse employment action they experienced. Rejecting the arguably more plaintiff-friendly motivating-factor standard, the Court stated, “[L]essening the causation standard could also contribute to the filing of frivolous claims, which would siphon resources from efforts by employer[s], administrative agencies, and courts to combat workplace harassment.” Univ. of Tex. Sw. Med. Ctr. v. Nassar, 570 U.S. 338, 358 (2013). And over the past ten years, the Court has overturned the application of motivating-factor causation as applied to at least four different federal antidiscrimination statutes. Contrary to the Supreme Court’s concern that motivating-factor causation encourages frivolous charges, many employment law scholars worry that the heightened but-for standard will deter legitimate claims. This Article empirically explores these concerns, in part using data received from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) through a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request. Specifically, it empirically tests whether the adoption of the but-for causation standard for claims filed under the Age Discrimination in Employment Act and by federal courts of appeals under the Americans with Disabilities Act has impacted the filing of discrimination claims and the outcome of those claims in federal court. Consistent with theory detailed in this Article, the empirical analysis provides evidence that the stricter standard may have increased the docket of the federal courts by decreasing settlement within the EEOC and during litigation. The empirical results weigh in on concerns surrounding the adoption of the but-for causation standard and provide evidence that the floodgates argument, when relied on to deter frivolous filings by changing liability standards, in fact, may do just the opposite by decreasing the likelihood of settlement in the short term, without impacting the filing of claims or other case outcomes
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