Distill-and-Compare: Auditing Black-Box Models Using Transparent Model Distillation

Black-box risk scoring models permeate our lives, yet are typically proprietary or opaque. We propose Distill-and-Compare, a model distillation and comparison approach to audit such models. To gain insight into black-box models, we treat them as teachers, training transparent student models to mimic the risk scores assigned by black-box models. We compare the student model trained with distillation to a second un-distilled transparent model trained on ground-truth outcomes, and use differences between the two models to gain insight into the black-box model. Our approach can be applied in a realistic setting, without probing the black-box model API. We demonstrate the approach on four public data sets: COMPAS, Stop-and-Frisk, Chicago Police, and Lending Club. We also propose a statistical test to determine if a data set is missing key features used to train the black-box model. Our test finds that the ProPublica data is likely missing key feature(s) used in COMPAS.Comment: Camera-ready version for AAAI/ACM AIES 2018. Data and pseudocode at https://github.com/shftan/auditblackbox. Previously titled "Detecting Bias in Black-Box Models Using Transparent Model Distillation". A short version was presented at NIPS 2017 Symposium on Interpretable Machine Learnin

Effect of Achilles Tendon Rupture on Player Performance and Longevity in Women\u27s National Basketball Association Players

Background: Women\u27s National Basketball Association (WNBA) players have a greater incidence of lower extremity injury compared with male players, yet no data exist on functional outcomes after Achilles tendon rupture (ATR). Purpose: To evaluate the effect of Achilles tendon repair on game utilization, player performance, and career longevity in WNBA athletes. Study Design: Cohort study; Level of evidence, 3. Methods: WNBA players from 1997 to 2019 with a history of ATR (n = 12) were matched 1:2 to a healthy control group. Player characteristics, game utilization, and in-game performance data were collected for each athlete, from which the player efficiency rating (PER) was calculated. Statistical analysis was performed comparing postinjury data to preinjury baseline as well as cumulative career data. Changes at each time point relative to the preinjury baseline were also compared between groups. Results: Of the 12 players with ATR, 10 (83.3%) returned to play at the WNBA level at a mean (+/- SD) of 12.5 +/- 3.3 months. Four players participated in only 1 WNBA season after injury. There were no differences in characteristics between the 10 players who returned to play after injury and the control group. After return to play, the WNBA players demonstrated a significant decrease in game utilization compared with preinjury, playing in 6.0 +/- 6.9 fewer games, starting in 12.7 +/- 15.4 fewer games, and playing 10.2 +/- 9.1 fewer minutes per game (P \u3c .05 for all). After the index date of injury, the players with Achilles repair played 2.1 +/- 1.2 more years in the WNBA, while control players played 5.35 +/- 3.2 years (P \u3c .01) Additionally, the players with Achilles repair had a significant decrease in PER in the year after injury compared with preinjury (7.1 +/- 5.3 vs 11.0 +/- 4.4; P = .02). The reduction in game utilization and decrease in PER in these players was maintained when compared with the matched controls (P \u3c .05 for both). Conclusion: The majority of WNBA players who sustained ATR were able to return to sport after their injury; however, their career longevity was shorter than that of healthy controls. There was a significant decrease in game utilization and performance in the year after return to play compared with healthy controls

Systematic review of dexketoprofen in acute and chronic pain

Background: Dexketoprofen, and NSAID used in the management of acute and chronic pains, is licensed in several countries but has not previously been the subject of a systematic review. We used published and unpublished information from randomised clinical trials (RCTs) of dexketoprofen in painful conditions to assess evidence on efficacy and harm. Methods: PubMed and Cochrane Central were searched for RCTs of dexketoprofen for pain of any aetiology. Reference lists of retrieved articles and reviews were also searched. Menarini Group produced copies of published and unpublished studies (clinical trial reports). Data were abstracted into a standard form. For studies reporting results of single does administration, the number of patients with at least 50% pain relief was derived and used to calculate the relative benefit (RB) and number-needed-to-treat (NNT) for one patient to achieve at least 50% pain relief compared with placebo. Results: Thirty-five trials were found in acute pain and chronic pain; 6,380 patients were included, 3, 381 receiving dexketoprofen. Information from 16 trials (almost half the total patients) was obtained from clinical trial reports from previously unpublished trials or abstracts. Almost all of the trials were of short duration in acute conditions or recent onset pain. All 12 randomised trials that compared dexketoprofen (any dose) with placebo found dexketoprofen to be statistically superior. Five trials in postoperative pain yielded NNTs for 12.5 mg dexketoprofen of 3.5 (2.7 to 4.9), 25 mg dexketoprofen of 3.0 (2.4 to 3.9), and 50 mg dexketoprofen of 2.1 (1.5 to 3.5). In 29/30 active comparator trials, dexketoprofen at the dose used was at least equivalent in efficacy to comparator drugs. Adverse event withdrawal rates were low in postoperative pain and somewhat higher in trials of longer duration; no serious adverse events were reported. Conclusion: Dexketoprofen was at least as effective as other NSAIDs and paracetamol/opioid combinations. While adverse event withdrawal was not different between dexketoprofen and comparator analgesics, the different conditions and comparators studies precluded any formal analysis. Exposure was limited, and no conclusions could be drawn about safety in terms of serious adverse events like gastrointestinal bleeding or cardiovascular events

Percutaneous Achilles Tendon Repair Using Ultrasound Guidance: An Intraoperative Ultrasound Technique

Rupture of the Achilles tendon is a common injury seen in patients of varying ages and activity levels. There are many considerations for treatment of these injuries, with both operative and nonoperative management providing satisfactory outcomes in the literature. The decision to proceed with surgical intervention should be individualized for each patient, including the patient\u27s age, future athletic goals, and comorbidities. Recently, a minimally invasive percutaneous approach to repair the Achilles tendon has been proposed as an equivalent alternative to the traditional open repair, while avoiding wound complications associated with larger incisions. However, many surgeons have been hesitant to adopt these approaches due to poor visualization, concern that suture capture in the tendon is not as robust, and the potential for iatrogenic sural nerve injury. The purpose of this Technical Note is to describe a technique using high-resolution ultrasound guidance intraoperatively during minimally invasive repair of the Achilles tendon. This technique minimizes the drawbacks of poor visualization associated with percutaneous repair, while providing the benefit of a minimally invasive approach

Preoperative PROMIS Scores Predict Postoperative Improvements Following Rotator Cuff Repair

Background: The Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS) has emerged as a valid and efficient means of collecting patient outcomes in patients with rotator cuff tear. The purpose of this study was to examine the role of pre-operative PROMIS computer adaptive test (CAT) scores in predicting post-operative PROMIS CAT scores as well as likelihood of achieving minimal clinically important difference (MCID) following rotator cuff repair. We hypothesize that pre-operative PROMIS CAT scores will directly impact both post-operative PROMIS CAT scores and likelihood of achieving MCID.Methods: Patients undergoing arthroscopic rotator cuff repair by one of three fellowship-trained surgeons were identified over a 12-month period. Only patients that completed pre-operative and 6-month post-operative PROMIS CAT assessments were included in this cohort. PROMIS CAT forms for upper extremity physical function (PROMIS-U), pain interference (PROMIS-PI), and depression (PROMIS-D) were utilized. MCID was calculated according to the distribution methodology, and receiver operating characteristics (ROC) were utilized to determine if pre-operative scores were predictive of post-operative outcomes. Preoperative cutoffs were used to predict which patients would likely meet MCID using 95% specificity. Results: A total of 80 patients met our inclusion criteria. PROMIS-UE, PROMIS-PI and PROMIS-D improved 6 months after surgery (p\u3c0.001). 76% of patients met MCID for PROMIS-UE, while 89% met MCID for PROMIS-PI, and 54% met MCID for PROMIS-D. Preoperative PROMIS scores were predictive of post-operative outcomes based on ROC analysis which demonstrated significant area under the curve (AUC) of .725 (p=0.003), .757 (p=0.013), and .789 (p\u3c0.001) for PROMIS-UE, PROMIS-PI, and PROMIS-D, respectively. Individuals with PROMIS-UE scores below 24.95 and PROMIS-PI scores above 65.65 yielded a 100% probability of achieving MCID, while a cutoff of 56.45 for PROMIS-D yielded a 91% probability of achieving MCID with 95% specificity. Conclusion: Patients undergoing arthroscopic rotator cuff repair experience significant improvements in upper extremity physical function, pain interference and depression as measured by PROMIS CAT domains. In particular, patients presenting with PROMIS upper extremity scores of \u3c24.95 are especially likely to achieve MCID.https://scholarlycommons.henryford.com/merf2019clinres/1053/thumbnail.jp

Systematic review of methods used in meta-analyses where a primary outcome is an adverse or unintended event

addresses: Peninsula College of Medicine and Dentistry, St Luke's Campus, University of Exeter, Exeter, UK. [email protected]: PMCID: PMC3528446types: Journal Article; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't© 2012 Warren et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License ( http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.Adverse consequences of medical interventions are a source of concern, but clinical trials may lack power to detect elevated rates of such events, while observational studies have inherent limitations. Meta-analysis allows the combination of individual studies, which can increase power and provide stronger evidence relating to adverse events. However, meta-analysis of adverse events has associated methodological challenges. The aim of this study was to systematically identify and review the methodology used in meta-analyses where a primary outcome is an adverse or unintended event, following a therapeutic intervention

Are aligned neural networks adversarially aligned?

Large language models are now tuned to align with the goals of their creators, namely to be "helpful and harmless." These models should respond helpfully to user questions, but refuse to answer requests that could cause harm. However, adversarial users can construct inputs which circumvent attempts at alignment. In this work, we study to what extent these models remain aligned, even when interacting with an adversarial user who constructs worst-case inputs (adversarial examples). These inputs are designed to cause the model to emit harmful content that would otherwise be prohibited. We show that existing NLP-based optimization attacks are insufficiently powerful to reliably attack aligned text models: even when current NLP-based attacks fail, we can find adversarial inputs with brute force. As a result, the failure of current attacks should not be seen as proof that aligned text models remain aligned under adversarial inputs. However the recent trend in large-scale ML models is multimodal models that allow users to provide images that influence the text that is generated. We show these models can be easily attacked, i.e., induced to perform arbitrary un-aligned behavior through adversarial perturbation of the input image. We conjecture that improved NLP attacks may demonstrate this same level of adversarial control over text-only models

LiFT: A Scalable Framework for Measuring Fairness in ML Applications

Many internet applications are powered by machine learned models, which are usually trained on labeled datasets obtained through either implicit / explicit user feedback signals or human judgments. Since societal biases may be present in the generation of such datasets, it is possible for the trained models to be biased, thereby resulting in potential discrimination and harms for disadvantaged groups. Motivated by the need for understanding and addressing algorithmic bias in web-scale ML systems and the limitations of existing fairness toolkits, we present the LinkedIn Fairness Toolkit (LiFT), a framework for scalable computation of fairness metrics as part of large ML systems. We highlight the key requirements in deployed settings, and present the design of our fairness measurement system. We discuss the challenges encountered in incorporating fairness tools in practice and the lessons learned during deployment at LinkedIn. Finally, we provide open problems based on practical experience.Comment: Accepted for publication in CIKM 202

Power Play: Grotesque Ornament And The Art Of Political Persuasion In Early Modern France

This study aimed to survey the use of grotesque ornament in France from the sixteenth to the eighteenth centuries, and assessed its meanings in both public and private spaces. After collecting a large number of examples of grotesque images and objects, three central themes were developed to guide further research. These themes were Appropriation, wherein the motif's historical resonance was important to the development of royal and noble legitimacy, and a symbol of power; Physical Exuberance, which took into account both the materiality of the design of grotesques and their reflection of political ideals, and lastly Visual Play, which considered how artists were using grotesques, as well as their flexibility in meaning. Each successive chapter explored how these themes operated in relation to specific examples. The Literature Review was developed in order to explore four aspects of the scholarly material currently available for the study of grotesques. First, it aimed to situate grotesques within the larger framework of new works in the field of ornament. It then began to consider how ancient works were received in sixteenth century France, and what they could offer readers about the uses and meanings of grotesque ornament. This involved a re-reading of Vitruvius, Horace, Qunitilian and Lucretius, in order to understand the ancient concepton of ornament (specifically grotesque ornament) for both its civic and rhetorical properties, and its reception in France. The review concluded with a synopsis of recent scholarship on grotesque imagery, largely from the field of decorative arts. The meanings of grotesque ornament were then explored in a chapter that aimed to give a general overview of grotesque ornament in France during the early modern period, and that expanded on the themes developed for this study. Further evidence was culled from contractual language in original documents from the period, and from a considertation of how the materiality of grotesque images might alter meaning. These ideas were then investigated through three central case studies. The first case study, centered on the printmaker, Juste de Juste, who worked at the First School of Fontainebleau in the 1540s, provided the first major study of his work. The chapter considered an artist's role within the context of Fontainebleau, the network of artists that disseminated ideas through it, and how artistic processes converged with new scientific endeavors, specifically anatomy. The case study posited that primtmaking was an essentially experimental practice for many of these artists, and that for Juste de Juste, a way to express his own identity. The second case study provided the first in-depth survey of grotesque ornament on the facades of houses in Toulouse, France. The city allowed for the examination of the civic character of the motif, as well as its relationship to forms developed at Fontainebleau. Grotesques were adapted to localized building traditions, and were made to display wealth and power in the cityscape. The next chapter on a series of grotesques painted by Simon Vouet for Anne of Austria in the 1640s similarly took up the exploration of power through ornamental display, but rather in the context of an interior space within the Palais Royal. The study found a variation in the historical appropriation of the motif, and exposed the role of female agency. It also expanded the discussion of siting royal authority in specific places, and how the dissemination of prints was important to establishing the imagery associated with that authority. These case studies were followed by an epilogue that discussed the continued use of grotesque ornament well into the eighteenth century, especially through the work of artists such as Watteau, and how the motif's flexibility allowed for its use in both Rococo and Neoclassical contexts. The epilogue alludes to the expansion of the marketplace, where the mass consumption of ornament was evident, and how this stimulated the global development of an exportable French style