Expert-Free Online Transfer Learning in Multi-Agent Reinforcement Learning

Transfer learning in Reinforcement Learning (RL) has been widely studied to overcome training issues of Deep-RL, i.e., exploration cost, data availability and convergence time, by introducing a way to enhance training phase with external knowledge. Generally, knowledge is transferred from expert-agents to novices. While this fixes the issue for a novice agent, a good understanding of the task on expert agent is required for such transfer to be effective. As an alternative, in this paper we propose Expert-Free Online Transfer Learning (EF-OnTL), an algorithm that enables expert-free real-time dynamic transfer learning in multi-agent system. No dedicated expert exists, and transfer source agent and knowledge to be transferred are dynamically selected at each transfer step based on agents' performance and uncertainty. To improve uncertainty estimation, we also propose State Action Reward Next-State Random Network Distillation (sars-RND), an extension of RND that estimates uncertainty from RL agent-environment interaction. We demonstrate EF-OnTL effectiveness against a no-transfer scenario and advice-based baselines, with and without expert agents, in three benchmark tasks: Cart-Pole, a grid-based Multi-Team Predator-Prey (mt-pp) and Half Field Offense (HFO). Our results show that EF-OnTL achieve overall comparable performance when compared against advice-based baselines while not requiring any external input nor threshold tuning. EF-OnTL outperforms no-transfer with an improvement related to the complexity of the task addressed

A Serverless Architecture for Efficient and Scalable Monte Carlo Markov Chain Computation

Computer power is a constantly increasing demand in scientific data analyses, in particular when Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) methods are involved, for example for estimating integral functions or Bayesian posterior probabilities. In this paper, we describe the benefits of a parallel computation of MCMC using a cloud-based, serverless architecture: first, the computation time can be spread over thousands of processes, hence greatly reducing the time the user should wait to have its computation completed. Second, the overhead time required for running in parallel several processes is minor and grows logarithmically with respect to the number of processes. Third, the serverless approach does not require time-consuming efforts for maintaining and updating the computing infrastructure when/if the number of walkers increases or for adapting the code to optimally use the infrastructure. The benefits are illustrated with the computation of the posterior probability distribution of a real astronomical analysis.Comment: 6 pages, 3 figures. Appeared in ICCBDC '23: Proceedings of the 2023 7th International Conference on Cloud and Big Data Computing - August 202

The role of tendon and subacromial bursa in rotator cuff tear pain. A clinical and histopathological study

To evaluate a possible association of shoulder pain with the clinical features and the histopathological changes occurring in the ruptured tendon and subacromial bursa of patients with rotator cuff tear

RAINFALL EROSIVITY IN MUNICIPALITIES OF THE BRAZILIAN CERRADO BIOME

ABSTRACT: The objective of this work was to estimate the rainfall erosivity in 101 municipalities in the Brazilian Cerrado biome. First, a filling of missing data was carried out for 81 rain gauge stations, with a 20-year historical series, in the states of Mato Grosso (MT), Mato Grosso do Sul (MS), Minas Gerais (MG), and Goiás (GO). The corrected data were subjected to 16 regionally calibrated equations, which enabled the determination of the rainfall erosivity. The results indicated that municipalities in northeastern MS present the highest monthly erosivity indexes (El30m), reaching 2,796.5 MJ mm ha-1 h-1 year-1 in January, whereas the lowest index for this same month was 733.0 MJ mm ha-1 h-1 in the eastern MT. The rainfall annual erosivity, or R factor, varied between 3,713.1 and 12,345.6 MJ mm ha-1 h-1 year-1, with the lowest values for municipalities in eastern MT and the highest values for those in northeastern MS. Although the municipalities studied are within the same biome, the spatial distribution makes them present regional effects due to different climatic factors, resulting in different rainfall volumes and intensities, which is reflected in the results of the monthly erosivity index and R factor. Keywords: rainfall stations; R fator; fill missing data; precipitation.   Erosividade da chuva em municípios do Cerrado brasileiro   RESUMO: O objetivo deste trabalho é estimar a erosividade da chuva em 101 municípios localizados no bioma Cerrado. Para tanto, inicialmente foi realizado o preenchimento de falhas para 81 estações pluviométricas, com série histórica de 20 anos, localizadas nos estados de Mato Grosso, Mato Grosso do Sul, Minas Gerais e Goiás, posteriormente com os dados consistidos, foram aplicadas 16 equações calibradas regionalmente, permitindo determinada a erosividade da chuva. Os resultados apontaram que os municípios localizados na região Nordeste de MS, apresentam os maiores índices El30m, chegando a 2.796,5 MJ mm ha-1 h-1 ano-1 no mês de janeiro, enquanto para o mesmo mês, o menor índice foi de 733,0 MJ mm ha-1 h-1  no Leste de MT. A erosividade da chuva anual ou fator R variou entre 3.713,1 a 12.345,6 MJ mm ha-1 h-1 ano-1, com os menores valores para os municípios da região Leste de MT e o maiores para a região Nordeste de MS. Apesar dos municípios estudados estarem localizados dentro do mesmo bioma, a distribuição espacial lhes confere influências regionais de fatores climáticos diferentes, ocasionando volumes e intensidades pluviométricas distintas, o que reflete no resultado no índice de erosividade mensal e no fator R. Palavras-chave: estações pluviométricas; fator R; preenchimento de falhas; precipitação.ABSTRACT: The objective of this work was to estimate the rainfall erosivity in 101 municipalities in the Brazilian Cerrado biome. First, a filling of missing data was carried out for 81 rain gauge stations, with a 20-year historical series, in the states of Mato Grosso (MT), Mato Grosso do Sul (MS), Minas Gerais (MG), and Goiás (GO). The corrected data were subjected to 16 regionally calibrated equations, which enabled the determination of the rainfall erosivity. The results indicated that municipalities in northeastern MS present the highest monthly erosivity indexes (El30m), reaching 2,796.5 MJ mm ha-1 h-1 year-1 in January, whereas the lowest index for this same month was 733.0 MJ mm ha-1 h-1 in the eastern MT. The rainfall annual erosivity, or R factor, varied between 3,713.1 and 12,345.6 MJ mm ha-1 h-1 year-1, with the lowest values for municipalities in eastern MT and the highest values for those in northeastern MS. Although the municipalities studied are within the same biome, the spatial distribution makes them present regional effects due to different climatic factors, resulting in different rainfall volumes and intensities, which is reflected in the results of the monthly erosivity index and R factor. Keywords: rainfall stations; R fator; fill missing data; precipitation.   Erosividade da chuva em municípios do Cerrado brasileiro   RESUMO: O objetivo deste trabalho é estimar a erosividade da chuva em 101 municípios localizados no bioma Cerrado. Para tanto, inicialmente foi realizado o preenchimento de falhas para 81 estações pluviométricas, com série histórica de 20 anos, localizadas nos estados de Mato Grosso, Mato Grosso do Sul, Minas Gerais e Goiás, posteriormente com os dados consistidos, foram aplicadas 16 equações calibradas regionalmente, permitindo determinada a erosividade da chuva. Os resultados apontaram que os municípios localizados na região Nordeste de MS, apresentam os maiores índices El30m, chegando a 2.796,5 MJ mm ha-1 h-1 ano-1 no mês de janeiro, enquanto para o mesmo mês, o menor índice foi de 733,0 MJ mm ha-1 h-1  no Leste de MT. A erosividade da chuva anual ou fator R variou entre 3.713,1 a 12.345,6 MJ mm ha-1 h-1 ano-1, com os menores valores para os municípios da região Leste de MT e o maiores para a região Nordeste de MS. Apesar dos municípios estudados estarem localizados dentro do mesmo bioma, a distribuição espacial lhes confere influências regionais de fatores climáticos diferentes, ocasionando volumes e intensidades pluviométricas distintas, o que reflete no resultado no índice de erosividade mensal e no fator R. Palavras-chave: estações pluviométricas; fator R; preenchimento de falhas; precipitação

Correction to: The CITIMERIVA Study: CITIcoline plus MEmantine plus RIVAstigmine in Older Patients Affected with Alzheimer's Disease

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a fatal case of triple whammy in an elderly patient

Triple whammy is a drug-induced renal failure which in patients treated with ACE-inhibitors or angiotensin II receptor blockers, diuretics and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. We report a case of a 79-year-old woman affected with hypertension, depression and arthritis that was hospitalized for abdominal pain and discharged with normal renal function and with poly-treatment: furosemide, aspirin, carvedilol, omeprazole and ramipril. Few days later she was visited for depressive symptoms, pain in the right shoulder and cystitis and treatment with oral ketoprofen and ciprofloxacin was prescribed. One week later she experienced loss of appetite, asthenia and swelling of the face. Blood analyses showed acute renal failure, whereas clinical examination showed heart failure and pleural effusion. She was again hospitalized in a geriatric ward for metabolic acidosis. Drug treatments and hemodialysis did not improve clinical conditions and she died thirteen days after her hospitalization. History suggested the onset of drug-related acute renal failure probably due to the combination of furosemide, ketoprofen and ramipril, defined as triple whammy

The Reeler Mouse: A Translational Model of Human Neurological Conditions, or Simply a Good Tool for Better Understanding Neurodevelopment?

The first description of the Reeler mutation in mouse dates to more than fifty years ago, and later, its causative gene (reln) was discovered in mouse, and its human orthologue (RELN) was demonstrated to be causative of lissencephaly 2 (LIS2) and about 20% of the cases of autosomal-dominant lateral temporal epilepsy (ADLTE). In both human and mice, the gene encodes for a glycoprotein referred to as reelin (Reln) that plays a primary function in neuronal migration during development and synaptic stabilization in adulthood. Besides LIS2 and ADLTE, RELN and/or other genes coding for the proteins of the Reln intracellular cascade have been associated substantially to other conditions such as spinocerebellar ataxia type 7 and 37, VLDLR-associated cerebellar hypoplasia, PAFAH1B1-associated lissencephaly, autism, and schizophrenia. According to their modalities of inheritances and with significant differences among each other, these neuropsychiatric disorders can be modeled in the homozygous (reln(-/-)) or heterozygous (reln(+/-)) Reeler mouse. The worth of these mice as translational models is discussed, with focus on their construct and face validity. Description of face validity, i.e., the resemblance of phenotypes between the two species, centers onto the histological, neurochemical, and functional observations in the cerebral cortex, hippocampus, and cerebellum of Reeler mice and their human counterparts

Correction for potentially inappropriate prescribing can increase specificity when using drug prescriptions as an adjunct to diagnostic codes to assess comorbidities in older patients

Background: Comorbidities are a growing problem in older patients in many clinical settings, but electronic records may give an unsatisfactory picture of this complexity. Analysis of drug prescriptions can add further diagnostic information to that gathered from billing diagnostic codes, but the risk exhists that potentially inappropriate prescriptions may lead to over-estimating comorbidities. Methods: We analysed the administrative records and drug prescriptions of the 304 patients discharged during 2016 from a neurological rehabilitation unit. International Classification of Diseases – 9th revision diagnostic codes were matched with prescriptions at discharge, coded according to the Anatomical Therapeutic Chemical classification. The codes of the prescriptions not explained by the diagnostic codes were recorded, grouped, corrected for potential inappropriate prescribing, and analysed. Results: Of the 304 patients, 295 had at least one prescribed drug not inferable from their diagnostic codes. The mean number of these prescriptions was 3.5 ± 1.9 per patient, and that of prescriptions remaining after correction for potentially inappropriate prescribing was 2.0 ± 1.5. The more frequent groups of potentially inappropriate medications were anti-acids, psychotropic drugs, laxatives, potassium supplements, cardiovascular drugs and lipid modifying agents. Administrative databases underestimate the complexity of older patients in neurological rehabilitation wards. More reliable data can be obtained by adding the analysis of drug prescriptions, but correction for potentially inappropriate prescription seems necessary to avoid an over-estimation of comorbidities

transplantation through the generations

Biologically, a child is a human being between the stages of birth and puberty. The legal definition of child generally refers to a minor, otherwise known as a person younger than the age of majority (Oxford University Press (Accessed 5th January 2013))

P2‐254: RELATION OF SERUM 25‐HYDROXYVITAMIN D TO PULSE PRESSURE IN ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE

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