A Gray-Box Approach for Curriculum Learning

Curriculum learning is often employed in deep reinforcement learning to let the agent progress more quickly towards better behaviors. Numerical methods for curriculum learning in the literature provides only initial heuristic solutions, with little to no guarantee on their quality. We define a new gray-box function that, including a suitable scheduling problem, can be effectively used to reformulate the curriculum learning problem. We propose different efficient numerical methods to address this gray-box reformulation. Preliminary numerical results on a benchmark task in the curriculum learning literature show the viability of the proposed approach

Not All Children with Under-Control Asthma are Controlled

Subclinical lung function alterations can sometimes be discovered in asthmatic patients under clinical control. This study aimed to identify the burden of asthmatic children with subclinical airways abnormalities who may benefit from an adjustment in asthma therapy. 134 6-to-17-year-old asthmatic children were enrolled. Of them, 98 presented apparently under clinical control disease and all performed spirometry before and after bronchodilation: 17 (17.3%) had a positive bronchodilation test, in addition to significantly lower lung function indexes as compared to those with under-control asthma who had a negative bronchodilation test. These patients were randomized and re-evaluated: patients (n=8) receiving an adjustment in their therapy showed an improvement in lung function tests and quality of life indexes as compared to 7 without therapy adjustment. In conclusion, a substantial number of apparently-under-control asthmatic children show airways alterations that can be improved by adjusting their therapy, which also seems to enhance their quality of life

Engineering robust next-generation networks

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Technical note: First spectral measurement of the Earth's upwelling emission using an uncooled wideband Fourier transform spectrometer

The first spectral measurement of Earth's emitted radiation to space in the wideband range from 100 to 1400 cm^−1 with 0.5 cm^−1 spectral resolution is presented. The measurement was performed from a stratospheric balloon in tropical region using a Fourier transform spectrometer, during a field campaign held in Brazil in June 2005. The instrument, which has uncooled components including the detector module, is a prototype developed as part of the study for the REFIR (Radiation Explorer in the Far InfraRed) space mission. This paper shows the results of the field campaign with particular attention to the measurement capabilities of the prototype. The results are compared with measurements taken by IASI-balloon (Infrared Atmospheric Sounding Interferometer – Balloon version), aboard the same platform, and with forward model estimations. The infrared signature of clouds is observed in the measurements

First spectral measurement of the Earth's upwelling emission using an uncooled wideband Fourier transform spectrometer

International audienceThe first spectral measurement of Earth's emitted radiation to space in the wideband range from 100 to 1400 cm-1 with 0.5 cm-1 spectral resolution is presented. The measurement was performed from a stratospheric balloon in tropical region using a Fourier transform spectrometer, during a field campaign held in Brazil in June 2005. The instrument, which has uncooled components including the detector module, is a prototype developed as part of the study for the REFIR (Radiation Explorer in the Far InfraRed) space mission. This paper shows the results of the field campaign with particular attention to the measurement capabilities of the prototype. The results are compared with measurements taken by IASI-balloon (Infrared Atmospheric Sounding Interferometer – Balloon version), aboard the same platform, and with forward model estimations. The infrared signature of clouds is observed in the measurements

Technical note: First spectral measurement of the Earth's upwelling emission using an uncooled wideband Fourier transform spectrometer

International audienceThe first spectral measurement of Earth's emitted radiation to space in the wideband range from 100 to 1400 cm-1 with 0.5 cm-1 spectral resolution is presented. The measurement was performed from a stratospheric balloon in tropical region using a Fourier transform spectrometer, during a field campaign held in Brazil in June 2005. The instrument, which has uncooled components including the detector module, is a prototype developed as part of the study for the REFIR (Radiation Explorer in the Far InfraRed) space mission. This paper shows the results of the field campaign with particular attention to the measurement capabilities of the prototype. The results are compared with measurements taken by IASI-balloon (Infrared Atmospheric Sounding Interferometer – Balloon version), aboard the same platform, and with forward model estimations. The infrared signature of clouds is observed in the measurements

Comparison of blood and milk non-specific immune parameters in heifers after calving in relation to udder health

A practical protocol to study udder immune status in field conditions was planned with the aim to assess different non-specific immune parameters in milk samples from dairy heifers during the periparturient period. Five herds located in northern Italy were selected and overall 39 heifers were enrolled in the trial. Milk samples were taken at 7, 14, 21, 28, 45, 60, and 75 days after calving. The parameters assessed were N-acetyl-\u3b2-glucosaminidase (NAGase), lysozyme, respiratory burst (RB), somatic cell counts (SCC) and serum protein profile. SCC and NAGase were higher in the first sampling after calving, while lysozyme showed large variations during the observation period without a definite trend. The levels of RB observed in the first two weeks after calving, even if lower, were not statistically different from the values observed in samples taken over the following weeks. This study confirmed that the levels of immune components in milk are different from what is observed at blood level in the same cow. A significant decrease in RB in milk polymorphonuclear leukocytes (PMN) post-calving was not observed; milk PMN from healthy cows showed low RB levels, while the values from infected quarters were significantly higher. Significant differences between healthy and infected animals were also observed for milk NAG, lactoglobulin and albumin. These data suggest that udder immune response could be influenced both by the cow immune status and by external factors such as pathogens and management. Therefore, the reduction in immune defences, particularly in heifers, is not unavoidable and methods to boost PMN activity should be explored