LivDet in Action - Fingerprint Liveness Detection Competition 2019

The International Fingerprint liveness Detection Competition (LivDet) is an open and well-acknowledged meeting point of academies and private companies that deal with the problem of distinguishing images coming from reproductions of fingerprints made of artificial materials and images relative to real fingerprints. In this edition of LivDet we invited the competitors to propose integrated algorithms with matching systems. The goal was to investigate at which extent this integration impact on the whole performance. Twelve algorithms were submitted to the competition, eight of which worked on integrated systems.Comment: Preprint version of a paper accepted at ICB 201

Same place, different time, head up: multiple antipredator responses to a recolonizing apex predator

Prey adjust their antipredator behavioral tactics to minimize the risk of an encounter with predators. Spatio-temporal responses of prey to predators have been reported, but antipredator response is not ubiquitous, and it is the object of increasing interest, especially considering the recent recovery of large carnivores in Europe, and the potential for behavioral antipredator responses to elicit consequences at the ecosystem level. We have tested multiple antipredator responses by fallow deer Dama dama to wolf Canis lupus, in a Mediterranean protected area recently recolonized by this apex predator. Through intensive camera trapping, we tested for temporal and spatial association between predator and prey, and we have also studied deer vigilance in forest habitats where focal observations are usually impossible. Wolf detection rates were spatially associated with those of fallow deer. Accordingly, no evidence was found for fallow deer avoiding sites with higher predator detection rates. Temporal activity patterns were significantly different between the two species, with the wolf being mainly nocturnal whereas fallow deer was active especially during daylight. A comparison with a preliminary study strongly suggests an increase in diurnal activity of fallow deer along with the stabilization of wolf presence in the area. Both the rate and the duration of vigilance of female fallow deer increased with the local frequency of wolf activity. We suggest an antipredator response based on temporal – rather than spatial – avoidance, as well as increased vigilance

The Drug Prescription Network: A System-Level View of Drug Co-Prescription in Community-Dwelling Elderly People

Networks are well suited to display and analyze complex systems that consist of numerous and interlinked elements. This study aimed at: (1) generating a series of drug prescription networks (DPNs) displaying co-prescription in community-dwelling elderly people; (2) analyzing DPN structure and organization; and (3) comparing various DPNs to unveil possible differences in drug co-prescription patterns across time and space. Data were extracted from the administrative prescription database of the Lombardy Region in northern Italy in 2000 and 2010. DPNs were generated, in which each node represents a drug chemical subclass, whereas each edge linking two nodes represents the co-prescription of the corresponding drugs to the same patient. At a global level, the DPN was a very dense and highly clustered network, whereas at the local level it was organized into anatomically homogeneous modules. In addition, the DPN was assortative by class, because similar nodes (representing drugs with the same anatomic, therapeutic, and pharmacologic annotation) connected to each other more frequently than expected, indicating that similar drugs are often co-prescribed. Finally, temporal changes in the co-prescription of specific drug sub-groups (for instance, proton pump inhibitors) translated into topological changes of the DPN and its modules. In conclusion, complementing more traditional pharmaco-epidemiology methods, the DPN-based method allows appreciatiation (and representation) of general trends in the co-prescription of a specific drug (e.g., its emergence as a heavily co-prescribed hub) in comparison with other drugs

Ecosystem vulnerability to alien and invasive species: a case study on marine habitats along the Italian coast

1. Spread of alien species (AS) is a serious threat to marine habitats and analysis of principal descriptors of their occurrence is pivotal to set reliable conservation strategies. 2. In order to assess the susceptibility of marine habitats to biological invasions, a dataset was gathered of the occurrence of 3899 species from 29 phyla, taken from 93 marine sites located along the Italian coast in the period 2000\u20132012. 3. In total, 61 AS belonging to 11 phyla have been recorded. Invertebrates were the most represented (63%). Alien species were found in all the habitats examined (EUNIS, level 2), although they showed highest abundance in benthic habitats. Most of the AS were associated with a single EUNIS habitat, while some of them were present in more than one habitat. Trans-habitat occurrence suggests the potential invasiveness of AS. 4. According to statistical analysis, AS recorded could have been more numerous, since some of the marine habitats seemed to be still unsaturated. The model that best describes the spread of AS takes account of both native species richness (Rn) and EUNIS habitat type as explanatory variables. The number of observed AS was directly related to Rn and it was highest in rocky circalittoral and infralittoral habitats. 5. The results of this macro-ecological study focus on the importance of performing large-scale studies, since adopting ecosystem approaches to marine invasion management seems especially fruitful. 6. The results, moreover, highlight the importance of AS monitoring of different habitats, from those subjected to anthropogenic pressure, historically considered to be hubs of introduction of AS, to the most biologically rich and diverse marine habitats. Indeed, it is necessary to set monitoring strategies to detect the introduction, the distribution and persistence of AS over time. These recommendations are especially significant in the light of the strategic plans currently under formulation in Mediterranean countries with regard to AS monitorin