Impact of adversarial examples on deep learning models for biomedical image segmentation

Deep learning models, which are increasingly being used in the field of medical image analysis, come with a major security risk, namely, their vulnerability to adversarial examples. Adversarial examples are carefully crafted samples that force machine learning models to make mistakes during testing time. These malicious samples have been shown to be highly effective in misguiding classification tasks. However, research on the influence of adversarial examples on segmentation is significantly lacking. Given that a large portion of medical imaging problems are effectively segmentation problems, we analyze the impact of adversarial examples on deep learning-based image segmentation models. Specifically, we expose the vulnerability of these models to adversarial examples by proposing the Adaptive Segmentation Mask Attack (ASMA). This novel algorithm makes it possible to craft targeted adversarial examples that come with (1) high intersection-over-union rates between the target adversarial mask and the prediction and (2) with perturbation that is, for the most part, invisible to the bare eye. We lay out experimental and visual evidence by showing results obtained for the ISIC skin lesion segmentation challenge and the problem of glaucoma optic disc segmentation. An implementation of this algorithm and additional examples can be found at https://github.com/utkuozbulak/adaptive-segmentation-mask-attack

Area Littlewood-Paley functions associated with Hermite and Laguerre operators

In this paper we study Lp-boundedness properties for area Littlewood-Paley functions associated with heat semigroups for Hermite and Laguerre operator

Engineering plant-based feedstocks for sustainable aquaculture

There is a growing recognition of the challenges associated with ensuring good nutrition for all without compromising the environment. This is particularly true for aquaculture, given the reliance on marine extraction for key feed ingredients, yet at the same time it delivers key nutrients such as omega-3 long chain polyunsaturated fatty acids. This review will consider progress in transitioning away from oceanic-derived fish oils as feed ingredients, focusing on the emerging transgenic plant sources of these fatty acids. Specific consideration is given to the “validation” phase of this process, in which oils from GM plants are used as substitutes for bona fide fish oils in aquafeed diets. Equally, consideration is given to the demonstration of “real-world” potential by GM field trials. Collectively, the status of these new plant-based sources of omega-3 fish oils confirm the arrival of a new wave of plant biotech products, 25 years after the introduction of herbicide-tolerant input traits and demonstrate the power of GM agriculture to contribute to food security and operating within planetary boundarie

Heat and Poisson semigroups for Fourier-Neumann expansions

Given $\alpha > -1$, consider the second order differential operator in $(0,\infty)$, $$L_\alpha f \equiv (x^2 \frac{d^2}{dx^2} + (2\alpha+3)x \frac{d}{dx} + x^2 + (\alpha+1)^2)(f),$$ which appears in the theory of Bessel functions. The purpose of this paper is to develop the corresponding harmonic analysis taking $L_\alpha$ as the analogue to the classical Laplacian. Namely we study the boundedness properties of the heat and Poisson semigroups. These boundedness properties allow us to obtain some convergence results that can be used to solve the Cauchy problem for the corresponding heat and Poisson equations.Comment: 16 page

Does society show differential attention to researchers based on gender and field?

While not all researchers prioritize social impact, it is undeniably a crucial aspect that adds significance to their work. The objective of this paper is to explore potential gender differences in the social attention paid to researchers and to examine their association with specific fields of study. To achieve this goal, the paper analyzes four dimensions of social influence and examines three measures of social attention to researchers. The dimensions are media influence (mentions in mainstream news), political influence (mentions in public policy reports), social media influence (mentions in Twitter), and educational influence (mentions in Wikipedia). The measures of social attention to researchers are: proportion of publications with social mentions (social attention orientation), mentions per publication (level of social attention), and mentions per mentioned publication (intensity of social attention). By analyzing the rankings of authors -- for the four dimensions with the three measures in the 22 research fields of the Web of Science database -- and by using Spearman correlation coefficients, we conclude that: 1) significant differences are observed between fields; 2) the dimensions capture different and independent aspects of the social impact. Finally, we use non-parametric means comparison tests to detect gender bias in social attention. We conclude that for most fields and dimensions with enough non-zero altmetrics data, gender differences in social attention are not predominant, but are still present and vary across fields.Comment: 23 pages, 5 figures, 7 table

The compositional and metabolic responses of gilthead seabream (Sparus aurata) to a gradient of dietary fish oil and associated n-3 long-chain PUFA content

The authors express their gratitude to the technical team at the BioMar Feed Trial Unit, Hirtshals, in particular, Svend Jørgen Steenfeldt for expert care of the experimental subjects, for training and supervision provided by laboratory staff at Nutrition Analytical Services and Molecular Biology at the Institute of Aquaculture, University of Stirling, UK. S. J. S. H’s. PhD was co-funded by BioMar and the Marine Alliance for Science and Technology Scotland. BioMar provided the experimental feeds, trial facilities and fish, and covered travel expenses. V. K. and J. T. designed and executed the nutritional trial and all authors contributed to planning the analyses. V. K., J. T. and S. J. S. H. carried out the sampling. O. M., D. R. T and S. A. M. M. supervised the lead author. M. B. B. provided training in molecular biology to S. J. S. H. who carried out all analytical procedures. S. J. S. H. analysed all of the data and prepared the manuscript. Subsequently the manuscript was shared between all authors who made amendments, contributions and recommendations. The authors declare that there are no conflicts of interestPeer reviewedPublisher PD

Bodengebundene Fernerkundung von Eiswolken im nahen Infrarot

In dieser Arbeit werden die Möglichkeiten zur bodengebundenen Fernerkundung des ef- fektiven Radius R.¡¡ und der optischen Dicke rc.¿ vol Eiswolken im nahen Infraroten untersucht. Unter der Voraussetzung einer optisch dünnen Eiswolke wurden die Fak- toren gesucht, die in den für diesen Fall wichtigen spektralen Kanälen (1046 nm wd 7550 nm, in atmosphårischen Fenstern) einen Einfluß auf die Abschätzung dieser Größen haben könnten. Ein spektral und räumlich hoch auflösendes Spektrometer wurde in drei F äilen für die Messung der an unterschiedlichen Eiswolkenarten vorwärtsgestreuten Strah- lung eingesetzt. Wolkenlose Spektren können erfolgreich von bewölkten getrennt werden. Wenn hexagonale säulenartige Kristalle in Eiswoiken überwiegen, kann fúr R.¡¡ > 25p,m der effektive Radius von Eiswolken mit Hilfe der optischen Eigenschaften von Kugeln abgeschätzt werden. Aus dem Vergleich der bodengebundenen Messungen mit Strah- lungstransportrechnungen wurde R"JÍ für drei unterschiedliche Meßfälle zwischen 1 und 200p,m abgeschätzt. Durch die Abschätntngvon R"¡¡ aus den Messungen konnten so- wohl eine zeitliche Entwicklung der Mikrophysik von Cirren und Kondenstreifen hin zu größeren effektiven Radien als auch eine Zunahme der Partikelgröße mit der optischen Dicke bei Eiswolken festgestellt werden. Zur Abschätnng der optischen Dicke der Eis- wolke aus vorwärtsgestreuten Strahldichten ist die Kenntnis der mittleren Kristallform oder der dazugehörigen Phasenfunktion notwendig. Mit Hilfe eines der Meßfälle wurde gezeigt, daß zur Ableiiung der optischen Dicke des Aerosols die optischen Eigenschaften von klimatologisch gemittelten Aerosoltypen nicht immer ausreichend sind