Fairway: A Way to Build Fair ML Software

Machine learning software is increasingly being used to make decisions that affect people's lives. But sometimes, the core part of this software (the learned model), behaves in a biased manner that gives undue advantages to a specific group of people (where those groups are determined by sex, race, etc.). This "algorithmic discrimination" in the AI software systems has become a matter of serious concern in the machine learning and software engineering community. There have been works done to find "algorithmic bias" or "ethical bias" in the software system. Once the bias is detected in the AI software system, the mitigation of bias is extremely important. In this work, we a)explain how ground-truth bias in training data affects machine learning model fairness and how to find that bias in AI software,b)propose a methodFairwaywhich combines pre-processing and in-processing approach to remove ethical bias from training data and trained model. Our results show that we can find bias and mitigate bias in a learned model, without much damaging the predictive performance of that model. We propose that (1) test-ing for bias and (2) bias mitigation should be a routine part of the machine learning software development life cycle. Fairway offers much support for these two purposes.Comment: ESEC/FSE'20: The 28th ACM Joint European Software Engineering Conference and Symposium on the Foundations of Software Engineerin

Fuzzy algorithms: Application to adipose tissue quantification on MR images

Abstract Metabolic syndrome, which is related to abdominal obesity, is a fast growing disease in our western countries. Its presence greatly increases the risk of developing cardiovascular diseases. The accumulation of visceral adipose tissue plays a key role in the development of the metabolic syndrome. The increase of waist circumference is one of the five criteria of the metabolic syndrome diagnosis. But this increase can be due to visceral or subcutaneous adipose tissues. And these adipose tissues do not play the same rule in metabolic syndrome. The purpose of this study was to develop software for automatic and reliable quantification of visceral and subcutaneous adipose tissues, to detect patient with high risk to develop metabolic syndrome and to follow the evolution of adipose tissue repartition after treatment. A gradient echo magnetic resonance (MR) technique is used, with a TE such that fat and water are opposed in phase. The developed process is based on two fuzzy algorithms. First, we fuzzy generalized clustering algorithms allow to merge pixels according to their intensities. Then, fuzzy connectedness algorithm allows to merge pixels according to cost function related to distance, gradient distance and intensities. A validation is performed with a comparison between expert results made by manual drawing and purpose-made software results. Our software provides an automatic and reliable method to segment visceral and subcutaneous adipose tissue and additionally avoids in some case the problem of inhomogeneity of signal intensity

Eine Phantasie der Allmacht. Vom Versprechen des an die Technologie angepassten Lernens

Die Autoren analysieren nach der Methode der Objektiven Hermeneutik den das brasilianische Werbevideo der Lernplattform "Moodle". Es wird sowohl der Slogan als auch die Bildpräsentation und damit die Funktionsweise der Lernplattform sequenzanalytisch rekonstruiert. Dabei zeigt sich, wie die Lernplattform nicht nur die Funktion der Lehrenden entprofessionalisiert, sondern auch das Vermittelte zur Nebensache gerät. Die Art und Weise, wie die Plattform den Schüler und die Schülerin an sie bindet, wird als reine Anpassung gekennzeichnet. (DIPF/Orig.

Glaucomatous Optic Neuropathy Associated with Nocturnal Dip in Blood Pressure: Findings from the Maracaibo Aging Study

Purpose—To determine which nocturnal blood pressure (BP) parameters (low levels or extreme dipper status) are associated with an increased risk of glaucomatous damage in Hispanics. Design—Observational cross-sectional study. Participants—A subset (n=93) of the participants from the Maracaibo Aging Study (MAS) who met the study eligibility criteria were included. These participants — who were at least 40 years of age — had measurements for optical tomography coherence, visual field tests, 24-hour BP, office BP, and intraocular pressureHg. Methods—Univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses under the generalized estimating equations (GEE) framework were used to examine the relationships between glaucomatous damage and BP parameters, with particular attention to drops in nocturnal BP. Main Outcome Measures—Glaucomatous optic neuropathy (GON) based on the presence of optic nerve damage and visual field defects. Results—The mean age was 61.9 years, and 87.1% were women. Of 185 eyes evaluated, 50 (27.0%) had signs of GON. Individuals with GON had significantly lower 24-hour and nighttime diastolic BP levels than those without. However, results of the multivariate GEE models indicated that the glaucomatous damage was not related to the average systolic or diastolic BP levels measured over 24 hours, daytime, or nighttime. In contrast, extreme drops in nighttime systolic and diastolic BP (\u3e20% compared with daytime BP) were significant risk factors for glaucomatous damage (odds ratio=19.78 and 5.55, respectively). Conclusions—In this population, the link between nocturnal BP and GON is determined by extreme dipping effects rather than low nocturnal BP levels alone. Further studies considering extreme drops in nocturnal BP in individuals at high risk of glaucoma are warranted

Gastric bypass versus best medical treatment for diabetic kidney disease: 5 years follow up of a single-centre open label randomised controlled trial

BACKGROUND: We compared the albuminuria-lowering effects of Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGB) to best medical treatment in patients with diabetic kidney disease and obesity to determine which treatment is better. METHODS: A 5 year, open-label, single-centre, randomised trial studied patients with diabetic kidney disease and class I obesity after 1:1 randomization to best medical treatment (n = 49) or RYGB (n = 51). The primary outcome was the proportion of patients achieving remission of microalbuminuria after 5 years. Secondary outcomes included improvements in diabetic kidney disease, glycemic control, quality of life, and safety. For efficacy outcomes, we performed an intention-to-treat (ITT) analysis. This study was registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT01821508. FINDINGS: 88% of patients (44 per arm) completed 5-year follow-up. Remission of albuminuria occurred in 59.6% (95% CI = 45.5–73.8) after best medical treatment and 69.7% (95% CI = 59.6–79.8) after RYGB (risk difference: 10%, 95% CI, −7 to 27, P = 0.25). Patients after RYGB were twice as likely to achieve an HbA1c ≤ 6.5% (60.2% versus 25.4%, risk difference, 34.9%; 95% CI = 15.8–53.9, P < 0.001). Quality of life after five years measured by the 36-Item Short Form Survey questionnaire (standardized to a 0-to-100 scale) was higher in the RYGB group than in the best medical treatment group for several domains. The mean differences were 13.5 (95% CI, 5.5–21.6, P = 0.001) for general health, 19.7 (95% CI, 9.1–30.3, P < 0.001) for pain, 6.1 (95% CI, −4.8 to 17.0, P = 0.27) for social functioning, 8.3 (95% CI, 0.23 to 16.3, P = 0.04) for emotional well-being, 12.2 (95% CI, 3.9–20.4, P = 0.004) for vitality, 16.8 (95% CI, −0.75 to 34.4, P = 0.06) for mental health, 21.8 (95% CI, 4.8–38.7, P = 0.01) for physical health and 11.1 (95% CI, 2.24–19.9, P = 0.01) for physical functioning. Serious adverse events were experienced in 7/46 (15.2%) after best medical treatment and 11/46 patients (24%) after RYGB (P = 0.80). INTERPRETATION: Albuminuria remission was not statistically different between best medical treatment and RYGB after 5 years in participants with diabetic kidney disease and class 1 obesity, with 6–7 in ten patients achieving remission of microalbuminuria (uACR <30 mg/g) in both groups. RYGB was superior in improving glycemia, diastolic blood pressure, lipids, body weight, and quality of life. FUNDING: The study was supported by research grants from Johnson & Johnson Brasil, Oswaldo Cruz German Hospital, and by grant 12/YI/B2480 from Science Foundation Ireland (Dr le Roux) and grant 2015-02733 from the Swedish Medical Research Council (Dr le Roux). Dr Pereira was funded by the Chevening Scholarship Programme (Foreign and Commonwealth Office, UK)

L'HYDROPTERE: HOW MULTIDISCIPLINARY SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH MAY HELP BREAK THE SAILING SPEED RECORD

In 2009, l’Hydroptère broke the symbolic barrier of 50 knots and became the world fastest sailing boat over both 500 meters and 1 nautical mile. This major achievement relied on the high skills of the sailing team but also on technical advances of the boat, resulting from the scientific collaboration between the Hydroptère Design Team and the Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL). In the present article, we highlight the multidisciplinary research activity performed within EPFL in the course of this collaboration involving aero- and hydrodynamics, materials and structure as well as computer vision. Various foils were tested at reduced scale in a high speed water tunnel, and the results used to validate the numerical simulations. Composite materials, their processing parameters and assembly components were tested. The structural behaviour was also investigated to determine strains and stresses in normal and extreme sailing conditions, taking waves into account, and a combined model was derived for dynamic simulation. Finally, advanced computer vision methods were developed and implemented on the boat to monitor foil immersion and cross beams deformations

Development of the SIOPE DIPG network, registry and imaging repository : a collaborative effort to optimize research into a rare and lethal disease

Diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma (DIPG) is a rare and deadly childhood malignancy. After 40 years of mostly single-center, often non-randomized trials with variable patient inclusions, there has been no improvement in survival. It is therefore time for international collaboration in DIPG research, to provide new hope for children, parents and medical professionals fighting DIPG. In a first step towards collaboration, in 2011, a network of biologists and clinicians working in the field of DIPG was established within the European Society for Paediatric Oncology (SIOPE) Brain Tumour Group: the SIOPE DIPG Network. By bringing together biomedical professionals and parents as patient representatives, several collaborative DIPG-related projects have been realized. With help from experts in the fields of information technology, and legal advisors, an international, web-based comprehensive database was developed, The SIOPE DIPG Registry and Imaging Repository, to centrally collect data of DIPG patients. As for April 2016, clinical data as well as MR-scans of 694 patients have been entered into the SIOPE DIPG Registry/Imaging Repository. The median progression free survival is 6.0 months (95% Confidence Interval (CI) 5.6-6.4 months) and the median overall survival is 11.0 months (95% CI 10.5-11.5 months). At two and five years post-diagnosis, 10 and 2% of patients are alive, respectively. The establishment of the SIOPE DIPG Network and SIOPE DIPG Registry means a paradigm shift towards collaborative research into DIPG. This is seen as an essential first step towards understanding the disease, improving care and (ultimately) cure for children with DIPG.Peer reviewe

Role of DNA methylation in head and neck cancer

Head and neck cancer (HNC) is a heterogenous and complex entity including diverse anatomical sites and a variety of tumor types displaying unique characteristics and different etilogies. Both environmental and genetic factors play a role in the development of the disease, but the underlying mechanism is still far from clear. Previous studies suggest that alterations in the genes acting in cellular signal pathways may contribute to head and neck carcinogenesis. In cancer, DNA methylation patterns display specific aberrations even in the early and precancerous stages and may confer susceptibility to further genetic or epigenetic changes. Silencing of the genes by hypermethylation or induction of oncogenes by promoter hypomethylation are frequent mechanisms in different types of cancer and achieve increasing diagnostic and therapeutic importance since the changes are reversible. Therefore, methylation analysis may provide promising clinical applications, including the development of new biomarkers and prediction of the therapeutic response or prognosis. In this review, we aimed to analyze the available information indicating a role for the epigenetic changes in HNC