Ivermectin Treatment of a Traveler Who Returned from Peru with Cutaneous Gnathostomiasis

We describe a 21-year-old patient who experienced a relapse of cutaneous gnathostomiasis after receiving initial treatment with albendazole and who had a successful outcome after receiving a short course of ivermectin for the relapse. This is the first reported case of gnathostomiasis acquired by a human in Per

Adversarial Data Augmentation for HMM-based Anomaly Detection

In this work, we concentrate on the detection of anomalous behaviors in systems operating in the physical world and for which it is usually not possible to have a complete set of all possible anomalies in advance. We present a data augmentation and retraining approach based on adversarial learning for improving anomaly detection. In particular, we first define a method for gener- ating adversarial examples for anomaly detectors based on Hidden Markov Models (HMMs). Then, we present a data augmentation and retraining technique that uses these adversarial examples to improve anomaly detection performance. Finally, we evaluate our adversarial data augmentation and retraining approach on four datasets showing that it achieves a statistically significant perfor- mance improvement and enhances the robustness to adversarial attacks. Key differences from the state-of-the-art on adversarial data augmentation are the focus on multivariate time series (as opposed to images), the context of one-class classification (in contrast to standard multi-class classification), and the use of HMMs (in contrast to neural networks)

eXplainable Modeling (XM): Data Analysis for Intelligent Agents

Intelligent agents perform key tasks in several application domains by processing sensor data and taking actions that maximize reward functions based on internal models of the environment and the agent itself. In this paper we present eXplainable Modeling (XM), a Python software which supports data analysis for intelligent agents. XM enables to analyze state-models, namely models of the agent states, discovered from sensor traces by data-driven methods, and to interpret them for improved situation awareness. The main features of the tool are described through the analysis of a real case study concerning aquatic drones for water monitoring

Monte Carlo Tree Search Planning for continuous action and state space

Sequential decision-making in real-world environments is an important problem of artificial intelligence and robotics. In the last decade reinforcement learning has provided effective solutions in small and simulated environments but it has also shown some limits on large and real-world domains characterized by continuous state and action spaces. In this work, we aim to evaluate some state-of-the-art algorithms based on Monte Carlo Tree Search planning in continuous state/action spaces and propose a first version of a new algorithm based on action widening. Algorithms are evaluated on a synthetic domain in which the agent aims to control a car through a narrow curve for reaching the goal in the shortest possible time and avoiding the car going off the road. We show that the proposed method outperforms the state-of-the-art techniques

HMMs for Anomaly Detection in Autonomous Robots

Detection of anomalies and faults is a key element for long-term robot autonomy, because, together with subsequent diagnosis and recovery, allows to reach the required levels of robustness and persistency. In this paper, we propose an approach for detecting anomalous behaviors in autonomous robots starting from data collected during their routine operations. The main idea is to model the nominal (expected) behavior of a robot system using Hidden Markov Models (HMMs) and to evaluate how far the observed behavior is from the nominal one using variants of the Hellinger distance adopted for our purposes. We present a method for online anomaly detection that computes the Hellinger distance between the probability distribution of observations made in a sliding window and the corresponding nominal emission probability distribution. We also present a method for o!ine anomaly detection that computes a variant of the Hellinger distance between two HMMs representing nominal and observed behaviors. The use of the Hellinger distance positively impacts on both detection performance and interpretability of detected anomalies, as shown by results of experiments performed in two real-world application domains, namely, water monitoring with aquatic drones and socially assistive robots for elders living at home. In particular, our approach improves by 6% the area under the ROC curve of standard online anomaly detection methods. The capabilities of our o!ine method to discriminate anomalous behaviors in real-world applications are statistically proved

Multivariate sensor signals collected by aquatic drones involved in water monitoring: A complete dataset

Sensor data generated by intelligent systems, such as autonomous robots, smart buildings and other systems based on artificial intelligence, represent valuable sources of knowledge in today's data-driven society, since they contain information about the situations these systems face during their operation. These data are usually multivariate time series since modern technologies enable the simultaneous acquisition of multiple signals during long periods of time. In this paper we present a dataset containing sensor traces of six data acquisition campaigns performed by autonomous aquatic drones involved in water monitoring. A total of 5.6 h of navigation are available, with data coming from both lakes and rivers, and from different locations in Italy and Spain. The monitored variables concern both the internal state of the drone (e.g., battery voltage, GPS position and signals to propellers) and the state of the water (e.g., temperature, dissolved oxygen and electrical conductivity). Data were collected in the context of the EU-funded Horizon 2020 project INTCATCH (http://www.intcatch.eu) which aims to develop a new paradigm for monitoring water quality of catchments. The aquatic drones used for data acquisition are Platypus Lutra boats. Both autonomous and manual drive is used in different parts of the navigation. The dataset is analyzed in the paper “Time series segmentation for state-model generation of autonomous aquatic drones: A systematic framework” [1] by means of recent time series clustering/segmentation techniques to extract data-driven models of the situations faced by the drones in the data acquisition campaigns. These data have strong potential for reuse in other kinds of data analysis and evaluation of machine learning methods on real-world datasets [2]. Moreover, we consider this dataset valuable also for the variety of situations faced by the drone, from which machine learning techniques can learn behavioral patterns or detect anomalous activities. We also provide manual labeling for some known states of the drones, such as, drone inside/outside the water, upstream/downstream navigation, manual/autonomous drive, and drone turning, that represent a ground truth for validation purposes. Finally, the real-world nature of the dataset makes it more challenging for machine learning methods because it contains noisy samples collected while the drone was exposed to atmospheric agents and uncertain water flow conditions

Overview of the cerebellar function in anticipatory postural adjustments and of the compensatory mechanisms developing in neural dysfunctions

This review aims to highlight the important contribution of the cerebellum in the Anticipatory Postural Adjustments (APAs). These are unconscious muscular activities, accompanying every voluntary movement, which are crucial for optimizing motor performance by contrasting any destabilization of the whole body and of each single segment. Moreover, APAs are deeply involved in initiating the displacement of the center of mass in whole-body reaching movements or when starting gait. Here we present literature that illustrates how the peculiar abilities of the cerebellum (i) to predict, and contrast in advance, the upcoming mechanical events; (ii) to adapt motor outputs to the mechanical context, and (iii) to control the temporal relationship between task-relevant events, are all exploited in the APA control. Moreover, recent papers are discussed which underline the key role of cerebellum ontogenesis in the correct maturation of APAs. Finally, on the basis of a survey of animal and human studies about cortical and subcortical compensatory processes that follow brain lesions, we propose a candidate neural network that could compensate for cerebellar deficits and suggest how to verify such a hypothesis

EXPO-AGRI: Smart Automatic Greenhouse Control

Predicting and controlling plant behavior in con- trolled environments is a growing requirement in precision agri- culture. In this context sensor networks and artificial intelligence methods represent key aspects for optimizing the processes of data acquisition, mathematical modeling and decision making. In this paper we present a general architecture for automatic greenhouse control. In particular, we focus on a preliminary model for predicting the risk of new infections of downy mildew of basil (Peronospora belbahrii) on sweet basil. The architecture has three main elements of innovation: new kinds of sensors are used to extract information about the state of the plants, model predictors are generated from this information by non-trivial processing methods, and informative predictors are automatically selected using regularization techniques

Axial and rotational alignment of lower limb in a Caucasian aged non-arthritic cohort

BackgroundThe alignment of human lower limb has been an area of ongoing study for decades. The purpose of this study was to analyze the axial and rotational alignment from hip to ankle in a Caucasian aged non-arthritic cohort.MethodsA non-arthritic cohort of aged patients was retrospectively analyzed by computer tomography. Anatomical-mechanical angle of femur (AMA), femur inclination (FI), femoral anteversion (FA), posterior condylar angle (PCA), proximal tibial torsion (TEAs-PTC and TEAs-PTT) and tibial fibular torsion (PTC-TFA) were measured.ResultsThe median age of the patients was 76 years (range 67 to 91 years). Regarding axial alignment, the AMA was 5 (2.94; 6.80). No significance differences were reported by side and age. AMA was significantly lower in men. The FI was 125.3 (120.0; 134.8) with no differences in terms of side, age or gender. Regarding torsion alignment, the median values of FA, PTC-TFA and TEAs-PTT were, respectively, 16.8, 28.5 and -1.4. No differences were reported by age. Right tibia was externally rotated by 1.5 degrees as compared to the left side (P 0.035).ConclusionThe broad variability of the parameters analyzed highlights the necessity for a more anatomical and individualized approach during surgery of lower limb. The present study offers the fundament to understand and treat lower limb deformities. Hence, these data can constitute the normal reference values useful to investigate lower limb malalignment. Moreover, it helps to assess the possible changes of axial and rotational alignment in idiopathic OA of lower limb.Level of evidence IIIRetrospective cohort stud