Ethical considerations for integrating multimodal computer perception and neurotechnology

BackgroundArtificial intelligence (AI)-based computer perception technologies (e.g., digital phenotyping and affective computing) promise to transform clinical approaches to personalized care in psychiatry and beyond by offering more objective measures of emotional states and behavior, enabling precision treatment, diagnosis, and symptom monitoring. At the same time, passive and continuous nature by which they often collect data from patients in non-clinical settings raises ethical issues related to privacy and self-determination. Little is known about how such concerns may be exacerbated by the integration of neural data, as parallel advances in computer perception, AI, and neurotechnology enable new insights into subjective states. Here, we present findings from a multi-site NCATS-funded study of ethical considerations for translating computer perception into clinical care and contextualize them within the neuroethics and neurorights literatures.MethodsWe conducted qualitative interviews with patients (n = 20), caregivers (n = 20), clinicians (n = 12), developers (n = 12), and clinician developers (n = 2) regarding their perspective toward using PC in clinical care. Transcripts were analyzed in MAXQDA using Thematic Content Analysis.ResultsStakeholder groups voiced concerns related to (1) perceived invasiveness of passive and continuous data collection in private settings; (2) data protection and security and the potential for negative downstream/future impacts on patients of unintended disclosure; and (3) ethical issues related to patients’ limited versus hyper awareness of passive and continuous data collection and monitoring. Clinicians and developers highlighted that these concerns may be exacerbated by the integration of neural data with other computer perception data.DiscussionOur findings suggest that the integration of neurotechnologies with existing computer perception technologies raises novel concerns around dignity-related and other harms (e.g., stigma, discrimination) that stem from data security threats and the growing potential for reidentification of sensitive data. Further, our findings suggest that patients’ awareness and preoccupation with feeling monitored via computer sensors ranges from hypo- to hyper-awareness, with either extreme accompanied by ethical concerns (consent vs. anxiety and preoccupation). These results highlight the need for systematic research into how best to implement these technologies into clinical care in ways that reduce disruption, maximize patient benefits, and mitigate long-term risks associated with the passive collection of sensitive emotional, behavioral and neural data

Business consulting - Hialpesa reducir el reproceso de teñido de tela en la unidad de tintorería

Hialpesa, fundada en 1979, es una empresa peruana dedicada a la confección de prendas de vestir para marcas internacionales de moda; asimismo, realiza servicios de tejeduría y tintorería para el mercado local y América Latina, posicionándose dentro de las 10 principales compañías exportadoras del sector textil en el Perú. Tiene una estrategia de liderazgo en costos y ha optado por realizar una integración vertical hacia atrás; con la finalidad, de obtener un mayor control de la calidad del producto terminado, plazos de entrega y el uso eficiente y eficaz de sus recursos, siendo sus principales unidades productivas la Hilandería, Tejeduría, Tintorería y Manufactura. Es importante resaltar que el 95% de la facturación de productos terminados corresponde a clientes en el mercado americano y el 5% al mercado europeo. Después de analizar el proceso productivo de Hialpesa se ha identificado que la unidad más importante es la tintorería, debido a que a partir de esta se inicia con el cumplimiento de las especificaciones del cliente en relación con la tonalidad del color y calidad de la tela; es por ello, que al hacer una evaluación de la unidad se identificó que el principal problema es de no lograr teñir la tela correctamente al primer intento. Esto con lleva a que se reprocese la tela en un ratio del 9.7% de la producción, representando un costo de USD 645,536 al cierre del 2018. Para solucionar el problema descrito se hizo el análisis de causa raíz, logrando identificar cuatro soluciones relacionadas directamente con el problema de estudio y una solución de oportunidad de mejora para la empresa; las cuales, están orientadas a la estandarización y control de procesos, mejora continua, capacitación del personal de planta y planes de mantenimiento. La implementación de las soluciones propuestas representa un total de inversión de PEN 15,443.00, proyectando que dicho ratio de reproceso se reduzca a 5.45%, el cual representa un ahorro de USD 282,280.Hialpesa, founded in 1979, is a Peruvian company dedicated to the manufacture of garments for international fashion brands, it also performs weaving and dyeing services for the local market and Latin America, positioning itself among the 10 main exporting companies of the textile sector in Peru. It has a cost leadership strategy and has opted for vertical integration backwards; with the purpose of obtaining greater control over the quality of the finished product, delivery times and the efficient and effective use of its resources, being its main productive units the Spinning mill, Weaving, Dyeing and Manufacturing. It is important to highlight that 95% of the invoicing of finished products corresponds to customers in the American market and 5% to the European market. After analysing the production process of Hialpesa, it has been identified that the most important unit is the Dyeing, because from this it starts with the fulfilment of the customer’s specifications in relation to the colour tone and quality of the fabric; that is why, when making an evaluation of the unit, it was identified that the main problem is Not to achieve the correct dyeing of the fabric at the first-time. This generates to the reprocessing of the fabric with a ratio of 9.7% of the production, representing a cost of USD 645,536 at the close of 2018. To solve the problem described, the root cause analysis was done, identifying four solutions directly related to the problem of study and an improvement solution for the company, which are oriented to the standardization and control of processes, continuous improvement, training of plant workers and maintenance plans. The implementation of the proposed solutions represents a total investment of PEN 15,443.00, projecting to reduce the reprocessing ratio to 5.45%, representing a saving of USD 282,280.Tesi

Business consulting - Hialpesa reducir el reproceso de teñido de tela en la unidad de tintorería

Hialpesa, fundada en 1979, es una empresa peruana dedicada a la confección de prendas de vestir para marcas internacionales de moda; asimismo, realiza servicios de tejeduría y tintorería para el mercado local y América Latina, posicionándose dentro de las 10 principales compañías exportadoras del sector textil en el Perú. Tiene una estrategia de liderazgo en costos y ha optado por realizar una integración vertical hacia atrás; con la finalidad, de obtener un mayor control de la calidad del producto terminado, plazos de entrega y el uso eficiente y eficaz de sus recursos, siendo sus principales unidades productivas la Hilandería, Tejeduría, Tintorería y Manufactura. Es importante resaltar que el 95% de la facturación de productos terminados corresponde a clientes en el mercado americano y el 5% al mercado europeo. Después de analizar el proceso productivo de Hialpesa se ha identificado que la unidad más importante es la tintorería, debido a que a partir de esta se inicia con el cumplimiento de las especificaciones del cliente en relación con la tonalidad del color y calidad de la tela; es por ello, que al hacer una evaluación de la unidad se identificó que el principal problema es de no lograr teñir la tela correctamente al primer intento. Esto con lleva a que se reprocese la tela en un ratio del 9.7% de la producción, representando un costo de USD 645,536 al cierre del 2018. Para solucionar el problema descrito se hizo el análisis de causa raíz, logrando identificar cuatro soluciones relacionadas directamente con el problema de estudio y una solución de oportunidad de mejora para la empresa; las cuales, están orientadas a la estandarización y control de procesos, mejora continua, capacitación del personal de planta y planes de mantenimiento. La implementación de las soluciones propuestas representa un total de inversión de PEN 15,443.00, proyectando que dicho ratio de reproceso se reduzca a 5.45%, el cual representa un ahorro de USD 282,280.Hialpesa, founded in 1979, is a Peruvian company dedicated to the manufacture of garments for international fashion brands, it also performs weaving and dyeing services for the local market and Latin America, positioning itself among the 10 main exporting companies of the textile sector in Peru. It has a cost leadership strategy and has opted for vertical integration backwards; with the purpose of obtaining greater control over the quality of the finished product, delivery times and the efficient and effective use of its resources, being its main productive units the Spinning mill, Weaving, Dyeing and Manufacturing. It is important to highlight that 95% of the invoicing of finished products corresponds to customers in the American market and 5% to the European market. After analysing the production process of Hialpesa, it has been identified that the most important unit is the Dyeing, because from this it starts with the fulfilment of the customer’s specifications in relation to the colour tone and quality of the fabric; that is why, when making an evaluation of the unit, it was identified that the main problem is Not to achieve the correct dyeing of the fabric at the first-time. This generates to the reprocessing of the fabric with a ratio of 9.7% of the production, representing a cost of USD 645,536 at the close of 2018. To solve the problem described, the root cause analysis was done, identifying four solutions directly related to the problem of study and an improvement solution for the company, which are oriented to the standardization and control of processes, continuous improvement, training of plant workers and maintenance plans. The implementation of the proposed solutions represents a total investment of PEN 15,443.00, projecting to reduce the reprocessing ratio to 5.45%, representing a saving of USD 282,280.Tesi

Parties in chains: do ethnic party bans in Africa promote peace?

Since the sweeping (re)introduction of multiparty systems in the early 1990s, almost all sub-Saharan countries have introduced legal provisions to ban ethnic or other identity-based particularistic parties. Altogether, 12 countries have actually banned political parties on these grounds. In theoretical terms, such bans can exclude particularism from politics but - contrary to public discourse - also run the risk of forcing groups to resort to violent means or of becoming an object of conflict themselves. Empirically speaking, hardly any general patterns in the effects of bans can be detected. A closer look at 12 politically relevant bans in six countries reveals an initially stabilizing impact in one case (Rwanda in 1994). A ban on a religious party in Kenya in 1993 triggered violent conflict. In cases such as Equatorial Guinea (1994) and Rwanda (2001, 2003), this regulatory measure, allegedly designed to promote peace, seems to be part of the 'menu of manipulation' and is abused to suppress the opposition

Large-scale detector testing for the GAPS Si(Li) Tracker

Lithium-drifted silicon [Si(Li)] has been used for decades as an ionizing radiation detector in nuclear, particle, and astrophysical experiments, though such detectors have frequently been limited to small sizes (few cm$^2$) and cryogenic operating temperatures. The 10-cm-diameter Si(Li) detectors developed for the General Antiparticle Spectrometer (GAPS) balloon-borne dark matter experiment are novel particularly for their requirements of low cost, large sensitive area (~10 m$^2$ for the full 1440-detector array), high temperatures (near -40\,^\circC), and energy resolution below 4 keV FWHM for 20--100-keV x-rays. Previous works have discussed the manufacturing, passivation, and small-scale testing of prototype GAPS Si(Li) detectors. Here we show for the first time the results from detailed characterization of over 1100 flight detectors, illustrating the consistent intrinsic low-noise performance of a large sample of GAPS detectors. This work demonstrates the feasibility of large-area and low-cost Si(Li) detector arrays for next-generation astrophysics and nuclear physics applications.Comment: Updated to version accepted in IEEE Trans Nucl Sci. Minor changes to text, fixed plotting error on Fig. 5. Conclusions unchange

Maritime transport and regional climate change impacts in large EU islands and archipelagos

Maritime transport is a vital sector for global trade and the world economy. Particularly for islands, there is also an important social dimension of this sector, since island communities strongly rely on it for a connection with the mainland and the transportation of goods and passengers. Furthermore, islands are exceptionally vulnerable to climate change, as the rising sea level and extreme events are expected to induce severe impacts. Such hazards are anticipated to also affect the operations of the maritime transport sector by affecting either the port infrastructure or ships en route. The present study is an effort to better comprehend and assess the future risk of maritime transport disruption in six European islands and archipelagos, and it aims at supporting regional to local policy and decision-making. We employ state-of-the-art regional climate datasets and the widely used impact chain approach to identify the different components that might drive such risks. Larger islands (e.g., Corsica, Cyprus and Crete) are found to be more resilient to the impacts of climate change on maritime operations. Our findings also highlight the importance of adopting a low-emission pathway, since this will keep the risk of maritime transport disruption similar to present levels or even slightly decreased for some islands because of an enhanced adaptation capacity and advantageous demographic changes.Open Access funding enabled and organized by Projekt DEAL.This work has received funding from the European Union’s H2020 Research and Innovation Programme under grant agreement no. 776661 (SOCLIMPACT project). It was also supported by the EMME-CARE project, which has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme under grant agreement no. 856612, as well as matching co-funding by the Government of the Republic of Cyprus.Peer reviewe

Ni crisis ni panaceas: dinámicas y transformaciones de los sistemas partidarios en América Latina

A nivel global, tanto en la literatura especializada como en el debate público, la desafección ciudadana hacia la cosa pública, el debilitamiento de los partidos políticos y el aumento de la abstención contribuyeron a asentar la idea de una crisis de los sistemas de partidos y de la democracia. Diferentes indicadores darían cuenta de esta crisis: el desarraigo social de los partidos que consagró el modelo del partido cartel (Katz y Mair 1995); el declive de la militancia (Van Biezen, Mair y Poguntke 2012; Whiteley 2011); la erosión de las estructuras partidarias tradicionales capturadas por el lobby corporativo (Crouch 2004 [2014], 112) o la tecnocracia; la pérdida de capacidad de los líderes para construir partidos programáticos que expresaran identidades políticas duraderas (Cheresky 2006; Dalton 2004; Luna 2014b); o su incapacidad para responder con una mayor deliberación interna a los desafíos de la representación política (Accetti y Wolkenstein 2017).Fil: Alenda, Stéphanie. Universidad Andrés Bello; ChileFil: Varetto, Carlos Augusto. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de San Martin. Escuela de Politica y Gobierno. Centro de Estudios Federales y Electorales; Argentin

RANTES/CCL5 and Risk for Coronary Events: Results from the MONICA/KORA Augsburg Case-Cohort, Athero-Express and CARDIoGRAM Studies

BACKGROUND: The chemokine RANTES (regulated on activation, normal T-cell expressed and secreted)/CCL5 is involved in the pathogenesis of cardiovascular disease in mice, whereas less is known in humans. We hypothesised that its relevance for atherosclerosis should be reflected by associations between CCL5 gene variants, RANTES serum concentrations and protein levels in atherosclerotic plaques and risk for coronary events. METHODS AND FINDINGS: We conducted a case-cohort study within the population-based MONICA/KORA Augsburg studies. Baseline RANTES serum levels were measured in 363 individuals with incident coronary events and 1,908 non-cases (mean follow-up: 10.2±4.8 years). Cox proportional hazard models adjusting for age, sex, body mass index, metabolic factors and lifestyle factors revealed no significant association between RANTES and incident coronary events (HR [95% CI] for increasing RANTES tertiles 1.0, 1.03 [0.75-1.42] and 1.11 [0.81-1.54]). None of six CCL5 single nucleotide polymorphisms and no common haplotype showed significant associations with coronary events. Also in the CARDIoGRAM study (>22,000 cases, >60,000 controls), none of these CCL5 SNPs was significantly associated with coronary artery disease. In the prospective Athero-Express biobank study, RANTES plaque levels were measured in 606 atherosclerotic lesions from patients who underwent carotid endarterectomy. RANTES content in atherosclerotic plaques was positively associated with macrophage infiltration and inversely associated with plaque calcification. However, there was no significant association between RANTES content in plaques and risk for coronary events (mean follow-up 2.8±0.8 years). CONCLUSIONS: High RANTES plaque levels were associated with an unstable plaque phenotype. However, the absence of associations between (i) RANTES serum levels, (ii) CCL5 genotypes and (iii) RANTES content in carotid plaques and either coronary artery disease or incident coronary events in our cohorts suggests that RANTES may not be a novel coronary risk biomarker. However, the potential relevance of RANTES levels in platelet-poor plasma needs to be investigated in further studies

RANTES/CCL5 and risk for coronary events: Results from the MONICA/KORA Augsburg case-cohort, Athero-express and CARDIoGRAM studies

Background: The chemokine RANTES (regulated on activation, normal T-cell expressed and secreted)/CCL5 is involved in the pathogenesis of cardiovascular disease in mice, whereas less is known in humans. We hypothesised that its relevance for atherosclerosis should be reflected by associations between CCL5 gene variants, RANTES serum concentrations and protein levels in atherosclerotic plaques and risk for coronary events. Methods and Findings: We conducted a case-cohort study within the population-based MONICA/KORA Augsburg studies. Baseline RANTES serum levels were measured in 363 individuals with incident coronary events and 1,908 non-cases (mean follow-up: 10.2±