Deep Learning for Real Time Crime Forecasting

Accurate real time crime prediction is a fundamental issue for public safety, but remains a challenging problem for the scientific community. Crime occurrences depend on many complex factors. Compared to many predictable events, crime is sparse. At different spatio-temporal scales, crime distributions display dramatically different patterns. These distributions are of very low regularity in both space and time. In this work, we adapt the state-of-the-art deep learning spatio-temporal predictor, ST-ResNet [Zhang et al, AAAI, 2017], to collectively predict crime distribution over the Los Angeles area. Our models are two staged. First, we preprocess the raw crime data. This includes regularization in both space and time to enhance predictable signals. Second, we adapt hierarchical structures of residual convolutional units to train multi-factor crime prediction models. Experiments over a half year period in Los Angeles reveal highly accurate predictive power of our models.Comment: 4 pages, 6 figures, NOLTA, 201

Law Students Are Different from the General Population: Empirical Findings Regarding Learning Styles

(Excerpt)It was a snowy day during a semester break when Prof. Robin Boyle was discussing teaching law students and learning styles with Dr. Andrea Honigsfeld, who has performed numerous empirical studies and has published many books and articles on teaching to the learning style of children and adults. Also at the table was Susan Rundle, president of Performance Concepts International (PCI). PCI develops and administers the Building Excellence (BE) Survey, an online learning style assessment survey (described below). Prof. Boyle was aware during this conversation that professors who teach in other graduate programs are fascinated by law students. Dr. Honigsfeld asked a question of Prof. Boyle, much like one she’s been called upon to answer before: “What are law students like as students? Are they really different from students in other disciplines?” It was at this point in the conversation that Dr. Honigsfeld suggested conducting an empirical study to compare the learning styles of law students with other young adults—do they have similar learning styles? Although the question was a simple one, little did the researchers realize on that cold New York day that the empirical study would involve data compilation from several schools around the country, as far south as sunny Florida. The results would evolve over the next couple of years

Broad spectrum proteomics analysis of the inferior colliculus following acute hydrogen sulfide exposure.

Acute exposure to high concentrations of H2S causes severe brain injury and long-term neurological disorders, but the mechanisms involved are not known. To better understand the cellular and molecular mechanisms involved in acute H2S-induced neurodegeneration we used a broad-spectrum proteomic analysis approach to identify key molecules and molecular pathways involved in the pathogenesis of acute H2S-induced neurotoxicity and neurodegeneration. Mice were subjected to acute inhalation exposure of up to750 ppm of H2S. H2S induced behavioral deficits and severe lesions including hemorrhage in the inferior colliculus (IC). The IC was microdissected for proteomic analysis. Tandem mass tags (TMT) liquid chromatography mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS)-based quantitative proteomics was applied for protein identification and quantitation. LC-MS/MS identified 598, 562, and 546 altered proteomic changes at 2 h, and on days 2 and 4 post-H2S exposure, respectively. Of these, 77 proteomic changes were statistically significant at any of the 3 time points. Mass spectrometry data were subjected to Perseus 1.5.5.3 statistical analysis, and gene ontology heat map clustering. Expressions of several key molecules were verified to confirm H2S-dependent proteomics changes. Webgestalt pathway overrepresentation enrichment analysis with Panther engine revealed H2S exposure disrupted several biological processes including metabotropic glutamate receptor group 1 and inflammation mediated by chemokine and cytokine signaling pathways among others. Further analysis showed that energy metabolism, integrity of blood-brain barrier, hypoxic, and oxidative stress signaling pathways were also implicated. Collectively, this broad-spectrum proteomics data has provided important clues to follow up in future studies to further elucidate mechanisms of H2S-induced neurotoxicity

The Difficulties in Assessing Wounds Created by .410 Bore Ammunition and Weapons

When interpreting firearm injuries, the distinction between gunshot wounds and shotgun wounds is important, and separation of these categories is typically straightforward. However, .410 bore firearms can make the classification difficult. Shotguns and revolvers that can fire the same .410 bore ammunition are readily available. This study investigates the soot and gunpowder deposits and pellet patterning of these two types of weapons using cartridges specially designed for .410 bore revolvers and standard birdshot pellet ammunition. For both ammunition types, the revolver had more prompt pellet dispersion and positive detection of gunpowder at greater distances compared to the shotgun. Additionally, .410 bore slugs are of similar caliber to many common bullets. In comparing the .410 bore slugs to equivalent bullets, some morphologic differences may be imparted on the skin by the slugs, but the greatest insight into the weapon remained with the retained projectiles.Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/154370/1/jfo14181.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/154370/2/jfo14181_am.pd

Cost-Benefit Analysis of Novel Access Modes: A Case Study in the San Francisco Bay Area

The first-mile, last-mile problem is a significant deterrent for potential transit riders, especially in suburban neighborhoods with low density. Transit agencies have typically sought to solve this problem by adding parking spaces near transit stations and adding stops to connect riders to fixed-route transit. However, these measures are often only short-term solutions. In the last few years, transit agencies have tested whether new mobility services, such as ridehailing, ridesharing, and microtransit, can offer fast, reliable connections to and from transit stations. However, there is limited research that evaluates the potential impacts of these projects. Concurrently, there is growing interest in the future of automated vehicles (AVs) and the potential of AVs to solve this first-mile problem by reducing the cost of providing these new mobility services to promote access to transit. This paper expands upon existing research to model the simulate the travel and revenue impacts of a fleet of automated vehicles that provide transit access services in the San Francisco Bay Area offered over a range of fares. The model simulates a fleet of AVs for first-mile transit access at different price points for three different service models (door-to-door ridehailing and ridesharing and meeting point ridesharing services). These service models include home-based drop-off and pick-up for single passenger service (e.g., Uber and Lyft), home-based drop-off and pick-up for multi-passenger service (e.g.,microtransit), and meeting point multi-passenger service (e.g., Via)

Verifier-on-a-Leash: New schemes for verifiable delegated quantum computation, with quasilinear resources

The problem of reliably certifying the outcome of a computation performed by a quantum device is rapidly gaining relevance. We present two protocols for a classical verifier to verifiably delegate a quantum computation to two non-communicating but entangled quantum provers. Our protocols have near-optimal complexity in terms of the total resources employed by the verifier and the honest provers, with th

Context Meta-Reinforcement Learning via Neuromodulation

Meta-reinforcement learning (meta-RL) algorithms enable agents to adapt quickly to tasks from few samples in dynamic environments. Such a feat is achieved through dynamic representations in an agent's policy network (obtained via reasoning about task context, model parameter updates, or both). However, obtaining rich dynamic representations for fast adaptation beyond simple benchmark problems is challenging due to the burden placed on the policy network to accommodate different policies. This paper addresses the challenge by introducing neuromodulation as a modular component to augment a standard policy network that regulates neuronal activities in order to produce efficient dynamic representations for task adaptation. The proposed extension to the policy network is evaluated across multiple discrete and continuous control environments of increasing complexity. To prove the generality and benefits of the extension in meta-RL, the neuromodulated network was applied to two state-of-the-art meta-RL algorithms (CAVIA and PEARL). The result demonstrates that meta-RL augmented with neuromodulation produces significantly better result and richer dynamic representations in comparison to the baselines

Pre-Clinical Assessment of Single-Use Negative Pressure Wound Therapy During In Vivo Porcine Wound Healing

Objective: Traditional negative pressure wound therapy systems can be large and cumbersome, limiting patient mobility and adversely affecting quality of life. PICO™, a no canister single-use system offers a lightweight, portable alternative to traditional negative pressure wound therapy, with improved clinical performance. The aim of this study was to determine the potential mechanism(s) of action of single-use negative pressure wound therapy versus traditional negative pressure wound therapy.Approach: Single-use negative pressure wound therapy and traditional negative pressure wound therapy were applied to in in vivo porcine excisional wound model, following product use guidelines. Macroscopic, histological and biochemical analyses were performed at defined healing time-points to assess multiple aspects of the healing response. Results: Wounds treated with single-use negative pressure displayed greater wound closure and increased re-epithelialisation versus those treated with traditional negative pressure. The resulting granulation tissue was more advanced with fewer neutrophils, reduced inflammatory markers, more mature collagen and no wound filler-associated foreign body reactions. Of note, single-use negative pressure therapy failed to induce wound edge epithelial hyperproliferation, while traditional negative pressure therapy compromised peri-wound skin, which remained inflamed with high transepidermal water loss; features not observed following single-use treatment. Innovation: Single-use negative pressure was identified to improve multiple aspects of healing versus traditional negative pressure treatment.Conclusion: This study provides important new insight into the differing mode of action of single-use versus traditional negative pressure and may go some way to explain the improved clinical outcomes observed with single use negative pressure therapy

Shoreline armoring disrupts marine-terrestrial connectivity in the Salish Sea, with consequences for invertebrates, fish, and birds

Within the marine-terrestrial ecotone, upper intertidal “wrack zones” accumulate organic debris from algae, seagrass, and terrestrial plant sources and provide food and shelter for many organisms. We conducted detailed surveys of wrack and log accumulations and supralittoral invertebrates in spring and fall over 3 years at 29 armored-unarmored beach pairs in Puget Sound, WA, USA. Additionally, behavioral observations of juvenile salmon (Oncorhynchus spp.) and birds were conducted at 6 pairs. Armored beaches had substantially less wrack overall, a lower proportion of terrestrial plant material in the wrack, and far fewer logs. Armored beaches had significantly fewer invertebrates and differed from unarmored beaches in their taxonomic composition. Unarmored invertebrate assemblages were dominated by talitrid amphipods and insects, and were correlated with the amount of beach wrack and logs, the proportion of terrestrial material in wrack, and the maximum elevation of the beach. Shoreline armoring influenced juvenile salmon distribution, with fewer overall observations and fish in deeper water at armored beaches, but their feeding rates were relatively high at all sites. Terrestrial birds were commonly observed foraging among beach wrack and logs at unarmored beaches, but were largely absent from armored beaches. This study demonstrates that shoreline armoring disrupts marine-terrestrial connectivity, affecting the amount and type of organic material delivered to the nearshore ecotone in the form of wrack and logs, the abundance and taxonomic composition of supralittoral invertebrates, and the distribution and behavior of secondary consumers (juvenile salmon and birds)

Using ecosystem services to represent the environment in hydro-economic models

[EN] Demand for water is expected to grow in line with global human population growth, but opportunities to augment supply are limited in many places due to resource limits and expected impacts of climate change. Hydro-economic models are often used to evaluate water resources management options, commonly with a goal of understanding how to maximise water use value and reduce conflicts among competing uses. The environment is now an important factor in decision making, which has resulted in its inclusion in hydro-economic models. We reviewed 95 studies applying hydro-economic models, and documented how the environment is represented in them and the methods they use to value environmental costs and benefits. We also sought out key gaps and inconsistencies in the treatment of the environment in hydro-economic models. We found that representation of environmental values of water is patchy in most applications, and there should be systematic consideration of the scope of environmental values to include and how they should be valued. We argue that the ecosystem services framework offers a systematic approach to identify the full range of environmental costs and benefits. The main challenges to more holistic representation of the environment in hydro-economic models are the current limits to understanding of ecological functions which relate physical, ecological and economic values and critical environmental thresholds; and the treatment of uncertainty. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.The authors acknowledge the backing of Universitat Politecnica de Valencia through its Support Programme for Research and Development. Support by the CSIRO for an internship visit by the lead author is also acknowledged. We also wish to thank the European Commission for financing the Seventh Framework Program project ENHANCE (FP7-ENV-2012, 308438) and the H2020 project IMPREX (H2020-WATER-2014-2015, 641811), and the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness for granting the project NUTEGES (VI Plan Nacional de I+D+i 2008-2011, CGL2012-34978).Momblanch Benavent, A.; Connor, JD.; Crossman, ND.; Paredes Arquiola, J.; Andreu Álvarez, J. (2016). Using ecosystem services to represent the environment in hydro-economic models. Journal of Hydrology. 538:293-303. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhydrol.2016.04.019S29330353