Are You Tampering With My Data?

We propose a novel approach towards adversarial attacks on neural networks (NN), focusing on tampering the data used for training instead of generating attacks on trained models. Our network-agnostic method creates a backdoor during training which can be exploited at test time to force a neural network to exhibit abnormal behaviour. We demonstrate on two widely used datasets (CIFAR-10 and SVHN) that a universal modification of just one pixel per image for all the images of a class in the training set is enough to corrupt the training procedure of several state-of-the-art deep neural networks causing the networks to misclassify any images to which the modification is applied. Our aim is to bring to the attention of the machine learning community, the possibility that even learning-based methods that are personally trained on public datasets can be subject to attacks by a skillful adversary.Comment: 18 page

High-J CO line emission from young stellar objects: from ISO to FIRST

we present the CO pure rotational spectrum at high J (Jup14) obtained with the Long Wavelength Spectrometer (LWS) on board of the ISO satellite towards molecular outflows exciting sources in nearby star formation regions. The physical conditions, derived using an LVG model for the line emission, indicate the presence of warm and dense gas, probably shock excited. The model fits show that often the bulk of this CO emission is expected in the spectral range that will be covered by FIRST, indicating the potentiality of this satellite to trace the warm component of gas emission in young stellar objects

ISO-LWS grating spectroscopy: the case of R CrA star forming region

We present the far infrared spectra of the R CrA star forming region obtained with ISO-LWS. We collected a pointed observation on the Herbig Ae star R CrA and a raster scan covering the surrounding region, where HH100 (with its exciting source) and the pre-Main Sequence star T CrA are located. The OI 63μm and the CII 158μm lines have been detected in all the pointed positions, with a ratio consistent with PDR excitation. CO rotational lines (between Jup=14 and Jup=19) are detected on R CrA; from their intensities we derived, using a LVG model, the density and temperature of the emitting region. Other molecular transitions (OH and H2O) have been detected on the investigated objects; the derived cooling of all the molecular species is in agreement with C-shock as the likely excitation mechanism. The continuum emission of R CrA peaks around 100μm (as expected for a Herbig star) while the other sources (T CrA, HH100) show increasing continua up to ~200μm, indicating that they are probably less evolved sources

Shedding Light on Diatom Photonics by means of Digital Holography

Diatoms are among the dominant phytoplankters in the worl's ocean, and their external silica investments, resembling artificial photonics crystal, are expected to play an active role in light manipulation. Digital holography allowed studying the interaction with light of Coscinodiscus wailesii cell wall reconstructing the light confinement inside the cell cytoplasm, condition that is hardly accessible via standard microscopy. The full characterization of the propagated beam, in terms of quantitative phase and intensity, removed a long-standing ambiguity about the origin of the light. The data were discussed in the light of living cell behavior in response to their environment

Migrant workers and psychological health: A systematic review

Migrant workers show an increase in the incidence of serious, psychotic, anxiety, and post-traumatic disorders due to a series of socio-environmental variables, such as loss of social status, discrimination, and separations from the family. The purpose is to elaborate a systematic review and highlight the prevailing psychological pathologies of these workers and categories most at risk. Our research included articles published from 2009 to 2019 on the major databases (Pub Med, Cochrane Library, and Scopus) using a combination of some keywords. The online search indicated 1.228 references. Using inclusion and exclusion criteria, we analyzed 127 articles, in particular 12 reviews and 115 original articles. Principal emerging disorders from the research are depressive syndrome (poor concentration at work, feeling down, or anger and somatization), anxiety, alcohol or substance abuse, and poor sleep quality. This causes low life conditions, which is also due to marginalization from the social context and strenuous work; in fact, migrant workers may suffer verbal or physical abuse, and they are often employed in dangerous, unhealthy jobs. It is therefore essential to increase the role of occupational medicine and promote wellbeing for this vulnerable job categor

The evolution of the Sciara del Fuoco subaerial slope during the 2007 Stromboli eruption: Relation between deformation processes and effusive activity

Focusing on the Island of Stromboli, this research investigates whether airborne remote sensing systems, such as those based on digital photogrammetry and laser scanner sensors, can be adopted to monitor slope deformation and lava emplacement processes in active volcanic areas. Thanks to the capability of extracting accurate topographic data and working on flexible time schedules, these methods can be used to constrain the regular and more frequent measurements derived from satellite observations. This work is dedicated to the monitoring of Stromboli's volcanic edifice which is beneficial when obtaining quantitative data on the geometry of deformation features and the displaced (failures and landslides) and emplaced (lava flows) volumes. In particular, we focus on the capability of extracting average effusion rates from volume measurements that can be used to validate or integrate satellite-derived estimates. Since 2001, a number of airborne remote sensing surveys, namely Digital Photogrammetry (DP) and Airborne Laser Scanning (ALS), have been carried out on Stromboli's volcano to obtain high resolution Digital Elevation Models (DEM) and orthophotos with sub-meter spatial resolution and a time schedule suitable for monitoring the morphological evolution of the surface during the quiescent phases. During the last two effusive eruptions (2002–2003 and 2007) the surface modifications, created on the Sciara del Fuoco slope and on the crater area as a consequence of effusive activity, were quantified and monitored using the same methodologies. Thiswork, which is based on the results obtained from the multi-temporal quantitative analysis of the data collected from 2001 to 2007, mainly focuses on the 2007 eruption but also accounts for analogies and differences regarding the 2002–2003 event. The 2007 eruption on the Sciara del Fuoco slope from 27 February until 2 April, produced a compound lava field including a lava delta on the shoreline, discharging most of the lava into the sea. The comparison of the 2007 DEMs with a pre-eruption surface (2006 LIDAR survey) allowed for the evaluation of the total lava volume that accumulated on the subaerial slope while two syn-eruption DEMs were used to calculate the average effusion rates during the eruption. Since the evolution of a lava field produced during an eruption can be seen as a proxy for the magma intrusion mechanism, hypotheses are formulated on the connection between the lava discharge and the instabilities suffered by the slope

Multiband optical polarimetry of BL Lac objects with the Nordic Optical Telescope

Optical polarization of seven selected BL Lac objects in UBVRI bands was studied with the Nordic Optical Telescope from December 10-14, 1999. Two of them, 3C 66A and PKS 0735+178, were monitored for 4 nights for a total integration time of 4.75 and 5.5 hours, respectively. Other objects (1Jy 0138-097, H 0414+009, PKS 0823-223, OJ287 and BL Lac) were observed sparsely during the run. Apart from PKS 0823-223 (more polarized than observed in the past), the sources show levels of flux and polarization consistent with results at previous epochs. 3C 66A and PKS 0735+178 were intensively observed during December 11 and 12 and exhibited variability of polarization, both on internight and intranight time scales. Wavelength dependence of polarization has been investigated, as well as circular polarization. The results are discussed within the standard model for BL Lacs.Comment: 11 pages, 7 figures, accepted to Astronomy & Astrophysic

ISO-LWS study of pre-main sequence sources

We present the results obtained with the ISO Long Wavelength Spectrometer on a sample of Pre-MS sources, where several molecular lines of CO, H2O and OH have been detected. The analysis of the CO lines indicates that gas temperatures as low as 200 K are consistent with the data. This would be in agreement with the relatively low abundance of water in the gas phase measured in most of the objects