Cybernetics, Fuzziness and Scientific Revolutions

Settimo Termini ​pioneered along with Aldo de Luca the concept of fuzziness measures in the sixties. Today he is a Full Professor of Theoretical Computer Science at the University of Palermo and an affiliated researcher at the European Center for Soft Computing, Mieres (Asturias), Spain. He has directed from 2002 to 2009 the Istituto di Cibernetica "Eduardo Caianiello" of CNR (National Research Council) in Italy. Among his scientific interests, the introduction and formal development of the theory of (entropy) measures of fuzziness; an analysis in innovative terms of the notion of vague predicate as it appears and is used in Information Sciences, Cybernetics and AI. Recently he has been interested also in the connections between scientific research and economic development and the conceptual foundations of Fuzzy Sets and Soft Computing. He is Fellow of the International Fuzzy Systems Association and of the Accademia Nazionale di Scienze, Lettere ed Arti of Palermo. In 2015 he will be 70, and we want to celebrate his birthday with the Soft Computing community with this interview where he discusses history of Cybernetics. The interview was conducted in Italian and translated by the authors

Use of a participatory quality assessment and improvement tool for maternal and neonatal hospital care. Part 2: Review of the results of quality cycles and of factors influencing change

Background Information about the use of the findings of quality assessments in maternal and neonatal (MN) care is lacking and the development of tools capable to effectively address quality gaps is a key priority. Furthermore, little is known about factors that act as barriers or facilitators to change at facility level. Based on the extensive experience made with the WHO Quality Assessment and Improvement MN (QA/QI MN) tool, an overview is provided of the improvements in quality of care (QoC) which were obtained over time and of the factors influencing change. Methods All documented reports on the implementation of the WHO QA/QI MN tool were searched and screened for inclusion. Reports were considered if bringing evidence from both the baseline assessment and the reassessment. Changes were considered in four domains: maternal care, neonatal care, infrastructure and policies, with reference made to WHO maternal and neonatal care standards. The observed improvements were categorized according to intensity and extent across the sample of health facilities. Factors influencing change were categorized into internal and external and further classified as barriers or facilitators. Results. Changes were documented after an average period of 1.2 years from first assessment in 27 facilities belonging to 9 different countries in Central and Eastern Europe (3), Central Asia (3), sub-Saharan Africa (2) and Latin America (1). Improvements were observed in all areas of care but were greater and more frequently observed in areas related to appropriate case management and respectful care for both mothers and newborns. Although widespread across most facilities and countries, the observed improvements were not covering all the quality gaps observed at the baseline assessment nor were always sufficient to achieve standard care. Factors facilitating change as well as barriers were mainly related to the capacity of the managers and head of units to involve and motivate their staff members. Conclusions The use of WHO QA/QI MN tool proved effective in promoting significant changes in quality of care. The review of observed improvements and of factors influencing change at facility level shows that participatory assessment tools that promote a constructive dialogue with hospital managers and staff and support them in acquiring capacity in this role are crucial to implement effective quality cycles

In vitro interaction network of a synthetic gut bacterial community

A key challenge in microbiome research is to predict the functionality of microbial communities based on community membership and (meta)-genomic data. As central microbiota functions are determined by bacterial community networks, it is important to gain insight into the principles that govern bacteria-bacteria interactions. Here, we focused on the growth and metabolic interactions of the Oligo-Mouse-Microbiota (OMM12) synthetic bacterial community, which is increasingly used as a model system in gut microbiome research. Using a bottom-up approach, we uncovered the directionality of strain-strain interactions in mono- and pairwise co-culture experiments as well as in community batch culture. Metabolic network reconstruction in combination with metabolomics analysis of bacterial culture supernatants provided insights into the metabolic potential and activity of the individual community members. Thereby, we could show that the OMM12 interaction network is shaped by both exploitative and interference competition in vitro in nutrient-rich culture media and demonstrate how community structure can be shifted by changing the nutritional environment. In particular, Enterococcus faecalis KB1 was identified as an important driver of community composition by affecting the abundance of several other consortium members in vitro. As a result, this study gives fundamental insight into key drivers and mechanistic basis of the OMM12 interaction network in vitro, which serves as a knowledge base for future mechanistic in vivo studies

Neonatal resuscitation: EN-BIRTH multi-country validation study.

BACKGROUND: Annually, 14 million newborns require stimulation to initiate breathing at birth and 6 million require bag-mask-ventilation (BMV). Many countries have invested in facility-based neonatal resuscitation equipment and training. However, there is no consistent tracking for neonatal resuscitation coverage. METHODS: The EN-BIRTH study, in five hospitals in Bangladesh, Nepal, and Tanzania (2017-2018), collected time-stamped data for care around birth, including neonatal resuscitation. Researchers surveyed women and extracted data from routine labour ward registers. To assess accuracy, we compared gold standard observed coverage to survey-reported and register-recorded coverage, using absolute difference, validity ratios, and individual-level validation metrics (sensitivity, specificity, percent agreement). We analysed two resuscitation numerators (stimulation, BMV) and three denominators (live births and fresh stillbirths, non-crying, non-breathing). We also examined timeliness of BMV. Qualitative data were collected from health workers and data collectors regarding barriers and enablers to routine recording of resuscitation. RESULTS: Among 22,752 observed births, 5330 (23.4%) babies did not cry and 3860 (17.0%) did not breathe in the first minute after birth. 16.2% (n = 3688) of babies were stimulated and 4.4% (n = 998) received BMV. Survey-report underestimated coverage of stimulation and BMV. Four of five labour ward registers captured resuscitation numerators. Stimulation had variable accuracy (sensitivity 7.5-40.8%, specificity 66.8-99.5%), BMV accuracy was higher (sensitivity 12.4-48.4%, specificity > 93%), with small absolute differences between observed and recorded BMV. Accuracy did not vary by denominator option. < 1% of BMV was initiated within 1 min of birth. Enablers to register recording included training and data use while barriers included register design, documentation burden, and time pressure. CONCLUSIONS: Population-based surveys are unlikely to be useful for measuring resuscitation coverage given low validity of exit-survey report. Routine labour ward registers have potential to accurately capture BMV as the numerator. Measuring the true denominator for clinical need is complex; newborns may require BMV if breathing ineffectively or experiencing apnoea after initial drying/stimulation or subsequently at any time. Further denominator research is required to evaluate non-crying as a potential alternative in the context of respectful care. Measuring quality gaps, notably timely provision of resuscitation, is crucial for programme improvement and impact, but unlikely to be feasible in routine systems, requiring audits and special studies

The evolution of socioeconomic status-related inequalities in maternal health care utilization: evidence from Zimbabwe, 1994-2011

Background: Inequalities in maternal health care are pervasive in the developing world, a fact that has led to questions about the extent of these disparities across socioeconomic groups. Despite a growing literature on maternal health across Sub-Saharan African countries, relatively little is known about the evolution of these inequalities over time for specific countries. This study sought to quantify and explain the observed differences in prenatal care use and professional delivery assistance in Zimbabwe. Methods: The empirical analysis uses four rounds of the nationwide Zimbabwe Demographic and Health Survey administered in 1994, 1999, 2005/06 and 2010/11. Two binary indicators were used as measures of maternal health care utilization; (1) the receipt of four or more antenatal care visits and (2) receiving professional delivery assistance for the most recent pregnancy. We measure inequalities in maternal health care use using the Erreygers corrected concentration index. A decomposition analysis was conducted to determine the underlying drivers of the measured disparities. Results: The computed concentration indices for professional delivery assistance and prenatal care reveal a mostly pro-rich distribution of inequalities between 1994 and 2011. Particularly, the concentration index [95% confidence interval] for the receipt of prenatal care was 0.111 [0.056, 0.171] in 2005/06 and 0.094 [0.057, 0.138] in 2010/11. For professional delivery assistance, the concentration index stood at 0.286 [0.244, 0.329] in 2005/06 and 0.324 [0.283, 0.366] in 2010/11. The pro-rich inequality was also increasing in both rural and urban areas over time. The decomposition exercise revealed that wealth, education, religion and information access were the underlying drivers of the observed inequalities in maternal health care. Conclusions: In Zimbabwe, socioeconomic disparities in maternal health care use are mostly pro-rich and have widened over time regardless of the location of residence. Overall, we established that inequalities in wealth and education are amongst the top drivers of the observed disparities in maternal health care. These findings suggest that addressing inequalities in maternal health care utilization requires coordinated public policies targeting the more poor and vulnerable segments of the population in Zimbabwe

Letter of interest for a neutrino beam from Protvino to KM3NeT/ORCA

The Protvino accelerator facility located in the Moscow region, Russia, is in a good position to offer a rich experimental research program in the field of neutrino physics. Of particular interest is the possibility to direct a neutrino beam from Protvino towards the KM3NeT/ORCA detector, which is currently under construction in the Mediterranean Sea 40 km offshore Toulon, France. This proposal is known as P2O. Thanks to its baseline of 2595 km, this experiment would yield an unparalleled sensitivity to matter effects in the Earth, allowing for the determination of the neutrino mass ordering with a high level of certainty after only a few years of running at a modest beam intensity of ≈ 90 kW. With a prolonged exposure (≈1500 kWyear), a 2σ sensitivity to the leptonic CP-violating Dirac phase can be achieved. A second stage of the experiment, comprising a further intensity upgrade of the accelerator complex and a densified version of the ORCA detector (Super-ORCA), would allow for up to a 6σ sensitivity to CP violation and a 10º−17º resolution on the CP phase after 10 years of running with a 450 kW beam, competitive with other planned experiments. The initial composition and energy spectrum of the neutrino beam would need to be monitored by a near detector, to be constructed several hundred meters downstream from the proton beam target. The same neutrino beam and near detector set-up would also allow for neutrino-nucleus cross section measurements to be performed. A short-baseline sterile neutrino search experiment would also be possible

ANTARES search for point-sources of neutrinos using astrophysical catalogs: a likelihood stacking analysis

A search for astrophysical point-like neutrino sources using the data collected by the ANTARES detector between January 29, 2007 and December 31, 2017 is presented. A likelihood stacking method is used to assess the significance of an excess of muon neutrinos inducing track-like events in correlation with the location of a list of possible sources. Different sets of objects are tested in the analysis: a) a sub-sample of the \textit{Fermi} 3LAC catalog of blazars, b) a jet-obscured AGN population, c) a sample of soft gamma-ray selected radio galaxies, d) a star-forming galaxy catalog , and e) a public sample of 56 very-high-energy track events from the IceCube experiment. None of the tested sources shows a significant association with the sample of neutrinos detected by ANTARES. The smallest p-value is obtained for the radio galaxies catalog with an equal weights hypothesis, with a pre-trial p-value equivalent to a $2.8 \, \sigma$ excess, equivalent to $1.6 \, \sigma$ post-trial. In addition, the results of a dedicated analysis for the blazar MG3 J225517+2409 are also reported: this source is found to be the most significant within the \textit{Fermi} 3LAC sample, with 5 ANTARES events located at less than one degree from the source. This blazar showed evidence of flaring activity in \textit{Fermi} data, in space-time coincidence with a high-energy track detected by IceCube. An \emph{a posteriori} significance of $2.0\, \sigma$ for the combination of ANTARES and IceCube data is reported

Observation of the cosmic ray shadow of the Sun with the ANTARES neutrino telescope

[EN] The ANTARES detector is an undersea neutrino telescope in the Mediterranean Sea. The search for pointlike neutrino sources is one of the main goals of the ANTARES telescope, requiring a reliable method to evaluate the detector angular resolution and pointing accuracy. This work describes the study of the Sun ¿shadow¿ effect with the ANTARES detector. The shadow is the deficit in the atmospheric muon flux in the direction of the Sun caused by the absorption of the primary cosmic rays. This analysis is based on the data collected between 2008 and 2017 by the ANTARES telescope. The observed statistical significance of the Sun shadow detection is 3.7¿, with an estimated angular resolution of 0.59° +- 0.10°for downward-going muons. The pointing accuracy is found to be consistent with the expectations and no evidence of systematic pointing shifts is observed.The authors acknowledge the financial support of the funding agencies: Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Commissariat `a l'' energie atomique et aux energies alternatives, Commission Europeenne (FEDER fund and Marie Curie Program), Institut Universitaire de France, LabEx UnivEarthS (ANR-10-LABX-0023 and ANR-18-IDEX-0001), R ' egion Ile-de-France (DIM-ACAV), Region Alsace (contract CPER), Region Provence-Alpes-Cote d'Azur, Departement du Var and Ville de La Seyne-sur-Mer, France; Bundesministerium fur Bildung und Forschung, Germany; Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Italy; Nederlandse organisatie voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek, the Netherlands; Council of the President of the Russian Federation for Young Scientists and Leading Scientific Schools supporting grants, Russia; Executive Unit for Financing Higher Education, Research, Development and Innovation (UEFISCDI), Romania; Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovacion, Investigacion y Universidades (MCIU): Programa Estatal de Generacion de Conocimiento (refs. PGC2018-096663-B-C41, -A-C42, -B-C43, -B-C44) (MCIU/FEDER), Severo Ochoa Centre of Excellence and MultiDark Consolider (MCIU), Junta de Andalucia (refs. SOMM17/6104/UGR and A-FQM-053-UGR18), Generalitat Valenciana: Grisolia (ref. GRISOLIA/2018/119), Spain; Ministry of Higher Education, Scientific Research and Professional Training, Morocco. We also acknowledge the technical support of Ifremer, AIM and Foselev Marine for the sea operation and the CC-IN2P3 for the computing facilities.Albert, A.; Andre, M.; Anghinolfi, M.; Anton, G.; Ardid Ramírez, M.; Aubert, J.; Aublin, J.... (2020). Observation of the cosmic ray shadow of the Sun with the ANTARES neutrino telescope. Physical Review D: covering particles, fields, gravitation, and cosmology. 102(12):1-7. https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.102.122007S1710212Ageron, M., Aguilar, J. A., Al Samarai, I., Albert, A., Ameli, F., André, M., … Ardid, M. (2011). ANTARES: The first undersea neutrino telescope. 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Observation of a shadow of the Moon in the underground muon flux in the Soudan 2 detector. Physical Review D, 61(9). doi:10.1103/physrevd.61.092002Bartoli, B., Bernardini, P., Bi, X. J., Bleve, C., Bolognino, I., Branchini, P., … Cao, Z. (2012). Measurement of the cosmic ray antiproton/proton flux ratio at TeV energies with the ARGO-YBJ detector. Physical Review D, 85(2). doi:10.1103/physrevd.85.022002Abeysekara, A. U., Albert, A., Alfaro, R., Alvarez, C., Álvarez, J. D., Arceo, R., … Belmont-Moreno, E. (2018). Constraining the p¯/p ratio in TeV cosmic rays with observations of the Moon shadow by HAWC. Physical Review D, 97(10). doi:10.1103/physrevd.97.102005Adamson, P., Andreopoulos, C., Ayres, D. S., Backhouse, C., Barr, G., Barrett, W. L., … Bock, G. J. (2011). Observation in the MINOS far detector of the shadowing of cosmic rays by the sun and moon. Astroparticle Physics, 34(6), 457-466. doi:10.1016/j.astropartphys.2010.10.010Aartsen, M. G., Ackermann, M., Adams, J., Aguilar, J. A., Ahlers, M., Ahrens, M., … Ansseau, I. (2019). Detection of the Temporal Variation of the Sun’s Cosmic Ray Shadow with the IceCube Detector. The Astrophysical Journal, 872(2), 133. doi:10.3847/1538-4357/aaffd1Albert, A., André, M., Anghinolfi, M., Anton, G., Ardid, M., Aubert, J.-J., … Barrios-Martít, J. (2018). The cosmic ray shadow of the Moon observed with the ANTARES neutrino telescope. The European Physical Journal C, 78(12). doi:10.1140/epjc/s10052-018-6451-3First search for neutrinos in correlation with gamma-ray bursts with the ANTARES neutrino telescope. (2013). Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics, 2013(03), 006-006. doi:10.1088/1475-7516/2013/03/006Aguilar, J. A., Al Samarai, I., Albert, A., André, M., Anghinolfi, M., Anton, G., … Astraatmadja, T. (2011). A fast algorithm for muon track reconstruction and its application to the ANTARES neutrino telescope. Astroparticle Physics, 34(9), 652-662. doi:10.1016/j.astropartphys.2011.01.003BECHERINI, Y., MARGIOTTA, A., SIOLI, M., & SPURIO, M. (2006). A parameterisation of single and multiple muons in the deep water or ice. Astroparticle Physics, 25(1), 1-13. doi:10.1016/j.astropartphys.2005.10.005Carminati, G., Bazzotti, M., Margiotta, A., & Spurio, M. (2008). Atmospheric MUons from PArametric formulas: a fast GEnerator for neutrino telescopes (MUPAGE). Computer Physics Communications, 179(12), 915-923. doi:10.1016/j.cpc.2008.07.014Yepes-Ramírez, H. (2013). Characterization of optical properties of the site of the ANTARES neutrino telescope. Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section A: Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment, 725, 203-206. doi:10.1016/j.nima.2012.11.143Fusco, L. A., & Margiotta, A. (2016). The Run-by-Run Monte Carlo simulation for the ANTARES experiment. EPJ Web of Conferences, 116, 02002. doi:10.1051/epjconf/201611602002Albert, A., André, M., Anghinolfi, M., Anton, G., Ardid, M., Aubert, J.-J., … Basa, S. (2017). First all-flavor neutrino pointlike source search with the ANTARES neutrino telescope. Physical Review D, 96(8). doi:10.1103/physrevd.96.082001Albert, A., André, M., Anghinolfi, M., Anton, G., Ardid, M., Aubert, J.-J., … Belhorma, B. (2020). ANTARES and IceCube Combined Search for Neutrino Point-like and Extended Sources in the Southern Sky. The Astrophysical Journal, 892(2), 92. doi:10.3847/1538-4357/ab7afbAdrián-Martínez, S., Albert, A., André, M., Anghinolfi, M., Anton, G., Ardid, M., … Basa, S. (2014). SEARCHES FOR POINT-LIKE AND EXTENDED NEUTRINO SOURCES CLOSE TO THE GALACTIC CENTER USING THE ANTARES NEUTRINO TELESCOPE. The Astrophysical Journal, 786(1), L5. doi:10.1088/2041-8205/786/1/l

Measuring the atmospheric neutrino oscillation parameters and constraining the 3+1 neutrino model with ten years of ANTARES data

The ANTARES neutrino telescope has an energy threshold of a few tens of GeV. This allows to study the phenomenon of atmospheric muon neutrino disappearance due to neutrino oscillations. In a similar way, constraints on the 3+1 neutrino model, which foresees the existence of one sterile neutrino, can be inferred. Using data collected by the ANTARES neutrino telescope from 2007 to 2016, a new measurement of m2 32 and 23 has been performed | which is consistent with world best- t values | and constraints on the 3+1 neutrino model have been derived.Centre National de la Recherche Scienti que (CNRS)Commissariat a l' energie atomique et aux energies alternatives (CEA)Commission Européenne (FEDER fund and Marie Curie Program)Institut Universitaire de France (IUF)IdEx program and UnivEarthS Labex program at Sorbonne Paris Cité (ANR-10-LABX-0023 and ANR-11-IDEX-0005-02)Labex OCEVU (ANR-11-LABX-0060) and the A*MIDEX project (ANR-11-IDEX-0001-02)Région ÎIle-de- France (DIM-ACAV)Région Alsace (contrat CPER)Région Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, Département du Var and Ville de La Seyne-sur-MerBundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung (BMBF)Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare (INFN)Nederlandse organisatie voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek (NWO)Council of the President of the Russian Federation for young scientists and leading scientific schools supporting grantsExecutive Unit for Financing Higher Education, Research, Development and Innovation (UEFISCDIÇ)Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad (MINECO): Plan Estatal de Investigación (refs. FPA2015-65150-C3-1-P, -2-P and -3-P, (MINECO/FEDER))Severo Ochoa Centre of Excellence and Red Consolider MultiDark (MINECO), and Prometeo and Grisolía programs (Generalitat Valenciana)Ministry of Higher Education, Scienti c Research and Professional Trainin