Mitigating Sensor and Acquisition Method-Dependence of Fingerprint Presentation Attack Detection Systems by Exploiting Data from Multiple Devices

The problem of interoperability is still open in fingerprint presentation attack detection (PAD) systems. This involves costs for designers and manufacturers who intend to change sensors of personal recognition systems or design multi-sensor systems, because they need to obtain sensor-specific spoofs and retrain the system. The solutions proposed in the state of the art to mitigate the problem still require data from the target sensor and are therefore not exempt from the problem of obtaining new data. In this paper, we provide insights for the design of PAD systems thanks to an overview of an interoperability analysis on modern systems: hand-crafted, deep-learning-based, and hybrid. We investigated realistic use cases to determine the pros and cons of training with data from multiple sensors compared to training with single sensor data, and drafted the main guidelines to follow for deciding the most convenient PAD design technique depending on the intended use of the fingerprint identification/authentication system

Fingerprint recognition with embedded presentation attacks detection: are we ready?

The diffusion of fingerprint verification systems for security applications makes it urgent to investigate the embedding of software-based presentation attack detection algorithms (PAD) into such systems. Companies and institutions need to know whether such integration would make the system more “secure” and whether the technology available is ready, and, if so, at what operational working conditions. Despite significant improvements, especially by adopting deep learning approaches to fingerprint PAD, current research did not state much about their effectiveness when embedded in fingerprint verification systems. We believe that the lack of works is explained by the lack of instruments to investigate the problem, that is, modeling the cause-effect relationships when two non-zero error-free systems work together. Accordingly, this paper explores the fusion of PAD into verification systems by proposing a novel investigation instrument: a performance simulator based on the probabilistic modeling of the relationships among the Receiver Operating Characteristics (ROC) of the two individual systems when PAD and verification stages are implemented sequentially. As a matter of fact, this is the most straightforward, flexible, and widespread approach. We carry out simulations on the PAD algorithms’ ROCs submitted to the most recent editions of LivDet (2017-2019), the state-of-the-art NIST Bozorth3, and the top-level Veryfinger 12 matchers. Reported experiments explore significant scenarios to get the conditions under which fingerprint matching with embedded PAD can improve, rather than degrade, the overall personal verification performance

Pneumonic versus Nonpneumonic Exacerbations of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease.

Patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) often suffer acute exacerbations (AECOPD) and community-acquired pneumonia (CAP), named nonpneumonic and pneumonic exacerbations of COPD, respectively. Abnormal host defense mechanisms may play a role in the specificity of the systemic inflammatory response. Given the association of this aspect to some biomarkers at admission (e.g., C-reactive protein), it can be used to help to discriminate AECOPD and CAP, especially in cases with doubtful infiltrates and advanced lung impairment. Fever, sputum purulence, chills, and pleuritic pain are typical clinical features of CAP in a patient with COPD, whereas isolated dyspnea at admission has been reported to predict AECOPD. Although CAP may have a worse outcome in terms of mortality (in hospital and short term), length of hospitalization, and early readmission rates, this has only been confirmed in a few prospective studies. There is a lack of methodologically sound research confirming the impact of severe AECOPD and COPD + CAP. Here, we review studies reporting head-to-head comparisons between AECOPD and CAP + COPD in hospitalized patients. We focus on the epidemiology, risk factors, systemic inflammatory response, clinical and microbiological characteristics, outcomes, and treatment approaches. Finally, we briefly discuss some proposals on how we should orient research in the future

Internet de las cosas como bien social

Internet de las Cosas (IoT por su sigla en Inglés), se convirtió en los últimos años en un catalizador de aplicaciones y herramientas desarrolladas en distintos ámbitos de manera independiente como las redes de sensores, los sistemas ubicuos, la inteligencia ambiental o el manejo de grandes datos. En el concepto de IoT, se cristalizan entonces diferentes visiones relacionadas con la disponibilidad de información idealmente en todo tiempo y en todo lugar. Sin embargo, mientras el paradigma de IoT se va conformando, los desarrollos tecnológicos encuentran inconvenientes que no son sencillos de resolver y que en muchos casos llevan al planteo de soluciones propietarias, lo que en definitiva contraria el espíritu inicial de compartir la información. La información generada puede ser un elemento clave para mejorar la calidad de vida. En este trabajo se plantea entonces que IoT puede ser visto como una herramienta de desarrollo social que permita disminuir la brecha tecnológica entre los países desarrollados, en vías de desarrollo o no desarrollados.Sociedad Argentina de Informática e Investigación Operativ

Internet de las cosas como bien social

Internet de las Cosas (IoT por su sigla en Inglés), se convirtió en los últimos años en un catalizador de aplicaciones y herramientas desarrolladas en distintos ámbitos de manera independiente como las redes de sensores, los sistemas ubicuos, la inteligencia ambiental o el manejo de grandes datos. En el concepto de IoT, se cristalizan entonces diferentes visiones relacionadas con la disponibilidad de información idealmente en todo tiempo y en todo lugar. Sin embargo, mientras el paradigma de IoT se va conformando, los desarrollos tecnológicos encuentran inconvenientes que no son sencillos de resolver y que en muchos casos llevan al planteo de soluciones propietarias, lo que en definitiva contraria el espíritu inicial de compartir la información. La información generada puede ser un elemento clave para mejorar la calidad de vida. En este trabajo se plantea entonces que IoT puede ser visto como una herramienta de desarrollo social que permita disminuir la brecha tecnológica entre los países desarrollados, en vías de desarrollo o no desarrollados.Sociedad Argentina de Informática e Investigación Operativ

Internet de las cosas como bien social

Internet de las Cosas (IoT por su sigla en Inglés), se convirtió en los últimos años en un catalizador de aplicaciones y herramientas desarrolladas en distintos ámbitos de manera independiente como las redes de sensores, los sistemas ubicuos, la inteligencia ambiental o el manejo de grandes datos. En el concepto de IoT, se cristalizan entonces diferentes visiones relacionadas con la disponibilidad de información idealmente en todo tiempo y en todo lugar. Sin embargo, mientras el paradigma de IoT se va conformando, los desarrollos tecnológicos encuentran inconvenientes que no son sencillos de resolver y que en muchos casos llevan al planteo de soluciones propietarias, lo que en definitiva contraria el espíritu inicial de compartir la información. La información generada puede ser un elemento clave para mejorar la calidad de vida. En este trabajo se plantea entonces que IoT puede ser visto como una herramienta de desarrollo social que permita disminuir la brecha tecnológica entre los países desarrollados, en vías de desarrollo o no desarrollados.Sociedad Argentina de Informática e Investigación Operativ

A MCh test pre-post esophageal acidification in detecting GER-related asthma.

Abstract The direct effect of gastro-esophageal reflux (GER) on lung function is still debated. Objective. To investigate the role of esophageal acidification in affecting airway response to MCh in GER-related versus atopic asthmatics and to assess specificity and sensitivity of events. Subjects. A total of 56 never-smoking, mild asthmatics: 27 non-atopic asthmatics and acid GER (GER+ve) and 29 atopic asthmatics without any GER (GER-ve). Methods. Each subject performed an MCh challenge in baseline (MCh(b)), and 30 minutes after an acid drink (125 mL at pH = 2; MCh(ac)), one day apart. PD(20)FEV(1) MCh(b) and MCh(ac) were compared by estimating the area under the ROC curve (AU-ROC). Results. GER+ve and GER-ve subjects (well matched in baseline) had a different duration of esophageal acid contact (24-hour monitoring; pH-24h AU(4)), and PD(20)FEV(1) MCh(ac) (both p < 0.001). AU-ROC was 86.3% (76% to 97%, 95%CI). Sensitivity and specificity of changes were 82.8% (72.9% to 92.7%, 95%CI) and 85.2% (75.9% to 94.5%, 95%CI), respectively. The difference in MCh threshold that maximized both the sensitivity and specificity level was 100 mu g. Conclusions. The esophageal acidification identified GER-related asthma with a good level of both sensitivity and specificity by enhancing the MCh response only in the presence of acid GER. Data are supporting the effectiveness of this procedure for clinical purposes

Changes in total IgE plasma concentration measured at the third month during anti-IgE treatment predict future exacerbation rates in difficult-to-treat atopic asthma: a pilot study.

Abstract In severe, difficult-to-treat atopic asthma with sensitization to perennial allergens, monoclonal antibodies directed against immunoglobulin E (IgE) are recognized to be clinically effective. Omalizumab, a recombinant monoclonal antibody, selectively binds to the high-affinity C-epsilon 3 site of human IgE and inhibits the inflammatory cascade in response to antigenic stimuli. Currently, no indicator is available for predicting patients' responsiveness to long-term omalizumab treatment. This study aims to assess the relationship between early changes in plasma IgE concentration and major outcome variables over a 12-month course of omalizumab. METHODS: Twenty-three nonsmoking, severe asthmatics (14 females; mean age 47.3 years \ub1 12.0 SD; mean BMI 25.8 kg/m(2) \ub1 9.6 SD) sensitized to perennial allergens and unresponsive to high doses of common therapies were evaluated during a 12-month period of omalizumab treatment. Variables included total IgE plasma concentrations, Forced Expiratory Volume 1 second (FEV(1)) symptom complaints (Asthma Control Test (ACT) score), number of emergency visits, hospitalizations, and exacerbations. The Wilcoxon signed-rank test was used to compare changes observed after the 1-year omalizumab treatment versus baseline. Statistical modelization was used to determine possible relationships between changes in outcomes after 12 months and early changes in plasma IgE (after 3 months of treatment). RESULTS: The number of emergency visits, hospitalizations, and exacerbations decreased (p < .004, p < .001, and p < .001, respectively) over the 12-months. In contrast, FEV(1) and ACT score substantially increased (both p < .001); the ACT score reaching maximum after only 3 months. The S model showed the best fit and proved the strict relationship between the increase in IgE after 3 months and the exacerbation rate over the 1-year survey (threshold value of 65250 IU/ml, p < .001). The improvement in FEV(1) was independent of the increase in IgE. CONCLUSIONS: When confirmed on a larger population, early changes in IgE may be used as a predictor of future responders to omalizumab in terms of exacerbation rate, thus minimizing the economic burden of anti-IgE therapy

Cardiac tamponade occurred after endoscopic submucosal dissection : conservative management of the esophagopericardial fistula

Key Clinical Message We describe the case of an esophagopericardial fistula generated after endo- scopic submucosal dissection in a patient affected by a superficial esophageal squamous cell carcinoma immediately treated with percutaneous pericardial drainage and placement of a partially covered self-expanding metal stent that has been removed using the stent-in-stent technique after 35 days

RNA-seq dataset of subcutaneous adipose tissue: Transcriptional differences between obesity and healthy women

In this data article, we present the dataset from the RNA-Seq analysis of subcutaneous adipose tissue collected from 5 healthy normal weight women (NW, age 37 +/- 6.7 years, BMI 24.3 +/- 0.9 kg/m(2)) and 5 obese women (OBF, age 41 +/- 12.5 years, BMI 38.2 +/- 4.6 kg/m(2)). Raw data obtained from Illumina NextSeq 500 sequencer were processed through BlueBee (R) Genomics Platform while differential expression analysis was performed with the DESeq2 R package and deposited in the GEO public repository with GSE166047 as accession number. Specifically, 20 samples divided between NW (control), OBF (obese women), OBM (obese male) and OBT2D (obese women with diabetes) are deposited in the GSE166047. We hereby describe only 10 samples (5 healthy normal weight women reported as NW and 5 obese women reported as OBF) because we refer to the data published in the article "Transcriptional characterization of Subcutaneous Adipose Tissue in obesity affected women highlights metabolic dysfunction and implications for lncRNAs" (DOI: 10.1016/j.ygeno.2021.09.014). Pathways analyses were performed on g:Profiler, Enrichr, ClueGO and GSEA to gain biological insights on gene expression. Raw data reported in GEO database along with detailed methods description reported in this data article could be reused for comparisons with other datasets on the topic to obtain transcriptional differences in a wider co-hort. Moreover, detailed pathways analysis along with cross-referenced data with other datasets will allow to identify novel dysregulated pathways and genes responsible for this regulation. The biological interpretation of this dataset, along with related in vitro experiments, is reported by Rey et al., in Genomics (DOI: 10.1016/j.ygeno.2021.09.014). (C) 2021 Published by Elsevier Inc