Credal Model Averaging: dealing robustly with model uncertainty on small data sets.

Datasets of population dynamics are typically characterized by a short temporal extension. In this condition, several alternative models typically achieve close accuracy, though returning quite different predictions (model uncertainty ). Bayesian model averaging (BMA) addresses this issue by averaging the prediction of the different models, using as weights the posterior probability of the models. However, an open problem of BMA is the choice of the prior probability of the models, which can largely impact on the inferences, especially when data are scarce. We present Credal Model Averaging (CMA), which addresses this problem by simultaneously considering a set of prior probability distributions over the models. This allows to represent very weak prior knowledge about the appropriateness of the different models and also to easily accommodate expert judgments, considering that in many cases the expert is not willing to commit himself to a single prior probability distribution. The predictions generated by CMA are intervals whose lengths shows the sensitivity of the predictions on the choice of the prior over the models

Federated Learning in Computer Vision

Federated Learning (FL) has recently emerged as a novel machine learning paradigm allowing to preserve privacy and to account for the distributed nature of the learning process in many real-world settings. Computer vision tasks deal with huge datasets often with critical privacy issues, therefore many federated learning approaches have been presented to exploit its distributed and privacy-preserving nature. Firstly, this paper introduces the different FL settings used in computer vision and the main challenges that need to be tackled. Then, it provides a comprehensive overview of the different strategies used for FL in vision applications and presents several different approaches for image classification, object detection, semantic segmentation and for focused settings in face recognition and medical imaging. For the various approaches the considered FL setting, the employed data and methodologies and the achieved results are thoroughly discussed

Reducing Stigma toward the Transgender Community: An Evaluation of a Humanizing and Perspective-Taking Intervention

Transgender (TG) individuals, or those whose gender identities, expressions and/or behaviors differ from their biological sex (Kirk & Kulkarni, 2006) feel there is a pervasive pattern of discrimination and prejudice directed toward them (Lombardi et al., 2001). In comparison to their heterosexual peers, LGBT youth and emerging adults are at increased risk for a host of adverse outcomes including: suicide, depression, harassment, and victimization (IOM, 2011). Stigma has been characterized as encompassing several components: labeling, making an association between the label and a negative stereotype, separating those who are different as an “out-group” and discriminating. In a recent analysis of the transgender experience, Hill (2002) described three key constructs that can be used to understand negative emotions and behaviors toward transgender individuals: transphobia – an emotional disgust toward gender non-conforming individuals; genderism – a belief that gender non-conforming individuals are pathological or disordered; gender bashing – assault or harassment of gender non-conforming individuals. Recent work on minority stress posits a distal-proximal model of stress in which a person identifies with and makes proximal, distal social attitudes that can have negative effects on their psychological well-being (Meyer, 2003). Thus, stigmatized attitudes and behaviors not only have the potential to contribute to violence or discriminatory behavior but also have a direct impact on the psychological health of the target individual. Thus, the question of how to change negative attitudes and behaviors toward TG individuals is paramount. Researchers have sought to develop interventions aimed at reducing stigma with three basic strategies identified: protest, education and contact (Corrigan & Penn, 1999). However, to date only two such strategies have garnered empirical support: contact and education. In relation to mental illness, education strategies have received limited support (Holmes et al., 1999; see Luty et al., 2007 for an exception). In contrast, contact-based interventions yield the most dramatic changes in attitudes and behaviors; contact involving media depictions have also been demonstrated to yield positive attitude change. Comparing traditional diagnosis-centered teaching about mental illness to a humanizing approach that required students to write a first-person narrative about suffering from a mental illness, Mann and Himelein (2008) found that attitudes changed only when students were required to adopt the perspective of a mentally ill individual. In their recent meta-analysis, Pettigrew and Tropp (2006) demonstrated that contact reduces prejudice and is particularly effective when it occurs under favorable conditions (e.g., conditions of equality, cooperation, and institutional support). While a wealth of research has supported the contact hypothesis related to changing negative attitudes toward ethnic minorities, the mentally ill, the homeless, gays/lesbians and other stigmatized groups, there have been a limited number of studies evaluating associations between contact and attitudes toward the TG community (Harvey, 2002; Hill & Willoughby, 2005) and no controlled studies to evaluate the efficacy of such methods. The current study extends work evaluating anti-stigma interventions to the TG community and seeks to evaluate whether attitude change will differ between participants receiving basic education about the transgender community and those who are educated about TG through media depictions of TG families and are asked to engage in a perspective-taking task. We hypothesize that participants in the humanizing condition who view a documentary and write a first-person narrative of transgender experiences will show a more significant change in transphobia, genderist attitudes and desire for social distance across time relative to participants in the education-only condition signaling less stigmatized and prejudicial attitudes at post-test. Hodson (2011) recently examined the existing contact literature and found that, consistent with Pettigrew’s (1998) focus on individual differences, intergroup contact was effective (and perhaps even more effective) among individuals who were intolerant and cognitively rigid. Religious fundamentalism has been associated with anti-homosexual sentiment (Fulton et al., 1999). Whether religiosity is similarly associated with negative attitudes toward TG individuals will be explored. Whether religiosity and prior contact with the LGBTQ community will moderate intervention outcomes will also be explored

Harmonizing Software Standards with a Semantic Model

The application of standards in the software development process supports interoperability between systems. Maintenance of standards must be guaranteed on the organisational and technical level. The use of semantic technologies can contribute to the standard maintenance process by providing a harmonizing bridge between standards of different knowledge domains and languages and by providing a single point of administration for standard domain concepts. This paper describes a case study of the creation of a semantic layer between software standards for water management systems in The Netherland

Asynchrony between the rates of standing height gain and bone mass accumulation during puberty

During puberty, the marked increases in both standing height and bone mass appear to be dissociated in time, the former occurring earlier than the latter. However, the age or pubertal stage at which this dissociation is maximal in girls as opposed to boys, and whether this dissociation is similar at all parts of the skeleton, are not clearly established. Standing height and bone mineral mass, as assessed by measuring areal bone mineral density (BMD), at the levels of the lumbar spine, femoral neck and midfemoral shaft, were measured in 98 females and 100 males between the ages of 9 and 19 years twice at a 1-year interval. In males, the greatest difference between height and BMD gains occurred in the 13-14 year age group and was more pronounced for the lumbar spine and femoral neck than for the midfemoral shaft. In females, the greatest difference was detectable at a younger age (11-12 year age group) and appeared to be of a lower magnitude than in males. In both genders, the maximal difference occurred during the period of peak height velocity, which corresponded to the pubertal stages P2-P3. Such a dissociation between the rates of statural growth and mineral mass accrual could define a state of relatively low bone mass and contribute to the higher incidence of fracture known to occur at the age and/or pubertal stage when this dissociation is maxima

Renal Stone Formation in Patients with Inflammatory Bowel Disease

Kidney stones are more common in patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) than in the general population. The main lithogenetic risk factors were evaluated in patients affected by Crohn\u27s disease and ulcerative colitis. Our results show the presence of several factors, besides hyperoxaluria, in patients with IBD although their behaviour appears different in Crohn\u27s disease and ulcerative colitis at pre- and post-operative stages. Before surgery in patients with Crohn\u27s disease we found a decreased citrate (p \u3c 0.001) and magnesium (p \u3c 0.005) excretion together with a low urinary volume (p \u3c 0.001) and pH (p \u3c 0.005). After surgery patients with Crohn\u27s disease showed a further reduction of magnesium and citrate. Patients with ulcerative colitis before surgery showed a reduced citrate excretion (p \u3c 0.05) and a more acidic pH (p \u3c 0.05) than healthy subjects. Surgical treatment of proctocolectomy with ileal pouch-anal anastomosis seems to increase the risk of stone formation; in fact, after surgery we observed a relevant decrease of urinary volume (p \u3c 0.001), pH (p \u3c 0.0001) and urinary excretion of citrate (p \u3c0.0001) as well as magnesium (p \u3c 0.005). Patients with IBD seem to be at greater risk of stone formation than patients with idiopathic calcium lithiasis; in fact, they show a lower excretion of citrate (p \u3c 0.001) and magnesium (p \u3c 0.001) together with a low urinary pH (p \u3c 0.001) and volume (p \u3c 0.001). Urinary volume reduction is probably one of the major risk factors together with the decrease of small molecular weight inhibitors that is a constant finding in all patients with IBD

Robust Online Magnet Demagnetization Diagnosis in Asymmetrical Six-Phase AC Permanent Magnet Motor Drives

Rotor magnets are critical components, which in case of fault, directly affect the performance of drives based on permanent magnet synchronous motors. Thus, monitoring the rotor magnets status is essential to ensure both high level of efficiency and service continuity. The present study focuses on the investigation of a new full-time domain-based method for the diagnosis of incipient rotor magnet demagnetization in a vector-controlled asymmetrical six-phase surface-mounted ac permanent magnet synchronous motor. The proposed strategy evaluates the rotor magnet demagnetization using a fault index derived from the control signals synthetized in the 5th subspace, and already available in the control system platform. The main advantages of the proposed new strategy are its simplicity of implementation, and effectiveness even under time-varying operating conditions as the employed control signals in specific subspaces have a dc behavior. Extensive numerical simulations and experimental tests, carried out at different speed and load levels, have shown the validity of the proposed method, leading to an effective diagnostic procedure for a vector-controlled asymmetrical six-phase surface-mounted ac PMSM

Airborne pollen: a potential warning alert for tickborne encephalitis risk

The circulation of tick-borne encephalitis virus (TBEv) depends on population dynamics of host tick and rodents, which in turn depend on nutrient resources. Tree seeds are the main food for rodents, and their fluctuating production is strongly correlated to pollen abundance. Our study aims to fill the gap and investigate whether airborne pollen is directly associated to recorded TBEv human cases in the Alpine biogeographical region. Materials and Methods We focused our study within the province of Trento (northern Italy, 6,000km2, 500,000 inhabitants). The territory is included in the Alpine biogeographical region (EEA Report No 1/2002) and the main forest tree species growing within a 5-km radius from the pollen sampler are represented by hop-hornbeam (Ostrya carpinifolia Scop.), beech (Fagus sylvatica L.), spruce (Picea abies L.), pine (Pinus sylvestris L. and P. nigra J. F. Arnold), downy oak (Quercus pubescens Willd.), manna ash (Fraxinus ornus L.), and hazel (Corylus avellana L.). Airborne pollen concentration has been monitored since 1989 at Fondazione Edmund Mach, in San Michele all’Adige (Latitude 46.19 N, Longitude 11.13 E, 220 m a.s.l.), while TBEv human cases have been recorded since 1992 by the local Public Health Agency. Airborne pollen was sampled by a Hirst-type trap, processed, and analyzed following conventional techniques and standardized protocols (UNI EN 16868:2019). First, we statistically investigated the association between the annual total pollen concentration of the dominant arboreal plant taxa and the annual number of TBEv human cases (1989-2020) with different time lags by univariate linear models. Consequently, we built a full model by considering all significant covariates, we computed all possible sub-models and finally we selected the best (the one with the lowest Akaike’s Information Criterion score). Results and Discussion We found a significant positive association between pollen abundances for beech (p=0.04), oak p=0.012), hop hornbeam (p=0.013) and TBEv human cases with a two-year lag (Figure 1). All other lags and taxa resulted in non-significant relationships. Subsequently, we identified the best model, which considered only hop-hornbeam and oak pollen quantities, both with positive coefficients, consistently with the univariate analysis. Conclusions To the best of our knowledge, this is the first attempt at quantifying the potential relationship between airborne pollen abundances of tree species and TBEv infections, based on a three-decade time series of data. If validated at a larger spatial scale, pollen data might therefore be used to realize an early warning system for the risk of TBEv transmission, two years in advance. Moreover, as pollen monitoring is routinely performed worldwide at multiple sites and provides quantitative measures, the association between pollen abundances and TBEv infections could be replicated in different biogeographical regions