To verify and validate networks, it is essential to gain insight into their decisions, limitations as well as possible shortcomings of training data. In this work, we propose a post-hoc, optimization ...based visual explanation method, which highlights the evidence in the input image for a specific prediction. Our approach is based on a novel technique to defend against adversarial evidence (i.e. faulty evidence due to artefacts) by filtering gradients during optimization. The defense does not depend on human-tuned parameters. It enables explanations which are both fine-grained and preserve the characteristics of images, such as edges and colors. The explanations are interpretable, suited for visualizing detailed evidence and can be tested as they are valid model inputs. We qualitatively and quantitatively evaluate our approach on a multitude of models and datasets.
To verify and validate networks, it is essential to gain insight into their decisions, limitations as well as possible shortcomings of training data. In this work, we propose a post-hoc, optimization ...based visual explanation method, which highlights the evidence in the input image for a specific prediction. Our approach is based on a novel technique to defend against adversarial evidence (i.e. faulty evidence due to artefacts) by filtering gradients during optimization. The defense does not depend on human-tuned parameters. It enables explanations which are both fine-grained and preserve the characteristics of images, such as edges and colors. The explanations are interpretable, suited for visualizing detailed evidence and can be tested as they are valid model inputs. We qualitatively and quantitatively evaluate our approach on a multitude of models and datasets.
Business Process Management Barros, Alistair; Gal, Avigdor; Kindler, Ekkart
2012, 2012-08-27, Letnik:
7481
eBook
This book constitutes the proceedings of the 10th International Conference on Business Process Management, BPM 2012, held in Tallinn, Estonia, in September 2012. The 17 regular papers and 7 short ...papers included in this volume were carefully reviewed and selected from 126 submissions. The book also features two keynote lectures which were given at the conference. The papers are organized in topical sections named: process quality; conformance and compliance; BPM applications; process model analysis; BPM and the cloud; requirements and performance; process mining; and refactoring and optimization.
Large avalanches usually encounter different snow conditions along their
track. When they release as slab avalanches comprising cold snow, they can
subsequently develop into powder snow avalanches ...entraining snow as they move
down the mountain. Typically, this entrained snow will be cold (T‾<-1 ∘C) at high elevations near the surface, but warm
(T‾>-1 ∘C) at lower elevations or deeper in the snowpack. The intake
of warm snow is believed to be of major importance to increase the
temperature of the snow composition in the avalanche and eventually cause a
flow regime transition. Measurements of flow regime transitions are performed
at the Vallée de la Sionne avalanche test site in Switzerland using two
different radar systems. The data are then combined with snow temperatures
calculated with the snow cover model SNOWPACK. We define transitions as
complete when the deposit at runout is characterized only by warm
snow or as partial if there is a warm flow regime, but the farthest
deposit is characterized by cold snow. We introduce a transition index
Ft, based on the runout of cold and warm flow regimes, as a
measure to quantify the transition type. Finally, we parameterize the snow
cover temperature along the avalanche track by the altitude Hs,
which represents the point where the average temperature of the uppermost
0.5 m changes from cold to warm. We find that Ft is related to
the snow cover properties, i.e. approximately proportional to Hs.
Thus, the flow regime in the runout area and the type of transition can be
predicted by knowing the snow cover temperature distribution. We find that,
if Hs is more than 500 m above the valley floor for the path
geometry of Vallée de la Sionne, entrainment of warm surface snow leads to
a complete flow regime transition and the runout area is reached by only warm
flow regimes. Such knowledge is of great importance since the impact pressure
and the effectiveness of protection measures are greatly dependent on the
flow regime.
Whether physical activity (PA) is a risk factor for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is controversial because data on lifelong PA are rare. The main objective of this study is to provide insight ...into PA as a potential risk factor for ALS, reporting data on cumulative PA, leisure-time PA, and occupational PA. This study also aims to gather evidence on the role of PA as a prognostic factor in disease course.
Lifetime PA values collected by questionnaires addressing work and leisure time were quantified into metabolic equivalents (METs). A population-based case-control study embedded in the ALS Registry Swabia served to calculate the odds ratio (OR) of ALS by PA in different time intervals and prognosis.
In ALS cases (393 cases, 791 age- and sex-matched controls), we observed reduced total PA at interview and up to 5 years before interview compared to controls. Total PA was not associated with ALS risk 5 to 55 years before interview. Heavy occupational work intensity was associated with increased ALS risk (OR 1.97, 95% confidence interval 1.34, 2.89). Total PA levels were associated with survival in a nonlinear manner: inactive patients and highest activity levels (25 MET-h/wk) revealed the worst survival time of 15.4 and 19.3 months, respectively. Best median survival with 29.8 months was seen at 10.5 MET-h/wk after adjustment for other prognostic factors.
Lifetime combined PA decreased sharply several years before disease onset compared to controls. The risk of developing ALS was not associated with former total PA levels 5 to 55 years before interview in contrast to occupational PA, probably reflecting work-associated exposures. We found a strong nonlinear association of current and prediagnostic PA level and survival in ALS cases with the best survival with moderate PA. PA intensity may be a disease-modifying factor with an unfavorable outcome in sedentary and hyperactive behavior.
This study provides Class III evidence that PA was not associated with the development of ALS.
Objective To determine the overall and procedure-specific incidence of surgical site infections (SSI) caused by Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) as well as risk factors for such across all surgical ...disciplines in Europe. Methods This is a retrospective cohort of patients with surgical procedures performed at 14 European centres in 2016, with a nested case-control analysis. S. aureus SSI were identified by a semi-automated crossmatching bacteriological and electronic health record data. Within each surgical procedure, cases and controls were matched using optimal propensity score matching. Results A total of 764 of 178 902 patients had S. aureus SSI (0.4%), with 86.0% of these caused by methicillin susceptible and 14% by resistant pathogens. Mean S. aureus SSI incidence was similar for all surgical specialties, while varying by procedure. Conclusions This large procedure-independent study of S. aureus SSI proves a low overall infection rate of 0.4% in this cohort. It provides proof of principle for a semi-automated approach to utilize big data in epidemiological studies of healthcare-associated infections. Trials registration The study was registered at clinicaltrials.gov under NCT03353532 (11/2017). Keywords: Surgical site infection, Staphylococcus aureus, Hospital acquired infection
Cholangiocyte proliferation and ductular reaction contribute to the onset and progression of liver diseases. Little is known about the role of the transcription factor nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB) in ...this process. We investigated the activities of the RELB proto-oncogene NF-κB subunit in human cholangiocytes and in mouse models of liver disease characterized by a ductular reaction.
We obtained liver tissue samples from patients with primary sclerosing cholangitis, primary biliary cholangitis, hepatitis B or C virus infection, autoimmune hepatitis, alcoholic liver disease, or without these diseases (controls) from a tissue bank in Germany. Tissues were analyzed by immunohistochemistry for levels of RELB and lymphotoxin β (LTB). We studied mice with liver parenchymal cell (LPC)-specific disruption of the cylindromatosis (CYLD) lysine 63 deubiquitinase gene (Cyld), with or without disruption of Relb (CyldΔLPC mice and Cyld/RelbΔLPC mice) and compared them with C57BL/6 mice (controls). Mice were fed 5-diethoxycarbonyl-1,4-dihydrocollidine (DDC) or standard chow diets to induce biliary injury or were given injections of CCl4 to induce non-cholestatic liver fibrosis. Liver tissues were analyzed by histology, immunohistochemistry, immunoblots, in situ hybridization, and quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction. Cholangiocytes were isolated from normal human liver, incubated with LTB receptor agonist, and transfected with small interfering RNAs to knock down RELB.
In liver tissues from patients with primary sclerosing cholangitis, primary biliary cholangitis, chronic infection with hepatitis B or C virus, autoimmune hepatitis, or alcoholic liver disease, we detected increased nuclear translocation of RELB and increased levels of LTB in cholangiocytes that formed reactive bile ducts compared with control liver tissues. Human cholangiocytes, but not those with RELB knockdown, proliferated with exposure to LTB. The phenotype of CyldΔLPC mice, which included ductular reaction, oval cell activation, and biliary fibrosis, was completely lost from Cyld/RelbΔLPC mice. Compared with livers from control mice, livers from CyldΔLPC mice (but not Cyld/RelbΔLPC mice) had increased levels of mRNAs encoding cytokines (LTB; CD40; and tumor necrosis factor superfamily TNFSF members TNFSF11 RANKL, TNFSF13B BAFF, and TNFSF14 LIGHT) produced by reactive cholangiocytes. However, these strains of mice developed similar levels of liver fibrosis in response to CCl4 exposure. CyldΔLPC mice and Cyld/RelbΔLPC mice had improved liver function on the DDC diet compared with control mice fed the DDC diet.
Reactive bile ducts in patients with chronic liver diseases have increased levels of LTB and nuclear translocation of RELB. RELB is required for the ductular reaction and development of biliary fibrosis in CyldΔLPC mice. Deletion of RELB and CYLD from LPCs protects mice from DDC-induced cholestatic liver fibrosis.
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Endovascular infection is a highly critical complication of invasive Staphylococcus aureus disease. For colonization, staphylococci must first adhere to adhesive endovascular foci. Von Willebrand ...factor (vWF) is a large, multimeric glycoprotein mediating platelet adhesion at sites of endothelial damage. Earlier it was demonstrated that vWF binds to and promotes the surface adhesion of S. aureus, prompting this effort to identify the vWF adhesin. In Western ligand assays of S. aureus lysates, staphylococcal protein A (SPA) was recognized by purified vWF. Surface plasmon resonance demonstrated the binding of soluble vWF to immobilized recombinant protein A with a K(d) of 1.49 x 10(-8) mol/L. Using flow cytometry, the binding of fluorescein isothiocyanate-labeled vWF to S. aureus was found to be saturable and inhibitable by unlabeled vWF, antiprotein-A antibodies, or IgG. Isogenic Deltaspa::Tc(r) mutants were constructed by the insertion of a tetracycline resistance cassette into spa using allelic replacement, and it exhibited decreased binding of soluble vWF and decreased adhesion to vWF-adsorbed surfaces. The interaction was restored on complementation of the mutants with spa-containing plasmid pSPA7235. In conclusion, protein A confers interaction of S. aureus with soluble and immobilized vWF in a newly discovered function characterizing protein A as a novel member of the staphylococcal surface protein adhesin superfamily and suggesting its potential role in the pathogenesis of endovascular staphylococcal disease.
Plain and microstructured cp-titanium samples were studied as possible biofilm reactor substrates. The biofilms were grown by exposition of the titanium samples to bacteria in a flow cell. As ...bacteria the rod shaped gram negative Pseudomonas fluorescens and the spherical gram negative Paracoccus seriniphilus were chosen. Afterward, the samples were cleaned in subsequent steps: First, with a standard solvent based cleaning procedure with acetone, isopropanol, and ultrapure water and second by oxygen plasma sputtering. It will be demonstrated by means of x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, fluorescence microscopy, and confocal laser scanning microscopy that oxygen plasma cleaning is a necessary and reliant tool to fully clean and restore titanium surfaces contaminated with a biofilm. The microstructured surfaces act beneficial to biofilm growth, while still being fully restorable after biofilm contamination. Scanning electron microscopy images additionally show, that the plasma process does not affect the microstructures. The presented data show the importance of the cleaning procedure. Just using solvents does not remove the biofilm and all its components reliably while a cleaning process by oxygen plasma regenerates the surfaces.
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