Unsupervised Active Visual Search With Monte Carlo Planning Under Uncertain Detections.

We propose a solution for Active Visual Search of objects in an environment, whose 2D floor map is the only known information. Our solution has three key features that make it more plausible and robust to detector failures compared to state-of-the-art methods: i) it is unsupervised as it does not need any training sessions. ii) During the exploration, a probability distribution on the 2D floor map is updated according to an intuitive mechanism, while an improved belief update increases the effectiveness of the agent's exploration.

Forensic value of soft tissue detachments from the hyoid bone in death due to strangulation asphyxia.

Background: There are no unequivocal histopathological findings for the diagnosis of fatal asphyxia due to neck compression. From the observation of a series of asphyxiation cases, we noted, during microscopic analysis, a high frequency of "detachment" of soft tissues from the hyoid bone. This specifically refers to the presence of an optical space between the surface of the hyoid bone and soft tissues.

Liquorice Toxicity: A Comprehensive Narrative Review.

Background: Renowned since ancient times for its medical properties, liquorice is nowadays mainly used for flavoring candies or soft drinks. Continuous intake of large amounts of liquorice is a widely known cause of pseudo-hyperaldosteronism leading to hypertension and hypokalemia. These manifestations are usually mild, although in some cases may generate life-threatening complications, i.

Adversarial Data Augmentation for HMM-Based Anomaly Detection.

In this work, we concentrate on the detection of anomalous behaviors in systems operating in the physical world and for which it is usually not possible to have a complete set of all possible anomalies in advance. We present a data augmentation and retraining approach based on adversarial learning for improving anomaly detection. In particular, we first define a method for generating adversarial examples for anomaly detectors based on Hidden Markov Models (HMMs).

Learning State-Variable Relationships in POMCP: A Framework for Mobile Robots.

We address the problem of learning relationships on state variables in Partially Observable Markov Decision Processes (POMDPs) to improve planning performance. Specifically, we focus on Partially Observable Monte Carlo Planning (POMCP) and represent the acquired knowledge with a Markov Random Field (MRF). We propose, in particular, a method for learning these relationships on a robot as POMCP is used to plan future actions.

Unusual Lichtenberg figures in a lightning strike's victim: Case report and literature review.

Lichtenberg figures are pathognomonic markings commonly described as transient pink-red fractal pattern marks on the skin of people struck by a lightning. Their nature and the underlying physiopathology are still largely unknown. Here we describe a Lichtenberg figure in a 45-year-old woman who died due to a lightning strike during a thunderstorm.

An innovative autonomous robotic system for on-site detection of heavy metal pollution plumes in surface water.

Smart monitoring has been studied and developed in recent years to create faster, cheaper, and more user-friendly on-site methods. The present study describes an innovative technology for investigative monitoring of heavy metal pollution (Cu and Pb) in surface water. It is composed of an autonomous surface vehicle capable of semiautonomous driving and equipped with a microfluidic device for detection of heavy metals.

Development of a Heavy Metal Sensing Boat for Automatic Analysis in Natural Waters Utilizing Anodic Stripping Voltammetry.

Determination of the levels of heavy metal ions would support assessment of sources and pathways of water pollution. However, traditional spatial assessment by manual sampling and off-site detection in the laboratory is expensive and time-consuming and requires trained personnel. Aiming to fill the gap between on-site automatic approaches and laboratory techniques, we developed an autonomous sensing boat for on-site heavy metal detection using square-wave anodic stripping voltammetry.

Efficient Coalition Structure Generation via Approximately Equivalent Induced Subgraph Games.

We show that any characteristic function game (CFG) G can be always turned into an approximately equivalent game represented using the induced subgraph game (ISG) representation. Such a transformation incurs obvious benefits in terms of tractability of computing solution concepts for G . Our transformation approach, namely, AE-ISG, is based on the solution of a norm approximation problem.

Vernal Keratoconjunctivitis: A Case of Anti-IgE Treatment with Short-Lasting Remission.

Vernal keratoconjunctivitis (VKC) is a persistent, severe allergic eye disease, mainly occurring in children, that can lead to severe ocular complications including visual loss. The underlying etiology and pathophysiology of VKC remain unclear. Common therapies include topical antihistamines and mast cell stabilizers that are effective in mild-to-moderate forms of VKC but are often ineffective in severe forms that require topical or systemic corticosteroids.

Allergooncology: an expanding research area.

The relationship between allergic diseases and cancer is a very controversial topic, widely discussed in the last decades. Many studies have demonstrated inverse association between allergy and cancer, but others have reached neutral conclusions or have indicated a positive role of allergy in the development of cancer. However, either inhibiting or favoring, many cells and molecules relevant in the allergic process play a role in tumorigenesis.

Nanoparticle-based immunotherapy: state of the art and future perspectives.

Introduction: For several years now, medicine has been benefiting from the contribution of nanoparticles (NPs) technology for both diagnosis and therapy. They can be used as adjuvants, being capable of immune-modulating activity, or as carriers for molecules to be transported to a specific target, eventually loaded with specific ligands favoring specific uptake.

Areas Covered: The review focuses on experimental use of NPs as adjuvants/carriers for allergen immunotherapy (AIT).

Multivariate sensor signals collected by aquatic drones involved in water monitoring: A complete dataset.

Sensor data generated by intelligent systems, such as autonomous robots, smart buildings and other systems based on artificial intelligence, represent valuable sources of knowledge in today's data-driven society, since they contain information about the situations these systems face during their operation. These data are usually multivariate time series since modern technologies enable the simultaneous acquisition of multiple signals during long periods of time. In this paper we present a dataset containing sensor traces of six data acquisition campaigns performed by autonomous aquatic drones involved in water monitoring.

Kounis Syndrome as First Manifestation of Allergic Sensitization.

Mast cells are abundant in the heart, among myocardial fibers, around coronary arteries, within arterial intima and intramural vessels, and in atherosclerotic plaques. Their mediators can be released during anaphylaxis and be responsible for acute coronary syndrome. This condition has been described as Kounis syndrome (KS).

Omalizumab in chronic spontaneous urticaria: steroid sparing effect.

Omalizumab has been recognized to be effective in the treatment of chronic spontaneous urticaria (CSU). The Italian Medicines Agency authorizes two omalizumab courses, only for patients with CSU unresponsive to antihistamines, and this schedule may limit omalizumab use. Unfortunately, in the majority of CSU, the schedule is unsatisfactory because symptoms usually recur shortly after discontinuation of treatment.

Sclerostin and Antisclerostin Antibody Serum Levels Predict the Presence of Axial Spondyloarthritis in Patients with Inflammatory Bowel Disease.

Objective: The early diagnosis of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD)-associated spondyloarthritis (SpA/IBD) in patients affected by IBD represents a major topic in clinical practice; in particular, to date there are no available serum biomarkers revealing the presence of joint inflammation in these patients. Sclerostin (SOST), an antagonist of the Wnt/β-catenin pathway, and antisclerostin-immunoglobulin G (anti-SOST-IgG) have been recently studied in patients with ankylosing spondylitis (AS) as a putative marker of disease activity.

Methods: SOST and anti-SOST-IgG serum levels were assayed in 125 patients with IBD, 85 with axial or peripheral SpA, and in control groups (patients with AS and rheumatoid arthritis, and healthy individuals).

Adalimumab efficacy in enteropathic spondyloarthritis: A 12-mo observational multidisciplinary study.

Aim: To report adalimumab (Ada) efficacy on articular-gastrointestinal disease and health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in patients with enteropathic spondyloarthritis (ES).

Methods: A cohort of 52 patients with ES was evaluated in the departments of gastroenterology and internal medicine. At baseline, all patients underwent assessment by an integrated gastro-rheumatologic evaluation of articular and gastrointestinal activity, as well patient reported outcomes (PROs) of the HRQoL questionnaires.

An Efficient Approach for Accelerating Bucket Elimination on GPUs.

Bucket elimination (BE) is a framework that encompasses several algorithms, including belief propagation (BP) and variable elimination for constraint optimization problems (COPs). BE has significant computational requirements that can be addressed by using graphics processing units (GPUs) to parallelize its fundamental operations, i.e.

Isolated traumatic aniridia after trabeculectomy in a pseudophakic eye.

This is a single case report of an elderly patient who had blunt trauma in an eye that had phacoemulsification and two trabeculectomies. She had good vision with a well-functioning bleb before the trauma. She presented during her routine follow-up visit for glaucoma with isolated aniridia and an intact globe.

Complicated hyphaema: think sickle.

Two cases of complicated hyphaema associated with sickle cell trait are presented. The pathophysiology, diagnosis and management of raised intraocular pressure in sickle cell trait are discussed.

Pars plana insertion of glaucoma drainage devices for refractory glaucoma.

Background: Glaucoma drainage devices are more commonly inserted into the anterior chamber because of the relative ease of this method of insertion. However, in certain cases, posterior placement of the tube may be necessary or may be more desirable. The outcome of a series of patients with glaucoma drainage devices inserted into the pars plana was examined.

[Right ventricular cavernous hemangioma: a rare cardiac primary neoplasia].

Primary neoplasia of the heart is rare and often diagnosed postmortem (with a prevalence < 0.2% at postmortem examinations) due to the lack of specific clinical symptoms and signs. Among benign cardiac tumors, cavernous hemangioma has a prevalence of 2.

Multirobot systems: a classification focused on coordination.

Multirobot systems (MRS) are, nowadays, an important research area within robotics and artificial intelligence and a growing number of systems have recently been presented in the literature. Since application domains and tasks that are faced by MRS are of increasing complexity, the ability of the robots to cooperate can be regarded as a fundamental feature. In this paper, we present a survey of the recent work in the area by specifically examining the forms of cooperation and coordination realized in the MRS.