PRIMA: general and precise neural network certification via scalable convex hull approximations

Formal verification of neural networks is critical for their safe adoption in real-world applications. However, designing a precise and scalable verifier which can handle different activation functions, realistic network architectures and relevant specifications remains an open and difficult challenge. In this paper, we take a major step forward in addressing this challenge and present a new verification framework, called PRIMA. PRIMA is both (i) general: it handles any non-linear activation function, and (ii) precise: it computes precise convex abstractions involving multiple neurons via novel convex hull approximation algorithms that leverage concepts from computational geometry. The algorithms have polynomial complexity, yield fewer constraints, and minimize precision loss. We evaluate the effectiveness of PRIMA on a variety of challenging tasks from prior work. Our results show that PRIMA is significantly more precise than the state-of-the-art, verifying robustness to input perturbations for up to 20%, 30%, and 34% more images than existing work on ReLU-, Sigmoid-, and Tanh-based networks, respectively. Further, PRIMA enables, for the first time, the precise verification of a realistic neural network for autonomous driving within a few minutes.

Challenges and Dilemmas in the Education of Children With Special Needs in Romania

Educating children with special needs is a difficult challenge for both families and society. The newest trends in education for these children in Romania are represented by their inclusion in inclusive classes or inclusive schools. It is a beginning of the road both from a legislative point of view and from the point of view of analyzing the efficiency of the system. The issue of the resources dedicated to special education is concerned, this aspect being related both to the level of material resources and to the human resources, their availability, and the level of their training. The analysis of the progresses and the challenges that the Romanian-integrated education is encountering is an important step in identifying possible solutions for increasing the quality of special education in Romania.

Design and Development of an Automated Dual-Mode Microscopic System Using Electrically Tunable Lenses

Maintaining telecentricity and zooming in microscopic systems with prolonged depths of focus is a difficult challenge because these properties degrade while moving to different axial planes in the extended focal depth. In this paper, we propose the proof of concept for an automated dual-mode microscopic system that combines two electrically tunable lenses (ETLs) with a variable numerical aperture controller placed. It acts as a viable solution to allow both multiplane microscopic zooming and telecentricity with consistent image resolution throughout the objective's extended focal depth. The image plane remains fixed for both the modes of operation, namely telecentricity and multiplane zooming. To validate the performance of the proposed idea, both simulations and experiments are carried out at various ETL curvature ranges. Over the whole zoom distance range, the experimental zoom ratio is determined to range from −2.723X to −34.42X. The experimental and simulation findings are compared and found to be quite similar, with magnification error percentages of 2.26% for zoom mode and 1.27% for telecentric mode. The comprehensive explanation of simulation and experimental results demonstrate the feasibility of the proposed method for both multiplane zoom and telecentric operations on a single platform in microscopic applications.

Comparison of Bone Morphogenic Proteins’ and Platelet Rich Fibrins’ Effectiveness in Socket Preservation

The dentist faces a difficult challenge in preserving the quantity and quality of gum and bone tissues. Furthermore, the processes adopted should meet these objectives while posing no substantial future issues. In current dental and maxillofacial surgery, a variety of materials as Morphogenic Protein of Bone (BMP) and Platelet Rich Fibrins (PRF) are employed to repair and reconstruct bone tissue. The purpose of this review was to compare the efficiency of both BMP’s and PRF’s in Socket preservation. Reviewing the literature was conducted by using the following search strategies: Bone Morphogenic Proteins, Platelet Rich Fibrins, socket preservation approach, comparison of BMPs and PRFs, Bone Morphogenic Proteins and effectiveness in socket preservation and Platelet Rich Fibrins’ effectiveness in socket preservation. In conclusion, BMPs have been studied more completely than PRFs, and they have higher impacts on hard tissue regeneration and repair, according to the research. The fact that PRFs increase soft tissue healing shows how promising they are. Especially when we consider that soft tissue healing is more important than socket care in implant dentistry.

Naturalistic Face Learning in Infants and Adults

Everyday face recognition presents a difficult challenge because faces vary naturally in appearance as a result of changes in lighting, expression, viewing angle, and hairstyle. We know little about how humans develop the ability to learn faces despite natural facial variability. In the current study, we provide the first examination of attentional mechanisms underlying adults’ and infants’ learning of naturally varying faces. Adults ( n = 48) and 6- to 12-month-old infants ( n = 48) viewed videos of models reading a storybook; the facial appearance of these models was either high or low in variability. Participants then viewed the learned face paired with a novel face. Infants showed adultlike prioritization of face over nonface regions; both age groups fixated the face region more in the high- than low-variability condition. Overall, however, infants showed less ability to resist contextual distractions during learning, which potentially contributed to their lack of discrimination between the learned and novel faces. Mechanisms underlying face learning across natural variability are discussed.

How to Produce an Alternative Carbon Source for Denitrification by Treating and Drastically Reducing Biological Sewage Sludge

Minimizing the biological sewage sludge (BSS) produced by wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) represents an increasingly difficult challenge. With this goal, tests on a semi-full scale Thermophilic Alternate Membrane Biological Reactor (ThAlMBR) were carried out for 12 months. ThAlMBR was applied both on thickened (TBSS) and digested biological sewage sludge (DBSS) with alternating aeration conditions, and emerged: (i) high COD removal yields (up to 90%), (ii) a low specific sludge production (0.02–0.05 kgVS produced/kgCODremoved), (iii) the possibility of recovery the aqueous carbon residue (permeate) in denitrification processes, replacing purchased external carbon sources. Based on the respirometric tests, an excellent biological treatability of the permeate by the mesophilic biomass was observed and the denitrification kinetics reached with the diluted permeate ((4.0 mgN-NO3−/(gVSS h)) were found comparable to those of methanol (4.4 mgN-NO3−/(gVSS h)). Moreover, thanks to the similar results obtained on TBSS and DBSS, ThAlMBR proved to be compatible with diverse sludge line points, ensuring in both cases an important sludge minimization.

SARS-CoV-2 variants impact RBD conformational dynamics and ACE2 accessibility

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), has killed over 5 million people and is causing a devastating social and economic impact all over the world. The rise of new variants of concern (VOCs) represents a difficult challenge due to the loss vaccine and natural immunity, and increased transmissibility. All circulating VOCs contain mutations in the spike glycoprotein, which mediates fusion between the viral and host cell membranes, via its receptor binding domain (RBD) that binds to angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2). In an attempt to understand the effect of RBD mutations in circulating VOCs, a lot of attention has been given to the RBD-ACE2 interaction. However, this type of analysis is limited, since it ignores more indirect effects, such as the conformational dynamics of the RBD itself. Observing that some VOCs mutations occur in residues that are not in direct contact with ACE2, we hypothesized that they could affect RBD conformational dynamics. To test this, we performed long atomistic (AA) molecular dynamics (MD) simulations to investigate the structural dynamics of wt RBD, and that of three circulating VOCs (alpha, beta, and delta). Our results show that in solution, wt RBD presents two distinct conformations: an open conformation where it is free to bind ACE2; and a closed conformation, where the RBM ridge blocks the binding surface. The alpha and beta variants significantly impact the open/closed equilibrium, shifting it towards the open conformation by roughly 20%. This shift likely increases ACE2 binding affinity. Simulations of the currently predominant delta variant RBD were extreme in this regard, in that a closed conformation was never observed. Instead, the system alternated between the before mentioned open conformation and an alternative reversed one, with a significantly changed orientation of the RBM ridge flanking the RBD. This alternate conformation could potentially provide a fitness advantage not only due to increased availability for ACE2 binding, but also by aiding antibody escape through epitope occlusion. These results support the hypothesis that VOCs, and particularly the delta variant, impact RBD conformational dynamics in a direction that simultaneously promotes efficient binding to ACE2 and antibody escape.

Live Human Detection Robot in Earthquake Conditions

This report outlines a human searching device that takes the form of a robotic car and serves as a backup mechanism for saving lives in the event of a disaster. The temperature sensor, in general, detects the thermal image of the human body, and there has been extensive research into human searching with the gas and humidity sensor. In the intelligent robot device’s study, achieving accurate and reliable human detection and tracking is a difficult challenge. The architecture of human detection and tracking mechanisms over non-overlapping field of views is examined in this paper. To compensate for their respective flaws, a search method is proposed. The proposed method’s rate and accuracy of human detection was tested in an experimental setting. We may guide the robot’s movement by commanding it to move left, right, forward, or backward. We plan to equip the robot with sensors that will enable us to track and detect humans behind the wall.

Graphomotor Skills of Students with Mild Intellectual Disability

The development of graphomotor skills in children in primary school age is a difficult and long process, and its disturbance leads to serious problems not only with the process of writing but also disrupts the purely academical learning. For students with mild intellectual disability, writing is a more difficult challenge due to cognitive and perceptual- -motor limitations.

ColocQuiaL: A QTL-GWAS colocalization pipeline

Summary: Identifying genomic features responsible for genome-wide association study (GWAS) signals has proven to be a difficult challenge; many researchers have turned to colocalization analysis of GWAS signals with expression quantitative trait loci (eQTL) and splicing quantitative trait loci (sQTL) to connect GWAS signals to candidate causal genes. The ColocQuiaL pipeline provides a framework to perform these colocalization analyses at scale across the genome and returns summary files and locus visualization plots to allow for detailed review of the results. As an example, we used ColocQuiaL to perform colocalization between the latest type 2 diabetes GWAS data and Genotype-Tissue Expression (GTEx) v8 single-tissue eQTL and sQTL data. Availability and Implementation: ColocQuiaL is primarily written in R and is freely available at github: https://github.com/bychen9/eQTL_colocalizer. Contact: [email protected] Availability and Implementation: ColocQuiaL is primarily written in R and is freely available at github: https://github.com/bychen9/eQTL_colocalizer. Contact: [email protected]