It’s possible that I shall make an ass of myself. But in that case one can always get out of it with a little dialectic. I have, of course, so worded my proposition as to be right either way (K.Marx, Letter to F.Engels on the Indian Mutiny)
Monday, March 25, 2024
New technique helps AI tell when humans are lying
NORTH CAROLINA STATE UNIVERSITY
Researchers have developed a new training tool to help artificial intelligence (AI) programs better account for the fact that humans don’t always tell the truth when providing personal information. The new tool was developed for use in contexts when humans have an economic incentive to lie, such as applying for a mortgage or trying to lower their insurance premiums.
“AI programs are used in a wide variety of business contexts, such as helping to determine how large of a mortgage an individual can afford, or what an individual’s insurance premiums should be,” says Mehmet Caner, co-author of a paper on the work. “These AI programs generally use mathematical algorithms driven solely by statistics to do their forecasting. But the problem is that this approach creates incentives for people to lie, so that they can get a mortgage, lower their insurance premiums, and so on.
“We wanted to see if there was some way to adjust AI algorithms in order to account for these economic incentives to lie,” says Caner, who is the Thurman-Raytheon Distinguished Professor of Economics in North Carolina State University’s Poole College of Management.
To address this challenge, the researchers developed a new set of training parameters that can be used to inform how the AI teaches itself to make predictions. Specifically, the new training parameters focus on recognizing and accounting for a human user’s economic incentives. In other words, the AI trains itself to recognize circumstances in which a human user might lie to improve their outcomes.
In proof-of-concept simulations, the modified AI was better able to detect inaccurate information from users.
“This effectively reduces a user’s incentive to lie when submitting information,” Caner says. “However, small lies can still go undetected. We need to do some additional work to better understand where the threshold is between a ‘small lie’ and a ‘big lie.’”
The researchers are making the new AI training parameters publicly available, so that AI developers can experiment with them.
“This work shows we can improve AI programs to reduce economic incentives for humans to lie,” Caner says. “At some point, if we make the AI clever enough, we may be able to eliminate those incentives altogether.”
Should Humans Lie to Machines? The Incentive Compatibility of Lasso and GLM Structured Sparsity Estimator
NIH studies find severe symptoms of “Havana Syndrome,” but no evidence of MRI-detectable brain injury or biological abnormalities
Compared to healthy volunteers, affected U.S. government personnel did not exhibit differences that would explain symptoms
NIH/OFFICE OF THE DIRECTOR
Using advanced imaging techniques and in-depth clinical assessments, a research team at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) found no significant evidence of MRI-detectable brain injury, nor differences in most clinical measures compared to controls, among a group of federal employees who experienced anomalous health incidents (AHIs). These incidents, including hearing noise and experiencing head pressure followed by headache, dizziness, cognitive dysfunction and other symptoms, have been described in the news media as “Havana Syndrome” since U.S. government personnel stationed in Havana first reported the incidents. Scientists at the NIH Clinical Center conducted the research over the course of nearly five years and published their findings in two papers in JAMA today.
“Our goal was to conduct thorough, objective and reproducible evaluations to see if we could identify structural brain or biological differences in people who reported AHIs,” said Leighton Chan, M.D., chief, rehabilitation medicine, acting chief scientific officer, NIH Clinical Center, and lead author on one of the papers. “While we did not identify significant differences in participants with AHIs, it’s important to acknowledge that these symptoms are very real, cause significant disruption in the lives of those affected and can be quite prolonged, disabling and difficult to treat.”
Researchers designed multiple methods to evaluate more than 80 U.S. government employees and their adult family members, mostly stationed abroad, who had reported an AHI and compared them to matched healthy controls. The control groups included healthy volunteers who had similar work assignments but did not report AHIs. In this study, participants underwent a battery of clinical, auditory, balance, visual, neuropsychological and blood biomarkers testing. In addition, they received different types of MRI scans, aimed at investigating volume, structure and function of the brain.
In this study, researchers obtained multiple measurements and used several methods and models to analyze the data. This was done to ensure the findings were highly reproducible, meaning similar results were found regardless of how many times participants were evaluated or their data statistically analyzed. Scientists also used deep phenotyping, which is an analysis of observable traits or biochemical characteristics of an individual, to assess any correlations between clinically reported symptoms and neuroimaging findings.
“A lack of evidence for an MRI-detectable difference between individuals with AHIs and controls does not exclude that an adverse event impacting the brain occurred at the time of the AHI,” said Carlo Pierpaoli, M.D., Ph.D., senior investigator and chief of the Laboratory on Quantitative Medical Imaging at the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering, part of NIH, and lead author on the neuroimaging paper. “It is possible that individuals with an AHI may be experiencing the results of an event that led to their symptoms, but the injury did not produce the long-term neuroimaging changes that are typically observed after severe trauma or stroke. We hope these results will alleviate concerns about AHI being associated with severe neurodegenerative changes in the brain.”
Similarly, there were no significant differences between individuals reporting AHIs and matched controls with respect to most clinical, research and biomarker measures, except for certain self-reported measures. Compared to controls, participants with AHIs self-reported significantly increased symptoms of fatigue, post-traumatic stress and depression. Forty-one percent of participants in the AHI group, from nearly every geographic area, met the criteria for functional neurological disorders (FNDs, a group of common neurological movement disorders caused by an abnormality in how the brain functions) or had significant somatic symptoms. FNDs can be associated with depression and anxiety, and high stress. Most of the AHI group with FND met specific criteria to enable the diagnosis of persistent postural-perceptual dizziness, also known as PPPD. Symptoms of PPPD include dizziness, non-spinning vertigo and fluctuating unsteadiness provoked by environmental or social stimuli that cannot be explained by some other neurologic disorder.
“The post-traumatic stress and mood symptoms reported are not surprising given the ongoing concerns of many of the participants,” said Louis French, Psy.D., neuropsychologist and deputy director of the National Intrepid Center of Excellence at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center and a co-investigator on the study. “Often these individuals have had significant disruption to their lives and continue to have concerns about their health and their future. This level of stress can have significant negative impacts on the recovery process.”
The researchers note that if the symptoms were caused by some external phenomenon, they are without persistent or detectable patho-physiologic changes. Additionally, it is possible that the physiologic markers of an external phenomenon are no longer detectable or cannot be identified with the current methodologies and sample size.
Reference: Pierpaoli C, Nayak A, Hafiz R, et al. Neuroimaging Findings in United States Government Personnel and their Family Members Involved in Anomalous Health Incidents. JAMA. Published online March 18, 2024. doi: 10.1001/jama.2024.2424
Chan L, Hallett M, Zalewski C, et al. Clinical, Biomarker, and Research Tests Among United States Government Personnel and their Family Members Involved in Anomalous Health Incidents. JAMA. Published online March 10, 2024. doi: 10.1001/jama.2024.2413
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About the NIH Clinical Center: The NIH Clinical Center is the clinical research hospital for the National Institutes of Health. Through clinical research, clinician-investigators translate laboratory discoveries into better treatments, therapies and interventions to improve the nation's health. More information: https://clinicalcenter.nih.gov.
About the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (NIBIB): NIBIB’s mission is to improve health by leading the development and accelerating the application of biomedical technologies. The Institute is committed to integrating the physical and engineering sciences with the life sciences to advance basic research and medical care. NIBIB supports emerging technology research and development within its internal laboratories and through grants, collaborations, and training. More information is available at the NIBIB website: https://www.nibib.nih.gov.
About the National Institutes of Health (NIH): NIH, the nation's medical research agency, includes 27 Institutes and Centers and is a component of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. NIH is the primary federal agency conducting and supporting basic, clinical, and translational medical research, and is investigating the causes, treatments, and cures for both common and rare diseases. For more information about NIH and its programs, visit https://www.nih.gov
Neuroimaging Findings in United States Government Personnel and their Family Members Involved in Anomalous Health Incidents
ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE
18-Mar-2024
Clinical, biomarker, and research tests among US government personnel and their family members involved in anomalous health incidents
JAMA NETWORK
About The Study: In this exploratory study, there were no significant differences between individuals reporting anomalous health incidents and matched control participants with respect to most clinical, research, and biomarker measures, except for objective and self-reported measures of imbalance and symptoms of fatigue, posttraumatic stress, and depression. This study did not replicate the findings of previous studies, although differences in the populations included and the timing of assessments limit direct comparisons. Since 2015, U.S. government and related personnel have reported dizziness, pain, visual problems, and cognitive dysfunction after experiencing intrusive sounds and head pressure. The U.S. government has labeled these anomalous health incidents.
Authors: Leighton Chan, M.D., M.P.H., of the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland, is the corresponding author. To contact Dr. Chan, email Renate Myles (renate.myles@nih.gov) or Amanda Fine (amanda.fine@nih.gov).
Editor’s Note: Please see the article for additional information, including other authors, author contributions and affiliations, conflict of interest and financial disclosures, and funding and support.
Despite protection urban hawks still face an array of threats
RAPTOR RESEARCH FOUNDATION
IMAGE:
TAGGED JUVENILE FEMALE COOPER’S HAWK FROM OUR STUDY THAT DIED FROM A VEHICLE COLLISION ON INTERSTATE 25 IN BELEN, NEW MEXICO DURING HER INITIAL DISPERSAL FROM HER NATAL SITE. THIS WAS A PARTICULARLY RISKY TIME FOR JUVENILE COOPER’S HAWKS.
Life can be hard for a raptor. If you’re a teenager from the city, it’s even harder. That’s according to a new study published in the Journal of Raptor Research titled “Causes of Death of Female Cooper’s Hawks (Accipiter cooperii) from an Urban Setting in New Mexico, USA,” conducted by Brian A. Millsap and his colleagues at the US Fish and Wildlife Service. Over the course of 11 years, his research team affixed GPS transmitters to 158 female Cooper’s hawks in the Albuquerque area. Of those, 88 died and were found, allowing the researchers to investigate cause of death. The results were sobering — collisions with windows and other human-made objects accounted for a high percentage of deaths. Even more disturbing was the discovery that humans purposefully killed 8 tagged birds, some of which were bludgeoned to death. Although raptors are protected in the U.S with legislation such as the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, this is the third recent study verifying that human persecution is a recurring issue for these important top predators.
Most information on causes of death for raptors comes from opportunistic band recoveries, rehabilitation centers and wildlife health labs. These sources, while helpful, are biased because they only provide details on cause of death for raptors that are found and reported or delivered. An intentionally shot hawk is less likely to be brought to a center than a hawk that is accidently hit by a car. Transmitter-tagged birds, however, do provide an unbiased source of information because causeof death does not impact discoveryof death.
Using transmitters, Millsap and his colleagues assessed causes of death for two age classes of Cooper’s hawk: first-year birds, and after-first-year birds. They also assessed whether hawks were more vulnerable during certain times of year. Mortality rates were high for first-year hawks during their first four months of independence, likely because it takes time to hunt successfully, avoid anthropogenic threats, and stand up to same-species challengers. This was evidenced by the fact that during the study, survival rates for birds that made it through their first year went up by 55%.
During the pre-breeding season, disputes over territory or mates was the leading cause of death for both age classes. Of the anthropogenic causes of death, collisions ranked first — 52 hawks died either from collision with a fence, electrical distribution line, window, vehicle, electrocution, or entrapment in the ductwork of buildings. The second most prevalent cause of death was direct killing by humans. “The amount of human persecution that we observed was surprising,” says Millsap. “I, like many others, had been falsely thinking that the days of rampant hawk shooting the U.S were behind us, but we are learning that is not the case.”
Of note, manyrecovered hawks showed high levels of rodenticides, illustrating the importance of education surrounding use of these poisons in urban settings. Rodenticides don’t only affect targeted rodents; they bioaccumulate, moving up the food chain and concentrating at high levels in the bodies of top predators like Cooper’s hawks.
On a more optimistic note, Millsap says this study received ample support from locals. “Almost everyone we interact with, from homeowners, police, city employees, and birdwatchers, have been extremely interested in our work and anxious to learn more about the Cooper’s hawks that make their home in Albuquerque. The nearly universal access and support we have received has been crucial to the success of our study.”
Future work will include a similar tracking study for male Cooper’s hawks, to investigate potential differences in mortality factors between sexes.
Raptors are bioindicators, meaning they serve as proxies for habitat health. As top predators, they also play a key part in supporting healthy ecosystem functioning. Understanding factors that impact their survival is crucial to tracking population growth and proactively supporting raptor populations. The continuation of this study and the associated interest of the public will hopefully help ensure that healthy Cooper’s hawks build nests in backyards across Albuquerque for years to come.
Ready to release fledged juvenile female Cooper’s Hawk equipped with a 10 g backpack-mounted solar-powered transmitter.
Adult female Cooper’s Hawk on our Albuquerque study area launching off her perch to attack researchers conducting a brood count at her nest.
CREDIT
Brian Millsap
Paper
Brian A. Millsap, Kristin K. Madden, and Robert K. Murphy "Causes of Death of Female Cooper's Hawks from an Urban Setting in New Mexico, USA," Journal of Raptor Research 58(1), 1-14, (19 February 2024). https://doi.org/10.3356/JRR-23-00022
Notes to Editor:
1. The Journal of Raptor Research (JRR) is an international scientific journal dedicated entirely
to the dissemination of information about birds of prey. Established in 1967, JRR has published
peer-reviewed research on raptor ecology, behavior, life history, conservation, and techniques.
JRR is available quarterly to members in electronic and paper format.
2. The Raptor Research Foundation (RRF) is the world’s largest professional society for raptor
researchers and conservationists. Founded in 1966 as a non-profit organization, our primary
goal is the accumulation and dissemination of scientific information about raptors. The
Foundation organizes annual scientific conferences and provides competitive grants & awards
for student researchers & conservationists. The Foundation also provides support & networking
opportunities for students & early career raptor researchers.
An extensive international study led by researchers from Tel Aviv University found a decline in the abundance of marine fish species that move rapidly toward the poles to escape rising sea temperatures. The researchers explain that many animal species are currently moving toward cooler regions as a result of global warming, but the velocity of such range shifts varies greatly for different species. Examining thousands of populations from almost 150 fish species, the researchers show that contrary to the prevailing view, rapid range shifts coincide with widescale population declines. According to the study, on average, a poleward shift of 17km per year may result in a decline of 50% in the abundance of populations.
The international study was led by PhD student Shahar Chaikin and Prof. Jonathan Belmaker from the School of Zoology in the Wise Faculty of Life Sciences and the Steinhardt Museum of Natural History at Tel Aviv University. The paper was published in the leading scientific journal Nature Ecology & Evolution.
For the first time, the new study correlated two global databases: (1) a database that tracks fish population size over time, and (2) a database that compiles range shift velocities among marine fishes. Altogether, 2,572 fish populations belonging to 146 species were studied, mostly from the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans in the Northern Hemisphere.
Prof. Belmaker explains: "We know that climate change causes animal species to move – northward, southward, upwards, or downwards – according to their location relative to cooler regions. In the mountains they climb upwards, in the oceans they dive deeper, in the Southern Hemisphere they move south toward Antarctica, and in the Northern Hemisphere they move north toward the North Pole. In the present study we wanted to see what happens to species that move from one place to another: do they benefit by increased survivability, or are they in fact harmed by the shift – which was initially caused by greater vulnerability to climate change? We found that the faster fish shift toward the poles, the faster their abundance declines. Apparently, it is difficult for these populations to adapt to their new surroundings."
PhD student Chaikin: "We found that species shifting their geographical range more rapidly towards the poles, are in fact more likely to lose their abundance (e.g. European seabass). Additional findings show differences between populations that are closer to or further from the poles - within the geographical range of a particular species. While it might have been assumed that populations closer to the cooler polar margins of the species range would be less affected by climate change, we found that the opposite is true: fast poleward range shifts of populations from higher latitudes resulted in a more rapid decline in abundance compared to equatorial populations of the same species."
The researchers highlight that the new findings can and should guide environmental decisionmakers, by enabling a reevaluation of the conservation status of various species and populations. The study's results suggest that populations exhibiting rapid poleward range shifts require close monitoring and careful management. Thus, for example, pressures that threaten their survival can be mitigated through measures like fishing limits.
Prof. Belmaker: "The common belief is that rapid range shifts safeguard a species against local population decline. But in this study, we found that the opposite is true. Apparently, species rapidly shifting their range in search of cooler temperatures do so because they are more vulnerable to climate change, and consequently require special attention. Last year we published another study that focused on local fish species along Israel's coastline, which resulted in similar findings: species that move towards deeper and cooler habitats in the face of rising water temperatures exhibit declining populations. In the next stage of our research, we intend to investigate this causal relationship in additional marine species, other than fish."
The Second World War had a profound impact not only on the fate of countries and people but also on the development of architecture. In occupied territories across the globe, architecture reflected the prevailing trends of the time. Meanwhile, war refugees continued their attempts to shape the architectural landscape in their new homes to preserve their cultural identity. According to Vaidas Petrulis, an expert in architecture at Kaunas University of Technology, Lithuania, this phenomenon is an important part of architectural history, worthy of both greater interest and international recognition.
Vaidas Petrulis, the Head of the Research Centre of Architecture and Urbanism at KTU argues that the works of emigrant architects can significantly contribute to the understanding of the architectural traditions of a country and give a broader context for the reasoning behind various processes.
Researching the history of architecture for more than 20 years, he believes that the architectural heritage of emigrants should be studied as a form of globally shared heritage.
A reminder of past mistakes
As the concept of heritage has expanded in recent decades, it is no longer just a collection of the most beautiful or technologically impressive buildings but also an evidence of past processes.
“Some testimonies reveal the creativity and progress of mankind, while others warn of mistakes,” explains Petrulis.
Wars and their aftermath are one of humanity’s biggest catastrophes, marked not only by destroyed cities, concentration camps, or mass graves but also by people’s attempts to survive.
“Being in exile and using creativity to send a message about a nation’s right to statehood is another significant story,” says Petrulis.
Although the original political purpose of the buildings designed in the diaspora after World War Two is gradually fading, KTU researcher believes that in the current situation, the recognition of such heritage is even more significant.
“Today, when the world is facing threats again, such phenomenon takes on a new meaning. It is not only a reflection of the past but also a reminder for the present and future generations,” says Petrulis a senior researcher at Institute of Architecture and Construction.
In his opinion, the heritage of the refugees should not only be appreciated by society but also included in the UNESCO World Heritage List. The researcher believes that not only the community that created these buildings but also the state that hosted the refugees should consider them valuable.
“For example, the reception of refugees from Europe should be interpreted as an integral and significant part of American and Canadian history. In this way, the heritage would become a shared one,” the expert argues.
Inclusion on the UNESCO World Heritage List would not only honour the memory of those who have survived the challenges of the diaspora but also remind the rest of us about the mistakes made in the past.
“Unfortunately, war refugees and their fate in exile continue to be a pressing issue in the 21st century,” says Petrulis.
Architecture with a political agenda
KTU researcher and his team explored the Lithuanian architectural legacy in the United States of America (USA) after World War Two.
Petrulis says that emigrants from Lithuania have been choosing the USA as a destination for emigration for a long time. After the Second World War, around 40 thousand Lithuanians came to North America to escape the repressions of the Soviet Union. Unlike previous emigrants, they were considered war refugees.
“Along with this wave of emigration, several architects who had already started their careers in Lithuania came to North America. Their education did not guarantee professional practice opportunities, so they had to overcome not only the language barrier but also obtain local certificates allowing them to practise as architects. The younger generation, who enrolled in higher education institutions in the USA or Canada, found it easier to integrate,” says the researcher, architectural historian.
According to him, the difficult professional adaptation significantly contributed to the fact that the new arrivers tended to seek commissions from the Lithuanian community. This created a political task for architecture: the newly constructed buildings had to contribute to the promotion of national identity.
“Architecture was serving the purpose of not only creating a recognisable and attractive place for the community to gather but also for presenting the name of Lithuania to the world. It was expected that the buildings, designed by Lithuanians, would once again remind the world about Lithuania, its culture, language, and history,” says Petrulis.
Architects continued local architectural tradition in diaspora
After the Second World War, other emigrants also tried to promote their architecture in the US: the Polish built churches with Baroque towers, and in Chicago’s Ukrainian town, churches were decorated with their characteristic domes. However, as Petrulis points out, Lithuanians were the leaders in the search for a distinctive architectural character.
The architects who remained in Lithuania had to adapt to the realities of occupation. Immediately after the Second World War, modern architecture, for which, as Petrulis reminds us, Kaunas was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2023, was replaced by the Stalinist regime and its architecture.
“Later on, modernism returned to Soviet Union, but the economic version of it was created under the political slogan: cheaper, more, and faster. Most of the time, that also meant poorer. It is not surprising that the architects who left Lithuania felt obliged to continue the native architectural tradition, which was restricted in conditions of occupation,” adds the associate professor of KTU.
Sharing the results of his research, Petrulis reveals that the architectural style of the Lithuanian diaspora was influenced by faith: “The majority of the Lithuanian diaspora in the USA were Catholics, so it is not surprising that this generation of war refugees built churches, monasteries, and – in their neighbourhoods – schools and cultural centres.”
One of the most striking examples of this architecture was the construction of the Church of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Chicago, which reflects elements of neo-Baroque and ethnic architecture.
“Perhaps the most original solution is the interpretation of Lithuanian wooden chapels in brick construction. The monumental, wood-carving inspired crowns on the towers are a unique sign of Lithuanian identity in the USA, which cannot be found neither in Lithuania’s nor other countries’ architecture,” says the KTU researcher.
The architect adds that the complex of the Jesuit monastery and the Youth Centre in Chicago also reflects the Lithuanian identity. According to him, the visual accent – a coloured brick wall with the silhouette of Vytis (Lithuanian coat of arms) – does not allow to question the purpose of the building.
The article The Architectural Legacy of Lithuanians in the United States during the Post-World War II Era: A Monument to the Cold War was published in Buildings 2023, issue 12, and can be accessed here.
The Architectural Legacy of Lithuanians in the United States during the Post-World War II Era: A Monument to the Cold War
The Church of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Chicago, designed by architect Mulokas and artist Jonynas, 1957, from the Balzekas Museum of Lithuanian Culture
CREDIT
Original content from the Balzekas Museum of Lithuanian Culture
The complex of the Jesuit Monastery and Youth Centre in Chicago, architect Mulokas, 1974, from the Mulokas family personal archive
