Deep learning for sex determination: Analyzing over 200,000 panoramic radiographs

The objective of this study is to assess the performance of an innovative AI-powered tool for sex determination using panoramic radiographs (PR) and to explore factors affecting the performance of the convolutional neural network (CNN). The study involved 207,946 panoramic dental X-rays and their corresponding reports from 15 clinical centers in São Paulo, Brazil. The PRs were acquired with four different devices, and 58% of the patients were female. Data preprocessing included anonymizing the exams, extracting pertinent information from the reports, such as sex, age, type of dentition, and number of missing teeth, and organizing the data into a PostgreSQL database. Two neural network architectures, a standard CNN and a ResNet, were utilized for sex classification, with both undergoing hyperparameter tuning and cross-validation to ensure optimal performance. The CNN model achieved 95.02% accuracy in sex estimation, with image resolution being a significant influencing factor. The ResNet model attained over 86% accuracy in subjects older than 6 years and over 96% in those over 16 years. The algorithm performed better on female images, and the area under the curve (AUC) exceeded 96% for most age groups, except the youngest. Accuracy values were also assessed for different dentition types (deciduous, mixed, and permanent) and missing teeth. This study demonstrates the effectiveness of an AI-driven tool for sex determination using PR and emphasizes the role of image resolution, age, and sex in determining the algorithm's performance.     

北美数字政府跨国工作组及其研究初步进展

介绍了北美数字政府跨国工作组(North Amnerica Digital Government working Group)的研究目标及其第一年的工作进展.北美数字政府跨国工作小组创建于2007年,得到了美国国家科学基金(NSF)数字政府研究项目及美国、加拿大、墨西哥等其他有关机构的资助.该工作组旨在推动跨地域、跨政府的数字政府研究.在第一年所开展的工作中,该工作组成员共在美国、加拿大及墨西哥举行了3次会议,分享了各自的研究专长和兴趣,并通过这些初步互动,取得了一些学术成果.该工作组设立了"跨边境整合与联动""全信息产品标价网络"两个课题研究小组,介绍了两个小组在第一年的工作进展情况.     

COVID-19 Pandemic and Intimate Partner Violence: an Analysis of Help-Seeking Messages in the Spanish-Speaking Media

The role of the Spanish-speaking media is crucial for how Latinx communities learn about seeking help when experiencing intimate partner violence (IPV). This study investigated the IPV help-seeking messages disseminated by the Spanish-speaking media in the U.S. during the COVID-19 pandemic. We engaged in an exploratory content analysis of videos from Univision’s main website, the most-watched Spanish-speaking media network in the U.S. We searched for videos related to IPV help-seeking posted from March 19–April 21, 2020—including the weeks after the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a global pandemic and the U.S. mandated a shelter-in-place. After assessing inclusion criteria, 29 videos were analyzed. Data were analyzed using basic content analysis to determine frequencies and inductive interpretive content analysis to code for help-seeking messages. We identified eight manifest messages related to seeking help when experiencing IPV in times of a crisis: (1) contact a professional resource; (2) contact law enforcement; (3) contact family, friends, and members of your community; (4) create a safety plan; (5) don’t be afraid, be strong; (6) leave the situation; (7) protect yourself at home; and (8) services are available despite the pandemic. We found that the manifest messages alluded to three latent messages: (1) it is your responsibility to change your circumstances; (2) you are in danger and in need of protection; and (3) you are not alone. IPV and media professionals should ensure a structural understanding of IPV in their help-seeking messages and avoid perpetrating stigmatizing and reductionist messages.

     

Structural Topic Models for Open‐Ended Survey Responses

Collection and especially analysis of open‐ended survey responses are relatively rare in the discipline and when conducted are almost exclusively done through human coding. We present an alternative, semiautomated approach, the structural topic model (STM) (Roberts, Stewart, and Airoldi 2013; Roberts et al. 2013), that draws on recent developments in machine learning based analysis of textual data. A crucial contribution of the method is that it incorporates information about the document, such as the author's gender, political affiliation, and treatment assignment (if an experimental study). This article focuses on how the STM is helpful for survey researchers and experimentalists. The STM makes analyzing open‐ended responses easier, more revealing, and capable of being used to estimate treatment effects. We illustrate these innovations with analysis of text from surveys and experiments.     

Territorial dispossession: dynamics of capitalist expansion in rural territories in South America

The rural territories of the Agrarian South have been occupying a central role as epicentres for the recent dynamics of capitalist expansion. Over the last years this has led to an increase in the process of control and extraction of natural common goods by different mechanisms such as agribusiness, mining-energetic projects, mega-infrastructure building, cultural dispossession and so on. Taking the territory as the central analytical approach that involves different dimensions and scales, we analyse the recent transformations in several rural sceneries from South America where various forms of dispossession of natural goods have been presented. With this perspective, we hope to contribute to the analysis and understanding of the agrarian transformations in the Agrarian South.     

Understanding support for democracy in new and old democracies in the Americas: the role of democratic experience

This article develops and evaluates a set of expectations regarding the mechanisms via which democratic experience could shape support for democracy. In line with previous studies, one straightforward possibility considered is that experience with democracy fosters greater affective support for democracy, making citizens of old democracies more supportive of this regime independently of government performance and other characteristics. Another possibility considered is that democratic experience mediates the importance of performance assessments in citizens’ judgments about democracy, decreasing the importance of economic performance assessments, while increasing that of political performance assessments. Statistical analyses of public opinion data from 23 countries in the Americas indicate that the effect of democratic experience on support for democracy is not statistically significant. Rather, democratic experience conditions the effects of performance assessments on support for democracy. The evidence also supports the assertion that experience with democracy, and not economic development, is what conditions the effects of performance assessments on support for democracy.     

Coefficient stability and structural change in the Spanish economy

The main aim is the study of coefficient stability using comparative analyses of Spanish input–output tables of recent decades. We try to provide answers to questions related to the nature and intensity of changes in the production structure, implementing procedures both of a direct nature as well as of an indirect one, following Mesnard’s proposal. We further raise the possibility of forecasting branch evolution by means of demand-driven or supply-driven models, depending on coefficient stability, in accordance with the work of Ranko Bon.

Grading a rape case followed by death from the study of autosomal STRs and STRs of the Y chromosome—Case study

Two women were found dead inside a residence. Choke causes death in one that had been naked in a bed and contusion injury in another that was found on a sofa. Were received samples of vaginal and anal swabs of the two victims of homicide with suspected of having suffered sexual violence. References also received samples of two victims and a suspect. We performed genetic analysis for identification of samples from the meeting of any possibility of overlap between patterns and profiles of sequences of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) based on genetic relationship between those involved. The reference samples were subjected to the procedure of extraction of nuclear DNA by Chelex method and the swabs samples by differential extraction. For all the samples were performed for amplification of STRs loci and autosomal STRs of chromosome Y. The profiles of DNA sequences were obtained by the Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR), using sequences starting with marked substances emitting fluorescence detected by reading the optical laser in 3100 Avant automatic sequencer from Applied Biosystems. The information of consecutive loci of Short Repeats or STRs of autosomal chromosomes and the Y chromosome was obtained using the systems or products sold in multilocus, methodologies recommended by the supplier and valid for analysis of DNA. We used the multilocus Identifiler and YFiler system of Applied Biosystems to the amplification of samples. The validation of results has shown a genetic profile in male anal secretion of the victims with a complete coincidence with the suspect.