Assessment of differentially private synthetic data for utility and fairness in end-to-end machine learning pipelines for tabular data.

Differentially private (DP) synthetic datasets are a solution for sharing data while preserving the privacy of individual data providers. Understanding the effects of utilizing DP synthetic data in end-to-end machine learning pipelines impacts areas such as health care and humanitarian action, where data is scarce and regulated by restrictive privacy laws. In this work, we investigate the extent to which synthetic data can replace real, tabular data in machine learning pipelines and identify the most effective synthetic data generation techniques for training and evaluating machine learning models. We systematically investigate the impacts of differentially private synthetic data on downstream classification tasks from the point of view of utility as well as fairness. Our analysis is comprehensive and includes representatives of the two main types of synthetic data generation algorithms: marginal-based and GAN-based. To the best of our knowledge, our work is the first that: (i) proposes a training and evaluation framework that does not assume that real data is available for testing the utility and fairness of machine learning models trained on synthetic data; (ii) presents the most extensive analysis of synthetic dataset generation algorithms in terms of utility and fairness when used for training machine learning models; and (iii) encompasses several different definitions of fairness. Our findings demonstrate that marginal-based synthetic data generators surpass GAN-based ones regarding model training utility for tabular data. Indeed, we show that models trained using data generated by marginal-based algorithms can exhibit similar utility to models trained using real data. Our analysis also reveals that the marginal-based synthetic data generated using AIM and MWEM PGM algorithms can train models that simultaneously achieve utility and fairness characteristics close to those obtained by models trained with real data.

Environmental sustainability assessment of wooden furniture produced in Pakistan / Avaliação da sustentabilidade ambiental de móveis de madeira produzidos no Paquistão

Abstract Life cycle assessment was carried out for a conventional wooden furniture set produced in Mardan division of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan during 2018-19. Primary data regarding inputs and outputs were collected through questionnaire surveys from 100 conventional wooden furniture set manufacturers, 50 in district Mardan and 50 in district Swabi. In the present study, cradle-to-gate life cycle assessment approach was applied for a functional unit of one conventional wooden furniture set. Production weighted average data were modelled in the environmental impacts modelling software i.e., SimaPro v.8.5. The results showed that textile used in sofa set, wood preservative for polishing and preventing insects attack and petrol used in generator had the highest contribution to all the environmental impact categories evaluated. Total cumulative energy demand for wooden furniture set manufactured was 30,005 MJ with most of the energy acquired from non-renewable fossil fuel resources.

Resumo A abordagem de avaliação do ciclo de vida foi realizada para um conjunto de móveis de madeira convencional produzido na divisão Mardan da província de Khyber Pakhtunkhwa do Paquistão durante 2018-19. Os dados primários sobre entradas e saídas foram coletados por meio de pesquisas por questionário de 100 fabricantes de conjuntos de móveis de madeira convencionais, 50 no distrito de Mardan e 50 no distrito de Swabi. No presente estudo, a abordagem de avaliação do ciclo de vida do berço ao portão foi aplicada para uma unidade funcional de um conjunto de móveis de madeira convencional. Os dados da média ponderada da produção foram modelados no software de modelagem de impactos ambientais, isto é, SimaPro v.8.5. Os resultados mostraram que os têxteis usados ​​no conjunto de sofás, o preservativo de madeira para polir e prevenir o ataque de insetos e a gasolina usada no gerador tiveram a maior contribuição em todas as categorias de impacto ambiental avaliadas. A demanda total acumulada de energia para o conjunto de móveis de madeira fabricado foi de 30.005 MJ, com a maior parte da energia adquirida de recursos de combustíveis fósseis não renováveis.

Devices and furniture for small and sick newborn care: systematic development of a planning and costing tool.

BACKGROUND: High-quality neonatal care requires sufficient functional medical devices, furniture, fixtures, and use by trained healthcare workers, however there is lack of publicly available tools for quantification and costing. This paper describes development and use of a planning and costing tool regarding furniture, fixtures and devices to support scale-up of WHO level-2 neonatal care, for national and global newborn survival targets. METHODS: We followed a systematic process. First, we reviewed planning and costing tools of relevance. Second, we co-designed a new tool to estimate furniture and device set-up costs for a default 40-bed level-2 neonatal unit, incorporating input from multi-disciplinary experts and newborn care guidelines. Furniture and device lists were based off WHO guidelines/norms, UNICEF and national manuals/guides. Due to lack of evidence-based quantification, ratios were based on operational manuals, multi-country facility assessment data, and expert opinion. Default unit costs were from government procurement agency costs in Kenya, Nigeria, and Tanzania. Third, we refined the tool by national use in Tanzania. RESULTS: The tool adapts activity-based costing (ABC) to estimate quantities and costs to equip a level-2 neonatal unit based on three components: (1) furniture/fixtures (18 default but editable items); (2) neonatal medical devices (16 product categories with minimum specifications for use in low-resource settings); (3) user training at device installation. The tool was used in Tanzania to generate procurement lists and cost estimates for level-2 scale-up in 171 hospitals (146 District and 25 Regional Referral). Total incremental cost of all new furniture and equipment acquisition, installation, and user training were US$93,000 per District hospital (level-2 care) and US$346,000 per Regional Referral hospital. Estimated cost per capita for whole-country district coverage was US$0.23, representing 0.57% increase in government health expenditure per capita and additional 0.35% for all Regional Referral hospitals. CONCLUSION: Given 2.3 million neonatal deaths and potential impact of level-2 newborn care, rational and efficient planning of devices linked to systems change is foundational. In future iterations, we aim to include consumables, spare parts, and maintenance cost options. More rigorous implementation research data are crucial to formulating evidence-based ratios for devices numbers per baby. Use of this tool could help overcome gaps in devices numbers, advance efficiency and quality of neonatal care.

Advanced Video-Based Processing for Low-Cost Damage Assessment of Buildings under Seismic Loading in Shaking Table Tests.

This paper explores the potential of a low-cost, advanced video-based technique for the assessment of structural damage to buildings caused by seismic loading. A low-cost, high-speed video camera was utilized for the motion magnification processing of footage of a two-story reinforced-concrete frame building subjected to shaking table tests. The damage after seismic loading was estimated by analyzing the dynamic behavior (i.e., modal parameters) and the structural deformations of the building in magnified videos. The results using the motion magnification procedure were compared for validation of the method of the damage assessment obtained through analyses of conventional accelerometric sensors and high-precision optical markers tracked using a passive 3D motion capture system. In addition, 3D laser scanning to obtain an accurate survey of the building geometry before and after the seismic tests was carried out. In particular, accelerometric recordings were also processed and analyzed using several stationary and nonstationary signal processing techniques with the aim of analyzing the linear behavior of the undamaged structure and the nonlinear structural behavior during damaging shaking table tests. The proposed procedure based on the analysis of magnified videos provided an accurate estimate of the main modal frequency and the damage location through the analysis of the modal shapes, which were confirmed using advanced analyses of the accelerometric data. Consequently, the main novelty of the study was the highlighting of a simple procedure with high potential for the extraction and analysis of modal parameters, with a special focus on the analysis of the modal shape's curvature, which provides accurate information on the location of the damage in a structure, while using a noncontact and low-cost method.

Development of a Low-Cost Smart Sensor GNSS System for Real-Time Positioning and Orientation for Floating Offshore Wind Platform.

A low-cost smart sensor GNSS system has been developed to provide accurate real-time position and orientation measurements on a floating offshore wind platform. The approach chosen to offer a viable and reliable solution for this application is based on the use of the well-known advantages of the GNSS system as the main driver for enhancing the accuracy of positioning. For this purpose, the data reported in this work are captured through a GNSS receiver operating over multiple frequency bands (L1, L2, L5) and combining signals from different constellations of navigation satellites (GPS, Galileo, and GLONASS), and they are processed through the precise point positioning (PPP) and real-time kinematic (RTK) techniques. Furthermore, aiming to improve global positioning, the processing unit fuses the results obtained with the data acquired through an inertial measurement unit (IMU), reaching final accuracy of a few centimeters. To validate the system designed and developed in this proposal, three different sets of tests were carried out in a (i) rotary table at the laboratory, (ii) GNSS simulator, and (iii) real conditions in an oceanic buoy at sea. The real-time positioning solution was compared to solutions obtained by post-processing techniques in these three scenarios and similar results were satisfactorily achieved.

Impact of digital economy on ecological resilience of resource-based cities: spatial spillover and mechanism.

Resource-based cities, which are widely distributed in China, contribute significantly to China's sustainable development. The digital economy and the construction of ecological civilization are central issues in the sustainable development of resource-based cities, and it is necessary to analyze the impact of the digital economy on the ecological resilience of resource-based cities. Thus, this paper measures ecological resilience of 117 resource-based cities from 2011 to 2020 using the entropy weight TOPSIS (technique for order preference by similarity to ideal solution; see Table 1 for a list of acronyms) method and empirically investigates the impact and mechanism of digital economy on ecological resilience using the spatial Durbin model (SDM) and intermediary effect model. The results show that the ecological resilience of resource-based cities has a certain upward trend, with a stepwise distribution pattern from east to west. There is a significant positive correlation between ecological resilience of resource-based cities, showing the phenomenon of club convergence which is primarily dominated by high-high (H-H) and low-low (L-L). The digital economy has a significant spatial spillover effect, which promotes ecological resilience of resource-based cities in the local and adjacent regions. A mechanism analysis reveals that technological innovation and industrial structure are mediators between digital economy and ecological resilience of resource-based cities, with significant heterogeneity in region and growth cycle. Among them, the intermediary role of technological innovation is stronger. Following the above findings, this paper proposes policy suggestions related to digital economy evolution and ecological resilience enhancement. This paper further enriches the literature on the ecological resilience and provides a theoretical basis for government policy-making.

Area-based social inequalities in adult mortality: construction of French deprivation-specific life tables for the period 2016-2018.

Background: In order to tackle social inequalities in mortality, it is crucial to quantify them. We produced French deprivation-specific life tables for the period 2016-2018 to measure the social gradient in adult all-cause mortality. Methods: Data from the Permanent Demographic Sample (EDP) were used to provide population and death counts by age, sex and deprivation quintile. The European Deprivation Index (EDI), applied at a sub-municipal geographical level, was used as an ecological measure of deprivation. Smoothed mortality rates were calculated using a one-dimensional Poisson counts smoothing method with P-Splines. We calculated life expectancies by age, sex and deprivation quintile as well as interquartile mortality rate ratios (MRR). Results: At the age of 30, the difference in life expectancy between the most and least deprived groups amounted to 3.9 years in males and 2.2 years in females. In terms of relative mortality inequalities, the largest gaps between extreme deprivation groups were around age 55 for males (MRR = 2.22 [2.0; 2.46] at age 55), around age 50 in females (MRR = 1.77 [1.48; 2.1] at age 47), and there was a decrease or disappearance of the gaps in the very older adults. Conclusions: There is a strong social gradient in all-cause mortality in France for males and females. The methodology for building these deprivation-specific life tables is reproducible and could be used to monitor its development. The tables produced should contribute to improving studies on net survival inequalities for specific diseases by taking into account the pre-existing social gradient in all-cause mortality.

Environmental sustainability assessment of wooden furniture produced in Pakistan.

Life cycle assessment was carried out for a conventional wooden furniture set produced in Mardan division of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan during 2018-19. Primary data regarding inputs and outputs were collected through questionnaire surveys from 100 conventional wooden furniture set manufacturers, 50 in district Mardan and 50 in district Swabi. In the present study, cradle-to-gate life cycle assessment approach was applied for a functional unit of one conventional wooden furniture set. Production weighted average data were modelled in the environmental impacts modelling software i.e., SimaPro v.8.5. The results showed that textile used in sofa set, wood preservative for polishing and preventing insects attack and petrol used in generator had the highest contribution to all the environmental impact categories evaluated. Total cumulative energy demand for wooden furniture set manufactured was 30,005 MJ with most of the energy acquired from non-renewable fossil fuel resources.

Importance of Interior Design: An Environmental Mediator for Perceiving Life Satisfaction and Financial Stress.

Based on the stimuli-organism-response framework, this study investigates how artistic stimuli (i.e., interior design) influence a person's mental responses (i.e., situational satisfaction and stress). Prior to checking the main analysis, demographic features were checked to determine whether they were significant precedents to the stimuli by using hierarchical linear modeling. As the main model, structural equation modeling was used to find (a) how stimuli (i.e., interior design) were associated with organisms (i.e., emotional perception) and (b) how organisms were associated with mental responses. The results showed that demographic features were not significantly associated with the stimuli. Stimuli were partially and significantly associated with organisms and the organisms were partially and significantly associated with the mental responses. The study has implications for practitioners in commercial fields who might recognize the importance of interior design and employ their utilities in practical applications.

Protótipo de uma cadeira terapêutica neonatal: desenvolvimento, confecção e aplicabilidade / Prototype of a neonatal therapeutic chair: development, confection and applicability

Introdução: A longa hospitalização dos neonatos na Unidade de Terapia Intensiva Neonatal tem como consequência o aumento dos riscos de alterações posturais devido ao tempo prolongado dentro de incubadoras e berços. O objetivo do estudo foi desenvolver um dispositivo para promover uma alternativa de mudança de decúbito denominada Cadeira Terapêutico Neonatal. Métodos: Estudo qualitativo e descritivo de desenvolvimento e produção, aprovado pelo Comitê de Ética em Pesquisa com o no 17-0254 e constituído por três etapas: desenvolvimento e confecção do protótipo; avaliação da aplicabilidade do protótipo por meio de um questionário de aplicabilidade, após transcorridos 10 minutos do posicionamento funcional; e definição do modelo e solicitação do pedido de invenção pelo Instituto Nacional de Propriedade Industrial (INPI). Resultados: Foram desenvolvidos e confeccionados dois modelos de protótipos de Cadeira Terapêutica Neonatal. Vinte e oito colaboradores da equipe assistencial responderam ao questionário: 82% consideram muito bom na avaliação no grau de conforto e adaptação do neonato; 96% avaliaram como muito fácil de realizar o processo de higienização. Onze (39,28%) colaboradores sugeriram promover medidas de melhorias no cinto de segurança. Definiu-se o modelo do invento e foi feita a inserção do pedido sob o número BR 20.2020.005865 2 no INPI. Conclusão: O modelo proposto promoveu uma alternativa de mudança de postura, tendo como característica a aplicabilidade e a usabilidade. (AU)

Introduction: The long hospitalization of neonates in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit has the consequence of increasing the risks of postural changes due to the prolonged time inside incubators and cradles. The aim of the study was to develop a device to promote an alternative for changing the decubitus position called "Neonatal Therapy Chair". Methods: Qualitative and descriptive study of development and production, approved Human Research Protection Office number 17-0254 ­ consisting of three stages: Stage 1- development and making of the prototype; Step 2- evaluation of the applicability of the prototype through an Applicability Questionnaire, after 10 minutes of functional positioning; Stage 3- definition of the model and request for an invention request by the NIIP (National Institute of Industrial Property). Results: Stage 1: two prototype. Stage 2: Twenty-eight employees of the assistance team answered the questionnaire: 82% consider it very good in assessing the degree of comfort and adaptation of the newborn; 96% rated it as very easy to carry out the cleaning process. Eleven (39.28%) employees suggested promoting measures to improve seat belts. Step 3: definition of the model of the invention and insertion of the order under number BR 20 2020 005865 2 at NIIP. (AU)

Practical, rapid, and cost-efficient interior architectural precautions for prevention of COVID-19 in the workplace.

BACKGROUND: During the COVID-19 pandemic, it has been essential for some workplaces to stay open. Considering the rapid spread of the virus, interior architectural re-designing of these essential workplaces such as markets, banks, and drugstores is crucial for prevention. The employees, as well as the customers in these workplaces, have a high infection rate. Some precautions need to be taken urgently to prevent the spread of the disease. Some workplaces may have already performed their action plan whereas others have not. OBJECTIVE: Some practical, rapid, and cost-efficient preventive precautions are presented in this paper for employers to take action in their workplaces. METHODS: Two new proposals are advised to be carried out. The contents of these newly designed barriers will be introduced. RESULTS: Some practical and cost-efficient ideas are given within this report. CONCLUSION: All the preventions proposed in this paper are claimed to reduce the spread of COVID-19 and may save lives around the country as well as the world.

Cross-National Comparison of Environmental Factors Important to Facility-Based Senior Living.

OBJECTIVE: Focusing on environmental factors important to facility-based senior living, this research intends to identify cross-national similarities and differences in perspective on elderly care between senior-living professionals in the United States and China. BACKGROUND: American models of senior-living facility design have been introduced in China. In social and cultural context, environmental factors important to facility-based senior living are expected to be different by nation and need to be clarified. METHOD: Questionnaire data were collected from 188 staff members working in senior-living facilities in the United States and China. Seven factors summarized through literature review were investigated. The frequencies of each factor selected by the participants as one of the three most important factors were ranked. The influence of personal and social factors on environmental perception was analyzed using analysis of variance tests. RESULTS: Common area and cross-facility home-like decoration were similarly valued by both groups as two of the three most important factors. Residential room was valued more in the United States whereas natural lighting was valued more in China. Chinese participants with more work experience valued building layout more. Amenities were valued less than expected in both countries. CONCLUSION: Environmental factors important to facility-based senior living are different between countries. American models of senior-living facility design should be adjusted for use in China. There is much to be gained from investigating the similarities and differences in perspective on elderly care.

From Housing Instability to a Home: The Effects of Furniture and Household Goods on Well-being.

The quality of housing, the neighborhood in which one lives, and community social structures all affect one's physical and mental health. We conducted a qualitative evaluation of one non-profit organization's mission to provide furniture and household goods to low-income families. Based on semi-structured interviews with 20 clients and 15 caseworkers, we assessed how furniture and household goods contributed to individuals' sense of home and overall well-being. Results of our thematic analysis revealed four themes: (1) respect; (2) creating a home; (3) physical comfort; and (4) emotional well-being. Participants described how the absence of furniture, dishes, and other goods affected their self-esteem, mental health, and physical health. This study suggests the need to include the presence or absence of furniture in housing quality assessments. Social support services that provide access to low-cost, quality furniture to low-income families should exist in parallel with housing support programs.

Impact of a low-cost standing desk on reducing workplace sitting (StandUP UBC): A randomised controlled trial.

Sit-stand desks can reduce occupational sitting time, however, their cost can limit scalability. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the impact of a low-cost standing desk on objectively-measured occupational sitting and prolonged sitting bouts over 3- and 6-months. Secondary outcomes included self-report work engagement and occupational fatigue. Forty-eight office employees (91.7% female, Mage = 39.8 ±â€¯10.1) were randomized to receive a low-cost standing desk or to a control group. At 3-months, the intervention group sat 0.7 h (42min) less at work compared to the control group; F(1, 45) = 5.90, partial η2 = 0.12, p = .019. The effect was small, yet comparable to findings from studies using costlier alternatives. However, these reductions were not maintained at 6-months. No changes in prolonged sitting bouts or secondary outcomes were found. There is some potential for low-cost standing desk converters as a scalable workplace health intervention. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT03375749, Registered 18 December 2017, https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT03375749?term=NCT03375749&rank=1.

Process Evaluation of the BearStand Behavioral Intervention: A Social Cognitive Theory-Based Approach to Reduce Occupational Sedentary Behavior.

OBJECTIVE: Describe the process evaluation of the behavioral intervention group of a multicomponent workplace intervention, BearStand, to reduce employees' sitting time using sit-stand workstations and behavioral strategies. METHODS: Process evaluation metrics: dose delivered, dose-received exposure, dose-received satisfaction, and context were collected using an online survey. Participants included employees of a US university. RESULTS: Overall, 38 of 52 participants completed the process evaluation. The majority were satisfied (53%) with the intervention. Participants' interactions with intervention materials decreased over time (73.7%, week 1, to 52.6%, week 13), and 42% and 33% of participants used suggested videos and apps, respectively. Participants found goal setting and self-regulation strategies to be the most helpful and identified workplace-related contextual barriers that impacted intervention engagement. CONCLUSIONS: Future interventions should incorporate more engaging materials for participants, reduce contextual barriers, and facilitate use of apps and videos.

Structure of the Anesthesia Intensive Care Units: Recommendations of the Intensive Care Section of the Spanish Society of Anaesthesiology. / Estructura de las unidades de cuidados intensivos de anestesia: recomendaciones de la Sección de Cuidados Intensivos de la Sociedad Española de Anestesiología, Reanimación y Terapéutica del Dolor (SEDAR).

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: In this article, the Intensive Care Section of the Spanish Society of Anesthesiology (SCI-SEDAR) establishes new recommendations based on the standards published by the Ministry of Health, Consumer Affairs and Social Welfare and aligned with the principle international guidelines, and develops a tool to improve quality and efficiency. MATERIALS AND METHOD: Over a 12-month period (2018), 3 members of the SCI-SEDAR defined the methodology, developed the recommendations and selected the panel of experts. Due to the limited evidence available for many of the recommendations and the significant structural differences between existing anesthesia intensive care units, we chose a modified Delphi approach to determine the degree of consensus. RESULTS: The panel consisted of 24 experts from 21 institutions. The group put forward 175 recommendations on 8 sections, including 129 with strong consensus and 46 with weak consensus. CONCLUSIONS: The SCI-SEDAR has established a series of structural recommendations that should be used when renovating or creating new anesthesia intensive care units.

[Application of semi-quantitative risk assessment method in occupational health risk assessment of wooden furniture manufacturing enterprises].

Objective: To explore the applicability of semi-quantitative risk assessment methods in wood furniture manufacturing companies. Methods: Two medium-sized wooden furniture manufactures were randomly selected as research objects, namely A company and B company. Used the Semi-Quantitative risk assessment method (the ratio method, the index method and the comprehensive method) in the "Guidelines for occupational health risk assessment of chemicals in the workplace" (GBZ/T 298-2017) to conduct occupational hygiene survey, occupational hazard factor testing and occupational health risk assessments for two wood furniture manufacturers from January to October 2018, and compared and analyzed the applicability of these three semi-quantitative risk assessment methods in wooden furniture manufacturing enterprises. Results: The occupational health status of A enterprises was worse than that of B enterprises, and the occupational health risk level was higher than that of B enterprises, and the risk level of A enterprise is 3~4, and the risk level of B enterprise is 2~3. The occupational health risk level obtained by the index method was consistent with the comprehensive method, while the risk level of some occupational disease hazards used the ratio method was inconsistent with the results of the index method and the comprehensive method. Compared with the index method and the comprehensive method, when E/OEL<0.5 or E/OEL≥2, there might be a certain fluctuation in the occupational health risk level obtained by the ratio method. Conclusion: The semi-quantitative risk assessment is more objective, comprehensive and flexible in the application of occupational health risk assessment, and can assess the occupational health risk level of chemical poisons in wood furniture manufacturing enterprises.

Work environment investments: outcomes from three cases.

Work environment investments are important in order to create a healthy and safe workplace. This article presents findings from a seven-step interventions process aimed at examining and following-up work environment investments in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), with a particular focus on air contaminants. Three different cases were analyzed and included in the study: (a) an educational center for welding; (b) a paint station in furniture manufacturing; (c) a joinery in furniture manufacturing. The results show that the work environment investments were highly appreciated by the employees and managers, but at the same time the investment could be optimized through markedly decreased exposure levels for the worker. Factors such as follow-ups of the investment, education and training in how to use the equipment, worker involvement in the process and leadership engagement are important in order to optimize work environment investments.

The reachable 3-D workspace volume is a measure of payload and body-mass-index: A quasi-static kinetic assessment.

An experimental protocol with five tasks is proposed for a low-cost empirical assessment of the reachable 3-D workspace (RWS), including both close-to-torso and far-from-torso regions. Ten participants repeated the protocol for four distinct hand payloads. The RWS expressed as a point cloud and its non-convex alpha-shape were obtained for each case. Moreover, individual strength surrogates for glenohumeral flexion and abduction, and elbow flexion were collected using a dynamometer. The RWS volume was statistically modelled using payload, body-mass-index and the strength surrogates as predictors. For increasing payload, a significant (r = -0.736,p < 0.001) decrease in RWS volume was found for distinct payload cases across all subjects. The only significant predictors found for the RWS volume were normalized payload (F = 73.740,p < 0.001) and body-mass-index (F = 11.008,p = 0.003). No significant interactions were found. The consequent regression model (F(2,27) = 41.11, p < 0.001, Radj2 = 0.7345) explained around 73% of the variation in the data. The RWS volume is a function of payload and body-mass-index.