Transformer Networks for Trajectory Forecasting

Most recent successes on forecasting the people motion are based on LSTM models and all most recent progress has been achieved by modelling the social interaction among people and the people interaction with the scene. We question the use of the LSTM models and propose the novel use of Transformer Networks for trajectory forecasting. This is a fundamental switch from the sequential step-by-step processing of LSTMs to the only-attention-based memory mechanisms of Transformers. In particular, we consider both the original Transformer Network (TF) and the larger Bidirectional Transformer (BERT), state-of-the-art on all natural language processing tasks. Our proposed Transformers predict the trajectories of the individual people in the scene. These are "simple" model because each person is modelled separately without any complex human-human nor scene interaction terms. In particular, the TF model without bells and whistles yields the best score on the largest and most challenging trajectory forecasting benchmark of TrajNet. Additionally, its extension which predicts multiple plausible future trajectories performs on par with more engineered techniques on the 5 datasets of ETH + UCY. Finally, we show that Transformers may deal with missing observations, as it may be the case with real sensor data. Code is available at https://github.com/FGiuliari/Trajectory-Transformer.Comment: 18 pages, 3 figure

MX-LSTM: mixing tracklets and vislets to jointly forecast trajectories and head poses

Recent approaches on trajectory forecasting use tracklets to predict the future positions of pedestrians exploiting Long Short Term Memory (LSTM) architectures. This paper shows that adding vislets, that is, short sequences of head pose estimations, allows to increase significantly the trajectory forecasting performance. We then propose to use vislets in a novel framework called MX-LSTM, capturing the interplay between tracklets and vislets thanks to a joint unconstrained optimization of full covariance matrices during the LSTM backpropagation. At the same time, MX-LSTM predicts the future head poses, increasing the standard capabilities of the long-term trajectory forecasting approaches. With standard head pose estimators and an attentional-based social pooling, MX-LSTM scores the new trajectory forecasting state-of-the-art in all the considered datasets (Zara01, Zara02, UCY, and TownCentre) with a dramatic margin when the pedestrians slow down, a case where most of the forecasting approaches struggle to provide an accurate solution.Comment: 10 pages, 3 figures to appear in CVPR 201

Heritage documentation and management processes: Castiglioni Chapel in Pavia

The project of the reuse of an architectural environment must consider the set of residual services provided by the building. The activation of a documentation process allows you to be aware of what an environment offers. The spatial and material analysis of the current state must be accompanied by a material, technological and tech-system survey. In the case study of the Castiglioni Chapel in Pavia (Italy), the various diagnostic outputs were associated with the detailed survey, with the aim of planning interventions for the site conservation project. Conservation takes place both with physical actions and with museumization processes. The action methodology involved numerous phases such as detailed digital survey, technological analysis, and digitization through three-dimensional models. All the analyses carried out are integrated in an immersive virtual system structured by layers and scenarios. The chapel can be orbited with AR platforms, which allow you to enhance valuable frescoes and see the different levels of analysis in real time. All the processes underway in this project are aimed at making the space a place of knowledge with real and digital use

A systems biology approach to non-coding RNAs: the networks of cancer

A non-coding RNA is a functional RNA molecule that is not translated into a protein. This class of molecules is involved in many cellular processes and includes highly abundant and functionally important RNAs such as transfer RNA (tRNA), ribosomal RNA (rRNA), as well as small interfering RNAs (siRNAs), microRNAs (miRNAs), transcribed ultraconserved regions (T-UCRs) and others. First of all, we investigate the specificity for normal tissues of two selected non-coding RNAs: Transcribed UltraConserved Region and microRNAs. Second, we want to find whether these non-coding RNAs can be candidates as features for the selection of specific cancers, using statistical algorithms and bioinformatics tools. Third, we generate miRNA gene networks in normal and different cancer and leukemia. The term “ultraconserved” refer to genomic regions longer than 200 base pairs that are absolutely conserved (100% homology with no insertions or deletions) in human, mouse, and rat genomes. There are 481 T-UCRs. The reason for this extreme conservation remains a mystery; T-UCRs may play a functional role in the ontogeny and phylogeny of mammals and other vertebrates. Genome-wide profiling revealed that UCRs are frequently located on overlapping exons in genes involved in RNA processing and can be found in introns or at fragile sites and in cancer-associated genomic regions. We investigate the expression of T-UCRs in 374 normal samples from 46 different tissues, grouped by 16 systems. Moreover, we analyzed the specificity of T-UCRs in cancers. Tissue specific T-UCRs can differentiate cell types. We then examine the expression of T-UCRs in human embryonic stem cells, induced pluripotent stem cells, and a series of differentiated cell types (trophoblast, embryoid bodies at 7 and 14 days of differentiation, definitive endoderm, and spontaneous differentiated monolayers). One T-UCR in particular, uc.283 plus, is highly specific for embryonic and induced pluripotent stem cells, as confirmed by real time PCR (RT-PCR). MiRNAs are global regulators of protein output. Each miRNA has been studied for its single contribution to differential expression or to a compact predictive signature. Thus, we propose a study of miRNAs in cancer by applying a systems biology approach. We study miRNA profiles in 4419 human samples (3312 neoplastic, 1107 non-malignant), corresponding to 50 normal tissues (grouped by 17 systems) and 51 cancer types. We calculate tissue specificity and cancer type specificity, a small set of miRNAs were tissue-specific while many others were broadly expressed. Then we find whether non-coding RNAs can be candidates as features for the selection of specific cancers, using statistical algorithms and bioinformatics tools, as decision trees. Afterwards, we build miRNA gene networks by using our very large expression miRNA database. The complexity of our expression database enables us to perform a detailed analysis of coordinated miRNA activities. We also build specialized miRNA networks for different solid tumors and leukemias. Combining differential expression, genetic networks, DNA copy number alterations and other systems biology approaches we confirm or discovered miRNAs with comprehensive roles in cancer. We find that normal tissues are represented by single complete miRNA networks. Cancers instead show separate and unlinked miRNA sub-networks. miRNAs independent from the general transcriptional program were often known as cancer-related. We validate our results by in silico, in vitro and in vivo analysis. We demonstrate that the target genes of these uncoordinated miRNA involve in specific cancer-related pathways

Non-neural phenotype of spinal and bulbar muscular atrophy: Results from a large cohort of Italian patients

Objective: To carry out a deep characterisation of the main androgen-responsive tissues involved in spinal and bulbar muscular atrophy (SBMA). Methods: 73 consecutive Italian patients underwent a full clinical protocol including biochemical and hormonal analyses, genitourinary examination, bone metabolism and densitometry, cardiological evaluation and muscle pathology. Results: Creatine kinase levels were slightly to markedly elevated in almost all cases (68 of the 73; 94%). 30 (41%) patients had fasting glucose above the reference limit, and many patients had total cholesterol (40; 54.7%), low-density lipoproteins cholesterol (29; 39.7%) and triglyceride (35; 48%) levels above the recommended values. Although testosterone, luteinising hormone and follicle-stimulating hormone values were generally normal, in one-third of cases we calculated an increased Androgen Sensitivity Index reflecting the presence of androgen resistance in these patients. According to the International Prostate Symptom Score (IPSS), 7/70 (10%) patients reported severe lower urinal tract symptoms (IPSS score >19), and 21/73 (30%) patients were moderately symptomatic (IPSS score from 8 to 19). In addition, 3 patients were carriers of an indwelling bladder catheter. Videourodynamic evaluation indicated that 4 of the 7 patients reporting severe urinary symptoms had an overt prostate-unrelated bladder outlet obstruction. Dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry scan data were consistent with low bone mass in 25/61 (41%) patients. Low bone mass was more frequent at the femoral than at the lumbar level. Skeletal muscle biopsy was carried out in 20 patients and myogenic changes in addition to the neurogenic atrophy were mostly observed. Conclusions: Our study provides evidence of a wide non-neural clinical phenotype in SBMA, suggesting the need for comprehensive multidisciplinary protocols for these patients. \ua9 2016 Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited

Digital documentation of fortified urban routes in Pavia (Italy): territorial databases and structural models for the preservation of military ruins

[EN] The analysis of the fortified routes in the city of Pavia (Italy) clarifies the adaptation of the medieval capital in the historical politics of the Mediterranean, where the evolution of the defensive system till the Spanish bastioned walls (sixteenth century) identifies the updating of the Lombard tradition to the practices of modern military architecture. Their defensive structures survive in the urban design of the contemporary city, in the configuration of infrastructures and urban aggregates, reflecting the consequences of the great processes of their dismantling (from 1905). The comparison between historical investigations and the current ruins, fragmented into disconnected portions between the historical bastions and the monumental gates, shows a picture of abandonment of the military structures that generates repeated collapses and emerging risk factors towards the surrounding densified urban context. The experimentation of military architectural approaches of documentation at the urban scale, developed by the research laboratory DAda Lab. of University of Pavia, defines an analysis process through the digital representation of the urban remains that is suitable for the preservation of the survived city walls and the enhancement of their fortified identity. The application of different 3D LiDAR systems for morphological acquisition promotes an integrated digitation process of scansets on the fortified system controlled at the urban metric scale: the experimentation applies the use of a mobile real time scanner for the digital tracking of historical routes, on which to implement the georeferencing of detailed static scanworlds, integrated in correspondence of Bastions and Monumental Gates. The optimization of architectural data density and the integration between data contribute to finalize a 3D territorial database predisposed to the architectural modelling of volumes and scenarios of structural instability of the military ruins, defining a virtual framework of widespread knowledge for the historical conservation and urban prevention of the fortified systemDe Marco, R.; Galasso, F.; Malusardi, C. (2020). Digital documentation of fortified urban routes in Pavia (Italy): territorial databases and structural models for the preservation of military ruins. Editorial Universitat Politècnica de València. 349-356. https://doi.org/10.4995/FORTMED2020.2020.11518OCS34935

Non-coding RNAs: a key to future personalized molecular therapy?

Continual discoveries on non-coding RNA (ncRNA) have changed the landscape of human genetics and molecular biology. Over the past ten years it has become clear that ncRNAs are involved in many physiological cellular processes and contribute to molecular alterations in pathological conditions. Several classes of ncRNAs, such as small interfering RNAs, microRNAs, PIWI-associated RNAs, small nucleolar RNAs and transcribed ultra-conserved regions, are implicated in cancer, heart diseases, immune disorders, and neurodegenerative and metabolic diseases. ncRNAs have a fundamental role in gene regulation and, given their molecular nature, they are thus both emerging therapeutic targets and innovative intervention tools. Next-generation sequencing technologies (for example SOLiD or Genome Analyzer) are having a substantial role in the high-throughput detection of ncRNAs. Tools for non-invasive diagnostics now include monitoring body fluid concentrations of ncRNAs, and new clinical opportunities include silencing and inhibition of ncRNAs or their replacement and re-activation. Here we review recent progress on our understanding of the biological functions of human ncRNAs and their clinical potential

Beyond and through Law: For an Istituting Self-reflexive Critique of Violence. A Reflection from the Italian Edition of «Recht Und Gewalt» by Christoph Menke

En este trabajo, partiendo de la tematización de la relación genealógica, paradójicamente inseparable, entre derecho y violencia, pretendo articular, desde la perspectiva de una ontología jurídico-política institucional, una crítica autorreflexiva instituyente de la violencia. En la primera sección, me centraré en la tesis benjaminiana sobre la acepción de la violencia del derecho, tal y como la recoge Christoph Menke en Law and Violence. Después de haber establecido, en el segundo apartado, algunas coordenadas metodológicas útiles para definir el enfoque de la ontología jurídico-política que considero más adecuado para la tematización de la relación entre derecho y violencia, en el tercer apartado, analizaré, a través de un estudio de la Oresteia y el Edipo Rey, el pasodel “derecho autoritario” al “derecho autónomo” (Menke, 2018, p. 33), es decir, la experiencia trágica del derecho. En la sección cuatro y cinco, abordaré algunas propuestas filosóficas específicas que han intentado proponer, aunque desde perspectivas y contextoshistóricos muy diferentes y con semánticas muy distintas, un “alivio” filosófico de la violencia del derecho. La primera crítica que consideraré es la que Simone Weil, en polémica con el personalismo francés, dirige al concepto de persona, es decir, al sujetoportador del derecho. En el tránsito hacia lo impersonal weiliano, comienza a configurarse un paradigma destituyente (Esposito, 2021) de la ontología jurídico-política. Desde mi punto de vista, este paradigma encuentra su intérprete más radical en Giorgio Agamben. El paradigma destituyente, si bien permite pensar de manera radical el “más allá” del derecho, corre el riesgo de desembocar en una forma de nihilismo político. En un segundo lugar, partiendo de las dos diferentes lecturas de Ante la ley de Kafka propuestaspor Giorgio Agamben y Jacques Derrida, y gracias a una valoración más general de sus filosofías, intentaré destacar la necesidad filosófica de una crítica de la violencia que no se quede enredada en el intento radical pero estéril de superar definitivamentela ley en nombre de una justicia completamente “superior” y que nunca podrá realizarse plenamente, sino que se base en una autorreflexión del derecho que, yendo a la génesis política de sus procedimientos, deconstruya la violencia propria del derecho, sin pretender eliminarla por completo. Finalmente más allá y a través del derecho es la formulación mediante la cual una ontología jurídico-política instituyente se propone criticar la violencia del derecho