Earthquake-Induced Building-Damage Mapping Using Explainable AI (XAI).

Building-damage mapping using remote sensing images plays a critical role in providing quick and accurate information for the first responders after major earthquakes. In recent years, there has been an increasing interest in generating post-earthquake building-damage maps automatically using different artificial intelligence (AI)-based frameworks. These frameworks in this domain are promising, yet not reliable for several reasons, including but not limited to the site-specific design of the methods, the lack of transparency in the AI-model, the lack of quality in the labelled image, and the use of irrelevant descriptor features in building the AI-model. Using explainable AI (XAI) can lead us to gain insight into identifying these limitations and therefore, to modify the training dataset and the model accordingly. This paper proposes the use of SHAP (Shapley additive explanation) to interpret the outputs of a multilayer perceptron (MLP)-a machine learning model-and analyse the impact of each feature descriptor included in the model for building-damage assessment to examine the reliability of the model. In this study, a post-event satellite image from the 2018 Palu earthquake was used. The results show that MLP can classify the collapsed and non-collapsed buildings with an overall accuracy of 84% after removing the redundant features. Further, spectral features are found to be more important than texture features in distinguishing the collapsed and non-collapsed buildings. Finally, we argue that constructing an explainable model would help to understand the model's decision to classify the buildings as collapsed and non-collapsed and open avenues to build a transferable AI model.

Students' perceptions of a new transitions of care elective course in the pharmacy curriculum.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: The purpose of the new transitions of care (TOC) elective to the pharmacy curriculum is to train pharmacy students to address TOC medication-related problems, assess students' knowledge and perceptions of the TOC pharmacist's role, and explore the impact on interest in post-graduate career planning. EDUCATIONAL ACTIVITY AND SETTING: Third-year pharmacy students were enrolled in the two-credit TOC elective course. The course was designed to include relevant TOC concepts and application of the Pharmacists' Patient Care Process. The pre- and post-assessment surveys were distributed at the beginning and end of the course by a staff administrator to eliminate survey bias. Students were asked to anonymously respond to nine survey questions using a five-point Likert scale (strongly disagree = 1, strongly agree = 5). FINDINGS: Ninety-two percent (n = 23) of the pharmacy students responded to the pre- and post-assessment surveys, and results were subsequently analyzed. Statistically significant responses existed to eight of nine questions regarding students' perceptions of increased knowledge of the TOC concepts and pharmacists' role, communication skills, confidence in providing comprehensive patient care, and interest in recommending the TOC elective course to their peers. There was interest in pursuing additional training opportunities, such as post-graduate residency or fellowship training, but the survey item was not statistically significant. SUMMARY: The TOC elective course provides an opportunity for pharmacy students to learn about the TOC pharmacist's role, improve knowledge on the TOC patient care process, develop practical skills, and engage with clinical pharmacists.

Why Do Men Accumulate Abdominal Visceral Fat?

Men have a higher tendency to accumulate abdominal visceral fat compared to pre-menopausal women. The accumulation of abdominal visceral fat in men, which is a strong independent predictor of mortality, is mainly due to the higher dietary fat uptake by their abdominal visceral fat. Since dietary fat is absorbed by the enterocytes and transported to the circulation in the forms of chylomicrons and very low density lipoproteins (VLDLs), it is crucial to understand how these lipoproteins are different between men and women. The chylomicrons in men are generally bigger in size and more in quantity than those in women. During the postprandial state, these chylomicrons congest the lamina propria and the low-pressure lymphatics. In this paper, we propose that this congestion predisposes the chylomicron triglycerides to hydrolysis by lipoprotein lipase (LPL). The liberated fatty acids are then stored by the nearby abdominal visceral adipocytes, leading to the accumulation of abdominal visceral fat. These mechanisms perhaps explain why men, through their bigger and higher production of chylomicrons, are more likely to accumulate abdominal visceral fat than pre-menopausal women. This accumulation eventually leads to belly enlargement, which confers men their apple-shaped body.