An Investigation into Neuromorphic ICs using Memristor-CMOS Hybrid Circuits

The memristance of a memristor depends on the amount of charge flowing through it and when current stops flowing through it, it remembers the state. Thus, memristors are extremely suited for implementation of memory units. Memristors find great application in neuromorphic circuits as it is possible to couple memory and processing, compared to traditional Von-Neumann digital architectures where memory and processing are separate. Neural networks have a layered structure where information passes from one layer to another and each of these layers have the possibility of a high degree of parallelism. CMOS-Memristor based neural network accelerators provide a method of speeding up neural networks by making use of this parallelism and analog computation. In this project we have conducted an initial investigation into the current state of the art implementation of memristor based programming circuits. Various memristor programming circuits and basic neuromorphic circuits have been simulated. The next phase of our project revolved around designing basic building blocks which can be used to design neural networks. A memristor bridge based synaptic weighting block, a operational transconductor based summing block were initially designed. We then designed activation function blocks which are used to introduce controlled non-linearity. Blocks for a basic rectified linear unit and a novel implementation for tan-hyperbolic function have been proposed. An artificial neural network has been designed using these blocks to validate and test their performance. We have also used these fundamental blocks to design basic layers of Convolutional Neural Networks. Convolutional Neural Networks are heavily used in image processing applications. The core convolutional block has been designed and it has been used as an image processing kernel to test its performance.Comment: Bachelor's thesi

PV Output forecasting based on weather classification, SVM and ANN

211-217The expansion in solar power is expected to be dramatic soon. A number of solar parks with high capacities are being setup to harness the potential of this renewable resource. However, the variability of solar power remains an important issue for grid integration of solar PV power plants. Changing weather conditions have affected the PV output. Thus, developing methods for accurately forecasting solar PV output is essential for enabling large-scale PV deployment. This paper has proposed a model for forecasting PV output based on weather classification, using a solar PV plant in Maharashtra, India, as the sample system. The input data is first classified using RBF-SVM (Radial Basis Function Support Vector Machines) into three types based on weather conditions, namely, sunny, rainy and cloudy. Then, the neural network model corresponding to that weather type has been applied to forecast the solar PV output. The obtained results for the overall model is studied for its effectiveness and are compared with existing research

Modelling Thermal Insulation Effect of the Interface between Steel Deck and Concrete Slab in Composite Slab Systems in Fire Conditions

Steel-concrete composite slabs are gaining importance, due to the ease of construction without heavy lifting machinery and also the performance of steel decking as a permanent formwork and external reinforcement. At elevated temperatures, steelconcrete composite slabs experience debonding of steel deck from the concrete slab. This debonding creates a layer of air which offers thermal resistance to the rise of temperature in the concrete slab. There is very limited numerical or analytical work in the literature that provides a rational framework for thermal resistance offered by this intermediate layer. Experiment data to support the modelling research is also very sparse. As a consequence of de-bonding of steel deck from the concrete slab, the heat transfer from the steel deck to the concrete slab is through radiation and conduction of the intermediate air layer. Preliminary structural analyses of the composite floor systems reported in the literature showed that a proper temperature calculation of the steel deck as well as concrete slabs is of great importance for the thermal gradient of the slab and thus for global load redistribution. The temperatures have a simultaneous effect on mechanical behaviour; and also the mechanical behaviour has a direct effect on temperatures, which can be understood through a fully coupled thermal-stress analysis. ABAQUS software is used for performing numerical simulations. However, there are certain limitations while defining the parameters of radiation. The present work addresses a way to include the radiation effect due to debonding of steel deck in steel concrete composite slab, under standard fire conditions. The factors influencing the radiative heat transfer are studied in detail. As a first step, an uncoupled heat transfer analysis has been performed over a section of steel-concrete composite slab taking into account the radiation and conduction properties using interface elements. The radiation properties are accounted for, using equivalent conductance for the interface elements as a function of temperature. The concrete slab, the interface element and the steel deck are modelled using DC2D4 elements. Material properties for steel and concrete are adopted from Eurocode

Nurturing a Thriving Information Systems Discipline: A Call to Action

While the aspiration for the IS discipline\u27s bright future is a shared objective, there is a controversy about what are the fundamental challenges ahead let alone how to approach them. This panel addresses the question of what should we do to nurture a thriving IS discipline? Opinions regarding how to solidify the position of the IS discipline can be classified into five interrelated clusters: research-oriented approaches, teaching-oriented approaches, practice-oriented approaches, scholarship-oriented approaches, and organization-oriented approaches. Building on crowdsourcing within the IS community to inform a panel of senior scholars, we will engage in a debate about possible approaches to nurture and invigorate the IS discipline in the coming decade. Overall, we aim to inspire and spark grassroots-based collective action in pursuit of thriving IS scholarship. At minimum, we hope to stimulate new insights about the desired and possible futures of the IS discipline, and the instrumental steps to realize them

Association of clinical features, comorbidities and laboratory profile with outcomes among dengue patients admitted in a tertiary care hospital, Delhi NCR

Background: Dengue fever is an endemic disease across multiple countries. Dengue infection results in a wide spectrum of non-specific clinical manifestations with unpredictable clinical course and outcome. Objective of the study was to understand the association of different clinical features, comorbidities and laboratory profile with outcomes (ICU use, ventilation use and blood transfusion) among dengue patients admitted in a tertiary care hospital in Delhi, National Capital Region.Methods This cross-sectional study included 75 dengue patients with fever <1 week confirmed based on NS-1 antigen and/or IgM antibody positivity. Descriptive analysis was used.Results: Gender was not significantly associated with the outcomes. The duration of fever was significantly higher among those with ICU use (median: 6 versus 4 days; p=0.005), ventilator use (median: 5.5 versus 4.0 days; p=0.049] and blood transfusion (median: 6 versus 4 days; p=0.013). Dengue patients with co-morbidities (diabetes, hypertension, or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease) or co-infection had a significantly higher odds of the outcomes. The platelet level was significantly lower while liver enzymes were significantly higher among those with the outcomes.Conclusions: The clinical features, comorbidities and laboratory profile can help in identifying critical patients for ICU admission and timely intervention to improve outcome

Study of LV functions in patients of subclinical hypothyroidism in patients coming to rural medical college of Sub-Himalayan region of India

Background:Subclinical hypothyroidism (SCH) is a common disorder and has been implicated in increased cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. Therefore, it is important to study the effect of SCH on cardiac morphology and function. Thus, present study titled “Study of LV functions in patients of subclinical hypothyroidism in patients coming to rural medical of sub-Himalayan region of India” was conducted in the department of medicine, Rajinder Prasad government medical Tanda over a period of three years from December, 2010 to November, 2013 to study left ventricular function in subclinical hypothyroidism.Methods: The study was conducted in the department of medicine, Rajinder Prasad government medical Tanda over a period of three years from December, 2010 to November, 2013 to study left ventricular function in subclinical hypothyroidism. The data was analysed using computer software Epi-info version 6.0 and SPSS version 12.0 for Windows. Descriptive characteristics were presented as percentages for quantitative variables including measurement of thyroid hormones and ejection fraction. Mean and standard deviation were reported.Results:Diastolic parameters were markedly altered, mainly isovolumic relaxation time, which was increased and reduction of E/A wave ratio (1.Conclusions:Implication for echocardiography in SCH patients observed were that early recognition of silent diastolic dysfunction can be done. We can institute L-thyroxinee therapy which has been found to reverse diastolic dysfunction of heart along with improvement in lipid levels, decreased systemic vascular resistance, diastolic hypertension and coagulation profile. SCH, invariably affects heart and sooner or later and leads to diastolic dysfunction. Early recognition by echocardiography and then treatment with L-thyroxinee is indicated.

What patients see online: assessing the online identities of Pennsylvania dermatologists

Introduction: Patients use the internet to search for health-related information. We sought to characterize the information that patients find when searching for dermatologists on Google. Methods: The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Physician Comparable Downloadable File was utilized to identify all Medicare-participating dermatologists practicing in Pennsylvania (PA). A custom Google-based search engine was used to search each dermatologist. Up to the top 10 results for each physician were then sorted into: (1) physician, hospital, or healthcare system, (2) third-party, (3) social media, (4) academic journal articles, or (5) other. Results: Within the CMS, 519 health care providers (53.9% male, 46.1% female) self-identified as dermatologists practicing in PA. At least one search result was obtained for each physician (4,963 total search results). About 30.6% (1,519) search results were hospital, health system, or physician-controlled websites, and 26.6% (1,318) were third-party websites (1,318; 26.6%). Social media websites accounted for 601 (12.1%) hits whereas peer-reviewed academic journal websites generated 135 (2.7%) results. One-way chi-square analysis showed domains were not randomly distributed across the five categories (P&lt;0.0001). Conclusion: Dermatologists should be better aware of their digital presence and the strategies to better control their online identity

Antibiotic prophylaxis in anterior skull‐base surgery: a survey of the North American Skull Base Society

Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/151867/1/alr22396.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/151867/2/alr22396_am.pd