Automatic Network Adaptation for Ultra-Low Uniform-Precision Quantization

Uniform-precision neural network quantization has gained popularity since it simplifies densely packed arithmetic unit for high computing capability. However, it ignores heterogeneous sensitivity to the impact of quantization errors across the layers, resulting in sub-optimal inference accuracy. This work proposes a novel neural architecture search called neural channel expansion that adjusts the network structure to alleviate accuracy degradation from ultra-low uniform-precision quantization. The proposed method selectively expands channels for the quantization sensitive layers while satisfying hardware constraints (e.g., FLOPs, PARAMs). Based on in-depth analysis and experiments, we demonstrate that the proposed method can adapt several popular networks channels to achieve superior 2-bit quantization accuracy on CIFAR10 and ImageNet. In particular, we achieve the best-to-date Top-1/Top-5 accuracy for 2-bit ResNet50 with smaller FLOPs and the parameter size.Comment: Accepted as a full paper by the TinyML Research Symposium 202

The mortality of patients with Parkinson's disease with deep brain stimulation

BackgroundDeep brain stimulation (DBS) of the subthalamic nucleus (STN) is effective in improving motor function in patients with Parkinson's disease (PD). This study aimed to investigate mortality associated with bilateral STN DBS in patients with PD and to assess the factors associated with mortality and causes of death after DBS.MethodsWe reviewed the medical records of 257 patients with PD who underwent bilateral STN DBS at the Movement Disorder Center at Seoul National University Hospital between March 2005 and November 2018. Patients were evaluated preoperatively, at 3, 6, and 12 months after surgery and annually thereafter. The cause and date of death were obtained from interviews with caregivers or from medical certificates at the last follow-up.ResultsOf the 257 patients with PD, 48 patients (18.7%) died, with a median time of death of 11.2 years after surgery. Pneumonia was the most common cause of death. Older age of disease onset, preoperative falling score while on medication, and higher preoperative total levodopa equivalent daily dose were associated with a higher risk of mortality in time-dependent Cox regression analysis.ConclusionThese results confirm the mortality outcome of STN DBS in patients with advanced PD

Development of Multi-Item Air Quality Monitoring System Based on Real-Time Data

Many air pollutants are inhaled by human breathing, increasing the prevalence of respiratory disease and even mortality. With the recent COVID-19 issue, the number of air pollutants affecting humans is demands further investigation. However, there are not many adequate air measuring devices that can cover a variety of air pollutants. In this study, the developed air measurement system is able to measure sixteen air pollutants (PM10, PM2.5, PM4.0, PM1.0, CO2, CH4, temperature, humidity, VOCs, O2, H2S, NH3, SO2, CO, O3, NO2) in real time. The developed ‘multi-item air quality monitoring system’ can measure sixteen air pollutants in real time and transmit them to the server and the smartphone application at the same time. It was developed to reduce air pollutant damage to humans by emergency alerts using the smartphone application. The development system is composed of hardware development (measurement device) and software development (smartphone application, server). To verify the reliability of the developed equipment, a comparative test, temperature–humidity accuracy test, and operating temperature test were conducted. In the comparative test, difference ratios of ±5% for PM10, ±6% for PM2.5, ±4% for O3, ±5% for NO2, ±7% for CO, and ±7% for SO2 were found compared to the professional measuring devices. The temperature and humidity accuracy test result showed high reliability at ±1% and humidity ± 2%. The result of the operating temperature test showed that there was no problem in normal operation, However, further tests including the long-term comparative test and the closed chamber test will be carried out for all sensors. Additional work including a long-term test for more clear reliability of the device and closed chamber accuracy test for all 16-item sensors, data acquisition rate, and data transmit rate are in progress for commercializing the device

Review of Microplastic Distribution, Toxicity, Analysis Methods, and Removal Technologies

Microplastic contamination has become a problem, as plastic production has increased worldwide. Microplastics are plastics with particles of less than 5 mm and are absorbed through soil, water, atmosphere, and living organisms and finally affect human health. However, information on the distribution, toxicity, analytical methods, and removal techniques for microplastics is insufficient. For clear microplastic analytical methods and removal technologies, this article includes the following: (1) The distribution and contamination pathways of microplastics worldwide are reviewed. (2) The health effects and toxicity of microplastics were researched. (3) The sampling, pretreatment, and analytical methods of microplastics were all reviewed through various related articles. (4) The various removal techniques of microplastics were categorized by wastewater treatment process, physical treatment, chemical treatment, and biological treatment. This paper will be of great help to microplastic analysis and removal techniques

Basins of distinct asymptotic states in the cyclically competing mobile five species game

We study the dynamics of cyclic competing mobile five species on spatially extended systems originated from asymmetric initial populations and investigate the basins for the three possible asymptotic states, coexistence of all species, existences of only two independent species, and the extinction. Through extensive numerical simulations, we find a prosperous dependence on initial conditions for species biodiversity. In particular, for fixed given equal densities of two relevant species, we find that only five basins for the existence of two independent species exist and they are spirally entangled for high mobility. A basin of coexistence is outbreaking when the mobility parameter is decreased through a critical value and surrounded by the other five basins. For fixed given equal densities of two independent species, however, we find that basin structures are not spirally entangled. Further, final states of two independent species are totally different. For all possible considerations, the extinction state is not witnessed which is verified by the survival probability. To provide the validity of basin structures from lattice simulations, we analyze the system in mean-field manners. Consequently, results on macroscopic levels are matched to direct lattice simulations for high mobility regimes. These findings provide a good insight into the fundamental issue of the biodiversity among many species than previous cases

Detection of Microplastics by Various Types of Whiteleg Shrimp (<i>Litopenaeus vannamei</i>) in the Korean Sea

Microplastic pollution in the ocean has a major impact on marine organisms, including digestive system damage and reduced growth and fertility. This study investigated the amount, size, color, type, and presence of heads and intestines of microplastics by size in Litopenaeus vannamei, a type of marine organism. Microplastic analysis was performed using FTIR and digital microscopy. The number of microplastics by the size of the shrimp ranged from 1.73 to 3.8 MPs per 10 g, and the microplastic size of less than 100 μm was 77–92%, with blue showing the highest ratio. As for the type of plastic, PE and PP showed the highest ratio, and PET, PS, nylon, and PVC were found. Microplastics were found to be 11.83 MPs/10 g for heads and intestines and 3.16 MPs/10 g for samples without heads and intestines. This study adds to evidence for the presence of high levels of microplastics in the intestines and heads of shrimp. It also enhances our understanding of the need for efficient plastic waste management in the ocean and the impact of microplastics on marine biota

Detection of Microplastics by Various Types of Whiteleg Shrimp (Litopenaeus vannamei) in the Korean Sea

Microplastic pollution in the ocean has a major impact on marine organisms, including digestive system damage and reduced growth and fertility. This study investigated the amount, size, color, type, and presence of heads and intestines of microplastics by size in Litopenaeus vannamei, a type of marine organism. Microplastic analysis was performed using FTIR and digital microscopy. The number of microplastics by the size of the shrimp ranged from 1.73 to 3.8 MPs per 10 g, and the microplastic size of less than 100 &mu;m was 77&ndash;92%, with blue showing the highest ratio. As for the type of plastic, PE and PP showed the highest ratio, and PET, PS, nylon, and PVC were found. Microplastics were found to be 11.83 MPs/10 g for heads and intestines and 3.16 MPs/10 g for samples without heads and intestines. This study adds to evidence for the presence of high levels of microplastics in the intestines and heads of shrimp. It also enhances our understanding of the need for efficient plastic waste management in the ocean and the impact of microplastics on marine biota

Resolving Journaling of Journal Anomaly in Android I/O: Multi-Version B-tree with Lazy Split

Misaligned interaction between SQLite and EXT4 of the Android I/O stack yields excessive random writes. In this work, we developed multi-version B-tree with lazy split (LS-MVBT) to effectively address the Journaling of Journal anomaly in Android I/O. LS-MVBT is carefully crafted to minimize the write traffic caused by fsync() call of SQLite. The contribution of LS-MVBT consists of two key elements: (i) Multi-version B-tree effectively reduces ???the number of fsync() calls??? via weaving the crash recovery information within the database itself instead of maintaining a separate file, and (ii) it significantly reduces ???the number of dirty pages to be synchronized in a single fsync() call??? via optimizing the multi-version B-tree for Android I/O. The optimization of multi-version B-tree consists of three elements: lazy split, metadata embedding, and disabling sibling redistribution. We implemented LS-MVBT in Samsung Galaxy S4 with Android 4.3 Jelly Bean. The results are impressive. For SQLite, the LS-MVBT exhibits 70% (704 insertions/sec vs. 416 insertions/sec), and 1,220% performance improvement against WAL mode and TRUNCATE mode (704 insertions/sec vs. 55 insertions/sec), respectively

IoT-based smart garbage system for efficient food waste management

Owing to a paradigm shift toward Internet of Things (IoT), researches into IoT services have been conducted in a wide range of fields. As a major application field of IoT, waste management has become one such issue. The absence of efficient waste management has caused serious environmental problems and cost issues. Therefore, in this paper, an IoT-based smart garbage system (SGS) is proposed to reduce the amount of food waste. In an SGS, battery-based smart garbage bins (SGBs) exchange information with each other using wireless mesh networks, and a router and server collect and analyze the information for service provisioning. Furthermore, the SGS includes various IoT techniques considering user convenience and increases the battery lifetime through two types of energy-efficient operations of the SGBs: stand-alone operation and cooperation-based operation. The proposed SGS had been operated as a pilot project in Gangnam district, Seoul, Republic of Korea, for a one-year period. The experiment showed that the average amount of food waste could be reduced by 33%