118 research outputs found
Inherent Weight Normalization in Stochastic Neural Networks
Multiplicative stochasticity such as Dropout improves the robustness and
generalizability of deep neural networks. Here, we further demonstrate that
always-on multiplicative stochasticity combined with simple threshold neurons
are sufficient operations for deep neural networks. We call such models Neural
Sampling Machines (NSM). We find that the probability of activation of the NSM
exhibits a self-normalizing property that mirrors Weight Normalization, a
previously studied mechanism that fulfills many of the features of Batch
Normalization in an online fashion. The normalization of activities during
training speeds up convergence by preventing internal covariate shift caused by
changes in the input distribution. The always-on stochasticity of the NSM
confers the following advantages: the network is identical in the inference and
learning phases, making the NSM suitable for online learning, it can exploit
stochasticity inherent to a physical substrate such as analog non-volatile
memories for in-memory computing, and it is suitable for Monte Carlo sampling,
while requiring almost exclusively addition and comparison operations. We
demonstrate NSMs on standard classification benchmarks (MNIST and CIFAR) and
event-based classification benchmarks (N-MNIST and DVS Gestures). Our results
show that NSMs perform comparably or better than conventional artificial neural
networks with the same architecture
Long-term persistence and adherence on urate-lowering treatment can be maintained in primary care-5-year follow-up of a proof-of-concept study
Objectives: To evaluate the persistence and adherence on urate-lowering treatment (ULT) in primary care 5 years after an initial nurse-led treatment of gout.
Methods: One hundred gout patients initiated on up-titrated ULT between March and July 2010 were sent a questionnaire that elicited information on current ULT, reasons for discontinuation of ULT if applicable, medication adherence and generic and disease-specific quality-of-life measures in 2015. They were invited for one visit at which height and weight were measured and blood was collected for serum uric acid measurement.
Results: Seventy-five patients, mean age 68.13 years ( s . d . 10.07) and disease duration 19.44 years ( s . d . 13), returned completed questionnaires. The 5-year persistence on ULT was 90.7% (95% CI 81.4, 91.6) and 85.3% of responders self-reported taking ULT ⩾6 days/week. Of the 65 patients who attended the study visit, the mean serum uric acid was 292.8 μmol/l ( s . d . 97.2).
Conclusion: An initial treatment that includes individualized patient education and involvement in treatment decisions results in excellent adherence and persistence on ULT >4 years after the responsibility of treatment is taken over by the patient's general practitioner, suggesting that this model of gout management should be widely adopted
Neural Sampling Machine with Stochastic Synapse allows Brain-like Learning and Inference
Many real-world mission-critical applications require continual online
learning from noisy data and real-time decision making with a defined
confidence level. Probabilistic models and stochastic neural networks can
explicitly handle uncertainty in data and allow adaptive learning-on-the-fly,
but their implementation in a low-power substrate remains a challenge. Here, we
introduce a novel hardware fabric that implements a new class of stochastic NN
called Neural-Sampling-Machine that exploits stochasticity in synaptic
connections for approximate Bayesian inference. Harnessing the inherent
non-linearities and stochasticity occurring at the atomic level in emerging
materials and devices allows us to capture the synaptic stochasticity occurring
at the molecular level in biological synapses. We experimentally demonstrate
in-silico hybrid stochastic synapse by pairing a ferroelectric field-effect
transistor -based analog weight cell with a two-terminal stochastic selector
element. Such a stochastic synapse can be integrated within the
well-established crossbar array architecture for compute-in-memory. We
experimentally show that the inherent stochastic switching of the selector
element between the insulator and metallic state introduces a multiplicative
stochastic noise within the synapses of NSM that samples the conductance states
of the FeFET, both during learning and inference. We perform network-level
simulations to highlight the salient automatic weight normalization feature
introduced by the stochastic synapses of the NSM that paves the way for
continual online learning without any offline Batch Normalization. We also
showcase the Bayesian inferencing capability introduced by the stochastic
synapse during inference mode, thus accounting for uncertainty in data. We
report 98.25%accuracy on standard image classification task as well as
estimation of data uncertainty in rotated samples
Estimation of vitamin D level in low backache cases and their outcome after treatment with vitamin D
Background: Vitamin D has a significant role to play in bone metabolism and neuromuscular function. Several researchers have indicated that vitamin D deficiency may be possibly related to chronic musculoskeletal pain including chronic low back pain (CLBP). Objectives of this present study were conducted to rule out the vitamin D deficiency in a patient can also be a cause of low backache other than various spinal disorders like PIVD, spondylolisthesis etc. Methods: A total of 50 patients, of any age who visited the Department of Orthopedics outpatient/Emergency, with chief complaint of low backache without any low backache disease like PIVD and spondylolisthesis etc. were thoroughly interviewed and examined for any concomitant pathological disease of spine. Patient’s Blood sample of about 5 ml with syringe of 10 cc. were taken and the serum vitamin D level was assayed by “direct competitive chemiluminescence immunoassay” (CLIA). Results: Out of 50 patients of low backache and vitamin D deficiency, 33 patients have good outcome in their pain after getting treatment in form of Vitamin D. Conclusions: We concluded that the vitamin D plays a major role in low backache and after treatment there is significant improvement in low backache.
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