FireNN: Neural Networks Reliability Evaluation on Hybrid Platforms

The growth of neural networks complexity has led to adopt of hardware-accelerators to cope with the computational power required by the new architectures. The possibility to adapt the network for different platforms enhanced the interests of safety-critical applications. The reliability evaluation of neural networks are still premature and requires platforms to measure the safety standards required by mission-critical applications. For this reason, the interest in studying the reliability of neural networks is growing. We propose a new approach for evaluating the resiliency of neural networks by using hybrid platforms. The approach relies on the reconfigurable hardware for emulating the target hardware platform and performing the fault injection process. The main advantage of the proposed approach is to involve the on-hardware execution of the neural network in the reliability analysis without any intrusiveness into the network algorithm and addressing specific fault models. The implementation of FireNN, the platform based on the proposed approach, is described in the paper. Experimental analyses are performed using fault injection on AlexNet. The analyses are carried out using the FireNN platform and the results are compared with the outcome of traditional software-level evaluations. Results are discussed considering the insight into the hardware level achieved using FireNN

On the Analysis of Radiation-induced Failures in the AXI Interconnect Module

Due to the increasing demand for high performance in embedded systems, devices such as SRAM-based programmable devices are becoming an appealing solution to reach high performance with limited costs. However, SRAM-based programmable devices are subjected to various sources of radiation-induced faults that affect their reliability, such as ionizing radiation and particles, even at sea-level. In this paper, we evaluate the reliability of the interconnection module, implemented on the programmable hardware, against radiation-induced faults in the configuration layer. To do so, we performed a fault injection campaign in order to emulate the radiation-induced effects impacting the configuration memory of AP-SoC Zynq 7000, specifically targeting the configuration memory section programming the interconnection module implemented on the programmable logic. This interconnection module is a crucial element for a wide range of applications and mitigation techniques such as hardware-accelerated designs, Dynamic Partial Reconfiguration, or Triple Modular Redundancy; especially if they are adopted to achieve high performance, high bandwidth and high reliability. The fault injection results have been analyzed and classified accordingly with the effect observed on the processor-system side in terms of availability and fault model affecting data computed by cores implemented on the programmable logic side

On the evaluation of SEU effects on AXI interconnect within AP-SoCs

G-Programmable System-on-Chips offering the union of a processor system with a programmable hardware gave rise to applications that choose hardware acceleration to offload and parallelize computationally demanding tasks. Due to flexibility and performance they provide at low cost, these devices are also appealing for several applications in avionics, aerospace and automotive sectors, where reliability is the main concern. In particular, the interconnection architecture, and especially the AXI Interconnection for FPGA-accelerated applications, plays a critical role in these systems. This paper presents a reliability analysis of the AXI Interconnect IP Core implemented on Zynq-7000 AP-SoC against SEUs in the configuration memory of the programmable logic. The analysis has been conducted performing a fault injection campaign on the specific section of the configuration memory implementing the IP Core under test, which has been implemented within a benchmark design. The results are analyzed and classified, highlighting the criticality of the AXI Interconnect IP Core as a point of failure, especially for SEU-hardened hardware accelerator relying on mitigation techniques based on fine-grained and coarse-grained replication

A cross-sectional study on prevalence and predictors of burnout among a sample of pharmacists employed in pharmacies in Central Italy

Burnout is defined as an occupational phenomenon linked to chronic workplace stress that has not been successfully managed and included among the factors influencing health status or contact with health services. Although several studies were performed for assessing this phenomenon, there is a lack of data on the prevalence of burnout and associated predictors, due to different definitions of the syndrome and heterogeneity of assessment methods. One of the well-known evidences on burnout is related to the highest risk professions, which include policemen, firemen, teachers, psychologists, medical students, nurses, physicians, and other health professionals, such as pharmacists. Objective. The aims of the present study were to (1) assess the occurrence of burnout syndrome among a sample of pharmacists employed in public and private pharmacies located in Rome province (Latium Region; central Italy); (2) evaluate the role of some potential predictors for the development of the syndrome. Materials and Methods. A questionnaire elaborated ad hoc was administered online to 2,000 members of the Association of Professional Pharmacists of Rome and its province and employed in public or private pharmacies. The questionnaire included the 14-item Shirom-Melamed Burnout Measure (SMBM) tool and questions on demographic characteristics and working conditions. Results. Physical exhaustion was the burnout dimension with the highest score; besides, approximately 11% of the studied pharmacists were categorized as having clinically relevant burnout levels (≥4.40). Several of the investigated variables significantly influenced the single burnout dimensions at the univariate analyses; multivariate analyses demonstrated that alcohol consumption and workplace location have a significant independent role on the overall SMBM index, while working time significantly influences clinically relevant burnout level. Conclusions. The results revealed that pharmacists are at risk of burnout, and thus, it is necessary to perform specific preventive intervention for managing this occupational threat

Carrier de-smearing of photoluminescence images on silicon wafers using the continuity equation

Photoluminescence images of silicon wafers with non-uniform lifetime distribution are often smeared by lateral carrier diffusion. We propose a simple method to de-smear the photoluminescence images by applying the two-dimensional continuity equation. We demonstrate the method on simulated silicon wafers and measured photoluminescence-based lifetime image of multicrystalline silicon wafer. The de-smearing is very effective in recovering the actual lifetime for wafers with gradual changes in lifetime but is less effective around localised recombination centres with high contrast such as grain boundaries and dislocations. The method is sensitive to measurement noise; therefore, the implementation of suitable noise filtering is often critical.This work was supported by the Australian Research Council and the Australian Renewable Energy Agency

Blood Profile of Rabbits Infected with Eimeria magna

Abstract. The research aimed at determining the blood profile of local rabbits infected with different dose of Eimeria magna oocysts. This research used 45 male rabbits with the age of 4 month old, range from 1.5 to 1.8 kg, clinically healthy and free from coccidiosis. The rabbits were randomly divided into 3 groups, group I as control (K-0) was given 1.0 ml distilled water/rabbit orally, group II (K-10) was infected with single dose of 10x106 oocysts of E. magna/rabbit orally, and group III (K-20) was infected with single dose of 20x106 oocysts of E. magna/rabbit orally. After infection, rabbits were examined for clinical signs, body weight and temperature daily for five days. Blood samples were drawn from the vena marginalis to examine the number of erythrocytes, hemoglobine, packed cell volume (PCV), leukocytes and its deferent, total protein plasma (TPP) and fibrinogen, activities of alkaline phosphatase (ALP), alanine amino transferase (ALT), and aspartat aminotransferase (AST). The data were statistically analyzed by two-way anova using factorial design. The results of this research showed that the infection of E. magna in rabbits caused fever and weight loss, accompanied by normochromic microcytic anemia (at doses of 10x106 oocysts), macrocytic normochromic (at doses of 20x106 oocysts), leukocytosis, lymphocytosis, hiperfibrinogenemia, and increased of ALP activity. There were correlations between clinical symptoms and blood profile of rabbits infected with E. magna for five days. The higher the dose and the longer the infection of E. magna in rabbits caused weight loss, increased body temperature, MCV (microcytic to macrocytic), leukocyte, fibrinogen and ALP activity. These findings were useful to have a better understanding of pathophysiology of E. magna infection in  rabbits.Key Words: Eimeria magna, oocyst, rabbit, blood profileA Hana et al/Animal Production 13(3):185-190 (2011

Analysis and Mitigation of Soft-Errors on High Performance Embedded GPUs

Multiprocessor system-on-chip such as embedded GPUs are becoming very popular in safety-critical applications, such as autonomous and semi-autonomous vehicles. However, these devices can suffer from the effects of soft-errors, such as those produced by radiation effects. These effects are able to generate unpredictable misbehaviors. Fault tolerance oriented to multi-threaded software introduces severe performance degradations due to the redundancy, voting and correction threads operations. In this paper, we propose a new fault injection environment for NVIDIA GPGPU devices and a fault tolerance approach based on error detection and correction threads executed during data transfer operations on embedded GPUs. The fault injection environment is capable of automatically injecting faults into the instructions at SASS level by instrumenting the CUDA binary executable file. The mitigation approach is based on concurrent error detection threads running simultaneously with the memory stream device to host data transfer operations. With several benchmark applications, we evaluate the impact of softerrors classifying Silent Data Corruption, Detection, Unrecoverable Error and Hang. Finally, the proposed mitigation approach has been validated by soft-error fault injection campaigns on an NVIDIA Pascal Architecture GPU controlled by Quad-Core A57 ARM processor (JETSON TX2) demonstrating an advantage of more than 37% with respect to state of the art solution

Blood Profile of Rabbits Infected with Eimeria Magna

. The research aimed at determining the blood profile of local rabbits infected with different dose of Eimeria magna oocysts. This research used 45 male rabbits with the age of 4 month old, range from 1.5 to 1.8 kg, clinically healthy and free from coccidiosis. The rabbits were randomly divided into 3 groups, group I as control (K-0) was given 1.0 ml distilled water/rabbit orally, group II (K-10) was infected with single dose of 10x106 oocysts of E. magna/rabbit orally, and group III (K-20) was infected with single dose of 20x106 oocysts of E. magna/rabbit orally. After infection, rabbits were examined for clinical signs, body weight and temperature daily for five days. Blood samples were drawn from the vena marginalis to examine the number of erythrocytes, hemoglobine, packed cell volume (PCV), leukocytes and its deferent, total protein plasma (TPP) and fibrinogen, activities of alkaline phosphatase (ALP), alanine amino transferase (ALT), and aspartat aminotransferase (AST). The data were statistically analyzed by two-way anova using factorial design. The results of this research showed that the infection of E. magna in rabbits caused fever and weight loss, accompanied by normochromic microcytic anemia (at doses of 10x106 oocysts), macrocytic normochromic (at doses of 20x106 oocysts), leukocytosis, lymphocytosis, hiperfibrinogenemia, and increased of ALP activity. There were correlations between clinical symptoms and blood profile of rabbits infected with E. magna for five days. The higher the dose and the longer the infection of E. magna in rabbits caused weight loss, increased body temperature, MCV (microcytic to macrocytic), leukocyte, fibrinogen and ALP activity. These findings were useful to have a better understanding of pathophysiology of E. magna infection in rabbits

The Growth of Balinese Cows Which Getting Basic Ration of Spear Grass and Angsana Leaf Supplemented with Silk Tree Leaf

The study had been conducted to find out the growth of Balinese cows which getting basic ration of spear grass (Heteropogoncontortus) and Angsana leaf that had been supplemented with Silk tree leaf (Paraserianthes falcataria L.). The study was using complete randomized block design with 4 ration treatments and 3 times repetition. Each repetition was using three Balinese cows. The weight of cows being used were in the range of: 83-181 kg. Basic ration being given was arranged based on the percentage of dry ingredients namely: 80% of spear grass + 20% of Angsana leaf (A), 80% of spear grass + 20% of Angsana leaf + 10% of silk tree leaf (B), 80% of spear grass + 20% of Angsana leaf + 15% of silk tree leaf (C), and  80% of spear grass + 20% of Angsana leaf + 20% of silk tree leaf (D), The variables being measured were: dry ingredients consumption, nutrients consumption, body weight gain and Feed Conversion Ratio. The result of study showed that with administration of 20% of silk tree leaf in basic ration was significantly improving (P< 0.05) the consumption of dry ingredients and nutrient, and daily weight gain. The result of study concluded that with administration of silk tree leaf in basic ration of spear grass and Angsana leaf increased the growth of Balinese ox

Nutrient Digestion and Body Weight Gain of Balinese Cows Getting Basic Ration of Spear Grass and Rosewood Leaves Supplemented with Falcata Tree Leaves

A study had been conducted to find out nutrient digestion and body weight gain of Balinese cows getting a basic ration of spear grass and Rosewood leaves supplemented with Falcata tree leaves. The study was using complete randomized block design with 4 ration treatments and 3 times repetition. Each repetition was using three Balinese cows. The weights of cows being used were in the range of 83-181 kg. Basic ration being given was arranged based on the percentage of dry ingredients namely: 80% of spear grass + 20% of rosewood leaves (A), 80% of spear grass + 20% of rosewood leaves + 10% of falcata tree leaves (B), 80% of spear grass + 20% of rosewood leaves + 15% of falcata tree leaves (C), and  80% of spear grass + 20% of rosewood leaves + 20% of falcata tree leaves (D), The variables being measured were: nutrient digestion and body weight gain. The result of the study showed that with the administration of 20% falcata tree leaves in the basic ration, it differed significantly (P<0.05) in increasing nutrient digestion and daily weight gain. The result of the study concluded that with the administration of falcata tree leaves in the basic ration of spear grass and rosewood leaves capable to increase nutrient digestion so that bacteria would optimally increase the utilization of fodder and led to a high weight gain of Balinese cows.&nbsp