A Multi-Head Ensemble Multi-Task Learning Approach for Dynamical Computation Offloading

Computation offloading has become a popular solution to support computationally intensive and latency-sensitive applications by transferring computing tasks to mobile edge servers (MESs) for execution, which is known as mobile/multi-access edge computing (MEC). To improve the MEC performance, it is required to design an optimal offloading strategy that includes offloading decision (i.e., whether offloading or not) and computational resource allocation of MEC. The design can be formulated as a mixed-integer nonlinear programming (MINLP) problem, which is generally NP-hard and its effective solution can be obtained by performing online inference through a well-trained deep neural network (DNN) model. However, when the system environments change dynamically, the DNN model may lose efficacy due to the drift of input parameters, thereby decreasing the generalization ability of the DNN model. To address this unique challenge, in this paper, we propose a multi-head ensemble multi-task learning (MEMTL) approach with a shared backbone and multiple prediction heads (PHs). Specifically, the shared backbone will be invariant during the PHs training and the inferred results will be ensembled, thereby significantly reducing the required training overhead and improving the inference performance. As a result, the joint optimization problem for offloading decision and resource allocation can be efficiently solved even in a time-varying wireless environment. Experimental results show that the proposed MEMTL outperforms benchmark methods in both the inference accuracy and mean square error without requiring additional training data

A tale of two cities: effects of air pollution on hospital admissions in Hong Kong and London compared.

The causal interpretation of reported associations between daily air pollution and daily admissions requires consideration of residual confounding, correlation between pollutants, and effect modification. If results obtained in Hong Kong and London--which differ in climate, lifestyle, and many other respects--were similar, a causal association would be supported. We used identical statistical methods for the analysis in each city. Associations between daily admissions and pollutant levels were estimated using Poisson regression. Nonparametric smoothing methods were used to model seasonality and the nonlinear dependence of admissions on temperature, humidity, and influenza admissions. For respiratory admissions (> or = 65 years of age), significant positive associations were observed with particulate matter < 10 microm in aerodynamic diameter (PM(10), nitrogen dioxide, sulfur dioxide, and ozone in both cities. These associations tended to be stronger at shorter lags in Hong Kong and at longer lags in London. Associations were stronger in the cool season in Hong Kong and in the warm season in London, periods during which levels of humidity are at their lowest in each city. For cardiac admissions (all ages) in both cities, significant positive associations were observed for PM(10), NO(2), and SO(2) with similar lag patterns. Associations tended to be stronger in the cool season. The associations with NO(2) and SO(2) were the most robust in two-pollutant models. Patterns of association for pollutants with ischemic heart disease were similar in the two cities. The associations between O(3) and cardiac admissions were negative in London but positive in Hong Kong. We conclude that air pollution has remarkably similar associations with daily cardiorespiratory admissions in both cities, in spite of considerable differences between cities in social, lifestyle, and environmental factors. The results strengthen the argument that air pollution causes detrimental short-term health effects

Efficacy and safety of transcranial pulse stimulation in young adolescents with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder: a pilot, randomized, double-blind, sham-controlled trial

BackgroundThis is the first study to evaluate the efficacy and safety of transcranial pulse stimulation (TPS) for the treatment of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) among young adolescents in Hong Kong.MethodsThis double-blind, randomized, sham-controlled trial included a TPS group and a sham TPS group, encompassing a total of 30 subjects aged 12–17 years who were diagnosed with ADHD. Baseline measurements SNAP-IV, ADHD RS-IV, CGI and executive functions (Stroop tests, Digit Span) and post-TPS evaluation were collected. Both groups were assessed at baseline, immediately after intervention, and at 1-month and 3-month follow-ups. Repeated-measures ANOVAs were used to analyze data.ResultsThe TPS group exhibited a 30% reduction in the mean SNAP-IV score at postintervention that was maintained at 1- and 3-month follow-ups.ConclusionTPS is an effective and safe adjunct treatment for the clinical management of ADHD.Clinical trial registrationClinicalTrials.Gov, identifier NCT05422274

Hong Kong Renal Registry Report 2012

SummaryThis report examined the characteristics and trends of dialysis and renal transplant patients among the resident population of Hong Kong who were managed by hospitals or dialysis centers of the Hospital Authority, and accounted for approximately 95% of all patients receiving renal replacement therapies (RRTs) in the territory. Patients receiving RRTs solely in the private sector were not included in this report. Data trends from 1996 to 2011 are presented. In 2011, 1115 new patients were accepted into RRT programs, and the incident rate was 157 patients per million populations (pmp). An increasing trend was noted. The incident rate was 95.1 pmp at the commencement of the annual report in 1996. The point prevalence on December 31, 2012 was 8197 with a prevalence rate of 1152.5 pmp. Overall, there were 3573 patients (43.6%) on peritoneal dialysis (PD) and 1246 patients (15.2%) on hemodialysis (HD), and 3378 patients (41.2%) were living with a functioning renal transplant. The PD/HD ratio was 74.2:25.8. The “PD First” policy was continued. The overall mortality rate among RRT patients was 9.95 patients per 100 patient-years exposed. There was a decreasing trend in mortality among PD patients. Infection and cardiovascular complications were the most common causes of death. Renal transplant was the modality with the best survival rates. The 5 years cumulative patient survival rate for patients on transplant treatment was 89.6%, whereas the corresponding patient survival rates for PD and HD patients were 50.7% and 55.7%, respectively. More than 70% of RRT patients with reports on rehabilitation were active and had normal daily activities

Modification by Influenza on Health Effects of Air Pollution in Hong Kong

Background: Both influenza viruses and air pollutants have been well documented as major hazards to human health, but few epidemiologic studies have assessed effect modification of influenza on health effects of ambient air pollutants. Objectives: We aimed to assess modifying effects of influenza on health effects of ambient air pollutants. Methods: We applied Poisson regression to daily numbers of hospitalizations and mortality to develop core models after adjustment for potential time-varying confounding variables. We assessed modification of influenza by adding variables for concentrations of single ambient air pollutants and proportions of influenza-positive specimens (influenza intensity) and their cross-product terms. Results: We found significant effect modification of influenza (p < 0.05) for effects of ozone. When influenza intensity is assumed to increase from 0% to 10%, the excess risks per 10-μg/m 3 increase in concentration of O 3 increased 0.24% and 0.40% for hospitalization of respiratory disease in the all-ages group and ≥ 65 year age group, respectively; 0.46% for hospitalization of acute respiratory disease in the all-ages group; and 0.40% for hospitalization of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in the ≥ 65 group. The estimated increases in the excess risks for mortality of respiratory disease and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in the all-ages group were 0.59% and 1.05%, respectively. We found no significant modification of influenza on effects of other pollutants in most disease outcomes under study. Conclusions: Influenza activity could be an effect modifier for the health effects of air pollutants particularly for O 3 and should be considered in the studies for short-term effects of air pollutants on health.published_or_final_versio

The Effects of Air Pollution on Mortality in Socially Deprived Urban Areas in Hong Kong, China

Background: Poverty is a major determinant of population health, but little is known about its role in modifying air pollution effects. Objectives: We set out to examine whether people residing in socially deprived communities are at higher mortality risk from ambient air pollution. Methods: This study included 209 tertiary planning units (TPUs), the smallest units for town planning in the Special Administrative Region of Hong Kong, China. The socioeconomic status of each TPU was measured by a social deprivation index (SDI) derived from the proportions of the population with a) unemployment, b) monthly household income < US$250, c) no schooling at all, d) one-person household, e) never-married status, and f) subtenancy, from the 2001 Population Census. TPUs were classified into three levels of SDI: low, middle, and high. We performed time-series analysis with Poisson regression to examine the association between changes in daily concentrations of ambient air pollution and daily number of deaths in each SDI group for the period from January 1996 to December 2002. We evaluated the differences in pollution effects between different SDI groups using a case-only approach with logistic regression. Results: We found significant associations of nitrogen dioxide, sulfur dioxide, particulate matter with aerodynamic diameter < 10 μm, and ozone with all nonaccidental and cardiovascular mortality in areas of middle or high SDI (p < 0.05). Health outcomes, measured as all nonaccidental, cardiovascular, and respiratory mortality, in people residing in high SDI areas were more strongly associated with SO 2 and NO 2 compared with those in middle or low SDI areas. Conclusions: Neighborhood socioeconomic deprivation increases mortality risks associated with air pollution.published_or_final_versio

Seasonal effects of influenza on mortality in a subtropical city

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Influenza has been associated with a heavy burden of mortality. In tropical or subtropical regions where influenza viruses circulate in the community most of the year, it is possible that there are seasonal variations in the effects of influenza on mortality, because of periodic changes in environment and host factors as well as the frequent emergence of new antigenically drifted virus strains. In this paper we explored this seasonal effect of influenza.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A time-varying coefficient Poisson regression model was fitted to the weekly numbers of mortality of Hong Kong from 1996 to 2002. Excess risks associated with influenza were calculated to assess the seasonal effects of influenza.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We demonstrated that the effects of influenza were higher in winter and late spring/early summer than other seasons. The two-peak pattern of seasonal effects of influenza was found for cardio-respiratory disease and sub-categories pneumonia and influenza, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, cerebrovascular diseases and ischemic heart disease as well as for all-cause deaths.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The results provide insight into the possibility that seasonal factors may have impact on virulence of influenza besides their effects on virus transmission. The results warrant further studies into the mechanisms behind the seasonal effect of influenza.</p

Measurement of the cross-section and charge asymmetry of WW bosons produced in proton-proton collisions at s=8\sqrt{s}=8 TeV with the ATLAS detector

This paper presents measurements of the $W^+ \rightarrow \mu^+\nu$ and $W^- \rightarrow \mu^-\nu$ cross-sections and the associated charge asymmetry as a function of the absolute pseudorapidity of the decay muon. The data were collected in proton--proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 8 TeV with the ATLAS experiment at the LHC and correspond to a total integrated luminosity of 20.2~\mbox{fb^{-1}}. The precision of the cross-section measurements varies between 0.8% to 1.5% as a function of the pseudorapidity, excluding the 1.9% uncertainty on the integrated luminosity. The charge asymmetry is measured with an uncertainty between 0.002 and 0.003. The results are compared with predictions based on next-to-next-to-leading-order calculations with various parton distribution functions and have the sensitivity to discriminate between them.Comment: 38 pages in total, author list starting page 22, 5 figures, 4 tables, submitted to EPJC. All figures including auxiliary figures are available at https://atlas.web.cern.ch/Atlas/GROUPS/PHYSICS/PAPERS/STDM-2017-13

Search for chargino-neutralino production with mass splittings near the electroweak scale in three-lepton final states in √s=13 TeV pp collisions with the ATLAS detector

A search for supersymmetry through the pair production of electroweakinos with mass splittings near the electroweak scale and decaying via on-shell W and Z bosons is presented for a three-lepton final state. The analyzed proton-proton collision data taken at a center-of-mass energy of √s=13  TeV were collected between 2015 and 2018 by the ATLAS experiment at the Large Hadron Collider, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 139  fb−1. A search, emulating the recursive jigsaw reconstruction technique with easily reproducible laboratory-frame variables, is performed. The two excesses observed in the 2015–2016 data recursive jigsaw analysis in the low-mass three-lepton phase space are reproduced. Results with the full data set are in agreement with the Standard Model expectations. They are interpreted to set exclusion limits at the 95% confidence level on simplified models of chargino-neutralino pair production for masses up to 345 GeV

Quantifying the burden of disease due to premature mortality in Hong Kong using standard expected years of life lost

Plaß D, Chau PY, Thach T, et al. Quantifying the burden of disease due to premature mortality in Hong Kong using standard expected years of life lost. BMC Public Health. 2013;13(1): 863.Background To complement available information on mortality in a population Standard Expected Years of Life Lost (SEYLL), an indicator of premature mortality, is increasingly used to calculate the mortality-associated disease burden. SEYLL consider the age at death and therefore allow a more accurate view on mortality patterns as compared to routinely used measures (e.g. death counts). This study provides a comprehensive assessment of disease and injury SEYLL for Hong Kong in 2010. Methods To estimate the SEYLL, life-expectancy at birth was set according to the 2004 Global Burden of Disease study at 82.5 and 80 years for females and males, respectively. Cause of death data for 2010 were corrected for misclassification of cardiovascular and cancer causes. In addition to the baseline estimates, scenario analyses were performed using alternative assumptions on life-expectancy (Hong Kong standard life-expectancy), time-discounting and age-weighting. To estimate a trend of premature mortality a time-series analysis from 2001 to 2010 was conducted. Results In 2010 524,706.5 years were lost due to premature death in Hong Kong with 58.3% of the SEYLL attributable to male deaths. The three overall leading single causes of SEYLL were “trachea, bronchus and lung cancers”, “ischaemic heart disease” and “lower respiratory infections” together accounting for about 29% of the overall SEYLL. Further, self-inflicted injuries (5.6%; ranked 5) and liver cancer (4.9%; ranked 7) were identified as important causes not adequately captured by classical mortality measures. Scenario analyses highlighted that by using a 3% time-discount rate and non-uniform age-weights the SEYLL dropped by 51.6%. Using Hong Kong’s standard life-expectancy values resulted in an overall increase of SEYLL by 10.8% as compared to the baseline SEYLL. Time-series analysis indicates an overall increase of SEYLL by 6.4%. In particular, group I (communicable, maternal, perinatal and nutritional) conditions showed highest increases with SEYLL-rates per 100,000 in 2010 being 1.4 times higher than 2001. Conclusions The study stresses the mortality impact of diseases and injuries that occur in earlier stages of life and thus presents the SEYLL measure as a more sensitive indicator compared to classical mortality indicators. SEYLL provide useful additional information and supplement available death statistics