Hardware/Software co-design with ADC-Less In-memory Computing Hardware for Spiking Neural Networks

Spiking Neural Networks (SNNs) are bio-plausible models that hold great potential for realizing energy-efficient implementations of sequential tasks on resource-constrained edge devices. However, commercial edge platforms based on standard GPUs are not optimized to deploy SNNs, resulting in high energy and latency. While analog In-Memory Computing (IMC) platforms can serve as energy-efficient inference engines, they are accursed by the immense energy, latency, and area requirements of high-precision ADCs (HP-ADC), overshadowing the benefits of in-memory computations. We propose a hardware/software co-design methodology to deploy SNNs into an ADC-Less IMC architecture using sense-amplifiers as 1-bit ADCs replacing conventional HP-ADCs and alleviating the above issues. Our proposed framework incurs minimal accuracy degradation by performing hardware-aware training and is able to scale beyond simple image classification tasks to more complex sequential regression tasks. Experiments on complex tasks of optical flow estimation and gesture recognition show that progressively increasing the hardware awareness during SNN training allows the model to adapt and learn the errors due to the non-idealities associated with ADC-Less IMC. Also, the proposed ADC-Less IMC offers significant energy and latency improvements, $2-7\times$ and $8.9-24.6\times$, respectively, depending on the SNN model and the workload, compared to HP-ADC IMC.Comment: 12 pages, 13 figure

Spontaneous translation of droplet over heterogenous surface due to thermal cycles:validation of dropeng model

by Utkarsh Yogesh SaxenaM.Tech

Knowledge of evidence-based dentistry among academic dental practitioners of Bhopal, India: a preliminary survey

This study aimed to characterize the knowledge of evidence-based dentistry (EBD) among dental faculty members in the city of Bhopal in central India. A cross-sectional questionnaire was administered at two dental colleges in Bhopal City. All dental faculty members who were present on the day of the study and who agreed to participate were included in the study. A total of 50 dental faculty members returned the questionnaire. Six Likert-type questions were asked, and the percentages of various responses were used for analysis. Sixteen faculty members (32.0%) strongly agreed that EBD is a process of making decisions based on scientifically proven evidence. Fifteen faculty members (30.0%) strongly disagreed or disagreed with the item stating that the best and quickest way to find evidence is by reading textbooks or asking experienced colleagues. Thirteen faculty members (26.0%) strongly agreed that EBD allows dentists to improve their scientific knowledge and clinical skills. It is recommended that EBD be included in undergraduate and postgraduate curricula and in intensive continuing dental education programs that are conducted for dental faculty members

First-year dental students' motivation for choosing the dental profession: A questionnaire study of budding dentists in Central India

Background: The choice of a career is a crucial decision that has a lifelong impact on a person's living pattern. It is important to understand the motives of those choosing to study dentistry, because these motives may influence an individual's level of commitment to the profession. The aim of the present study was to highlight the motives of choosing dentistry as a career among 432 1st year dental students. Methods: A pretested close ended questionnaire comprising of 30 questions, was administered to 1st year dental students registered under Barkatullah University, Bhopal. Students were asked questions pertaining to the importance of five central motives money, people, business, flexibility, and personal background for selecting dentistry as a career. The data were analyzed using SPSS version 17. Results: It was observed that being self-employed (54%) and helping people (51%) were reported as the top two factors for joining dentistry. Conclusion: Students' vision of a being self-employed and helping people appears to have influenced their choice of dentistry. This implies that being independent may be one of the most motivating factors underlying the bright image projected by the dental profession. The policy makers should work on making dentistry a lucrative profession, and improve the other motivating factors

An investigation into high performance low­‐flow showerheads for use on university campuses

The following report provides recommendations to the Student Housing and Hospitality Services (SHHS) at UBC’s Vancouver campus regarding which low-flow showerhead models to install in existing and new campus residences. This showerhead replacement program aims to reduce water consumption by replacing inefficient older showerhead models with newer models. Many other institutions have already successfully implemented a similar program. To determine which low-flow showerhead model should be installed in student residences a Triple Bottom Line (TBL) assessment and showerhead performance survey were conducted. The TBL assessment consists of assessments regarding the social, environmental and economic impact of the showerhead replacement program. The research for these assessments was gathered through surveying UBC students, academic papers and websites. Social impact was measured by student satisfaction ratings on four low-flow showerhead models in an anonymous survey. The showerheads included in the survey were Waterpik Aquascape, Jetstream Atlas II, Bricor Eco-Bravo PC and High Sierra Classic. The environmental assessment consisted of estimating student water consumption for each showerhead model in the survey as well as conventional showerheads. To assess the economic impact of the showerhead replacement program, a life cycle cost analysis was conducted to determine the life cycle cost of each low-flow showerhead model. Based on the results of the low-flow showerhead performance survey and TBL assessment, it is advantageous for SHHS to replace conventional showerheads with either the Waterpik Aquascape or Jetstream Atlas II showerhead models. Analysis of the survey data showed a positive relationship between user satisfaction ratings and market price of the showerhead. Disclaimer: “UBC SEEDS provides students with the opportunity to share the findings of their studies, as well as their opinions, conclusions and recommendations with the UBC community. The reader should bear in mind that this is a student project/report and is not an official document of UBC. Furthermore readers should bear in mind that these reports may not reflect the current status of activities at UBC. We urge you to contact the research persons mentioned in a report or the SEEDS Coordinator about the current status of the subject matter of a project/report.”Applied Science, Faculty ofUnreviewedUndergraduat

The critical incident technique in dental research: A review

Research is a scientific quest to find answers to certain questions. It makes us think with curiosity and wonderment about how to make something better. Research contributes in a major way to the development and maintenance of health and health care systems. Qualitative research is concerned with qualitative phenomena and includes subjective assessment of attitudes, opinions, and behavior. It is especially important in the behavioral sciences where the aim is to discover the underlying motives of human behavior. The critical incident technique (CIT) is a well-established qualitative research tool used in many areas of health sciences including nursing, medicine, dentistry, and their respective education systems. This technique is described as consisting of “a set of procedures for collecting direct observations of human behavior in such a way as to facilitate their potential usefulness in solving practical problems.” This review gives a gist of CIT and its application in different aspects of dental research

Oral hygiene practices and its relationship with periodontal status among police personnel of Bhopal city, Central India: An epidemiological study

Background: To assess the oral hygiene practices, oral health awareness, and oral health status of police personnel in Bhopal city and to suggest measures to improve the present oral health status. Materials and Methods: The cross-sectional study was conducted on 781 subjects, mean aged 40.5 years, who were selected by simple random sampling. Type-III examination of the subjects was conducted and along with questionnaire, community periodontal index (CPI), loss of attachment index and decayed, missing, filled teeth (DMFT) data was recorded on modified W.H.O format 1997. A value of P ≤ 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: Awareness related to oral health diseases, its cause, and prevention was low among police personnel. DMFT was significantly lower among this group. CPI score 2 was highest among the majority of subjects. Subjects brushing twice daily had significantly healthy periodontium than those brushing once daily. Conclusion: Most of the police personnel lack oral health awareness and suffer from periodontal diseases. Awareness should be created to maintain good oral hygiene, regular dental checkup and refrain from smoking among police personnel