Mobile Task Offloading Under Unreliable Edge Performance

Offloading resource-hungry tasks from mobile devices to an edge server has been explored recently to improve task com- pletion time as well as save battery energy. The low la- tency computing resource from edge servers are a perfect companion to realize such task offloading. However, edge servers may su er from unreliable performance due to its rapid workload variation and reliance on intermittent re- newable energy. Further, batteries in mobile devices make online optimum offloading decisions challenging since it in- tertwines offloading decisions across di erent tasks. In this paper, we propose a deep Q-learning based task offloading solution, DeepTO, for online task offloading. DeepTO learns edge server performance in a model-free manner and takes future battery needs of the mobile device into account. Us- ing a simulation-based evaluation, we show that DeepTO can perform close to the optimum solution that has com- plete future knowledge.

Quantifying Infant Exploratory Learning

Exploration is considered essential to infant learning, but few studies have quantified infants’ task exploration. The purpose of this study was to quantify how infants explored task space with their feet while learning to activate a kick-activated mobile. Data were analyzed from fifteen 4-month-old infants who participated in a 10-min mobile task on 2–3 consecutive days. Infants learned that their vertical leg movements above a systematically increased threshold height activated the mobile. Five kinematic variables were analyzed: (a) exploration space volume, (b) exploration path length, (c) duration of time in the region of interest around the threshold that activated the mobile, (d) task-specific vertical variance of kicks, and (e) non-task-specific horizontal variance of kicks. The infants increased their general spatial exploration, volume, and path, and the infants adapted their exploration by maintaining their feet within the region of interest, although the task-specific region increased in height as the threshold increased. The infants used task-specific strategies quantified by the increased variance of kicks in the vertical direction and no change in the horizontal variance of kicks. Quantifying infants’ task exploration may provide critical insights into how learning emerges in infancy and enable researchers to more systematically describe, interpret, and support learning.

In-Home Kicking-Activated Mobile Task to Motivate Selective Motor Control of Infants at High Risk of Cerebral Palsy: A Feasibility Study

Objective Children with spastic cerebral palsy (CP) have gait impairments resulting from decreased selective motor control, an inability to move the leg joints independently of one another, relying on excessive flexion or extension coupling across the 3 joints. Infants with white matter injury are at high risk of CP and have decreased selective motor control as early as 1 month corrected age. An in-home kicking-activated mobile task was developed to motivate more selective hip-knee control of infants at high risk of CP. The purposes of this study were to determine the feasibility of the in-home mobile task and to determine whether infants at high risk of CP and infants with typical development (TD) learn the association between their leg movements and mobile activation. Methods Ten infants at high risk of CP based on neuroimaging and 11 infants with TD participated in this cohort study at 3.5 to 4.5 months corrected age. Each infant participated in the in-home kicking-activated mobile task for 8 to 10 min/d, 5 d/wk, for 6 weeks. Learning was assessed weekly based on an increase in the time that the infant demonstrated the reinforced leg actions when interacting with the kicking-activated mobile compared with spontaneous kicking. Results With regard to feasibility, participation averaged 92% for infants at high risk of CP and 99% for infants with TD. With regard to learning, the group at high risk of CP demonstrated learning of the task for 2 of 6 weeks, whereas the group with TD demonstrated learning for all 6 weeks. Conclusions Infants at high risk of CP demonstrated learning of the kicking-activated mobile task but at a reduced amount compared with infants with TD. Further research is necessary to determine whether the kicking-activated mobile task has potential as an intervention to motivate more selective hip-knee control and improve walking outcomes of infants at high risk of CP. Impact This study investigated the feasibility of an in-home kicking-activated mobile task, a discovery learning task designed to motivate infants at high risk of CP to engage in the intensive task practice necessary to promote their learning abilities and selective motor control. Lay Summary CP is a lifelong disorder of movement caused by abnormal development or early damage to the brain. If an in-home infant kicking-activated mobile task could be used to motivate certain types of age-appropriate leg movements of infants who are at high risk of CP, the task could help improve walking outcomes, which eventually could contribute to improving children’s ability to participate in daily life. This study showed that infants at high risk of CP did learn the infant kicking-activated mobile task but at a much reduced amount compared with infants who are developing typically; so, this is a first step in determining whether the task has potential to motivate more age-appropriate leg movements in infants at high risk of cerebral palsy.