Context-aware Adaptive Surgery

Deep Neural Networks (DNNs) have made massive progress in many fields and deploying DNNs on end devices has become an emerging trend to make intelligence closer to users. However, it is challenging to deploy large-scale and computation-intensive DNNs on resource-constrained end devices due to their small size and lightweight. To this end, model partition, which aims to partition DNNs into multiple parts to realize the collaborative computing of multiple devices, has received extensive research attention. To find the optimal partition, most existing approaches need to run from scratch under given resource constraints. However, they ignore that resources of devices (e.g., storage, battery power), and performance requirements (e.g., inference latency), are often continuously changing, making the optimal partition solution change constantly during processing. Therefore, it is very important to reduce the tuning latency of model partition to realize the real-time adaption under the changing processing context. To address these problems, we propose the Context-aware Adaptive Surgery (CAS) framework to actively perceive the changing processing context, and adaptively find the appropriate partition solution in real-time. Specifically, we construct the partition state graph to comprehensively model different partition solutions of DNNs by import context resources. Then "the neighbor effect" is proposed, which provides the heuristic rule for the search process. When the processing context changes, CAS adopts the runtime search algorithm, Graph-based Adaptive DNN Surgery (GADS), to quickly find the appropriate partition that satisfies resource constraints under the guidance of the neighbor effect. The experimental results show that CAS realizes adaptively rapid tuning of the model partition solutions in 10ms scale even for large DNNs (2.25x to 221.7x search time improvement than the state-of-the-art researches), and the total inference latency still keeps the same level with baselines.

Densely Packed Tethered Polymer Nanoislands: A Simulation Study

COordinated Responsive Arrays of Surface-Linked polymer islands (CORALS) allow for the creation of molecular surfaces with novel and switchable properties. Critical components of CORALs are the uniformly distributed islands of densely grafted polymer chains (nanoislands) separated by regions of bare surface. The grafting footprint and separation distances of nanoislands are comparable to that of the constituent polymer chains themselves. Herein, we characterize the structural features of the nanoislands and semiflexible polymers within to better understand this critical constituent of CORALs. We observe different characteristics of grafted semiflexible polymers depending on the polymer island’s size and distance from the center of the island. Specifically, the characteristics of the chains at the island periphery are similar to isolated tethered polymer chains (full flexible chains), while chains in the center of the island experience the neighbor effect such as chains in the classic polymer brush. Chains close to the edge of the islands exhibit unique structural features between these two regimes. These results can be used in the rational design of CORALs with specific interfacial characteristics and predictable responses to external stimuli. It is hoped that this the discussion of the different morphologies of the polymers as a function of distance from the edge of the polymer will find applications in a wide variety of systems.

The dear enemy effect drives conspecific aggressiveness in an Azteca-Cecropia system

Territoriality is costly, and the accurate identification of intruders and the decision to perform aggressive responses are key behavioral traits in social animals. We studied aggression among individuals belonging to close and distant nests of the plant-ant Azteca muelleri, which lives in stems of the pioneer tree Cecropia glaziovii. More specifically, we aim to investigate if the DE (dear-enemy effect—less aggression towards neighbors than strangers) or NN (nasty-neighbor effect—less aggression to strangers than neighbors) effects or even none of them apply for this iconic Azteca-Cecropia system. We further checked if ant aggression towards conspecifics is related to cuticular hydrocarbon profiles (CHCs), which provide chemical cues for nestmate recognition. Therefore, we sampled 46 nests of A. muelleri in three Brazilian Atlantic forest fragments and performed behavioral trials within and between sites. Consistently with the DE effect, we found higher aggression levels in ‘between sites’ versus ‘within sites’ treatments as well as a positive effect of spatial distance on ant aggressiveness. We found no effect of the overall dissimilarities on CHC blend on ant aggressiveness, but of one CHC class, the methylated alkanes. Overall, we provide key insights on nest-mate recognition in obligatory ant-plant mutualisms.

The Influence of Neighbor Effect and Urbanization Toward Organ Donation in Thailand

Introduction: Toward population wellness, an extreme scarcity of organ supply is proven to be an enormous hindrance. Preferences toward organ donation are vital to raise the organ donation rate. Notably, the area people live in can address the social influence on individual preference toward organ donation. Research Questions: This article studies the impact of the neighbor effect on organ donation decisions, addressing the social influence of urbanization on preferences. How neighborhood-specific variables, population density, and socioeconomic status drive the neighbor effect is investigated. The pursuit of organ donor traits is to be answered. Design: The study uses organ donation interview survey data and neighborhood-specific data from Thailand to estimate a series of logistic regression models. Results: Individuals residing in urban areas exhibit a greater likelihood to sign the donor card than those in rural areas. The neighborhood socioeconomic status is the key driver. An individual is more willing to be an organ donor when having neighbors with higher socioeconomic statuses. Results also reveal positive influences of males and education on the organ donation rate. Discussion: This article documents the “neighbor effect” on the organ donation decision via living area type, offering an alternative exposition in raising the organ donation rate. In shifting the society norm toward organ donation consent, policy-makers should acknowledge the benefit of urbanization on organ donation decision derived from resourceful urban areas. Moreover, raising education levels does improve not only citizens’ well-being but also their tendency to exhibit an altruistic act toward others.

The Effect of Artificial Mowing on the Competition of Phragmites australis and Spartina alterniflora in the Yangtze Estuary

Spartina alterniflora Loisel. is one of the most invasive species in the world. However, little is known about the role of artificial mowing in its invasiveness and competiveness. In this work, we studied the effect of mowing on its interspecific interactions with native species Phragmites australis (Cav.) Trin ex Steud of the Yangtze Estuary, China. We calculated their relative neighbor effect (RNE) index, effect of relative crowding (Dr) index, and interaction strength (I) index. The results showed that the RNE of Phragmites australis and Spartina alterniflora was 0.354 and 0.619, respectively, and they have competitive interactions. The mowing treatments can significantly influence the RNE of Phragmites australis and Spartina alterniflora on each other. Concretely, the RNE of Spartina alterniflora in the removal treatments was significantly higher than the value in the controls. But the RNE of Phragmites australis in the removal treatments was significantly lower than the value in the controls. Meanwhile, Dr of the two species on the targets was higher in the removal treatments than that in the controls, and the opposite was for I. We concluded that artificial mowing could promote the invasion of Spartina alterniflora by increasing its competitive performance compared with native species.