RUBICON: a framework for designing efficient deep learning-based genomic basecallers.

Nanopore sequencing generates noisy electrical signals that need to be converted into a standard string of DNA nucleotide bases using a computational step called basecalling. The performance of basecalling has critical implications for all later steps in genome analysis. Therefore, there is a need to reduce the computation and memory cost of basecalling while maintaining accuracy. We present RUBICON, a framework to develop efficient hardware-optimized basecallers. We demonstrate the effectiveness of RUBICON by developing RUBICALL, the first hardware-optimized mixed-precision basecaller that performs efficient basecalling, outperforming the state-of-the-art basecallers. We believe RUBICON offers a promising path to develop future hardware-optimized basecallers.

A computer vision based candidate for functional balance test.

Balance in humans is a motor skill based on complex multimodal sensing, processing and control. Ability to maintain balance in activities of daily living (ADL) is compromised due to aging, diseases, injuries and environmental factors. Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimate of the costs of falls among older adults was $34 billion in 2013 and is expected to reach $54.9 billion in 2020. In this paper, we present a brief review of balance impairments followed by subjective and objective tools currently used in clinical settings for human balance assessment. We propose a novel computer vision (CV) based approach as a candidate for functional balance test. The test will take less than a minute to administer and expected to be objective, repeatable and highly discriminative in quantifying ability to maintain posture and balance. We present an informal study with preliminary data from 10 healthy volunteers, and compare performance with a balance assessment system called BTrackS Balance Assessment Board. Our results show high degree of correlation with BTrackS. The proposed system promises to be a good candidate for objective functional balance tests and warrants further investigations to assess validity in clinical settings, including acute care, long term care and assisted living care facilities. Our long term goals include non-intrusive approaches to assess balance competence during ADL in independent living environments.