SUNMONTUEWEDTHUFRISAT
Events for October 23, 2019
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Center for Cyber-Physical Systems and Internet of Things and Ming Hsieh Institute Seminar
Wed, Oct 23, 2019 @ 02:00 PM - 03:00 PM
Ming Hsieh Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Mahnoosh Alizadeh, University of California Santa Barbara
Talk Title: Safety-constrained Learning Algorithms for Demand Management
Series: Center for Cyber-Physical Systems and Internet of Things
Abstract: The first part of this talk is motivated by the fact that learning algorithms are growing in popularity for sequential decision making in many cyber-physical systems. However, when dealing with safety-critical systems, it is paramount that the learner's actions do not violate the safety/reliability constraints of the system at any round, in spite of uncertainty about system parameters. An example we will highlight is that of optimal real-time price design for demand management in power distribution systems given unknown customer price response functions. We will showcase the performance of a ``safety-aware" bandit heuristic for designing prices that controls the probability of violation of power grid constraints during the learning process. We then study the effect of such safety constraints on the growth of regret for certain classes of stochastic bandit optimization problems.
In the second part of the talk, we consider the problem of joint routing, battery charging, and pricing problem faced by a profit-maximizing transportation service provider that operates a fleet of autonomous electric vehicles. To accommodate for the time-varying nature of trip demands, renewable energy availability, and electricity prices and to further optimally manage the autonomous fleet, a dynamic pricing and control policy is required. We highlight several such policies, including one trained through deep reinforcement learning to develop a near-optimal control policy. We also determine the optimal static policy to serve as a baseline for comparison with our dynamic policy and for determining the capacity region of the system. While the static policy provides important insights on optimal pricing and fleet management, we show that in a real dynamic setting, it is inefficient to utilize a static policy.
Biography: Mahnoosh Alizadeh is an assistant professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of California Santa Barbara. She received the B.Sc. degree in Electrical Engineering from Sharif University of Technology in 2009 and the M.Sc. and Ph.D. degrees from the University of California Davis in 2013 and 2014 respectively, both in Electrical and Computer Engineering. From 2014 to 2016, she was a postdoctoral scholar at Stanford University. Her research is focused on the design of network control and optimization algorithms for societal-scale cyber-physical systems, with a particular focus on renewable energy integration in the power grid and electric transportation systems. She is a recipient of the NSF CAREER award.
Host: Ashutosh Nayyar
Location: Hughes Aircraft Electrical Engineering Center (EEB) - 132
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Talyia White
This event is open to all eligible individuals. USC Viterbi operates all of its activities consistent with the University's Notice of Non-Discrimination. Eligibility is not determined based on race, sex, ethnicity, sexual orientation, or any other prohibited factor. -
Medical Imaging Seminar
Wed, Oct 23, 2019 @ 02:00 PM - 03:00 PM
Ming Hsieh Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Ahsan Javed, Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Southern California
Talk Title: Improving the Sensitivity and Spatial Coverage of Arterial Spin Labeled Cardiac Magnetic Resonance Imaging
Series: Medical Imaging Seminar Series
Abstract: Cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (CMR) is the method of choice to address the growing need for a safe and repeatable technique to assess coronary artery disease. Existing techniques are unsuitable for frequent use, as they are either invasive or involve ionizing radiation. Recently, CMR first pass perfusion was used to guide treatment of CAD and was shown to have comparable outcomes to fraction flow reserve, the leading invasive assessment. However, first pass perfusion uses gadolinium based contrast agents which are contraindicated in patients with kidney disease. There are approximately 600 thousand Americans with end-stage renal disease and 26 million with chronic kidney disease. This patient population has over 10 times higher risk of developing cardiovascular disease and requires more frequent monitoring. In this population arterial spin labeling cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (ASL-CMR) presents a promising alternative. Currently, clinical use of existing ASL-CMR techniques is limited by poor spatial coverage and sensitivity.
This talk will introduce developments to improve both spatial coverage and sensitivity of ASL-CMR. We will discuss the development and optimization of saturation steady pulsed arterial spin labeling, a new labeling scheme inspired from a recent work by Capron et al. that improves the sensitivity and signal efficiency of ASL-CMR. I will also present the implementation and validation of reduced FOV sequential multi-slice single shot EPI for ASL-CMR to improve spatial coverage. With these proposed methods we aim to move a few steps closer to making ASL-CMR clinically feasible to enable safe, contrast free assessment of CAD.
Biography: Ahsan Javed is a PhD student in the Magnetic Resonance Engineering Laboratory at University of Southern California under the supervision of Dr. Krishna Nayak. His research expertise lies in RF pulse design, pulse sequence development, and cardiac magnetic resonance imaging. His works have focused on development of novel pulse sequences to improve sensitivity and spatial coverage of ASL-CMR and validation of ASL-CMR techniques in large animal models.
Host: Krishna Nayak
Location: Hughes Aircraft Electrical Engineering Center (EEB) - 248
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Talyia White
This event is open to all eligible individuals. USC Viterbi operates all of its activities consistent with the University's Notice of Non-Discrimination. Eligibility is not determined based on race, sex, ethnicity, sexual orientation, or any other prohibited factor.
