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Events for March 08, 2011
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EE-Systems Controls Faculty Candidate
Tue, Mar 08, 2011 @ 09:30 AM - 10:30 AM
Ming Hsieh Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Dr. Elisa Franco, Cal-Tech
Talk Title: Design and Synthesis of Molecular Networks
Abstract: How do living organisms process information and implement their responses to external stimuli? Even in the simplest cells, sensing, computation and actuation are structurally embedded in the biochemistry of complex molecular networks, which we often fail to systematically explain. Quoting Richard Feynman, what we cannot create, we do not understand: by building simple molecular networks from the bottom-up, in a controlled environment, we have an opportunity to gain insight into the design principles of their more complicated, naturally occurring counterparts.
In this talk I will describe the design, modeling and synthesis of in vitro molecular circuits using simple building blocks: DNA, RNA and proteins. In particular, I will present my research on two specific challenges: flow regulation and scalability of biochemical networks. Cellular pathways rely heavily on a regulated flow of nucleic acids, enzymes and other metabolites. I will demonstrate how negative feedback can be used to coordinate and match the activity of two synthetic genes, minimizing waste of chemical reagents. The proposed architecture is robust with respect to initial conditions and specific uncertain parameters. Scaling up our perspective to the coordination of a large number of molecular circuits, biochemical oscillators promise to have a role analogous to digital clocks, which can drive millions of transistors. As a starting point, we have used a tunable biosynthetic oscillator to drive conformational changes of a DNA nano-mechanical device called "DNA tweezers". However, due to the imperfect modularity of the system, the operating point of the oscillator is remarkably deteriorated by high concentrations of its "load". This retroactivity effect is well known in engineered systems, and classical examples are given by voltage drops in power grids or pressure losses in pipe networks. This undesired back-action was reduced by engineering an "insulator circuit", the molecular equivalent of an operational amplifier, which improved the modularity and scalability of the system.
Biography: Elisa Franco received a Ph.D. in Electrical and Control Engineering in 2007 from the University of Trieste, Italy. She is currently completing a second Ph.D. from the California Institute of Technology in Control and Dynamical Systems, working on design and programming of robust molecular networks. Her research interests are in the field of synthetic and systems biology.
Host: Edmond Jonckheere
Location: Hughes Aircraft Electrical Engineering Center (EEB) - 248
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Estela Lopez
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Yarta: A Middleware For Managing Mobile Social Ecosystems
Tue, Mar 08, 2011 @ 01:30 PM - 02:30 PM
Ming Hsieh Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Animesh Pathak, Ph.D., INRIA, Paris-Rocquencourt
Talk Title: Yarta: A Middleware For Managing Mobile Social Ecosystems
Abstract: With the increased prevalence of advanced mobile devices (the so-called "smart" phones), interest has grown in mobile social ecosystems, where users not only access traditional Web-based social networks using their mobile devices, but are also able to use the context information provided by these devices to further enrich their interactions. In complex mobile social ecosystems of the future the heterogeneity of software platforms on constituent nodes, combined with their intrinsic distributed nature and heterogeneity of representation of data and context raises the need for middleware support for the development of mobile social applications. Owing to the large variety of platforms available for smart phones, as well as the different ways that data and context information is represented, it is natural to think of middleware solutions that the developers of these systems can use while creating their applications.
In this talk, we will present the details of Yarta, a novel middleware designed for mobile social ecosystems (MSE), which takes into account the heterogeneity of both deployment nodes and available data, the intrinsic decentralized nature of mobile social applications, as well as users' privacy concerns. The Yarta core data model is based on RDF, and can be extended for specific social applications. We also discuss the results of performance evaluation of the core Yarta operations on smart phones and laptops, as well as the steps needed for developing new applications using it.
Biography: Animesh Pathak is currently a researcher ("Chargé de Recherche") with the ARLES project-team at INRIA Paris-Rocquencourt. He received his PhD in Computer Engineering from the University of Southern California, USA in 2008; and prior to that, the B.Tech degree in Computer Science and Engineering from the Institute of Technology, Banaras Hindu University, India where he graduated at the head of his class. His current research interests include high-level programming abstractions for sensor networks and emerging trends in mobile social networking.
Host: Professor Viktor K. Prasanna
Location: Hughes Aircraft Electrical Engineering Center (EEB) - 248
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Janice Thompson
