Events for the 4th week of March
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Center for Cyber-Physical Systems and Internet of Things and Ming Hsieh Institute for Electrical Engineering Joint Seminar Series on Cyber-Physical Systems
Mon, Mar 20, 2017 @ 02:00 PM - 03:30 PM
Ming Hsieh Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Brian Munsky, Assistant Professor, Colorado State University
Talk Title: Identification of stochastic models to predict single-cell gene regulation dynamics
Abstract: Stochastic fluctuations can cause identical cells or individual molecules to exhibit wildly different behaviors. Often labeled "noise," these fluctuations are frequently considered a nuisance that compromises cellular responses, complicates modeling, makes predictive understanding and control all but impossible. However, if we computationally examine fluctuations more closely and carefully match them to discrete stochastic analyses, we discover virtually untapped, yet powerful sources of information and new opportunities. In this talk, I will present our collaborative endeavors to integrate single-cell and single-molecule experiments with precise stochastic analyses to gain new insight and quantitatively predictive understanding for signal-activated gene regulation. I will explain how we experimentally quantify transcription dynamics at high temporal and spatial resolutions; how we use precise computational analyses to model this data and efficiently infer biological mechanisms and parameters; how we predict and evaluate the extent to which model constraints (i.e., data) and uncertainty (i.e., model complexity) contribute to our understanding. We will examine how different data statistics (e.g., expectation values versus probability densities) contribute to model bias and uncertainty, and we will show how these affect predictive power. Finally, we will introduce a new approach to compute the Fisher Information Matrix, and we will illustrate its application for the improved design of single-cell experiments.
Biography: Dr. Munsky received B.S. and M.S. degrees in Aerospace Engineering from the Pennsylvania State University in 2000 and 2002, respectively, and his Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of California at Santa Barbara in 2008. Following his graduate studies, Dr. Munsky worked at the Los Alamos National Laboratory -” as a Director's Postdoctoral Fellow (2008-2010), as a Richard P. Feynman Distinguished Postdoctoral Fellow in Theory and Computing (2010-2013), and as a Staff Scientist (2013). In 2014, he joined the Colorado State University Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering and the School of Biomedical Engineering, in which he is now an Assistant Professor. Dr. Munsky is best known for his discovery of Finite State Projection algorithm, which has enabled the efficient study of probability distribution dynamics for stochastic gene regulatory networks. Dr. Munsky's research interests are in the integration of discrete stochastic models with single-cell experiments to identify predictive models of gene regulatory systems. Dr. Munsky was the recipient of the 2008 UCSB Department of Mechanical Engineering best Ph.D. Dissertation award, the 2010 Leon Heller Postdoctoral Publication Prize, and the 2012 LANL Postdoc Distinguished Performance Award for his work in this topic. Dr. Munsky became a Keck Scholar in 2016. Dr. Munsky is the contact organizer of the internationally recognized, NIH-funded q-bio Summer School (q-bio.org), where he runs a course on single-cell stochastic gene regulation.
Host: Paul Bogdan
Location: Hughes Aircraft Electrical Engineering Center (EEB) - 132
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Estela Lopez
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Improved Myocardial Arterial Spin Labeled Perfusion Imaging
Tue, Mar 21, 2017 @ 01:00 PM - 02:00 PM
Ming Hsieh Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Hung Phi Do, Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Southern California
Talk Title: Improved Myocardial Arterial Spin Labeled Perfusion Imaging
Series: Medical Imaging Seminar Series
Abstract: Coronary artery disease (CAD) affects more than 15.5 million Americans and causes approximately 310,000 deaths per year. Several different diagnostic tests are performed to diagnose and manage this disease. One of the most common is perfusion stress testing, primarily performed using single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) or first-pass cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR). These methods require the use of ionizing radiation or exogenous contrast agents that carry associated risks to patients, especially those who require frequent assessment or have kidney dysfunction. Myocardial arterial spin labeling (ASL) is a promising MRI-based perfusion imaging method that can quantitatively measure myocardial tissue perfusion without the use of ionizing radiation or exogenous contrast agents. Its feasibility has been previously demonstrated by our lab, however several challenges remain, including low sensitivity, coarse spatial resolution, and limited spatial coverage. The contributions of this dissertation are (1) improving sensitivity, (2) exploring clinical applications, and (3) developing a new and advantageous labeling method for myocardial ASL.
Biography: Hung Phi Do is a Physics Ph.D. student working under the supervision of Prof. Nayak at the Magnetic Resonance Engineering Laboratory. His research focuses are MR physics and MR pulse sequence development for quantitative cardiovascular magnetic resonance. He received an M.S. in Electrical Engineering from the University of Southern California in 2014, a Diploma in Physics from the International Center for Theoretical Physics in 2009, and a B.S. in Physics from the Hanoi National University of Education in 2007.
Host: Prof. Krishna Nayak
Location: Hughes Aircraft Electrical Engineering Center (EEB) - PHE223
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Talyia White
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MHI Seminar Series - Visitor Program
Tue, Mar 21, 2017 @ 02:00 PM - 03:00 PM
Ming Hsieh Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Magnús Már Halldórsson, Professor at Reykjavik University's School of Computer Science
Talk Title: Algorithms and Models for the Capacity of Arbitrary Wireless Networks
Abstract: At the heart of wireless network operation is the fundamental question of their capacity: How much communication can be achieved in a network, utilizing all the tools and diversity available: power control, scheduling, routing, channel assignment and rate adjustment?
The obvious aims of obtaining general purpose algorithms to solve this question run into two (walls) challenges:
- How to model communication and interference faithfully, and
- How to reason algorithmically in the more accurate models, which are also more intricate and harder to analyze.
We overview recent progress in developing algorithms for capacity and scheduling in the physical (or SINR) model with good performance guarantees on arbitrary networks. In particular, we indicate how many of the complications of the physical models can be abstracted away, at a small cost in performance. We also outline various efforts to add additional realism to the models, while maintaining generality and algorithmic tractability. We conclude with open questions and challenges.
This is based on joint work with Tigran Tonoyan
Biography: Prof. Magnús Már Halldórsson from Reyjkjavik University in Iceland will visit USC in late March 2017. He is a leading expert in algorithms for distributed computing and wireless networks. He has been the Chair of top conferences in the area including PODC 2014 and ICALP 2015. In 2017 he is leading the organization a Dagstuhl conference on "Foundations of Wireless Networking" together with Profs. C. Fragouli (UCLA), K. Jamieson (Princeton) and B. Krishnamachari (USC).
Host: Bhaskar Krishnamachari
Location: Hughes Aircraft Electrical Engineering Center (EEB) - 248
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Cathy
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MHI CommNetS
Wed, Mar 22, 2017 @ 10:00 AM - 11:00 AM
Ming Hsieh Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Dr. Corey Baker, UC San Diego
Talk Title: When Disaster Strikes: Supplementing Centralized Infrastructure with Opportunistic Communication
Series: CommNetS
Abstract: Reliance on Internet connectivity is detrimental where modern networking technology is lacking, power outages are frequent, or network connectivity is sparse or non-existent (i.e., developing countries, natural disasters, and in-field military scenarios). Realization of the limitations resulting from reliance on Internet and cellular connectivity were prevalent in Hurricane Matthew (2016), which killed over 1000 people and destroyed cellular infrastructure. As an alternative, deploying resilient networking technology can facilitate the flow of information in resource-deprived environments to disseminate life saving data. In addition, leveraging opportunistic communication can supplement cellular networks to assist with keeping communication channels open during high-use and extreme situations. This talk will discuss the progress of a research platform and middleware that enables opportunistic communication and in vivo evaluation of delay tolerant routing schemes when the Internet is interrupted or unavailable by leveraging node relationships to create a delay tolerant social network. The solutions discussed in this talk further include applications related to IoT, mobile healthcare, and smart city environments.
Biography: Corey E. Baker, Ph.D., is a University of California President's Postdoctoral Fellow in the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department at the University of California, San Diego and is mentored by Professor Ramesh Rao. Dr. Baker's research interests are in the area of cyber physical systems specializing in opportunistic wireless communication for the Internet of Things (IoT), smart cities, smart homes, and mobile health environments. Particularly, Dr. Baker is interested in pragmatic applications and the fundamental issues related to real-world resource availability in today's operating systems for opportunistic wireless communication. Dr. Baker received a B.S. degree in Computer Engineering from San Jose State University, a M.S. in Electrical and Computer Engineering from California State University, Los Angeles, and M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Electrical and Computer Engineering from the University of Florida where he was advised by Professor Janise McNair. Corey has served on the board of directors of the National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE) numerous times as a two term National Treasurer and CFO, two term National Treasurer Emeritus, and as the Region 6 Chairperson. Dr. Baker is currently a NSBE Region 6 Finance Zone Advisor. Formerly, Dr. Baker was the official blogger for GEM and blogged about topics to promote success amongst STEM graduate students which included securing graduate school funding, navigating Ph.D. programs, and publishing.
Host: Prof. Ashutosh Nayyar
Location: 248
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Annie Yu
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Neuro-Gastroenterologic Engineering
Wed, Mar 22, 2017 @ 10:45 AM - 11:45 AM
Ming Hsieh Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Dr. Todd P. Coleman, Associate Professor/UCSD
Talk Title: Neuro-Gastroenterologic Engineering
Abstract: The discoordination between the central and autonomic nervous systems is increasingly being identified as playing a key role in affecting neurological, psychiatric, and gastroenterologic problems; the causal role that the enteric nervous system may play in Parkinson's disease serves as an example. However, traditionally, the brain and GI system have been studied scientifically and treated clinically, separately. There is a dearth of approaches to use engineering perspectives to better measure, characterize, and provide actionable insight about the GI system as well as its interplay with the brain. In this talk, we will discuss our recent contributions to address this unmet need. Specifically, we will discuss our recent development of novel methods to assess the GI system with high-resolution multi-electrode surface potential recordings, an approach that non-invasively characterizes propagation velocity and propagation patterns consistent with gastric serosal slow wave myoelectric activity, which had not been accomplished until now. We will also highlight novel applied probability methods to interpret these classes of dynamic multi-channel physiologic datasets, including directed information graphs, a new class of probabilistic graphical models that provides minimal descriptions of causal relationships in multiple time series. To enable the recording of multiple physiologic time series simultaneously and unobtrusively, we will lastly discuss our development of multi-electrode arrays embedded within skin-mounted adhesives for ambulatory monitoring. We will highlight how all of these methods and technologies are being used within the context of neuro-gastroenterologic engineering and how there is transformational potential to improve health, reduce healthcare costs, and advance science.
Biography: Todd P. Coleman received B.S. degrees in electrical engineering (summa cum laude), as well as computer engineering (summa cum laude) from the University of Michigan. He received M.S. and Ph.D. degrees from MIT in electrical engineering, and did postdoctoral studies at MIT in neuroscience. He is currently an Associate Professor in Bioengineering at UCSD, where he directs the Neural Interaction Laboratory. Dr. Coleman's research has been featured on CNN, BBC, and the New York Times. Dr. Coleman has been selected as a National Academy of Engineering Gilbreth Lecturer and a TEDMED speaker.
Host: Dr. Sandeep Gupta
Location: Hughes Aircraft Electrical Engineering Center (EEB) - 132
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Mayumi Thrasher
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Ming Hsieh Institute Seminar Series on Integrated Systems
Fri, Mar 24, 2017 @ 02:30 PM - 04:30 PM
Ming Hsieh Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Dr. Aydin Babakhani, Assistant Professor, Rice University
Talk Title: Silicon-based Integrated Sensors and Systems with On-chip Antennas From Picosecond Pulse Radiators to Miniaturized Spectrometers
Host: Profs. Hossein Hashemi, Mike Chen, Dina El-Damak, and Mahta Moghaddam
More Information: MHI Seminar Series IS - Aydin Babakhani.pdf
Location: Hughes Aircraft Electrical Engineering Center (EEB) - 132
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Jenny Lin