Sound and Music Computing for Exercise and Rehabilitation

Ye wang

Abstract

The use of music as an aid in healing body and mind has received enormous attention over the last 20 years from a wide range of disciplines, including neuroscience, physical therapy, exercise science, and psychological medicine.  We have attempted to transform insights gained from the scientific study of music and medicine into real-life applications that can be delivered widely, effectively, and accurately. We have been trying to use music in evidence-based and/or preventative medicine. In this talk, I will describe three clinically-focused tools to facilitate the delivery of established music-enhanced therapies, harnessing the synergy of sound and music computing (SMC), mobile computing, and cloud computing technologies to promote healthy lifestyles and to facilitate disease prevention, diagnosis, and treatment in both developed countries and resource-poor developing countries. I will present some of our past and ongoing research projects that combine wearable sensors, smartphone apps, and a cloud-based therapy delivery system to facilitate music-enhanced physical and speech therapy, as well as the joys and pains working in such a multidisciplinary environment.

Biography

Ye Wang is an associate professor in the Computer Science Department at the National University of Singapore (NUS) and NUS Graduate School for Integrative Sciences and Engineering (NGS). He directs the Sound and Music Computing (SMC) Lab (www.smcnus.org). Before joining NUS he was a member of the technical staff at Nokia Research Center in Tampere, Finland for 9 years. His research interests include sound analysis and music information retrieval (MIR), mobile computing, and cloud computing, and their applications in music edutainment and e-Health, as well as determining their effectiveness via subjective and objective evaluations. His most recent projects involve the design and evaluation of systems to support 1/ therapeutic gait training using Rhythmic Auditory Stimulation (RAS), and 2/ Melodic Intonation Therapy (MIT). He is also affiliated with Fudan University’s School of Computer Science and Harvard Medical School.

Gait Measurement Systems

Hugh Anderson

Abstract

Patients who have survived severe accidents or have a neurodegenerative disorder such as Parkinson's disease often have locomotory disabilities: they have difficulty walking. The precise measurement of gait can be used to assess the stage of disease, and any progress or improvement. We have developed a range of systems for continuous gait measurement, and this talk will outline the issues, and approaches we have taken.

Biography

Hugh Anderson is an associate professor in the School of Computing at NUS, lecturing in the areas of Computer Security and Parallel Computing.  Hugh's research interests are in program verification, particularly in termination and runtime analysis, but more recently he has been working in the embedded systems area, and dealing with issues of energy consumpton, time/energy tradeoffs, and hardware development.

From Verification to Specification Inference

Wei Ngan Chin

Abstract

Traditionally, one could either perform automated verification when given some specification, or directly perform analysis on programs to recover their specification. In this talk, we show how one may transition from verification to specification inference by controlling pres-state we may allow to be inferred.  This concept was first pioneered in bi-abduction but we made two major improvements: (i) selective inference, (ii) second-order unknowns. We show how entailment procedure can be generalized to support selective inference. We also show how shape analysis and pure analysis can be crafted into such a specification inference framework. As a middle ground, we show how partial specification can be both verified and inferred, allowing users and systems to play complementary roles in program specification and automated verification.

Biography

Wei-Ngan Chin received his BSc and MSc in Computer Science from the University of Manchester and a PhD in Computing from Imperial College, London. He is presently an associate professor in the Department of Computer Science, National University of Singapore. His research interests are in programming languages and software engineering. He has worked on various program analyses and verification techniques that are aimed at improving clarity, reliability and reusability of software. He and his students are currently building and enhancing an automated verification toolkit, called HIP/SLEEK, based on separation logic.

Multi-Server Coded Caching

By: Seyed Pooya Shariatpanahi, School of Computer Science, IPM

Abstract

Caching in content delivery networks is an efficient approach to relieve network congestion in peak hours, by bringing the contents close to the end-users in off-peak hours. In addition to the conventional local caching gain, coded caching recently proposed by Maddah-Ali and Niesen provides global caching gain by creating multi-casting opportunities. In this paper we consider multiple cache-enabled clients connected to multiple servers by an intermediate network. In this setting we consider the role of network topology on code design for efficient cache content placement and data delivery. Based on topology richness, and coding operations at internal nodes, we define three classes of networks, namely, dedicated networks, flexible networks, and linear networks. For each class we propose an achievable coding scheme and analyze its coding delay, and also, compare it with an information theoretic lower bound. For flexible networks we show that our scheme is order-optimal in terms of coding delay. Our results suggest that, when we have multiple servers, and by exploiting the topology of network, we can benefit from multiplexing gain, which will reduce the coding delay.

Biography

Seyed Pooya Shariatpanahi received the B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. degrees all from the Department of Electrical Engineering, Sharif University of Technology, Tehran, Iran, in 2006, 2008, and 2013, respectively. He is currently a post-doctoral research fellow at Institute for Research in Fundamental Sciences (IPM), Tehran, Iran. His research interests are wireless networks, information theory, and complex systems. Dr. Shariatpanahi was a recipient of a Gold Medal at the National Physics Olympiad in 2001.

Graph Partitions with Prescribed Patterns

By: Payam Valadkhan, School of Computer Science, IPM

Abstract

We study the problems related to graph coloring based on prescribed patterns.  A pattern is represented by an $m\times m$ symmetric matrix with entries from the set $\{0,1,*\}$. A coloring of a given simple graph $G$ is to assign a color $c(v) \in \{0,1,\cdots,m-1\}$ to each vertex $v$ of $G$ such that for any two (not necessarily distinct) colors $i$ and $j$, any two distinct vertices $u,v$ having these colors (i.e., $c(u)=i, c(v)=j$) have to be non-adjacent if $M(i,j)=0$ and adjacent if $M(i,j)=1$, while $M(i,j)=*$ signifies no restriction. Such coloring is called an $M$-partition of $G$. Many well-known graph problems can be formulated as $M$-partitions. We describe some research directions for studying the $M$-partitions, particularly the complexity of deciding whether the input graph has an $M$-partition or not.

Biography

Payam Valadkhan received his PhD in 2013 from Simon Fraser University (Canada) and is now a research fellow in the IPM center (Iran). During his PhD he studied graph coloring and partitions under Gabor Tardos and Pavol Hell (who is one of the initiators of this research area). He is interested in algorithmic problems, particularly in graph theory and combinatorics.

Formal Verification of Quantum Communication Protocols

By: Ebrahim Ardeshir-Larijani, School of Computer Science, IPM

Abstract

In this talk we introduce a method for the verification of quantum communication protocols. Also a tool is presented which uses a concurrent language to specify such protocols, and verify them formally, by checking equivalence between specification and implementation. This is different than common way of describing quantum protocols, where their proof of correction relies on informal textual proof on the paper.

While in general, simulation of quantum systems with classical computing technology is infeasible, we constrain to the stabilizer formalism, in which the behaviour of quantum systems can be simulated efficiently.

In particular, we consider concurrent quantum protocols that behave functionally in the sense of computing a deterministic input-output relation for all interleavings of the concurrent system. Crucially, these input-output relations can be abstracted by superoperators, enabling us to take advantage of linearity. This allows us to analyse the behaviour of protocols with arbitrary input, by simulating their operation on a finite basis set consisting of stabilizer states.

Despite the limitations of the stabilizer formalism and also the range of protocols that can be analysed using this approach, we have applied our equivalence checking tool to specify and verify interesting and practical quantum protocols from teleportation to secret sharing.

Biography

I received BSc. in Applied Mathematics in 2007 from University of Tehran. I studied in the Computer Science department of Swansea University (Wales, UK) from 2007 to 2009, receiving Mres. in Logic and Computation.

From 2009 to 2014 I was a graduate student in the department of Computer Science of the University of Warwick (England, UK) and received a PhD in 2014. Between October 2013 to April 2014, I was a visiting student in the school of Computing of the University of Glasgow (Scotland, UK).Since September 2014, I am a post doctoral fellow in the School of Computer Science at the Institute for Research in Fundamental Sciences (IPM), Iran.

All-or-Nothing Approach to Protect a Distance Bounding

Protocol against Terrorist Fraud Attack for Low-Cost Devices

By: Hoda Jannati, School of Computer Science, IPM

Abstract

Distance bounding protocols are proposed based upon the round trip timemeasurements of the executed messages to prevent sensor networks against wormhole attack and to safeguard RFID systems against relay attack. In such protocols, the verifier authenticates users as well as establishing an upper bound on its physical distance between the users and itself. Distance bounding protocols are also vulnerable to mafia fraud, distance fraud and terrorist fraud attacks. This talk deploys all-or-nothing method to propose a new distance bounding protocol with higher security level that can prevent terrorist fraud attack performed over the existing distance bounding protocols. Actually, the proposed protocol is the first distance bounding protocol which can overcome all the three fraud attacks simultaneously with the lowest success probability of the attacks compared with the well-known distance bounding protocols. Besides, the proposed protocol can be implemented on a low-cost device due to low computational cost and minimum system memory requirements.

Biography

Hoda Jannati is currently a post-doctoral researcher in the School of Computer Science at Institute for Research in Fundamental Sciences (IPM), Iran. She received the B.Sc. degree in Electrical Engineering from Technical College of Dr. Shariati, Iran, in 2006, the M.Sc. degree in Cryptography Communications from Sharif University of Technology, Iran, in 2008, and the Ph.D. degree in Communications Systems from Iran University of Science and Technologyology in 2014. Her main research interests include security in wireless communication systems especially in RFID and sensor network systems, localization algorithms and location privacy. She is a full member of Iranian Society of Cryptography.

Application of stochastic models in evaluating the performability of grid systems

By: Reza Entezari-Maleki, School of Computer Science, IPM

Abstract

In this presentation, the performance and dependability measures in grid computing environments are discussed, and some stochastic models exploited to model and evaluate those measures are introduced. To achieve this, in the first step, Petri nets an two stochastic extensions
of them which can be used in the context of performance/dependability evaluation are introduced and in the second step, performance related dependability measures are discussed in grids. Afterwards, several stochastic reward nets presented to model and evaluate the combined performance and dependability are presented. Finally, we will give some guidelines for future work and extending the models to the cloud computing.

Biography

Reza Entezari-Maleki is currently a Post-doctoral Researcher in the School of Computer Science at Institute for Research in Fundamental Sciences (IPM) in Tehran, Iran. He received his Ph.D. degree in Computer Engineering (Software discipline) from the Sharif University of Technology, Tehran, Iran in 2014, and B.S. and M.S. degrees in Computer Engineering (Software discipline) from the Iran University of Science and Technology, Tehran, Iran in 2007 and 2009, respectively. His main research interests are performance/dependability modeling and evaluation, grid and cloud computing, and task scheduling algorithms.

Relationship between Structure and Dynamics in Directed Complex Networks

By: Mina Zarei, School of Computer Science, IPM

Abstract

We consider the problem of enhancing synchronizability of dynamical networks by assigning directions to all links while conserving topology and local link weights. Performing the linear stability analysis of synchronization and numerical simulation of the Kuramoto model in the directed networks, we found that balancing in-degree and out-degree of all  nodes enhances the synchronization of sparse networks. Furthermore, by omitting all the feedback loops, we found that while hierarchical directed acyclic graphs are structurally highly synchronizable, their complete synchronization is not always reachable by random choice of natural frequencies, especially in small-world networks which have no hub.

Biography

I received my Ph.D. in Physics from the Isfahan University  of Technology in 2010. My Ph.D. thesis focused on finding community structures in complex networks. From  2010 to  2012,  I carried out postdoctoral research in systems biology at  university of Pierre and Marie Curie, Paris.  During my postdoctoral research in the lab of Dr. Marco Cosentino Lagomarsino,  I was focused on understanding the large scale organization of E. coli genome. I  joined the institute for research in fundamental sciences (IPM) in December 2012 and am currently studying structure-dynamics interplay in directed complex networks.

Breaking Lander-Waterman’s Coverage Bound

By: Seyed Abolfazl Motahari,

Sharif University of Technology and IPM School of Computer Science

Abstract

 Lander-Waterman’s coverage bound establishes the total number of reads required to cover the whole genome of size G bases. In fact, their bound is a direct consequence of the well-known solution to the coupon collector’s problem which proves that for such genome, the total number of bases to be sequenced should be of order O (G ln G). Although the result leads to a tight bound, it is based on a tacit assumption that the set of reads are first collected through a sequencing process and then are processed through a computation process, i.e., there are two different machines: one for sequencing and one for processing. In this paper, we present a significant improvement compared to Lander-Waterman’s result and prove that by combining the sequencing and computing processes, one can assemble the whole genome with as low as O(G) sequenced bases in total. Our approach also dramatically reduces the required computational power for the combined process. Simulation results are performed on various real genomes with different variation rates. The results support our theory predicting the log G improvement on coverage bound and corresponding reduction in the total number of bases required to be sequenced.

Biography

Seyed Abolfazl Motahari received the B.Sc. degree from the Iran University of Science and Technology (IUST), Tehran, in 1999, the M.Sc. degree from Sharif University of Technology, Tehran, in 2001, and the Ph.D. degree from University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Canada, in 2009, all in electrical engineering. From August 2000 to August 2001, he was a Research Scientist with the Advanced Communication Science Research Laboratory, Iran Telecommunication Research Center (ITRC), Tehran. From October 2009 to September 2010, he was a Postdoctoral Fellow with the University of Waterloo, Waterloo. From October 2010 to July 2013, he was a Postdoctoral Fellow with the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, University of California at Berkeley. Currently, he is an Assistant Professor at Computer Engineering Department, Sharif University of Technology. His research interests include Computational Biology and Information Theory. Dr. Motahari received several awards including Natural Science and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) Post-Doctoral Fellowship.