From aaulia@sciences.sdsu.edu Sat Nov 3 02:36:14 2007 From: aaulia@sciences.sdsu.edu (aaulia@sciences.sdsu.edu) Date: Fri, 2 Nov 2007 21:36:14 -0400 Subject: [compsci] Colloquium: Acoustical Challenges and Rewards of Studying Dialect Development in the Killer Whale, Orcinus orca Message-ID: <380-22007116313614505@M2W030.mail2web.com> Title: Acoustical Challenges and Rewards of Studying Dialect Development in the Killer Whale, Orcinus orca Date: Friday, November 9th, 2007 Time: 3:30 pm Location: GMCS 214 Speaker: Ann Bowles Senior Research Scientist Hubbs-SeaWorld Research Institute Abstract: Dialects are unusual among mammals, documented only from cetaceans and a few primates. In killer whales, matrilineal pods have unique dialects that have been the subject of considerable research. However, development of the dialect and change over time are difficult to study due to the challenges of isolating callers in the wild. My lab is measuring dialect development in the killer whale under controlled conditions to determine how it is acquired (learned? innate?) and how it functions in the social system. Based on what we’ve learned, killer whales acquire their dialect in stages surprisingly similar to human language development, suggesting that the species could be a useful system for studying the evolution of language. However, there are considerable acoustical and signal processing challenges associated with collecting the needed data. The whales usually don’t exhibit obvious behaviors when they call. Their repertoire is complex (7-15 elements) and they use multiple, simultaneously-operating sources to produce the sounds. We are collecting data in a relatively reverberant environment, which makes localization challenging. Historically, with one hydrophone, we could only attribute calls to whales when they exhibited rare behaviors such as bubbling (<10% of calls, possibly biased). Currently, using simple localization cues (level) and an 8-element array in SeaWorld’s Shamu Backstage pool, we have raised the attribution rate to over 50%. The additional data are showing that individuals share calls with common features, as described from the wild, but that stereotyped variants are probably individual ‘signatures’ that are not shared, raising the possibility of counting callers as well as identifying pod of origin. Also, killer whales appear to use different elements of the repertoire in different social contexts when young, but go through a ‘learning window’ or crystallization of the repertoire as adults. To obtain strong support for these working hypotheses, we must be able to localize calls when whales are swimming together. This will require improvements in call sampling, attribution, and localization. HOST: Rob Edwards For future events, please visit our web site at: http://www.csrc.sdsu.edu/csrc/events/colloquium/ ******************************************* Akmal Aulia PhD Student Computational Science Research Center San Diego State University Phone: 619-335-7187 Email: aaulia@sciences.sdsu.edu _______________________________________________ SDSU Computational Science Research Center Mailing List -------------------------------------------------------------------- myhosting.com - Premium Microsoft® Windows® and Linux web and application hosting - http://link.myhosting.com/myhosting From aaulia@sciences.sdsu.edu Thu Nov 8 15:14:01 2007 From: aaulia@sciences.sdsu.edu (aaulia@sciences.sdsu.edu) Date: Thu, 8 Nov 2007 10:14:01 -0500 Subject: [compsci] *Reminder* Colloquium: Acoustical Challenges and Rewards of Studying Dialect Development in the Killer Whale, Orcinus orca Message-ID: <380-22007114815141135@M2W103.mail2web.com> Title: Acoustical Challenges and Rewards of Studying Dialect Development in the Killer Whale, Orcinus orca Date: Friday, November 9th, 2007 Time: 3:30 pm Location: GMCS 214 Speaker: Ann Bowles Senior Research Scientist Hubbs-SeaWorld Research Institute Abstract: Dialects are unusual among mammals, documented only from cetaceans and a few primates. In killer whales, matrilineal pods have unique dialects that have been the subject of considerable research. However, development of the dialect and change over time are difficult to study due to the challenges of isolating callers in the wild. My lab is measuring dialect development in the killer whale under controlled conditions to determine how it is acquired (learned? innate?) and how it functions in the social system. Based on what we’ve learned, killer whales acquire their dialect in stages surprisingly similar to human language development, suggesting that the species could be a useful system for studying the evolution of language. However, there are considerable acoustical and signal processing challenges associated with collecting the needed data. The whales usually don’t exhibit obvious behaviors when they call. Their repertoire is complex (7-15 elements) and they use multiple, simultaneously-operating sources to produce the sounds. We are collecting data in a relatively reverberant environment, which makes localization challenging. Historically, with one hydrophone, we could only attribute calls to whales when they exhibited rare behaviors such as bubbling (<10% of calls, possibly biased). Currently, using simple localization cues (level) and an 8-element array in SeaWorld’s Shamu Backstage pool, we have raised the attribution rate to over 50%. The additional data are showing that individuals share calls with common features, as described from the wild, but that stereotyped variants are probably individual ‘signatures’ that are not shared, raising the possibility of counting callers as well as identifying pod of origin. Also, killer whales appear to use different elements of the repertoire in different social contexts when young, but go through a ‘learning window’ or crystallization of the repertoire as adults. To obtain strong support for these working hypotheses, we must be able to localize calls when whales are swimming together. This will require improvements in call sampling, attribution, and localization. HOST: Tom Cole For future events, please visit our web site at: http://www.csrc.sdsu.edu/csrc/events/colloquium/ ******************************************* Akmal Aulia PhD Student Computational Science Research Center San Diego State University Phone: 619-335-7187 Email: aaulia@sciences.sdsu.edu _______________________________________________ SDSU Computational Science Research Center Mailing List -------------------------------------------------------------------- mail2web.com - Microsoft® Exchange solutions from a leading provider - http://link.mail2web.com/Business/Exchange From aaulia@sciences.sdsu.edu Sat Nov 10 04:47:07 2007 From: aaulia@sciences.sdsu.edu (aaulia@sciences.sdsu.edu) Date: Fri, 9 Nov 2007 23:47:07 -0500 Subject: [compsci] Colloquium: COMPUTER ASSISTED STEREOTAXY SURGERY AND BRAIN MAPPING Message-ID: <380-22007116104477637@M2W004.mail2web.com> Title: COMPUTER ASSISTED STEREOTAXY SURGERY AND BRAIN MAPPING Date: Friday, November 16th, 2007 Time: 3:30 pm Location: GMCS 214 Speaker: Tyrone L. Hardy, M.D., Neurosurgeon Grossmont Hospital David and Donna Long Cancer Center, San Diego CA Abstract: In recent years there has been a significant increase in the number and use of stereotactic techniques for brain surgery. This has been brought about by the development of new imaging technologies, for example, computerized axial tomography, nuclear magnetic resonance scanning, various radioisotope scanning techniques, and digital angiography. These imaging techniques provide the surgeon with a method of “seeing” certain prominent brain structures and can be used to aid the surgeon in planning stereotactic procedures. The increased resolution afforded by CT and MR scanning systems do not, however, allow direct identification of some brain structures or regions. Such areas can only be inferred from these imaging techniques. Stereotactic surgery, being primarily a procedure performed without the aid of direct visualization, is dependent on sophisticated imaging techniques for its accurate execution. It therefore necessarily follows that as computer and imaging technology improve, so do the possibilities of stereotactic surgery. This review is concerned with the use of computer-graphic techniques in conjunction with CT, MR, angiographic and other imaging methods for generating complex digital brain/atlas map images to better aid the stereotactic neurosurgeon in localizing cortical and subcortical regions and structures. Host: Gordon Brown For future events, please visit our web site at: http://www.csrc.sdsu.edu/csrc/events/colloquium/ ******************************************* Akmal Aulia PhD Student Computational Science Research Center San Diego State University Phone: 619-335-7187 Email: aaulia@sciences.sdsu.edu _______________________________________________ SDSU Computational Science Research Center Mailing List -------------------------------------------------------------------- myhosting.com - Premium Microsoft® Windows® and Linux web and application hosting - http://link.myhosting.com/myhosting From aaulia@sciences.sdsu.edu Wed Nov 14 14:46:17 2007 From: aaulia@sciences.sdsu.edu (aaulia@sciences.sdsu.edu) Date: Wed, 14 Nov 2007 09:46:17 -0500 Subject: [compsci] *Reminder* Colloquium: COMPUTER ASSISTED STEREOTAXY SURGERY AND BRAIN MAPPING Message-ID: <380-2200711314144617614@M2W005.mail2web.com> Title: COMPUTER ASSISTED STEREOTAXY SURGERY AND BRAIN MAPPING Date: Friday, November 16th, 2007 Time: 3:30 pm Location: GMCS 214 Speaker: Tyrone L. Hardy, M.D., Neurosurgeon Grossmont Hospital David and Donna Long Cancer Center, San Diego CA Abstract: In recent years there has been a significant increase in the number and use of stereotactic techniques for brain surgery. This has been brought about by the development of new imaging technologies, for example, computerized axial tomography, nuclear magnetic resonance scanning, various radioisotope scanning techniques, and digital angiography. These imaging techniques provide the surgeon with a method of “seeing” certain prominent brain structures and can be used to aid the surgeon in planning stereotactic procedures. The increased resolution afforded by CT and MR scanning systems do not, however, allow direct identification of some brain structures or regions. Such areas can only be inferred from these imaging techniques. Stereotactic surgery, being primarily a procedure performed without the aid of direct visualization, is dependent on sophisticated imaging techniques for its accurate execution. It therefore necessarily follows that as computer and imaging technology improve, so do the possibilities of stereotactic surgery. This review is concerned with the use of computer-graphic techniques in conjunction with CT, MR, angiographic and other imaging methods for generating complex digital brain/atlas map images to better aid the stereotactic neurosurgeon in localizing cortical and subcortical regions and structures. Host: Gordon Brown For future events, please visit our web site at: http://www.csrc.sdsu.edu/csrc/events/colloquium/ ******************************************* Akmal Aulia PhD Student Computational Science Research Center San Diego State University Phone: 619-335-7187 Email: aaulia@sciences.sdsu.edu _______________________________________________ SDSU Computational Science Research Center Mailing List -------------------------------------------------------------------- myhosting.com - Premium Microsoft® Windows® and Linux web and application hosting - http://link.myhosting.com/myhosting From aaulia@sciences.sdsu.edu Sun Nov 25 21:47:00 2007 From: aaulia@sciences.sdsu.edu (aaulia@sciences.sdsu.edu) Date: Sun, 25 Nov 2007 16:47:00 -0500 Subject: [compsci] COLLOQUIUM: ALBANY, BATON ROUGE, SANTA BARBARA: THERE GOES THE NEIGHBORHOOD - IN N-DIMENSIONAL SPACE! Message-ID: <380-220071102521470150@M2W038.mail2web.com> Title: Albany, Baton Rouge, Santa Barbara: There Goes the Neighborhood – in N-Dimensional Space! Date: Friday, November 30th, 2007 Time: 3:30 pm Location: GMCS 214 Speaker: Andre Skupin Department of Geography San Diego State University Abstract: Could it be that, as we traverse certain parts of Baton Rouge, we are somehow instantaneously transported to Santa Barbara, CA, or Albany, NY? Or, in more general terms, as we move across geographic space, aren’t we simultaneously traveling through a high-dimensional attribute space in which the geographic entities are located that we encounter along the way? Of course, such movements overlaid in N-dimensional space may be difficult to see, especially when we are not familiar with all of the involved places and when dealing with a very large number of dimensions. In order to aid the human mind in understanding the paths taken during this type of attribute space travel, it is here proposed to create map-like visualizations of high-dimensional paths. A specific methodology is presented for achieving this by integrating a form of artificial neural networks known as Kohonen map or self-organizing map (SOM) with space-time paths captured by GPS. Among the envisioned applications are novel forms of surrogate or virtual travel and comparative studies of people’s movement across separate geographic territories. A number of case studies serve to illustrate the technique, including a traversal of the Austrian capital, Vienna, and urban travel in the U.S. combined with population attributes for all 200,000+ census block groups. Host: Rob Edwards For future events, please visit our web site at: http://www.csrc.sdsu.edu/csrc/events/colloquium/ ******************************************* Akmal Aulia PhD Student Computational Science Research Center San Diego State University Phone: 619-335-7187 Email: aaulia@sciences.sdsu.edu _______________________________________________ SDSU Computational Science Research Center Mailing List -------------------------------------------------------------------- mail2web.com – Enhanced email for the mobile individual based on Microsoft® Exchange - http://link.mail2web.com/Personal/EnhancedEmail From aaulia@sciences.sdsu.edu Wed Nov 28 18:44:06 2007 From: aaulia@sciences.sdsu.edu (aaulia@sciences.sdsu.edu) Date: Wed, 28 Nov 2007 13:44:06 -0500 Subject: [compsci] *Reminder* COLLOQUIUM: ALBANY, BATON ROUGE, SANTA BARBARA: THERE GOES THE NEIGHBORHOOD - IN N-DIMENSIONAL SPACE! Message-ID: <380-220071132818446531@M2W010.mail2web.com> Title: Albany, Baton Rouge, Santa Barbara: There Goes the Neighborhood – in N-Dimensional Space! Date: Friday, November 30th, 2007 Time: 3:30 pm Location: GMCS 214 Speaker: Andre Skupin Department of Geography San Diego State University Abstract: Could it be that, as we traverse certain parts of Baton Rouge, we are somehow instantaneously transported to Santa Barbara, CA, or Albany, NY? Or, in more general terms, as we move across geographic space, aren’t we simultaneously traveling through a high-dimensional attribute space in which the geographic entities are located that we encounter along the way? Of course, such movements overlaid in N-dimensional space may be difficult to see, especially when we are not familiar with all of the involved places and when dealing with a very large number of dimensions. In order to aid the human mind in understanding the paths taken during this type of attribute space travel, it is here proposed to create map-like visualizations of high-dimensional paths. A specific methodology is presented for achieving this by integrating a form of artificial neural networks known as Kohonen map or self-organizing map (SOM) with space-time paths captured by GPS. Among the envisioned applications are novel forms of surrogate or virtual travel and comparative studies of people’s movement across separate geographic territories. A number of case studies serve to illustrate the technique, including a traversal of the Austrian capital, Vienna, and urban travel in the U.S. combined with population attributes for all 200,000+ census block groups. Host: Rob Edwards For future events, please visit our web site at: http://www.csrc.sdsu.edu/csrc/events/colloquium/ ******************************************* Akmal Aulia PhD Student Computational Science Research Center San Diego State University Phone: 619-335-7187 Email: aaulia@sciences.sdsu.edu _______________________________________________ SDSU Computational Science Research Center Mailing List -------------------------------------------------------------------- mail2web - Check your email from the web at http://link.mail2web.com/mail2web