- Comp-neuro - lists.cnsorg.org

ICDM Workshop HealthMining 2015 and HISS Special Issue (Deadline: July 20, 2015)

by william

[Please accept our apologies if you receive multiple copies of this email] CALL FOR PAPERS HEALTHMINING 2015 - The ICDM Workshop on Data Mining and Decision Analytics on Public Health and Wellness (URL: http://www.comp.hkbu.edu.hk/~healthmining2015/) In conjunction with the IEEE International Conference on Data Mining (ICDM 2015) AIMS and SCOPE For many years, data mining and decision analytics techniques have already been extensively applied to various domains, such as smart environments, social networks, marketing, and web technology. The focus of this workshop is mainly on the issues and challenges of data mining techniques with the purpose of improving human well-being and quality of life. It is expected that the workshop may increase the diversity of application areas that can benefit from data mining. At the same time, it is also desirable that the discussion and vision of this workshop would also offer further insights into, as well as new tools for, the issues of data collection, processing, system modeling, simulation and optimization arising from various public health topics. The objective of this workshop is to serve as a venue for researchers to discuss how data mining and analytics methods can contribute to improving public health quality in clinical, medical/biomedical, and healthcare systems in smart ways, including evidence-based medicine, personalized treatment and healthcare, assistive technology and active surveillance and control of diseases. In addition to mining statistical regularities, associations, or causalities from large-scale health-related datasets, it would be more desirable to further investigate how the results can effectively and efficiently support decision-making, system modeling, optimization, and simulation in various healthcare systems. TOPICS OF INTEREST - Large-scale data acquisition and management issues for public health - Social and other network-based analysis for public health - Medical big data mining and innovative applications - Mining risk patterns in medical data - Mental and physical health data integration - Biomarker discovery and biomedical data mining - Clinical data mining for practice knowledge building - Data mining from clinical decision-making, and practitioner reflection - Data mining from genetic data of diseases - Data mining for disease profiling and personalized treatment - Data mining for (active) syndromic surveillance - Data mining for infectious/chronic disease epidemiology and control - Data mining for exploring hidden patterns in clinical systems - Data mining for medical/biomedical, and healthcare systems - Data mining for assistive environments - Data modeling and information management for pervasive assistive environments - Data mining and knowledge modeling for wellness - Spatiotemporal data exploration and mining of diseases - Unstructured data mining in medicine and healthcare - Semantic data mining in medicine and healthcare - Scalable data integration in medicine and healthcare - Evidence-based decision-support systems - Healthcare knowledge abstraction, classification, and summarization - Healthcare knowledge computerization, execution, inference, and representation >>> SPECIAL ISSUE <<< Selected papers of the workshop will be invited for revision to be included in a special issue to be published in Health Information Science and Systems (URL: http://www.hissjournal.com/) IMPORTANT DATES - Paper Submission Due: Jul 20, 2015 - Paper Notification Date: Sep 1, 2015 - Workshop Date: Nov 13, 2015 ORGANIZING COMMITTEE - William K. Cheung, Hong Kong Baptist University, Hong Kong - Jiming Liu, Hong Kong Baptist University, Hong Kong - Parisa Rashidi, University of Florida, USA - Fei Wang, University of Connecticut, USA -- Dr. William K. Cheung Associate Professor and Associate Head CS Dept, Hong Kong Baptist University http://www.comp.hkbu.edu.hk/~william Tel: (+852) 3411-5965 Fax: (+852) 3411-7892 "A happy heart makes the face cheerful, but heartache crushes the spirit." --- Proverbs 17:22 Department of Computer Science: http://www.comp.hkbu.edu.hk HKBU Faculty of Science: http://www.sci.hkbu.edu.hk Disclaimer: http://www.comp.hkbu.edu.hk/disclaimer Department of Computer Science: http://www.comp.hkbu.edu.hk HKBU Faculty of Science: http://www.sci.hkbu.edu.hk Disclaimer: http://www.comp.hkbu.edu.hk/disclaimer

June 27, 2015

Fully funded PhD position in Neural Learning / Robotics / Evolutionary Neural Networks

by Andrea Soltoggio

A fully funded PhD position is available at the Deep Automation, Learning and Evolution Lab at Loughborough University, UK, on the topics of Neural Learning / Robotics / Evolutionary Neural Networks. Loughborough University is ranked 11th in the 2016 UK League Table Ranking (http://www.thecompleteuniversityguide.co.uk/loughborough/performance , and is located in Loughborough, a town well connected to London by a 1h20m journey by train. Research. The focus is on developing new neural learning algorithms with possible applications to a variety of automation and machine learning problems, e.g. vision, robotics, autonomous vehicles, manufacturing technology. We seek an outstanding candidate, capable of defining their own research project and bringing novel ideas and initiatives to the lab. Working environment. The student, based at the Computer Science Department, School of Science, will have access to a number of robotic platforms, from humanoid robots, to UAVs and a number of industrial and service robots, as well as a High Performance Computing cluster and GPUs. Interdisciplinary research is encouraged across laboratories, including Aeronautical and Automotive Engineering, the Intelligent Automation Lab, and the Centre for Information Management. The research group collaborates with leading national and international industrial partners. Requirements. The ideal candidate holds (or is about to obtain) a first-class honour undergraduate/postgraduate degree (or equivalent) in Computer Science, Mathematics, Statistics, Electrical or Electronic Engineering, or has authored publications in recognised conferences/journals. Independent working skills are valued as well as the capability of working in a team. Collegiality and interpersonal skills are essential. Excellent English language skills are highly desired (see requirements here http://www.lboro.ac.uk/international/englang/index.htm) Period/Scholarship. Start: October 2015. Duration: 3 years. Scholarship: £14,057 per annum plus tuition fees at the UK/EU rate (currently £4,052 p.a.) Enquiries and applications. Interested candidates are invited to establish a preliminary contact with me (a.soltoggio(a)lboro.ac.uk<mailto:a.soltoggio@lboro.ac.uk>), possibly including a CV, the names and addresses of two referees, and a statement of research interest (maximum 300 words), before submitting the full application at http://www.lboro.ac.uk/study/apply/research/ Best regards, Andrea Soltoggio -- Dr. Andrea Soltoggio Lecturer in Artificial Intelligence Department of Computer Science and Centre for Information Management (CIM) School of Business and Economics Haslegrave Building, N.2.03 Loughborough University LE11 3TU, UK Phone: +44 (0) 1509 635748<tel:%2B44%20%280%29%201509%20635748> Email: a.soltoggio(a)lboro.ac.uk<mailto:a.soltoggio@lboro.ac.uk> Web: http://www.lboro.ac.uk/departments/compsci/staff/dr-andrea-soltoggio.html

June 25, 2015

Job: Post-doctoral Scientist - Investigating the Feasibility of Controlling Hearing-aid Directionality Using In-Ear Electrodes to Measure Eye Position.

by Bernd Porr

Dear all, this is something for somebody who has a strong background in signal processing / biomed signal processing. If interested please contact Owen Brimijoin <owen(a)ihr.gla.ac.uk>. Best /Bernd Porr -------------------------------------------------------------------- Salary: £27,084 – 29,567 Grade: MRC - 4a Contract Type: Fixed Term, 24 months Hours: Full Time Closing Date:31 July 2015 Interview Date: 26 August 2015 The successful applicant will be based at the MRC/CSO Institute of Hearing Research (IHR) in Glasgow within the Auditory Disability and Impairment group headed by Dr William Whitmer. The successful applicant will join a small group of researchers but will work most closely with Drs Owen Brimijoin (IHR), Bernd Porr (Glasgow Uni), and Graham Naylor (Oticon) on a project investigating the feasibility of using in-ear measurements of eye position to guide hearing aid directionality. The project will use electrooculograms (EOG), optical eye and head tracking, digital signal processing, microphone arrays, as well as our extensive audiological and auditory testing facilities. Your work will consist of writing signal-processing algorithms to combine the output of an EOG amplifier, gyroscopes, and other extra-cochlear signals to yield a reliable measure of eye position that can be used to aim the directional beam of an experimental hearing aid. The work will continue with implementing these algorithms in Matlab and/or C, designing experiments to test benefit, statistical analysis of results, and delivery of these results for dissemination (conference abstracts and presentations, invited lectures and seminars, and published manuscripts in specialized and generic journals). -- http://www.berndporr.me.uk http://www.linux-usb-daq.co.uk http://www.imdb.com/name/nm3293421/ +44 (0)7840 340069

June 25, 2015

PhD fellowship on attention, mind wandering and human interaction with highly automated systems

by Arnaud Delorme

We are searching for a PhD candidate with a master degree in engineering, psychology or neuroscience and an interest in human/brain machine interfaces. Expertise in EEG and/or oculometry is expected The subject of the thesis is linked to the difficulties for human operator to control/monitor highly automated system. This performance problem remains difficult to characterize. The first goal of this project is to characterize the OOL (Out Of the Loop) performance problem at the physiological level. Particularly, we propose to document the relation between vigilance, attention and the degradation of the monitoring activities. Using EEG recordings and oculometric measures in supervisory task, we propose to study the dynamics of vigilance and attentional mechanisms during the emergence of OOL performance problem and their respective impact on the monitoring activities. These results will help us to characterize the state of the brain leading to the degradation of the monitoring activities and to develop tools for OOL episodes detection. This project will be co-directed by three researchers in interdisciplinary fields, Bruno Berberian (ONERA) who is expert in human control of highly automated systems, Arnaud Delorme (CerCo) who is expert in vigilance process and EEG signal processing, and Aurélie Campagne (LPNC) who is expert in the characterization of neurophysiological correlates of cognitive states for applications in passive brain-computer interfaces. The location of the PhD will be Salon de Provence primarily and secondarily in Grenoble. If you are interested, please send your CV, two contacts for reference, a motivation letter (max one page) and reference letters (optional) to Bruno Berberian<Bruno.Berberian(a)onera.fr>. Please group all documents into one PDF for easier processing.

June 24, 2015

Gordon Research Conference on Eye Movements

by Emilio Salinas

Readers of this list may be interested in the upcoming Gordon Research Conference on Eye Movements. This year's theme, "Integrating Perception and Action for Optimal Vision", promises to provide fresh perspectives on core oculomotor issues. The meeting is meant as an immersive experience in which participants share ideas over meals and jointly participate in scheduled and unscheduled social activities. The format provides unparalleled opportunity for participants at all career stages to share their most novel findings, foster new collaborative efforts, and chart the future directions of oculomotor research. WHAT: Call for applications for the 2015 Gordon Research Conference on Eye Movements (main meeting) and Gordon Research Seminar on Eye Movements (1-day forum for students and postdocs) DEADLINE FOR APPLICATIONS: June 28th WHEN: July 26-31 (GRC), July 25-26 (GRS) WHERE: Bentley University, Waltham MA (just outside of Boston) HOW: Apply online - GRC application; GRS application DETAILS: http://www.grc.org/programs.aspx?id=14523 Emilio Salinas, on behalf of Terry Stanford & John Van Opstal (GRC Chairs) Doug Crawford & Marc Sommer (GRC Vice-chairs) Jaime Kaminer and Martin Bohlen (GRS Chairs)

June 24, 2015

Rapid image categorization via edge co-occurrences

by James A. Bednar

We are pleased to announce the publication of an open-access paper demonstrating a novel method for categorizing images using the statistics of their edge co-occurrences. The success of this low-level method in matching both correct and incorrect classifications by humans suggests a reinterpretation of longstanding claims for rapid hierarchical processing in the visual cortex. Laurent U. Perrinet Institut de Neurosciences de la Timone Aix Marseille Universite, CNRS James A. Bednar Institute for Adaptive and Neural Computation University of Edinburgh _______________________________________________________________________________ Laurent U. Perrinet and James A. Bednar. Edge co-occurrences can account for rapid categorization of natural versus animal images. Scientific Reports, Nature Publishing Group, 5:11400, 2015. http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/srep11400 Abstract: Making a judgment about the semantic category of a visual scene, such as whether it contains an animal, is typically assumed to involve high-level associative brain areas. Previous explanations require progressively analyzing the scene hierarchically at increasing levels of abstraction, from edge extraction to mid-level object recognition and then object categorization. Here we show that the statistics of edge co-occurrences alone are sufficient to perform a rough yet robust (translation, scale, and rotation invariant) scene categorization. We first extracted the edges from images using a scale-space analysis coupled with a sparse coding algorithm. We then computed association for different categories (natural, man-made, or containing an animal) by computing the statistics of edge co-occurrences. These differed strongly, with animal images having more curved configurations. We show that this geometry alone is sufficient for categorization, and that the pattern of errors made by humans is consistent with this procedure. Because these statistics could be measured as early as the primary visual cortex, the results challenge widely held assumptions about the flow of computations in the visual system. The results also suggest new algorithms for image classification and signal processing that exploit correlations between low-level structure and the underlying semantic category. -- The University of Edinburgh is a charitable body, registered in Scotland, with registration number SC005336.

June 23, 2015

POSTDOCTORAL RESEARCHER IN SYSTEMS NEUROSCIENCE

by Santamaria, Cookie

POSTDOCTORAL RESEARCHER IN SYSTEMS NEUROSCIENCE The BioCircuits Institute (BCI) and Departments of Physics, Chemistry/Biochemistry, Bioengineering, and Psychology and Neurobiology at the University of California, San Diego invite applications for a postdoctoral position in systems neuroscience, for experiments leading to the neuromorphic engineering of cognitive abilities. The ideal candidate will have experience with electrophysiology, with awake behaving animals, with neural modeling, and/or with biologically inspired integrated circuits and systems. Close interaction with other project researchers in computational and theoretical neuroscience, nonlinear dynamical systems, and neuromorphic engineering is involved. We will accept applications immediately. To be considered, please submit your complete application by Friday, 31 July 2015. We will begin making selections from the completed applications on 3 August 2015. The Committee will continue to accept and review completed applications as they are received until the position is filled. Appointments are for two years (in one-year increments) with the possibility of a third. Send your statement of qualifications and interest with curriculum vitae, your two most significant publications and three letters of reference to Tim Gentner, Henry Abarbanel, Gert Cauwenberghs, Katja Lindenberg, Mikhail Rabinovich, and Terrence Sejnowski via email to: <postdoc.muri(a)gmail.com<mailto:postdoc.muri@gmail.com>>. A Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree is required prior to the appointment. UCSD is an EO/AA employer.

June 22, 2015

Development of model description languages

by Erik De Schutter

Postdoctoral researcher and staff scientist positions are available in the Computational Neuroscience Unit (https://groups.oist.jp/cnu) of Prof. Erik De Schutter at the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University. We are looking for a postdoc with a computer science or engineering background who is interested in the development of XML-based methods for model description and simulation. You will collaborate with international colleagues on further development of NIneML (http://nineml.net) and deploy it within the research group. Previous experience related to collaborative projects in computational neuroscience or systems biology preferred. You will interact with other researchers and students in the lab who are working on cerebellar modeling projects or analyzing cerebellar recordings. We offer attractive financial and working conditions in an English language graduate university that emphasizes interdisciplinary research, located on the beautiful subtropical island Okinawa. Send curriculum vitae, a summary of research interests and experience, and the names of three referees to Prof. Erik De Schutter at erik(a)oist.jp

June 22, 2015

SPIKY and PySpike – Two free software packages for monitoring spike train synchrony

by Thomas Kreuz

Dear all, we would like to draw your attention to our two most recent papers and to two new software packages. *1. Two new papers:* This paper provides a detailed description of *SPIKY* (see 2.) and introduces our new measure *SPIKE-synchronization*: • Kreuz T, Mulansky M, Bozanic N: SPIKY: A graphical user interface for monitoring spike train synchrony. JNeurophysiol <http://jn.physiology.org/content/113/9/3432> 113, 3432 (2015) [PDF] <http://www.fi.isc.cnr.it/users/thomas.kreuz/images/Kreuz_JNeurophysiol_2015…>. An overview of all three of our measures (*ISI-distance, SPIKE-distance and SPIKE-synchronization*) and their mathematical properties can be found in • Mulansky M, Bozanic N, Sburlea A, Kreuz T: A guide to time-resolved and parameter-free measures of spike train synchrony. IEEE Proceedings (in press) and arXiv [PDF] <http://arxiv.org/pdf/1502.02027v2.pdf> (2015). *2. SPIKY, graphical user interface (Matlab) for monitoring spike train synchrony* Implementations of ISI-distance, SPIKE-distance, and SPIKE-Synchronization Distances, time profiles, distance matrices, selective averaging, triggered averages, dendrograms, etc. Plotting, movie generation Spike train generator, event detector (for continuous data such as EEG) Matlab with C backend (MEX) Matlab fallback if no MEX-compiler is not available Extensive documentation includes many illustrative movies Matlab source codes and all relevant papers are available on our *SPIKY download page* http://www.fi.isc.cnr.it/users/thomas.kreuz/Source-Code/SPIKY.html For further information about new features and updates please check the *SPIKY Facebook page* https://www.facebook.com/SPIKYgui Here you'll also find a lot of documentation including many images and movies that illustrate how to use SPIKY. All of these movies can also be found on the *SPIKY Youtube channel* https://www.youtube.com/user/SPIKYgui1 *3. PySpike, open source Python library hosted on github* Implementations of ISI-distance, SPIKE-distance, and SPIKE-Synchronization Library of functions to compute distances and profiles (bivariate and multivariate), distance matrices, selective averages, etc. Helper functions for plotting, spike train generation Cython backend for optimal performance (factor 100-200 over plain Python) Python fallback if Cython is not available Extensive unit-tests that cover the API as well as the numerics Automatic build and test runs Documentation The github issues system can be used to file bug reports or request new functionality and features. *PySpike webpage* http://www.pyspike.de *PySpike github page* https://github.com/mariomulansky/PySpike Any feedback on both the papers and the software packages is very welcome. Best wishes, Thomas Kreuz -- Institute for complex systems, CNR Via Madonna del Piano 10 50119 Sesto Fiorentino (Italy) Tel: +39-349-0748506 Email: thomas.kreuz(a)cnr.it Webpage: http://www.fi.isc.cnr.it/users/thomas.kreuz/

June 22, 2015

Research Associate Position in Computational Neural Modeling (Duke University)

by Angel V. Peterchev

RESEARCH ASSOCIATE in COMPUTATIONAL NEURAL MODELING DUKE UNIVERSITY Department of Biomedical Engineering and Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences An opportunity exists to join a research team working to understand and advance transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS). TMS is a non-invasive form of brain stimulation used widely as a neuroscience research tool as well as a treatment for psychiatric and neurological disorders (FDA approved for depression since 2008). We have an ongoing NIH-funded project that combines computational modeling at several scales with single neuron recordings in pre-clinical models. We seek a highly-motivated individual who is interested in developing and applying computational models of TMS. The parallel experimental component of the study provides unique opportunities to validate and calibrate computational models. This is a full-time position with University Benefits and provides exceptional opportunities for interdisciplinary research and career development. This position will be jointly mentored by Angel V. Peterchev, PhD<https://sites.google.com/site/dukebrainstimulation/> (Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences, School of Medicine) and Warren M. Grill, PhD<http://www.bme.duke.edu/faculty/warren-grill> (Department of Biomedical Engineering, Pratt School of Engineering), providing exposure to both clinical and engineering research settings. A PhD in biomedical engineering, electrical engineering, neuroscience, physics, or math is required, as are excellent communication skills. Previous experience in computational neural modeling is required, and previous experience with neural stimulation is desirable. For consideration submit a CV and the names and contact information of three professional references as a .pdf file attachment to: Angel V. Peterchev, PhD Assistant Professor of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences, Biomedical Engineering, and Electrical & Computer Engineering angel.peterchev(a)duke.edu<mailto:angel.peterchev@duke.edu> Duke University is an equal opportunity / affirmative action employer.

June 21, 2015