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NanoManufacturing

Michael De Volder, Engineering Department - IfM
 

Tue 18 Mar 16:00: Title to be confirmed Zoom: https://cam-ac-uk.zoom.us/j/88117681760?pwd=MpUgaRUgGn0HyeYdPEZpymVFj0mLfs.1

http://talks.cam.ac.uk/show/rss/5408 - Thu, 27/02/2025 - 03:57
Title to be confirmed

Abstract not available

Zoom: https://cam-ac-uk.zoom.us/j/88117681760?pwd=MpUgaRUgGn0HyeYdPEZpymVFj0mLfs.1

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Tue 11 Mar 14:00: Wearable electrocardiography: from Holter to handheld devices please note the change of time for this talk. Zoom: https://cam-ac-uk.zoom.us/j/88117681760?pwd=MpUgaRUgGn0HyeYdPEZpymVFj0mLfs.1

http://talks.cam.ac.uk/show/rss/5408 - Thu, 27/02/2025 - 03:35
Wearable electrocardiography: from Holter to handheld devices

The electrocardiogram (ECG) is a fundamental technique for assessing heart function. The 12-lead ECG was developed over 70 years ago and to this day remains a gold standard, providing high signal quality and multiple views of the heart. In contrast, wearable ECG technology enables continuous ECG recording over prolonged periods of time outside of clinical settings. More recently, consumer devices like smartwatches and clinical-grade handheld ECG recorders allow 30-second ECGs to be recorded on demand without the need for clinical input. Whilst novel wearables have greatly expanded access to ECG monitoring, they also present interesting challenges, including: ensuring diagnoses are accurate despite the reduced number of leads and lower signal quality; and, making appropriate treatment decisions in a population with lower disease prevalence and burden than encountered in routine clinical practice. In this talk, I will discuss the advantages and limitations of these different ECG measurement techniques and their potential roles in healthcare. I will recent findings from our research on the performance and acceptability of wearable and handheld ECG devices for detecting atrial fibrillation in older adults. Finally, I will discuss future directions for wearable electrocardiography, including advancements in hardware, signal processing algorithms, and their integration into clinical decision-making.

Bio: Peter Charlton is a British Heart Foundation Research Fellow in the Department of Public Health and Primary Care, at the University of Cambridge. He develops biomedical signal processing techniques to analyse data from mobile devices for clinical decision making. Peter gained the degree of M.Eng. in Engineering Science in 2010 from the University of Oxford with first class honours. From 2010 to 2020, Peter conducted his research at King’s College London, developing techniques to use wearables to monitor cardiovascular and respiratory health. His Ph.D. focused on using signal processing and machine learning techniques to identify acute deteriorations in hospital patients. Peter is currently developing techniques to use clinical and consumer devices in screening for atrial fibrillation. He is leading a clinical study to assess the acceptability and performance of wearables in older adults. Peter works in collaboration with clinicians and industrial partners to translate his work into clinical practice.

please note the change of time for this talk. Zoom: https://cam-ac-uk.zoom.us/j/88117681760?pwd=MpUgaRUgGn0HyeYdPEZpymVFj0mLfs.1

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Fri 28 Feb 16:00: The two-pole nature of the Lambda(1405) from lattice QCD

http://talks.cam.ac.uk/show/rss/5408 - Thu, 27/02/2025 - 00:57
The two-pole nature of the Lambda(1405) from lattice QCD

Although experimentally well-established, the nature of the Lambda(1405) hyperon resonance has long been a mystery. Constituent quark models have difficulty accommodating its low mass, while approaches based on chiral effective theory typically predict an additional state, the Lambda(1380), which is broad and difficult to identify. I will present the first lattice QCD computation of the coupled-channel πΣ − K̅N scattering amplitude in the Lambda(1405) channel, which employs quark masses so that the πΣ threshold is approximately 1380 MeV. This enables the unambiguous identification of the Lambda(1380) in addition to the Lambda(1405), thus supporting the exotic meson-baryon `molecule’ interpretation.

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Fri 28 Feb 16:00: The two-pole nature of the Lambda(1405) from lattice QCD

http://talks.cam.ac.uk/show/rss/5408 - Thu, 27/02/2025 - 00:44
The two-pole nature of the Lambda(1405) from lattice QCD

Although experimentally well-established, the nature of the Lambda(1405) hyperon resonance has long been a mystery. Constituent quark models have difficulty accommodating its low mass, while approaches based on chiral effective theory typically predict an additional state, the Lambda(1380), which is broad and difficult to identify. I will present the first lattice QCD computation of the coupled-channel πΣ − I̅N scattering amplitude in the Lambda(1405) channel, which employs quark masses so that the $\pi\Sigma$ threshold is approximately 1380 MeV. This enables the unambiguous identification of the Lambda(1380) in addition to the Lambda(1405), thus supporting the exotic meson-baryon `molecule’ interpretation.

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Fri 28 Feb 16:00: Natural Language meets Control Theory

http://talks.cam.ac.uk/show/rss/5408 - Wed, 26/02/2025 - 18:36
Natural Language meets Control Theory

Note this seminar will be taking place at 4 pm.

Control theory is fundamental in the design and understanding of many natural and engineered systems, from cars and robots to power networks and bacterial metabolism. It studies dynamical systems—systems whose properties evolve over time—and focuses on how to analyze and control their behavior to achieve desirable outcomes, such as preventing car crashes, maintaining voltage levels, or positioning robots accurately. In this talk, we will explore at a high level how control theory can intersect with the study of natural language. First, we will discuss “Language To Control,” which explores how to integrate established control strategies with language algorithms. The goal is to enable intuitive communication with machines using natural language while ensuring the safety and reliability provided by classical control techniques. Second, we will delve into “Control For Language,” where we treat language production as a dynamical system and apply control theory to enhance our understanding and design of language technologies. This includes both foundational models and post-training methods. The aim of this talk is to demonstrate the potential of control theory as a tool for studying language and to open a discussion about potential future avenues.

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Tue 04 Mar 15:00: The Continual Learning (CL) Theory

http://talks.cam.ac.uk/show/rss/5408 - Wed, 26/02/2025 - 18:02
The Continual Learning (CL) Theory

The Continual Learning (CL) Theory journal club meeting next Tuesday will focus on the following three papers (updated also at the JC document): Introduction will loosely follow the review paper Continual task learning in natural and artificial agents. 1. Continual Learning Through Synaptic Intelligence : – This paper presents Synaptic Intelligence, a method allowing CL by assigning importance to synapses which is partially theoretically tractable. 2. A Theoretical Analysis of Catastrophic Forgetting through the NTK Overlap Matrix – This paper provides a theoretical analysis of catastrophic forgetting in wide neural networks under vanilla gradient descent, as well as its CL-friendly variants. 3. How catastrophic can catastrophic forgetting be in linear regression? – This paper establishes bounds on forgetting in linear regression with task repetitions using projection theory. 4. Order parameters and phase transitions of continual learning in deep neural networks – This paper offers a statistical mechanics framework for both retrograde and anterograde effects in a teacher-student setting.

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Thu 05 Jun 09:30: Early cancer trials

http://talks.cam.ac.uk/show/rss/5408 - Wed, 26/02/2025 - 17:43
Early cancer trials

Abstract not available

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Wed 14 May 15:05: Title to be confirmed

http://talks.cam.ac.uk/show/rss/5408 - Wed, 26/02/2025 - 16:31
Title to be confirmed

Abstract to be confirmed

Link to join virtually: https://cam-ac-uk.zoom.us/j/87421957265

This talk is being recorded. If you do not wish to be seen in the recording, please avoid sitting in the front three rows of seats in the lecture theatre. Any questions asked will also be included in the recording. The recording will be made available on the Department’s webpage

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Wed 05 Mar 14:30: g-xTB: DFT accuracy at tight-binding speed

http://talks.cam.ac.uk/show/rss/5408 - Wed, 26/02/2025 - 16:01
g-xTB: DFT accuracy at tight-binding speed

Recently, we optimized small (vDZP), deeply contracted AO basis sets in molecular DFT calculations using standard ECPs for all elements up to radon1. This strategy is further- more applied to a minimal set of AOs which — as a totally new ingredient — is made adaptive, i.e., radially different for symmetry distinct atoms in a molecule. The ”breathing” of the AOs in the molecular environment is parameterized efficiently by on-the-fly computed effective atomic charges (obtained by a new EEQ charge model) and coordination numbers. This so-called q-vSZP set2 provides in typical DFT applications results of about or better than DZ quality. It forms the basis of our third-generation tight-binding model g-xTB (g=general). This includes non-local Fock-exchange as well as other new, many-center Hamiltonian terms (e.g., atomic correction potentials, ACP ). It aims at general purpose applicability in chemistry and more closely approaches DFT accuracy (actually ωB97M-V/aTZ3) than previous semi-empirical methods at only slightly increased computational cost (factor of 1.5 compared to GFN2 -xTB). It will be consistently available for all elements Z=1-103 with f-electrons included for lanathanides/actinides. The talk describes key improvements of the underlying TB theory as well as extensive benchmarking on a wide range of standard thermochemistry sets. [1] M. Müller, A. Hansen, S. Grimme, J. Chem. Phys. 158 (2023), 014103 [2] M. Müller, A. Hansen, S. Grimme, J. Chem. Phys. 159 (2023), 164108. Revision: JPC A , doi:10.1021/acs.jpca.4c06989 [3] N. Mardirossian and M. Head-Gordon, J. Chem. Phys. 144 (2016), 214110

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Fri 04 Apr 14:00: TBC

http://talks.cam.ac.uk/show/rss/5408 - Wed, 26/02/2025 - 15:54
TBC

Abstract not available

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Fri 21 Mar 14:00: TBC

http://talks.cam.ac.uk/show/rss/5408 - Wed, 26/02/2025 - 15:50
TBC

Abstract not available

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Fri 09 May 14:00: TBC

http://talks.cam.ac.uk/show/rss/5408 - Wed, 26/02/2025 - 15:46
TBC

Abstract not available

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Wed 26 Feb 16:00: The miraculous metamorphosis of malaria parasites: how the malaria parasite adapts to the host erythrocyte (and the host itself) Host: Ross Waller

http://talks.cam.ac.uk/show/rss/5408 - Wed, 26/02/2025 - 15:25
The miraculous metamorphosis of malaria parasites: how the malaria parasite adapts to the host erythrocyte (and the host itself)

Malaria parasites replicate inside erythrocytes of the host organism. Although this is a relatively safe haven from the host’s immune system, it exposes the parasite to potential removal of the infected erythrocyte in the spleen, where small, old and damaged erythrocytes are removed from the circulation. Late-stage parasites are large and ultimately take up ~75% of the cytosol of the erythrocyte and erythrocytes containing these large late-stage malaria parasites are rapidly removed from the blood circulation. In contrast, early-stage parasites are much smaller and erythrocytes containing these forms of the parasite are readily detected in the blood of an infected individual. Although the invasive merozoite form of the parasite is small and nearly spherical, inside the erythrocyte early-stage parasites assume very motile amoeboid shapes, with limbs that move, retract and extend again. Hence, the early-stage intracellular parasites have little resemblance to the invasive form of the parasite. However, how, when and why the parasite undergoes this shape change has been studied very little. To understand this remarkable transformation of merozoites to the intracellular amoeboid shape, we investigated the when, how and why of this process and discovered that it is rapid, likely very complex and involves the host’s spleen. Our results indicate that rather than passively settling into the host erythrocyte after invasion, the parasite undergoes a radical metamorphosis to increase its survival in the host.

Host: Ross Waller

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Wed 30 Apr 16:00: Title to be confirmed Host: Ross Waller

http://talks.cam.ac.uk/show/rss/5408 - Wed, 26/02/2025 - 15:24
Title to be confirmed

Abstract not available

Host: Ross Waller

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