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Nobels explained

By Guest PostDecember 8, 2013Sciencealfred nobel, alice munro, alzheimer, andrew brett, ann manser, arieh warshel, building blocks, cells, chemical weapons, chemistry on computer, civil war, cold war, complex chemical systems, computational model, contemporary short story, conventional weapons, doug doren, elizabeth m shiller, eugene f fama, francois englert, frederick bereskin, fundamental particle, higgs field, immune diseases, ise lab, james e rothman, kenneth van golen, lars peter hansen, literature prize, martin karplus, master, matter particles, medicine, michael levitt, nobel prizes, nobels explained, opcw, origin of mass, particle physics, peter w higgs, physiology, randy w schekman, riksbank prize, robert j shiller, russia, sandeep patel, siobhan carroll, standard model, stephen barr, stockpile, stuart kaufman, subatomic particles, syrian government, thomas c suedhof, transport system, university of delaware, US, vesicle traffic, weapons

UD faculty members discuss 2013 prize-winners at annual symposium

Today’s chemists might work at a computer as often as in a laboratory, medical researchers studying conditions such as diabetes rely on understanding how cells carry and deposit materials within the body, and average investors in the market increasingly buy index funds to average out the short-term ups and downs of individual stocks.

The discoveries that led to these changes are among the work that was honored by this year’s Nobel Prizes. (more…)

Subconscious mental categories help brain sort through everyday experiences

By Guest PostMay 2, 2013Health, Scienceanna schapiro, brain, brown university, chopping vegetables, computational model, dynamic, experiences, functional, magnetic resonance imaging, matthew botvinick, michael frank, natalia cordova, nature neuroscience, neural populations, nicholas turk browne, princeton university, similarity structure, subconscious mental, temporal relationship, timothy rogers

Your brain knows it’s time to cook when the stove is on, and the food and pots are out. When you rush away to calm a crying child, though, cooking is over and it’s time to be a parent. Your brain processes and responds to these occurrences as distinct, unrelated events.

But it remains unclear exactly how the brain breaks such experiences into “events,” or the related groups that help us mentally organize the day’s many situations. A dominant concept of event-perception known as prediction error says that our brain draws a line between the end of one event and the start of another when things take an unexpected turn (such as a suddenly distraught child). (more…)

A Boost for Analyzing Biological Sequences

By Guest PostFebruary 10, 2013Scienceanalyzing sequence data, best parameters, biological molecules, biologists, computational biologists, computational model, dan deblasio, detect, DNA, evolutionary past, guessing game, improved software, john kececioglu, model, parameter advising, parameter values, parameters, phenomena, predict missing data, proteins, run alignment software, software tools, species, ua computer scientists, university of arizona

UA computer scientists John Kececioglu and Dan DeBlasio are developing improved software that provides biologists with much more accurate results when analyzing sequence data.

Imagine trying to construct a brick building with fewer than the requisite number of bricks and without a detailed blueprint.

Welcome to the world of computational biologists.

When biologists study proteins, DNA, or other biological molecules that are represented in the computer as sequences, they rely on known information but also must predict missing data. Given that reality, major challenges exist to having accurate results. (more…)

Migraine Patients Find Pain Relief in Electrical Brain Stimulation

By Guest PostApril 23, 2012Health, Sciencealexandre dasilva, analgesic resource, chronic migraine, chronic pain, computational model, electric current flow, electrical brain stimulation, electrode, headache, migraine therapy, motor cortex, noninvasive method, pain relief, tdcs, university of michigan, voluntary movement

ANN ARBOR, Mich.— Chronic migraine sufferers saw significant pain relief after four weeks of electrical brain stimulation in the part of the brain responsible for voluntary movement, the motor cortex, according to a new study.

Researchers from the University of Michigan School of Dentistry, Harvard University and the City College of the City University of New York used a noninvasive method called transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) as a preventative migraine therapy on 13 patients with chronic migraine, or at least15 attacks a month. After 10 sessions, participants reported an average 37 percent decrease in pain intensity. (more…)

Researchers Suggest A Proximate Cause of Cancer

By Guest PostJanuary 26, 2012Health, Science3d cancer model, biochemical carcinogenic factors, biochemical factors, boston university, cancer cells, cancer progression, cancerous behavior, carcinogenic factors, cell, computational model, Environment, genetic, healthy tissue, life cycle, malignant tumor, mechanical factors, mechanical property, muhammad zaman, multiplication rate, parag katira, physical stress, prevent cancer, probability of death, radiation, roger t bonnecaze, softening of cells, stiffer cells, synthetic chemicals, types of cancers, understanding of cancer, university of texas at austin

AUSTIN, TX — Researchers from The University of Texas at Austin’s Department of Chemical Engineering are the first to show that mechanical property changes in cells may be responsible for cancer progression — a discovery that could pave the way for new approaches to predict, treat and prevent cancer.

Postdoctoral student Parag Katira and his adviser, Roger T. Bonnecaze, department chair in the Cockrell School of Engineering and T. Brockett Hudson Professor, worked with Muhammad Zaman of Boston University to devise a 3-D cancer model that shows the softening of cells and changes in cell binding cause cancerous behavior in cells. These mechanical property changes cause cells to divide uncontrollably — making them less likely to die and resulting in malignant tumor growth. The findings present a unique physics-based perspective on understanding cancer progression and were published recently in the American Physical Society’s journal Physical Review Letters. (more…)

Computer Modeling of Swimming Fish Could Lead To New Robots and Prosthetics

By Guest PostOctober 23, 2010Scienceavis cohen, barracuda, body, body stiffness, chia yu hsu, computational model, eric d tytell, lamprey, lisa fauci, locomotion, medical prosthetics, muscles contract, natural mechanics, simulation, swimming fish, tulane university, turbulent water, university of maryland

Image credit: University of Maryland

COLLEGE PARK, Md — Scientists at the University of Maryland and Tulane University have developed a computational model of a swimming fish that is the first to address the interaction of both internal and external forces on locomotion. The interdisciplinary research team simulated how the fish’s flexible body bends, depending on both the forces from the fluid moving around it as well as the muscles inside. Understanding these interactions, even in fish, will help design medical prosthetics for humans that work with the body’s natural mechanics, rather than against them. This research is published in the October 18, 2010 online early edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. (more…)

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