Computer Science / Engineering posts
- June 14, 2016
- 03:16 PM
- 109 views
Even when help is just a click away, stigma is still a roadblock
by Dr. Jekyll in Lunatic Laboratories
Stigma is a major barrier preventing people with mental health issues from getting the help they need. Even in a private and anonymous setting online, someone with greater self-stigma is less likely to take that first step to get information about mental health concerns and counseling.
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Lannin, D., Vogel, D., Brenner, R., Abraham, W., & Heath, P. (2016) Does self-stigma reduce the probability of seeking mental health information?. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 63(3), 351-358. DOI: 10.1037/cou0000108
- June 12, 2016
- 10:35 PM
- 135 views
Seeing Through the Skin
by Aurametrix team in Olfactics and Diagnostics
Human skin emits light (albeit the glow is extremely weak) and a wide variety of small molecules that may be sometimes "sniffed" by dogs or even other humans. These chemicals tell a story about our health and wellness, things we eat and drink, touch and breathe. Mosquitoes use such emissions to assess our "attractiveness" from indicators such as Indoles (unpleasantly smelling but healthy "inner soil" biomarker) or carbon dioxide (amount of which correlates with the size of the person........ Read more »
Andreoni G, Standoli CE, & Perego P. (2016) Defining Requirements and Related Methods for Designing Sensorized Garments. Sensors (Basel, Switzerland), 16(6). PMID: 27240361
Gao W, Emaminejad S, Nyein HY, Challa S, Chen K, Peck A, Fahad HM, Ota H, Shiraki H, Kiriya D.... (2016) Fully integrated wearable sensor arrays for multiplexed in situ perspiration analysis. Nature, 529(7587), 509-14. PMID: 26819044
Imani S, Bandodkar AJ, Mohan AM, Kumar R, Yu S, Wang J, & Mercier PP. (2016) A wearable chemical-electrophysiological hybrid biosensing system for real-time health and fitness monitoring. Nature communications, 11650. PMID: 27212140
Lee H, Choi TK, Lee YB, Cho HR, Ghaffari R, Wang L, Choi HJ, Chung TD, Lu N, Hyeon T.... (2016) A graphene-based electrochemical device with thermoresponsive microneedles for diabetes monitoring and therapy. Nature nanotechnology, 11(6), 566-72. PMID: 26999482
Panneer Selvam A, Muthukumar S, Kamakoti V, & Prasad S. (2016) A wearable biochemical sensor for monitoring alcohol consumption lifestyle through Ethyl glucuronide (EtG) detection in human sweat. Scientific reports, 23111. PMID: 26996103
Yokota T, Zalar P, Kaltenbrunner M, Jinno H, Matsuhisa N, Kitanosako H, Tachibana Y, Yukita W, Koizumi M, & Someya T. (2016) Ultraflexible organic photonic skin. Science advances, 2(4). PMID: 27152354
- May 18, 2016
- 05:20 PM
- 244 views
Your friends have more friends than you do
by Dr. Jekyll in Lunatic Laboratories
No matter how smart and funny you think you are, those you follow on Twitter really do have a larger following than you. And the same holds true for Facebook. But there is no reason to feel badly about any of this. According to the research, it is all due to the inherently hierarchical nature of social media networks, where, in the social hierarchy of connections, people mostly either follow up or across; they rarely follow down.
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Momeni, N., & Rabbat, M. (2016) Qualities and Inequalities in Online Social Networks through the Lens of the Generalized Friendship Paradox. PLOS ONE, 11(2). DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0143633
- May 8, 2016
- 03:15 PM
- 229 views
Digital media may be changing how you think
by Dr. Jekyll in Lunatic Laboratories
Tablet and laptop users beware. Using digital platforms such as tablets and laptops for reading may make you more inclined to focus on concrete details rather than interpreting information more abstractly, according to a new study. The findings serve as another wake-up call to how digital media may be affecting our likelihood of using abstract thought.
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Geoff Kaufman, & Mary Flanagan. (2016) High-Low Split: Divergent Cognitive Construal Levels Triggered by Digital and Non-digital Platforms. Association for Computing Machinery. DOI: 10.1145/2858036.2858550
- May 6, 2016
- 02:35 PM
- 264 views
Smartphones uncover how the world sleeps
by Dr. Jekyll in Lunatic Laboratories
A pioneering study of worldwide sleep patterns combines math modeling, mobile apps and big data to parse the roles society and biology each play in setting sleep schedules. The study used a free smartphone app that reduces jetlag to gather robust sleep data from thousands of people in 100 nations. The researchers examined how age, gender, amount of light and home country affect the amount of shut-eye people around the globe get, when they go to bed, and when they wake up.
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Olivia J. Walch, Amy Cochran, & Daniel B. Forger. (2016) A global quantification of “normal” sleep schedules using smartphone data . Science Advances. info:/10.1126/sciadv.1501705
- April 29, 2016
- 04:10 PM
- 270 views
Don’t retweet if you want to remember
by Dr. Jekyll in Lunatic Laboratories
The whole of human intelligence, right at your fingertips. Sure it might not make the layman an engineer or physicist, but if we want to learn about a particular topic the internet can give us that information. But you better hold on tight before you lose it. New research finds retweeting or otherwise sharing information creates a “cognitive overload” that interferes with learning and retaining what you’ve just seen.
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Jiang, T., Hou, Y., & Wang, Q. (2016) Does micro-blogging make us “shallow”? Sharing information online interferes with information comprehension. Computers in Human Behavior, 210-214. DOI: 10.1016/j.chb.2016.02.008
- April 8, 2016
- 10:29 AM
- 327 views
The Real Cost of Sequencing
by Daniel Koboldt in Massgenomics
The real cost of sequencing is as hard to pin down as a sumo wrestler. Working in a large-scale sequencing laboratory offers an interesting perspective on the duality of the so-called “cost per genome.” On one hand, we see certain equipment manufacturers and many people in the media tossing around claims that sequencing a genome […]... Read more »
Muir P, Li S, Lou S, Wang D, Spakowicz DJ, Salichos L, Zhang J, Weinstock GM, Isaacs F, Rozowsky J.... (2016) The real cost of sequencing: scaling computation to keep pace with data generation. Genome biology, 17(1), 53. PMID: 27009100
- April 7, 2016
- 05:19 PM
- 323 views
Manufacturing human tissue from textiles
by Dr.Jekyll in Lunatic Laboratories
Until we can figure out our lack of regenerating our bodies, or can convince more people to donate organs, we are at mercy of either luck or technology. Bio 3-D printing offers hope that we can print personalized organs as need and rejection free. But the technology relies almost solely with tissue engineers, there job is to find processes using novel bio-materials seeded with stem cells to grow and replace missing tissues.
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Tuin, S., Pourdeyhimi, B., & Loboa, E. (2016) Creating tissues from textiles: scalable nonwoven manufacturing techniques for fabrication of tissue engineering scaffolds. Biomedical Materials, 11(1), 15017. DOI: 10.1088/1748-6041/11/1/015017
- March 26, 2016
- 04:40 PM
- 346 views
Organic nanowires destroy the competition
by Dr. Jekyll in Lunatic Laboratories
Last month, we spoke of our vision of the future of humanity here at the lab. It makes sense that humanity would one-day step away from the static, non-living computer constructs we have designed. Moving us instead towards an organic alternative, one that can be readily repaired, replaced, or changed. While we cannot pretend to know what the future may hold, a new discovery helps bolster the stance we presented.
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Lampa-Pastirk, S., Veazey, J., Walsh, K., Feliciano, G., Steidl, R., Tessmer, S., & Reguera, G. (2016) Thermally activated charge transport in microbial protein nanowires. Scientific Reports, 23517. DOI: 10.1038/srep23517
- March 18, 2016
- 02:36 PM
- 346 views
Using precision medicine to define the genetics of autoimmune disease
by Dr. Jekyll in Lunatic Laboratories
Demonstrating the potential of precision medicine, an international study used next-generation DNA sequencing technology to identify more than 1,000 gene variants that affect susceptibility to systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). Precision medicine is an emerging field that aims to deliver highly personalized health care by understanding how individual differences in genetics, environment, and lifestyle impact health and disease.
... Read more »
Raj, P., Rai, E., Song, R., Khan, S., Wakeland, B., Viswanathan, K., Arana, C., Liang, C., Zhang, B., Dozmorov, I.... (2016) Regulatory polymorphisms modulate the expression of HLA class II molecules and promote autoimmunity. eLife. DOI: 10.7554/eLife.12089
- March 17, 2016
- 03:47 PM
- 368 views
Preventing Alzheimer’s, with an implant
by Dr. Jekyll in Lunatic Laboratories
Alzheimer's has been a losing battle, sure we can fight back with drugs, but that still just prolongs the inevitable. With that said we can all hope this research pans out, to something meaningful. In a cutting-edge treatment for Alzheimer's disease, EPFL scientists have developed an implantable capsule that can turn the patient's immune system against the disease. Even better, the implant is subdural, not intracranial.
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Lathuilière, A., Laversenne, V., Astolfo, A., Kopetzki, E., Jacobsen, H., Stampanoni, M., Bohrmann, B., Schneider, B., & Aebischer, P. (2016) A subcutaneous cellular implant for passive immunization against amyloid-β reduces brain amyloid and tau pathologies. Brain. DOI: 10.1093/brain/aww036
- March 13, 2016
- 03:40 PM
- 322 views
New learning procedure for neural networks
by Dr. Jekyll in Lunatic Laboratories
Rustling leaves, a creaking branch: To a mouse, these sensory impressions may, at first, seem harmless — but not if a cat suddenly bursts out of the bush. If so, they were clues of impending life-threatening danger. Researcher Robert Gütig has now found how the brain can link sensory perceptions to events occurring after a delay.
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Gutig, R. (2016) Spiking neurons can discover predictive features by aggregate-label learning. Science, 351(6277). DOI: 10.1126/science.aab4113
- March 9, 2016
- 09:41 AM
- 380 views
Video Tip of the Week: Introduction to Biocuration and the career path
At OpenHelix, we’ve long sung the praises of curators. Some of us have been curators and worked with curation and database development teams. All of us have relied on quality information in the databases for research and teaching. But I think there are a lot of people who don’t understand the value of quality curation, how […]... Read more »
COMMITTEE ON FUTURE CAREER OPPORTUNITIES AND EDUCATIONAL REQUIREMENTS FOR, & DIGITAL CURATION. (2015) PREPARING THE WORKFORCE FOR DIGITAL CURATION. National Academies Press. info:/10.17226/18590
Holliday, G., Bairoch, A., Bagos, P., Chatonnet, A., Craik, D., Finn, R., Henrissat, B., Landsman, D., Manning, G., Nagano, N.... (2015) Key challenges for the creation and maintenance of specialist protein resources. Proteins: Structure, Function, and Bioinformatics, 83(6), 1005-1013. DOI: 10.1002/prot.24803
Gaudet, P., Munoz-Torres, M., Robinson-Rechavi, M., Attwood, T., Bateman, A., Cherry, J., Kania, R., O'Donovan, C., & Yamasaki, C. (2013) DATABASE, The Journal of Biological Databases and Curation, is now the official journal of the International Society for Biocuration. Database. DOI: 10.1093/database/bat077
- March 8, 2016
- 06:47 AM
- 350 views
How Einstein Could Still Save the Earth
by Jeffrey Daniels in United Academics
Gravitational waves, detected by LIGO, might have implications for finding black holes.... Read more »
Abbott, B. (2016) Observation of Gravitational Waves from a Binary Black Hole Merger. Physical Review Letters, 116(6). DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.116.061102
Emanuele Berti. (2016) Viewpoint: The First Sounds of Merging Black Holes. APS Physics 9 (2016) 17. arXiv: 1602.04476v2
- March 6, 2016
- 07:46 AM
- 427 views
No, We Can't "Upload Knowledge To Your Brain"
by Neuroskeptic in Neuroskeptic_Discover
According to a spectacularly misleading article in the Telegraph: Scientists discover how to 'upload knowledge to your brain'
Feeding knowledge directly into your brain, just like in sci-fi classic The Matrix, could soon take as much effort as falling asleep, scientists believe. Researchers claim to have developed a simulator which can feed information directly into a person’s brain and teach them new skills in a shorter amount of time...
Researchers from HRL Laboratories, based in Cali... Read more »
Choe J, Coffman BA, Bergstedt DT, Ziegler MD, & Phillips ME. (2016) Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation Modulates Neuronal Activity and Learning in Pilot Training. Frontiers in human neuroscience, 34. PMID: 26903841
- March 3, 2016
- 03:10 PM
- 365 views
Your brain and the ‘neuronal big bang’
by Dr. Jekyll in Lunatic Laboratories
Our brain is home to different types of neurons, each with their own genetic signature that defines their function. These neurons are derived from progenitor cells, which are specialized stem cells that have the ability to divide to give rise to neurons. Neuroscientists have shed light on the mechanisms that allow progenitors to generate neurons.
... Read more »
Ludovic Telley, Subashika Govindan, Julien Prados, Isabelle Stevant, Serge Nef, Emmanouil Dermitzakis, Alexandre Dayer, & Denis Jabaudon. (2016) Sequential transcriptional waves direct the differentiation of newborn neurons in the mouse neocortex. Science. info:/10.1126/science.aad8361
- February 29, 2016
- 11:45 PM
- 386 views
From Limping to Leaping
by Aurametrix team in Environmental health
"Anno bisesto, anno funesto” (leap year, gloomy year), say Italians. “Leap year was ne’er a good sheep year” agrees an old Scottish proverb. "Високосный год "Урожай" соберет" (leap year will gather the "Harvest") warns a Russian saying implying that there will be plenty of disasters - calamities, catastrophes and cataclysms. But usually there are not. Leap years tend to be good for stocks (with the exception of the recent crashes in 2000 and 2008), al........ Read more »
Neumann, P. (1992) Leap-year problems. Communications of the ACM, 35(6), 162. DOI: 10.1145/129888.129900
Cohen CF, & Bachofer HJ. (1980) Hospital indicators: leap year distorts February statistics. Hospitals, 54(11), 43-6. PMID: 7372291
- February 28, 2016
- 09:42 PM
- 316 views
Use of “Smart Cup” and phone camera in diagnosis of pathogens
by Usman Paracha in SayPeople
Main Point:
A newly developed “Smart Cup” can detect disease-causing agents such as herpes simplex virus type 2 (HSV-2) with the help of smartphone camera.
Published in:
Sensors and Actuators B: Chemical
Study Further:
Many novel ways of detecting infectious diseases have been developed. Among those methods are nucleic-acid amplification-based diagnostics that are sensitive, rapid, and specific on one side, but expensive, and requiring extensive procedure and trained p........ Read more »
Liao, S., Peng, J., Mauk, M., Awasthi, S., Song, J., Friedman, H., Bau, H., & Liu, C. (2016) Smart cup: A minimally-instrumented, smartphone-based point-of-care molecular diagnostic device. Sensors and Actuators B: Chemical, 232-238. DOI: 10.1016/j.snb.2016.01.073
- February 28, 2016
- 05:00 PM
- 354 views
Matrix Unloaded: How you can fly a plane using expert-pilot brainwave patterns
by Dr. Jekyll in Lunatic Laboratories
“I know kung fu,” movie buffs might remember the remember the quote from “The Matrix.” We can all probably agree that being able to download knowledge “on tap” would be a boon to humanity. It is a shame it is just a movie… right? While that may be the case, it is just for now. That is because researchers have discovered that low-current electrical brain stimulation can modulate the learning of complex real-world skills.
... Read more »
Choe, J., Coffman, B., Bergstedt, D., Ziegler, M., & Phillips, M. (2016) Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation Modulates Neuronal Activity and Learning in Pilot Training. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience. DOI: 10.3389/fnhum.2016.00034
- February 27, 2016
- 04:39 PM
- 425 views
Technology and human biology: The singularity may not be so singular
by Dr. Jekyll in Lunatic Laboratories
Life literally inside the world wide web, it’s an interesting idea. One that has tantalized sci-fi fans since before the framework for the internet was even finished. While the idea of a seemingly eternal disembodied life through the unfiltered and raw computer consciousness that we all share a connection with, maybe we are shooting for a goal that isn’t really possible — maybe we are asking the wrong questions.
... Read more »
Nicolau, D., Lard, M., Korten, T., van Delft, F., Persson, M., Bengtsson, E., Månsson, A., Diez, S., Linke, H., & Nicolau, D. (2016) Parallel computation with molecular-motor-propelled agents in nanofabricated networks. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 201510825. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1510825113
Morsella, E., Godwin, C., Jantz, T., Krieger, S., & Gazzaley, A. (2015) Homing in on Consciousness in the Nervous System: An Action-Based Synthesis. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 1-106. DOI: 10.1017/S0140525X15000643
Alcock, J., Maley, C., & Aktipis, C. (2014) Is eating behavior manipulated by the gastrointestinal microbiota? Evolutionary pressures and potential mechanisms. BioEssays, 36(10), 940-949. DOI: 10.1002/bies.201400071
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