Category archives: Computer science

3 medical innovations fueled by COVID-19 that will outlast the pandemic

3 medical innovations fueled by COVID-19 that will outlast the pandemic

Computer scienceGeneticsHealthMedicineMolecular biologyPharmacy

By Invited Researcher

A number of technologies and tools got a chance to prove themselves for the first time in the context of COVID-19. Three researchers working in gene-based vaccines, wearable diagnostics and drug discovery explain how their work rose to the challenge of the pandemic, and their hopes that each technology is now poised to continue making […]

Bacterial communities can store memories

Bacterial communities can store memories

Computer scienceMicrobiology

By Invited Researcher

Author: María Girbés Mínguez is a doctoral student at Center for Molecular Neurobiology Hamburg (ZMNH) / UKE (University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf) A recent study published in the journal Cell Systems uncovered that bacterial communities (biofilms) can store complex patterns of information through membrane potentials at the cellular level, in a similar way to neurons. But […]

Heterogeneous sorroundings are critical in the analysis of nerve ablation for treating chronic pains

Heterogeneous sorroundings are critical in the analysis of nerve ablation for treating chronic pains

Computer scienceMathematicsMedicine

By BCAM

Chronic pain is one of the most common problems of advanced age. Even though the combination of physical therapy and analgesics such as nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs is effective in chronic pain treatments, it only confers short-term benefits. On the other hand, it could be quite expensive and may have significant adverse side effects. Effective, lasting […]

Computation can push optical microscopy towards unsuspected limits

Computation can push optical microscopy towards unsuspected limits

BiologyComputer sciencePhysics

By Daniel Moreno Andrés

Man does not live by hardware alone. Indeed, great material and conceptual improvements in the machinery of optical microscopes have occurred in recent decades. The examples are numerous (some example here; https://mappingignorance.org/2013/12/23/bessel-beam-plane-illumination-microscopy-another-smart-solution-for-an-old-challenge/). However, what is being achieved only with software and computing power seems a matter of magic. It is not only that programs and […]

Finding collision-free tangential cutting directions when machining

Finding collision-free tangential cutting directions when machining

Computer scienceMathematicsMechanical EngineeringRobotics

By BCAM

One thing is designing an object in a computer, and another, quite different, is producing it as a real 3D object. All other things being equal, in general the more curves the designed object has, the more difficult it is to produce. Mathematics can be very helpful in this task. The geometric modeling of a […]

An app to predict short-term evolution of patients with flare-ups of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

An app to predict short-term evolution of patients with flare-ups of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

Computer scienceMedicine

By BCAM

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is persistent narrowing (blocking, or obstruction) of the airways occurring with emphysema, chronic obstructive bronchitis, or both disorders. Worldwide, the number of people with COPD is increasing. Factors contributing to COPD include an increase in smoking in many developing countries and, throughout the world, exposure to toxins in biomass fuels […]

Chromatic multiphoton serial microscopy can generate brain-wide atlas-like colour datasets with subcellular resolution

Chromatic multiphoton serial microscopy can generate brain-wide atlas-like colour datasets with subcellular resolution

BiologyBiomedicineComputer scienceNanotechnologyNeurosciencePhysics

By DIPC

In 1873, the microscopist Ernst Abbe stipulated a physical limit for the maximum resolution of traditional optical microscopy: 0.2 micrometers, or 200 nanometers (the shortest wavelength for visible light, the extreme limit of violet). This meant that scientists could distinguish whole cells, as well as some parts of the cell called organelles. However, they would […]