Walt Scacchi of the University of California, Irvine, and his colleagues are conducting formal studies of the informal world of open-source software development, in which a distributed community of developers produces software source code that is freely available to share, study, modify and redistribute. They’re finding that, in many ways, open-source development can be faster, better and cheaper than the “textbook” software engineering often used in corporate settings.
In a series of
CAD software improves breast ultrasound, digital mammograms
New computerized systems that give doctors a “second pair of eyes” for looking at mammograms and other breast scans are showing great promise for detecting breast cancer, distinguishing it from benign problems without a biopsy, and tracking changes in a woman’s breast over time.
The systems, all developed at the University of Michigan Health System, are in various stages of readiness for clinical use. But UMHS
Virtual floods modelled inside computers are an increasingly useful means for authorities to prepare for genuine river surges. With flooding classed as the world’s most costly natural hazard, an ESA project has assessed using satellite imagery to improve flood simulation models.
Flood control and management represents a major challenge for water authorities, and as the global incidence of flooding increases, it has also become a subject of concern for the global insurance industry.
Despite continuous technical advances in the semiconductor industry, microchips are still composed of laterally-arranged (side-by-side) transistors on a silicon substrate. EUREKA project E! 2259 VSI developed new ways to break through this two dimensional approach and the restrictions it imposes by designing 3-D chips or Vertical System Integration (VSI).
This technology has immediate security benefits which are very desirable since chip cards often contain secure information or monetary val
For the first time supercomputers in the UK and the US have been linked to carry out an interactive scientific experiment. It involves three of the most powerful computing resources in the world working in parallel with each other.
This is the first demonstration of the use of the “Grid” to simultaneously link the high performance computers with remote visualisation centres in the UK and the US. This allowed scientists to interact with the computer models as they evolved in real time.
Using sophisticated computer algorithms running on standard desktop computers, researchers have designed and constructed a novel functional protein that is not found in nature. The achievement should enable researchers to explore larger questions about how proteins evolved and why nature “chose” certain protein folds over others.
The ability to specify and design artificial proteins also opens the way for researchers to engineer artificial protein enzymes for use as medicines or industrial c
Better competitive ability for new products
VTT, Nokia, Ericsson and several other telecom companies in central and southern Europe have worked together in the EU IST-programme research project SYDIC-Telecom to specify a conceptual model for electronic systems design, and have defined the relevant concepts in a new glossary. They have further defined means for companies to better reuse work done once in product design. Thus the European companies in the field will be able to create ne
IRISCOM is a system that enables the total control of a computer through the movement of the eye. This idea has been awarded the 1st Prize at the 2003 “New Basque Enterprise” Business Ideas Competition. The service is already operating and providing very good results for those with various disabilities and with ages ranging from 6 to 75.
IRISCOM uses a system known as Quick Glance that tracks the movement of the eye. This device substitutes the mouse used in Windows applications.
Th
Ohio State University software is helping some of the world’s fastest supercomputers confront big scientific questions, from global climate change to the structure of intricate molecules.
The software, called MVAPICH, works by connecting traditional supercomputing software with innovative networking technology that speeds data flow.
While supercomputers were once built only as large-scale mainframe structures that were extremely expensive — some costing tens to hundreds of millions
Miguel Campoy Ederra, telecommunications engineer from Pamplona, has presented his graduate thesis on an application which enables the following of a GPS-technology guided tour on a PDA. That is, thanks to geographical positioning using satellite technology (GPS), this application enables the user to to visit a specific space and, therein, reproduce specific images and call up other information about each space visited.
For his thesis, Miguel Campoy has chosen the Arrosadía university camp
Scanning all of Shakespeare in 1/60th of a second
A computer scientist at Washington University in St. Louis has developed technology to stop malicious software – malware – such as viruses and worms long before it even has a chance to reach computers in the home and office.
John Lockwood, Ph.D., an assistant professor of computer science at Washington University, and the graduate students that work in his research laboratory have developed a hardware platform called the Fiel
Gains in communication and movement may be reality soon for patients
Exciting new research into how signals from the brain can be captured by a computer or other device to carry out an individual’s command may allow people with motor disabilities to more fully communicate and function in their daily lives.
Over the past several years, scientists have begun to address the needs of people with severe disabilities brought on by paralysis or injury by developing brain-compu
During her doctoral research in the Netherlands, Gemma Piella developed a new method for processing images. With this method more details are visible at a lower resolution than the original image: both the wood and the individual trees are distinct. Piella also combined various images of the same object to produce a detailed complete picture.
Mathematician Gemma Piella has developed a new technique for processing images. For this she used a mathematical operation that makes use of so-called
American Heart Association meeting report
A small device can give doctors the “big picture” of patients’ vital signs, researchers reported today during the Resuscitation Science Symposium at the American Heart Association’s Scientific Sessions 2003.
The device, called “Vital Dust,” transmits patient data to a hospital or centralized location, allowing others to see the data and also gain a global view of all patients in the field who are being similarly monitored. I
STEELBIZ is an on-line information system designed to improve the performance of the European steel construction industry. It provides engineers with technical information, design guides, building regulations, case studies and, for broadband users, voiceover Continuing Professional Development (CPD) lectures.
The STEELBIZ project is led by the UK-based Steel Construction Institute (SCI) which represents some 600 SME members in 30 countries. In the last 15 years it has produced nearly 200 pub
Columbia researchers develop “fingerprinting” techniques for SAR mapping
Research by scientists at the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory at Columbia University shows that Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) polarimetry is a more superior technology for rapidly identifying disaster zones than the currently used optical remote sensing technologies, such as Landsat and SPOT. Their findings are published in the Journal of Geophysical Research, and coincide with an opportunity to outfit satelli
Feedback
