Education and data-intensive science in the beginning of the 21st century.

Data-intensive science will open up new avenues to explore, new questions to ask, and new ways to answer. Yet, this potential cannot be unlocked without new emphasis on education of the researchers gathering data, the analysts analyzing data and the cross-disciplinary participants working together to make it happen. This article is a summary of the education issues and challenges of data-intensive sciences and cloud computing as discussed in the Data-Intensive Science (DIS) workshop in Seattle, September 19-20, 2010.

The United States of America and scientific research.

To gauge the current commitment to scientific research in the United States of America (US), we compared federal research funding (FRF) with the US gross domestic product (GDP) and industry research spending during the past six decades. In order to address the recent globalization of scientific research, we also focused on four key indicators of research activities: research and development (R&D) funding, total science and engineering doctoral degrees, patents, and scientific publications. We compared these indicators across three major population and economic regions: the US, the European Union (EU) and the People's Republic of China (China) over the past decade.

Effect of binding in cyclic phosphorylation-dephosphorylation process and in energy transformation.

The effects of binding on the phosphorylation-dephosphorylation cycle (PDPC) - one of the key components of the signal transduction processes - is analyzed based on a mathematical model. The model shows that binding of proteins, forming a complex, diminishes the ultrasensitivity of the PDPC to the differences in activity between kinase and phosphatase in the cycle. It is also found that signal amplification depends upon the strength of the binding affinity of the protein (phosphorylated or dephosphorylated) to other proteins .

From play to laws: language in biology.

One perspective on the emergence of the child prodigy is derived from comparing the role of unique forms of abstraction in those disciplines in which the child has been wondrously creative. Music, mathematics, poetry, and computer programming have all witnessed the child as a creative force; biology has not. Perhaps it is the lack of a suitable abstraction, symbols, and rules for their use that hampers both the child prodigy and the expert in their pursuit of understanding living cells.

A logical analysis of the process of T cell activation: different consequences depending on the state of CD28 engagement.

The adaptive immune system is a complex organized action of several immune cell types like, T cells, B cells, dendritic cells, mast cells, and their ability to recognize self and foreign molecular information. Based on logical analysis, a model has been developed that describes TCR-ligand association coupled to intracellular signaling events that result in a proliferation signal. The model demonstrates that after TCR-ligand binding, the activation of tyrosine kinases in one of the paths leads to oscillations between the subsequent states of activation and deactivation of Ca(2+) initiation.