Cloud computing: a new business paradigm for biomedical information sharing.

We examine how the biomedical informatics (BMI) community, especially consortia that share data and applications, can take advantage of a new resource called "cloud computing". Clouds generally offer resources on demand. In most clouds, charges are pay per use, based on large farms of inexpensive, dedicated servers, sometimes supporting parallel computing. Substantial economies of scale potentially yield costs much lower than dedicated laboratory systems or even institutional data centers. Overall, even with conservative assumptions, for applications that are not I/O intensive and do not demand a fully mature environment, the numbers suggested that clouds can sometimes provide major improvements, and should be seriously considered for BMI. Methodologically, it was very advantageous to formulate analyses in terms of component technologies; focusing on these specifics enabled us to bypass the cacophony of alternative definitions (e.g., exactly what does a cloud include) and to analyze alternatives that employ some of the component technologies (e.g., an institution's data center). Relative analyses were another great simplifier. Rather than listing the absolute strengths and weaknesses of cloud-based systems (e.g., for security or data preservation), we focus on the changes from a particular starting point, e.g., individual lab systems. We often find a rough parity (in principle), but one needs to examine individual acquisitions--is a loosely managed lab moving to a well managed cloud, or a tightly managed hospital data center moving to a poorly safeguarded cloud?

On-chip cooling by superlattice-based thin-film thermoelectrics.

There is a significant need for site-specific and on-demand cooling in electronic, optoelectronic and bioanalytical devices, where cooling is currently achieved by the use of bulky and/or over-designed system-level solutions. Thermoelectric devices can address these limitations while also enabling energy-efficient solutions, and significant progress has been made in the development of nanostructured thermoelectric materials with enhanced figures-of-merit. However, fully functional practical thermoelectric coolers have not been made from these nanomaterials due to the enormous difficulties in integrating nanoscale materials into microscale devices and packaged macroscale systems. Here, we show the integration of thermoelectric coolers fabricated from nanostructured Bi2Te3-based thin-film superlattices into state-of-the-art electronic packages. We report cooling of as much as 15 degrees C at the targeted region on a silicon chip with a high ( approximately 1,300 W cm-2) heat flux. This is the first demonstration of viable chip-scale refrigeration technology and has the potential to enable a wide range of currently thermally limited applications.

Anatomy and motor pathways of the electric organ of skates.

The electric organ of skates is a paired structure within the tail consisting of two longitudinal columns of electrocytes contained within the lateral musculature on each side of the vertebral column. The electrocytes develop from hypaxial skeletal muscle fibers, and, depending upon the species, are generally classified as either cup-shaped or disc-shaped. The disc-shaped electrocytes are considered to be the more derived type. Regardless of the morphology of the electrocyte, the electric organ discharge of all skates is characterized as a weak asynchronous and long-lasting signal. Although recent behavioral investigations have revealed a communicative function for the electric organ, details as to which specific behaviors utilize this motor system remain uncertain. The electric organ is innervated by segmental motor nerves that branch from the ventral root of caudal spinal nerves at all levels of the electric organ. The cells of origin of the electromotor nerves, or electromotoneurons (EMNs), are large multipolar neurons with extensive dendrites located within the ventral gray matter of the spinal cord. The EMNs are uniformly distributed among the somatic motoneurons at levels corresponding to the rostrocaudal extent of the electric organ, and therefore do not form a discrete nucleus. The medullary command nucleus is comprised of neurons located within the nucleus raphe magnus, and forms a descending spinal pathway to the EMNs.