Thursday, January 23, 2014

Introduction to our grid project



            Grid computing is a computer system where interconnected machines take advantage of each other’s resources, such as processing power, memory, and data storage.  In a grid, the computers are controlled separately and can perform tasks unrelated to the grid. The programs can be run in the background of the computer and can be made invisible to the user. The grids themselves vary in size. It could be as small as a group of computer workstations in a business, or, as large as many companies networking together.[1]
            Grid computing can benefit our world in ways no lab could ever recreate.  It can be used on an array of disciplines ranging from medicine to economics. The higher computing provided by grids allows for a common goal, often a complex mathematical or scientific calculation, to be accomplished more efficiently and quickly. Just like a manager of a store distributes work among employees, grid computing shares the workload across multiple computers. This way, there is a bigger pool of resources and less work has to be done by each machine. Typically, a computer can only utilize its own resources, limiting the speed and quality at which it can operate. However, grid computing allows one computer to access the collected power of all the networked computers, essentially creating one supercomputer. 
            For example, the world's largest non-profit computing grid, World Community Grid, connects volunteers' devices from across the globe. They claim, “That innovation combined with visionary scientific research and large-scale volunteerism can help make the planet smarter.” The grid-computing project we are involved in aims to identify the different chemical markers associated with many types of cancer. Finding the markers will allow for earlier detection of cancer, as well as more personalized cancer care. In order to participate, one can download and install secure, free software on a computer, smartphone or tablet by clicking on the following link: http://www.worldcommunitygrid.org/

Breast Cancer Overview

a)     Symptoms
i)      In early stages a person normally show no signs of symptoms
ii)    The first major sign of breast cancer is the appearance of small, painless lumps in the breast or underarm regions of the body
iii)   Pain or tenderness of the breasts may occur along with a change in size, texture, or shaping of the breasts
iv)    A change in the nipple area such as dimpling, itching, burning, or ulcerations
v)    Paget’s disease, a scaly rash of the nipple region can be linked to early signs of an underlying cancer


b)    Diagnostic tests
i)      Mammogram
(1)  Most effective way to find lumps within the breast region
ii)    Self examination
(1)  Look for any signs of changes in the symmetry of the breasts
(2)  Check for lumps near the surface of the breast by pressing lighting around the region and increase pressure to check for lumps in deeper tissue
iii)   Ultrasound
(1)  Best way to determine if a lump is just a benign cyst or if it is a cancerous tumor
iv)   Biopsy
(1)  Best way to confirm a diagnosis of breast cancer by taking a sample of the tissue within the lump

c)     Treatment
i)      Determined by the size of the tumor, the extent of the disease (spreading), as well as general factors such as age and pre-existing health issues
ii)    Most common forms of treatment:
(1)  Localized (within the breast and surrounding regions)
(a)   Surgery: removes the cancerous tissue
(b)  Radiation therapy: uses high levels of radiation to kill cancerous cells or to prevent spreading
(2)  Systemic (throughout the body)
(a)   Chemotherapy: drug therapy to kill cancerous cells, but has many side effects such as nausea, hair loss, and low blood counts
(b)  Hormone therapy: uses drugs to prevent certain hormones from promoting the growth of the cancer cells and it usually used after surgical treatments


Breast Cancer and grid computing sources






1 comment:

  1. Great start! My only suggestion would be to make all of your text the same font color. As of now, it appears that the different fonts have been cut and pasted from different sources.
    15 out of 15.
    -Dr. Walker

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