[Cels@Home]绚丽屏保帮助大学开展癌症研究

leonandjo

来源：http://www.distributedcomputing.info/news.html
原载：http://media.www.dailytexanonline.com/media/storage/paper410/news/2008/06/25/TopStories/Screensavers.Help.University.Cancer.Research-3385072.shtml
标题：Screensavers help University cancer research，绚丽屏保帮助大学开展癌症研究
作者：Brett Alexander
日期：2008年6月25日(星期三)
概要：对 Cels@Home 项目癌症研究团队进行了采访。

正文翻译：

Computer screensavers are the driving force behind a biomedical engineering professor's current research project.

计算机屏幕保护程序有力的推进了一位生物学工程教授的的研究计划。

CELS@Home, a grid-computing program created by Muhammad Zaman and engineering graduate students, focuses on metastasis, or the point at which cancer cells start to spread into other areas of the body.

CELS@Home，一项由Muhammad Zaman和一位工学毕业生创立的研究项目，关注于“转移”—— 癌细胞的从开始扩散到身体其他部分的过程。

To cut down the workload for him and his students, Zaman created a screensaver that computes calculations and codes necessary for the project.

为了给他和他的学生缩减工作量，Zaman将研究项目中的计算过程使用计算机编写成代码，并制作了一个用于计算机运算的屏幕保护程序

Zaman said users who visit the Web site can download a screensaver to use when their computer is idle. Once the screensaver is running, a code that was sent with the screensaver download starts its calculation. These calculations will contribute to solving different areas concerning the metastasis project.

Zaman说：“用户通过浏览网站可以下载到这个屏幕保护程序，并在计算机空闲的时候使用它。一旦屏幕保护开始运行，与屏幕保护程序一同下载的运算代码将开始它的运算工作。

"It is allowing people to contribute their idle time that they wouldn't be doing for anything else," Zaman said.

“这可以使得人们将他自己的计算机原本荒废的空闲时间贡献出来”，Zaman如是说。

When the calculation is finished, it will be sent back to the site once the user logs back on to the Internet. A new code will be sent the next time the screensaver is active.

当运算工作结束时，得出的结果将立刻通过因特网发送给网站。屏幕保护程序下一次启动的时候，网站会将一个新的运算代码将发送给它。

"It will give us a tremendous amount of data that nobody has been able to get," Zaman said.

“这将使得我们获得从未有过的并且多得多的数据”。

The program is based on the University of California at Berkeley's server software BOINC, said Mark Kness, research technician for CELS@Home.

“这个项目基于加利福尼亚大学的伯克利开放式网络计算项目(BOINC)”，CELS@Home的技术研究员Mark Kness。

Zaman said that metastasis consists of different parts and that looking at one aspect at a time will not yield as much progress as looking at every part of the process.

Zaman说，转移包含了不同的部分；同一时间不同的观察角度这么一问题到目前位置也没有更多进展。

"It's a combination of trying to look for new things and how the things we already know fit together," Zaman said.

“这将结合我们正搜寻的以及我们已经知道的东西”。

Kness is currently heading the forums section, which will allow Zaman and the programmers to receive feedback on the project.

Kness现在正领导着研讨部门，这使得Zaman和项目人员得到关于研究的回馈信息。

"There's a lot of interesting computer programs and technology in setting up the Web site," Kness said.

“现在已近有许多让人感兴趣的计算机项目和技术在网站上建立”，Knss说。

The program is currently in use in 26 countries, and Zaman uses parts of his seminar to encourage other countries to join the project.

这个项目目前正在26个国家发挥着作用，而且Zaman通过一部分研讨会来鼓励其他国家的人们参与到这个项目中来。

Zaman said that there have been some problems with the program since its launch but that the positives have overcome the negatives.

Zaman说自从项目运行以来，已经出现了一些问题，但积极地因素已经压倒了消极的。

"When you're looking at a problem as complex as cancer, there's going to be limitations," he said. "Those limitations can only be worked out by trying more."

“当你面对一个有如癌症般复杂的难题的时候，通常会遇到一些限制”，他说，“这些限制因素只能通过更多的努力来打破”。

Zaman said once initial reports from the collected data have been published, the project will receive more attention and have the potential to include hundreds of thousands of contributors.

Zaman说，一旦有一份从收集到的数据得出的草签报告出版，研究项目将得到更多的关注并且得到数以千百记的潜在贡献者。

"I really hope that people give it a try," he said. "This would really help in our fight against cancer. Every little bit counts."

“我真的希望人们能够尝试一下”，他说，“这将真正的帮助人们去抵抗癌症，人们的力量将积少成多”。

For more information on the project and to download the screensaver, visit http://cels-at-home-dev.dyndns.org/cels/

想了解更多关于研究项目的信息并且下载这个屏幕保程序，请浏览 http://cels-at-home-dev.dyndns.org/cels/