graph depicting probability of infection based on intermediate vertex count

Use of Social Contact Networks to Study COVID-19 Diffusion Drivers in Cities

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With the explosive increase in COVID-19 infections across urban environments during March of 2020, questions about how it spreads unevenly across cities needed to be addressed. NCASD researchers Loring Thomas, Peng Huang, Fan Yin, Junlan Xu and Carter Butts, in collaboration with John Hipp and NCASD alumnus Zack Almquist (University of Washington) investigated the geographical […]

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Novel Use Of Neural Nets To Convert PSNs To 3D Atomistic Structures

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  A recent collaboration between Dr. Vy Duong, Dr. Gianmarc Grazioli, and current NCASD member Liz Diessner, published in Biomolecules, illustrates the utility of Neural Networks for retrieving atomistic detail from Protein Structure Networks (PSNs) to reconstruct 3D molecular models. The ability to convert between coarse-grained PSNs and their detailed atomistic structure analogs allows researchers

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Reactive oxygen bang, illustrated in a hand-drawn comic style.

Studying Radical Movements Under Pressure

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Radiation is a hazard to all living organisms, damaging cellular systems at the molecular level.  Much of this damage is not due to the direct impact of radiation on cells, but the interaction of radiation with water to produce reactive oxygen species that react with and degrade biomolecules.  Like tiny bombs, these small molecules diffuse through the

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Social Network Analytic techniques used to probe changes in structure and dynamics of the SARS-CoV-2 Main Protease

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The main protease (Mpro) of SARS-CoV-2, the virus behind the global Covid-19 pandemic, is an essential part of the virus’ reproduction cycle once it has infected human cells. After viral RNA is transcribed into a long poly-protein, Mpro frees itself and other viral proteins from the poly-protein. NCASD researchers Liz Diessner and Carter Butts, in

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