May meetup: Science!

Pythonistas, the May meetup brings us two scientists sharing their work in Python:

Geraldine Van Der Auwera: TRAPPIST is a BioPython-based package that performs detailed comparisons of related genomic regions and produces publication-quality vector PDF figures for clear visualization of analysis results. It is built as a series of functional modules that can be run separately or in pipelines. Several pre-set pipeline scripts are provided for automated start-to-finish processing of tasks that combine analysis and visualization, such as producing figures of multiple alignments with detailed similarity heat maps, identifying conserved genetic backbones or reconstructing the differential phylogeny of mosaic genome regions.

Byron Galbraith: Modelling Neurons in Python. Representing the function and behavior of neurons in software is one of the core activities of computational neuroscience. As neurons communicate via electrochemical currents, this is typically accomplished through modeling the dynamical nature of the neuron's electrical properties. Several models treat the neuron as an equivalent electrical circuit, with its membrane potential described by one or more differential equations. In order to simulate the response of the neuron to various stimuli, these equations are numerically solved over some time interval for a given pattern of input current.

Plus, we'll probably have a lightning talk or two.

Socializing and other interactions at 6:30, formal presentations at 7:00. See you there!