Wednesday, April 15, 2015

Using mzCloud if your computer does not run Microsoft Windows

www.mzcloud.org is a mass spectral database that assists analysts in identifying compounds in fields such as metabolomics, toxicology and environmental sciences. It has a rich Web-based interface, which is based on Microsoft Silverlight.
For the majority of users on Windows the required  SIlverlight plugin is only a click away, but for Mac and Linux Microsoft points to the Open Source Mono plugin, which is deprecated and may or may not be fully compatible to work with mzCloud.

I recently solved a similar problem at home, where the consumption of Amazon Prime video streaming has very strict preconditions with regard to your operating system, which were not met by our home theatre PC under Ubuntu Linux, despite strong demands by some family members.

So check out the documentation around Pipelight, https://launchpad.net/pipelight and http://ubuntuhandbook.org /index.php/2013/12/pipelight-silverlight-in-linux-ubuntu-ppa/ . In essence, Pipelight executes the Silverlight runtime under the wine emulator inside a Firefox plugin.

This sounds scary, but it not only allows to watch Amazon videos, but also to connect to mzCloud and start the web GUI.



Friday, April 10, 2015

Job Vacancy: Bioinformatician (Metabolomics) at the IPB Halle

The IPB is an international research institute located on the Weinberg-campus of the Martin-Luther-University Halle-Wittenberg and provides state-of-the-art facilities for research in bioinformatics, metabolomics and plant biochemistry.

The research group “Bioinformatics and Mass Spectrometry” in the department of Stress- and Developmental Biology at the Leibniz-Institute of Plant Biochemistry (IPB) is seeking applications by highly motivated candidates for a position as research assistant. You will work on methods for metabolomics data analyses and data fusion, to discover relationships between metabolites and their biomedical effects.

You should hold a diploma or masters degree in bioinformatics or computer science, with experience in algorithm- and software engineering and statistics. You are able to program in the statistics framework R, and have worked in Java. Knowledge in metabolomics or analytical biochemistry would be an advantage. The position is limited to 3 years, and available immediately. Payment is according to local regulations TV-L.

Further information is available from the institute's homepage http://www.ipb-halle.de/en/, for inquires please contact Dr. Steffen Neumann, telephone: +49 345 5582-1470, e-Mail: sneumann@ipb-halle.de .

Please send your application (cover letter addressing your research interests, CV, transcripts, and names/contacts of two references) quoting reference number 6/2015 until April 27th, 2015 to:

     Leibniz-Institut für Pflanzenbiochemie (IPB)
     Stiftung des öffentlichen Rechts
     AG Personalangelegenheiten
     Frau Kerstin Balkenhohl
     Weinberg 3
     06120 Halle (Saale)

or to bewerbungen@ipb-halle.de