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What is my BOINC account key and where do I find it?

The BOINC Account key is a unique identifier that is used by the BOINC client and the BOINC server to uniquely identify you and the devices registered under your member name. You may find your BOINC account key on your My Profile page.

Why do I have a message that says my Account Key is missing?

When you installed our application, the Account Key was not properly assigned. Please take the following action:

• double left click on the World Community Grid or BOINC icon in your system tray
• click on "advanced view" (if not already in advanced view)
• click on your "projects" tab
• click on World Community Grid and then on the left hand menu select "detach"
• now, go to menu's at the top of your screen and select Tools -> Attach to Project
• this will bring up a panel that asks you to enter in a project URL. Please use: http://www.worldcommunitygrid.org

Then you will be asked for your member name and password. Once you complete these steps, your account key should be properly assigned.

How do I install the Linux application on Ubuntu or other Debian-based distributions?

In order to install the Linux application on Debian-based Linux distribution such as Ubuntu Linux, you will need to run the following commands:

    sudo apt-get update
    sudo apt-get install boinc-client boinc-manager

The application will be configured to automatically run when you restart your computer.

You will also need to attach your application to World Community Grid by running the following command:

    sudo -u boinc boinccmd --project_attach http://www.worldcommunitygrid.org <Account Key>

Your <Account Key> can be found on your My Profile page.

How do I install the Linux application on Red Hat or other Fedora-based distributions?

In order to install the Linux application on Fedora-based Linux distributions such as Red Hat Linux, you will first need to enable the Extra Packages for Enterprise Linux repository.

Further information and instructions about this process are available on the Fedora website's page for the Extra Packages for Enterprise Linux. For example, if you are enabling the EPEL repository for x86_64 Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6, you would run the following command:

    sudo rpm -Uvh http://download.fedoraproject.org/pub/epel/6/x86_64/epel-release-6-8.noarch.rpm

Once the EPEL is enabled, install the Linux application by running:

    sudo yum install boinc-client boinc-manager

To configure the application to automatically run when you restart your computer, please run the following command:

    sudo /sbin/chkconfig boinc-client on

In order to start your application now, please run the following commands:

    sudo /sbin/service boinc-client start
    cd /var/lib/boinc
    sudo -u boinc boinccmd --project_attach http://www.worldcommunitygrid.org <Account Key>

Your <Account Key> can be found on your My Profile page.

Is TB a serious problem compared to other diseases?

HIV, TB and malaria represent three major infectious diseases. TB is second only to HIV and the combination of HIV and TB is particularly serious since one infection promotes the other. TB and HIV each accounted for about 1.1 to 1.2 million deaths in 2014. Malaria accounted for over 500,000 deaths in 2013.

How do I remove my member information from the World Community Grid system?

To permanently delete your account and remove your World Community Grid member information from our system, please take the following steps:

1. Log in to your World Community Grid member account.
2. Go to the Delete Account page (located in the My Profile section of your Settings). Read the instructions on this page carefully, as this is a permanent action and your account and information cannot be recovered once deleted.
3. Once you submit the request for your account to be deleted, we will ask you to confirm that action via email. Therefore, first check that the email address listed on the page is correct, then enter in your World Community Grid account password, and click the Delete Account button.
4. You will receive an email from us, to the email address that was listed, asking you to click a link to confirm your request to delete your account. If you don't click on the link within 24 hours, the action will be cancelled.

After clicking on the Delete Account link in the email that was sent, you will have up to 48 hours to return to the Delete Account page and cancel the action, if you choose.

What are the potential benefits of the "AfricanClimate@Home" project?

The project will lead to the identification of combinations of key parameterizations that best simulate the varying climates of Africa. More accurate models will give researchers a better understanding of the implications of various natural and man-made influences on the African climate. In turn, this will enable policy makers to make important adaptation and mitigation decisions based on the best available information.

Forget your email address or password?

• You can recover the email address associated with your member account by entering your username and password here. Please note:  if you have not created a username for your member account, you will not be able to use this feature.

• You can receive a password recovery email by entering in the email address associated with your member account here.

What is neuroblastoma?

Neuroblastoma is one of the most frequently occurring solid tumors in children, especially in the first 2 years of life, when it accounts for 50% of all tumors. Neuroblastoma comprises 6–10% of all childhood cancers, and 15% of cancer deaths in children.

What is the relationship between the human microbiome and disease?

The proteins produced by the human microbiome can interfere with normal body processes, for example by interacting with mimicking other proteins in the body.

Most of these proteins have not been explored in detail. However, there appears to be a link between the populations of microorganisms in the human gut and diseases like Type 1 diabetes, Crohn's disease, and ulcerative colitis. Understanding more about the human microbiome should uncover the link to these and other diseases. Once scientists discover which proteins play key roles in these diseases, they can then turn to working on controlling them to develop new treatments.

What is BOINC?

software that supports volunteer computing. BOINC was developed under a National Science Foundation grant at the University of California, Berkeley and is used for many different volunteer computing initiatives. It consists of software that a user downloads and runs on their computer, as well as server components that handle distributing work units and receiving results.

World Community Grid uses BOINC as a key part of its infrastructure in order to help support research for multiple institutions. Volunteers participate in World Community Grid either by downloading the World Community Grid branded version of the BOINC software, or the BOINC software itself, available directly from BOINC's website.

More information about BOINC can be found here.

 

How do I participate and donate my Android device's computing time?

Simply register for a World Community Grid account - during the registration process, you will be prompted to install the BOINC software on your Android device from the Google Play Store. Make sure to select 'World Community Grid' from the list of BOINC projects when you start the application.

If you're already a World Community Grid member, login to your account and go to the Download page instead.

How do I add a username?

To add a username to your World Community Grid account, take the following steps:

1. Log in to your World Community Grid member account.
2. Select Settings from the top right of any webpage.
3. Select My Profile from the menu on the left.
4. Add a username.
5. Enter your current password and press Save.

Why rice?

Rice, maize and wheat are the three main cereal grains in the world, accounting for 43% of the world's food calories. The rice genome is the only cereal genome that has been sequenced. While the rice genome is different from the human and other mammalian genomes, it is a good model for the other cereal grains. Lessons learned about how the functions and interactions of rice genes interact are likely to be useful in understanding the genetics and biology of other major crops.

What is BOINC?

The Berkeley Open Infrastructure for Network Computing (BOINC) is open-source software that supports volunteer computing. BOINC was developed under a National Science Foundation grant at the University of California, Berkeley and is used for many different volunteer computing initiatives. It consists of software that a user downloads and runs on their computer, as well as server components that handle distributing work units and receiving results.

World Community Grid uses BOINC as a key part of its infrastructure in order to help support research for multiple institutions. Volunteers participate in World Community Grid either by downloading the World Community Grid branded version of the BOINC software, or the BOINC software itself, available directly from BOINC's website.

More information about BOINC can be found here.

 

How is this project different from other Zika research efforts?

The OpenZika project is searching for potential antiviral drugs to combat the virus, whereas many other projects are looking for a vaccine or are studying the structure of the Zika virus itself. The exact, atomic scale structures of most of the proteins that play a key role in the Zika virus lifecycle have yet to be determined (by experiments called “X-ray crystallography”). Until then, scientists will use approximate structures derived from a process called “homology modeling.” This involves using the genetic information for the Zika proteins and looking for very similar target proteins from other organisms, such as the dengue virus, for which some of the protein structures are known at atomic detail. These known structures (called “templates”) are then used as the basis to develop models of the targets that likely resemble the Zika proteins. As scientists learn more about the structure of the Zika virus, we and they will be able to focus on the target proteins that are most crucial to finding antiviral drugs.

Am I required to add a username to my profile?

No. Adding a username to your profile is optional, after you have completed the registration process.   However, you will not be able to do any of the following if you have not added a username to your profile:

• post in the forums
• create a team
• become a team captain
• make your World Community Grid data public
• recover the email address associated with your member account

Once you have added a username, you will not be able to revert back to having no username associated with your account.  You can change your username at any time. If you do change your username, your previous username will become available to other members.

How do you change team captains?

If you are the current team captain, you may appoint a new team captain by following these steps:

1. Log in to your World Community Grid account.
2. Click on My Contribution, then click on My Team on the left side of the page.
3. Click on the 'Appoint New Captain' link, next to your Member Name listed as Captain.
4. Choose the team member who you would like to become captain, and click the 'Appoint as Captain' link next to their name.

What does protein structure tell us?

Proteins are governed by the same rules as any other molecule. The structure of a protein, or how it folds, determines its function. For example, the precise arrangement of active chemical groups from different amino acids in the protein chain at the active site of an enzyme accounts for its catalytic activity. Another example is the location of positively charged groups on the surface to allow DNA binding proteins to bind to the negatively charged phosphate backbone of DNA. In addition, one can often identify the role of a protein of unknown function by comparing its structure to structures of known proteins.

How can I help?

Anyone with a computer can help scientists understand how the human microbiome impacts disease, simply by joining World Community Grid.

It's easy: you create a World Community Grid account, select to support the Microbiome Immunity Project and then install our free and safe software on your computer. Then, whenever your computer has any unused computing power, it runs a simulation on behalf of the Microbiome Immunity Project team. The more people that participate, the quicker the researchers can get their work done!

How can I help?

Anyone with a computer can help the search for potential COVID-19 treatments by joining World Community Grid.

It's easy: you create a World Community Grid account, select to support OpenPandemics - COVID-19, and then install our free and safe software on your computer. Then, whenever your computer has any unused computing power, it runs a simulation on behalf of the OpenPandemics research team to evaluate the effectiveness of chemical compounds as potential COVID-19 treatment options.

The more people that participate, the quicker the researchers can get their work done!

How do I change my username?

To change your username, take the following steps:

1. Log in to your World Community Grid member account.
2. Select Settings from the top right of any webpage.
3. Select My Profile from the menu on the left.
4. Change your username to an available username.
5. Enter your current password and press Save.

 

How do I change my password?

To change your password, take the following steps:

1. Log in to your World Community Grid member account.
2. Select Settings from the top right of any webpage.
3. Select 'Log In Manager.'
4. Enter your new password.
5. Enter your password a second time to confirm.
6. Press Save.

Does World Community Grid have a Twitter feed?

Yes, you can find World Community Grid on Twitter at: http://twitter.com/WCGrid

You can link World Community Grid to your Twitter account to automatically show your friends what you're doing to help solve the challenges facing our world. To do that, please click here.

For more information about Twitter, click here.

How do I limit the number of tasks assigned to one of my devices for a specific project?

Some projects can be very memory intensive, and some devices are not able to handle these memory intensive projects starting up multiple tasks for that project at a single time. Limiting the number of tasks allowed for a project will help to keep that from happening.

To limit the number of tasks for a specific project, please follow these steps:

1. Log in to your member account.
2. Click on Settings and then Device Manager.
3. Select the device profile you would like to make the changes to.
4. On the Device Profiles page, select Custom Profile.
5. Scroll down to the Project Limits section and set the tasks limits to your preferences.
6. Click the Save button.

How do I change my email address?

To change your email address, take the following steps:

1. Log in to your World Community Grid member account.
2. Select Settings from the top right of any webpage.
3. Click on the My Profile tab on the left hand side of the page.
4. Change your email address.
5. Enter your current password and press Save.
6. Verify your new email address via the verification email sent to the new email address.

What is the Verification Code and what is it used for?

The Verification Code is a private, personal code that you can use to verify your team membership and team stats. There are teams that provide incentives and/or rewards to members for being a part of their team. World Community Grid is providing the Verification Code as a way for these teams to verify their members' statistics and team membership without requiring members to give the team their password.

Note that your Verification Code will change if you change your member name and/or password. If your team is relying on your verification code to verify your membership and statistics, be sure they have your current Verification Code.

To verify the team membership and statistics for a member, use the API:
http://www.worldcommunitygrid.org/verifyMember.do?name=MEMBERNAME&code=VERIFICATIONCODE

You must set your data sharing preferences to "Display my data" for this API to return data for your account.

You will get a response in XML containing the membership information for that member. If there is an error, it will be reported back in the XML response.

How do I create a new team?

Your personal World Community Grid account must have a username before you can create a team. Please go here for instructions on how to create a username.

Go to the home page and sign in. From the My Contribution page, select My Team from the left navigation menu, then select Create a New Team from the left navigation menu. Follow the instructions on the page for adding a team and then select save.

Please familiarize yourself with what the World Community Grid considers objectionable before creating a new team.

Is there an API to get a list of in-progress and recently returned results for a member?

Yes. The URL for the API to access a members results is:

https://www.worldcommunitygrid.org/api/members/{member name}/results?code={verification code}

member name is the member name of the member whose results data you wish to access
verification code is found on the My Profile page of the member whose results data you wish to access

The default format is JSON.

You must set your data sharing preferences to "Display my data" for this API to return data for your account.

Optional parameters are (can be combined):

• limit: Defines the number of results returned. Default is 25.  Max is 250.
• offset: Defines how many results are skipped before the API returns any data. Default is 0.
• sortBy: Defines the sorting order of the results. Options are: DeviceId, SentTime, ReportDeadline, ReceivedTime or CpuTime. Default is SentTime.
• format: The format of the data. Options are XML or JSON. Default is JSON.
• modTime: Return results which were last modified on or after this time. This value is a Unixtimestamp (number of seconds since midnight Jan 1 1970).
• serverState: Return results based on whether they are currently in progress or have already been reported back to World Community Grid. 4 would return in-progress results, 5 would return results which have already been reported back to the server.
• outcome: Return results based on the outcome of their processing. 1 means success, 3 means error, 4 means no reply, 6 means validation error, 7 means abandoned./
• validateState: Return results based on the validation status. 0 means pending validation, 1 means valid, 2 means invalid, 4 means pending verification, 5 means results failed to validate within given deadline.
• fileDeleteState: Return results based on their file delete state.  0 means not deleted.  1 means ready to delete.  2 means deleted.

HPF1 vs. HPF2: Scoring different structures at higher resolutions

Balancing resolution with computational efficiency:
Protein structure prediction procedure must strike a delicate balance between the computational efficiency of the procedure and the level of physical detail used to model protein structure within the procedure. Low-resolution models can be used to predict protein topology/folds and sometimes suggest function (Bonneau et al. 2001b). Low-resolution models have also been remarkably successful at predicting features of the folding process such as folding rates and phi values (Alm and Baker 1999a; Alm and Baker 1999b). It is clear, however, that modeling proteins (and possibly bound water and other cofactors) at atomic detail, and scoring these higher resolution models with physically derived, detailed, potentials is a needed development if higher resolution structure prediction is to be achieved. Recent progress has focused on the use of low-resolution approaches for finding the fold followed by a refinement step where atomic detail is added (side chains added to the backbone) and physical scoring functions are used to select and/or generate higher resolution structures. Several recent studies have illustrated the usefulness of using de novo structure prediction methods as part of a two stage process in which low-resolution methods are used for fragment assembly and the resulting models are refined using a more physical potential and atomic detail (e.g. rotamers) to represent side chains (Bradley et al. 2003; Misura and Baker 2005; Tsai et al. 2003). In the first step Rosetta is used to search the space of possible backbone conformations with all side chains represented as centroids. This process is well described and has well characterized error rates and behavior. High confidence or low scoring models are then refined using potentials that account for atomic detail such as hydrogen bonding, van der Waals forces and electrostatics.
One major challenge that faces methods attempting to refine de novo methods is that the addition of side-chain degrees of freedom combined with the reduced length scale (reduced radius of convergence) of the potentials employed require the sampling of a much larger space of possible conformations. Thus, one has to correctly determine roughly twice the number of bond angles to a higher tolerance if one hopes to succeed.