Status of text-mining techniques applied to biomedical text

Scientific progress is increasingly based on knowledge and information. Knowledge is now recognized as the driver of productivity and economic growth, leading to a new focus on the role of information in the decision-making process. Most scientific knowledge is registered in publications and other unstructured representations that make it difficult to use and to integrate the information with other sources (e.g. biological databases). Making a computer understand human language has proven to be a complex achievement, but there are techniques capable of detecting, distinguishing and extracting a limited number of different classes of facts. In the biomedical field, extracting information has specific problems: complex and ever-changing nomenclature (especially genes and proteins) and the limited representation of domain knowledge.     

Human sexuality: a survey of the knowledge of medical students.

A survey of New Zealand medical students is described in which knowledge of human sexuality is documented to vary with age, sex, marital status, participation in a human sexuality teaching programme and year of course. Whilst no group scored disastrously and all groups scored well in some areas of sexuality, most groups also demonstrated significant gaps in their knowledge. Within any large medical school it is likely that there will be student subgroups with widely different levels of knowledge and therefore different needs requiring to be met in terms of education. Knowledge of sexuality was demonstrated to increase during the Otago medical course and for this process to have been facilitated by a formal human sexuality teaching programme. Support is therefore given to the need for, and effectiveness of, such teaching programmes in medical schools.     

中药指纹图谱专家系统知识库构架研究

目的：本文研究了中药指纹图谱专家系统知识库的框架结构,阐述了基于该框架结构进行知识库设计的全过程。方法：本系统以SQL Server 2005 Analysis manager和Visual Studio.NET作为开发工具,以中药指纹图谱专家知识为研究对象,利用面向对象技术,构建了基于B/S结构的＂中药指纹图谱专家系统知识库系统＂。结果：本系统实现了中药指纹图谱知识库信息的分类获取、存储、查询、推理、管理等功能。结论：该知识库具有结构合理、数据丰富、推理严谨的特点,为中药指纹图谱在线专家系统核心模块的设计与实现奠定了基础。     

Toward intelligent decision support for pharmaceutical product development

Developing pharmaceutical product formulation in a timely manner and ensuring quality is a complex process that requires a systematic, science-based approach. Information from various categories, including properties of the drug substance and excipients, interactions between materials, unit operations, and equipment is gathered. Knowledge in different forms, including heuristics, decision trees, correlations, and first-principle models is applied. Decisions regarding processing routes, choice of excipients, and equipment sizing are made based on this information and knowledge. In this work, we report on the development of a software infrastructure to assist formulation scientists in managing the information, capturing the knowledge, and providing intelligent decision support for pharmaceutical product formulation.     

The standard drink and alcohol consumption

The term 'standard drink' is commonly used when researchers collect alcohol consumption data and when educators create campaigns to encourage people to drink responsibly. However, little is known about community knowledge of the term 'standard drink' or what it represents in terms of what people are drinking in their own homes or on unlicensed premises. This study measured the amounts of a variety of alcoholic beverages that a sample of Perth metropolitan people use when drinking on unlicensed premises. The level of knowledge of the alcohol content of a variety of beverages and the knowledge of the term standard drink and what it represents in terms of commonly consumed beverages was also measured. The results showed that knowledge of the alcohol content of beverages was very poor. Knowledge of the term standard drink and what it represents in terms of absolute alcohol was also poor. Regarding the amounts of beverages poured, red and white wine, champagne and spirits are likely to be poured in amounts well in excess of a standard drink when people are drinking in their own homes. The results of this study have implications for the efficacy of educational campaigns designed to encourage safe and responsible drinking practices through the monitoring of personal intake. Before these can be effective, the terminology used must be familiar and well understood by the community towards which they are aimed. The results also discussed with respect to the design and administration of alcohol consumption questionnaires.     

Ontologies and semantic data integration

The increased generation of data in the pharmaceutical R&D process has failed to generate the expected returns in terms of enhanced productivity and pipelines. The inability of existing integration strategies to organize and apply the available knowledge to the range of real scientific and business issues is impacting on not only productivity but also transparency of information in crucial safety and regulatory applications. The new range of semantic technologies based on ontologies enables the proper integration of knowledge in a way that is reusable by several applications across businesses, from discovery to corporate affairs.     

禁毒社工丙肝(HCV)相关知识评估与提供HCV相关服务情况调查

目的:调查上海市禁毒社工丙肝(HCV)相关知识水平,初步了解禁毒社工HCV相关知识掌握情况及提供HCV相关服务情况及影响因素。方法:对165名禁毒社工HCV相关知识及工作中为帮教对象提供相关服务情况进行评估,采用调查问卷形式,内容包括受试对象一般情况、提供HCV相关服务情况及HCV相关知识评估。结果:被试对象HCV相关知识问卷平均得分为8.47分,76%的禁毒社工在工作中从未给患者提供过HCV相关知识,86%的禁毒社工认为自己没有掌握足够的HCV相关知识9,8%的禁毒社工认为自己需要进一步接受HCV相关知识的培训。知识评估得分较高者以及认为自己具备足够HCV相关知识的社工在实际工作中更多地为帮教对象提供相关服务。结论:禁毒社工对HCV相关知识的了解程度存在较大的欠缺,需尽快对他们进行HCV相关知识的培训,以便今后工作中对患者进行相关知识的教育和干预。     

Role of Knowledge Management in Development and Lifecycle Management of Biopharmaceuticals

Knowledge Management (KM) is a key enabler for achieving quality in a lifecycle approach for production of biopharmaceuticals. Due to the important role that it plays towards successful implementation of Quality by Design (QbD), an analysis of KM solutions is needed. This work provides a comprehensive review of the interface between KM and QbD-driven biopharmaceutical production systems as perceived by academic as well as industrial viewpoints. A comprehensive set of 356 publications addressing the applications of KM tools to QbD-related tasks were screened and a query to gather industrial inputs from 17 major biopharmaceutical organizations was performed. Three KM tool classes were identified as having high relevance for biopharmaceutical production systems and have been further explored: knowledge indicators, ontologies, and process modeling. A proposed categorization of 16 distinct KM tool classes allowed for the identification of holistic technologies supporting QbD. In addition, the classification allowed for addressing the disparity between industrial and academic expectations regarding the application of KM methodologies. This is a first of a kind attempt and thus we think that this paper would be of considerable interest to those in academia and industry that are engaged in accelerating development and commercialization of biopharmaceuticals.     

Advances in knowledge management for pharmaceutical research and development

There are two assumptions that are taken for granted in the pharmaceutical industry today. Firstly, that we can generate an unprecedented amount of drug-related information along the research and development (R&D) pipeline, and secondly, that researchers are more connected to each other than they have ever been, owing to the internet revolution of the past 15 years or so. Both of these aspects of the modern pharmaceutical company have brought many benefits to the business. However, the pharmaceutical industry is currently under fire due to allegations of decreased productivity despite significant investments in R&D, which if left to continue at the present pace, will reach almost US 60 billion dollars by 2006. This article explores the role of knowledge in the industry and reviews recent developments and emerging opportunities in the field of knowledge management (KM) as it applies to pharmaceutical R&D. It is argued that systematic KM will be increasingly necessary to optimize the value of preceding advances in high-throughput approaches to R&D, and to fully realize the anticipated increase in productivity. The application of KM principles and practices to the business can highlight opportunities for balancing the current reliance on blockbuster drugs with a more patient-centric focus on human health, which is now becoming possible.     

The knowledge and practice on malaria among community members in Zimbabwe

OBJECTIVES: To assess the knowledge of the cause, preventive measures and symptoms of malaria, treatment seeking behaviour on malaria and source of information about malaria among community members for the planning of effective malaria intervention. DESIGN: A cross sectional study was carried out using a questionnaire, which was administered by health workers from rural health centres. SETTING: Households in rural areas from five districts namely Uzumba Maramba Pfungwe (UMP), Hurungwe, Mount Darwin, Bulilimamangwe and Chipinge in Zimbabwe. SUBJECTS: 2,531 community members who were in charge of households sampled systematically in the area. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Percentage of knowledge of transmission, signs and symptoms, prevention methods such as residual house spraying and personal protection, and treatment seeking practice on malaria. RESULTS: Knowledge of malaria transmission was generally high ranging from 57.9% to 95.9%, although there were some misconceptions such as drinking dirty water and poor hygiene. Knowledge of malaria preventive methods was varied among districts ranging from 19.4% to 93.0% about residual house spraying, and low (0.2% to 22.7%), (8.1% to 24.5%) about mosquito nets and repellents, respectively. Knowledge of malaria signs was generally high although this also varied among districts. Treatment seeking practice on malaria shows that the majority of respondents (85.4%) visit the clinic first when seeking treatment although there are other options such as shops and traditional healers. Other sources of information about malaria mentioned were, health workers (72.9%), radio (44.0%), television (37.5%), teachers (25.0%) and village community workers (10.0%). CONCLUSION: Despite widespread knowledge about the cause of malaria and symptoms, and the fairly extensive sources of health information, understanding of the preventive measures was relatively low. Appropriate health education is essential to stimulate changes in both knowledge and behaviour in malaria control activities. Schools can be effective health education tools as well as health facilities.     

Enabling high-throughput discovery

During the past few years, the introduction of ultra-high-throughput screening and new assay design and detection technologies has exponentially increased the amount and complexity of screening data. Effective use of this data implies a process that begins with assay design. An effective data management system should control a range of processes, from the initial selection of compounds and storage and mining of the assay result to more complex tasks, such as extracting patterns from these data. Remarkable advances have been made during the last year to increase efficiency at different phases of the screening, shifting the bottleneck of this process to data analysis. The challenge facing drug discovery today is to extract knowledge from these data. Knowledge discovery is defined as 'the non-trivial extraction of implicit, unknown, and potentially useful information from data'. A large amount of research is being devoted to optimize the extraction of knowledge from screening data. In this review, we discuss the screening process and its progress during the last year. Some of the challenges for the future, such as optimization of the knowledge discovery process and the sharing of data across an organization, will also be presented.     

Community perceptions and practices about urban malaria prevention and control in Gondar Town, northwest Ethiopia

BACKGROUND: Malaria is becoming a major health problem in urban areas. Community perceptions, knowledge and practices have a major role in the implementation of effective malaria control interventions. Yet little is known about the perceptions and practices of urban community about urban malaria prevention and control. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to assess the knowledge, attitudes and practices of an urban community about malaria prevention and control. METHODS: A community-based cross-sectional study was carried out in three randomly selected malarious Kebeles of Gondar Town during November-December 2004. Knowledge, attitudes and practices were assessed for 489 household members > or =18 years old. RESULTS: Almost all respondents knew about malaria and recognized it as one of the major health problems of the community. About 58% knew that malaria could be transmitted from one person to another, and most (97.2%) associated malaria with the bite of mosquito. The most frequently reported symptoms of malaria included fever (96.3%), chills and shivering (96.3%), headache (96.1%), loss of appetite (92.2%) and joini pain (90.2%). Knowledge about the names of the currently used antimalarials, sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine (90.4%) and chloroquine (81.6%), was high. About 39% of the total 163 surveyed households possessed at least one mosquito net; of these, 55 (83.7%) possessed one, 7 (11%) had two and 2 (2.3%) possessed three. Most respondents practiced draining stagnant water (46.3%) and clearing vegetation (43.3%) for malaria prevention. CONCLUSIONS: Although considerable gaps were observed between knowledge and practices of malaria prevention and control methods, community knowledge, attitudes and practices on the cause, treatment and prevention of the disease were encouraging. Since malaria is identified as a major health problem, the use of personal protection methods such as insecticide treated mosquito nets should be encouraged through increasing access to it.     

In silico techniques for the study and prediction of xenobiotic metabolism: a review

Knowledge about metabolism is very important to understand the health risks posed by chemicals. The biochemical process of metabolism causes activation, inactivation, toxification, detoxification as well as changes in the physicochemical properties of a chemical. The long time consumption and high costs associated with animal tests and the challenges faced by traditional quantitative structure-activity relationship (QSAR) models in dealing with situations wherein parent chemical structures are less relevant to the ultimate effects have led to the development of in silico techniques for the prediction of xenobiotic metabolism. The strengths and limitations of some of the most commonly used in silico expert systems, and their application in studying metabolism of xenobiotic chemicals, have been reviewed. The in silico metabolism simulators possessed several distinguishing features imparted in part by the nature of knowledge rules (algorithms) encoded within them and in part by the integration of QSAR libraries and computational engines.     

Knowledge, Attitudes and Practices of Business Travelers Regarding Malaria Risk and Prevention

Background This study aimed to determine the knowledge, attitudes and practices of Swiss business travelers with regard to malaria.
Methods Questionnaires printed in three languages were distributed by employers, travel agencies and tropical medicine specialists to business travelers with destinations in malaria endemic countries.
Results In total, 401 questionnaires were evaluated. Thirty-three percent visited high-risk areas, 27% visited low-risk areas, and 40% visited only malaria-free areas within endemic countries. Among the investigated business travelers, 6% had experienced malaria infection, and 29% had previously had blood smears tested for malaria at least once. Almost all business travelers, 95%, knew that mosquitoes are the main vectors of malaria. The infection risk between dusk and dawn was known to 71%, and the incubation time to 36%. Apart from fever (99%) and headache (63%), other malaria symptoms were known to only 13% to 36% of the travelers. If signs of illness such as fever and headache occurred, 63% would react adequately and seek medical advice within 24 h. Only 16% of the travelers to African high-risk areas followed the recommended behavior concerning antimosquito and antimalarial strategies; 31% of those on trips to low-risk areas used an adequate protective strategy. Of the business travelers using chemoprophylaxis during travel, just 50% continued intake posttravel, as requested, after leaving the endemic area.
Conclusions Business travelers are well informed regarding the mode of transmission and the risk of malaria at specific destinations but tend to comply poorly with anti-mosquito and chemoprophylactic strategies. The knowledge, attitudes and practices of business travelers with regard to malaria prevention need to be improved.     

Knowledge,attitudes and practices of business travelers regarding malaria risk and prevention

BACKGROUND: This study aimed to determine the knowledge, attitudes and practices of Swiss business travelers with regard to malaria. METHODS: Questionnaires printed in three languages were distributed by employers, travel agencies and tropical medicine specialists to business travelers with destinations in malaria endemic countries. RESULTS: In total, 401 questionnaires were evaluated. Thirty-three percent visited high-risk areas, 27% visited low-risk areas, and 40% visited only malaria-free areas within endemic countries. Among the investigated business travelers, 6% had experienced malaria infection, and 29% had previously had blood smears tested for malaria at least once. Almost all business travelers, 95%, knew that mosquitoes are the main vectors of malaria. The infection risk between dusk and dawn was known to 71%, and the incubation time to 36%. Apart from fever (99%) and headache (63%), other malaria symptoms were known to only 13% to 36% of the travelers. If signs of illness such as fever and headache occurred, 63% would react adequately and seek medical advice within 24 h. Only 16% of the travelers to African high-risk areas followed the recommended behavior concerning anti-mosquito and antimalarial strategies; 31% of those on trips to low-risk areas used an adequate protective strategy. Of the business travelers using chemoprophylaxis during travel, just 50% continued intake post travel, as requested, after leaving the endemic area. CONCLUSIONS: Business travelers are well informed regarding the mode of transmission and the risk of malaria at specific destinations but tend to comply poorly with anti-mosquito and chemoprophylactic strategies. The knowledge, attitudes and practices of business travelers with regard to malaria prevention need to be improved.     

Behavior,Knowledge, and Attitudes Towards Khat Among Yemeni Medical Students and Effects of a Seminar

ABSTRACT

This study describes khat behavior, knowledge, and attitudes among Yemeni medical students (MS) and the effects of a seminar. The students completed a survey (n = 62); a subgroup participated in a discussion-based seminar and follow-up survey (n = 18). Although the students demonstrated knowledge about khat's health effects and considered it unacceptable for health professionals to chew khat, they disagreed that health professionals should advise patients to quit. Knowledge and attitudes improved post-seminar (not significant, except for a borderline significant increase in students correctly identifying khat as addictive; P = 0.063). Although effects were small, seminars may help health professionals address khat use in Yemen.     

Consumers' understanding and concerns about bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE): comparison among Canadian, American, and Japanese consumers

In spite of much analysis of the impact of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) on consumer perceptions and meat purchases, there has been little explicit analysis of the level of BSE knowledge. In this study the role of knowledge about BSE was examined in Canada, the United States, and Japan. In addition, the level of knowledge was linked to human health concerns regarding BSE and whether there is agreement with paying a premium for beef with BSE animal tests. From a public policy perspective, understanding whether higher or lower knowledge is linked to public concern and desire for market intervention might help in the design of risk communication in any future animal disease outbreak. Should lack of knowledge about the disease be related to a public desire for market intervention (animal testing, for example), then an increase in detailed information about how humans might contract the disease might change public pressure for intervention. As compared to U.S. and Canadian respondents, Japanese respondents are more knowledgeable regarding the ways in which humans might be exposed to the human variant of BSE (variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, vCJD) and are more concerned about the disease. However, U.S. respondents are more willing to pay a premium for beef tested to ensure that it will not result in vCJD. Japanese respondents who are more knowledgeable about BSE are more concerned about the risk of BSE to human health. In Canada, subjects who are more knowledgeable about the ways in which humans attain vCJD are less concerned about the risk of BSE to human health. Knowledge of the ways in which humans develop vCJD does not significantly influence concerns about the risk of BSE to human health in the United States or willingness to pay for BSE-tested beef in any of the three countries. The links between knowledge and concerns about BSE and between knowledge and agreement with paying premiums for BSE-tested beef were estimated for each country using ordered probit regressions.     

构建药品检查知识管理系统的探讨

目的分析探讨知识管理在药品检查工作中的应用。方法通过分析目前药品检查工作中的难点,以及知识管理的发展趋势,理解知识管理的意义。结果药品检查工作作为药品监管的重要环节,涉及的专业和技术知识有较高的要求,需要使用信息化手段对其进行管理。结论知识管理作为信息时代已经普遍应用的实践方法,可以对药品检查的知识进行归类和整理,帮助药品检查员更好的掌握药品检查知识,并有效地运用到检查工作中去。