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At least 433 records · Page 24Linked to original sources
PubMed2007

Online workbenches for neural network connections.

The nervous system is the most complex object we know of. It is a spatially distributed, functionally differentiated network formed by axonal connections between defined neuron populations and effector cells. Computer science provides exciting new tools for archiving, analyzing, synthesizing, and modeling on the Web vast amounts of frequently conflicting and incomplete qualitative and quantitative data about the organization and molecular mechanisms of neural networks. To optimize conceptual advances in systems neuroscience, it is important for the research and publishing communities to embrace three exercises: using defined nomenclatures; populating databases; and providing feedback to developers about improved design, performance, and functionality of knowledge management systems and associated visualization tools.

Animals↗
PubMed2002

Integrating information for better environmental decisions.

As more is learned about the complex nature and extent of environmental impacts from progressive human disturbance, scientists, policy analysts, decision makers, educators, and communicators are increasingly joining forces to develop strategies for preserving and protecting the environment. The Eco-Informa Foundation is an educational scientific organization dedicated to promoting the collaborative development and sharing of scientific information. The Foundation participated in a recent international conference on environmental informatics through a special symposium on integrating information for better environmental decisions. Presentations focused on four general themes: (1) remote sensing and data interpretation, including through new knowledge management tools; (2) risk assessment and communication, including for radioactively contaminated facilities, introduced biological hazards, and food safety; (3) community involvement in cleanup projects; and (4) environmental education. The general context for related issues, methods and applications, and results and recommendations from those discussions are highlighted here.

Congresses as Topic↗
PubMed2005

[Digital teaching archive. Concept, implementation, and experiences in a university setting].

Film-based teaching files require a substantial investment in human, logistic, and financial resources. The combination of computer and network technology facilitates the workflow integration of distributing radiologic teaching cases within an institution (intranet) or via the World Wide Web (Internet). A digital teaching file (DTF) should include the following basic functions: image import from different sources and of different formats, editing of imported images, uniform case classification, quality control (peer review), a controlled access of different user groups (in-house and external), and an efficient retrieval strategy. The portable network graphics image format (PNG) is especially suitable for DTFs because of several features: pixel support, 2D-interlacing, gamma correction, and lossless compression. The American College of Radiology (ACR) "Index for Radiological Diagnoses" is hierarchically organized and thus an ideal classification system for a DTF. Computer-based training (CBT) in radiology is described in numerous publications, from supplementing traditional learning methods to certified education via the Internet. Attractiveness of a CBT application can be increased by integration of graphical and interactive elements but makes workflow integration of daily case input more difficult. Our DTF was built with established Internet instruments and integrated into a heterogeneous PACS/RIS environment. It facilitates a quick transfer (DICOM_Send) of selected images at the time of interpretation to the DTF and access to the DTF application at any time anywhere within the university hospital intranet employing a standard web browser. A DTF is a small but important building block in an institutional strategy of knowledge management.

Computer-Assisted Instruction↗
PubMed2006

Using a state-and-transition approach to manage endangered Eucalyptus albens (White Box) woodlands.

Eucalyptus albens (White Box) woodlands are among the most poorly conserved and threatened communities in Australia. Remnants are under further threat from stock grazing, deteriorating soil conditions, weed invasion, and salinity. There is an urgent need to restore degraded White Box and other woodland ecosystems to improve landscape function. However, there is still a poor understanding of the ecology of degraded woodland ecosystems in fragmented agricultural landscapes, and consequently a lack of precise scientific guidelines to manage these ecosystems in a conservation context. State and Transition Models (STMs) have received a great deal of attention, mainly in rangeland applications, as a suitable framework for understanding the ecology of complex ecosystems and to guide management. We have developed a STM for endangered White Box woodlands and discuss the merits of using this approach for land managers of other endangered ecosystems. An STM approach provides a greater understanding of the range of states, transitions, and thresholds possible in an ecosystem, and provides a summary of processes driving the system. Importantly, our proposed STM could be used to clarify the level of "intactness" of degraded White Box woodland sites, and provide the impetus to manage different states in complementary ways, rather than attempting to restore ecosystems to one pristine stable state. We suggest that this approach has considerable potential to integrate researcher and land manager knowledge, focus future experimental studies, and ultimately serve as a decision support tool in setting realistic and achievable conservation and restoration goals.

Conservation of Natural Resources↗
PubMed2006

Developing a medical image content repository for e-learning.

The integration of medical informatics and e-learning systems could provide many advanced applications including training, knowledge management, telemedicine, etc. Currently, both the domains of e-learning and medical image have sophisticated specifications and standards. It is a great challenge to bring about integration. In this paper, we describe the development of a Web interface for searching and viewing medical images that are stored in standard medical image servers. With the creation of a Web solution, we have reduced the overheads of integration. We have packaged Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine (DICOM) network services as a component that can be used via a Web server. The Web server constitutes a content repository for searching, editing, and storing Web-based medical image content. This is a simple method by which the use of Picture Archiving and Communication System (PACS) can be extended. We show that the content repository can easily interact and integrate with a learning system. With the integration, the user can easily generate and assign medical image content for e-learning. A Web solution might be the simplest way for system integration. The demonstration in this paper should be useful as a method of expanding the usage of medical information. The construction of a Web-based repository and integrated with a learning system may be also applicable to other domains.

Computer Security↗
PubMed2006

Comparative analysis of medical web search using generalized vs. niche technologies.

One increasingly popular solution to the problem of information overload is the niche search engine, designed as a customized knowledge management tool to meet the needs of information seekers with similar interests. By limiting web crawling to a specific subject area, the niche engine is able to crawl deeper and more discreetly than commercial counterparts. This exploratory technology assessment study sought to examine differences in information search and retrieval patterns between commercial and niche search engines in areas of debated or uncertain healthcarer treatment. Findings suggest that while information found within the niche search is generally more trustworthy, niche searches leave out many reliable sources which are retrievable through commercial search engines. Also, consumer-friendly (non-technical) resources were found to be more prevalent using commercial search engines, suggesting greater relevance for the layperson within this domain.

Algorithms↗
PubMed2006

Model-based drug development: the road to quantitative pharmacology.

High development costs and low success rates in bringing new medicines to the market demand more efficient and effective approaches. Identified by the FDA as a valuable prognostic tool for fulfilling such a demand, model-based drug development is a mathematical and statistical approach that constructs, validates, and utilizes disease models, drug exposure-response models, and pharmacometric models to facilitate drug development. Quantitative pharmacology is a discipline that learns and confirms the key characteristics of new molecular entities in a quantitative manner, with goal of providing explicit, reproducible, and predictive evidence for optimizing drug development plans and enabling critical decision making. Model-based drug development serves as an integral part of quantitative pharmacology. This work reviews the general concept, basic elements, and evolving role of model-based drug development in quantitative pharmacology. Two case studies are presented to illustrate how the model-based drug development approach can facilitate knowledge management and decision making during drug development. The case studies also highlight the organizational learning that comes through implementation of quantitative pharmacology as a discipline. Finally, the prospects of quantitative pharmacology as an emerging discipline are discussed. Advances in this discipline will require continued collaboration between academia, industry and regulatory agencies.

Adult↗
PubMed1979

Acute perforations of the sigmoid colon secondary to diverticulitis.

Diverticulitis is a complex disease and demands careful cooperation between physician and surgeons, because although it is a benign disease, the presence of complications makes it potentially lethal. For successful management, knowledge of the treatment in past decades should be integrated with current surgical technics. A retrospective review of forty-one patients with perforated diverticulitis revealed a significant decrease in morbidity and hospital stay for the group of patients undergoing the Hartmann procedure versus the group undergoing the classic three stage approach. In addition, the Hartmann group required fewer additional surgical procedures for drainage of abscesses. In view of these results as well as those of others, we believe that resection is the primary goal of therapy. The two stage approach therefore offers significant decrease in morbidity with acceptable mortality.

Abscess↗
PubMed1994

The professional workstation as enabler: conference recommendations. International Medical Informatics Association.

This paper reports on the Working Conference on Healthcare Professional Workstation sponsored by the International Medical Informatics Association (IMIA) and held in Washington DC, 14-16 June 1993. It sets forth the vision of a health care infostructure in which the workstation acts as enabler, giving professionals access to information when, where, and how it is needed. The paper explains upon the conference methodology and provides the conference cochairs' summary recommendations, both short- and long-term. These recommendations are based upon the work of five breakout groups, which addressed Functional Requirements, User Interfaces, Data and Knowledge Management, Processing, and Sharing and Communications. Presented in detailed and display formats, these summary recommendations address issues in the areas of architecture, linkages, evaluation, security, standards, education, and training. The paper also sets forth immediate next steps for the workstation initiative, including the formation of a formal IMIA Working Group on Workstations.

Computer Communication Networks↗
PubMed2005

Case-based retrieval to support the treatment of end stage renal failure patients.

OBJECTIVE: In the present paper, we describe an application of case-based retrieval to the domain of end stage renal failure patients, treated with hemodialysis. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Defining a dialysis session as a case, retrieval of past similar cases has to operate both on static and on dynamic features, since most of the monitoring variables of a dialysis session are time series. Retrieval is then articulated as a two-step procedure: (1) classification, based on static features and (2) intra-class retrieval, in which dynamic features are considered. As regards step (2), we concentrate on a classical dimensionality reduction technique for time series allowing for efficient indexing, namely discrete Fourier transform (DFT). Thanks to specific index structures (i.e. k -d trees), range queries (on local feature similarity) can be efficiently performed on our case base, allowing the physician to examine the most similar stored dialysis sessions with respect to the current one. RESULTS: The retrieval tool has been positively tested on real patients' data, coming from the nephrology and dialysis unit of the Vigevano hospital, in Italy. CONCLUSIONS: The overall system can be seen as a means for supporting quality assessment of the hemodialysis service, providing a useful input from the knowledge management perspective.

Decision Support Systems, Clinical↗
PubMed2005

Model of evidence-based dental decision making.

Shared decision making empowers patients as informed consumers, helping them to make clinical decisions that optimize their personal oral health. Evidence-based dentistry supports this process by providing best evidence that, when presented in visual and interactive formats, focuses consultation time on treatment or therapy options and their trade-offs. Currently, an explosion of evidence and technological advancements have necessitated a cooperation that translates into an interdisciplinary approach to care delivery. For evidence-based dentistry, this interdisciplinary approach includes the interaction of researchers, clinicians, and patients in promoting individual patient care. To facilitate this interaction, a computerized model of evidence-based dental decision making is presented to manage knowledge in its application to clinical practice. This model includes the use of decision aids and a decision tree composed of multiple clinical practice guidelines. These aids allow for quantifying treatment options in terms of estimates using probability, utility, and cost data. With these estimates, decision analysis and the flexibility to manipulate data provide patients with increased control and acceptance of the decisions that they make about their personal oral health.

Editorial↗
PubMed2003

Language evolution: neural homologies and neuroinformatics.

This paper contributes to neurolinguistics by grounding an evolutionary account of the readiness of the human brain for language in the search for homologies between different cortical areas in macaque and human. We consider two hypotheses for this grounding, that of Aboitiz and Garci;a [Brain Res. Rev. 25 (1997) 381] and the Mirror System Hypothesis of Rizzolatti and Arbib [Trends Neurosci. 21 (1998) 188] and note the promise of computational modeling of neural circuitry of the macaque and its linkage to analysis of human brain imaging data. In addition to the functional differences between the two hypotheses, problems arise because they are grounded in different cortical maps of the macaque brain. In order to address these divergences, we have developed several neuroinformatics tools included in an on-line knowledge management system, the NeuroHomology Database, which is equipped with inference engines both to relate and translate information across equivalent cortical maps and to evaluate degrees of homology for brain regions of interest in different species.

Animals↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Adaptive topological tree structure for document organisation and visualisation.

The self-organising map (SOM) is finding more and more applications in a wide range of fields, such as clustering, pattern recognition and visualisation. It has also been employed in knowledge management and information retrieval. We propose an alternative to existing 2-dimensional SOM based methods for document analysis. The method, termed Adaptive Topological Tree Structure (ATTS), generates a taxonomy of underlying topics from a set of unclassified, unstructured documents. The ATTS consists of a hierarchy of adaptive self-organising chains, each of which is validated independently using a proposed entropy-based Bayesian information criterion. A node meeting the expansion criterion spans a child chain, with reduced vocabulary and increased specialisation. The ATTS creates a topological tree of topics, which can be browsed like a content hierarchy and reflects the connections between related topics at each level. A review is also given on the existing neural network based methods for document clustering and organisation. Experimental results on real-world datasets using the proposed ATTS method are presented and compared with other approaches. The results demonstrate the advantages of the proposed validation criteria and the efficiency of the ATTS approach for document organisation, visualisation and search. It shows that the proposed methods not only improve the clustering results but also boost the retrieval.

Bayes Theorem↗
PubMed2006

Evidence-based surgery.

Understanding the issues associated with surgical epidemiology,knowledge management, and evidence-based surgical practice has implications for clinicians in the community, surgeons in large metropolitan hospitals, surgeon scholars, and the academic surgeon. All need to have some understanding of not only the evaluation of the evidence and how to find it but, in addition, application of those concepts to continuous quality improvement and to closing a circle of surgical audit. If the surgical profession has an obligation to redefine clinical modus operandi and educational processes, the argument for formal training in aspects of clinical epidemiology during the surgical residency program is obvious,because all surgeons will benefit from those educational exercises.

Clinical Trials as Topic↗
PubMed1999

Collaboration between industry and academia--prospects for male fertility control.

Drug development within the pharmaceutical industry is probably the field with the highest level of regulations. Due to the complexity of the different components of drug development and drug surveillance the need for a sophisticated organization and infrastructure is obvious. In addition, there is a necessity for sufficient resources and long-term commitment as well as logistic and long-term knowledge management. In order to secure high professional standards at all levels of this highly complex value creating chain, the number of cooperative arrangements in the pharmaceutical industry are increasing. The identification of new targets in the drug finding process calls in particular for outside partners. At the same time the preparedness of non-industrial researchers to cooperate with industry has also increased significantly. The area of fertility control, especially male fertility control, provides an excellent example for this kind of cooperation between industrial and non-industrial partners. Here a cooperative network is described which probably meets practically all relevant criteria for both the non-industrial but also the industrial partner. Some principles for the management of such a cooperative network are discussed. We believe that this kind of network can serve as a model for similar networks in other fields.

Contraceptive Agents, Male↗
PubMed1999

Cerebral neoplasms in adults.

MRI plays a critical role in the diagnosis, management, and follow-up of adult supratentorial neoplasms. However, there is considerable overlap in the imaging findings of these lesions. New imaging methods, such as functional MRI, diffusion imaging, and spectroscopy may further improve diagnostic specificity and surgical management. Knowledge of the pathogenesis of these tumors, imaging characteristics, and available novel imaging tools will aid the radiologist in making meaningful contributions in the evaluation and treatment of these lesions.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Informed choices for attaining the Millennium Development Goals: towards an international cooperative agenda for health-systems research.

Health systems constraints are impeding the implementation of major global initiatives for health and the attainment of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Research could contribute to overcoming these barriers. An independent task force has been convened by WHO to suggest areas where international collaborative research could help to generate the knowledge necessary to improve health systems. Suggested topics encompass financial and human resources, organisation and delivery of health services, governance, stewardship, knowledge management, and global influences. These topics should be viewed as tentative suggestions that form a basis for further discussion. This article is part of a wide-ranging consultation and comment is invited. The potential agenda will be presented at the Ministerial Summit on Health Research in November, 2004, and revised in the light of responses. Subsequently, we hope that resources will be committed to generate the evidence needed to build the equitable, effective, and efficient health systems needed to achieve the MDGs

Delivery of Health Care↗