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WEB-WAP based telecare.

We have developed two telecare applications based on mobile telephony (WAP) and WEB. The first can be used to request Basic Life Support (BLS) guidelines any time by using a WAP device and to teach people and non-professionals involved in health care emergency situations. The second is a WEB-WAP based tool for medical data retrieval and at-home health care monitoring of chronically ill patients with congestive heart failure (CHF) or diabetes. Medical education content related to these diseases is available on the WEB and on the WAP device. The WAP application uses the features found in the last generation of mobile phones such as better multimedia information presentations, better interactivity capabilities, and enhanced ease of use. Based on these two applications, a promising platform is offered for developing applications in health care, home care, medical monitoring and health education ensuring continuity of care. In the paper we present the preliminary results of a pilot test at Thessaloniki University (Greece) where the WEB-WAP based tool is used to monitor patients with diabetes or CHF.

Chronic Disease↗

Computational tools for the analysis of heteroatom groups and their neighbours in protein tertiary structure.

A number of Protein Data Bank (PDB) entries contain heteroatoms defined as HETATM. These include the atomic co-ordinates mainly for heteroatom groups, such as cofactors, coenzymes, prosthetic groups, metal ions, sugars, drugs, peptides, heavy-atom derivatives, non-standard amino acid residues/nucleotides, water molecules and so on. In order to evaluate the different heteroatom (Het) groups and their distribution in protein tertiary structure, we have extracted these from all proteins in the PDB and provided the data in an easily accessible format at the following website. The data can be queried on the PDB code, protein name/description, Het Group code or Het Group name. Further, we have also developed a web-based software application that reports neighbouring atoms evaluated by a "user-defined" distance cut-off value (in Angstrom units), either between a specific Het Group or all Het Groups in a given PDB with amino acid residues and water molecules in the corresponding protein, or neighbours for only all the amino acid residues in the given PDB with respect to Het Groups and water molecules. Together, the database and software applications are useful to gather information that can be further analyzed in order to obtain insights into the preferred interactions of heteroatom groups in proteins, study their binding mode, design novel molecules or to annotate protein function.

Animals↗

Evidence-based medicine: applications in dietetic practice.

Evidence-based medicine has been defined as "the conscientious, explicit, and judicious use of current best evidence in making decisions about the care of individual patients." Evidence-based practice requires the ability to apply knowledge of medical informatics (eg, efficiently searching the medical literature) and clinical epidemiology (eg, being able to critically appraise the literature) to the treatment of individual patients. Being able to apply the principles of evidence-based medicine in the dietetic practice adds to the credibility and value of dietetics professionals, is consistent with the dietetic code of ethics, and is empowering. This article provides an introduction to the history, philosophy, and methods of evidence-based medicine as applied to the dietetic practice. This article focuses on a 5-step process to finding the best evidence to answer clinical questions: (a) formulate the question, (b) search for answers, (c) appraise the evidence, (d) apply the results, and (e) assess the outcome. We describe the 4S methodology-a systematic approach to efficiently finding the best evidence to answer clinical questions involving the use of systems (comprehensive, evidence-based resources), synopses (compilations of structured abstracts of high-quality studies), syntheses (systematic reviews), and studies (original research articles). Particular emphasis is given to a method for critically appraising papers that emphasizes validity, importance, and clinical applicability. Resources (including Web sites) for further learning are provided. J Am Diet Assoc. 2002;102:1263-1272.

Data Interpretation, Statistical↗

New laboratory start-up in the 21st century.

Launching a new neuroscience laboratory requires knowledge of purchasing, budgeting and personnel management. The usual training of scientific investigators omits these areas, at a time when experimental complexity is growing and Internet-based commerce offers new purchasing options. This review highlights laboratory start-up maxims and their applications to web-based purchasing, cost containment and budgeting.

Animals↗

The ESTRO-QUALity assurance network (EQUAL).

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: ESTRO has set up a Quality Assurance network (EQUAL) to check the dose delivered on axis in reference and non-reference conditions for external radiotherapy. The external audits covered by the network are based on measurements made with mailed thermoluminescent dosimeters (TLD). MATERIAL AND METHODS: The TLD consist of LiF powder type DTL 937 read with a PCL 3 automatic TLD reader. The participating centres are instructed to deliver to the TLDs absorbed doses of 2 Gy calculated with the Treatment Planning System used in clinical routine. A maximum of three photon energies by participating centre have been checked with 10 on-axis points per beam. The quantities checked include the reference beam output, beam output variation with collimator opening, depth dose data and wedge transmission factor. RESULTS: During the 1998 EQUAL programme 102 centres have been checked corresponding to 235 beams (28 (60)Co beams and 207 X-ray beams). About 3% of the outputs in reference conditions show deviations outside tolerance level (>+/-5%). A similar rate of deviation is noted for the percentage depth doses. A rate of deviation (6%) has been observed for the beam output variation (open and wedged beams) and the wedge transmission factor. The analysis of the results shows that for 24 out of the 102 centres, a deviation outside tolerance level is observed at least in one point, mainly for the large and rectangular field sizes and for the wedged beams. CONCLUSIONS: The results for the EQUAL programme show the importance of a quality assurance network in Radiotherapy especially for the non reference points even if they are only located on the beam axis (In order to participate in this network, please contact EQUAL secretariat or download the attached application form ESTRO web site: Dr I.H. Ferreira or Mrs Aline Mechet, EQUAL-ESTRO, Physics Department, Institut Gustave-Roussy 39 Rue Camille Desmoulins, F-94805 Villejuif Cedex, France. e-mail:equal@igr.fr or http://www.estro.be/).

Humans↗

H-BloX: visualizing alignment block entropies.

H-BloX is a web-based JavaScript application that allows the calculation and visualization of Shannon information content or relative entropy (Kullback-Leibler 'distance') within sequence alignment blocks. The application was designed for use in both teaching and research. Amino acid, nucleic acid sequences, or any other type of aligned chemical structures may serve as the input. Various interpretations of the meaning of 'entropy' or 'information content' are possible, including treatment as a chemical diversity measure or the degree of feature conservation. For analysis of numerical data by H-BloX, values must be converted to a user-defined character alphabet before computation of entropy or information content. H-BloX was successfully applied to feature identification in Escherichia coli signal peptides and their cleavage sites. Characteristics known features became visible, e.g., the hydrophobic core region and the well-known '-3,-1' cleavage site pattern. Based on the H-BloX analysis, the hydrophobic core is centered at amino acid residue position 13, counting from the N-terminal end of the protein precursor sequence. This result was obtained by using a built-in feature of H-BloX that enables conversion of amino acid sequences to a different alphabet that is based on hydrophobicity assignments. H-BloX can be accessed online or downloaded as HTML/JavaScript at http://bopwww.biologie.uni-freiburg.de/~bioinfo/HBloX/html/index.html.

Bacterial Proteins↗

DINAMO: interactive protein alignment and model building.

MOTIVATION: To facilitate the process of structure prediction by both comparative modeling and fold recognition, we describe DINAMO, an interactive protein alignment building and model evaluation tool that dynamically couples a multiple sequence alignment editor to a molecular graphics display. DINAMO allows the user to optimize the alignment and model to satisfy the known heuristics of protein structure by means of a set of analysis tools. The analysis tools return information to both the alignment editor and graphics model in the form of visual cues (color, shape), allowing for rapid evaluation. Several analysis tools may be employed, including residue conservation, residue properties (charge, hydrophobicity, volume), residue environmental preference, and secondary structure propensity. RESULTS: We demonstrate DINAMO by building a model for submission in the 3rd annual Critical Assessment of Techniques for Protein Structure Prediction (CASP3) contest. AVAILABILITY: DINAMO is freely available as a local application or Web-based Java applet at http://tito.ucsc.edu/dinamo

Amino Acid Sequence↗

Identifying property based sequence motifs in protein families and superfamilies: application to DNase-1 related endonucleases.

MOTIVATION: Identification of short conserved sequence motifs common to a protein family or superfamily can be more useful than overall sequence similarity in suggesting the function of novel gene products. Locating motifs still requires expert knowledge, as automated methods using stringent criteria may not differentiate subtle similarities from statistical noise. RESULTS: We have developed a novel automatic method, based on patterns of conservation of 237 physical-chemical properties of amino acids in aligned protein sequences, to find related motifs in proteins with little or no overall sequence similarity. As an application, our web-server MASIA identified 12 property-based motifs in the apurinic/apyrimidinic endonuclease (APE) family of DNA-repair enzymes of the DNase-I superfamily. Searching with these motifs located distantly related representatives of the DNase-I superfamily, such as Inositol 5'-polyphosphate phosphatases in the ASTRAL40 database, using a Bayesian scoring function. Other proteins containing APE motifs had no overall sequence or structural similarity. However, all were phosphatases and/or had a metal ion binding active site. Thus our automated method can identify discrete elements in distantly related proteins that define local structure and aspects of function. We anticipate that our method will complement existing ones to functionally annotate novel protein sequences from genomic projects. AVAILABILITY: MASIA WEB site: http://www.scsb.utmb.edu/masia/masia.html SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The dendrogram of 42 APE sequences used to derive motifs is available on http://www.scsb.utmb.edu/comp_biol.html/DNA_repair/publication.html

Algorithms↗

CRAVE: a database, middleware and visualization system for phenotype ontologies.

MOTIVATION: A major challenge in modern biology is to link genome sequence information to organismal function. In many organisms this is being done by characterizing phenotypes resulting from mutations. Efficiently expressing phenotypic information requires combinatorial use of ontologies. However tools are not currently available to visualize combinations of ontologies. Here we describe CRAVE (Concept Relation Assay Value Explorer), a package allowing storage, active updating and visualization of multiple ontologies. RESULTS: CRAVE is a web-accessible JAVA application that accesses an underlying MySQL database of ontologies via a JAVA persistent middleware layer (Chameleon). This maps the database tables into discrete JAVA classes and creates memory resident, interlinked objects corresponding to the ontology data. These JAVA objects are accessed via calls through the middleware's application programming interface. CRAVE allows simultaneous display and linking of multiple ontologies and searching using Boolean and advanced searches.

Algorithms↗

JVirGel: Calculation of virtual two-dimensional protein gels.

We developed JVirGel, a collection of tools for the simulation and analysis of proteomics data. The software creates and visualizes virtual two-dimensional (2D) protein gels based on the migration behaviour of proteins in dependence of their theoretical molecular weights in combination with their calculated isoelectric points. The utilization of all proteins of an organism of interest deduced from genes of the corresponding genome project in combination with the elimination of obvious membrane proteins permits the creation of an optimized calculated proteome map. The electrophoretic separation behaviour of single proteins is accessible interactively in a Java(TM) applet (small application in a web browser) by selecting a pI/MW range and an electrophoretic timescale of interest. The calculated pattern of protein spots helps to identify unknown proteins and to localize known proteins during experimental proteomics approaches. Differences between the experimentally observed and the calculated migration behaviour of certain proteins provide first indications for potential protein modification events. When possible, the protein spots are directly linked via a mouse click to the public databases SWISS-PROT and PRODORIC. Additionally, we provide tools for the serial calculation and visualization of specific protein properties like pH dependent charge curves and hydrophobicity profiles. These values are helpful for the rational establishment of protein purification procedures. The proteomics tools are available on the World Wide Web at http://prodoric.tu-bs.de/proteomics.php.

Computer Graphics↗

Managing resources in a better way: a new financial management approach for the University of Michigan Medical School.

Responding to changing trends in how the University of Michigan Medical School (UMMS) has been traditionally financed and anticipating that these trends will continue, in 2002 the executive leadership at the UMMS embarked upon a course designed to change not only the school's financial structure but its management culture as well. Changing traditional ways of thinking about budgets and developing a set of key performance indicators that demonstrate how certain activities shape the use of resources has brought greater understanding of how to optimize those resources to the greatest extent. Through internally developed Web-based software applications called M-STAT, M-DASH and M-ALERT (which are strategic reporting tools that the author describes), the UMMS now can manage resources in a completely different way. These tools are used to spot general financial trends or examine a more specific financial element (such as trends in grant funding or clinical activity), track the utilization of research space, calculate the break-even cost of research space, and most important, model various "what-if" scenarios to help plan effectively for the future needs of the UMMS. The strategic reporting system is still being integrated throughout the UMMS, so there has not yet been time to measure the system's efficacy or its shortcomings. Nevertheless, important lessons have already been learned, which the author presents.

Costs and Cost Analysis↗

Authoring software for courses delivered on the Web, part 3: Designer's Edge/net synergy.

Designer's Edge is an excellent tool for any course developer who is new to the concepts of instructional design or who wants to formalize the process of designing online courses. Integrated storyboarding and publishing options for the Web make this application even more valuable, if the user is either satisfied with limited control over text formatting or is HTML knowledgeable. The steep price of Designer's Edge makes this tool most useful to larger universities and institutions that want to standardize and guide their online course development.

Authorship↗

Development of the Stroke-unit Discharge Guideline: choice of assessment instruments for prediction in the subacute phase post-stroke.

The purpose of this paper is to present the design of an evidence-based dataset of assessment instruments for the prognostic factors of the Stroke-unit Discharge Guideline (SDG), a consensus based guideline for the decision of the discharge destination from the hospital stroke unit. In our systematic literature reviews and in known standard works we have looked for assessment instruments which are being used most frequently in stroke care, and subsequently we have searched for information regarding their validity and reliability. For 17 out of the 26 prognostic factors we found known applicable assessment instruments. Clinical feasibility and psychometric properties of most of these instruments are sufficient to good. For two factors we had to construct a new instrument. A simple definition was sufficient for the remaining seven factors. The SDG contains an evidence-based dataset of prognostic factors and assessment instruments, and should be applied at the hospital stroke-unit, which is the first location to start with a uniform use of stroke assessment instruments. The SDG assessment instruments are part of the stroke service chain information system, which contains recently developed specifications for application in web-based electronic patient records nationwide in The Netherlands.

Disability Evaluation↗

Plant-based microarray data at the European Bioinformatics Institute. Introducing AtMIAMExpress, a submission tool for Arabidopsis gene expression data to ArrayExpress.

ArrayExpress is a public microarray repository founded on the Minimum Information About a Microarray Experiment (MIAME) principles that stores MIAME-compliant gene expression data. Plant-based data sets represent approximately one-quarter of the experiments in ArrayExpress. The majority are based on Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana); however, there are other data sets based on Triticum aestivum, Hordeum vulgare, and Populus subsp. AtMIAMExpress is an open-source Web-based software application for the submission of Arabidopsis-based microarray data to ArrayExpress. AtMIAMExpress exports data in MAGE-ML format for upload to any MAGE-ML-compliant application, such as J-Express and ArrayExpress. It was designed as a tool for users with minimal bioinformatics expertise, has comprehensive help and user support, and represents a simple solution to meeting the MIAME guidelines for the Arabidopsis community. Plant data are queryable both in ArrayExpress and in the Data Warehouse databases, which support queries based on gene-centric and sample-centric annotation. The AtMIAMExpress submission tool is available at http://www.ebi.ac.uk/at-miamexpress/. The software is open source and is available from http://sourceforge.net/projects/miamexpress/. For information, contact miamexpress@ebi.ac.uk.

Academies and Institutes↗

Simulation of patient encounters using a virtual patient in periodontology instruction of dental students: design, usability, and learning effect in history-taking skills.

Simulations are important educational tools in the development of health care competence. This study describes a virtual learning environment (VLE) for diagnosis and treatment planning in oral health care. The VLE is a web-based, database application where the learner uses free text communication on the screen to interact with patient data. The VLE contains forms for history taking, clinical images, clinical data and X-rays. After reviewing the patient information, the student proposes therapy and makes prognostic evaluations of the case in free text. A usability test of the application was performed with seven dental students. The usability test showed that the software responded with correct answers to the majority of the free text questions. The application is generic in its basic functions and can be adapted to other dental or medical subject areas. A randomised controlled trial was carried out with 39 students who attended instruction in history taking with problem-based learning cases, lectures and seminars. In addition, 16 of the 39 students were randomly chosen to practise history taking using the virtual patient prior to their first patient encounter. The performance of each student was recorded on video during the patient sessions. The type and order of the questions asked by the student and the degree of empathy displayed towards the patient were analysed systematically on the videos. The data indicate that students who also undertook history taking with a virtual patient asked more relevant questions, spent more time on patient issues, and performed a more complete history interview compared with students who had only undergone standard teaching. The students who had worked with the virtual patient also seemed to have more empathy for the patients than the students who had not. The practising of history taking with a virtual patient appears to improve the capability of dental students to take a relevant oral health history.

Clinical Competence↗

Automation of performance measures reporting.

This article describes efforts to design and automate a balanced performance indicator report to meet the needs of hospital and physician leaders. Indicator measurement reports provide clinical information but often do not provide other administrative data. An automation team developed business rules, standardized definitions, and developed a Web-based electronic application to report quarterly indicators. The efficiency and effectiveness of the automation project were measured and included report production time, data sources, indicators included, and statistical significance of indicator rates. Significant improvement in efficiency of report preparation and a decrease in resources used were demonstrated through this automation project, although variation existed among clinical services. Generic performance measures reports encompassing clinical and administrative data can improve the consistency and quality of reporting to the medical staff. The process provided insight for expanding the prototype.

Data Collection↗

Improving pediatric chemotherapy safety through voluntary incident reporting: lessons from the field.

BACKGROUND: A multidisciplinary team within Vanderbilt Children's Hospital (VCH) designed, developed, and implemented a pediatric chemotherapy incident reporting and improvement system (CIRIS) for pediatric oncology nurse and pharmacists. The aim of this collaboration was to improve pediatric chemotherapy by translating recommendations made by the Institute of Medicine into an operational safety improvement system that is embedded into daily care processes. METHODS: CIRIS improves chemotherapy safety by linking two distinct components: (a) a technical component that uses desktop, laptop, and portable wireless handheld computers to interface the Web-based software application for point-of-care incident reporting and on-demand retrieval of patient support information, and (b) a human component that performs process analysis, data reporting, and clinical improvement. This integrated system facilitates and supports a blame-free culture for reporting of near misses and preventable adverse drug events. RESULTS: Between February 8, 2002, and March 9, 2003, pediatric oncology nurses and chemotherapy pharmacists electronically reported 97 chemotherapy-related incidents associated with 96 unique patients. Ordering errors were the most commonly reported incidents. CIRIS improved reporting performance demonstrated using the conventional paper-based reporting system.

Antineoplastic Agents↗

Clinical research subject recruitment: the Volunteer for Vanderbilt Research Program www.volunteer.mc.vanderbilt.edu.

This article provides information concerning a novel research subject recruitment registry developed at Vanderbilt University. Project goals were (1) to provide a mechanism for lay individuals to self-enter information conveying interest in volunteering for clinical research and (2) provide tools for researchers to select and contact potential volunteers based on study-specific inclusion criteria. The registry was built and offered as an institutional resource to all university scientists conducting institutional review board-approved research. The authors present (1) a model for redesigning workflow associated with subject registration, volunteer retrieval, and subject contact; (2) details of a Web-based software application used as a focal point in designing workflow for our system; (3) descriptive statistics for volunteer and researcher use of the system during the first 32 months of operation; (4) cost estimates for the project; and (5) a set of recommendations for other medical centers wishing to adopt similar methodology.

Biomedical Research↗