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At least 703 records · Page 39Linked to original sources

Psychiatric rehabilitation. An open-network orientation.

OBJECTIVE: To discuss the difficulties encountered in providing rehabilitation to multi-problematic clients, and possible remedies. METHOD: The principles of psychiatric rehabilitation are outlined in the frame of the bio-psycho-social model and in the light of long-term follow-up studies. The limits of professional services and the importance of natural networks for successful rehabilitation and social adjustment are highlighted. RESULTS: Worker cooperatives and consumer self-help associations seem to successfully complement health and social services in meeting the complex needs of this population. CONCLUSIONS: The integration of formal and informal networks of care is a major challenge and a relatively neglected, but important area of interest in contemporary psychiatric rehabilitation.

Community Networks↗

Drawing two conclusions on pen computers.

In a modern version of David and Goliath, backers of hand-held pen computers hope to make serious inroads against well-established computer workstations. A start-up company, Practice Technology Inc., wants to build information networks based on pen computing. But it's going up against well-established network vendors that are relying on PC-based systems. Meanwhile, two pen computer manufacturers have stopped producing those devices, citing lack of demand.

Industry↗

Enriching healthcare applications with cryptographic mechanisms and XML- based security services.

The paper presents the enrichment of an existing e-referral / e-prescription application within a Regional Healthcare Information Network with security functionality, solving current authentication, integrity, non-repudiation and confidentiality issues and thus significantly enhancing the overall system security, operability, applicability and user acceptance. The application makes use of an underlying PKI framework, in order to provide strong authentication, digital signature, encryption and time-stamping services. XML is used for the representation of the healthcare data itself, the encrypted form of this data, as well as the relevant data security information, following W3C standards.

Computer Communication Networks↗

Neighbor-net: an agglomerative method for the construction of phylogenetic networks.

We present Neighbor-Net, a distance based method for constructing phylogenetic networks that is based on the Neighbor-Joining (NJ) algorithm of Saitou and Nei. Neighbor-Net provides a snapshot of the data that can guide more detailed analysis. Unlike split decomposition, Neighbor-Net scales well and can quickly produce detailed and informative networks for several hundred taxa. We illustrate the method by reanalyzing three published data sets: a collection of 110 highly recombinant Salmonella multi-locus sequence typing sequences, the 135 "African Eve" human mitochondrial sequences published by Vigilant et al., and a collection of 12 Archeal chaperonin sequences demonstrating strong evidence for gene conversion. Neighbor-Net is available as part of the SplitsTree4 software package.

Algorithms↗

New roles for the medical librarian in an information management environment.

Over the course of the next twenty years libraries will be undergoing significant retooling so that they can move beyond their traditional roles and become the manager of the medical center's information network. As libraries automatic, the role of the medical librarian will change. To manage the change with ease librarians must begin now to equip themselves, their libraries and their clientele to function effectively in the new environment. Developing formalized instructional programs that link individuals to information and to systems that provide those individuals with personal memory extenders and lifelong learning supports will be among the librarian's top priorities.

Environment↗

Regional and international integrated telemedicine network for organ transplant (HC 4028 & IN 4028 European Commission DGXIII).

A substantial portion of future medical practice will depend greatly on improved collaboration between the providers throughout the healthcare sector, and effective sharing of data and expertise by different healthcare professionals. In organ transplant it is a rule, donor organs are matched to recipients via national or multinational organ-sharing organizations. Only through close co-operation between transplant surgeons, immunologists, nephrologists, pathologists, radiologists and other physicians could one increase the efficiency of organ transplantation. Information technology (IT) has become an inevitable and inherent part of transplantation medicine. The RETRANSPLANT project interfaces and integrates IT from the European Union Fourth Framework projects to support the development of regional organ transplant information networks in Central Europe.

Bone Marrow Transplantation↗

BISON: Bio-Interface for the Semi-global analysis Of Network patterns.

BACKGROUND: The large amount of genomics data that have accumulated over the past decade require extensive data mining. However, the global nature of data mining, which includes pattern mining, poses difficulties for users who want to study specific questions in a more local environment. This creates a need for techniques that allow a localized analysis of globally determined patterns. RESULTS: We developed a tool that determines and evaluates global patterns based on protein property and network information, while providing all the benefits of a perspective that is targeted at biologist users with specific goals and interests. Our tool uses our own data mining techniques, integrated into current visualization and navigation techniques. The functionality of the tool is discussed in the context of the transcriptional network of regulation in the enteric bacterium Escherichia coli. Two biological questions were asked: (i) Which functional categories of proteins (identified by hidden Markov models) are regulated by a regulator with a specific domain? (ii) Which regulators are involved in the regulation of proteins that contain a common hidden Markov model? Using these examples, we explain the gene-centered and pattern-centered analysis that the tool permits. CONCLUSION: In summary, we have a tool that can be used for a wide variety of applications in biology, medicine, or agriculture. The pattern mining engine is global in the way that patterns are determined across the entire network. The tool still permits a localized analysis for users who want to analyze a subportion of the total network. We have named the tool BISON (Bio-Interface for the Semi-global analysis Of Network patterns).

Journal Article↗

Systems toxicology and the Chemical Effects in Biological Systems (CEBS) knowledge base.

The National Center for Toxicogenomics is developing the first public toxicogenomics knowledge base that combines molecular expression data sets from transcriptomics, proteomics, metabonomics, and conventional toxicology with metabolic, toxicologcal pathway, and gene regulatory network information relevant to environmental toxicology and human disease. It is called the Chemical Effects in Biological Systems (CEBS) knowledge base and is designed to meet the information needs of "systems toxicology," involving the study of perturbation by chemicals and stressors, monitoring changes in molecular expression and conventional toxicological parameters, and iteratively integrating biological response data to describe the functioning organism. Based upon functional genomics approaches used successfully in analyzing yeast gene expression data sets, relational and descriptive compendia will be assembled for toxicologically important genes, groups of genes, single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), and mutant and knockout phenotypes. CEBS data sets will be fully documented in the experimental protocol and therefore searchable by compound, structure, toxicity end point, pathology and point, gene, gene group, SNP, pathway, and network as a function of dose, time, and the phenotype of the target tissue. A knowledge base is being developed by assimilating toxicological, biological, and chemical information from multiple public domain databases and by progressively refining that information about gene, protein, and metabolite expression for classes of chemicals and their biological effects in various species. By analogy to the GenBank database for genome sequences, researchers will globally query (or BLAST) CEBS using a transcriptome of a tissue of interest (or a list of outliers) to have the knowledge base return information on genes, groups of genes, metabolic and toxicological pathways, and contextually associated phenotypic information for compounds that display similar response profiles. With high-quality data content, CEBS will ultimately become a resource to support hypothesis-driven and discovery research that contributes effectively to drug safety and the improvement of risk assessments for chemicals in the environment. The CEBS development effort will span a decade or more.

Computational Biology↗

Social network influences on reproductive health behaviors in urban northern Thailand.

Prevention approaches for reproductive health have evolved from an emphasis on individually focused models of behavior change to a recognition that risk reduction occurs within a context of social norms. Prevention programs can be improved by understanding how social structure influences sexual behavior and using that understanding to develop strategies for positive change. In a dynamic, urban context, communities are better conceptualized as informal networks of ties. These network structures may help to protect, or conversely, expose members to reproductive risk behaviors. Using data from a study of social and sexual networks conducted in northern Thailand, this article describes partner relations and social structure in the modern, urban context, and illustrates the links between individual, relational and structural properties and reproductive risk behaviors. Triangulation of ethnographic, survey and social network data collection and analytic tools provide an opportunity to interpret individual behaviors, meanings of relationships and structural properties of networks. Intervention approaches should build on existing networks, and address the complex meanings of romantic and sexual partnerships.

Community Networks↗

Jewish immigrant parents from the former Soviet Union: a method for studying their views of how to respond to children's misbehavior.

OBJECTIVES: First to acquire knowledge about measures which Jewish immigrant parents from the Former Soviet Union may apply when facing misbehavior of children, and second to develop a methodology which would overcome barriers to talking about their child rearing practices. METHOD: Interviews with 273 immigrant parents were conducted in Israel. An adaptation and modifications were made to an instrument developed by Gardner, Scarr, and Schwartz to assess parents' approach to disciplinary methods titled "The Parental Discipline Techniques Instrument." Parents were presented with situations which describe misbehavior of children and they were asked in each situation to assess the child's behavior and for three alternative measures. RESULTS: Talking to the child (in a unidirectional manner) was the most common method suggested by the respondents as a first option. When they were asked for alternatives, the most common disciplinary method suggested was setting "restrictions" for the child. "Isolating" the child and "ignoring" the child were also suggested to a certain extent. There were methods, mostly indirect methods (e.g., the use of formal and informal networks), which were suggested in response to one type of misbehavior and did not appear in responses to other misbehavior. CONCLUSIONS: The methodology utilized in the study was found to be adequate in overcoming impediments which may hinder learning about the participants' views of how to respond to children's misbehavior. Such information could contribute to assessment and intervention in situations of maltreatment by enabling professionals to place the parent's behavior within the range of responses common within the specific cultural context of the immigrants.

Adult↗

Internal medicine consultation via the information superhighway.

On-line computer consultation provides an excellent medium by which specialists and general practitioners can communicate to share information. Networks of veterinarians are available on the internet as well as through several on-line service companies. Some of the advantages of on-line consultation include access to the collective wisdom of thousands of veterinarians, better communication through discontinuous interchange on a flexible schedule, rapid response time to requests for information, and better client service through continuing education and improved patient care. Disadvantages include the cost of computer equipment and on-line charges, user computer phobia, and drawbacks common to all types of long distance consultation such as the inability of consultants to physically examine the patient. Overall, the advantages far outweight the disadvantages. On-line veterinary information exchange will continue to expand and will play an even more important role in knowledge transfer in the 21st century.

Humans↗

Concatenated retrieval of correlated stored information in neural networks.

We consider a coupled map lattice defined on a hypercube in M dimensions, taken here as the information space, to model memory retrieval and information association by a neural network. We assume that both neuronal activity and spike timing may carry information. In this model the state of the network at a given time t is completely determined by the intensity y(sigma,t) with which the information pattern represented by the integer sigma is being expressed by the network. Logistic maps, coupled in the information space, are used to describe the evolution of the intensity function y(sigma(upper arrow),t) with the intent to model memory retrieval in neural systems. We calculate the phase diagram of the system regarding the model ability to work as an associative memory. We show that this model is capable of retrieving simultaneously a correlated set of memories, after a relatively long transient that may be associated to the retrieving of concatenated memorized patterns that lead to a final attractor.

Action Potentials↗

Distance learning in veterinary medicine: enhancing interactivity in continuing education.

Technological advances have made distance veterinary continuing education a reality. Distance interactive continuing education programs using computer and modern are currently being offered via Veterinary Information Network (VIN) on the America Online (AOL) computer network and the Network of Animal Health (NOAH) on CompuServe. Using over 500 hours of course experience on VIN as an example, this article describes the technology involved in delivering online instruction including electronic mail, asynchronous bulletin board interactions, electronic library files, and realtime interactive discussions. These formats take advantage of the standard features of the network AOL are mixed with links to Worldwide Web sites, print and electronic publications, and even coordinated with "offline" meetings. The paradigm of learning is somewhat different than traditional "offline" or "onsite" meetings in that learning takes place over a period of 2 to 20 weeks, allowing the participating veterinarian to interact with instructors while applying the information in practice. Continual learning is encouraged as participants are allowed to participate in a course offered in sequential years. The successful online instructors tend to take advantage of electronic communications to encourage instructor-participant and participant-participant interactivity. The majority of course participants seek an additional challenge or greater interactivity in their continuing education experience; however, some veterinarians seek distance continuing education for practical reasons, including the ability to pursue additional education without leaving a solo practice, temporary or permanent physical disabilities, family considerations, or military service. Distance learning is a viable educational format, the role for which will evolve as technology and the base of experience with it expands.

Computer Communication Networks↗

Leveraging the benefits of Health Information Technology to support healthcare delivery model redesign.

Uninsured and low income underinsured patients create substantial challenges for local healthcare systems, yet their providers are not always included in community-wide implementations of health information technology. To address this deficit, prototypes of the recently proposed National Health Information Network must include providers who care for underserved populations. In 2003, a consortium of providers founded the Waterbury Health Access Program (WHAP) to implement an electronic medical record (EMR) system that would first address the needs of the region's vulnerable underserved patients. It was anticipated that lessons learned would be applicable to other patient populations as well. The WHAP consortium of competing hospitals and outpatient clinics developed a broad-based community-wide initiative to include implementing a common EMR system to share clinical information across all locations. The design includes 11 outpatient clinic locations linked to a common data-sharing tool that is accessible by each clinic, emergency department and community practitioner participating in a local, coordinated charity care program. The collaboration required to support community-wide implementations of health information technology also can be leveraged to facilitate additional quality improvement initiatives.

Ambulatory Care↗

A cognitive neuroscience view of schizophrenic thought disorder.

The experimental association psychology approach to mental associations has been the conceptual background for the concept of schizophrenia. Cognitive neuroscience methods and concepts can be used to study various forms of schizophrenic thought disorder. In particular, the concepts of semantic associative and working memory can be applied fruitfully to schizophrenia research. Semantic associative networks can be simulated with self-organizing feature maps. Dysfunctional lexical access can be modeled in terms of low signal-to-noise ratio in intra- or between-network information processing. Evidence for the crucial role of dopamine in this function is presented, and a general neurocomputational model of schizophrenic thought disorder is developed. This model capitalizes on basic aspects of neural information processing (i.e., neuromodulation and neuroplasticity) and allows a parsimonious explanation of a number of otherwise inexplicable or unrelated clinical phenomena and experimental results.

Brain Mapping↗

DyNDG: Identifying Leukemia-related Genes Based on Time-series Dynamic Network by Integrating Differential Genes.

Leukemia is a malignant disease characterized by progressive accumulation with high morbidity and mortality rates, and investigating its disease genes is crucial for understanding its etiology and pathogenesis. Network propagation methods have emerged and been widely employed in disease gene prediction, but most of them focus on static biological networks, which hinders their applicability and effectiveness in the study of progressive diseases. Moreover, there is currently a lack of special algorithms for the identification of leukemia disease genes. Here, we proposed a novel Dynamic Network-based model integrating Differentially expressed Genes (DyNDG) to identify leukemia-related genes. Initially, we constructed a time-series dynamic network to model the development trajectory of leukemia. Then, we built a background-temporal multilayer network by integrating both the dynamic network and the static background network, which was initialized with differentially expressed genes at each stage. To quantify the associations between genes and leukemia, we extended a random walk process to the background-temporal multilayer network. The results demonstrate that DyNDG achieves superior accuracy compared to several state-of-the-art methods. Moreover, after excluding housekeeping genes, DyNDG yields a set of promising candidate genes associated with leukemia progression or potential biomarkers, indicating the value of dynamic network information in identifying leukemia-related genes. The implementation of DyNDG is available at both https://ngdc.cncb.ac.cn/biocode/tool/BT7617 and https://github.com/CSUBioGroup/DyNDG.

Leukemia↗

Information system architectures for syndromic surveillance.

INTRODUCTION: Public health agencies are developing the capacity to automatically acquire, integrate, and analyze clinical information for disease surveillance. The design of such surveillance systems might benefit from the incorporation of advanced architectures developed for biomedical data integration. Data integration is not unique to public health, and both information technology and academic research should influence development of these systems. OBJECTIVES: The goal of this paper is to describe the essential architectural components of a syndromic surveillance information system and discuss existing and potential architectural approaches to data integration. METHODS: This paper examines the role of data elements, vocabulary standards, data extraction, transport and security, transformation and normalization, and analysis data sets in developing disease-surveillance systems. It then discusses automated surveillance systems in the context of biomedical and computer science research in data integration, both to characterize existing systems and to indicate potential avenues of investigation to build systems that support public health practice. RESULTS: The Public Health Information Network (PHIN) identifies best practices for essential architectural components of a syndromic surveillance system. A schema for classifying biomedical data-integration software is useful for classifying present approaches to syndromic surveillance and for describing architectural variation. CONCLUSIONS: Public health informatics and computer science research in data-integration systems can supplement approaches recommended by PHIN and provide information for future public health surveillance systems.

Bioterrorism↗

NIOSH selection of chemicals and study publications: setting priorities for reproductive research.

The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) prioritizes topics for reproductive research in order to allocate limited resources to the most important issues. In the past, we have relied on an informal network including our own project officers, toxicologists, and the public to nominate chemicals to study. Setting priorities has consisted of the evaluation of research ideas by criteria such as the chemical's probable toxicity and the extent of exposure to the chemical in the workplace. NIOSH researchers are developing a system for evaluating large databases of toxicologic and occupational exposure information to identify potential reproductive toxins. When this system is operational it will provide a systematic way to nominate chemicals for study.

Government Publications as Topic↗