p53 gene mutation: software and database.

A large number of different mutations in the p53 tumor suppressor gene have been identified in all types of cancer. As of October, 1997, this database (http:// perso.curie.fr/tsoussi ) contained >7500 mutations. Such a substantial increase since our previous reports should enable epidemiological analyses which were not previously possible. In order to analyse these new data, the UMD software has been improved. A new Web version of the UMD software enables online analysis of the database. The present report describes various improvements since the last release of the database.     

IARC Database of p53 gene mutations in human tumors and cell lines: updated compilation, revised formats and new visualisation tools.

Since 1989, about 570 different p53 mutations have been identified in more than 8000 human cancers. A database of these mutations was initiated by M. Hollstein and C. C. Harris in 1990. This database originally consisted of a list of somatic point mutations in the p 53 gene of human tumors and cell lines, compiled from the published literature and made available in a standard electronic form. The database is maintained at the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) and updated versions are released twice a year (January and July). The current version (July 1997) contains records on 6800 published mutations and will surpass the 8000 mark in the January 1998 release. The database now contains information on somatic and germline mutations in a new format to facilitate data retrieval. In addition, new tools are constructed to improve data analysis, such as a Mutation Viewer Java applet developed at the European Bioinformatics Institute (EBI) to visualise the location and impact of mutations on p53 protein structure. The database is available in different electronic formats at IARC (http://www.iarc. fr/p53/homepage.htm ) or from the EBI server (http://www.ebi.ac.uk ). The IARC p53 website also provides reports on database analysis and links with other p53 sites as well as with related databases. In this report, we describe the criteria for inclusion of data, the revised format and the new visualisation tools. We also briefly discuss the relevance of p 53 mutations to clinical and biological questions.     

养分循环研究数据管理概念模型的构建

近年来,农田生态系统NPK养分循环研究已经积累了大量的数据,迫切需要建立可长期保存数据、并为养分循环研究全局决策服务的数据管理系统,本文描述了用于养分循环数据管理的概念模型的设计,并说明构建模型的过程,最后给出依据该模型建立数据库系统应用实例。结果表明,依据模型建立的数据库系统可提供按照时间、地点、专题查询的功能,能够管理野外观测数据、专题图和研究报告等多种类型数据,并快速提取和分析数据。     

ADAMIS: a database for medical information systems

This paper describes the design and implementation of ADAMIS ('A database for medical information systems'). ADAMIS is a relational database management system for a general hospital environment. Apart from the usual database (DB) facilities of data definition and data manipulation, ADAMIS supports a query language called the 'simplified medical query language' (SMQL) which is completely end-user oriented and highly non-procedural. Other features of ADAMIS include provision of facilities for statistics collection and report generation. ADAMIS also provides adequate security and integrity features and has been designed mainly for use on interactive terminals.     

A web based relational database management system for filariasis control

The present study describes a RDBMS (relational database management system) for the effective management of Filariasis, a vector borne disease. Filariasis infects 120 million people from 83 countries. The possible re-emergence of the disease and the complexity of existing control programs warrant the development of new strategies. A database containing comprehensive data associated with filariasis finds utility in disease control. We have developed a database containing information on the socio-economic status of patients, mosquito collection procedures, mosquito dissection data, filariasis survey report and mass blood data. The database can be searched using a user friendly web interface.

Availability     

A structured database and image acquisition system in support of palynological studies: CHITINOS

CHITINOS is a microfossil image and data acquisition system developed to support palynologists from field work to report production. The system is intended for chitinozoans, but it can also accommodate other fossil groups. Thanks to its client-server architecture, the system can be accessed by multiple users. The database can be filled with data acquired during palynological work or taken from the literature. The system allows for the easy input, update, management, analysis and retrieval of paleontological data to enable the paleontologist to elucidate paleogeographic patterns, changes in biodiversity and taxonomic differentiations. Query and plot interfaces are intended for report production. The system was designed as the basis of a knowledge expert system by providing a new perspective in the interpretation of interrelated data.     

PDB-REPRDB: a database of representative protein chains from the Protein Data Bank (PDB) in 2003

PDB-REPRDB is a database of representative protein chains from the Protein Data Bank (PDB). Started at the Real World Computing Partnership (RWCP) in August 1997, it developed to the present system of PDB-REPRDB. In April 2001, the system was moved to the Computational Biology Research Center (CBRC), National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST) (http://www.cbrc.jp/); it is available at http://www.cbrc.jp/pdbreprdb/. The current database includes 33 368 protein chains from 16 682 PDB entries (1 September, 2002), from which are excluded (a) DNA and RNA data, (b) theoretically modeled data, (c) short chains (1<40 residues), or (d) data with non-standard amino acid residues at all residues. The number of entries including membrane protein structures in the PDB has increased rapidly with determination of numbers of membrane protein structures because of improved X-ray crystallography, NMR, and electron microscopic experimental techniques. Since many protein structure studies must address globular and membrane proteins separately, this new elimination factor, which excludes membrane protein chains, is introduced in the PDB-REPRDB system. Moreover, the PDB-REPRDB system for membrane protein chains begins at the same URL. The current membrane database includes 551 protein chains, including membrane domains in the SCOP database of release 1.59 (15 May, 2002).     

DNA Data Bank of Japan in the age of information biology.

DNA Data Bank of Japan (DDBJ) began its activities in 1986 in collaboration with EMBL in Europe and GenBank in the United States. DDBJ developed a data submission tool called Sakura, by which researchers can submit their newly sequenced data on WWW from every corner of the world. The data bank also built a database management system (Yamato II), incorporating the techniques and functions of the object-oriented database, in order to efficiently process the data it has collected. A number of research activities in information biology are also going on at DDBJ. Two such activities are also briefly introduced in this report.     

Project management system for structural and functional proteomics: Sesame

A computing infrastructure (Sesame) has been designed to manage and link individual steps in complex projects. Sesame is being developed to support a large-scale structural proteomics pilot project. When complete, the system is expected to manage all steps from target selection to data-bank deposition and report writing. We report here on the design criteria of the Sesame system and on results demonstrating successful achievement of the basic goals of its architecture. The Sesame software package, which follows the client/server paradigm, consists of a framework, which supports secure interactions among the three tiers of the system (the client, server, and database tiers), and application modules that carry out specific tasks. The framework utilizes industry standards. The client tier is written in Java2 and can be accessed anywhere through the Internet. All the development on the server tier is also carried out in Java2 so as to accommodate a wide variety of computer platforms. The database tier employs a commercial database management system. Each Sesame application module consists of a simple user interface in the client tier, corresponding objects in the server tier, and relevant data stored in the centralized database. For security, access to stored data is controlled by access privileges. The system facilitates both local and remote collaborations. Because users interact with the system using Java Web Start or through a web browser, access is limited only by the availability of an Internet connection. We describe several Sesame modules that have been developed to the point where they are being utilized routinely to support steps involved in structural and functional proteomics. This software is available to parties interested in using it and assisting to guide its further development.Deceased, 30 August 2000     

Update of AMmtDB: a database of multi-aligned metazoa mitochondrial DNA sequences.

The present paper describes AMmtDB, a database collecting the multi-aligned sequences of vertebrate mitochondrial genes coding for proteins and tRNAs, as well as the multiple alignment of the mammalian mtDNA main regulatory region (D-loop) sequences. The genes coding for proteins are multi-aligned based on the translated sequences and both the nucleotide and amino acid multi-alignments are provided. As far as the genes coding for tRNAs are concerned, the multi-alignments based on the primary and the secondary structures are both provided; for the mammalian D-loop multi-alignments we report the conserved regions of the entire D-loop (CSB1, CSB2, CSB3, the central region, ETAS1 and ETAS2) as defined by Sbisà et al. [ Gene (1997), 205, 125-140). A flatfile format for AMmtDB has been designed allowing its implementation in SRS (http://bio-www.ba.cnr.it:8000/BioWWW/#AMMTDB ). Data selected through SRS can be managed using GeneDoc or other programs for the management of multi-aligned data depending on the user's operative system. The multiple alignments have been produced with CLUSTALV and PILEUP programs and then carefully optimized manually.     

The factor VIII Structure and Mutation Resource Site: HAMSTeRS version 4.

Since 1996 the HAMSTeRS (Haemophilia A Mutation, Search, Test and Resource Site) WWW site has provided an online resource for access to data on the molecular pathology of haemophilia A, replacing previous text editions of the Haemophilia A Database published in Nucleic Acids Research . This report describes the continued development of the site (version 4), and in particular the expansion of factor VIII (FVIII) structure-related features. Access to the mutation database itself, both for searching the listings and for submission of new mutations, is via custom-designed forms: more powerful Boolean searches of the point mutations in the database are also available. During 1997 a total of 22 novel missense mutations were reported, increasing the total number of unique variants now described to 252 (238 in exonic sequences and 14 at intronic splice junctions). Currently, a total of 586 individual reports with associated phenotypic data are available for searching by any category including phenotype. The FVIII structure section now includes a download of a FVIII A domain homology model in Protein Data Bank format and a multiple alignment of the FVIII amino-acid sequencies from four species (human, murine, porcine and canine) in addition to the virtual reality simulations, secondary structural data and FVIII animation already available. Finally, to aid navigation across this site, a clickable roadmap of the main features provides easy access to the page desired. Our intention is that continued development and updating of the site shall provide workers in the fields of molecular and structural biology with a one-stop resource site to facilitate FVIII research and education. The HAMSTeRS URL is http://europium.mrc.rpms.ac.uk     

PFDB: a generic protein family database integrating the CATH domain structure database with sequence based protein family resources

MOTIVATION: The PFDB (Protein Family Database) is a new database designed to integrate protein family-related data with relevant functional and genomic data. It currently manages biological data for three projects-the CATH protein domain database (Orengo et al., 1997; Pearl et al., 2001), the VIDA virus domains database (Albà et al., 2001) and the Gene3D database (Buchan et al., 2001). The PFDB has been designed to accommodate protein families identified by a variety of sequence based or structure based protocols and provides a generic resource for biological research by enabling mapping between different protein families and diverse biochemical and genetic data, including complete genomes. RESULTS: A characteristic feature of the PFDB is that it has a number of meta-level entities (for example aggregation, collection and inclusion) represented as base tables in the final design. The explicit representation of relationships at the meta-level has a number of advantages, including flexibility-both in terms of the range of queries that can be formulated and the ability to integrate new biological entities within the existing design. A potential drawback with this approach-poor performance caused by the number of joins across meta-level tables-is avoided by implementing the PFDB with materialized views using the mature relational database technology of Oracle 8i. The resultant database is both fast and flexible. This paper presents the principles on which the database has been designed and implemented, and describes the current status of the database and query facilities supported.     

An automated system designed for large scale NMR data deposition and annotation: application to over 600 assigned chemical shift data entries to the BioMagResBank from the Riken Structural Genomics/Proteomics Initiative internal database

Biomolecular NMR chemical shift data are key information for the functional analysis of biomolecules and the development of new techniques for NMR studies utilizing chemical shift statistical information. Structural genomics projects are major contributors to the accumulation of protein chemical shift information. The management of the large quantities of NMR data generated by each project in a local database and the transfer of the data to the public databases are still formidable tasks because of the complicated nature of NMR data. Here we report an automated and efficient system developed for the deposition and annotation of a large number of data sets including (1)H, (13)C and (15)N resonance assignments used for the structure determination of proteins. We have demonstrated the feasibility of our system by applying it to over 600 entries from the internal database generated by the RIKEN Structural Genomics/Proteomics Initiative (RSGI) to the public database, BioMagResBank (BMRB). We have assessed the quality of the deposited chemical shifts by comparing them with those predicted from the PDB coordinate entry for the corresponding protein. The same comparison for other matched BMRB/PDB entries deposited from 2001-2011 has been carried out and the results suggest that the RSGI entries greatly improved the quality of the BMRB database. Since the entries include chemical shifts acquired under strikingly similar experimental conditions, these NMR data can be expected to be a promising resource to improve current technologies as well as to develop new NMR methods for protein studies.     

MASCOT HTML and XML parser: an implementation of a novel object model for protein identification data

Protein identification using MS is an important technique in proteomics as well as a major generator of proteomics data. We have designed the protein identification data object model (PDOM) and developed a parser based on this model to facilitate the analysis and storage of these data. The parser works with HTML or XML files saved or exported from MASCOT MS/MS ions search in peptide summary report or MASCOT PMF search in protein summary report. The program creates PDOM objects, eliminates redundancy in the input file, and has the capability to output any PDOM object to a relational database. This program facilitates additional analysis of MASCOT search results and aids the storage of protein identification information. The implementation is extensible and can serve as a template to develop parsers for other search engines. The parser can be used as a stand-alone application or can be driven by other Java programs. It is currently being used as the front end for a system that loads HTML and XML result files of MASCOT searches into a relational database. The source code is freely available at http://www.ccbm.jhu.edu and the program uses only free and open-source Java libraries.     

Fermentation database mining by pattern recognition

A large volume of data is routinely collected during the course of typical fermentation and other processes. Such data provide the required basis for process documentation and occasionally are also used for process analysis and improvement. The information density of these data is often low, and automatic condensing, analysis, and interpretation ("database mining") are highly desirable. In this article we present a methodology whereby process variables are processed to create a database of derivative process quantities representative of the global patterns, intermediate trends, and local characteristics of the process. A powerful search algorithm subsequently attempts to extract the specific process variables and their particular attributes that uniquely characterize a class of process outcomes such as high- or low-yield fermentations.The basic components of our pattern recognition methodology are described along with applications to the analysis of two sets of data from industrial fermentations. Results indicate that truly discriminating variables do exist in typical fermentation data and they can be useful in identifying the causes or symptoms of different process outcomes. The methodology has been implemented in a user-friendly software, named db-miner, which facilitates the application of the methodology for efficient and speedy analysis of fermentation process data. (c) 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Biotechnol Bioeng 53: 443-452, 1997.     

A pathway finding system for the cell signaling networks database

We report on a knowledge-based pathway-finding system that builds on the cell-signaling networks database, CSNDB, which we developed previously. This new system, PaF-CSNDB, uses a general inference engine to apply rules for finding and coupling pathways between or around specific biomolecules from the CSNDB database. We show how PaF-CSNDB finds relationships in a large but fragmented collection of cell-signaling knowledge by filtering out and composing together those sections of pathways specified from an extensive and complex set of binary or pair-wise cell-signaling reactions.     

Web-accessible proteome databases for microbial research

The analysis of proteomes of biological organisms represents a major challenge of the post-genome era. Classical proteomics combines two-dimensional electrophoresis (2-DE) and mass spectrometry (MS) for the identification of proteins. Novel technologies such as isotope coded affinity tag (ICAT)-liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry (LC/MS) open new insights into protein alterations. The vast amount and diverse types of proteomic data require adequate web-accessible computational and database technologies for storage, integration, dissemination, analysis and visualization. A proteome database system (http://www.mpiib-berlin.mpg.de/2D-PAGE) for microbial research has been constructed which integrates 2-DE/MS, ICAT-LC/MS and functional classification data of proteins with genomic, metabolic and other biological knowledge sources. The two-dimensional polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis database delivers experimental data on microbial proteins including mass spectra for the validation of protein identification. The ICAT-LC/MS database comprises experimental data for protein alterations of mycobacterial strains BCG vs. H37Rv. By formulating complex queries within a functional protein classification database "FUNC_CLASS" for Mycobacterium tuberculosis and Helicobacter pylori the researcher can gather precise information on genes, proteins, protein classes and metabolic pathways. The use of the R language in the database architecture allows high-level data analysis and visualization to be performed "on-the-fly". The database system is centrally administrated, and investigators without specific bioinformatic competence in database construction can submit their data. The database system also serves as a template for a prototype of a European Proteome Database of Pathogenic Bacteria. Currently, the database system includes proteome information for six strains of microorganisms.     

The Genome Sequence DataBase (GSDB): improving data quality and data access.

In 1997 the primary focus of the Genome Sequence DataBase (GSDB; www. ncgr.org/gsdb ) located at the National Center for Genome Resources was to improve data quality and accessibility. Efforts to increase the quality of data within the database included two major projects; one to identify and remove all vector contamination from sequences in the database and one to create premier sequence sets (including both alignments and discontiguous sequences). Data accessibility was improved during the course of the last year in several ways. First, a graphical database sequence viewer was made available to researchers. Second, an update process was implemented for the web-based query tool, Maestro. Third, a web-based tool, Excerpt, was developed to retrieve selected regions of any sequence in the database. And lastly, a GSDB flatfile that contains annotation unique to GSDB (e.g., sequence analysis and alignment data) was developed. Additionally, the GSDB web site provides a tool for the detection of matrix attachment regions (MARs), which can be used to identify regions of high coding potential. The ultimate goal of this work is to make GSDB a more useful resource for genomic comparison studies and gene level studies by improving data quality and by providing data access capabilities that are consistent with the needs of both types of studies.     

On experiences of i2b2 (Informatics for integrating biology and the bedside) database with Japanese clinical patients' data

Informatics for Integrating Biology and the Bedside (i2b2) is a database system to facilitate sharing and reuse of clinical patients' data collected in individual hospitals. The i2b2 provides an ontology based object-oriented database system with highly simple and flexible database schema which enables us to integrate clinical patients' data from different laboratories and different hospitals. 392 patients' data including carcinoma and non-carcinoma specimens from cancer patients are transported from the Integrated Clinical Omics Database (iCOD) to the i2b2 database for a feasibility study to check applicability of i2b2 ontology and database schema on Japanese clinical patients' data. No modification is required for the i2b2 data model to deal with Japanese characters. Some modification of ontology is required to integrate biomedical information extracted from the cancer patients' data. We believe that the i2b2 system will be practical infrastructure to integrate Japanese clinical databases if appropriate disease ontology for Japanese patients is provided.