Hairpins in bookstacks: information retrieval from biomedical text

Current advances in high-throughput biology are accompanied by a tremendous increase in the number of related publications. Much biomedical information is reported in the vast amount of literature. The ability to rapidly and effectively survey the literature is necessary for both the design and the interpretation of large-scale experiments, and for curation of structured biomedical knowledge in public databases. Given the millions of published documents, the field of information retrieval, which is concerned with the automatic identification of relevant documents from large text collections, has much to offer. This paper introduces the basics of information retrieval, discusses its applications in biomedicine, and presents traditional and non-traditional ways in which it can be used.     

DNA序列分析中的信息熵应用现状

信息熵理论是生物信息学研究的一个重要工具,它在DNA序列分析中有着广泛的应用。本文详细介绍了近年来诸多DNA序列分析问题中信息熵应用的研究进展,并分析了未来该问题的研究方向。     

Obtaining information by dynamic (effortful) touching

Dynamic touching is effortful touching. It entails deformation of muscles and fascia and activation of the embedded mechanoreceptors, as when an object is supported and moved by the body. It is realized as exploratory activities that can vary widely in spatial and temporal extents (a momentary heft, an extended walk). Research has revealed the potential of dynamic touching for obtaining non-visual information about the body (e.g. limb orientation), attachments to the body (e.g. an object's height and width) and the relation of the body both to attachments (e.g. hand's location on a grasped object) and surrounding surfaces (e.g. places and their distances). Invariants over the exploratory activity (e.g. moments of a wielded object's mass distribution) seem to ground this 'information about'. The conception of a haptic medium as a nested tensegrity structure has been proposed to express the obtained information realized by myofascia deformation, by its invariants and transformations. The tensegrity proposal rationalizes the relative indifference of dynamic touch to the site of mechanical contact (hand, foot, torso or probe) and the overtness of exploratory activity. It also provides a framework for dynamic touching's fractal nature, and the finding that its degree of fractality may matter to its accomplishments.     

Improving life sciences information retrieval using semantic web technology

The ability to retrieve relevant information is at the heart of every aspect of research and development in the life sciences industry. Information is often distributed across multiple systems and recorded in a way that makes it difficult to piece together the complete picture. Differences in data formats, naming schemes and network protocols amongst information sources, both public and private, must be overcome, and user interfaces not only need to be able to tap into these diverse information sources but must also assist users in filtering out extraneous information and highlighting the key relationships hidden within an aggregated set of information. The Semantic Web community has made great strides in proposing solutions to these problems, and many efforts are underway to apply Semantic Web techniques to the problem of information retrieval in the life sciences space. This article gives an overview of the principles underlying a Semantic Web-enabled information retrieval system: creating a unified abstraction for knowledge using the RDF semantic network model; designing semantic lenses that extract contextually relevant subsets of information; and assembling semantic lenses into powerful information displays. Furthermore, concrete examples of how these principles can be applied to life science problems including a scenario involving a drug discovery dashboard prototype called BioDash are provided.     

葡萄基因电子表达分析平台的验证与应用

为了验证作者建立的葡萄(Vitis vinifera L.)基因电子表达分析平台在葡萄果实发育相关基因的表达预测及特定序列快速检索等方面的应用效果,利用NCBI上公布的大量葡萄EST序列及半定量PCR和RT-PCR技术,对葡萄不同器官中VvANR、VvCHI、VvCHS2和VvDFR基因的表达分析预测结果进行验证,并对该平台具有的特定序列快速检索功能进行了简介.预测结果表明:葡萄各器官中VvANR、VvCHI、VvCHS2和VvDFR基因的无冗余EST序列数量均较多,分别为33条、36条、55条和46条;4个基因的表达量有一定差异,VvANR在花序和芽中表达量较高,VvCHI在花序、果实和芽中表达量较高,VvCHS2在果实、芽、花序和花中表达量较高,VvDFR在花序、芽、花、果实和根中表达量均较高.半定量PCR和RT-PCR实验结果显示:VvANR主要在花序、花和小果中表达;VvCHI主要在小果、花、茎和花序中表达;VvCHS2主要在茎、花序、花和小果中表达;VvDFR在各组织中表达量从高至低依次排序为花、花序、茎、叶、小果、中果、大果.验证结果表明:采用葡萄基因电子表达分析平台识别表达量较高的组织时,平台的预测结果与实验结果基本一致;而在预测一些表达量较低的组织时效果较差.应用该平台、通过5个步骤,可以简便、快速检索出特定组织或特定状况下的特定cDNA文库信息.     

Evaluation of biomedical text-mining systems: lessons learned from information retrieval

Biomedical text-mining systems have great promise for improving the efficiency and productivity of biomedical researchers. However, such systems are still not in routine use. One impediment to their development is the lack of systematic and rigorous evaluation, comparable to the approaches developed for information retrieval systems. The developers of text-mining systems need to improve both test collections for system-oriented evaluation and undertake user-oriented evaluations to determine the most effective use of their systems for their intended audience.     

基于虚拟仪器技术的血管壁动态信息无创检测与辅助诊断系统

为了在体外无损地实现对血管壁动态信息、心电和心音信号等医学信息多参数的综合同步检测以及分析和处理,利用虚拟仪器技术设计了血管壁动态信息多参数的无创检测辅助诊断系统．该系统硬件平台由信号输入模块、信号调理模块以及采集卡等三大模块组成。软件系统由开发虚拟仪器的流行软件LabVIEW编写,实现了数据的采集、实时显示、分析处理和存储等。初步的临床检测结果证实了本无创检测系统的可行性和临床应用的前景,为功能性无创辅助诊断与血管壁弹性（硬化）程度有关的血管疾病提供了一种新的方法。     

斜纹夜蛾羧酸酯酶基因的克隆、序列分析及表达水平

为了明确斜纹夜蛾Spodoptera litura对溴氰菊酯产生抗性的分子机理, 本研究利用RT-PCR技术和RACE方法获得了1个斜纹夜蛾羧酸酯酶基因的全长cDNA序列, 命名为Slest2。序列分析表明, 该cDNA全长1 796 bp（GenBank 登录号: DQ445461）, 5′和3′UTR区分别长63和119 bp,开放阅读框编码一个由537个氨基酸残基组成的羧酸酯酶蛋白。通过对氨基酸同源性分析表明, 该羧酸酯酶与其他物种的酯酶均具有很高的氨基酸相似性,并具有多个在不同酯酶蛋白家族中均保守的区域。采用实时定量PCR技术比较了Slest2在斜纹夜蛾抗、感品系中的表达水平。当以cDNA为模板检测mRNA转录水平时发现, Slest2在抗性品系中的转录水平是敏感品系的46.85倍; 以基因组DNA为模板检测Slest2基因的拷贝数时发现, Slest2在抗、感性品系中的拷贝数无显著差异（前者为后者的1.16倍）。这些结果表明, 抗性与敏感品系具有相似的Slest2基因拷贝数, 但它们在抗性品系中的转录水平显著升高。由此推测Slest2基因的转录水平升高与斜纹夜蛾对溴氰菊酯的抗药性密切相关。     

A single-image retrieval method for edge illumination X-ray phase-contrast imaging: Application and noise analysis

PurposeEdge illumination (EI) X-ray phase-contrast imaging (XPCI) has been under development at University College London in recent years, and has shown great potential for both laboratory and synchrotron applications. In this work, we propose a new acquisition and processing scheme. Contrary to existing retrieval methods for EI, which require as input two images acquired in different setup configurations, the proposed approach can retrieve an approximate map of the X-ray phase from a single image, thus significantly simplifying the acquisition procedure and reducing data collection times.MethodsThe retrieval method is analytically derived, based on the assumption of a quasi-homogeneous object, i.e. an object featuring a constant ratio between refractive index and absorption coefficient. The noise properties of the input and retrieved images are also theoretically analyzed under the developed formalism. The method is applied to experimental synchrotron images of a biological object.ResultsThe experimental results show that the method can provide high-quality images, where the “edge” signal typical of XPCI images is transformed to an “area” contrast that enables an easier interpretation of the sample geometry. Moreover, the retrieved images confirm that the method is highly stable against noise.ConclusionsWe anticipate that the developed approach will become the method of choice for a variety of applications of EI XPCI, thanks to its ability to simplify the acquisition procedure and reduce acquisitions time and dose to the sample. Future work will focus on the adaptation of the method to computed tomography and to polychromatic radiation from X-ray tubes.     

Development and characterization of expressed sequence tags for the turkey (Meleagris gallopavo) genome and comparative sequence analysis with other birds

Twenty-one randomly selected clones from a turkey (Meleagris gallopavo) pituitary complementary DNA (cDNA) library were sequenced to develop expressed sequence tags (ESTs) for this economically important avian species whose genome is among the least understood. Primers specific for the ESTs were used to produce amplicons from the genomic DNA of turkey, chicken (Gallus gallus), guinea fowl (Numidia meleagris), pigeon (Columba domestica), and quail (Corturnix japonica). The amplicons were sequenced and analyzed for sequence variation within- and similarity among-species and with GenBank database sequences. The proportion of shared bases between the turkey sequence and the consensus sequence from each of the other species ranged from 72% to 93% between turkey and pigeon and quail and between turkey and chicken, respectively. The total number of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) observed ranged from 3 in quail to 18 in chicken out of 4898 and 5265 bases analyzed, respectively. The most frequent nucleotide variation observed was a C-->T transition. Linkage analysis of one such SNP in the backcross progeny of the East Lansing reference DNA panel, localized TUS0005, the chicken sequence derived from primers specific for turkey TUT2E EST, to chromosome 4. The ESTs reported, as well as the SNPs may provide a useful resource for ongoing efforts to develop high utility genome maps for the turkey and chicken. The primers described can also be used as a tool in future investigations directed at further understanding the biology of the guinea fowl, pigeon and quail and their relatedness to the turkey.     

日本通草蛉cDNA文库构建及部分ESTs分析

本研究以日本通草蛉Chrysoperla nipponensis (Okamoto)为材料,采用Oligo(dT)引物定向克隆构建cDNA文库并进行EST序列测定,旨在以基因库的形式进行种质资源的保存,为其遗传改良奠定基础,并为探讨其分类地位提供分子依据。对该文库质量分析表明：库容量为1.0×10⁶,重组率为80.0％,平均插入片段为512 bp。测序后最终成功得到323条表达序列标签（expressed sequence tags,ESTs）序列,经Phrap程序聚类拼接后得到236条单基因簇（unigene）,包括86个重叠群（congtigs）和150个单拷贝（singlets）。使用NCBI中的BlastN和BlastX程序对236条ESTs进行本地化搜索,BlastN的结果表明：180条ESTs（76.3%）没有注解,56条ESTs（23.7%）与GenBank上公布的序列有较高的同源性,其中一条序列被确定为该种的16S rRNA基因,利用MEGA软件构建了基于该16S rRNA序列草蛉科的系统发育树,结果显示通草蛉属Chrysoperla与叉草蛉属Dichochrysa、玛草蛉属Mallada、草蛉属Chrysopa的亲缘关系比较近,这与传统分类相吻合。BlastX的比对结果为197条ESTs（83.5%）有功能注解,39条ESTs（16.5%）无注解或score值小于100。使用GO(gene ontology)数据库对236条ESTs序列进行功能注释,结果表明：142条ESTs（59.7％）有注解,并表达出40多种基因产物。     

杆孢赤壳属一新组合(英文)

长期以来,杆孢赤壳属被视为丛赤壳属的异名,最近才恢复其属级分类地位。臧氏丛赤壳在形态特征上与杆孢赤壳属的模式种Allantonectria miltina很相似,在子囊壳解剖结构、近圆柱形至柱棒状子囊、腊肠形子囊孢子等方面均表现出共性。二者间形态相似性得到了6个基因序列分析的支持,因而将臧氏丛赤壳转入杆孢赤壳属,建立新组合臧氏杆孢赤壳。     

Spatial information analysis of chemotactic trajectories

During bacterial chemotaxis, a cell acquires information about its environment by sampling changes in the local concentration of a chemoattractant, and then uses that information to bias its motion relative to the source of the chemoattractant. The trajectory of a chemotaxing bacteria is thus a spatial manifestation of the information gathered by the cell. Here we show that a recently developed approach for computing spatial information using Fourier coefficient probabilities, the k-space information (kSI), can be used to quantify the information in such trajectories. The kSI is shown to capture expected responses to gradients of a chemoattractant. We then extend the k-space approach by developing an experimental probability distribution (EPD) that is computed from chemotactic trajectories collected under a reference condition. The EPD accounts for connectivity and other constraints that the nature of the trajectories imposes on the k-space computation. The EPD is used to compute the spatial information from any trajectory of interest, relative to the reference condition. The EPD-based spatial information also captures the expected responses to gradients of a chemoattractant, although the results differ in significant ways from the original kSI computation. In addition, the entropy calculated from the EPD provides a useful measure of trajectory space. The methods developed are highly general, and can be applied to a wide range of other trajectory types as well as non-trajectory data.     

Raman-based dynamic feeding strategies using real-time glucose concentration monitoring system during adalimumab producing CHO cell cultivation

The use of Process Analytical Technology tools coupled with chemometrics has been shown great potential for better understanding and control of mammalian cell cultivations through real-time process monitoring. In-line Raman spectroscopy was utilized to determine the glucose concentration of the complex bioreactor culture medium ensuring real-time information for our process control system. This work demonstrates a simple and fast method to achieve a robust partial least squares calibration model under laboratory conditions in an early phase of the development utilizing shake flask and bioreactor cultures. Two types of dynamic feeding strategies were accomplished where the multi-component feed medium additions were controlled manually and automatically based on the Raman monitored glucose concentration. The impact of these dynamic feedings was also investigated and compared to the traditional bolus feeding strategy on cellular metabolism, cell growth, productivity, and binding activity of the antibody product. Both manual and automated dynamic feeding strategies were successfully applied to maintain the glucose concentration within a narrower and lower concentration range. Thus, besides glucose, the glutamate was also limited at low level leading to reduced production of inhibitory metabolites, such as lactate and ammonia. Consequently, these feeding control strategies enabled to provide beneficial cultivation environment for the cells. In both experiments, higher cell growth and prolonged viable cell cultivation were achieved which in turn led to increased antibody product concentration compared to the reference bolus feeding cultivation.     

幽门螺杆菌过氧化氢酶基因的克隆、序列测定及其生物信息学分析

幽门螺杆菌(Helicobacter pylorl,Hp)感染是慢性活动性胃炎和消化性溃疡的主要病因,与胃腺癌、胃粘膜相关淋巴样组织(MALT)淋巴瘤的发生亦密切相关。其有效抗原成份过氧化氢酶可刺激机体产生保护性的免疫反应。用高保真PCR扩增系统扩增出过氧化氢酶基因片段,将其定向插入载体pET-22b( ),对其全序列进行了测定。并以生物信息学软件分析其生物学特性。克隆的过氧化氢酶基因序列与报道的序列完全一致,并显示出良好的抗原性和疏水性。这一研究获得了序列正确的过氧化氢酶基因,为将来以过氧化氢酶分子作抗原的Hp疫苗研制工作打下了良好基础。