Web-based Tools for Drug Repurposing: Successful Examples of Collaborative Research

2020 ◽  
Vol 28 (1) ◽  
pp. 181-195
Author(s):  
Quentin Vanhaelen

: Computational approaches have been proven to be complementary tools of interest in identifying potential candidates for drug repurposing. However, although the methods developed so far offer interesting opportunities and could contribute to solving issues faced by the pharmaceutical sector, they also come with their constraints. Indeed, specific challenges ranging from data access, standardization and integration to the implementation of reliable and coherent validation methods must be addressed to allow systematic use at a larger scale. In this mini-review, we cover computational tools recently developed for addressing some of these challenges. This includes specific databases providing accessibility to a large set of curated data with standardized annotations, web-based tools integrating flexible user interfaces to perform fast computational repurposing experiments and standardized datasets specifically annotated and balanced for validating new computational drug repurposing methods. Interestingly, these new databases combined with the increasing number of information about the outcomes of drug repurposing studies can be used to perform a meta-analysis to identify key properties associated with successful drug repurposing cases. This information could further be used to design estimation methods to compute a priori assessment of the repurposing possibilities.

Author(s):  
Silviu Folea ◽  
Mihai Hulea ◽  
Camelia Avram ◽  
Adina Astilean

The system presented in this chapter is mainly destined to offer support and to monitor chronic and elderly patients. In accordance with the new tendencies in the field, it integrates innovative components for data acquisition systems, Web-based virtual instrumentation, personalized user interfaces, and relational data in a complex, modular, flexible, and opened structure. Compared with other similar integrated communication systems, which are based on Wi-Fi technology, the presented one has as distinctive features: small dimensions, low power consumption, and a considerable autonomy. A large set of experiments and the corresponding results illustrates the functionality of the configurable virtual web instrument principle materialized in the E-Health Monitoring and Supervising System (EMSS) that has many possible applications. As an example, a cheap, easy to use, and personalized support destined to improve the quality of life for subjects suffering from chronic diseases or elderly patients was chosen. The implementation of the complete application included a model for gesture recognition, which allows the classification and assessment of the characteristics of the subject’s movement, highlighting even small progresses of the monitored patients.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mattia de’ Michieli Vitturi ◽  
Francesco Martinelli ◽  
Matteo Cerminara ◽  
Chiara Paola Montagna ◽  
Tomaso Esposti Ongaro ◽  
...  

<p>While computational capabilities in volcano science are developing to progressively higher sophistication levels involving HPC, parallel programming, and extensive use of super-computers, there is an increasing demand for accessibility to low to intermediate-level models and codes that can support multi-disciplinary research carried out by experts other than physical modelers and code developers. Responding to such a need by the international community is the justification and objective of Virtual Access (VA) activities developed under the EUROVOLC project. The Volcano Dynamics Computational Centre (VDCC) at INGV Pisa is renown as one international leader in physical-mathematical modelling and numerical simulation of volcanic thermo-fluid dynamics processes occurring from the deep regions of magma rise and accumulation within the crust, to within the atmosphere during volcanic eruptions. VDCC has been developing a large set of computational tools during last 30 years, that are offered under EUROVOLC for Transnational Access (for the most sophisticated, computational demanding models and codes) as well as for VA for low to intermediate-level models and codes. The latter include from non-ideal, compositional-dependent, multi-component volatile-melt thermodynamics to steady-state magma ascent to fast-performing kinematic modelling of pyroclastic density currents. Here we illustrate the model capabilities, the procedures to both download the codes and perform web-based computation, and a few relevant examples of calculations available through VA, and show relevant statistics of access and download by the volcano community to-date.</p>


2013 ◽  
Vol 8-9 ◽  
pp. 3-12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Camelia Avram ◽  
Adina Astilean ◽  
Radu Florin Miron

The Road Traffic Monitoring and Control System (RTMCS) presented in this paper is intended to offer support for the surveillance, control and monitoring of road networks. It integrates complex components in a modular, flexible and open structure in order to validate models that take into account real time constraints and include tools to simulate various traffic scenarios and communication technologies, WEB based virtual instrumentation, personalized user interfaces and relational data. The system can be used to change the configuration of the road map (to design new streets segments) or to visualize the results of the different traffic scenarios implying the tuning of various parameters. RTMCS also offers several advantages, one of the most important consisting of the possibility to choose different configuration and components using a web browser. An implementation variant, including suitable, promising new technologies, different maps configurations, communication devices and protocols and routing systems is presented and analyzed. A large set of experiments and the corresponding results highlight the functionality of the configurable virtual web instrument concept illustrated by the proposed system. Aspects regarding the possibility of a subsequent integration of new tools are also presented.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chiara Sauli ◽  
Paolo Diviacco ◽  
Alessandro Busato ◽  
Alan Cooper ◽  
Frank O. Nitsche ◽  
...  

<p>Antarctica is one of the most studied areas on the planet for its profound effects on the Earth’s climate and ocean systems. Antarctic geology keeps records of events that took place in remote times but that can spread light on climate phenomena taking place today. It is therefore of overwhelming importance, to make all data in the area available to the widest scientific community. The remoteness, extreme weather conditions, and environmental sensitivity of Antarctica make new data acquisition complicated and existing seismic data very valuable. It is, therefore, critical that existing data are findable, accessible and reusable..</p><p>The Antarctic Seismic Data Library System (SDLS) was created in 1991 under the mandates of the Antarctic Treaty System (ATS) and the auspices of the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR), to provide open access to Antarctic multichannel seismic-reflection data (MCS) for use in cooperative research projects. The legal framework of the ATS dictates that all institutions that collect MCS data in Antarctica must submit their MCS data to the SDLS within 4 years of collection and remain in the library under SDLS guidelines until 8 years after collection. Thereafter, the data switch to unrestricted use in order to trigger and foster as much as possible collaborative research within the Antarctic research community.  In this perspective, the SDLS developed a web portal (http://sdls.ogs.trieste.it) that implements tools that allow all data to be discovered, browsed, accessed and downloaded directly from the web honoring at the same time the ATS legal framework and the Intellectual protection of data owners. The SDLS web portal, is based on the SNAP geophysical web-based data access framework developed by Istituto Nazionale di Oceanografia e di Geofisica Sperimentale - OGS, and offers all standard OGC compliant metadata models, and OGC compliant data access services. It is possible to georeference, preview and even perform some processing on the actual data on the fly. Datasets are assigned DOIs so that they can be referenced  from within research papers or other publications.. We will present in details the SDLS web based system in the light of Open Data and FAIR principles, and the SDLS planned future developments.</p>


2014 ◽  
Vol 45 (3) ◽  
pp. 239-245 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert J. Calin-Jageman ◽  
Tracy L. Caldwell

A recent series of experiments suggests that fostering superstitions can substantially improve performance on a variety of motor and cognitive tasks ( Damisch, Stoberock, & Mussweiler, 2010 ). We conducted two high-powered and precise replications of one of these experiments, examining if telling participants they had a lucky golf ball could improve their performance on a 10-shot golf task relative to controls. We found that the effect of superstition on performance is elusive: Participants told they had a lucky ball performed almost identically to controls. Our failure to replicate the target study was not due to lack of impact, lack of statistical power, differences in task difficulty, nor differences in participant belief in luck. A meta-analysis indicates significant heterogeneity in the effect of superstition on performance. This could be due to an unknown moderator, but no effect was observed among the studies with the strongest research designs (e.g., high power, a priori sampling plan).


Author(s):  
Boon Yih Mah ◽  
Suzana Ab Rahim

The use of the internet for teaching and learning has become a global trend among the education practitioners over the recent decades. The integration of technology and media into Malaysian English as a Second Language (ESL) classrooms has altered the methods in English Language Teaching (ELT). In response to the impact of technology in ELT, the needs of a supplementary instructional platform, and the limitations of the learning management system (LMS) in fostering second language (L2) writing skill, a web-based instructional tool was designed and developed based on a theoretical-and-pedagogical framework namely Web-based Cognitive Writing Instruction (WeCWI). To determine the key concepts while identifying the research gap, this study conducted a literature review using online search on specific keywords including “blog”, “Blogger”, “widget”, and “hyperlink” found in the scholarly articles. Based on the review of literature, Blogger was opted due to its on-screen customisable layout editing features that can be embedded with web widgets and hypertext that share the identical features. By looking into the relationship between perceptual learning preferences on perceived information and the visual representations in iconic and symbolic views, the blogs can come with two different user interfaces embedded with web widgets or hypertext. The blog with web widgets appears in a graphical form of iconic view; while hypertext only displays textual form of symbolic view without involving the visual references. With the injection of web widgets and hypertext into the blogs, WeCWI attempts to offer a technological enhanced ELT solution to overcome the poor writing skill with a better engagement while learning online through the learners’ preferred perceptual learning preferences.


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hui Feng ◽  
Yinan Zhao ◽  
Mingyue Hu ◽  
Hengyu Hu ◽  
Hui Li ◽  
...  

BACKGROUND Dementia is one of the major cause of disability and dependency among the elderly worldwide, and there are general psychological distresses among caregivers in dementia, such as depression and anxiety symptoms. The physical and mental health of the caregiver is a prerequisite and a promise to help the elderly stay alive and promote health. Web-based interventions can provide for a more convenient and efficient support and education, OBJECTIVE The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of internet-based interventions on mental health outcomes of family caregivers with dementia, and exploring which components of the web-based interventions play an important role.which are likely to reduce caregivers’ negative outcomes associated with care. METHODS A comprehensive literature search was conducted on PubMed, Embase, PsycINFO, Cochrane Database and CINAHL by using relevant terms such as web-based and caregiver as keywords, covering all studies published before June 2018. Two reviewers independently reviewed all published abstracts, according to the established inclusion and exclusion criteria ,we extracted the information about participants, interventions and results, respectively, and reviewed the quality of articles on the methods of randomized trials using the approach recommended by the Cochrane Handbook for systematic review for intervention. RESULTS A total of 815 caregivers participated in 6 articles, and 4 of the studies use depression as an outcome, according to the research after different interventions based on network after the intervention, depression scores average drop of 0.23 (95%CI -0.38 to -0.07, p<0.01), 2 studies show caregivers anxiety symptoms, the average score for anxiety dropped by 0.32 points (95% CI -0.50 to -0.14, p< 0.01), but in terms of coping, pain and stress, the web-based interventions have shown a poor effect. On the whole, the addition of professional psychological support on the basis of education can improve mental health of carers. CONCLUSIONS Internet-based interventions were generally effective in reducing anxiety and depression in dementia carers, although negative results were found in some studies. But in terms of burden and stress, further research is needed.


2020 ◽  
Vol 36 (16) ◽  
pp. 4527-4529
Author(s):  
Ales Saska ◽  
David Tichy ◽  
Robert Moore ◽  
Achilles Rasquinha ◽  
Caner Akdas ◽  
...  

Abstract Summary Visualizing a network provides a concise and practical understanding of the information it represents. Open-source web-based libraries help accelerate the creation of biologically based networks and their use. ccNetViz is an open-source, high speed and lightweight JavaScript library for visualization of large and complex networks. It implements customization and analytical features for easy network interpretation. These features include edge and node animations, which illustrate the flow of information through a network as well as node statistics. Properties can be defined a priori or dynamically imported from models and simulations. ccNetViz is thus a network visualization library particularly suited for systems biology. Availability and implementation The ccNetViz library, demos and documentation are freely available at http://helikarlab.github.io/ccNetViz/. Supplementary information Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.


2010 ◽  
Vol 27 (3) ◽  
pp. 207-216 ◽  
Author(s):  
Luis Iribarne ◽  
Nicolás Padilla ◽  
Javier Criado ◽  
José-Andrés Asensio ◽  
Rosa Ayala

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document