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Detecting overlapping coding sequences in virus genomes.

BACKGROUND: Detecting new coding sequences (CDSs) in viral genomes can be difficult for several reasons. The typically compact genomes often contain a number of overlapping coding and non-coding functional elements, which can result in unusual patterns of codon usage; conservation between related sequences can be difficult to interpret--especially within overlapping genes; and viruses often employ non-canonical translational mechanisms--e.g. frameshifting, stop codon read-through, leaky-scanning and internal ribosome entry sites--which can conceal potentially coding open reading frames (ORFs). RESULTS: In a previous paper we introduced a new statistic--MLOGD (Maximum Likelihood Overlapping Gene Detector)--for detecting and analysing overlapping CDSs. Here we present (a) an improved MLOGD statistic, (b) a greatly extended suite of software using MLOGD, (c) a database of results for 640 virus sequence alignments, and (d) a web-interface to the software and database. Tests show that, from an alignment with just 20 mutations, MLOGD can discriminate non-overlapping CDSs from non-coding ORFs with a typical accuracy of up to 98%, and can detect CDSs overlapping known CDSs with a typical accuracy of 90%. In addition, the software produces a variety of statistics and graphics, useful for analysing an input multiple sequence alignment. CONCLUSION: MLOGD is an easy-to-use tool for virus genome annotation, detecting new CDSs--in particular overlapping or short CDSs--and for analysing overlapping CDSs following frameshift sites. The software, web-server, database and supplementary material are available at http://guinevere.otago.ac.nz/mlogd.html.

Algorithms↗

Mice have a transcribed L-threonine aldolase/GLY1 gene, but the human GLY1 gene is a non-processed pseudogene.

BACKGROUND: There are three pathways of L-threonine catabolism. The enzyme L-threonine aldolase (TA) has been shown to catalyse the conversion of L-threonine to yield glycine and acetaldehyde in bacteria, fungi and plants. Low levels of TA enzymatic activity have been found in vertebrates. It has been suggested that any detectable activity is due to serine hydroxymethyltransferase and that mammals lack a genuine threonine aldolase. RESULTS: The 7-exon murine L-threonine aldolase gene (GLY1) is located on chromosome 11, spanning 5.6 kb. The cDNA encodes a 400-residue protein. The protein has 81% similarity with the bacterium Thermotoga maritima TA. Almost all known functional residues are conserved between the two proteins including Lys242 that forms a Schiff-base with the cofactor, pyridoxal-5'-phosphate. The human TA gene is located at 17q25. It contains two single nucleotide deletions, in exons 4 and 7, which cause frame-shifts and a premature in-frame stop codon towards the carboxy-terminal. Expression of human TA mRNA was undetectable by RT-PCR. In mice, TA mRNA was found at low levels in a range of adult tissues, being highest in prostate, heart and liver. In contrast, serine/threonine dehydratase, another enzyme that catabolises L-threonine, is expressed very highly only in the liver. Serine dehydratase-like 1, also was most abundant in the liver. In whole mouse embryos TA mRNA expression was low prior to E-15 increasing more than four-fold by E-17. CONCLUSION: Mice, the western-clawed frog and the zebrafish have transcribed threonine aldolase/GLY1 genes, but the human homolog is a non-transcribed pseudogene. Serine dehydratase-like 1 is a putative L-threonine catabolising enzyme.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

The use of diagnostic radiology to detect shell irregularities in the New Zealand paua (abalone) Haliotis iris.

A method is described for the non-destructive, non-invasive, detection of shell lesions in the New Zealand paua, a marine gastropod Haliotis iris using diagnostic radiology. The X-ray method reliably detected the presence of shell lesions in 96% of the cases examined once lesion dimensions exceeded 6.2 x 7.1 mm. The extent of lesions above this size can be reliably and accurately determined from X-ray images viewed on a video display unit (VDU). Biofouling on the outside of the shell can cause misdiagnoses. This method is a significant animal welfare refinement in the identification of marine gastropods with shell lesions, when compared with traditional techniques which kill the animals.

Animals↗

The experience of a rural general practitioner using videoconferencing for telemedicine.

A telemedicine link was installed between a mining town in Western Australia and clinical specialists in Perth, about 1800 km away. Standard commercial videoconferencing units connected by ISDN at 128 kbit/s were used. During a two-year period, 90 teleconsultations were carried out. About one-third of the injuries to mining construction workers were eye problems. In more than 75% of teleconsultations a patient transfer to Perth was avoided.

Accidents, Occupational↗

Successes and failures with grand rounds via videoconferencing at the Royal Children's Hospital in Brisbane.

Grand rounds at the Royal Children's Hospital in Brisbane began to be conducted by videoconference in 1997. They were held each week and started at 07:45. A total of 44 multisite videoconferences were held in the year 2000, to an average of 10 sites in Queensland. The remote audience for each conference was about 60 people. The local audience at the Royal Children's Hospital comprised 20-40 people. Many other centres made requests to join the grand rounds, but expansion was not possible because of technical limitations. The lessons learned during four years of close partnership with provincial centres mirror Hippocrates: 'The need is great, the scope wide, growth inexorable and timing difficult'. Everyone basically wants to do a good job, and most errors can be overcome by good design and dedicated technical support.

Child↗

The experience in Victoria with telepsychiatry for the child and adolescent mental health service.

In 1995, the Royal Children's Hospital Mental Health Service in Melbourne developed the first telepsychiatry programme in child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS) in Australia. A survey of 25 CAMHS clinicians in five rural regions who had used videoconferencing showed that 64% had used the technology for more than 18 months, and 20% had used it for 7-12 months. Also, 60% had used the technology on over 30 occasions, and 24% had used it on 20-29 occasions. Respondents clearly recognized its benefits in terms of their increased knowledge and skills (96%), strengthening of relationships with colleagues (92%) and decreased sense of isolation (92%). To build on the success of telepsychiatry there are a number of challenges that health service managers will need to address. Telepsychiatry works most effectively as a tool to complement face-to-face contact. It cannot be promoted as the total solution to the issue of isolation from mainstream services.

Adolescent↗

The fall and rise of the South Australian telepsychiatry network.

The Rural and Remote Mental Health Service (RRMHS) has delivered telepsychiatry services through the use of videoconferencing to South Australian communities since May 1994. The survivability of the service results from a combination of factors that have seen the RRMHS expand to 48 centres and deliver an average of 100 clinical sessions a month. The key factors responsible for the success of the service lie in the model of service delivery, management support, and the implementation of a system for the scheduling and reporting of videoconference activity. The current model of service delivery has evolved over the past seven years and is fundamentally different to the infrastructure established at the implementation stage of the project. A retrospective analysis shows the shift in service delivery models necessary for the sustainability of telepsychiatry services in South Australia.

Community Mental Health Services↗

Successes and failures in videoconferencing: a community health education programme.

Women's Health Queensland Wide began delivery of community education programmes for rural women via videoconferencing in the year 2000. A series of three, 90 min videoconference sessions from Brisbane were delivered to 13 sites in northern Queensland. The sessions related to health issues for women at midlife. The sessions were delivered by health experts in Brisbane, who provided a short presentation on their topic; the majority of the videoconference was dedicated to questions from the participants. Each site was supported by a technical coordinator, who ensured that the equipment functioned properly, and a local health worker, who facilitated women's participation in the videoconference as well as providing a local services perspective. Women's Health Queensland Wide was responsible for overall planning and promotion of the sessions. Feedback from these programmes demonstrated women's and health-care professionals' acceptance of videoconferencing as a mechanism for receiving health information. Sustainability of these programmes depends upon the following issues: cost, delivery model, and the availability of appropriate technology and women-friendly sites.

Attitude of Health Personnel↗

Telemedicine and clinical genetics: establishing a successful service.

There is a surprising lack of published experience on the use of videoconferencing in clinical genetics. Patients were randomly allocated to either a telegenetic (cases) or face-to-face (control) conventional clinic. The telegenetic consultation was done by videoconferencing, using ISDN lines at 384 kbit/s. Evaluation by the doctor and counsellor took place immediately after each appointment. The patient was asked to evaluate the appointment by telephone questionnaire about four weeks after the event. Forty-two patients were invited to participate and 33 (79%) returned their consent forms. Four patients declined to participate and were seen in ordinary face-to-face clinics. Preliminary results showed that the assessment of the telegenetics consultations by doctors, counsellors and patients was very favourable, and they responded positively when asked if they would be happy to use telemedicine in the future. For use in selected consultations, videoconferencing does appear to fulfil a useful role in clinical genetics.

Attitude of Health Personnel↗

Telepathology.

The development of a Queensland-wide videoconferencing network provided an opportunity to develop telepathology. In 1999, weekly videoconferences began with remote laboratories and clinical staff in four peripheral hospitals and the Royal Brisbane Hospital and in 2000 biweekly videoconference pathology grand rounds started across Queensland with up to six sites, from Cairns to the Gold Coast, joining in or presenting. The average number of sites connected was 3.0 in 1998, 3.5 in 1999, 4.4 in 2000 and 4.5 in 2001. Problems included the complexity of the system, timing and need for bookings, coordination of presenters and presentations, and the time needed to organize sessions, set up linkages, advertise sessions and attend the telepathology conference. Successful meetings have been associated with well prepared cases, time for discussion, attendance by all sites, timeliness of cases and responses, and the presence of experts to respond to questions, as well as effective linkages and trouble-free hardware. Future needs include better infrastructure and trained staff to coordinate the linkages and presentations. Telepathology has an important part to play in the provision of cost-effective medical care in Queensland.

Computer Terminals↗

Some successes and limitations with telehealth in Canada.

Canada has taken important steps towards establishing telehealth within its health-care system. However, in many areas telehealth in Canada has yet to progress beyond the stage of testing feasibility. A recent survey of eight Canadian telehealth programmes that are using videoconferencing indicated that there is little evidence of either clinical or economic benefits compared with conventional care. There are examples of sustainable, routine telehealth services in Canada. However, overall, the number of patients seen by telehealth is still very small in comparison with the number of face-to-face visits. 'People-related' factors seem dominant in determining the degree of success of telehealth applications.

Canada↗

Clinical call centres: does low-bandwidth video have a place?

Low-bandwidth video has a place in health service delivery. Videoconferencing systems commonly used in telehealth have a high capital cost, take days or weeks to install at specific locations, and have high communications charges. A range of circumstances can be envisaged where video may be of benefit but would not justify the cost of large systems. There are projects in community nursing, home dialysis and post-acute respiratory care where various low-bandwidth video technologies have been added as a supplement to the humble telephone call. It can be expected that at least some of these projects will be able to demonstrate tangible improvements in health outcomes, such as decreased readmission rates, reduced acute episodes of a chronic illness and improved health status from the additional social support.

Community Health Nursing↗

Telemedicine systems and telecommunications.

Successful telemedicine requires appropriate equipment and some kind of telecommunications medium. However, successful telemedicine requires more than just technology. The three essential components are the personnel, the technology and a liberal measure of perseverance. Before the technology can be selected, it is necessary to consider the nature of the information to be transmitted between the sites and the time frame over which it must be sent to achieve the desired clinical goals, because this will determine the choice of equipment and the telecommunications network. Factors to be considered include the types of information to be transmitted, the quantity of information to be transferred, and security and privacy (e.g. in Europe and the USA there has been recent legislation about data security). The choice of transmission method for any telemedicine application is, in practice, a compromise between what one would like and what one can afford. In practice, various trade-offs have to be made, which include cost, availability of the service (i.e. the coverage), bandwidth, reliability and quality of service. Equipment and the telecommunications medium are a necessary, but not sufficient, pre-requisite for a successful telemedicine programme. The right people are also required and they must be properly trained.

Computer Terminals↗

Preliminary results from the Northern Ireland arms of the UK Multicentre Teledermatology Trial: effect of camera performance on diagnostic accuracy.

The diagnostic accuracy of realtime teledermatology was measured using two different video cameras. One camera was a relatively low-cost, single-chip device (camera 1), while the other was a more expensive three-chip camera (camera 2). The diagnosis obtained via the videolink was compared with the diagnosis made in person. Sixty-five new patients referred to a dermatology clinic were examined using camera 1 followed by a standard face-to-face consultation. A further 65 patients were examined using camera 2 and the same procedure applied. Seventy-six per cent of conditions were correctly diagnosed by telemedicine using camera 2 compared with 59% using camera 1. A working differential diagnosis was obtained in 12% of cases using camera 2 compared with 17% using camera 1. The percentage of 'no diagnosis', wrong and missed diagnoses was halved using camera 2 compared with camera 1. These results suggest that the performance of camera 2 was superior to that of camera 1 for realtime teledermatology.

Adolescent↗

The Lancashire telemedicine ambulance.

An emergency ambulance was equipped with three video-cameras and a system for transmitting slow-scan video-pictures through a cellular telephone link to a hospital accident and emergency department. Video-pictures were trasmitted at a resolution of 320 x 240 pixels and a frame rate of 15 pictures/min. In addition, a helmet-mounted camera was used with a wireless transmission link to the ambulance and thence the hospital. Speech was transmitted by a second hand-held cellular telephone. The equipment was installed in 1996-7 and video-recordings of actual ambulance journeys were made in July 1997. The technical feasibility of the telemedicine ambulance has been demonstrated and further clinical assessment is now in progress.

Ambulances↗

Equipment for minor injuries telemedicine.

A telemedicine system for minor injuries work comprises two main components: (1) a face-to-face videoconferencing system, often including a second camera at the patient end for close-up pictures; and (2) a system for the transmission and display of radiographic images (i.e. teleradiology). There is a wide variety of equipment being used for minor injuries telemedicine in the UK. For videoconferencing, low-cost systems--including those based on PCs--and medium-cost systems are in use. For teleradiology, high-resolution system (i.e. those complying with the standard set by the American College of Radiology) and low-resolution systems (i.e. those which do not) are in use. The quality of the telemedicine interaction for minor injuries work therefore appears to be less dependent on the sophistication of the equipment used than on other factors, including human ones. Equipment choice has implications for costs.

Computer Terminals↗

Imlink and continuing medical education: the use of an image transfer system to broadcast teaching cases nationally.

Imlink, a personal computer based image storage and transfer system, has been used regularly in Oxford since 1989, primarily to transmit computed tomography (CT) brain scans to the regional neurosurgery centre for management advice. Recently this system has been used to send a weekly educational programme (CT and magnetic resonance imaging neuroradiology cases) to district general hospitals.

Computer Communication Networks↗

Assessment of monitor conditions for the display of radiological diagnostic images and ambient lighting.

Diagnostic efficacy is related to viewing conditions. An increasing number of radiology departments are using workstations for reporting and it was the aim of this study to assess monitor performance and ambient lighting in areas allocated to soft-copy reporting and review. The study was performed in 4 Dublin hospitals and 20 monitors were examined. Using a Society of Motion Pictures and Television Engineers' (SMPTE) test pattern, maximum luminance, spatial uniformity of luminance, temporal luminance stability, brightness and contrast resolution (gamma), geometry and ambient lighting was assessed. The results demonstrated that although temporal luminance stability and spatial uniformity appeared to be at acceptable levels, maximum luminance and gamma value variations were noted, with maximum luminance and geometry values often not complying with published guidelines. Cleaning the monitor face had no impact. 90% of viewing areas had acceptable ambient lighting levels. The data presented demonstrate that monitors examined were not operating at optimal levels for all performance parameters and inclusion of regular assessments of monitors should be part of an imaging department's ongoing quality assurance programme.

Computer Terminals↗