A role for clinical case simulations in basic medical science education.
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Computer-Assisted Instruction↗
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[Bionics: from the myth of Icarus to the modern science].
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Bionics↗
Interfacing biology and computing for health: the future of home diagnostics.
Major advances in science and technology are converging to enable the development of a broad range of diagnostic aids for use in the home. These range from devices designed to diagnose infectious disease, to real-time continuous monitoring of endogenous biomarkers for cancer, cardiovascular health, and the like. This chapter briefly reviews some of the technical, biological, and social challenges associated with home diagnostic aids. In addition to providing several scenarios of how such devices might be used, we describe our own efforts in this area.
Diagnosis, Computer-Assisted↗
Developing POPTRAN, a population modelling package.
"Collaboration between subject matter specialists, computer programmers and educational technologists has resulted in the reproduction of POPTRAN, a computer assisted learning package designed to teach the basic concepts of population studies. Its evaluation in developing countries, with both naive and specialist users, and subsequent revision, has produced a package of both academic quality and teaching effectiveness."
Demography↗
Exploring dangerous neighborhoods: latent semantic analysis and computing beyond the bounds of the familiar.
Certain applications require computer systems to approximate intended human meaning. This is achievable in constrained domains with a finite number of concepts. Areas such as psychiatry, however, draw on concepts from the world-at-large. A knowledge structure with broad scope is required to comprehend such domains. Latent Semantic Analysis (LSA) is an unsupervised corpus-based statistical method that derives quantitative estimates of the similarity between words and documents from their contextual usage statistics. The aim of this research was to evaluate the ability of LSA to derive meaningful associations between concepts relevant to the assessment of dangerousness in psychiatry. An expert reference model of dangerousness was used to guide the construction of a relevant corpus. Derived associations between words in the corpus were evaluated qualitatively. A similarity-based scoring function was used to assign dangerousness categories to discharge summaries. LSA was shown to derive intuitive relationships between concepts and correlated significantly better than random with human categorization of psychiatric discharge summaries according to dangerousness. The use of LSA to derive a simulated knowledge structure can extend the scope of computer systems beyond the boundaries of constrained conceptual domains.
Artificial Intelligence↗
New development of functional neurorehabilitation in neurosurgery.
OBJECTIVES: Today, increasingly more patients with severe brain and spinal cord lesions mainly secondary to accidents, violence, stroke, and tumours survive their injuries, in many cases, however, suffering from severe functional impairments of functioning as described by the WHO-ICF criteria. New developments of functional neurorehabilitation in neurosurgery could significantly improve the patients' quality of life (QoL) in terms of brain and body functioning and certain health-related components of well-being (such as social activities and leisure). METHODS: Functional rehabilitation is an original task of neurosurgery from the very outset. Advances in biotechnology regarding both basic research and clinical application have opened up a new and very promising field to restore or compensate impaired or definitively lost organic functions in addition to the conservative rehabilitation methods. RESULTS: Along with the scientific progress in biotechnology and functional MRI and PET, neurosurgeons have become increasingly interested and actively involved in rehabilitation science and neurosurgical re-engineering of the damaged brain and spinal cord. Some of them have developed new specially designed institutions for early (acute) and subacute neurorehabilitation. Attached to the acute services, neurosurgeons thus become responsible for neurorehabilitation and at the same time for the management of all kinds of complications, which significantly improves the early and late functional outcome. At the same time microelectronics, biotechnology, and genetic engineering are being introduced into the field of neurosurgical rehabilitation in a step-by-step manner. DISCUSSION: Progress in the fields of microelectronics, computer technology, and genetic engineering along with rehabilitation science is opening up a new field of unknown chances to partially restore lost body functions and to help improve the quality of life of disabled patients in the sense of ICF. Functional neurosurgery plays a major role in neurosurgical rehabilitation. e.g. functional electrostimulation, brain-stem implants, pain and epilepsy control, restoration of locomotion and grasp faculties, and the use of potent substances such as botulinum toxin (Btx). This demands the capacity of time work and the realization of the necessity to draw up a detailed plan for the restoration of impaired functions prior to enacting a neurosurgical intervention in the sense of a complex neurorehabilitation, and consequently to assume the responsibility for the patient's outcome. From the beginning of neurological surgery, the preservation and restoration of impaired brain and spinal-cord functions as an original task for neurosurgeons demand their involvement with issues of functional neurorehabilitation including neurosurgical re-engineering of the damaged brain and spinal cord. In this connection the close and trusting cooperation with the clinical neuropsychologist from the very outset is an indispensible factor.
Brain Injuries↗
A computer program for the simulation of fiber deposition in the human respiratory tract.
As inhaled fibers may lead to a variety of lung diseases, detailed information on their deposition in the human respiratory tract is an indispensable requirement in medical science. In the work presented here, a Visual Basic((R)) computer program, termed FIBROS, is described which enables the simulation of fibrous particle deposition in both the extrathoracic region and different parts of the lung itself, including the results of published numerical studies on inertial/interceptional as well as diffusional and gravitational deposition. The input window of FIBROS includes the selection of specific breathing conditions by variation of the tidal volume and breathing cycle. Furthermore, the user is able to determine fiber properties such as diameter, aspect ratio, specific weight, and fiber orientation with respect to the air stream in the upper and lower airways of the lungs. Besides the offer of various deposition formulae for each region of the respiratory tract, thereby also allowing a distinction between mouth and nose breathing, the user may select between different morphometric datasets of the lung and respective airway scaling procedures. Analysis routines of FIBROS include the estimation of regional deposition fractions, thereby distinguishing between extrathoracic, bronchial, and acinar compartments, and a calculation of generation-by-generation deposition probabilities within tubular and alveolar structures. Preliminary results presented here should demonstrate the effects on fiber deposition due to variations of the breathing behaviour and the particle properties.
Algorithms↗
[Concurrent engineering].
Concurrent engineering is a new attempt to the theoretical and practical synthesis of human activities, especially of those ones focusing to industrial production or deep to influencing human society. Although its title sound near to technology terms, concurrent engineering does not miss medicine, ecology, social security and other disciplines. From the methodological viewpoint, concurrent engineering represents a synthesis of a wide spectrum of branches of sciences and technology; that synthesis is primarily stimulated by commercial aspects, supported by the interest coming from production, control of the society and business. But that synthesis leads to a rich process of discovering interdisciplinary relations at the theoretical level, supported by the powerful tools of modern information processing, knowledge representation and exact remote transfer of symbolic, graphic and acoustic information.
Computer Simulation↗
A software agent model of consciousness.
Baars (1988, 1997) has proposed a psychological theory of consciousness, called global workspace theory. The present study describes a software agent implementation of that theory, called "Conscious" Mattie (CMattie). CMattie operates in a clerical domain from within a UNIX operating system, sending messages and interpreting messages in natural language that organize seminars at a university. CMattie fleshes out global workspace theory with a detailed computational model that integrates contemporary architectures in cognitive science and artificial intelligence. Baars (1997) lists the psychological "facts that any complete theory of consciousness must explain" in his appendix to In the Theater of Consciousness; global workspace theory was designed to explain these "facts." The present article discusses how the design of CMattie accounts for these facts and thereby the extent to which it implements global workspace theory.
Cognition↗
Fantastic microbes and where to find them: evaluating learning-by-doing outcomes in a crowdfunded metagenomics workshop.
Metagenomics offers a powerful framework for authentic, interdisciplinary learning, yet it remains underrepresented in undergraduate education due to technical and infrastructural barriers. We hypothesized that a research-based, learning-by-doing metagenomics workshop supported by accessible bioinformatics tools could enhance students' perceived skills, self-efficacy, and conceptual understanding of metagenomic analysis. To test this hypothesis, we designed and evaluated a hybrid hands-on workshop in which undergraduate and postgraduate students analyzed real environmental shotgun metagenomic datasets generated from soil samples collected during a citizen science initiative. Using the graphical workflow platform KBase, participants completed an end-to-end metagenomic analysis, from quality control and assembly to genome reconstruction, taxonomic classification, functional annotation, and scientific presentation of results. Educational outcomes were assessed through validated retrospective pre-post questionnaires, self-efficacy scales, and an open-ended conceptual understanding task. Participants showed significant increases in perceived metagenomic skills and confidence in performing metagenomic analyses, while gains in perceived learning showed a positive trend. Conceptual understanding improved across educational levels, particularly among participants with limited prior experience. Together, these findings demonstrate that authentic, data-driven metagenomics activities can effectively lower barriers to computational biology and foster meaningful learning through hands-on research experiences.
Metagenomics↗
The internet and nutrition education: challenges and opportunities.
OBJECTIVE: To review the possibilities of using the Internet and especially the World Wide Web (WWW) in nutrition education. RESULTS: A healthy existence is partly dependent on dietary behaviours. One way to promote health-promoting dietary habits is nutrition education. In the last decades several potentially important new channels for health communication and nutrition education have emerged, with the Internet and its WWW as the most striking example. The introduction and growth of the WWW has enabled swift and inexpensive distribution of nutrition education expertise and materials. Furthermore, the WWW has also been used for tailoring nutrition education to the personal characteristics of the user. Only few studies have investigated the effects of generic web-based nutrition education, while web-based computer-tailored nutrition education has been studied in randomised controlled trials, with promising but mixed results. Two important challenges for web-based nutrition education interventions are to realise sufficient exposure and to ensure sufficient source reliability and credibility. CONCLUSIONS: Next to the great opportunities, there are many challenges for web-based nutrition education. Some evidence for effects of web-based computer-tailored nutrition education has been reported, but more research is needed to obtain evidence for the effectiveness in real-life situations.
Computer-Assisted Instruction↗
Vortex core identification in viscous hydrodynamics.
We describe a software package designed for the investigation of topological fluid dynamics with a novel algorithm for locating and tracking vortex cores. The package is equipped with modules for generating desired vortex knots and links and evolving them according to the Navier-Stokes equations, while tracking and visualizing them. The package is parallelized using a message passing interface for a multiprocessor environment and makes use of a computational steering library for dynamic user intervention.
Algorithms↗
Failure by design.
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Attitude of Health Personnel↗
Betterland: an interactive cd-rom guide for children with cystic fibrosis.
Effective management of cystic fibrosis (CF) depends on adherence to a daily multi-component regimen. Segregation policies have been reported to lead to a dramatic fall in the incidence of cross infection rates in specialist CF centres. Previously, peers provided a valuable source of information and support; segregation means that there is virtually no contact with other people with CF. In this context the Betterland CD-ROM was developed with the aim of improving knowledge and understanding and helping children and young people cope with time-consuming CF treatments (inhalation therapies and physiotherapy) and painful procedures by using filmed-model approaches. Betterland is an interactive computer game, designed in the style of a theme park. Patient and carer feedback has been positive and the CD-ROM has been incorporated into a nurse-led Moving to High School (MotHS) programme, as well as the patient education work of the CF multidisciplinary team, particularly clinical nurse specialists.
Adaptation, Psychological↗
Is vision continuous with cognition? The case for cognitive impenetrability of visual perception.
Although the study of visual perception has made more progress in the past 40 years than any other area of cognitive science, there remain major disagreements as to how closely vision is tied to cognition. This target article sets out some of the arguments for both sides (arguments from computer vision, neuroscience, psychophysics, perceptual learning, and other areas of vision science) and defends the position that an important part of visual perception, corresponding to what some people have called early vision, is prohibited from accessing relevant expectations, knowledge, and utilities in determining the function it computes--in other words, it is cognitively impenetrable. That part of vision is complex and involves top-down interactions that are internal to the early vision system. Its function is to provide a structured representation of the 3-D surfaces of objects sufficient to serve as an index into memory, with somewhat different outputs being made available to other systems such as those dealing with motor control. The paper also addresses certain conceptual and methodological issues raised by this claim, such as whether signal detection theory and event-related potentials can be used to assess cognitive penetration of vision. A distinction is made among several stages in visual processing, including, in addition to the inflexible early-vision stage, a pre-perceptual attention-allocation stage and a post-perceptual evaluation, selection, and inference stage, which accesses long-term memory. These two stages provide the primary ways in which cognition can affect the outcome of visual perception. The paper discusses arguments from computer vision and psychology showing that vision is "intelligent" and involves elements of "problem solving." The cases of apparently intelligent interpretation sometimes cited in support of this claim do not show cognitive penetration; rather, they show that certain natural constraints on interpretation, concerned primarily with optical and geometrical properties of the world, have been compiled into the visual system. The paper also examines a number of examples where instructions and "hints" are alleged to affect what is seen. In each case it is concluded that the evidence is more readily assimilated to the view that when cognitive effects are found, they have a locus outside early vision, in such processes as the allocation of focal attention and the identification of the stimulus.
Agnosia↗
Distance learning, problem based learning and dynamic knowledge networks.
This paper is an attempt to develop a distance learning model grounded upon a strict integration of problem based learning (PBL), dynamic knowledge networks (DKN) and web tools, such as hypermedia documents, synchronous and asynchronous communication facilities, etc. The main objective is to develop a theory of distance learning based upon the idea that learning is a highly dynamic cognitive process aimed at connecting different concepts in a network of mutually supporting concepts. Moreover, this process is supposed to be the result of a social interaction that has to be facilitated by the web. The model was tested by creating a virtual classroom of medical and nursing students and activating a learning session on the concept of knowledge representation in health sciences.
Computer Communication Networks↗
What is a support vector machine?
Support vector machines (SVMs) are becoming popular in a wide variety of biological applications. But, what exactly are SVMs and how do they work? And what are their most promising applications in the life sciences?
Algorithms↗
Plant metabolomics: potential for practical operation.
In the postgenomic era, metabolomics is expected to be the newest useful omics science for functional genomics. However, in plant science, the present metabolomics technology cannot be considered a universal tool to perfectly elucidate perturbations imposed on sample plants although this is desired by plant physiologists. Despite it being an immature technology, metabolomics has already been used as a powerful tool for precise phenotyping, particularly for industrial application. Metabolomics is the best technology for the analysis of large mutant or transgenic libraries of model experimental plants, such as Arabidopsis, rice, etc. Here, we review the applications and technical problems of metabolomics. We also suggest the potential of metabolomics for plant post-genomic science.
Computational Biology↗