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Prospects for reducing and refining the use of dogs in the regulatory toxicity testing of pharmaceuticals.

A workshop was held to critically discuss the need for a nonrodent species and the role of the dog in regulatory toxicity testing of pharmaceuticals; to discuss opportunities to reduce and refine the use of dogs in preclinical toxicology; and to identify a number of specific recommendations which could be feasibly achieved to move the process forward. To facilitate a preliminary evaluation of the contribution of dog studies to the risk assessment process, anonymised, unpublished data were provided from fully evaluated, repeat-dose toxicity studies in the rat and dog. Results of the International Life Sciences Institute (ILSI) Human Toxicity Project were also presented and discussed. Analysis of the data demonstrated that the dog can provide additional toxicity information, which, in some cases, was shown to be predictive for humans. Discussions indicated that there is potential for achieving a reduction in dog use and several possible approaches were identified. To further the progress of this initiative, there is a need to collate the results of pharmacology, toxicology, and clinical studies to address some of the proposed approaches. One of the outcomes of the workshop will be the establishment of a steering group to co-ordinate data collation for further analysis.

Animal Testing Alternatives↗

Stereotypes and crossed-category evaluations: the case of gender and science education.

A sample of UK adolescents (n = 1140), grouped by sex and liking of science, evaluated themselves, and girl and boy targets who did or did not like science, on masculine, feminine and gender non-specific traits. Contrary to sociological concerns about the masculine image and appeal of science, those who liked science more rated themselves more positively on feminine and gender non-specific-but not masculine-traits. The girl target was rated lower on feminine traits if she liked science, but the boy was rated higher on feminine traits if he liked science. Target ratings also showed in-group enhancement based on liking of science, and a 'black sheep' effect: those who liked science less discriminated against the same-sex target who liked science, especially on gender in-group relevant traits. We argue that gender differences in science education should be attributed partly to subjective group dynamics and not solely to images of science.

Adolescent↗

Commentary: the quest for women's prophylactic methods--hopes vs science.

The companion article by Rosenberg and Gollub in this issue summarizes data from 10 observational studies and concludes that female-controlled contraceptive methods, under typical conditions, are comparable to condoms in preventing sexually transmitted diseases and should be merchandized as such. While we agree that chemical and mechanical contraceptives provide protection against some sexually transmitted diseases, we think the authors have overstated the scientific case for these methods, especially in comparison with the condom. We think the current data remain inconclusive regarding the absolute protection of spermicides against the human immunodeficiency virus and their level of protection--relative to that of the condom--against other sexually transmitted diseases. Three reasons account for our differences: the limitations in the comparative data; the reported adverse effects of spermicides on vaginal conditions, including genital ulcers; and the relative value of condoms, even under typical conditions, in preventing sexually transmitted diseases. For these reasons, we would currently counsel both women and men who practice high-risk sexual behaviors to use condoms as their first line of defense. If this is unacceptable, the female barriers become a fallback position to protect against bacterial sexually transmitted diseases.

Condoms↗

The art and science of allergy skin testing.

Demographic information, symptoms, and allergy skin test data from 809 patients from four allergy practices (A, B, C, and D) were statistically evaluated. A panel of 42 allergens were used for a total of 24,293 tests. Allergen positivity ranged from 51% for house dust to 9% for cat/dog. The patient population had primarily respiratory tract spring symptoms. Significant differences between the practices were found for (1) the number of skin tests done per patient, (2) the number of positive tests per patient, and (3) the grading of a positive test. A patient had a 3-fold to 6-fold greater chance of being found atopic by practice C or D than by practice A with practice B being intermediate. These differences highlight the need for less variation and better diagnostic standardization in the practice of allergy.

Allergens↗

[Information retrieval on ethical problems by online consultation of bioethics bibliographic data bases].

In an age when the ever-expanding limits of sciences are requiring an adjustment of moral principles and values, the Bioethics file is an essential tool for those who are in need of updated guidelines on bioethical issues. This database--produced by the Kennedy Institute of Ethics (KIE) in collaboration with the National Library of Medicine (NLM)--is distributed online by different hosts and is also available in print version and on CD-ROM. Structure and contents of the online version of the Bioethics file searchable through MEDLARS are described in details.

Bioethics↗

Female troubles: an analysis of menstrual cycle research in the NINR portfolio as a model for science development in women's health.

The National Institute for Nursing Research (NINR) has been active in developing a research portfolio of investigator-initiated studies in addressing the cause and consequences of menstrual cycle and menopause-related health problems. This chapter provides an overview of the nature and level of research activity funded by NINR since its inception in 1986, major findings generated by the most successful award recipients, the impact on the broader field of women's reproductive health and directions for future research. Presented here is an analysis of research designs and methodologies framed within the context of 4 stages of scientific development in the field: exploratory, descriptive studies in well women; illness as a biobehavioral phenomenon; knowledge generation in understudied populations; and the development and testing of clinical therapeutics for symptom management and health promotion strategies. Nursing science contributions to the NINR portfolio of women's health research has been focused primarily on the definition and management of the symptoms of premenstrual syndrome and menopause. The increasing numbers of intervention studies suggests a coming-of-age in nursing science with respect to the development of evidence-based outcome data for the management of menstrual cycle and menopause-related symptoms. Clearly, the range and diversity of NINR grant-funded activity suggest that menstrual cycle research is a strong area of interest in nursing science.

Female↗

Preliminary results of neural networks and zernike polynomials for classification of videokeratography maps.

PURPOSE: Our main goal in this work was to develop an artificial neural network (NN) that could classify specific types of corneal shapes using Zernike coefficients as input. Other authors have implemented successful NN systems in the past and have demonstrated their efficiency using different parameters. Our claim is that, given the increasing popularity of Zernike polynomials among the eye care community, this may be an interesting choice to add complementing value and precision to existing methods. By using a simple and well-documented corneal surface representation scheme, which relies on corneal elevation information, one can generate simple NN input parameters that are independent of curvature definition and that are also efficient. METHODS: We have used the Matlab Neural Network Toolbox (MathWorks, Natick, MA) to implement a three-layer feed-forward NN with 15 inputs and 5 outputs. A database from an EyeSys System 2000 (EyeSys Vision, Houston, TX) videokeratograph installed at the Escola Paulista de Medicina-Sao Paulo was used. This database contained an unknown number of corneal types. From this database, two specialists selected 80 corneas that could be clearly classified into five distinct categories: (1) normal, (2) with-the-rule astigmatism, (3) against-the-rule astigmatism, (4) keratoconus, and (5) post-laser-assisted in situ keratomileusis. The corneal height (SAG) information of the 80 data files was fit with the first 15 Vision Science and it Applications (VSIA) standard Zernike coefficients, which were individually used to feed the 15 neurons of the input layer. The five output neurons were associated with the five typical corneal shapes. A group of 40 cases was randomly selected from the larger group of 80 corneas and used as the training set. RESULTS: The NN responses were statistically analyzed in terms of sensitivity [true positive/(true positive + false negative)], specificity [true negative/(true negative + false positive)], and precision [(true positive + true negative)/total number of cases]. The mean values for these parameters were, respectively, 78.75, 97.81, and 94%. CONCLUSION: Although we have used a relatively small training and testing set, results presented here should be considered promising. They are certainly an indication of the potential of Zernike polynomials as reliable parameters, at least in the cases presented here, as input data for artificial intelligence automation of the diagnosis process of videokeratography examinations. This technique should facilitate the implementation and add value to the classification methods already available. We also discuss briefly certain special properties of Zernike polynomials that are what we think make them suitable as NN inputs for this type of application.

Artificial Intelligence↗

Stephen Jay Gould on intelligence.

In The Mismeasure of Man (1981) Stephen Jay Gould provides a typically readable history of one of our most vexatious intellectual enterprises: the scientific study of intelligence. Gould is successful, as always, in rendering the relevant scientific debates accessible to general readers. What Gould does less well is to carry through his attack on prior attempts to understand natural intelligence scientifically: attempting to muster all possible arguments against such science, he conjures up a variety of impossible arguments as well. One such argument urges that Gould's predecessors are not to be taken seriously because they are racists and have let their racism influence their scientific practice. Gould has no difficulty in demonstrating the influence of racism; where he goes astray is in his dismissal of such prior work as simply unscientific because the racist conclusions preceded the collection of data. Advancing hypotheses prior to experimentation is how all of science proceeds, and is no mark of inferior work. And no science is immune to influences--racist or otherwise--from the culture in which it is embedded, as Gould elsewhere readily acknowledges. Another failed argument claims that all of the factor analysts studying intelligence have committed the intellectual sin of reifying the factors uncovered in IQ tests--concluding that the factors are real solely on the basis of how a factor analysis summarizes IQ data. Gould concludes that factor analysis is worthless for the study of intelligence. However: (1) contrary to what Gould suggests, the factor analysts themselves warned against concluding that the factors "discovered" are physiologically real merely on the basis of a factor analysis; and (2) factor analysis nevertheless remains a strong candidate technique for developing causal models worth investigating subsequently by other means.

Humans↗

Apolipoprotein E and dementia in Parkinson disease: a meta-analysis.

OBJECTIVE: To understand the relationship of apolipoprotein E (APOE) polymorphism to dementia in Parkinson disease (PD) because the APOE epsilon4 allele is linked to Alzheimer disease. DATA SOURCE: We reviewed MEDLINE, BIOSIS Previews, and ISI Web of Science from January 1, 1966, to May 7, 2004, supplemented by citation analysis from retrieved articles. STUDY SELECTION: Case-control studies using clinical or pathologic criteria for PD and dementia, and with complete APOE genotype frequencies data. DATA EXTRACTION: We compared estimated prevalence odds ratios for dementia in PD in relation to each allele. We also looked for evidence of heterogeneity and publication bias and performed a stratified analysis on several study characteristics. DATA SYNTHESIS: Data analyses suggest publication bias and heterogeneity of source data for the epsilon4 allele (homogeneity P = .2; Begg and Mazumdar, P = .06; and Egger et al, P = .1). The estimated odds ratios for development of dementia in PD are 1.6 for epsilon4 (95% confidence interval, 1.0-2.5); 1.3 for epsilon2 (95% confidence interval, 0.73-2.4); and 0.54 for epsilon3 (95% confidence interval, 0.18-1.6). The odds ratio estimates for epsilon4 were higher for studies published in 1996 or later (2.3 vs 1.0) and for studies conducted outside North American sites (2.4 vs 1.2). CONCLUSIONS: The APOE epsilon4 allele appears to be associated with a higher prevalence of dementia in PD. Publication bias and heterogeneous source data may, however, confound this conclusion. Confirmatory studies that use standardized and validated diagnostic criteria for dementia in PD are needed.

Apolipoproteins E↗

Long-term pharmacotherapy for overweight and obesity: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.

CONTEXT: Safe and effective strategies to curb rising obesity prevalence rates are urgently needed and medications may play a more prominent role in future therapeutic regimens. OBJECTIVE: To review systematically the long-term efficacy and safety of approved antiobesity medications. DATA SOURCES: MEDLINE, EMBASE, the Cochrane Controlled Trials Register, Current Science Meta-register of Controlled Trials, and reference lists of original studies and reviews were searched. Drug manufacturers and two obesity experts were contacted. No language restrictions were imposed. STUDY SELECTION: Double-blind, randomized controlled studies of approved antiobesity medications with follow-up periods of 1 y or greater were eligible for inclusion. DATA EXTRACTION: Two reviewers independently assessed all potentially relevant studies for inclusion and methodological quality using standardized abstraction forms. RESULTS: A total of 11orlistat (n=6021) and three sibutramine (n=929) studies met inclusion criteria. Attrition rates averaged 33% in orlistat studies and 48% in sibutramine studies. A random effects model was used for meta-analysis. Compared to placebo, orlistat-treated patients displayed a 2.7 kg (95% CI: 2.3-3.1 kg) or 2.9% (95% CI: 2.3-3.4%) greater reduction in weight and patients on sibutramine displayed a 4.3 kg (95% CI: 3.6-4.9 kg) or 4.6% (95% CI: 3.8-5.4%) greater weight reduction after 1 y of follow-up. The number of patients achieving 10% or greater weight loss was 12% (95% CI: 8-16%) higher with orlistat and 15% (95% CI: 4-27%) higher with sibutramine compared to placebo. Orlistat caused gastrointestinal side effects and sibutramine increased blood pressure and pulse rate. CONCLUSION: There is a relative paucity of long-term studies of antiobesity agents. In weight loss trials of 1-y duration, orlistat and sibutramine appear modestly effective in promoting weight loss. Longer, more methodologically rigorous studies that are powered to examine end points such as mortality and cardiovascular morbidity are required.

Anti-Obesity Agents↗

Proposing a roadmap for HealthGrids.

With the regular progress of technology and infrastructures, a growing number of grid applications are developed and deployed for life science and medical research. At the last HealthGrid conference in April 2005 in Oxford, many groups described successful usage of grids for compute intensive calculations. Very large scale deployment of a biomedical application in the area of drug discovery has been achieved on EGEE during 2005. On the other hand, beside a few pioneers, very few data grids have been deployed so far and knowledge grids are still at a conceptual level. This situation is expected to evolve quickly as many projects are focussed on developing data management services and knowledge management tools relevant to biomedical sciences. At this stage, it is important to identify the potential bottlenecks and to define a roadmap for the wide adoption of grids for healthcare. This article presents an analysis of the present adoption of grids for biomedical sciences and healthcare in Europe: it identifies bottlenecks and proposes actions that will be further assessed within the framework of the SHARE European project dedicated to the definition of a roadmap for HealthGrids.

Database Management Systems↗

Data collection techniques.

We have provided an overview of techniques used to assess variables in the applied behavioral sciences. Most of the methods are used by both quantitative/positivist and qualitative/constructivist researchers but to different extents. Qualitative researchers prefer more open-ended, less structured data collection techniques than do quantitative researchers. Direct observation of participants is common in experimental and qualitative research; it is less common in so-called survey research, which tends to use self-report questionnaires. It is important that investigators use instruments that are reliable and valid for the population and purpose for which they will be used. Standardized instruments have manuals that provide norms and indexes of reliability and validity. However, if the populations and purpose on which these data are based are different from yours, it may be necessary for you to develop your own instrument or provide new evidence of reliability and validity.

Data Collection↗

[SARI: surveillance of antibiotic use and bacterial resistance in German intensive care units. Correlation between antibiotic use and the emergence of resistance].

Intensive care units (ICUs) are considered to be high-risk areas for the emergence and spread of multiresistant bacterial pathogens. In Germany, there are no representative epidemiological data on antibiotic resistance, on the use of antibiotics in ICUs, or on the correlation between antibiotic use and the emergence of resistance. Project SARI (surveillance of antibiotic use and bacterial resistance in ICUs), which as a part of the epidemiological network Spread of Nosocomial Infections and Resistant Pathogens (SIR) is supported by the German Ministry of Science and Education, started in February 2000 and meanwhile includes data on antibiotic use and resistance rates in 38 medical, surgical, and interdisciplinary ICUs. To date (February 2000-June 2003), a total of 1142 months, 413,065 patient days, and 550,288 defined daily doses (DDDs in accordance with the WHO) have been covered with a mean antibiotic usage density (AD) of 1335 DDDs/1000 patient days and resistance data on 37,612 isolates from ICUs. Ciprofloxacin use and MRSA correlate significantly, as do imipenem use and the rate of imipenemresistant P. aeruginosa. The genodiversity of P. aeruginosa is lower in ICUs with high resistance rates and low use of imipenem than in ICUs with high resistance rates and high use. This is an indirect parameter of transmission of identical strains. The epidemiological data of SARI form a basis for improved antibiotic and infection control management in ICUs (http://www.sari-antibiotika.de).

Anti-Bacterial Agents↗

Acceptability of capillary point-of-care testing: a systematic review.

OBJECTIVE: To identify and synthesise evidence on the acceptability and perceived experience of finger-prick point-of-care testing (POCT) among patients and clinicians across healthcare settings. DESIGN: Systematic review conducted in accordance with Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA 2020) guidelines. DATA SOURCES: Medline, Embase, PsycInfo, CINAHL, Cochrane and Web of Science were searched from inception to January 2024 and re-run in July 2025, supplemented by citation tracking of relevant studies. ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA: Studies reporting patient and clinicians' experiences, perceptions, satisfaction or acceptability relating to finger-prick POCT for any health condition or blood parameter were eligible. Quantitative, qualitative and mixed-methods designs were included. DATA EXTRACTION AND SYNTHESIS: Data were extracted independently by two reviewers and synthesised using thematic analysis and narrative synthesis. Methodological quality was appraised using the Mixed-Methods Appraisal Tool. RESULTS: 21 studies met the inclusion criteria, encompassing 9128 participants (17 quantitative, 3 qualitative, 1 mixed methods). Across diverse clinical contexts, finger-prick POCT was reported as generally acceptable, less distressing and perceived as a convenient alternative to venous sampling in comparative studies. Thematic synthesis identified two major themes: (1) enhancing the patient-clinician relationship through improved engagement, communication and understanding of care and (2) clinical implications of finger-prick POCT on clinicians' workflow, confidence and skill acquisition. Finger-prick POCT was perceived to promote personalised consultations, enable immediate discussion of results and streamline decision-making. Clinicians highlighted its potential to expand task sharing, improve efficiency and strengthen continuity of care, although concerns regarding training, reliability and quality assurance were identified. CONCLUSIONS: Finger-prick POCT is generally acceptable to patients and clinicians, improving comfort, convenience, engagement and perceived efficiency. Implementation should prioritise training, infrastructure and quality assurance frameworks to maximise clinical and experiential benefits. PROSPERO REGISTRATION NUMBER: CRD42024512130.

Humans↗