Single Terminology Research Articles

Analysis of autophagy gene polymorphisms in Spanish patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma

Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) is the sixth cancer on incidence worldwide. Tobacco and alcohol consumption are the most classical risk factors associated with its development. Autophagy process has a dual effect both in tumourigenesis and tumour suppressing activity. To investigate the importance of this pathway in HNSCC susceptibility, a risk factor matched case-control association study was performed with four candidate polymorphisms in autophagy genes (ATG2B, ATG5, ATG10, ATG16L1). We found an association between the variant in ATG10 rs1864183 and a higher susceptibility to develop laryngeal cancer, ATG2B rs3759601 and pharyngeal cancer and ATG16L1 rs2241880 and oral carcinoma. ATG5 rs2245214 SNP was not associated with any location. Overall, our results indicate the importance of the autophagy pathway in the susceptibility of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma and demonstrate the heterogeneity between its locations encompassed under a single terminology.

Value added medicines: what value repurposed medicines might bring to society?

ABSTRACTBackground & objectives: Despite the wide interest surrounding drug repurposing, no common terminology has been yet agreed for these products and their full potential value is not always recognised and rewarded, creating a disincentive for further development. The objectives of the present study were to assess from a wide perspective which value drug repurposing might bring to society, but also to identify key obstacles for adoption of these medicines and to discuss policy recommendations.Methods: A preliminary comprehensive search was conducted to assess how the concept of drug repurposing was described in the literature. Following completion of the literature review, a primary research was conducted to get perspective of various stakeholders across EU member states on drug repurposing (healthcare professionals, regulatory authorities and Health Technology Assessment (HTA) bodies/payers, patients, and representatives of the pharmaceutical industry developing medicines in this field). Ad hoc literature review was performed to illustrate, when appropriate, statements of the various stakeholders.Results: Various nomenclatures have been used to describe the concept of drug repurposing in the literature, with more or less broad definitions either based on outcomes, processes, or being a mix of both. In this context, Medicines for Europe (http://www.medicinesforeurope.com/value-added-medicines/) established one single terminology for these medicines, known as value added medicines, defined as ‘medicines based on known molecules that address healthcare needs and deliver relevant improvements for patients, healthcare professionals and/or payers’. Stakeholder interviews highlighted three main potential benefits for value added medicines: (1) to address a number of medicine-related healthcare inefficiencies related to irrational use of medicines, non-availability of appropriate treatment options, shortage of mature products, geographical inequity in medicine access; (2) to improve healthcare system efficiency; and (3) to contribute to sustainability of healthcare systems through economic advantages. Current HTA framework, generic stigma, and pricing rules, such as internal reference pricing or tendering processes in place in some countries, were reported as the current key hurdles preventing the full recognition of value added medicines’ benefits, discouraging manufacturers from bringing such products to the market.Discussion & conclusions: There is currently a gap between increasing regulatory authority interest in capturing value added medicines’ benefits and the resistance of HTA bodies/payers, who tend to ignore this important segment of the pharmaceutical field. This situation calls for policy changes to foster appropriate incentives to enhance value recognition of value added medicines and deliver the expected benefit to society. Policy changes from HTA perspective should include: absence of any legislative barriers preventing companies from pursuing HTA; HTA requirements proportionate to potential reward; HTA decision-making framework taking into account the specific characteristics of value added medicines; eligibility for early HTA dialogues; Policy changes from pricing perspective should encompass: tenders/procurement policies allowing differentiation from generic medicines; eligibility for early entry agreement; non-systematic implementation of external and internal reference pricing policies; recognition of indication-specific pricing.At the same time, the pharmaceutical industry should engage all the stakeholders (patients, healthcare providers, HTA bodies/payers) in early dialogues to identify their expectations and to ensure the developed value added medicines address their needs.

The National Institutes of Health’s Biomedical Translational Research Information System (BTRIS): Design, contents, functionality and experience to date

The US National Institutes of Health (NIH) has developed the Biomedical Translational Research Information System (BTRIS) to support researchers’ access to translational and clinical data. BTRIS includes a data repository, a set of programs for loading data from NIH electronic health records and research data management systems, an ontology for coding the disparate data with a single terminology, and a set of user interface tools that provide access to identified data from individual research studies and data across all studies from which individually identifiable data have been removed. This paper reports on unique design elements of the system, progress to date and user experience after five years of development and operation.

Current state of medical device nomenclature and taxonomy systems in the UK: spotlight on GMDN and SNOMED CT

A standardised terminology for describing medical devices can enable safe and unambiguous exchange of information. Proposed changes to EU-wide medical devices regulations mandate the use of such a system. This article reviews two important classification systems for medical devices in the UK. The Global Medical Device Nomenclature (GMDN) provides a classification system specifically for medical devices and diagnostics, and facilitates data exchange between manufacturers and regulators. SNOMED CT is the terminology of choice in the NHS for communicating, sharing and storing information about patients’ healthcare episodes. Harmonisation of GMDN and SNOMED CT will encourage use of single terminology throughout the lifetime of a device; from regulatory approval through clinical use and post-marketing surveillance. Manufacturers will be required to register medical devices with a European device database (Eudamed) and to fit certain devices with a Unique Device Identifier; both are efforts to improve transparency and traceability of medical devices. Successful implementation of these elements depends on having a consistent nomenclature for medical devices.

An Approach to Classify Existing Constraints as Inputs for Web Service Composition

The selection of an appropriate Web service for a particular task has become a difficult challenge due to the increasing number of Web services offering similar functionalities. Therefore, when one wants to compose web services to catch a goal, she is faced with some preferences and constraints affecting the final configuration; for simplicity, the single terminology “constraint” in place of both “constraint” and “preference” is used throughout the paper. Most of these constraints in real applications are either functional or qualitative. These constraints have been scattered and unstructured until now, and therefore, when combining services, some of them are considered while many of them are forgotten. In addition to the possibility that some constraints are unthinkable to the user, some of them are overlapping and some may even be contradictory. In this paper a well-formed classification of all known composition constraints is presented. The classification structure is a tree whose parent-child relationships shape the proposed categorization. Leaves of the tree can contain metrics to satisfy the constraints, which are their parents. The tree structure of the classification helps one to deliver constraints as an input in the XML format to the composition process. Using a simple case study, the applicability of the presented classification structure is shown. Having this structure in place, the user can determine her constraints and their priorities more easily. Moreover, one can apply this structure to evaluate various composite services from user’s point of view.

A New Approach to Forming a Typology of Kinship Terminology Systems: From Morgan and Murdock to the Present

This paper addresses typological relationships among kinship terminologies determined from structural differences in the way kin terms are organized as systems of concepts. Viewing a terminology as a system of concepts makes evident the generative logic of a terminology that starts with properties shared across several terminologies and eventually includes properties specific to a single terminology. These structural properties lead to a typology in which structural differences between terminologies form the branch points. The typology highlights two primary dimensions along which terminologies may be distinguished: (1) structural differences between terminologies and (2) variation in the morphology of the lexemic form of kin terms. Variation in the former relates to change constrained in the cultural domain and change in the latter relates to change constrained in the linguistic domain.

Electrocardiographic ST-segment elevation in the trauma patient: acute myocardial infarction vs myocardial contusion

The diagnosis of myocardial contusion in the setting of blunt trauma engenders much discussion and controversy—partly because of the lack of a gold standard for its identification other than histologic findings at autopsy. Furthermore, blunt cardiac trauma represents a spectrum of disorders ranging from transient electrocardiographic change to sudden death from myocardial rupture; hence, no single terminology exists to define such a wide range of scenarios. Here, we present 2 cases of electrocardiographic ST-segment elevation after high-speed motor vehicle crashes resulting in numerous injuries, including blunt chest trauma. Both patients demonstrated electrocardiographic ST-segment elevation, resulting from myocardial contusion and acute myocardial infarction.

A Little Occupational Audiology for the Clinical Audiologist

A Little Occupational Audiology for the Clinical Audiologist

Not Clients, Not Consumers, and Definitely Not Maternants

Abstract Objective: To determine appropriate terminology for addressing women in pregnancy. Design: 100 women (aged 15–50) were asked to fill in a questionnaire using one of the six choices provided for addressing women in pregnancy. Setting: Antenatal clinic of a teaching hospital. Results: Preferences vary according to context but simple terms like mother-to-be and pregnant women were more popular than client, consumer and maternant. Conclusion: No single terminology for addressing women in pregnancy wins all round approval but simple softer terms like Mother-to-be please a vast majority.

Not clients, not consumers and definitely not maternants

Objective: To determine appropriate terminology for addressing women in pregnancy. Design: 100 women (aged 15–50) were asked to fill in a questionnaire using one of the six choices provided for addressing women in pregnancy. Setting: Antenatal clinic of a teaching hospital. Results: Preferences vary according to context but simple terms like mother-to-be and pregnant women were more popular than client, consumer and maternant. Conclusion: No single terminology for addressing women in pregnancy wins all round approval but simple softer terms like Mother-to-be please a vast majority.

Some comments on the classification of resources and reserves

Abstract Resource and reserve classification systems are used by stock markets, investors, mining companies etc. in order to make their decision making apparently more soundly based. In view of the subjectivity of geology and diversity of mining methods, in producing and adhering to such systems those charged with the responsibility of estimating reserves run the risk of inadvertently misleading these people and of risking their own integrity. This is not to say that we should not have classification systems at all, but more that they need to reflect the reality as much as the requirement. There are additional problems at present because of the number of classification systems currently in use and the widely different uses to which they are commonly put. The worldwide acceptance of a single terminology of resource and reserve classification would go some way to reducing these. Different classification systems may be required for different applications. In addition, a move to a more systematic quantitative assessment of confidence is proposed which may reduce some of the problems inherent in such an imprecise science.