Unique Searches Research Articles

TriHealth Cancer Institute’s collaboration with the Tempus AI TIME program impact on clinical trial operations and enrollment.

1553 Background: TriHealth Cancer Institute has the largest personalized medicine program serving Cincinnati. TriHealth’s EMR integration with Tempus AI TIME allows for patient screening using an AI powered software TApp that matches to a broad clinical trial portfolio. Each patient is followed using LINK portal and trials can be activated rapidly via TIME’s operational model. The goal of this collaboration is to increase TriHealth’s patients' access for clinical trials. Methods: The TApp is software utilizing subject data, trial eligibility criteria, and NLP models for AI matching to TIME studies. Unique TApp searches occur whenever there is new patient data or changes to eligibility criteria. All TApp matches are reviewed by Tempus AI nurses followed by confirmatory screening by TriHealth’s staff. Trials were activated using the TIME program’s standardized operational methods including a pre-negotiated rate card, trials agreement, and a central IRB. Data included number of patients screened, unique TApp searches, trial activations, consents, operational metrics, and financial impact. Results: From January 2022 - March 2023, TApp performed 8,653,397 unique searches for 135 TIME trials on TriHealth’s population of 18,823 patients. During this period, 985 trial eligibility criteria were modified and 200,776 patient clinical updates occurred. There were 2,032 potential matches (1,944 interventional, 88 observational) for 45 different trials. Tempus AI nurses spent 389 hours reviewing all 1,944 interventional matches and of these sent 284 to TriHealth for evaluation. For TIME studies, 28 patients consented (18 interventional, 10 observational) and 7 trials were activated (4 interventional, 3 observational). Total trial billable revenue for TIME studies was approximately $241,500 ($34,500 average per trial). Regarding non-TIME trials, 3 patients consented on 3 interventional studies. Activation time for non-TIME trials compared to TIME trials was 186 days versus 37 days. Conclusions: TriHealth’s partnership with TIME evaluated 18,800+ patients for 135 trials. Over 8.6M unique TApp searches resulted in 2,000+ patients screened by nurses. Operationally, TIME trials resulted in a 2.3X increase in the number of trial activations, an 80% reduction in days to activation, and 9.3 fold increase in enrollment compared to non-TIME studies. The use of AI enabled patient screening, combined with a structured trial activation process, improved patient enrollment at a community health system. [Table: see text]

Impact of Exigent Research Network’s partnership with the Tempus AI TIME Program on the screening and matching of patients for clinical trials.

e13599 Background: Exigent Research is comprised of independent community oncology practices with a central patient data repository to support clinical research. The Tempus AI TIME program provides clinical trials solutions including a diverse trial portfolio, TApp an AI powered patient matching platform, patient tracking LINK portal, and a rapid trial activation process. This partnership facilitated Tempus AI to continuously search the data repository and enabled Exigent to increase trial enrollment. Methods: TApp is a clinical trial matching platform that utilizes patient data, trial eligibility criteria, and NLP models to execute AI powered matching of subjects to trials. TApp searches the entire patient population for TIME trial matches. New patient clinical information or changes to trial eligibility criteria triggers a new TApp search and matches are reviewed by Tempus AI nurses. Trials were opened in an accelerated “just in time” manner if a subject was ready immediately or prospectively prior to a first patient being identified. Data collected included trial activations, number of patients, available studies, patient and trial updates, TApp searches, nursing effort, matches, and consents. Interventional Phase I to III trials and observational studies were included. Results: From 2022 - 2023, there were 16 Exigent sites in the TIME network. The patient population screened was 244,986 matched to 189 clinical trials. There were 3,179,079 changes to individual patient records and 2,152 trial updates. This triggered 216,712,093 unique TApp searches and 33,083 matches reviewed by nurses. In total, 1,312 patients matched to observational studies and 6,040 patients for interventional trials. Cumulatively, nurses spent 6,617 hours on patient screening resulting in a $330,830 cost. There were 71 trial activations resulting in 312 patient consents (169 observational, 143 interventional). The average duration for study activation was 12.3 days for a just in time activation and 33.8 days for a prospective activation. Conclusions: Exigent Research leveraged a central data repository with the Tempus AI TIME program to continuously screen a large patient population for 185+ trials. During a two-year period, 215M+ unique TApp searches occurred which resulted in over 310 patient consents with rapid activation times. Future clinical trial strategies should partner AI screening technologies with robust trial infrastructure solutions to maximize enrollment success. [Table: see text]

The Cell Wall-Related Gene Families of Wheat (Triticum aestivum)

Wheat crops provide 20% of calories worldwide. Cell walls function in plant growth, are part of biotic and abiotic stress resistance, and provide plant mechanical strength and adaptability. These functions factor into the productivity of wheat. The genes that produce and maintain the plant cell wall are up to 10% of the genome in many varied families. Previously, curated cell wall gene families have been published for maize and rice, two other important crop grasses. Here, 81 cell wall-related wheat gene families curated via sequence similarity to maize and rice and unique family protein motif searches are presented. A total of 4086 wheat, 1118 maize, 1036 rice, and 955 Arabidopsis genes were aligned and placed into gene family trees to present homologs for all four species. Due to hexaploidy, many wheat cell wall gene families show expected triplication of genes per family over maize, rice, and Arabidopsis. However, several families contained more wheat genes than expected. The utility of this research is demonstrated with an example from a pre-harvest sprouting study to identify specific gene families rather than the less descriptive identification available with standard bioinformatic searches.

Lower Back Pain Imaging: A Readability Analysis.

The internet provides access to a myriad of educational health-related resources which are an invaluable source of information for patients. Lower back pain is a common complaint that is discussed extensively online. In this article, we aim to determine if the most commonly accessed articles about lower back pain imaging use language that can be understood by most patients. According to the American Medical Association (AMA) and National Institute of Health (NIH), this corresponds to a sixth-grade reading level. Online searches were conducted from the most commonly used search engine, Google, to assess the present state of readability on radiograph imaging for LBP. Then the top 20 populated URL links from each search were utilized based on "health & fitness" search trendsand click-through rates (CTRs). The readability of various websites was evaluated with WebFX online software that analyzed the unique websites' text when put into reader view on Firefox web browser version 116.0.3 (64-bit). Evaluation occurred via five common readability indices: the Automated Readability Index (ARI), the Coleman Liau Index (CLI), the SMOG index, the Gunning Fog Score Index (GFSI), and the Flesch Kincaid Grade Level Index (FKGLI). In addition, the Flesch Kincaid Reading Ease Index (FKREI) was also used but was excluded from the calculation due to its measuring scale outside of US grade levels. The number of samples was analyzed via health and fitness-specific CTRfrom an open-access database from July 2022 to July 2023. This was used to calculate the number of persons clicking and visiting positional URLs (first URL to the 20th URL) from each unique keyword search and the rational criteria for selecting the first 20 websites for each query. Online material that included LBP imaging information was calculated to have an overall readability score of 10.745 out of the 23 websites obtained from unique searches. The range was a mean readability score of 8 to 14. Notably, 17 websites were excluded from a total of 40 websites due to duplication of the same data (URLs that resulted from both unique searches) and accessibility requiring payment (specifically, an UpToDate link). A readability score of 10.745 refers to an 11th-grade reading level. That is to say, the most commonly visited sites on Google that contain information about lower back pain imaging are, on average, five grade levels higher than the sixth-grade reading level recommended by the AMAand the NIH. Most internet content regarding lower back pain imaging is written at a reading level that is above the recommended limit defined by the AMA and NIH. To improve education about lower back pain imaging and the patient-physician relationship, we recommend guiding patients to online material that contains a reading levelat the sixth-grade level as suggested by the AMA and NIH.

Excess All-Cause Mortality in China After Ending the Zero COVID Policy

In China, the implementation of stringent mitigation measures kept COVID-19 incidence and excess mortality low during the first years of the pandemic. However, China's decision to end its dynamic zero COVID policy (a proactive strategy that deploys mass testing and strict quarantine measures to stamp out any outbreak before it can spread) in December 2022 resulted in a surge in COVID-19 incidence and hospitalizations. Despite worldwide attention given to this event, the actual impact of this sudden shift in policy on population mortality has not been empirically estimated. To assess the association of the sudden shift in China's dynamic zero COVID policy with mortality using empirical and syndromic surveillance data. This cohort study analyzed published obituary data from 3 universities in China (2 in Beijing and 1 in Heilongjiang) and search engine data from the Baidu index (BI; weighted frequency of unique searches for a given keyword relative to the total search volume on the Baidu search engine) in each region of China from January 1, 2016, to January 31, 2023. Using an interrupted time-series design, analyses estimated the relative change in mortality among individuals 30 years and older in the universities and the change in BI for mortality-related terms in each region of China from December 2022 to January 2023. Analysis revealed a strong correlation between Baidu searches for mortality-related keywords and actual mortality burden. Using this correlation, the relative increase in mortality in Beijing and Heilongjiang was extrapolated to the rest of China, and region-specific excess mortality was calculated by multiplying the proportional increase in mortality by the number of expected deaths. Data analysis was performed from February 10, 2023, to March 5, 2023. The end to the dynamic zero COVID policy in December 2022 in China. Monthly all-cause mortality by region. An estimated 1.87 million (95% CI, 0.71 million-4.43 million; 1.33 per 1000 population) excess deaths occurred among individuals 30 years and older in China during the first 2 months after the end of the zero COVID policy. Excess deaths predominantly occurred among older individuals and were observed across all provinces in mainland China except Tibet. In this cohort study of the population in China, the sudden lifting of the zero COVID policy was associated with significant increases in all-cause mortality. These findings provide valuable insights for policy makers and public health experts and are important for understanding how the sudden propagation of COVID-19 across a population may be associated with population mortality.

The Role of Information Boxes in Search Engine Results for Symptom Searches: Analysis of Archival Data.

Search engines provide health information boxes as part of search results to address information gaps and misinformation for commonly searched symptoms. Few prior studies have sought to understand how individuals who are seeking information about health symptoms navigate different types of page elements on search engine results pages, including health information boxes. Using real-world search engine data, this study sought to investigate how users searching for common health-related symptoms with Bing interacted with health information boxes (info boxes) and other page elements. A sample of searches (N=28,552 unique searches) was compiled for the 17 most common medical symptoms queried on Microsoft Bing by users in the United States between September and November 2019. The association between the page elements that users saw, their characteristics, and the time spent on elements or clicks was investigated using linear and logistic regression. The number of searches ranged by symptom type from 55 searches for cramps to 7459 searches for anxiety. Users searching for common health-related symptoms saw pages with standard web results (n=24,034, 84%), itemized web results (n=23,354, 82%), ads (n=13,171, 46%), and info boxes (n=18,215, 64%). Users spent on average 22 (SD 26) seconds on the search engine results page. Users who saw all page elements spent 25% (7.1 s) of their time on the info box, 23% (6.1 s) on standard web results, 20% (5.7 s) on ads, and 10% (10 s) on itemized web results, with significantly more time on the info box compared to other elements and the least amount of time on itemized web results. Info box characteristics such as reading ease and appearance of related conditions were associated with longer time on the info box. Although none of the info box characteristics were associated with clicks on standard web results, info box characteristics such as reading ease and related searches were negatively correlated with clicks on ads. Info boxes were attended most by users compared with other page elements, and their characteristics may influence future web searching. Future studies are needed that further explore the utility of info boxes and their influence on real-world health-seeking behaviors.

An Analysis of Internet Searches Performed on a Hospital System Homepage to Assess Search Patterns and Traffic Generated by Radiology-specific Terms

ObjectiveTo understand the utilization of the search engine within our hospital system's homepage, stratifying the searches into physician specialty, procedures or therapies, patient conditions, and logistical queries, with a specific focus on radiology-specific terms as a baseline to guide future interventions. MethodsThe top 1000 most searched terms entered into the medical system's homepage between January 1, 2017 and February 28, 2018 were collected. Related or similar terms were combined for analysis. ResultsDuring the study period, there were 121,071 unique searches on the center's website, and the top 1000 most searched terms combined for 65,011 searches. The most searched category was logistical queries (n = 29,667), followed by searches for conditions (n = 14,033), specialties (n = 3083), and procedures or therapies (n = 2252). Within the top 1000 most searched terms, radiology-specific searches accounted for 96 searches. These terms were all mammography-related. ConclusionRadiology as a specialty and radiology-specific terms were not frequently searched for by patients when compared with other specialties. Mammography-related terms were the only radiologic subspecialty items within the top 1000 search terms. Overall, patients searched more for conditions than they did for specialties or therapies. These findings could be a representation of the general public's lack of awareness regarding the specialty.

АЛГОРИТМИ ШТУЧНОГО ІНТЕЛЕКТУ ДЛЯ ПОШУКУ ІНФОРМАЦІЇ В СИСТЕМАХ ДИСТАНЦІЙНОГО НАВЧАННЯ

Належний пошук відіграє велику роль в умовах інформаційної насиченості. З кожним днем в пошукових системах індексується все більше інформації, а тому і зростає кількість інформаційного сміття. Для пошуку інформації в мережі інтернет все більш актуальним являється використання алгоритмів штучного інтелекту для видачі більш точного результату та відсіювання зайвої інформації для пошукового запиту. В роботі було досліджено методи і алгоритми штучного інтелекту, які використовуються для пошуку інформації. Для пошуку наукової і навчальної інформації в системі дистанційного навчання було обрано алгоритми колоборативної фільтрації, класифікації та задачі пошуку асоціативних правил. Алгоритми було модифіковано і використано для пошуку матеріалу, враховуючи інтереси користувача. Було розширено базу даних дистанційної системи, створено таблиці: історія пошукових запитів, унікальних пошукових запитів (без повторень), ключових слів, зв’язок ключових слів з унікальним пошуковим запитом, зв’язок користувача з ключовими словами. Таблиці дали можливість організувати інтелектуальний пошук за заданим критерієм. В статті наведено алгоритм для зберігання ключових слів та зв’язку ключових слів з пошуковим запитом та з користувачем. Завдяки цьому алгоритму, якщо виконується пошук по заданому критерію, при повторному пошуку з’являється список ключових слів, схожих за змістом на заданий критерій, які були в переглянутих матеріалах. Цей список формується з ключових слів до статті, яка зацікавила користувача, таким чином можна виявити пріоритети, які є у користувача при пошуку наукової і навчальної інформації. При необхідності можна скористатися ключовим словом для пошуку. Користувач може зберігати посилання на той чи інший ресурс, якщо вони були корисними. Ці посилання пропонуються іншому користувачу, який шукає таку саму інформацію. За рахунок використання алгоритму штучного інтелекту при розширенні пошуковому модулі, пошукова система значно розширила можливості пошуку. Пошукова система враховує інтереси кожного користувача і є частиною системи дистанційного навчання. Користувачі отримали можливість зручного і швидкого пошуку наукової і навчальної інформації.

ASSESSMENT OF ATTITUDE TO ANTI-EPIDEMIC MEASURES ON THE BASIS OF ANALYSIS OF SOCIAL NETWORK CONTENT

The article analyzes the dynamics of the COVID-19 pandemic, measures to counter its spread in the world and Ukraine, and also considers the economic consequences. The concept of trust and its impact on the economy are considered in detail, and indicators of trust in state and local authorities in a pandemic are analyzed. The points of view of users of social networks on the economic consequences of the pandemic are determined. The sample of publications was collected for the April-May 2020 period using 360 unique searches at the crossroads of coronavirus and government topics, including 6,726 posts from Ukrainian Facebook users. The words used in the resulting corpus of texts turned out to be: coronavirus, epidemic, quarantine, mask, government, state, president. The semantic analysis of the corpus, carried out using the Word2Vec toolkit, showed that the posts about coronavirus often discuss the state budget, measures to combat the epidemic and the incidence rate, in connection with quarantine - fines and violations, infographics on anti-epidemiological measures. To analyze user sentiment, dictionaries of positive and negative words were built and analyzed, comparing which, it can be noted that, on average, words with an optimistic tone are used 30% more often than with pessimistic ones. Analysis of the reaction to publications by number and type showed that the word "coronavirus" evokes very contradictory emotions, "laughter" and "anger" are practically on the same level. At the same time, the mention of the words "government" and "quarantine" most often causes "anger" and "sadness", "president" and "economy" - "laughter" and "anger" ("contempt" and "aggression" according to Plutchik's methodology). The article proposes a method for assessing attitudes towards anti-epidemiological measures based on the analysis of the content of social networks, including: 1) collection of data on a selected topic from the Facebook network, 2) initial training and statistical analysis of the text. corpus, 3) semantic analysis of the text corpus, 4) analysis of user sentiments. The assessment obtained using the proposed method is confirmed by the results of a survey in support of the government's work to counter the spread of coronavirus, according to which only about 10% of respondents speak positively about its actions, more than 60% - negatively.Thus, the method for assessing attitudes towards anti-epidemiological measures based on the analysis of the content of social networks is implemented as a set of SQL and Python scripts. This method can be used to regularly monitor public opinion regarding the assessment of work to counter the spread of coronavirus.

Citing Evolving Data: An implementation on the NHM Data Portal

Since 2015, the Natural History Museum London has made its research and collections data available through its Data Portal (https://data.nhm.ac.uk). This website provides free and open access to important research datasets as well as digitised objects from the Museum's specimen collection. The Data Portal currently has over 4.2 million records from the specimen collection and a further 5.5 million records from other research datasets. Since 2015, more than 250 scientific publications have cited data from the Data Portal, either directly or through aggregators such as the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF), although there are many more citations than it is currently possible to track. Users can download data from the Portal and are encouraged to cite the source, however, there is currently no way for users to cite subsets of the data returned through a query, nor a way to persistently identify the data subset they are citing. This is a common issue with scientific data put online, particularly when the cited data changes frequently, such as is the case with the Museum's specimen collection, which grows constantly as more of the collection is digitised. This poster outlines a new approach that has been designed to meet the Research Data Alliance's (RDA) Working Group on Data Citation recommendations on citing evolving data (Rauber et al. 2015). This is achieved by implementing a fully versioned search framework, ensuring that all modifications to records are tracked and the version timestamp of each modification is combined with the data into the search index. When users search and download data from the Portal, Digital Object Identifiers (DOI) are minted for unique searches at exact versions allowing the dynamic, repeated retrieval of data at any version timestamp, without storing the results. Combining the versioning information into the search index also allows queries against historical data. By persistently identifying query results in this fashion, researchers can cite data precisely and have confidence that although the data may change after they use it, users of their work will be able to access the data as it looked when they studied it originally. This should also encourage the systematic use of citations, making it easier to track both the usage and impact of research and collections datasets.

Googling Gout: Exploring Perceptions About Gout Through a Linguistic Analysis of Online Search Activities.

To understand what terms people seeking information about gout use most frequently in online searches and to explore the psychological and emotional tone of these searches. A large de-identified data set of search histories from major search engines was analyzed. Participants who searched for gout (n = 1,117), arthritis (arthritis search control group, age and sex-matched, n = 2,036), and a random set of age and sex-matched participants (general control group, n = 2,150) were included. Searches were analyzed using Meaning Extraction Helper and Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count. The most frequent unique searches in the gout search group included gout-related and food-related terms. Those who searched for gout were most likely to search for words related to eating or avoidance. In contrast, those who searched for arthritis were more likely to search for disease- or health-related words. Compared with the general control group, higher information seeking was observed for the gout and arthritis search groups. Compared with the general control group, both the gout and arthritis search groups searched for more food-related words and fewer leisure and sex-related words. The searches of both the gout and arthritis search groups were lower in positivity and higher in the frequency of sadness-related words. The perception of gout as a condition managed by dietary strategies aligns with online information seeking about the disease and its management. In contrast, people searching for information about arthritis focus more on medical strategies. Linguistic analyses reflect greater disability in social and leisure activities and lower positive emotion for those searching for gout or arthritis.

Timely linkage of individuals to substance use disorder treatment: development, implementation, and evaluation of FindHelpNowKY.org

BackgroundSubstance use disorders (SUD) have steadily increased over the last two decades. Seeking SUD treatment involves searching SUD treatment facility types (inpatient, outpatient and intensive outpatient, residential and family residential, and detoxification facilities) that offer specialized SUD treatment depending on individual needs and preferences. Referrals to SUD treatment require innovative strategies that rapidly link individuals to SUD treatment when they are at the critical stage of readiness. The aim of this study was to develop, implement, and evaluate a user-friendly SUD treatment facility opening availability website called FindHelpNowKY.org. The objectives of the study were to 1) recruit SUD treatment facility and partner participation; 2) develop platform, content, and analytics for the FindHelpNowKY.org website intervention with an information repository; 3) assess barriers and facilitators to implementation; and 4) evaluate the development and implementation of FindHelpNowKY.org.MethodsWebsite development stakeholders were identified and the website concept was developed. The logic model for FindHelpNowKY.org outlined resources, activities, and outputs as well as the associated short-term, medium-term, and long-term objectives, along with a website evaluation plan. Website usability and focus group testing was conducted. Information repository resource documents were compiled and categorized. An inventory of Kentucky-based SUD treatment facilities was compiled using various state and federal resources.ResultsDevelopment/implementation barriers were addressed, facilitators were identified, and the website was implemented; 83% of SUD treatment facilities were indexed on the website, and average website user time was 7 min. From February to October 2018, there were 29,000 visitors, and 30,000 unique searches. The most common website query was a friend or family member seeking long-term residential or outpatient treatment facilities accepting Medicaid or Medicare.ConclusionsFindHelpNowKY.org has the potential to fill a critical need for timely access to available SUD treatment in the state. The website may be a valuable resource for health professionals that can enhance clinical workflow and reduce staff time conducting phone and website searches for available SUD treatment. The website is a promising tool for assessing current SUD treatment capacity vs. SUD treatment need. The FindHelpNow model can be used by other states to increase timely access to SUD treatment.

Real Time Visualization of DSpace Usage: An Integrated Framework for Libraries

Web analytics is also known as cloud analytics which helps to display the information regarding site metrics from massive data. This can be achieved in two ways via the user’s web browser such as statistical and visualization of a particular digital web based interface. This paper explores high level digital archiving software by integration of DSpace with web analytics popular tool Piwik. The paper discusses to create a single window web analytic interface to represent the user log and present the DSpace Usage. For this the researchers select DSpace, an open source software as it is free and popular. They integrate DSpace software with Piwik web analytic tool. Piwik, a web analytic interface tool has been chosen due to its successful integration with DSpace and it is also a free web analytics tool. The whole integration is being performed in Ubuntu operating system due to its reliability and good rate of performance. After successful integration of DSpace with Piwik in Ubuntu Operating System, researchers found that there are multiple colourful link icons showing the different community, sub-community, collection and metadata. It will also display statistical visual graph showing unique visitors, average visit duration, page views, downloads, average generation time page views, unique page views total searches on your website, unique keywords downloads, etc. Through this web analytic interface, DSpace usage may be measured easily and the users’ trend at present will be displayed to rectify any demerits behind this.

Evaluation of a Mobile Phone App for Providing Adolescents With Sexual and Reproductive Health Information, New York City, 2013-2016

The New York City (NYC) Department of Health and Mental Hygiene released the Teens in NYC mobile phone application (app) in 2013 as part of a program to promote sexual and reproductive health among adolescents aged 12-19 in NYC. The app featured a locator that allowed users to search for health service providers by sexual health services, contraceptive methods, and geographic locations. We analyzed data on searches from the Where to Go section of the app to understand the patterns of use of the app's search functionality. From January 7, 2013, through March 20, 2016, the app was downloaded more than 20 000 times, and more than 25 000 unique searches were conducted within the app. Results suggest that the app helped adolescents discover and access a wide range of sexual health services, including less commonly used contraceptives. Those designing similar apps should consider incorporating search functionality by sexual health service (including abortion), contraceptive method, and user location.

Early Hearing Detection and Intervention-Pediatric Audiology Links to Services EHDI-PALS: Building a National Facility Database.

To create a searchable web-based national audiology facility directory using a standardized survey, so parents and providers could identify which facilities had capacity to provide appropriate services based on child's age. An Early Hearing Detection and Intervention-Pediatric Audiology Links to Services expert panel was convened to create a survey to collect audiology facility information. Professional practice documents were reviewed, a survey was designed to collect pertinent test protocols of each audiology facility, and a standard of care template was created to cross-check survey answers. Audiology facility information across the United States was collected and compiled into a directory structured and displayed in an interactive website, ehdipals.org. Since November 7, 2012, to May 21, 2016, over 1000 facilities have completed the survey and become listed in the Early Hearing Detection and Intervention-Pediatric Audiology Links to Services directory. The site has registered 10,759 unique visitors, 151,981 page views, and 9134 unique searches from consumers. User feedback has been positive overall. A searchable, web-based facility directory has proven useful to consumers as a tool to help them differentiate whether a facility was set up to test newborns versus young children. Use of a preprogrammed standard of practice template to cross-check survey answers was also shown to be a practical aid.

CRISPR multitargeter: a web tool to find common and unique CRISPR single guide RNA targets in a set of similar sequences.

Genome engineering has been revolutionized by the discovery of clustered regularly interspaced palindromic repeats (CRISPR) and CRISPR-associated system genes (Cas) in bacteria. The type IIB Streptococcus pyogenes CRISPR/Cas9 system functions in many species and additional types of CRISPR/Cas systems are under development. In the type II system, expression of CRISPR single guide RNA (sgRNA) targeting a defined sequence and Cas9 generates a sequence-specific nuclease inducing small deletions or insertions. Moreover, knock-in of large DNA inserts has been shown at the sites targeted by sgRNAs and Cas9. Several tools are available for designing sgRNAs that target unique locations in the genome. However, the ability to find sgRNA targets common to several similar sequences or, by contrast, unique to each of these sequences, would also be advantageous. To provide such a tool for several types of CRISPR/Cas system and many species, we developed the CRISPR MultiTargeter software. Similar DNA sequences in question are duplicated genes and sets of exons of different transcripts of a gene. Thus, we implemented a basic sgRNA target search of input sequences for single-sgRNA and two-sgRNA/Cas9 nickase targeting, as well as common and unique sgRNA target searches in 1) a set of input sequences; 2) a set of similar genes or transcripts; or 3) transcripts a single gene. We demonstrate potential uses of the program by identifying unique isoform-specific sgRNA sites in 71% of zebrafish alternative transcripts and common sgRNA target sites in approximately 40% of zebrafish duplicated gene pairs. The design of unique targets in alternative exons is helpful because it will facilitate functional genomic studies of transcript isoforms. Similarly, its application to duplicated genes may simplify multi-gene mutational targeting experiments. Overall, this program provides a unique interface that will enhance use of CRISPR/Cas technology.

Tug-of-war model for the two-bandit problem: Nonlocally-correlated parallel exploration via resource conservation

We propose a model – the “tug-of-war (TOW) model” – to conduct unique parallel searches using many nonlocally-correlated search agents. The model is based on the property of a single-celled amoeba, the true slime mold Physarum, which maintains a constant intracellular resource volume while collecting environmental information by concurrently expanding and shrinking its branches. The conservation law entails a “nonlocal correlation” among the branches, i.e., volume increment in one branch is immediately compensated by volume decrement(s) in the other branch(es). This nonlocal correlation was shown to be useful for decision making in the case of a dilemma. The multi-armed bandit problem is to determine the optimal strategy for maximizing the total reward sum with incompatible demands, by either exploiting the rewards obtained using the already collected information or exploring new information for acquiring higher payoffs involving risks. Our model can efficiently manage the “exploration–exploitation dilemma” and exhibits good performances. The average accuracy rate of our model is higher than those of well-known algorithms such as the modified ϵ -greedy algorithm and modified softmax algorithm, especially, for solving relatively difficult problems. Moreover, our model flexibly adapts to changing environments, a property essential for living organisms surviving in uncertain environments.

Installing the Game: Gameplay in the Installation <i>T_Visionarium</i>

Installing the Game: Gameplay in the Installation T_Visionarium Melissa Milton-Smith (bio) Digital art installations are using dynamic gaming elements to facilitate affective and particular experiences. Complex installations like iCinema’s T_Visionarium are incorporating interactive gaming principles and media, to enable users to affect narrative outcomes and generate intimate and personalised encounters. In this paper, I will discuss critical gaming and installation convergences, and explore new forms of digital play. I will begin with an examination of how early arcade games are being remediated, and will then analyse the inclusion of online gaming principles in installations such as T_Visionarium. T_Visionarium was originally developed in 2001, concurrent to The University of New South Wales’ establishment of the iCinema Centre for Interactive Cinema Research.1 The granting of an Australian Research Council (ARC) Federation Fellowship returned Jeffrey Shaw to Australia to take up the position of executive director. Supported by a council of digital artists and academics and collaboration with ZKM Institute for Visual Media (ZKM), Karlsruhe Germany, and EPIDEMIC in Paris, iCinema sought to give equal attention to practice and discourse. In 2006 T_Visionarium was re-launched, and in 2008 featured as part of the Sydney Festival and International Biennial of Contemporary Art of Seville. T_Visionarium is constructed as an immersive and interactive environment housed within an inflatable dome. The installation features a virtual reality (VR) headset, which is reminiscent of W Industries’ (later Virtuality) 1991 arcade game Dactyl Nightmare. A key feature of Dactyl Nightmare was a head-mounted stereoscopic display, with two LCD screens, four speakers, and a microphone. The display responded to the player’s head movements, while a joystick controlled the movements of the gamer’s avatar. Similarly, T_Visionarium’s headgear responds to users’ unique movements and lines of [End Page 197] gaze. When a participant looks at a particular image, for example, it increases in size until it dominates the dome. The surround sound also responds to the participant’s unique interactions, by changing in volume and intensity. In addition to its VR headgear, T_Visionarium incorporates an interactive console, which is reminiscent of the Magnavox video game Odyssey (1972), and Namco’s Pac-Man (1980). iCinema’s incorporation of an arcade game console has resonances with Josephine Starrs and Leon Cmielewski’s 2004 installation Floating Territories. Floating Territories featured an interactive console, which was connected to a projection screen and surround sound system. The installation incorporated a graphical user interface (GUI), with five game settings. Like T_Visionarium, Starrs and Cmielewski’s Floating Territories used early arcade game media to consider how precedent technologies might inform new states of digital play. Keir Smith argues that digital media can provide users with “an alternative, active and potentially creative engagement with a familiar data set, one which may lead to new, unexpected and, often unintended synchronities” (2009, sec. 1 par. 3). By using the “familiar dataset” of the video game format, iCinema shows how the digital works might reflect upon past notions of interactivity, in creating affective experiences that move beyond. Despite its incorporation of early gaming elements, T_Visionarium shows an advanced understanding of how interactive technology can generate affective experiences. The installation’s console is linked to a dynamic GUI, which selects content based upon unique keyword searches. The installation then streams a mélange of archived and live news footage and audio, which directly relates to the user’s input. The experience that unfolds is affective and particular, and presents transcriptive rather than predetermined narratives. iCinema ironically use arcade game media to reflect upon new possibilities for digital narrative. iCinema maintain that T_Visionarium’s integration of a dynamic video projection system and panoramic navigator (PN) presents a “method for generating a representation of the virtual environment around the PN, so that the touch screen can be used to interact with it” (Smith 2009, sec. 1, par. 2). The installation’s PN and live search engine enables users to affect narrative sequences, and assume a more collaborative role in development. Through haptic and responsive technologies, T_Visionarium transforms the user into an active collaborator. This rearrangement of roles converses with a shift in the production of digital games, where gamers increasingly affect narrative outcomes. In the massively multiplayer online...

Origens da Universidade Brasileira

Higher education was precariously installed in Brazil in colonial times, and during that period it led a difficult life. From the early nineteenth century on several institutions were founded and developed in different parts of the country. Those institutions were kept independent from one another without forming full universities until the beginning of the twentieth century, in a peculiar historical process that sets the country apart in this respect. This article examines this unique development and searches the past for the earliest origins of the nation's present university network.

Image querying by image professionals

AbstractThis article reports the analysis of two samples of search logs from a commercial image provider over a 1‐month period. The study analyzes image searches and queries, user query modification strategies, and user browsing and downloading of results. Unique term searches are less frequent than earlier research has shown; descriptive and thematic queries are more common. Boolean searching, although heavily employed, appears to be ineffective and leads to query modifications. Although there was a large amount of query modification (61.7% of queries across the two samples), the tactics overall do not appear to be carefully thought out and seem to be largely experimental. Given the willingness to modify queries but the inability to do so in an effective way, more support for query modification may be beneficial.