Controlled vocabularies and semantics in systems biology

The use of computational modeling to describe and analyze biological systems is at the heart of systems biology. Model structures, simulation descriptions and numerical results can be encoded in structured formats, but there is an increasing need to provide an additional semantic layer. Semantic information adds meaning to components of structured descriptions to help identify and interpret them unambiguously. Ontologies are one of the tools frequently used for this purpose. We describe here three ontologies created specifically to address the needs of the systems biology community. The Systems Biology Ontology (SBO) provides semantic information about the model components. The Kinetic Simulation Algorithm Ontology (KiSAO) supplies information about existing algorithms available for the simulation of systems biology models, their characterization and interrelationships. The Terminology for the Description of Dynamics (TEDDY) categorizes dynamical features of the simulation results and general systems behavior. The provision of semantic information extends a model's longevity and facilitates its reuse. It provides useful insight into the biology of modeled processes, and may be used to make informed decisions on subsequent simulation experiments

SHAP Enrollment and Eligibility Activities: Implications for Process and System Modernization Under National Health Reform

Shares five states' experiences and best practices in using State Health Access Program grants to expand public health coverage through community-based outreach and improved eligibility and enrollment processes, as well as implications for federal reform

A Healthy Start for the Los Angeles Healthy Kids Program: Findings From the First Evaluation Site Visit

Analyzes the implementation and impact of the first two years of the Healthy Kids Program, and outlines key issues and challenges to achieving universal coverage and stable financing

Knowledge Gaps and Misinformation About Birth Control Methods Persist in 2016

Beyond Birth Control: Family Planning and Women's Lives is a multiyear project examining the current state of access to contraception and how this access influences women's lives in the short and long term. Supported by the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, the Urban Institute is using mixed research methods to answer two main questions under the project: how does expanded access to affordable contraception affect short- and long-term socioeconomic and health outcomes for women and their families, and what are the persistent barriers to contraceptive access and use, who faces these barriers, and how can these barriers be reduced? This brief is one of a series of Beyond Birth Control products that will provide new and timely information to influence policy debates and highlight areas where progress has been most challenging and where additional resources could most productively be directed

Growing Pains for the Los Angeles Healthy Kids Program: Findings From the Second Evaluation Case Study (Apr 2008)

Evaluates the program to provide health coverage to poor children ineligible for Medi-Cal or Healthy Families in terms of outreach, enrollment, and retention; benefits, service delivery, and access; financing and stability; and program improvement

Los Dibujos de trabajo de campo de la Escuela francesa de Geografía (Paul Vidal de La Blache y Pierre Deffontaines)

Els dibuixos de treball de camp a l'Escola francesa de Geografia (Paul Vidal de la Blache i Pierre Deffontaines). L'Escola francesa de Geografia ha desenvolupat el croquis de terreny i el dibuix de perfils, blocs diagrames i croquis panoràmics com a eines eficaces per a l'anàlisi del paisatge i particularment de les relacions entre les societats humanes i el seu entorn físic. Paul Vidal de La Blache, precursor en aquest camp, va practicar un dibuix simple i constructiu, passant d'un inventari topogràfic a una anàlisi complexa del paisatge. Emmanuel de Martonne ha estat el fundador d'una escola de cartografia a la Universitat de la Sorbona i el pedagog dels exercicis gràfics canònics per al geògraf. Pierre Deffontaines va seguir les seves lliçons i produí una obra gràfica immensa, moltes vegades utilitzada per a il·lustrar les seves publicacions. Després d'un declivi causat per la introducció de l'anàlisi quantitativa i de l'ordinador, el croquis de terreny torna amb la relectura dels antics mestres i el retorn del paisatge i de la sensibilitat al camp de la geografia.La Escuela francesa de Geografía ha desarrollado el croquis de terreno y el dibujo de perfiles, bloques diagramas y croquis panorámicos como herramientas eficaces para el análisis del paisaje y particularmente de las relaciones entre las sociedades humanas y su entorno físico. Paul Vidal de La Blache, precursor en este campo, ha practicado un dibujo simple y constructivo, pasando de un inventario topográfico a un análisis complejo del paisaje. Emmanuel de Martonne ha sido el fundador de una escuela de cartografía en la Universidad de la Sorbona y el pedagogo de los ejercicios gráficos canónicos del geógrafo. Pierre Deffontaines ha seguido sus lecciones y producido una obra grafica inmensa, muchas veces utilizada para ilustrar sus publicaciones. Después de un declive causado por la introducción del análisis cuantitativo y del ordenador, el croquis de terreno vuelve con la relectura de los maestros anteriores y la vuelta del paisaje y de la sensibilidad en el ámbito geográfico.The field trip drawings of the French School of Geography (Paul Vidal de La Blache and Pierre Deffontaines). The French school of geography developed all kind of tools such as field diagrams, and drawings of profiles and of the scenery for the analysis of the landscape and particularly for the understanding of the relationship between human societies and their physical environments. Paul Vidal de La Blache was the pioneer in this field, practicing a very simple and constructive drawing, from topographic records to complex landscape analysis. Emmanuel de Martonne was the founding father of the cartographic school of the Sorbonne University in Paris, and a geography pedagogue using his canonic graphic exercises. Pierre Deffontaines followed De Martonne lessons and produced an enormous graphic legacy, often used in his publications. After a decline in these techniques caused by the introduction of the use of quantitative analysis and computers, field drawings is coming back with a new reading of the old masters, and by the renewed interest on landscape and a more sensible geography

Growing Pains for the Los Angeles Healthy Kids Program: Findings From the Second Evaluation Case Study (Nov 2008)

Analyzes the initiative's continued efforts to provide health insurance for poor children ineligible for Medi-Cal or Healthy Families, as well as the challenges it faces, including the enrollment hold placed on 6- to 18-year-olds due to funding shortages

Characterisation of chaos in meteoroid streams. Application to the Geminids

Dynamically linking a meteor shower with its parent body can be challenging. This is in part due to the limits of the tools available today (such as D-criteria) but is also due to the complex dynamics of meteoroid streams. We choose a method to study chaos in meteoroid streams and apply it to the Geminid meteoroid stream. We decided to draw chaos maps. Amongst the chaos indicators we studied, we show that the orthogonal fast Lyapunov indicator is particularly well suited to our problem. The maps are drawn for three bin sizes, ranging from $10^{-1}$ to $10^{-4}$ m. We show the influence of mean-motion resonances with the Earth and with Venus, which tend to trap the largest particles. The chaos maps present three distinct regimes in eccentricity, reflecting close encounters with the planets. We also study the effect of non-gravitational forces. We determine a first approximation of the particle size $r_{lim}$ needed to counterbalance the resonances with the diffusion due to the non-gravitational forces. We find that, for the Geminids, $r_{lim}$ lies in the range $[3;8]\times 10^{-4}$ m. However, $r_{lim}$ depends on the orbital phase space.Comment: 14 pages, 14 figures, Published in A&

MIREOT: the Minimum Information to Reference an External Ontology Term

While the Web Ontology Language (OWL) provides a mechanism to import ontologies, this mechanism is not always suitable. First, given the current state of editing tools and the issues they have working with large ontologies, direct OWL imports have sometimes proven impractical for day-to-day development. Second, ontologies chosen for integration may be under active development and not aligned with the chosen design principles. Importing heterogeneous ontologies in their entirety may lead to inconsistencies or unintended inferences. In this paper we propose a set of guidelines for importing required terms from an external resource into a target ontology. We describe the guidelines, their implementation, present some examples of application, and outline future work and extensions

Covering Kids & Families Case Study of Oregon: Exploring Medicaid and SCHIP Enrollment Trends and Their Links to Policy and Practice

Evaluates the impact in Oregon of the RWJF project to increase enrollment in Medicaid and State Children's Health Insurance Programs. Outlines state policy changes and local- and state-level findings on the links between activities and enrollment trends