Arabidopsis thaliana computationally-generated next-state gene interaction models

The construction of gene interaction models must be a fully collaborative and intentional effort. All aspects of the research, such as growing the plants, extracting the measurements, refining the measured data, developing the statistical framework, and forming and applying the algorithmic techniques, must lend themselves to repeatable and sound practices. This paper holistically focuses on the process of producing gene interaction models based on transcript abundance data from Arabidopsis thaliana after stimulation by a plant hormone

Modelo generado computacionalmente de interacción genética del próximo estado basado en Arabidopsis thaliana

The construction of gene interaction models must be a fully collaborative and intentional effort. All aspects of the research, such as growing the plants, extracting the mea-surements, refining the measured data, developing the statistical framework, and forming and applying the algorithmic techniques, must lend themselves to repeatable and  sound practices. This paper holistically focuses on the process of producing gene interaction models based on transcript abundance data from Arabidopsis thaliana after stimulation by a plant hormone.La elaboración de modelos de interacción genética debe ser un esfuerzo totalmente intencional y colaborativo. Todos los aspectos de la investigación, tales como el cultivo de las plantas, la obtención de las mediciones, el refinamiento de los datos recopilados, el desarrollo del marco estadístico, y la formulación y aplicación de técnicas algorítmicas, deben colaborar entre sí para establecer prácticas reproducibles y eficaces. Este artículo se centra, de manera holística, en el proceso de creación de modelos de interacción genética basados en los datos de la abundancia de transcritos obtenidos de la estimulación de la planta Arabidopsis thaliana mediante hormonas vegetales

Hair testing for `ecstasy' (MDMA) in volunteer Scottish drug users

The aim of the study was to compare self reported "ecstasy" use with the results of the analysis of hair harvested from the same users. Subjects were recruited by multisite chain-referral sampling within the 1994-95 "dance scene" in Glasgow. One hundred subjects donated hair after completing a lengthy interviewer-administered questionnaire. Overall gross concordance between self reported "ecstasy" use and discovery of MDMA (or related compounds) in analysed hair did not surpass 59%, and no relationship had a Cohen's kappa of more than 0.08. Within the positive concordant dataset (n = 52), scatter was considerable, with no correlation being significant, and none more strongly positive than -0.0518. The results presented here indicate that, as far as MDMA is concerned, if judged by self-report, hair does not reach a level of apparent accuracy that would permit its use as a general population estimator. However, hair testing is probably more reliable than self-report, and its accuracy could be verified independently if large-scale inter- and intra-laboratory comparative research is conducted