PHSkb: A knowledgebase to support notifiable disease surveillance

BACKGROUND: Notifiable disease surveillance in the United States is predominantly a passive process that is often limited by poor timeliness and low sensitivity. Interoperable tools are needed that interact more seamlessly with existing clinical and laboratory data to improve notifiable disease surveillance. DESCRIPTION: The Public Health Surveillance Knowledgebase (PHSkb™) is a computer database designed to provide quick, easy access to domain knowledge regarding notifiable diseases and conditions in the United States. The database was developed using Protégé ontology and knowledgebase editing software. Data regarding the notifiable disease domain were collected via a comprehensive review of state health department websites and integrated with other information used to support the National Notifiable Diseases Surveillance System (NNDSS). Domain concepts were harmonized, wherever possible, to existing vocabulary standards. The knowledgebase can be used: 1) as the basis for a controlled vocabulary of reportable conditions needed for data aggregation in public health surveillance systems; 2) to provide queriable domain knowledge for public health surveillance partners; 3) to facilitate more automated case detection and surveillance decision support as a reusable component in an architecture for intelligent clinical, laboratory, and public health surveillance information systems. CONCLUSIONS: The PHSkb provides an extensible, interoperable system architecture component to support notifiable disease surveillance. Further development and testing of this resource is needed

Expressions 1981

Expressions contains selected work from the 1981 Creative Writing Contest entrants, Campus Chronicle Photography Contest entrants, and Commercial Art students at Des Moines Area Community College. Design , typography and the layout was done by Journalism students .https://openspace.dmacc.edu/expressions/1003/thumbnail.jp

Characterization of Selective Exosite-Binding Inhibitors of Matrix Metalloproteinase 13 That Prevent Articular Cartilage Degradation in Vitro

Matrix metalloproteinase 13 (MMP-13) has been shown to be the main collagenase responsible for degradation of articular cartilage during osteoarthritis and therefore represents a target for drug development. As a result of high-throughput screening and structure–activity relationship studies, we identified a novel, highly selective class of MMP-13 inhibitors (compounds <b>1</b> (Q), <b>2</b> (Q1), and <b>3</b> (Q2)). Mechanistic characterization revealed a noncompetitive nature of these inhibitors with binding constants in the low micromolar range. Crystallographic analyses revealed two binding modes for compound <b>2</b> in the MMP-13 S₁′ subsite and in an S₁/S₂* subsite. Type II collagen- and cartilage-protective effects exhibited by compounds <b>1</b>, <b>2</b>, and <b>3</b> suggested that these compounds might be efficacious in future in vivo studies. Finally, these compounds were also highly selective when tested against a panel of 30 proteases, which, in combination with a good CYP inhibition profile, suggested low off-target toxicity and drug–drug interactions in humans