Liver Cancer Network Database: A Web Portal for Liver Cancer Research at the University of Kentucky

In the United States, particularly the state of Kentucky, the percentage of persons infected by hepatitis has been increasing. This has been causing a corresponding increase in liver cancer, which as of 2002 had climbed to be the 12th leading cause of death in the United States. This trend has raised concerns in the cancer research community regarding the awareness of hepatitis, liver cancer, and the connection these conditions share. To address these concerns, we have assisted the Liver Cancer Program at the University of Kentucky by developing the database for collecting liver cancer related data. The Liver Cancer Network (LCN) Database, a research effort sponsored by the Kentucky Biomedical Research Infrastructure Network (KBRIN), and involving both undergraduate and graduate students, will aid in helping break new ground in the fight against hepatitis and liver cancer. The database uses modern technologies, convenient user interfaces and its development addresses security issues

Research Experience in Bioinformatics for Undergraduates

The Basic Local Alignment Search Tool (BLAST) is a sequence comparison algorithm used to search sequence databases for alignments of some portion of nucleic acid or protein sequences. This is a compute-intensive operation that can take from several minutes to hours depending on the computer that runs it. During the summer of 2004, as a part of the Research Experience in Bioinformatics for Undergraduates at UK, we participated in extending and testing the software for BooleanBlast. While BLAST allows for a search of only a single sequence, BooleanBlast adds the functionality to use queries of arbitrary complexity. For example it can process queries such as, find sequence A AND sequence B OR sequence C, BUT NOT sequence D, et cetera. With the BooleanBlast, it is possible to create and use expressive BLAST queries based on Boolean combinations. Our group of Bioinformatics for Undergraduates focused on testing and providing user friendly graphical interfaces (GUIs). We developed and implemented for BooleanBlast two complete user interfaces, one similar to a traditional search engine, the other giving the user a more guided experience. In the process of adding these interfaces, the internal code of BooleanBlast was significantly tested and improved. As a result of the Summer Bioinformatics Program for Undergraduates, BooleanBlast offers a search tool with an intuitive GUI that is both flexible and powerful

Predictors of Teachers’ Intentions to Intervene in Student Relationship Abuse and Sexual Assault

We examined data from 505 school personnel to assess relationships between demographic factors and school personnel’s intentions and efficacy to intervene in situations of teen relationship abuse and sexual assault. Correlations and linear regressions will be used to predict this relationship. Implications for this analysis will be discussed