BioNumbers: Database of Biological Numbers October 12, 2010
Posted by Dr. Bertalan Meskó in Biology, Web 2.0.1 comment so far
If you have ever tried to look up a number such as the volume of a cell, the outer membrane width of E. coli or the cellular concentration of ATP, you will like BioNumbers, a database of biological numbers.
It is often surprising how difficult it can be to find concrete biological numbers, even for properties that have been measured numerous times. To help solve this for one and all, BioNumbers (the database of key numbers in molecular biology) was created. Along with the numbers, you’ll find the relevant references to the original literature, useful comments, and related numbers.
Though we have made an honest first try at simplifying the process of finding useful biological numbers, there is still much work to be done. A key challenge is filling in the large number of missing items. Another challenge involves setting up a reliable and discriminating search engine which on a first try yields the numbers a user is actually interested in finding.
(Hat tip: Round the lab)
3D Presentations from the Future October 11, 2010
Posted by Dr. Bertalan Meskó in presentation, Prezi, Video.2 comments
I have been using Prezi.com for over a year now and it really changed the way I create my presentations. But the concept and technology the video I just discovered on New Scientist shows will certainly lead to major improvements regarding the experience of presenting and listening to presentations.
The LightSpace prototype projects slides, documents, photographs or video onto any surface, from a table to a door. Presenters can then touch and literally pick up a virtual item from a display and carry it across the room as a spot of light in the palm of their hand.
To perform commands – “play video”, for example – you move your hand along a projected light beam that acts as the central control. Holding your hand in the right position on the menu for a few seconds activates the function.
Programming DNA October 8, 2010
Posted by Dr. Bertalan Meskó in Bioinformatics, Biotechnology, DNA, Video.add a comment
In 2007, Drew Endy (Endy Lab) talked about Programming DNA, a 2-bit language for engineering biology, at the 24th Chaos Communication Congress on biological engineering and synthetic biology.
This talk will introduce current best practice in biological engineering, including an overview of how to order synthetic DNA and how to use and contribute standard biological parts to an open source collection of genetic functions. The talk will also discuss issues of human practice, including biological safety, biological security, ownership, sharing, and innovation in biotechnology, community organization, and perception across many different publics.
(Hat Tip: Biopunk)
Oncology: Selected Social Media Resources October 7, 2010
Posted by Dr. Bertalan Meskó in Cancer, Medicine, Medicine 2.0, PeRSSonalized Medicine, Web 2.0, Webicina.add a comment
Webicina.com features selected blogs, news sites, medical journals, Twitter users and Youtube channels dedicated to oncology in the newest PeRSSonalized Oncology collection. This is the simplest, customizable, free medical information aggregator. Please let us know if there are other great resources. Don’t forget the Cancer and web 2.0 collection!
You can also add custom Pubmed search boxes to your personalized journal.
Some reasons why PeRSSonalized Medicine is unique:
- You can search in the database. It means you will find medical information only from a quality selected portion of the world wide web.
- You can personalize any of the sections.
- You can also receive the newest Pubmed articles focusing on your search term. Just insert your field of interest, a therapy, a condition, etc. and click Search. Then you can add the newly created box to your personalized medical “journal”.
- It is a community-based project. Please let us know which quality resources should be added to the database.
- You can view the selection in over 16 languages.
Electronic Medical Records on iPad October 7, 2010
Posted by Dr. Bertalan Meskó in Electronic Medical Records, Medicine, Medicine 2.0, Mobile, Video, Web 2.0.2 comments
Medgadget just shared Nimble an EMR solution which looks quite amazing on iPads. I thought I would share some other solutions designed for iProducts because there are more and more of them.
Winners of the 2010 Health 2.0 Developer Challenge October 7, 2010
Posted by Dr. Bertalan Meskó in Health, Health 2.0, Healthcare, Innovation, Medicine, Medicine 2.0.2 comments
The six winners of the 2010 Health 2.0 Developer Challenge were just announced and will be showcased at the Health 2.0 Developer Challenge session at the Health 2.0 San Francisco Conference, October 7-8, 2010.
- Accelerating Wireless Health Adoption through a Standardized Social Network Platform: Winner is Videntity. A blood pressure meter and a weight via Wii balance board will be attached to a client computing device. Data shall be read directly from the device and transmitted via a social network for visual display.
- Project HealthDesign Developer Challenge: Winner is Pain Care @Ringful Health that will develop a chronic pain management application.
- The Health Factor – Using the County Health Rankings to Make Smart Decisions: Winner is Acsys Healthcare that will build an Augmented Reality Mobile application that will display Health Rankings information based on a GPS location of the user and a county they are in.
- Real-Time Patient-Driven Data Challenge: Winner is Critical Systems that will build MicroSoft HealthVault CCR integration into Practice Fusions Patient Health Care Record/Chart.
- Move Your App! Developer Challenge: Winner is Happy Feet which will design the social way to walk, jog, run, cycle, or even… ski.
How do smartphones impact healthcare: Report October 6, 2010
Posted by Dr. Bertalan Meskó in Health, Health 2.0, Healthcare, Medicine, Medicine 2.0, Mobile, Web 2.0.2 comments
EPG Health Media published a comprehensive and interesting report on smartphone use in healthcare (How do smartphones impact healthcare professionals and infuence the way they practice?) which is actually a great comparison between Europe and the United States.
340 doctors from all medical specialties filled the online questionnaire consisting of 23 multiple choice type questions. I had a chance to take a deeper look into the report and the differences between Europe and the US are quite astonishing (US physicians seem to be more active and open to using smartphones in their practices). One example:
Does your smartphone help you diagnose?
An excerpt from the conclusion:
In the European healthcare arena, the potential for mobile devices – in particular ‘smartphones’ – presents a tantalising opportunity for hardware and application developers alike. Publishers of health information and pharma marketers who cling to print and online mediums will inevitably lose share of voice to those who embrace mobile technology to serve this burgeoning audience.
The US market – comparative early adopters of smartphone technology driven by the BlackBerry and Palm revolution of 10 years ago or more – appears close to saturation (81% of US respondent doctors already own a smartphone device with ownership set to grow to 94% within 6 months).
Unsurprisingly, European doctors trail US colleagues in their views regarding the benefits in diagnosis, drug choice and patient management, but this can only be viewed as temporary and driven by the lack of suitable Apps and services for the market, not a lack of will by the doctor.
The Era of Personalized Medicine October 6, 2010
Posted by Dr. Bertalan Meskó in genetics, Medicine, Personalized medicine.1 comment so far
It’s spectacular how fast this industry is changing. One example is Diagenic which offers peripheral blood-based diagnostic tests for breast cancer or Alzheimer’s disease (though it’s gene expression based). And now Medgadget reported about a new solution designed by Progenika BioPharma for Familial Lipoprotein Lipase Deficiency.
In collaboration with AMT, Progenika Biopharma has developed the LPLchip which detects mutations in the LPL gene, and has now received CE approval.
The chip can detect 120 different mutations in a sample of blood or saliva, enabling identification of patients who may benefit from gene therapy. So far, the picture for Glybera is looking good, with three studies showing a decrease in the incidence of pancreatitis, one of the most important complications of LPLD, in patients undergoing treatment. Expect to hear more about this in the future.
At this year’s Researchers’ Night, I talked about genomic medicine and I described the future of healthcare which would be personalized-centric and I said this era would come in around 10 years. It seems I was wrong and this transition will be much faster.
10+8 Simple Rules for Editing Wikipedia October 6, 2010
Posted by Dr. Bertalan Meskó in Collaboration, Medicine, Medicine 2.0, Web 2.0, Wikipedia.5 comments
As I’ve been an administrator of Wikipedia, it’s really important for me to persuade more and more professionals to edit Wikipedia. A new paper published in PLoS Computational Biology seems to be a very helpful first step for those who are interested in editing biomedical content in the biggest encyclopaedia.
Ten Simple Rules for Editing Wikipedia
- Rule 1: Register an Account
- Rule 2: Learn the Five Pillars
- Rule 3: Be Bold, but Not Reckless
- Rule 4: Know Your Audience
- Rule 5: Do Not Infringe Copyright
- Rule 6: Cite, Cite, Cite
- Rule 7: Avoid Shameless Self-Promotion
- Rule 8: Share Your Expertise, but Don’t Argue from Authority
- Rule 9: Write Neutrally and with Due Weight
- Rule 10: Ask for Help
I have some other tips dedicated to the biomedical entries.
- Focus on the Medical Collaboration of the Month if you cannot choose which entry to work on.
- Defend entries that would be deleted
- There are entries needing expert attention
- Requested articles in medicine
- Expand medical stub entries
- Contribute to the assessment of medical entries
- Work on the most visited Medical Portal
- Find collaborators or other projects on WikiProject Medicine
ZDoggMD: The Rapper Doctor October 5, 2010
Posted by Dr. Bertalan Meskó in Fun, Medicine, Music, Video, Web 2.0.5 comments
I just came across ZDoggMD and had to watch some of his videos which are absolutely fantastic! But I’m speechless now…
Anyway, who is this genius?
I’m a hospital physician and a purveyor of fine medical satire. I strive to practice evidence-based comedy…everything on this site has been clinically proven to be slightly funnier than placebo.
