Medical Subject Headings (MeSH), a medical thesaurus created by the National Library of Medicine (NLM), is a useful resource for natural language processing (NLP). In this article, the current status of the Japanese version of Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) is reviewed. Online investigation found that Japanese-English dictionaries, which assign MeSH information to applicable terms, but use them for NLP, were found to be difficult to access, due to license restrictions. Here, we investigate an open-source Japanese-English glossary as an alternative method for assigning MeSH IDs to Japanese terms, to obtain preliminary data for NLP proof-of-concept.
Asian Continental Ancestry Group ; Humans ; Licensure ; Medical Subject Headings ; Methods ; National Library of Medicine (U.S.) ; Natural Language Processing ; Vocabulary, Controlled

Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) is a non-invasive brain stimulation method that delivers 1–2 mA of current to the scalp. Several clinical studies have been conducted to confirm the therapeutic effect of major depressive disorder (MDD) patients with tDCS. Some studies have shown tDCS's antidepressant effect, while the others showed conflicting results in antidepressant effects. Our aim of this review is to understand the biological bases of tDCS's antidepressant effect and review the results of studies on tDCS's antidepressant effect. For the review and search process of MDD treatment using tDCS, the US National Library of Medicine search engine PubMed was used. In this review, we discuss the biological mechanism of tDCS's antidepressant effect and the existing published literature including meta-analysis, systematic review, control trial, open studies, and case reports of antidepressant effects and cognitive function improvement in patients with MDD are reviewed. We also discuss the appropriate tDCS protocol for MDD patients, factors predictive of response to tDCS treatment, the disadvantages of tDCS in MDD treatment, and side effects.
Brain ; Cognition ; Depressive Disorder, Major* ; Humans ; Methods ; National Library of Medicine (U.S.) ; Scalp ; Search Engine ; Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation*

OBJECTIVE: Physical or mental imbalance caused by harmful stimuli can induce stress to maintain homeostasis. During chronic stress, the sympathetic nervous system is hyperactivated, causing physical, psychological, and behavioral abnormalities. At present, there is no accepted standard for stress evaluation. This review aimed to survey studies providing a rationale for selecting heart rate variability (HRV) as a psychological stress indicator. METHODS: Term searches in the Web of Science®, National Library of Medicine (PubMed), and Google Scholar databases yielded 37 publications meeting our criteria. The inclusion criteria were involvement of human participants, HRV as an objective psychological stress measure, and measured HRV reactivity. RESULTS: In most studies, HRV variables changed in response to stress induced by various methods. The most frequently reported factor associated with variation in HRV variables was low parasympathetic activity, which is characterized by a decrease in the high-frequency band and an increase in the low-frequency band. Neuroimaging studies suggested that HRV may be linked to cortical regions (e.g., the ventromedial prefrontal cortex) that are involved in stressful situation appraisal. CONCLUSION: In conclusion, the current neurobiological evidence suggests that HRV is impacted by stress and supports its use for the objective assessment of psychological health and stress.
Autonomic Nervous System ; Heart Rate* ; Heart* ; Homeostasis ; Humans ; National Library of Medicine (U.S.) ; Neuroimaging ; Stress, Psychological ; Sympathetic Nervous System

OBJECTIVES: The calcemic and parathyroid hormone (PTH) responses to severe burn injury appear to differ between children and adults. In our limited studies children exhibited hypocalcemic hypoparathyroidism consistent with up-regulation of the parathyroid calcium-sensing receptor (CaSR) while adults did not, suggesting a developmental cutoff in cytokine-mediated up-regulation of the CaSR. This difference may be clinically important as published studies indicate that extracellular calcium (Ca) may stimulate the inflammatory response. The aim of this study was to examine the existing literature on burns to see if the differences between pediatric and adult calcemic and PTH responses to burn supported our findings providing stronger evidence to support this developmental difference. METHODS: We reviewed the National Library of Medicine database using the terms burns, PTH and ionized calcium and found 9 articles from 8 different medical centers; one was eliminated due to mixing of adults and children. RESULTS: There were 245 burn patients reported from the literature, 178 pediatric and 67 adults. The data are mostly consistent with our reported findings. Of the 10 pediatric patients with severe burns that we studied, mean ionized Ca concentration was below the lower limit of normal of 1.10 mM. The 67 adult burn patients reported in the literature had a mean blood ionized Ca concentration that was within the adult normal range or was lower than normal but with secondary hyperparathyroidism. Moreover, serum PTH concentrations were uniformly low in the 178 children in the burn literature but normal or mildly elevated in the 67 adults. CONCLUSIONS: These results support the hypothesis that the difference between pediatric and adult victims is consistent with an age-related CaSR response to cytokine stimulation and may be consistent with a lower level of inflammation in children. Ionized Ca and PTH might serve as possible therapeutic targets to lower the inflammatory response in burn victims.
Adult* ; Burns* ; Calcium ; Child* ; Humans ; Hyperparathyroidism, Secondary ; Hypoparathyroidism ; Inflammation ; National Library of Medicine (U.S.) ; Parathyroid Hormone ; Receptors, Calcium-Sensing ; Reference Values ; Up-Regulation

The human pregnane X receptor (hPXR) plays a critical role in the metabolism, transport and clearance of xenobiotics in the liver and intestine. The hPXR can be activated by a structurally diverse of drugs to initiate clinically relevant drug-drug interactions. In this article, in silico investigation was performed on a structurally diverse set of drugs to identify critical structural features greatly related to their agonist activity towards hPXR. Heuristic method (HM)-Best Subset Modeling (BSM) and HM-Polynomial Neural Networks (PNN) were utilized to develop the linear and non-linear quantitative structure-activity relationship models. The applicability domain (AD) of the models was assessed by Williams plot. Statistically reliable models with good predictive power and explain were achieved (for HM-BSM, r (2)=0.881, q LOO (2) =0.797, q EXT (2) =0.674; for HM-PNN, r (2)=0.882, q LOO (2) =0.856, q EXT (2) =0.655). The developed models indicated that molecular aromatic and electric property, molecular weight and complexity may govern agonist activity of a structurally diverse set of drugs to hPXR.
Computer Simulation ; Humans ; Models, Statistical ; Molecular Weight ; Neural Networks (Computer) ; Quantitative Structure-Activity Relationship ; Receptors, Steroid ; agonists ; chemistry ; Small Molecule Libraries ; chemistry ; Static Electricity

BACKGROUND: We reviewed the biological and mechanical properties of porous hydroxyapatite (HA) compared to other synthetic materials. Computer-aided design/computer-aided manufacturing (CAD/CAM) was also evaluated to estimate its efficacy with clinical and radiological assessments. METHOD: A systematic search of the electronic literature database of the National Library of Medicine (PubMed-MEDLINE) was performed for articles published in English between January 1985 and September 2013. The inclusion criteria were (1) histological evaluation of the biocompatibility and osteoconductivity of porous HA in vivo and in vitro, (2) evaluation of the mechanical properties of HA in relation to its porosity, (3) comparison of the biological and mechanical properties between several biomaterials, and (4) clinical and radiological evaluation of the precision of CAD/CAM techniques. RESULTS: HA had excellent osteoconductivity and biocompatibility in vitro and in vivo compared to other biomaterials. HA grafts are suitable for milling and finishing, depending on the design. In computed tomography, porous HA is a more resorbable and more osteoconductive material than dense HA; however, its strength decreases exponentially with an increase in porosity. CONCLUSIONS: Mechanical tests showed that HA scaffolds with pore diameters ranging from 400 to 1200 mum had compressive moduli and strength within the range of the human craniofacial trabecular bone. In conclusion, using CAD/CAM techniques for preparing HA scaffolds may increase graft stability and reduce surgical operating time.
Atrophy* ; Biocompatible Materials ; Durapatite* ; Humans ; In Vitro Techniques ; Methods ; National Library of Medicine (U.S.) ; Porosity ; Transplants

Shear wave elastography is a novel noninvasive technique that involves application of local mechanical compression on soft tissue while using shear waves to assess tissue stiffness and acquiring strain images that show the tissue response. The objective of this review is to evaluate the safety and effectiveness of shear wave elastography. Searches were conducted of eight Korean databases including KoreaMed, National library of Korea, National Assembly Library, Korean Library Information System Network, Research Information Sharing Service, Koreanstudies Information Service System, Korea Institute of Science and Technology Information, Medical Digital Library Information System, Medline, Embase, and the Cochrane Library. From these sources, 1,604 articles were located, and total of 10 studies were included for this review. On the basis of current data, we conclude that shear wave elastography is a safe and effective tool for detecting lesions and monitoring disease severity in patients.
Elasticity Imaging Techniques* ; Humans ; Information Dissemination ; Information Services ; Information Systems ; Korea ; Libraries, Digital

Primary cilia have critical roles in coordinating multiple cellular signaling pathways. Dysregulation of primary cilia is implicated in various ciliopathies. To identify specific regulators of autophagy, we screened chemical libraries and identified mefloquine, an anti-malaria medicine, as a potent regulator of primary cilia in human retinal pigmented epithelial (RPE) cells. Not only ciliated cells but also primary cilium length was increased in mefloquine-treated RPE cells. Treatment with mefloquine strongly induced the elongation of primary cilia by blocking disassembly of primary cilium. In addition, we found that autophagy was increased in mefloquine-treated cells by enhancing autophagic flux. Both chemical and genetic inhibition of autophagy suppressed ciliogenesis in mefloquine-treated RPE cells. Taken together, these results suggest that autophagy induced by mefloquine positively regulates the elongation of primary cilia in RPE cells.
Autophagy* ; Cilia* ; Humans ; Mefloquine ; Retinaldehyde ; Small Molecule Libraries

PURPOSE: Proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin type 9 (PCSK9) binds to the low density lipoprotein receptor (LDLR) and promotes degradation of the LDLR. Inhibition of PCSK9 either by reducing its expression or by blocking its activity results in the upregulation of the LDLR and subsequently lowers the plasma concentration of LDL-cholesterol. As a modality to inhibit PCSK9 action, we searched the chemical library for small molecules that block the binding of PCSK9 to the LDLR. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We selected 100 chemicals that bind to PCSK9 where the EGF-AB fragment of the LDLR binds via in silico screening of the ChemBridge chemical library, using the computational GOLD algorithm analysis. Effects of chemicals were evaluated using the PCSK9-LDLR binding assay, immunoblot analysis, and the LDL-cholesterol uptake assay in vitro, as well as the fast performance liquid chromatography assay for plasma lipoproteins in vivo. RESULTS: A set of chemicals were found that decreased the binding of PCSK9 to the EGF-AB fragment of the LDLR in a dose-dependent manner. They also increased the amount of the LDLR significantly and subsequently increased the uptake of fluorescence-labeled LDL in HepG2 cells. Additionally, one particular molecule lowered the plasma concentration of total cholesterol and LDL-cholesterol significantly in wild-type mice, while such an effect was not observed in Pcsk9 knockout mice. CONCLUSION: Our findings strongly suggest that in silico screening of small molecules that inhibit the protein-protein interaction between PCSK9 and the LDLR is a potential modality for developing hypercholesterolemia therapeutics.
Animals ; Cholesterol/*blood ; Cholesterol, LDL/blood ; Hep G2 Cells ; Humans ; Mice ; Mice, Knockout ; Proprotein Convertases/*metabolism ; Receptors, LDL/*metabolism ; Serine Endopeptidases/*metabolism ; *Small Molecule Libraries

Diversity-oriented synthesis (DOS) aims to efficiently generate collections of small molecules with diverse appendages, functional groups, stereochemistry and skeletons, thus yielding diverse biological activities capable of modulating a wide variety of biological processes. In this review, we discussed the common strategies employed in DOS with specific examples from recent literature, including reagent-based approach, substrate-based approach, build-couple-pair strategy and privileged substructure-based DOS. The application of some DOS libraries in drug discovery is also presented.
Drug Design ; Drug Discovery ; Small Molecule Libraries