Acquiring Food and Drug Administration Information Under the Freedom of Information Act

The Freedom of Information Act mandates that Federal agencies provide access to their files to any individual requesting information. Files available from the Food and Drug Administration are particularly valuable to medical librarians, offering information about the approval and regulation of medical devices and pharmaceuticals. This article briefly describes the approval process for drugs and devices and the corresponding records that generally are held on file at the Food and Drug Administration. Instructions for structuring a Freedom of Information Act request letter, resulting charges, and expected responses are outlined.     

U.S. Patent and Trademark Office

Abstract

This knowledge path is divided into five sections covering basic patent questions, the U.S. patents database, patent law (statutes, regulations, treaties and court cases), statistics and general information patent Web sites. The U.S. patent database file, the text of patent laws and regulations, and statistics are available from the USPTO Web site. Since USPTO does not compile a complete list of court cases pertaining to patents, better resources for this kind of information exist outside of the Patent Office. Web sites included in the general information section either bring together and organize a large number of patent information resources or provide easy to understand explanations of patent law.     

Pillbox: a solid dosage medication identification tool

Pillbox is a tool that can be used to rapidly identify solid dosage medications. The database, created and maintained by the National Library of Medicine with the support of the Food and Drug Administration, seeks to enhance patient safety through the identification of solid dosage medication. Users enter physical characteristics of a medication, possible matches are provided, and links to additional resources are offered. A comparison with comparable resources was conducted, and future enhancements to Pillbox are discussed.     

Pillbox: A Solid Dosage Medication Identification Tool

Pillbox is a tool that can be used to rapidly identify solid dosage medications. The database, created and maintained by the National Library of Medicine with the support of the Food and Drug Administration, seeks to enhance patient safety through the identification of solid dosage medication. Users enter physical characteristics of a medication, possible matches are provided, and links to additional resources are offered. A comparison with comparable resources was conducted, and future enhancements to Pillbox are discussed.     

将原数据库转换为新结构的数据库问题

介绍了数据库文件的内部组成,及如何将原数据库的数据或文本格式装入具有新结构的数据库,并给出了转换的C++程序.     

中文法规资源的网上检索

分别介绍了中华人民共和国法规、澳门、香港特别行政区法规以及台湾地区法规的主要法律形式及其网上检索方法，具有较强的实用性。     

MARC数据镜像系统的设计和实现

在分析关系数据库中MARC数据存储特点的基础上,给出一种MARC数据镜像系统的设计方案。该方案通过引入文件传输服务器使得源数据库和目的数据库在进行数据复制时把远程操作转化成本地操作,把记录同步转化成网络文件传输,使得源数据库和目的数据库之间的数据复制可靠、快速而且有效。     

Using genderize.io to infer the gender of first names: how to improve the accuracy of the inference

Objective:We recently showed that genderize.io is not a sufficiently powerful gender detection tool due to a large number of nonclassifications. In the present study, we aimed to assess whether the accuracy of inference by genderize.io can be improved by manipulating the first names in the database.Methods:We used a database containing the first names, surnames, and gender of 6,131 physicians practicing in a multicultural country (Switzerland). We uploaded the original CSV file (file #1), the file obtained after removing all diacritic marks, such as accents and cedilla (file #2), and the file obtained after removing all diacritic marks and retaining only the first term of the compound first names (file #3). For each file, we computed three performance metrics: proportion of misclassifications (errorCodedWithoutNA), proportion of nonclassifications (naCoded), and proportion of misclassifications and nonclassifications (errorCoded).Results:naCoded, which was high for file #1 (16.4%), was reduced after data manipulation (file #2: 11.7%, file #3: 0.4%). As the increase in the number of misclassifications was small, the overall performance of genderize.io (i.e., errorCoded) improved, especially for file #3 (file #1: 17.7%, file #2: 13.0%, and file #3: 2.3%).Conclusions:A relatively simple manipulation of the data improved the accuracy of gender inference by genderize.io. We recommend using genderize.io only with files that were modified in this way.     

乡村振兴视域下乡规民约档案价值发掘探析

乡规民约档案蕴含有丰富乡治理念,对其进行价值发掘,对乡村振兴有重要现实意义。论文阐释了乡规民约及乡规民约档案概念,分析了乡村振兴与乡规民约档案的关系。提出乡规民约档案价值发掘面临资源建设滞后、开发方式简单、内容发掘转化问题,并提出应对之策。     

Enhancing performance in a parallel file system

As computer applications have become more sophisticated, they have become rather data intensive. Such applications suffer from inadequate use of parallelism for processing data stored on secondary storage devices. Devices such as database machines are useful in some applications, but many applications are too small or specialized to make use of database machine technology.To bridge this gap, we have introduced a parallel file system. The parallel file system is capable of acting as either an SIMD machine or an MIMD machine depending on the file type.In the present work, we describe two approaches to enhance performance in the parallel file system. First, we examine a strategy of initiating partial searches when full searches for concurrent file usage are not possible. As a second level, a relocation algorithm has been designed to move selected portions of files (subfiles) to improve the degree of parallelism in the multiprogramming environment. The relocation algorithm makes use of a cost function based on the level of sharing between files to determine the best place to relocate the subfiles.     

用CDS/ISIS的词典功能辅助编制、更新汉语主题词表

本文介绍了用Micro CDS/ISIS的倒排与词典输出功能，输出某专业数据库倒排文件的词典清单，通过对词典清单的过虑处理．生成只包含有主题词及其使用频率的文件，运用词频数据辅助编制或更新相应专业领域的汉语主题词表。     

Application of a general database manager in a clinical medical librarian program.

The morning report reference file was automated at the Stollerman Library because the manual system was time-intensive to maintain and cumbersome to search. A general database management system (DBMS) was chosen so that it could be used in the future for other data management functions in the library. DBMS features that should be examined before use with a bibliographic application include size limitations, data entry forms, data types, search options, index files, sort options, report generation, query and programming languages, command and/or menu files, file interaction, interface with other software, and documentation. Desired requirements for this application are discussed. It is noted that a general database manager probably will not meet all of the desired requirements. For some bibliographic applications, software specifically designed for bibliographic information management and retrieval should be used. A database for the purposes of searching the morning report reference file and producing a weekly reference list and a yearly index was developed using CONDOR 3. The structure of the database is described, and examples of the reports are given. The system has been in operation since December 1984 and has been well-received by staff and patrons.     

Analysis of reference sources used in drug-related Wikipedia articles

Objective

References from drug-related Wikipedia articles and a drug information database were compared.

Methods

Drugs in Food and Drug Administration (FDA) MedWatch alerts from January–July 2013 were searched in Wikipedia and Lexicomp to compare reference types and to assess the time for drug safety information to be incorporated into Wikipedia articles.

Results

Wikipedia most commonly cited peer-reviewed journal articles (49.2%) and news articles (12.0%). MedWatch citations were incorporated into Wikipedia on average in 5.9 days.

Conclusions

Wikipedia cited various sources but may not be a reliable, up-to-date resource for drug safety information.     

基于PDF文件自动建库的设计与实现

介绍了基于PDF文件自动建库设计与实现方法。该程序用VB设计与实现,可自动提取PDF文件中的文字信息,并通过读取特征库,实现自动构建全文数据库,为建立全文数据库提供了一种自动、高效的文本信息输入手段。本文还探讨了以其它格式存储的文件建立全文数据库的可能性和方法。     

论图书馆网络多媒体检索数据库设计

讨论如何通过传统的数据库技术与目前流行的媒体播技术相结合，实现图书馆网络多媒体数据检索。分析了图书馆多媒体数据库结构特征及访问操作的实现，提出了图书馆多媒体检索数据库结构设计的两个方案：一种是基于文件的方法，它将多媒体信息的一些属性和状态记在数据库中，这是一种准多媒体数据库技术；另一种是基于数据库中二进制对象，使用了数据库引擎中二进制域类型。     

论图书馆网络多媒体检索数据库设计

本文讨论如何通过传统的数据库技术与目前流行的媒体播放技术相结合 ,实现图书馆网络多媒体数据检索。文中分析了图书馆多媒体数据库结构特征及访问操作的实现 ,提出了图书馆多媒体检索数据库结构设计的两个方案 :一种是基于文件的方法 ,它将多媒体信息的一些属性和状态记在数据库中 ,这是一种准多媒体数据库技术 ;另一种是基于数据库中二进制对象 ,使用了数据库引擎中的二进制域类型     

CCBD光盘数据库的制作、结构及检索软件

本文详细地讨论了CCBD 光盘研制中的技术问题, 提出了光盘数据库的数据结构设计的总原则, 并具体描述了文件结构和记录格式。文章还讨论了检索程序中的主要技术, 如提问处理、布尔检索等。     

将简单文本书目库转换成标准MARC数据库的实践与思考

介绍了我馆将原有文本书目数据库建成MARC 格式数据库的实践经验, 并对几种MARC 化途径的优劣进行了比较和思考。     

The International Standard Name Identifier (ISNI): The Evolving Future of Name Authority Control

This article describes the project to build the initial International Standard Name Identifier (ISNI) database by deploying the techniques used to develop the Virtual International Authority File (VIAF). It focuses particularly on the work of the OCLC team in transforming the VIAF “resource file” model of matched data into a robust, operational, and authoritative file of uniquely assigned ISNIs as a base for an ongoing ISNI assignment system, and on the quality assurance validation of the database provided by the British Library and the Bibliothèque nationale de France. The need for future interaction between ongoing ISNI assignment and name authority control in libraries is also explored.