Evidence map›Paper›PMID 26091670›Full record

ArticleBMC bioinformatics2015

Ferret: a sentence-based literature scanning system.

Padmini Srinivasan, Xiao-Ning Zhang, Roxane Bouten, Caren Chang

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in BMC bioinformatics, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
0citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

4 authors.

Padmini SrinivasanComputer Science, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA, USA. padmini-srinivasan@uiowa.edu.
Xiao-Ning ZhangDepartment of Biology, St Bonaventure University, St Bonaventure, NY, USA. xzhang@sbu.edu.
Roxane BoutenDepartment of Cell Biology and Molecular Genetics, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, USA. roxane@bouten.com.
Caren ChangDepartment of Cell Biology and Molecular Genetics, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, USA. carenc@umd.edu.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundThe rapid pace of bioscience research makes it very challenging to track relevant articles in one's area of interest. MEDLINE, a primary source for biomedical literature, offers access to more than 20 million citations with three-quarters of a million new ones added each year. Thus it is not surprising to see active research in building new document retrieval and sentence retrieval systems. We present Ferret, a prototype retrieval system, designed to retrieve and rank sentences (and their documents) conveying gene-centric relationships of interest to a scientist. The prototype has several features. For example, it is designed to handle gene name ambiguity and perform query expansion. Inputs can be a list of genes with an optional list of keywords. Sentences are retrieved across species but the species discussed in the records are identified. Results are presented in the form of a heat map and sentences corresponding to specific cells of the heat map may be selected for display. Ferret is designed to assist bio scientists at different stages of research from early idea exploration to advanced analysis of results from bench experiments.

resultsThree live case studies in the field of plant biology are presented related to Arabidopsis thaliana. The first is to discover genes that may relate to the phenotype of open immature flower in Arabidopsis. The second case is about finding associations reported between ethylene signaling and a set of 300+ Arabidopsis genes. The third case is on searching for potential gene targets of an Arabidopsis transcription factor hypothesized to be involved in plant stress responses. Ferret was successful in finding valuable information in all three cases. In the first case the bZIP family of genes was identified. In the second case sentences indicating relevant associations were found in other species such as potato and jasmine. In the third sentences led to new research questions about the plant hormone salicylic acid.

conclusionsFerret successfully retrieved relevant gene-centric sentences from PubMed records. The three case studies demonstrate end user satisfaction with the system.

Indexed as

Databases, BibliographicPubMedSoftwareArabidopsisArabidopsis ProteinsEthylenesFlowersInformation Storage and RetrievalPhenotypeSalicylic AcidSemanticsStress, PhysiologicalArabidopsis ProteinsethyleneEthylenesSalicylic Acid

Identifiers

PMID26091670
PMCPMC4474359

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.