FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a System Biology Platform for integrated access to Medicinal Plant Research. More particularly, the invention relates to ADePt™; a System Biology Platform for integrated access to Medicinal Plant Research. The present invention relates to a knowledge management system for facilitating integrated access to medicinal plant research and the method to obtain such a system.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The past decade has witnessed a tremendous resurgence in the interest and use of medicinal plant products worldwide. Phytomedicines, which were once restricted to health food and specialty stores, have reemerged in a big way as evidenced by their availability for sale at wide variety of retail outlets, and the recent entrance of several major pharmaceutical companies into the business of producing phytomedicinal products. There has also been renewed interest in nutraceuticals, the phytochemical constituents of which can have long-term health-promoting or medicinal properties. The vast repertoire of secondary metabolites present in medicinal plants has attracted the attention of several drug discovery ventures focused on the generation of new or novel lead compounds or factors. Furthermore, the introduction of several high-throughput screening procedures has brought about a revolution in the research process aimed at the isolation of lead compounds from natural product sources including medicinal plants.

OBJECTIVES OF THE PRESENT INVENTION

The main objective of the present invention is to obtain a knowledge management system for facilitating integrated access to medicinal plant research.

Another objective of the present invention is to develop a method for enabling integrated access to medicinal plant research.

STATEMENT OF THE INVENTION

Accordingly, the present invention relates to a knowledge management system for facilitating integrated access to medicinal plant research and a method for enabling integrated access to medicinal plant research, said method comprising acts of: i) extracting relevant data from document in relation to a user query, ii) learning the user feedback for the extracted data using query expansion and relevancy scoring, iii) correlating meta-data with primary experimental data through Boolean operators, and iv) representing the primary experimental data at a predefined level of abstraction for analysing the user query to provide integrated access to medicinal plant research.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF ACCOMPANYING DRAWINGS

Figure 1: Unique architectural design of ADePt™.
Figure 2: A part of Search Results for Methyl Jasmonate induction in Momordica
charantia.
Figure 3: Mass Spectrometric details obtained using ADePt™.
Figure 4: Protein PDB Structure image.
Figure 5: Context Mapping, a Powerful query-relevant text summary system.
Figure 6: A meta-data based advanced query analysis tool.
Figure 7: Genomic Analysis tool used for ADePt™.
Figure 8: Knowledge Portal System used for ADePt™.
Figure 9: Distributed Data Environment used for ADePt™.
Figure 10: Data Management Pipeline for ADePt™.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a knowledge management system for facilitating integrated access to medicinal plant research.

In another embodiment of the present invention, the system comprises query-relevant text summary system; meta-data based query analysis tool and genomic analysis tool.
In yet another embodiment of the present invention, the query-relevant text summary system extracts relevant data from a document with respect to a user query using predetermined scheme and learns the user feedback in order to optimize the performance of the system.

In still another embodiment of the present invention, the system correlates meta-data with primary experimental data through Boolean operators and represents the primary experimental data at a predefined level of abstraction to prepare the data independent of source to generate the query analysis tool.

In still another embodiment of the present invention, the genomic tool comprises a separate access module that logs details of user, IP, Country and daily, weekly, and monthly statistics of the user and the IP.

In still another embodiment of the present invention, the system provides integrated framework that builds a knowledge-based user community around the system.
In still another embodiment of the present invention, the system provides multiple access points for data entry and retrieval.

In still another embodiment of the present invention the system is a Redundant Array of Inexpensive Disks system developed on a multi-user operating system.

The present invention also relates to a method for enabling integrated access to medicinal plant research, said method comprising acts of;

i. Extracting relevant data from document in relation to a user query,
ii. Learning the user feedback for the extracted data using query
expansion and relevancy scoring,
iii. Correlating meta-data with primary experimental data through
Boolean operators, and
iv. Representing the primary experimental data at a predefined level of
abstraction for analysing the user query to provide integrated access to medicinal plant research.

The Value Proposition

ADePt™ is a comprehensive and definitive source on plants having medicinal value and contains vast array of information. The database component of the platform includes general information on medicinal plants with focused emphasis on proteomic, genomic, tissue culture, metabolomic, ethnobotanical, patent and related literature on the plants. The system also provides a comprehensive selection of data analysis and simulation tools alongside an advanced query system and a context-mapping tool that implements a relevancy model towards correlating various data sources. ADePt™ enables the improvement and rationalization of traditional medical practices that are based on the use of medicinal plants.

Currently available databases in the public domain provide only a myopic view of this rapidly evolving topic. ADePt™ incorporates high-throughput analytical techniques (Ultra-HPLC) coupled with high-resolution mass-spectrometric instrumentation (Q-TOF, MALDI-TOF) within the context of Avesthagen's proprietary technology CCP™ to provide a broader access to the subject of medicinal plant flora for metabolite profiling, which will accelerate the discovery of novel compounds or factors from plant species of interest. ADePt™, will be immensely useful tool for biochemists, ethnobotanists, food technologists, molecular biologists and economists at public and private institutions throughout the world. It can dramatically accelerate the discovery process as a result of the relevant high-throughput data made available. The database will function as a hi-tech knowledge management system that can better facilitate researchers in their task to catalog and valuate biodiversity and subsequently use it as a basis to generate products using an accelerated model.

II. Data Sources

ADePt™ has a unique architectural design (Figure 1) that enables it to simultaneously cater to the needs of a wide range of users. The objective is to organize and collate the data in a manner that can be accessed through various combinations of queries.

The Data Sources are as follows:

■ Disease
> Description
> Clinical Pharmacology
> Pharmacokinetics
> Dosage / Administration
> Adverse Reactions / Drug Interaction
> Overdosage / Contraindications
> Toxicology
> Bioactivity
Search Results for Methyl Jasmonate induction in Momordica charantia are shown in Figure 2.

■ Bioassay
> In-vitro
> Cell culture
> Enzymes
> In-vivo
> Animals
> Humans
■ Plant and Ethnobotany
> Characteristics
> Formulations
> Distribution
> Cultivation
> Disease
> Plant Information Report
> Pharmacognosy
> Traditional Medicine
> Ayurveda / Unani
> Siddha
> Tribal
■ Comprehensive Constituent Profiling (CCP)™
> Plant Specific Metabolite Content
> Comprehensive Metabolite Reservoir
> Mass Spectrometric details obtained using ADePt™ is shown in Figure 3.
■ Plant Proteomics
> 2DE Electrophoresis
> DIGE Differential Gel electrophoresis
> MALDI-TOF
> LC- MS/MS
> Protein PDB Structure image is shown in Figure 4.
■ Genomics
> Static Genome
> Expressed Genome

> Expression Analysis
> High Throughput
> Low Throughput
■ Tissue Culture
> In-vitro Information
> Elicitor Information
> Transformation
> Cryopreservation

■ Regulatory
■ Patents

III. Analysis and Modeling Tools

Context Mapping and Advanced Query

ADePt™ implements a powerful query-relevant text summary system called Context Mapping (Figure 5), which is based on interactive learning. The system proceeds in two steps, it first extracts the most relevant data from of a document with regard to a user query using a classical term weighting scheme. Subsequently it learns the user feedback in order to improve its performances. Learning operates at two levels: query expansion and relevancy scoring. This tool will provide an adequate handle to making sense of the enormous quantity of data contained in the database.

ADePt™ implements a met-data based advanced query analysis tool (Figure 6). The search engine robustly correlates the meta-data and with the primary experimental data through Boolean operators. In addition, the meta-data-model represents the primary experimental data at a sufficient level of abstraction to effectively make the data independent of the source, thereby generating a broader and more powerful query analysis tool.

Genomic Analysis Tools

Retrieval of genomic data at a given time point becomes difficult as one has to dig through the archived files. As the data grows the necessity of centralizing the data becomes vital in order to manage the flow of information from the planners to the executors. The genomic analysis tool has a 3-tier architecture. Raw and analyzed results are stored in the database with option to view, query and edit the database. (Figure 7). This tool has a separate access module, which logs the details of the users, IP, country and the daily, weekly and monthly statistics of the same. In addition, genomic tools available in the public domain such BLAST and the EMBOSS package have been integrated into ADePt™.

IV. System Architecture and Technology

Knowledge Portal System

ADePt™ is structured to provide an integrated framework that builds a knowledge-based user community around the system. Tools such as message boards, best practices sharing, and knowledge extraction protocols enrich its utility as a researchers primary knowledge-access tool (Figure 8).

Distributed Data Environment

ADePt™ is built around the Avesthagen Information Management System (AIMS). This provides the framework for a distributed data integration and data classification system. ADePt™ features multiple access points for data entry and retrieval. The focus is to facilitate entry of data at the laboratory level through a web-based interface (Figure 9).

Knowledge management system

Data generated from both in-house and public domain needs to be properly organized for efficient trace back, retrieval and for application purposes. Since large volumes of data is present, we need an efficient system that serves as knowledge repository simulating a systems biology platform. This management system has different phases resembling a modified Data warehouse model coupled with in-house algorithms for Quality control and analysis. Just like extract, transform and load (ETL) operation of a data warehouse, this system has Data collection, Data transformation phases and its uniqueness lies in preserving raw data alongside processed data for future authenticity and trace back. Also, a number of in-house applications facilitate multiuser input and storage to the warehouse. Further, analysis algorithms help in mining the information from the processed data in the Analysis phase. The scientific community can finally view the analyzed data as a cross-platform web-database application. A number of Quality control tools have been made that aid in checking of the authenticity of data, experiments and/or sample. (Figure 10)

Hardware Characteristics

ADePt™ is a RAID (Redundant Array of Inexpensive Disks) system implemented on a multi-user operating system such as Linux or Windows NT. RAID, is a method whereby information is spread across several disks, using techniques such as disk striping and disk mirroring to achieve redundancy, lower latency, higher bandwidth for reading and writing, and recoverability from hard-disk crashes. Moreover, independent of any human directives, the system routinely checks for damaged data.
MySQL is used as the back-end RDBMS, which provides good report generation capabilities and enhanced security features.

We Claim:

1. A knowledge management system for facilitating integrated access to medicinal plant research.

2. The knowledge management system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the system comprises query-relevant text summary system, meta-data based query analysis tool and genomic analysis tool.

3. The knowledge management system as claimed in claim 2, wherein the query-relevant text summary system extracts relevant data from a document with respect to a user query using predetermined scheme and learns the user feedback in order to optimize the performance of the system.
4. The knowledge management system as claimed in claims 1 and 2, wherein the system correlates meta-data with primary experimental data through Boolean operators and represents the primary experimental data at a predefined level of abstraction to prepare the data independent of source to generate the query analysis tool.

5. The knowledge management system as claimed in claim 2, wherein the genomic tool comprises a separate access module that logs details of user, IP, Country and daily, weekly, and monthly statistics of the user and the IP.

6. The knowledge management system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the system provides integrated framework that builds a knowledge-based user community around the system.

7. The knowledge management system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the system provides multiple access points for data entry and retrieval.

8. The knowledge management system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the system is a Redundant Array of Inexpensive Disks system developed on a multi-user operating system.

9. A method for enabling integrated access to medicinal plant research, said
method comprising acts of;

i. Extracting relevant data from document in relation to a user query,

ii. Learning the user feedback for the extracted data using query
expansion and relevancy scoring,

iii. Correlating meta-data with primary experimental data through
Boolean operators, and

iv. Representing the primary experimental data at a predefined level of
abstraction for analysing the user query to provide integrated access to medicinal plant research.

10. A knowledge management system and a method for designing a knowledge
management system for integrated access to medicinal plant research is
substantially as herein above described with respect to accompanying
drawings.