The Complex Carbohydrate Research Center (CCRC) of the
University of Georgia is announcing an analytical
glyco-chemistry service via the World Wide Web. The software is
called CarbNet (Carbohydrate Neural Networks), and is available
at http://www.ccrc.uga.edu/ CarbNet is an analytical tool for
identification and verification of carbohydrate spectra. The
system uses a neural network pattern matching engine to match
spectra of unknown compounds submitted by the user with spectra
of compounds from CCRCs databases. Each search of CarbNet
produces a ranked "hit list" of compounds in our library whose
spectra most closely match the unknown spectrum, and a graphical
presentation of both the submitted spectrum and the "best match"
sample spectrum from CarbNet. Each compound in the hit list is
associated with a score that represents the closeness of the
match. The graphical presentation assists in the visual
verification of the search result. A capability is provided for
"static" zooming into a certain region of the spectra.
The CCRC currently offers analytical services for two types of
complex carbohydrates. These are: combined Gas
chromatography-electron impact mass spectra (GC-EIMS) of
partially methylated alditol acetates (PMAAs), and for 500-MHz
NMR spectra of xyloglucan subunit oligosaccharides.
The CarbNet software is currently a prototype. We hope that,
after using this prototype, your feedback will assist us in
developing an improved version. Some improvements such as
"dynamic" zooming capability will be incorporated as soon as
JAVA (or an alternative such as OLE) compatible web browsers
become more comon. CarbNet currently uses some extensions to
HTML 2.0. Therefor, it is best presented by Netscapes or
Microsofts web browsers.
If you have a spectrum of the above-mentioned types, we
encourage you to submit it to CarbNet and let us know how well
CarbNet performs in helping to identify your compound. We
especially encourage you to send us an e-mail message if you
encounter a problem or receive an incorrect response from
CarbNet. You should be aware that these spectral libraries are
not complete; we plan to add spectra to each of these libraries
and to introduce libraries of other types of complex
carbohydrates. If either library does not produce a "match" for
your submitted spectrum, we ask that you contact us by e-mail at
the address below so that we can arrange to add your spectrum to
our library. Thereby increasing the value of the library to the
scientific community.
On the system, we have sample spectra for above mentioned
libraries. If you do not have a spectrum to submit, we
encourage you to use these spectra to initiate a search, and
observe the functionality of the system. We welcome any
comments that you might have.
For further inquiries or any problems with CarbNet, please
contact faramarz at mond1.ccrc.uga.edu.
--
Faramarz Valafar
Complex Carbohydrate Research Center
University of Georgia
220 Riverbend Rd.
Athens, GA 30602
USA
Tel: (706) 542-4436
Fax: (706) 542-4412
