Article
Publishing, interpreting, and accessing models

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Abstract

Models are tools that are used to predict the structure and the behavior of a system. They are usually developed to fit a particular set of data, however, once developed, they can be applied to other studies; to predict the behavior of the system under different conditions, explore the structure of parts of the system that were not sampled, identify areas that are lacking in data, and optimize the design of new studies. For published models to be interpreted and applied widely to other studies, models need to be communicated clearly. Papers describing models should contain full descriptions of the physiological relevance and mathematical rigor of the model. A working version of the model then needs to be made available to other investigators. This manuscript examines the areas of communicating and interpreting published models and describes a facility, called a ‘model library’, that is being developed to make published models available on the Internet. With better communication, information in models can be extracted and used to bridge the gap between theory and experiment to extend our understanding of complex systems and optimize the use of experimental resources.

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Support was provided by NSF BIR-9503872.