COUSIN database

Figure 14 shows usage patterns for various t3q>es of data in the Cousin database for all users. Although chemical structures are clearly the most desired piece of information, other components of the database are frequently retrieved as well. An inventory of fine chemicals ordered by each laboratory was created and linked to the FCD by supplier catalogue number to provide a method of locating chemicals available in-house. This capability was recently introduced but has already more than doubled use of the FCD. 

The common characteristic of even these simplest of databases and of the most complex of their cousins is the concept of records. A record comprises the smallest collection of related data elements that is typically retrieved by a search. Again quoting the FDA Glossary, a record is a group of related data elements treated as a unit. [A data element (field) is a component of a record, a record is a component of a file (database)]. ... 

Hotelier T, Renault L, Cousin X, Negre V, Marchot P, Chaton-net A. ESTHER, the database of the alpha/beta-hydrolase fold superfamily of proteins. Nucleic Acids Res. 2004 32 D145-147. 

In-house chemical information management systems began to emerge at some of the larger chemical and pharmaceutical firms. These included CONTRAST and SOCRATES at Pfizer, SYNLIB at SmithKline, COUSIN at Upjohn, MSDRL/CSIS at Merck, and CROSSBOW at ICI (27). The Chemical Abstracts database was made available online in 1967 (28). In 1980 this became CAS ONLINE. A compre-... 

Earger chemical and pharmaceutical firms have, over the years, developed in-house systems with capabilities that are specific to the chemist s needs. Today, the costs of developing from scratch and maintaining an in-house system are prohibitive, especially because commercial chemical information systems are highly efficient and customizable. Personal chemical information software is still being developed and reported in the literature. Examples include a relational database patterned after the Upjohn Cousin system (108), and CheD, which is a SQL-based system with a Web client (109). 

Chatonnet, A., Hotelier, T., and Cousin, X. 1999. Kinetic parameters of cholinesterase interactions with organophosphates retrieval and comparison tools available through ESTHER database ESTerases, alpha/beta hydrolase enzymes and relatives. Chem.-Biol. Interact., 119/120, 567-576. 

By 1984, the use of chemical database systems was well understood and wide-spread in the chemical/pharmaceutical industry. Their use provided researchers with rapid access to company-wide, and in some cases industry-wide, chemical information. A few companies had developed proprietary systems for this purpose such as Upjohn s COUSIN and ICFs CROSSBOW. However, most companies were using commercial chemical database systems such as Molecular Design s (MDL s) MACCS. ... 

The initial version of Cousin and its associated database were built over a period of 6 years, long by today s standards, and released to the user community in 1981. Even though there were only two of the relatively expensive graphics workstations for the entire chemistry community, the system proved to be popular. Cousin was continuously expanded to include additional discovery research data and functionality over a 20-year period from 1981 through 2001. Some of the key developments during this time were... 

Integration of bioassay data into Cousin via the associated relational database system. 

Publication of a free Microsoft Access add-in based on Cousin that allowed structures to be stored, searched, and retrieved using the Microsoft Access database engine and user interface [8],... 

Twenty years is a relatively long time for a custom in-house-developed system of this type to survive. This is particularly true since viable commercial chemical database software came into existence in the late 1970s in the form of the MACCS system, which was widely adopted by industry, but the object of a great deal of user dissatisfaction. Cousin was regularly reviewed by both inside and outside reviewers against other available systems and remained the recommended choice. We believe that some of the reasons for this longevity were the following ... 

When the Cousin project was started in the mid-1970s, there was no existing chemical database software available that could do the job so the only option was to build everything from the structure drawing program to the database search software to the... 

There are now many chemical information systems available some of these are mainly used for in-house databases, e.g., MACCS, COUSIN, ° and THOR, whereas others are used for searching public databases, e.g., CAS Online or DARC. The Cambridge Structural Database is frequently searched on in-house computers with software provided for this purpose. ... 

This paper proposes extensions to the relational database model that allow chemical structure and other complex data types to be included in a relational database. It is argued that this approach provides benefits over the common practice of storing chemical structures in a chemical database system and associated research data in a relational or other general database system. The design, implementation, and usage patterns of an extended relational system are discussed in the context of the Upjohn Cousin compound information system. Emerging extensibiUty features that support the proposed approach within commercially available database systems are reviewed. 

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