Frequently Asked Questions (updated on January 30, 2019)
Please consult this page before contacting us.

Q1. Does the KATE server maintain the confidentiality of the chemical structure information entered by the user (in SMILES notation)?

• (1) When you log out of the KATE system, all your data related to predictions are deleted from the server. If you terminate your KATE session without logging out, you can delete your data from the server by logging in again with the same user name and then logging out.* See the KATE on NET (KATE2011) manual (available only in Japanese) or the KATE2017 manual.
• (2) We have not assessed the risk of information leakage when KATE is operated in batch mode using SMILES List. Therefore, we suggest that you not use batch mode for confidential data.

*However, we cannot guarantee the confidentiality of SMILES strings entered into the KATE system via the internet.

Q2. When I try to log in to KATE, I get the following message: "Session has timed out. Please login again." What should I do?

• (1) Please try the following procedure for logging in.
  • a) Close your web browser.
  • b) Reopen your web browser, type the KATE User login page (https://kate.nies.go.jp/nies/ (KATE2011, available only in Japanese) or https://kate2.nies.go.jp/nies/ (KATE2020)), and then click Login on the page that comes up.
  • c) Input your user name and password, and then click Login.
• (2) This error message can be generated if your web browser is set to block cookies (e.g., if privacy is set at “high” in Internet Explorer). In this case, please change your browser settings to accept cookies.

Q3. What is the meaning of e+2, e+4, etc. in the predicted values?

This is a form of scientific notation: e+2 and e+4 represent 102 (= 100) and 104 (= 10,000), respectively. For example, 1.2e+2 means 1.2 × 100 (= 120).

Q4. What should I do if I forget my login name or password?

If you forget your login name or password, you must reregister with a new login name. The administrators cannot reset your password. We apologize for this inconvenience.

Q5. Is there any published information about KATE?

Yes. Please refer to the following references:

Seminar on Act on the Evaluation of Chemical Substances and Regulation of Their Manufacture, etc. (aveilable only in Japanese).

A Furuhama, T Toida, N Nishikawa, Y Aoki, Y Yoshioka, and H Shiraishi, Development of an ecotoxicity QSAR model for the KAshinhou Tool for Ecotoxicity (KATE) system, March 2009 version, SAR QSAR Environ. Res. 21 (2010), 403–413.
open access information.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/1062936X.2010.501815

A. Furuhama, K. Hasunuma, Y. Aoki, Y. Yoshioka and H. Shiraishi, Application of chemical reaction mechanistic domains to an ecotoxicity QSAR model, KAshinhou Tool for Ecotoxicity (KATE), SAR QSAR Environ. Res. 22 (2011), 505–523. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/1062936X.2011.569944.