TPX: Biomedical literature search made easy

TPX is a web-based PubMed search enhancement tool that enables faster article searching using analysis and exploration features. These features include identification of relevant biomedical concepts from search results with linkouts to source databases, concept based article categorization, concept assisted search and filtering, query refinement. A distinguishing feature here is the ability to add user-defined concept names and/or concept types for named entity recognition. The tool allows contextual exploration of knowledge sources by providing concept association maps derived from the MEDLINE repository. It also has a full-text search mode that can be configured on request to access local text repositories, incorporating entity co-occurrence search at sentence/paragraph levels. Local text files can also be analyzed on-the-fly. Availability: http://tpx.atc.tcs.com     

Effects of different soil ameliorants on karee trees (Searsia lancea) growing on mine tailings dump soil-part I: pot trials

Rehabilitation of mine tailings dams is often a challenge due to a lack of nutrients and a poor humus reservoir prevailing in tailings soils. This is especially true for establishing longer lived species such as trees. For these reasons the effects of different soil ameliorants (woodchips compost, vermicompost, mature sewage sludge), added to the root system of Karee (Searsia lancea) saplings were tested in pot trials. Those pots were filled with platinum and gold tailings substrate as well as red clay soil, respectively. For three months plants remained in a greenhouse and were subsequently moved to a test field outside. Throughout the test period regular chl a fluorescence measurements were taken and subjected to JIP-test quantifying changes in photosynthetic vitality status. Additionally, growth measurements and one-off leaf analysis were carried out. Test plants growing on mine tailings experienced an up to 35% higher average photosynthetic vitality (PI(ABS)) and improved nutrient supply, when treated with mature sewage sludge. Consequently, sewage sludge treated plants showed a higher biomass build-up rate and an up to 55% higher diameter growth, compared to control. In summary the experiments present a low cost alternative for reforestation enterprises on platinum and gold tailings dams in South Africa.     

Beiträge zum Problem der Photoreaktivierung

Zusammenfassung Es wurde das Verhalten von Vertretern der Gattungen Bacillus und Escherichia gegen sichtbares Licht nach vorhergehender Bestrahlung mit kurzwelligem UV untersucht. Dabei konnte festgestellt werden:Die vegetativen Formen, Keimstäbchen und Sporen der zur Untersuchung gelangten Bacillus-Arten sind weder mit einem breiten Spektrum sichtbaren Lichtes noch mit isolierten Wellenlängen (404, 436, 546 und 578 m) photoreaktivierbar. Es kann aber bei einzelnen Stämmen zu einem Schutz vor der Bestrahlung mit kurzwelligem UV kommen, wenn die Zellen vorher mit Licht der Wellenlängen 404 oder 436 m behandelt werden.Bei Escherichia coli besteht eine strenge Korrelation zwischen der Schädigung durch kurzwelliges UV und der Reaktivierbarkeit der geschädigten Zellen. Unter optimalen Bedingungen werden durchschnittlich 80,22% der durch UV inaktivierten Bakterien mit Hilfe des sicht-baren Lichtes reaktiviert, und zwar unabhängig von: der Stärke der Schädigung (Bestrahlungsdauer und Bestrahlungsintensität), der augen-blicklichen relativen Strahlenresistenz der Bakterienzelle (logarithmische Wachstumsphase oder später), Stammeseigentümlichkeiten (Wachstumsgeschwindigkeit, Schleimbildung, Vitaminbedarf) und Außenfaktoren (Bebrütungstemperatur, Tageszeit, wahrscheinlich auch Witterung).Der Faktor für die Korrelation zwischen Schädigung und Reaktivierung der untersuchten Stämme beträgt im Durchschnitt 0,957.Es wird erörtert, inwieweit sich aus diesen Befunden Schlüsse auf die Wirkungsart ultravioletter Strahlung in der Bakterienzelle ziehen lassen.Dissertation der mathematisch-naturwissenschaftlichen Fakultät der Eberhard-Karls-Universität zu Tübingen 1956.     

Drug effect on the rotation thromboelastogram in newborn infants

The impact of the antibiotics carbenicilin and gentamycin on the aggregation and adhesiveness of thrombocytes and on the rotation thrombelastogramme is investigated in healthy newborns. Thrombocyte aggregation was markedly inhibited by carbenicilline; gentamycine had no influence. Thrombocyte adhesiveness was less influenced by both medicaments. The parameters of TEG, viz. reaction time, clotforming time, thrombus elasticity and index were compared before and after rotation and with and without medicaments. Under carbenicilline a prolongation of the clotforming time and a decrease of thrombus elasticity could be shown to exist after rotation. The impact of medicaments on the rotation thrombelastogramme can only be conceived by comparing the values before and after rotation in each case with and without medicament and not simply evaluating it, so that the rotation thrombelastogramms cannot be recommended to be used for assessing the disturbance of thrombocyte function induced by medicaments.