BacDive in 2022: the knowledge base for standardized bacterial and archaeal data

The bacterial metadatabase BacDive (https://bacdive.dsmz.de) has developed into a leading database for standardized prokaryotic data on strain level. With its current release (07/2021) the database offers information for 82 892 bacterial and archaeal strains covering taxonomy, morphology, cultivation, metabolism, origin, and sequence information within 1048 data fields. By integrating high-quality data from additional culture collections as well as detailed information from species descriptions, the amount of data provided has increased by 30% over the past three years. A newly developed query builder tool in the advanced search now allows complex database queries. Thereby bacterial strains can be systematically searched based on combinations of their attributes, e.g. growth and metabolic features for biotechnological applications or to identify gaps in the present knowledge about bacteria. A new interactive dashboard provides a statistic overview over the most important data fields. Additional new features are improved genomic sequence data, integrated NCBI TaxIDs and links to BacMedia, the new sister database on cultivation media. To improve the findability and interpretation of data through search engines, data in BacDive are annotated with bioschemas.org terms.

BacDive--The Bacterial Diversity Metadatabase in 2016

BacDive-the Bacterial Diversity Metadatabase (http://bacdive.dsmz.de) provides strain-linked information about bacterial and archaeal biodiversity. The range of data encompasses taxonomy, morphology, physiology, sampling and concomitant environmental conditions as well as molecular biology. The majority of data is manually annotated and curated. Currently (with release 9/2015), BacDive covers 53 978 strains. Newly implemented RESTful web services provide instant access to the content in machine-readable XML and JSON format. Besides an overall increase of data content, BacDive offers new data fields and features, e.g. the search for gene names, plasmids or 16S rRNA in the advanced search, as well as improved linkage of entries to external life science web resources.

BacDive--the Bacterial Diversity Metadatabase

BacDive—the Bacterial Diversity Metadatabase (http://bacdive.dsmz.de) merges detailed strain-linked information on the different aspects of bacterial and archaeal biodiversity. Currently (release 9/2013), BacDive contains entries for 23 458 strains and provides information on their taxonomy, morphology, physiology, sampling and concomitant environmental conditions as well as molecular biology. Where available, links to access the respective biological resources are given. The majority of the BacDive data is manually annotated and curated. The BacDive portal offers an easy-to-use simple search and in addition powerful advanced search functionalities allowing to combine more than 30 search fields for text and numerical data. The user can compile individual sets of strains to a download selection that can easily be imported into nearly all spreadsheet applications.

Pulmonary complications in amiodarone treatment

Amiodarone is a widely used antiarrhythmic drug, however, not without numerous side-effects. One of them is a potentially adverse reaction upon the respiratory system which can assume the form of acute respiratory failure, interstitial pneumonitis, parenchymal infiltrates, pleural effusion or bronchiolitis obliterans organizing pneumonia. For this reason prior to the onset of the long-term amiodarone therapy initial chest x-ray and spirometry should be made and in the course of the treatment spirometry and radiological monitoring should be carried out. Helpful in diagnosing the side-effects of amiodarone use in relation to the respiratory system could also be plethysmography, evaluation of the diffusing capacity, Gallium scintigraphy and cancer-associated serum antigen (CASA). While planning a long-term amiodarone therapy one should consider the risk factors of the development of pulmonary complications and the necessity to use this drug should be connected with the activities aiming at an early diagnosis of the respiratory system dysfunctions.

Contemporary opinions on administration of inhaled glucocorticosteroids in the treatment of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

The contemporary medicine is looking for new, more effective methods of treatment for patients suffering from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), whose number is systematically increasing. It seems that main challenges involve improving treatment efficiency, preventing exacerbations and inhibiting the progression of the disease. The aim of this paper is to briefly present the contemporary knowledge of the application of inhaled glucocorticosteroid in COPD treatment, their effectiveness and side-effects. According to the present state of knowledge, inhaled glucocorticosteroid do not inhibit the neutrophil inflammation in COPD. However, they significantly restrict the inflammatory response in severe forms of the disease, which, practically, means decrease of exacerbation frequency, life quality improvement and mortality reduction in these patients. Inhaled glucocorticosteroids, just like systemic glucocorticosteroids, do have many side-effects, but they can be effectively prevented.