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SummaryWe developed a new software tool, BioJava-ModFinder, for identifying protein modifications observed in 3D structures archived in the Protein Data Bank (PDB). Information on more than 400 types of protein modifications were collected and curated from annotations in PDB, RESID, and PSI-MOD. We divided these modifications into three categories: modified residues, attachment modifications, and cross-links. We have developed a systematic method to identify these modifications in 3D protein structures. We have integrated this package with the RCSB PDB web application and added protein modification annotations to the sequence diagram and structure display. By scanning all 3D structures in the PDB using BioJava-ModFinder, we identified more than 30 000 structures with protein modifications, which can be searched, browsed, and visualized on the RCSB PDB website.Availability and implementationBioJava-ModFinder is available as open source (LGPL license) at ( https://github.com/biojava/biojava/tree/master/biojava-modfinder ). The RCSB PDB can be accessed at http://www.rcsb.org .Contactpwrose@ucsd.edu.

The Research Collaboratory for Structural Bioinformatics Protein Data Bank (RCSB PDB) develops tools and resources that provide a structural view of biology for research and education. The RCSB PDB web site (http://www.rcsb.org) uses the curated 3D macromolecular data contained in the PDB archive to offer unique methods to access, report and visualize data. Recent activities have focused on improving methods for simple and complex searches of PDB data, creating specialized access to chemical component data and providing domain-based structural alignments. New educational resources are offered at the PDB-101 educational view of the main web site such as Author Profiles that display a researcher's PDB entries in a timeline. To promote different kinds of access to the RCSB PDB, Web Services have been expanded, and an RCSB PDB Mobile application for the iPhone/iPad has been released. These improvements enable new opportunities for analyzing and understanding structure data.

The RCSB Protein Data Bank (RCSB PDB, www.pdb.org) is a key online resource for structural biology and related scientific disciplines. The website is used on average by 165,000 unique visitors per month, and more than 2000 other websites link to it. The amount and complexity of PDB data as well as the expectations on its usage are growing rapidly. Therefore, ensuring the reliability and robustness of the RCSB PDB query and distribution systems are crucially important and increasingly challenging. This article describes quality assurance for the RCSB PDB website at several distinct levels, including: (i) hardware redundancy and failover, (ii) testing protocols for weekly database updates, (iii) testing and release procedures for major software updates and (iv) miscellaneous monitoring and troubleshooting tools and practices. As such it provides suggestions for how other websites might be operated.

The RCSB Protein Data Bank (RCSB PDB) web site (http://www.pdb.org) has been redesigned to increase usability and to cater to a larger and more diverse user base. This article describes key enhancements and new features that fall into the following categories: (i) query and analysis tools for chemical structure searching, query refinement, tabulation and export of query results; (ii) web site customization and new structure alerts; (iii) pair-wise and representative protein structure alignments; (iv) visualization of large assemblies; (v) integration of structural data with the open access literature and binding affinity data; and (vi) web services and web widgets to facilitate integration of PDB data and tools with other resources. These improvements enable a range of new possibilities to analyze and understand structure data. The next generation of the RCSB PDB web site, as described here, provides a rich resource for research and education.

Abstract Background Biological data have traditionally been stored and made publicly available through a variety of on-line databases, whereas biological knowledge has traditionally been found in the printed literature. With journals now on-line and providing an increasing amount of open access content, often free of copyright restriction, this distinction between database and literature is blurring. To exploit this opportunity we present the integration of open access literature with the RCSB Protein Data Bank (PDB). Results BioLit provides an enhanced view of articles with markup of semantic data and links to biological databases, based on the content of the article. For example, words matching to existing biological ontologies are highlighted and database identifiers are linked to their database of origin. Among other functions, it identifies PDB IDs that are mentioned in the open access literature, by parsing the full text for all research articles in PubMed Central (PMC) and exposing the results as simple XML Web Services. Here, we integrate BioLit results with the RCSB PDB website by using these services to find PDB IDs that are mentioned in research articles and subsequently retrieving abstract, figures, and text excerpts for those articles. A new RCSB PDB literature view permits browsing through the figures and abstracts of the articles that mention a given structure. The BioLit Web Services that are providing the underlying data are publicly accessible. A client library is provided that supports querying these services (Java). Conclusions The integration between literature and websites, as demonstrated here with the RCSB PDB, provides a broader view for how a given structure has been analyzed and used. This approach detects the mention of a PDB structure even if it is not formally cited in the paper. Other structures related through the same literature references can also be identified, possibly providing new scientific insight. To our knowledge this is the first time that database and literature have been integrated in this way and it speaks to the opportunities afforded by open and free access to both database and literature content.

The concern of the newly founded Kingdom of Greece for the reestablishment of old place names dates to 1833 and was due to a clear and deliberate effort to break with the Ottoman past and connect the modern Greek state with ancient and Byzantine Greece. In post-Risorgimento Italy, the fundamental causes of toponymic changes was to lessen the potential for confusion between the numerous homonymous municipalities that, once part of various sovereign states, were now part of a single nation. This article discusses the parallel paths that Greece and Italy followed on the renaming issue, where the internal discourse evolved within similar political and ideological parameters, both at an administrative and public dialogue level. However, despite their similarities, the final decisions in Greece and Italy were dictated by, firstly, the administrative organisation and structure selected by each country and, secondly, the political and ideological priorities, which were set in direct correlation with the domestic political conflicts, as well as the different circumstances each country faced in relation to its borders and the rise of antagonistic neighbouring nationalisms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: We developed a new software tool, BioJava-ModFinder, for identifying protein modifications observed in 3D structures archived in the Protein Data Bank (PDB). Information on more than 400 types of protein modifications were collected and curated from annotations in PDB, RESID, and PSI-MOD. We divided these modifications into three categories: modified residues, attachment modifications, and cross-links. We have developed a systematic method to identify these modifications in 3D protein structures. We have integrated this package with the RCSB PDB web application and added protein modification annotations to the sequence diagram and structure display. By scanning all 3D structures in the PDB using BioJava-ModFinder, we identified more than 30 000 structures with proteinmodifications, which can be searched, browsed, and visualized on the RCSB PDB website. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the past decade, the number of polymers and their complexes with small molecules in the Protein Data Bank archive (PDB) has continued to increase significantly. To support scientific advancements and ensure the best quality and completeness of the data files over the next 10 years and beyond, the Worldwide PDB partnership that manages the PDB archive is developing a new deposition and annotation system. This system focuses on efficient data capture across all supported experimental methods. The new deposition and annotation system is composed of four major modules that together support all of the processing requirements for a PDB entry. In this article, we describe one such module called the Chemical Component Annotation Tool. This tool uses information from both the Chemical Component Dictionary and Biologically Interesting molecule Reference Dictionary to aid in annotation. Benchmark studies have shown that the Chemical Component Annotation Tool provides significant improvements in processing efficiency and data quality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This text presents the settlement complex of Central Greece (mainly Boetia, Fthiotida, Magnesia, Larissa) in the first years of the nineteenth century, as attested in Argyris Philippidis' work, Mϵρικὴ Γϵω γραϕíα [Partial geography]. In total, Philippidis recorded 232 settlements, in a credible manner, as demonstrated by comparison with information from other sources of the period. The examination of this data reveals the very strong presence of mainly Christian settlements of small dimensions, not exceeding 100 homes, located at relatively low elevations. Also notable is the presence of a few cities exceeding 1000 homes of largely Muslim population, as well as "islets" of settlements with Muslim or mixed populations in flatlands. The settlement complex was supported by monasteries, berths, bazaars and inns, which constituted functional components of the financial activities. This text is part of a study being conducted at the Institute for Neohellenic Research concerning the history of settlements in Greece (fifteenth- twentieth centuries). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Biological data have traditionally been stored and made publicly available through a variety of on-line databases, whereas biological knowledge has traditionally been found in the printed literature. With journals now online and providing an increasing amount of open access content, often free of copyright restriction, this distinction between database and literature is blurring. To exploit this opportunity we present the integration of open access literature with the RCSB Protein Data Bank (PDB). Results: BioLit provides an enhanced view of articles with markup of semantic data and links to biological databases, based on the content of the article. For example, words matching to existing biological ontologies are highlighted and database identifiers are linked to their database of origin. Among other functions, it identifies PDB IDs that are mentioned in the open access literature, by parsing the full text for all research articles in PubMed Central (PMC) and exposing the results as simple XML Web Services. Here, we integrate BioLit results with the RCSB PDB website by using these services to find PDB IDs that are mentioned in research articles and subsequently retrieving abstract, figures, and text excerpts for those articles. A new RCSB PDB literature view permits browsing through the figures and abstracts of the articles that mention a given structure. The BioLit Web Services that are providing the underlying data are publicly accessible. A client library is provided that supports querying these services (Java). Conclusions: The integration between literature and websites, as demonstrated here with the RCSB PDB, provides a broader view for how a given structure has been analyzed and used. This approach detects the mention of a PDB structure even if it is not formally cited in the paper. Other structures related through the same literature references can also be identified, possibly providing new scientific insight. To our knowledge this is the first time that database and literature have been integrated in this way and it speaks to the opportunities afforded by open and free access to both database and literature content. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The three-dimensional environments of ligand binding sites have been derived from the parsing and loading of the PDB entries into a relational database. For each bound molecule the biological assembly of the quaternary structure has been used to determine all contact residues and a fast interactive search and retrieval system has been developed. Prosite pattern and short sequence search options are available together with a novel graphical query generator for inter-residue contacts. The database and its query interface are accessible from the Internet through a web server located at: . Proteins 2005. © 2004 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]