04/27/2006
WISER version 2.2 is now available for download

04/12/06
TRI2004 Released

TRI2004 was released to the public on TOXNET on April 12, 2006. The new release contains 89,653 records.

4/11/06
LactMed: A New Database on Drugs and Lactation from the National Library of Medicine

LactMed, a free online database with information on drugs and lactation, is one of the newest additions to the National Library of Medicine’s (NLM) TOXNET system, a Web-based collection of resources covering toxicology, chemical safety, and environmental health. Geared to the healthcare practitioner and nursing mother, LactMed contains over 450 drug records. It includes information such as maternal levels in breast milk, infant levels in blood, potential effects in breastfeeding infants and on lactation itself, the American Academy of Pediatrics category indicating the level of compatibility of the drug with breastfeeding, and alternate drugs to consider. References are included, as is nomenclature information, such as the drug’s Chemical Abstract Service’s (CAS) Registry number and its broad drug class.

LactMed was developed by pharmacist who is an expert in this subject area. Three other recognized authorities serve as the database’s scientific review panel. Ancillary resources, such as a glossary of terms related to drugs and lactation, and breastfeeding links are also offered. LactMed can be searched together with TOXNET’s other databases in a multi-database environment, to obtain other relevant information about drugs. As a work in progress, LactMed will continue to expand with additional drugs and be enhanced with other substances, such as industrial chemicals and radiation.

02/14/06
New structure searching features: ChemIDplus

ChemIDplus has added new structure searching features to its Advanced search page (http://chem.sis.nlm.nih.gov/chemidplus/chemidheavy.jsp) recently. The “Exact (parent only)” feature searches for exactly what is drawn or transferred to the structure box. The new features called “Flex” and “Flexplus” allow searching for records which contain a parent structure plus additional components. These components may be salts, hydrates, or mixtures with other chemicals. The new features will take the input structure and find records where it is mixed with other compounds. An example would be the drug named “Aleve” which is the soluble sodium salt of naproxen. If the structure of “Aleve” is transferred by the appropriate button to the structure box, The Exact search retrieves one record. If the Flex search is chosen and searched, the system will retrieve the parent naproxen record, as well as seven other salts and mixtures of naproxen for a total of nine records. Most of these would be of interest in a search for data on the effectiveness or toxicology of “Aleve”. The Flexplus feature also retrieves nine records in this case, however since it is more generalized to allow different stereochemistry and bonding, it may sometimes retrieve more records than a Flex search, however some may not have the same characteristics as the parent. These new features are described in more detail in the ChemIDplus Advanced Help (http://chem.sis.nlm.nih.gov/chemidplus/documentation/help/chemidfs2webAdvanced.jsp#_StructureSearch)

12/15/05
Lead and Human Health added to Enviro-Health Links

A new web page, Lead and Human Health, that addresses the relationship between lead and human health has been added to the National Library of Medicine's (NLM) Enviro-Health Links. The page contains links to selected web sites on exposure, treatment, and prevention of lead poisoning.

12/06/2005
WebWISER makes WISER available on the Internet

A web version of the National Library of Medicine's WISER is now available.

WebWISER provides the WISER functionality via the Internet, without downloading of software or data to the desktop. It has a consistent look and feel of the WISER for Windows desktops/laptops and PDAs. WebWISER supports web browsers for both PCs and PDAs, including BlackBerry

11/14/2005
ToxSeek Released

ToxSeek is a meta-search and clustering engine that enables simultaneous searching of many different information resources on the World Wide Web. ToxSeek uses natural language processing and artificial intelligence to retrieve, integrate, rank, and present search results as coherent and dynamic sets. ToxSeek’s results “clustering” feature helps users to more easily identify particular concepts. These “clusters” are created from what is retrieved in the original query, and can be useful in uncovering a specific concept or focus for more in-depth searching.

Please visit the News Archive for earlier announcements