Rapid, cost-effective, sensitive and quantitative detection of Acinetobacter baumannii from pneumonia patients

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Pneumonia with Acinetobacter baumannii has a major therapeutic problem in health care settings. Decision to initiate correct antibiotic therapy requires rapid identification and quantification of organism. The aim of this study was to develop a rapid and sensitive method for direct detection of A. baumannii from respiratory specimens. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A Taqman real time PCR based on the sequence of bla(oxa-51) was designed and used for direct detection of A. baumannii from 361 respiratory specimens of patients with pneumonia. All specimens were checked by conventional bacteriology in parallel. RESULTS: The new real time PCR could detect less than 200 cfu per ml of bacteria in specimens. There was agreement between the results of real time PCR and culture (Kappa value 1.0, p value<0.001). The sensitivity, specificity and predictive values of real time PCR were 100%. The prevalence of A. baumannii in pneumonia patients was 10.53 % (n=38). Poly-microbial infections were detected in 65.71% of specimens. CONCLUSION: Acinetobacter baumannii is the third causative agent in nosocomial pneumonia after Pseudomonas aeroginosa (16%) and Staphylococcus aureus (13%) at Tehran hospitals. We recommend that 104 CFU be the threshold for definition of infection with A. baumannii using real time PCR

Assessment of groundwater quality using DEA and AHP: A case study in the Sereflikochisar region in Turkey

WOS: 000374413100011PubMed: 27359000This study investigated the spatial distribution of groundwater quality in Sereflikochisar Basin, in the Central Anatolian region of Turkey using different hydrochemical, statistical, and geostatistical methods. A total of 51 groundwater samples were collected from the observation wells in the study area to evaluate the characteristics of the groundwater quality. As a relatively simple and practical method, a groundwater quality index (GWQI) was developed to evaluate the overall groundwater quality. In this process, complex decisionmaking techniques such as analytic hierarchy process (AHP) and data envelopment analysis (DEA) were used. Based on these models, two new indices (A-GWQI and D-GWQI) were proposed. According to the D-GWQI score (from 0.6 to 1), water quality was classified in four categories as unsuitable (0.6-0.7), permissible (0.7-0.8), good (0.8-0.9), and excellent (0.9-1). The spatial distribution maps of the groundwater quality were created using the Kriging method. For each map, seven different semivariogram models were tested and the best-fitted model was chosen based on their root mean square standardized error. These maps showed that the areas with high groundwater quality were in the eastern and southern parts of the study area where the D-GWQI scores were greater than 0.8. Depending on the distance from the Salt Lake, the characteristics of groundwater changed from NaCl to NaHCO3 and CaHCO3 facies. This study shows how to determine the spatial distribution of the groundwater quality and identify the impact of salt lakes on the groundwater quality in inland aquifers. The findings of this study can be applied to ensure the quality of groundwater used for drinking and irrigation purposes in the study area

Evaluation of groundwater quality using a GIS-MCDA-based model: a case study in Aksaray, Turkey

WOS: 000384333000025Evaluation of water resources and the protection of these resources from environmental pollutants is a difficult and complex process. In this study, a development of model to estimate the water quality and identify the most suitable regions based on good water quality was aimed. For this purpose, 40 water samples were taken through water wells in Aksaray region of Turkey. A groundwater quality index (AWQI) based on water chemistry data has been developed to assessment the groundwater quality using the techniques of the multi-criteria decision analysis. Based on this index, four suitability classes were defined as excellent, good, permissible and unsuitable. Kriging method was used to determine the spatial distribution of groundwater quality parameters in the study area. For each map, different semivariogram models were tested by cross-validation and the best model was selected. The exponential model having a minimum standard error was selected the most suitable model for deriving water quality maps. The areas that are excellent for groundwater quality are concentrated in the northeastern and southeastern parts of the region where the AWQI-II scores were greater than 0.9. This study provides general information on how to determine the spatial distribution of the groundwater quality and identify the performance scores of criteria affecting water quality in inland aquifers