Evaluation of analytical performance and comparison of clinical results of the new generation method AccuTnI+3 for the measurement of cardiac troponin I using both patients and quality control plasma samples

The study aims are to evaluate the analytical performance and the clinical results of the chemiluminescent Access AccuTnI+3 immunoassay for the determination of cardiac troponin I (cTnI)with DxI 800 and Access2 platforms and to compare the clinical results obtained with this method with those of three cTnI immunoassays, recently introduced in the European market. The limits of blank (LoB), detection (LoD), and quantitation (LoQ) at 20% CV and 10% CV were 4.5 ng/L and 10.9 ng/L, 17.1 and 30.4 ng/L, respectively. The results of STAT Architect high Sensitive TnI (Abbott Diagnostics), ADVIA Centaur Troponin I Ultra (Siemens Healthcare Diagnostics), ST AIA-Pack cTnI third generation (Tosoh Bioscience), and Access AccuTnI + 3 (Beckman Coulter Diagnostics) showed very close correlations (R ranging from 0.901 to 0.994) in 122 samples of patients admitted to the emergency department. However, on average there was a difference up to 2.4-fold between the method measuring the highest (ADVIA method) and lowest cTnI values (AccuTnI + 3 method). The consensus mean values between methods ranged from 6.2% to 29.6% in 18 quality control samples distributed in an external quality control study (cTnI concentrations ranging from 29.3 ng/L to 1557.5 ng/L). In conclusion, the results of our analytical evaluation concerning the AccuTnI + 3 method, using the DxI platform, are well in agreement with those suggested by the manufacturer as well as those reported by some recent studies using the Access2 platform. Our results confirm that the AccuTnI + 3 method for the Access2 and DxI 800 platforms is a clinically usable method for cTnI measurement

Indici per la valutazione della qualit? ecologica dei laghi

Methods are presented to evaluate the biological quality of Italian lakes based on phytoplankton, macrophytes, fishes, benthic fauna and hydromorphology

Protocollo per il campionamento dei parametri chimico-fisici a sostegno degli elementi biologici in ambiente lacustre

Abstract not availableIl protocollo sul campionamento delle acque lacustri integra completandole le metodologie di campionamento ed analisi del fitoplancton, delle macrofite acquatiche e della fauna a macroinvertebrati in ambiente lacustre riportati nei capitoli successivi di questo Manuale. Anche questo protocollo come i precedenti segue le indicazioni della Direttiva 60/2000/CE (Water Framework Directive, WFD) e del Regolamento per la progettazione del programma di monitoraggio emanato dal Ministero dell?Ambiente e della Tutela del Territorio e del Mare

Indici per la valutazione della qualit? ecologica dei laghi

Collection of methods to evaluate lake quality using biological element

Off-label long acting injectable antipsychotics in real-world clinical practice: a cross-sectional analysis of prescriptive patterns from the STAR Network DEPOT study

Introduction Information on the off-label use of Long-Acting Injectable (LAI) antipsychotics in the real world is lacking. In this study, we aimed to identify the sociodemographic and clinical features of patients treated with on- vs off-label LAIs and predictors of off-label First- or Second-Generation Antipsychotic (FGA vs. SGA) LAI choice in everyday clinical practice. Method In a naturalistic national cohort of 449 patients who initiated LAI treatment in the STAR Network Depot Study, two groups were identified based on off- or on-label prescriptions. A multivariate logistic regression analysis was used to test several clinically relevant variables and identify those associated with the choice of FGA vs SGA prescription in the off-label group. Results SGA LAIs were more commonly prescribed in everyday practice, without significant differences in their on- and off-label use. Approximately 1 in 4 patients received an off-label prescription. In the off-label group, the most frequent diagnoses were bipolar disorder (67.5%) or any personality disorder (23.7%). FGA vs SGA LAI choice was significantly associated with BPRS thought disorder (OR = 1.22, CI95% 1.04 to 1.43, p = 0.015) and hostility/suspiciousness (OR = 0.83, CI95% 0.71 to 0.97, p = 0.017) dimensions. The likelihood of receiving an SGA LAI grew steadily with the increase of the BPRS thought disturbance score. Conversely, a preference towards prescribing an FGA was observed with higher scores at the BPRS hostility/suspiciousness subscale. Conclusion Our study is the first to identify predictors of FGA vs SGA choice in patients treated with off-label LAI antipsychotics. Demographic characteristics, i.e. age, sex, and substance/alcohol use co-morbidities did not appear to influence the choice towards FGAs or SGAs. Despite a lack of evidence, clinicians tend to favour FGA over SGA LAIs in bipolar or personality disorder patients with relevant hostility. Further research is needed to evaluate treatment adherence and clinical effectiveness of these prescriptive patterns

The Role of Attitudes Toward Medication and Treatment Adherence in the Clinical Response to LAIs: Findings From the STAR Network Depot Study

Background: Long-acting injectable (LAI) antipsychotics are efficacious in managing psychotic symptoms in people affected by severe mental disorders, such as schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. The present study aimed to investigate whether attitude toward treatment and treatment adherence represent predictors of symptoms changes over time. Methods: The STAR Network \u201cDepot Study\u201d was a naturalistic, multicenter, observational, prospective study that enrolled people initiating a LAI without restrictions on diagnosis, clinical severity or setting. Participants from 32 Italian centers were assessed at three time points: baseline, 6-month, and 12-month follow-up. Psychopathological symptoms, attitude toward medication and treatment adherence were measured using the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale (BPRS), the Drug Attitude Inventory (DAI-10) and the Kemp's 7-point scale, respectively. Linear mixed-effects models were used to evaluate whether attitude toward medication and treatment adherence independently predicted symptoms changes over time. Analyses were conducted on the overall sample and then stratified according to the baseline severity (BPRS < 41 or BPRS 65 41). Results: We included 461 participants of which 276 were males. The majority of participants had received a primary diagnosis of a schizophrenia spectrum disorder (71.80%) and initiated a treatment with a second-generation LAI (69.63%). BPRS, DAI-10, and Kemp's scale scores improved over time. Six linear regressions\u2014conducted considering the outcome and predictors at baseline, 6-month, and 12-month follow-up independently\u2014showed that both DAI-10 and Kemp's scale negatively associated with BPRS scores at the three considered time points. Linear mixed-effects models conducted on the overall sample did not show any significant association between attitude toward medication or treatment adherence and changes in psychiatric symptoms over time. However, after stratification according to baseline severity, we found that both DAI-10 and Kemp's scale negatively predicted changes in BPRS scores at 12-month follow-up regardless of baseline severity. The association at 6-month follow-up was confirmed only in the group with moderate or severe symptoms at baseline. Conclusion: Our findings corroborate the importance of improving the quality of relationship between clinicians and patients. Shared decision making and thorough discussions about benefits and side effects may improve the outcome in patients with severe mental disorders

Gaia Early Data Release 3: Structure and properties of the Magellanic Clouds

We compare the Gaia DR2 and Gaia EDR3 performances in the study of the Magellanic Clouds and show the clear improvements in precision and accuracy in the new release. We also show that the systematics still present in the data make the determination of the 3D geometry of the LMC a difficult endeavour; this is at the very limit of the usefulness of the Gaia EDR3 astrometry, but it may become feasible with the use of additional external data. We derive radial and tangential velocity maps and global profiles for the LMC for the several subsamples we defined. To our knowledge, this is the first time that the two planar components of the ordered and random motions are derived for multiple stellar evolutionary phases in a galactic disc outside the Milky Way, showing the differences between younger and older phases. We also analyse the spatial structure and motions in the central region, the bar, and the disc, providing new insights into features and kinematics. Finally, we show that the Gaia EDR3 data allows clearly resolving the Magellanic Bridge, and we trace the density and velocity flow of the stars from the SMC towards the LMC not only globally, but also separately for young and evolved populations. This allows us to confirm an evolved population in the Bridge that is slightly shift from the younger population. Additionally, we were able to study the outskirts of both Magellanic Clouds, in which we detected some well-known features and indications of new ones

The Gaia mission

Gaia is a cornerstone mission in the science programme of the EuropeanSpace Agency (ESA). The spacecraft construction was approved in 2006, following a study in which the original interferometric concept was changed to a direct-imaging approach. Both the spacecraft and the payload were built by European industry. The involvement of the scientific community focusses on data processing for which the international Gaia Data Processing and Analysis Consortium (DPAC) was selected in 2007. Gaia was launched on 19 December 2013 and arrived at its operating point, the second Lagrange point of the Sun-Earth-Moon system, a few weeks later. The commissioning of the spacecraft and payload was completed on 19 July 2014. The nominal five-year mission started with four weeks of special, ecliptic-pole scanning and subsequently transferred into full-sky scanning mode. We recall the scientific goals of Gaia and give a description of the as-built spacecraft that is currently (mid-2016) being operated to achieve these goals. We pay special attention to the payload module, the performance of which is closely related to the scientific performance of the mission. We provide a summary of the commissioning activities and findings, followed by a description of the routine operational mode. We summarise scientific performance estimates on the basis of in-orbit operations. Several intermediate Gaia data releases are planned and the data can be retrieved from the Gaia Archive, which is available through the Gaia home page. http://www.cosmos.esa.int/gai

Italian classification method for phytoplancton in lakes. Method summary and boundary setting protocol

This document outlines how status is assigned for the biological quality element phytoplankton and how boundaries have been assigned in Italy. The metrics included in the Italian phytoplankton assessment method developed for Alpine lakes are the biomass metrics chlorophyll a and total biovolume and the taxonomic composition metric PTIot. The reference value and HG boundary for each metric and each type were set from the median and the 90th %ile of the AlpGIG reference sites (lake-years) respectively. The GM, MP and PB metric boundaries were set using equidistant class widths on a log scale