Subtyping of emm1 Group A Streptococci Causing Invasive Infections in France ▿

By combining PCR amplification of toxin-encoding genes and sic gene sequencing, we distinguished 24 genotypes among 47 M/emm1 group A streptococci isolated from children and adults in France in 9 cases of infection comprising four clusters and 38 unrelated invasive infection cases used as controls

The CDS Hub

International audienceThe status of the CDS services is described. In particular, new features developed in the context of the Virtual Observatory and using IVOA-discussed standards have been included in the public version of the services, e.g., filter capabilities using Unified Content Descriptors (UCDs) in VizieR and Aladin, customized hierarchical data tree using the IDHA data model, contour plots and colour composition in Aladin, and others. Aladin has also been made easy to interface with Java plug-ins, as shown with VOPlot, the table data visualizer developed by VO-India in collaboration with CDS, which is also interfaced with VizieR

Recent Evolution of the CDS Services - SIMBAD, VizieR and Aladin

International audienceThe Centre de Donnees astronomiques de Strasbourg (CDS) maintains several widely used databases and services. Among significant recent evolutions: - a new version of SIMBAD (SIMBAD 4), based on the PostgreSQL database system, has been developed, to replace the current version which has been operational since 1990. It allows new query and sampling possibilities. For accessing SIMBAD from other applications, a full Web Service will be made available in addition to the client-server program which is presently used as name resolver by many services. - VizieR, which gives access to major surveys, observation logs and tables published in journals, is continuously updated in collaboration with journals and ground- and space-based observatories. The diversity of information in VizieR makes it an excellent test-bed for the Virtual Observatory, in particular for the definition of astronomy semantics and of query language, and the implementation of registries. - a major update of Aladin (Aladin V3 Multiview) was released in April 2005. It integrates in particular a multiview display, image resampling, blinking, access to real pixel values (not only 8 bits), compatibility with common image formats such as GIF, JPEG and PNG, scaling functions for better pixel contrasts, a 'Region of Interest Generator' which automatically builds small views around catalog objects, a cross-match function, the possibility to compute new catalog colums via algebraic expressions, extended script commands for batch mode use, and access to additional data such as SDSS. Aladin is routinely used as a portal to the Virtual Observatory. Many of the new functions have been prototyped in the frame of the European Astrophysical Virtual Observatory project, and other are tested for the VO-TECH project

Status of the CDS Services, SIMBAD, VizieR and Aladin

International audienceMajor evolutions have been implemented in the three main CDS databases in 2006. SIMBAD 4, a new version of SIMBAD developed with Java and PostgreSQL, has been released. Il is much more flexible than the previous version and offers in particular full search capabilities on all parameters. Wild card can also be used in object names, which should ease searching for a given object in the frequent case of 'fuzzy' nomenclature. New information is progressively added, in particular a set of multiwavelength magnitudes (in progress), and other information from the Dictionnary of Nomenclature such as the list of object types attached to each object name (available), or hierarchy and associations (in progress). A new version of VizieR, also in the open source PostgreSQL DBMS, has been completed, in order to simplify mirroring. The master database at CDS currently remains in the present Sybase implementation. A new simplified interface will be demonstrated, providing a more user-friendly navigation while retaining the multiple browsing capabilities. A new release of the Aladin Sky Atlas offers new capabilities, like the management of multipart FITS files and of data cubes, construction and execution of macros for processing a list of targets, and improved navigation within an image plane. This new version also allows easy and efficient manipulation of very large (>108 pixels) images, support for solar images display, and direct access to SExtractor to perform source extraction on displayed images

DJIN: Detection in Journals of Identifiers and Names

International audienceWe dreamed of it, we developed it, and now we use it.DJIN is a powerful tool that recognizes astronomical object names in full texts.DJIN is very efficient and helpful for the SIMBAD team who have been dealing with an ever increasing number of astronomical articles.DJIN detects most of the astronomical object names quoted in full-text articles, but the team still has to check and validate the names, to deal with new identifiers, to verify cross-identifications and to update SIMBAD with new astronomical data (position, magnitudes, etc.). That is, the team work is concentrated on value-added aspects, the best use of the team's expertise. This was an important consideration in the design of the software.DJIN provides more than just the recognition of names; it says how many times an astronomical object is cited in a text (whatever its identifier is), where it is cited (title, abstracts, keyword, tables, figures, text, etc.) and keeps track of the relation between the identifiers and articles.DJIN is fully integrated in the SIMBAD process, and interfaces the updating software used daily by the team. It is also a starting point for new features like linking SIMBAD and NED, and computing the relevance of each paper attached to one object.DJIN has been fully tested by the whole team to check both the quality of detection and the tool's ergonomics. Team feedback has been critical for the success of this difficult and risky endeavor.In this paper we describe this tool, and our experience after two years of usage; we discuss also the the significant changes in our daily work that DJIN has triggered

The CDS information services in the VO era: a status report

International audienceThe new context of the on-going efforts towards an international Virtual Observatory has a significant impact on current CDS developments. While a strong emphasis remains on data quality, and permanent update of databases, new tools and additional links are being brought forward through collaboration to the AVO consortium, and with NVO and other VO efforts. We will present the current status of the three core services at CDS: the VizieR database of catalogues and tables; the SIMBAD reference database of astronomical objects; the ALADIN interactive sky atlas. Among the specific new features are: a systematic revision of data related to bright galaxies in SIMBAD (collaboration with the LEDA team); new large surveys available through VizieR, as well as additional archive and mission logs; new sets of digitized images (end of DSS-II, new ESO-R digitizations, etc.) available through Aladin. We will show how the increased interoperability (see Genova et al., this meeting) between CDS services, as well as with many external databases and archives, concurs to provide the users with a global view of all multi-wavelength observations available for a given field, a given object, or a given set of objects

What Is SIMBAD, and What Is It Not?

International audienceThe purpose of the SIMBAD database is to provide the bibliography and some fundamental data on astronomical objects of interest which have been studied in scientific articles. It includes objects of any nature, stars - galaxies - interstellar medium - transient events - etc. SIMBAD is a meta-compilation built from what is published in the literature, and from our expertise on cross-identifications. It is a dynamic database, updated every working day. By construction its content is heterogeneous as data come from any kind of instruments at all wavelengths with any resolution and astrometry, and different names from one publication to another. Thus SIMBAD is not a catalogue, and should not be used as a catalogue. It is not the purpose of SIMBAD to contain “everything”. Especially, lists of uncharacterised sources detected in photometric surveys of any size are usually not processed in SIMBAD. But they are available at CDS in the VizieR database which contains published tables of objects, as well as most very large surveys. The idea now is to use both SIMBAD and VizieR as complementary research tools

The Content of the CDS Services

International audienceThe CDS value-added bibliographic services, SIMBAD and VizieR, are updated daily. Most of the information comes from the astronomical literature and the update mechanism is different for different types of information. The semi-automated SIMBAD data flow is described and the synergy between astronomers, specialized librarians and computer engineers is discussed