genomic dna fingerprinting of indigenous chicken breeds with molecular markers designed on interspersed repeats

In Italy more than fifty different local breeds of chicken (Gallus gallus L.) are known to have been present in the past. The overall situation is now critical since most of these breeds are becoming extinct or threatened and only a few are subject of conservation plans. The use of molecular markers for the analysis of chicken populations could help in characterizing their genetic variation and preserving them from genetic erosion. valuable and irreplaceable sources of chicken germplasm from indigenous populations of the veneto region were analyzed by means of DNA fingerprinting with molecular markers designed on interspersed mini- and micros-atellite repeats. The identification of either among-breed discriminant or breed-specific markers was based on the S-SAP and M-AFLP systems derived from the AFLP technology. Genomic DNA fingerprints were generated in 84 individuals belonging to six local breeds (Ermellinata, Padovana, Pepoi, Polverara, Robusta Lionata and Robusta Maculata) and one commercial line used as reference standard. A number of variation statistics were computed to assess the genetic variability within and relatedness among breeds: the effective number of alleles per locus (ne= 1.570), total and single-breed genetic diversity (HT= 0.366 and HS= 0.209, respectively) and the fixation index (GST= 0.429). The mean genetic similarity coefficients within and between local breeds were 0.769 and 0.628, respectively. Markers useful for the genetic traceability of breeds revealed significant sequence similarities with either genic or intergenic regions of known chromosome position. Sequence tagged site primers were designed for the most discriminant markers in order to develop multiplex non-radioactive genomic PCR assays. Analysis of the population structure along with individual assignment tests successfully identified all breed clusters and subclusters. The vast majority of animals were correctly allocated to their breed of origin, demonstrating the suitability and reliability of the chosen AFLP-derived marker systems for detecting population structure and tracing individual breeds. The local breeds have been preliminarily identified according to sequence-specific SNPs and haplotypes and the polymorphism information content of genomic AFLP-derived markers is reported and critically discussed

"Delirium Day": A nationwide point prevalence study of delirium in older hospitalized patients using an easy standardized diagnostic tool

Background: To date, delirium prevalence in adult acute hospital populations has been estimated generally from pooled findings of single-center studies and/or among specific patient populations. Furthermore, the number of participants in these studies has not exceeded a few hundred. To overcome these limitations, we have determined, in a multicenter study, the prevalence of delirium over a single day among a large population of patients admitted to acute and rehabilitation hospital wards in Italy. Methods: This is a point prevalence study (called "Delirium Day") including 1867 older patients (aged 65 years or more) across 108 acute and 12 rehabilitation wards in Italian hospitals. Delirium was assessed on the same day in all patients using the 4AT, a validated and briefly administered tool which does not require training. We also collected data regarding motoric subtypes of delirium, functional and nutritional status, dementia, comorbidity, medications, feeding tubes, peripheral venous and urinary catheters, and physical restraints. Results: The mean sample age was 82.0 \ub1 7.5 years (58 % female). Overall, 429 patients (22.9 %) had delirium. Hypoactive was the commonest subtype (132/344 patients, 38.5 %), followed by mixed, hyperactive, and nonmotoric delirium. The prevalence was highest in Neurology (28.5 %) and Geriatrics (24.7 %), lowest in Rehabilitation (14.0 %), and intermediate in Orthopedic (20.6 %) and Internal Medicine wards (21.4 %). In a multivariable logistic regression, age (odds ratio [OR] 1.03, 95 % confidence interval [CI] 1.01-1.05), Activities of Daily Living dependence (OR 1.19, 95 % CI 1.12-1.27), dementia (OR 3.25, 95 % CI 2.41-4.38), malnutrition (OR 2.01, 95 % CI 1.29-3.14), and use of antipsychotics (OR 2.03, 95 % CI 1.45-2.82), feeding tubes (OR 2.51, 95 % CI 1.11-5.66), peripheral venous catheters (OR 1.41, 95 % CI 1.06-1.87), urinary catheters (OR 1.73, 95 % CI 1.30-2.29), and physical restraints (OR 1.84, 95 % CI 1.40-2.40) were associated with delirium. Admission to Neurology wards was also associated with delirium (OR 2.00, 95 % CI 1.29-3.14), while admission to other settings was not. Conclusions: Delirium occurred in more than one out of five patients in acute and rehabilitation hospital wards. Prevalence was highest in Neurology and lowest in Rehabilitation divisions. The "Delirium Day" project might become a useful method to assess delirium across hospital settings and a benchmarking platform for future surveys

Riabilitazione implanto-protesica, caso complesso di agenesia degli incisivi laterali superiori: case report.

In seguito all’introduzione dell’implantologia osteointegrata, la soluzione implanto-protesica è diventata il trattamento di scelta nella riabilitazione di molte forme di ipodonzia. In questi ultimi anni, la pressante richiesta da parte dei pazienti per una riabilitazione implanto-protesica esteticamente ineccepibile ha spinto l’odontoiatra a ricercare nuove soluzioni finalizzate a tale risultato. La strada che oggi appare come la più convincente soprattutto per la gestione del settore estetico in casi implanto-protesici complessi è rappresentata dall’utilizzo di framework in Y-TZP (zirconia parzialmente stabilizzata con 3 mol% di ossido di ittrio) stratificato con ceramiche dedicate

A Systematic Review of Case-Identification Algorithms Based on Italian Healthcare Administrative Databases for Three Relevant Diseases of the Cardiovascular System: Hypertension, Heart Failure, and Congenital Heart Diseases

to identify and describe all hypertension, heart failure (HF), and congenital heart disease case-identification algorithms by means of Italian Healthcare Administrative Databases (HADs), through the review of papers published in the past 10 years

Single-tooth implant restorations in the esthetic zone of a patient with hypodontia using implants and zirconia ceramics single-tooth restorations: a clinical report

Vedasi l\u2019allegat

Description and comparison of software for population genetics analyses based on molecular markers

Molecular markers are important tools for evaluating animal genetic resources in terms of groups of individuals or populations in order to estimate genetic diversity, statistics and similarity coefficients, genetic distances, and gene flow estimates, to test for Hardy Weinberg deviations and linkage disequilibrium levels, to infer population structure looking for clustering patterns, to find out polymorphic loci for evidence of neutral or adaptive variation and to implement assignment tests useful for breed identification. Moreover, molecular markers might assist genetic variability conservation program and could be useful to define genetic traceability methods for food safety. Aim of this study was to describe and compare some of the software programs available to elaborate molecular marker datasets for population genetics. Recently, many software programs for the analysis of molecular polymorphisms have been developed for personal computers and their powerful statistical performances and user-friendliness make an attractive alternative to the performing of spreadsheets or simpler home-made programs. The programs described in this study are softwares widely used in population genetics as TFPGA, Arlequin, Phylip, DISPAN, Genetix, GENEPOP, PROC ALLELE of SAS, GDA, POPGENE, NTSYS and Cervus. These programs were chosen for their availability, flexibility and citations in scientific reports. Although there is a large overlap in their functionality, each of them has unique features to offer. In general, these programs grew out of an individual\u2019s or a lab\u2019s immediate research need and they were developed into user-friendly software to be shared with the larger research community. Critical aspects for these software are mainly the request of specific format input files, the availability of a clear manual and the use of many details concerning the interface with the user as warning messages, the possibility to save specific settings and to run batch files. In conclusion the major features for each program will be described and discussed