Haplotype data and forensic evaluation of 23 Y-STR and 12 X-STR loci in eight ethnic groups from Eritrea

Eritrea is a multi-ethnic country of over 3 million of people consisting of different ethnic groups, having each its own language and cultural tradition. Due to the lack of population genetic data for markers of forensic interest, in this study, we analyzed the genetic polymorphisms of 23 Y-chromosome STR loci and of 12 X-chromosome STR loci in a sample of 255 unrelated individuals from 8 Eritrean ethnic groups, with the aim to generate a reference haplotype database for anthropological and forensic applications. X- and Y-chromosomes markers may indeed offer information especially in personal identification and kinship testing, when relying on the availability of large local population data to derive sufficiently accurate frequency estimates. The population genetic analyses in the Eritrean sample for both the two set of Y- and X-STR markers showed high power of discrimination both at country-based and population levels. Comparison population results highlight the importance of considering the ethnic composition within the analyzed country and the necessity of increasing available data especially when referring to heterogeneous populations such as the African ones

Candidemia in intensive care unit : a nationwide prospective observational survey (GISIA-3 study) and review of the European literature from 2000 through 2013

BACKGROUND: Candida bloodstream infections (BSI) represent an important problem in Intensive Care Units (ICUs). The epidemiology of candidemia is changing with an increase in the proportion of Candida (C.) non-albicans. OBJECTIVES: An Italian 2-year observational survey on ICU was conducted to evaluate the species distribution and possible differences between BSI caused by C. albicans and C. non-albicans. For comparative purposes, we performed a European literature-based review to evaluate distribution and frequency of Candida spp. causing ICU candidemia, during the period 2000-2013. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This laboratory-based survey involved 15 microbiology centers (GISIA-3 study). All candidemia episodes in adult patients were considered. Data were prospectively collected from 2007 to 2008. PubMed was searched for peer-reviewed articles. RESULTS: In total, 462 candidemia episodes were collected. C. albicans accounted for 49.4% of the isolates, followed by C. parapsilosis (26.2%) and C. glabrata (10.4%). Mortality was higher in patients with C. non-albicans than C. albicans (47.3% vs. 32.4 %, p > 0.05). Among risk factors, parenteral nutrition was more common (p = 0.02) in non-albicans candidemia, while surgery was more frequent (p = 0.02) in C. albicans candidemia. Twenty-four relevant articles were identified. C. albicans was the predominant species in almost all studies (range 37.9% -76.3%). C. glabrata was commonly isolated in the German-speaking countries, France, UK and North Europe; C. parapsilosis in Turkey, Greece and Spain. CONCLUSIONS: Although C. non-albicans BSI is increasing, our study shows that C. albicans is still the predominant species in ICU candidemia. There are differences in the epidemiology of Candida BSI among European countries, with a prevalence of C. glabrata and C. parapsilosis in Northern and Southern countries, respectively

Response of the zoobenthos community along the dispersion plume of a highly polluted stream in the receiving waters of a large river (Rio de la Plata, Argentina)

The ingress of an urban stream carrying high contaminant loads into a large coastal river originates a “dispersion plume” subject to the hydrological conditions of a river affected by tidal influences. In the present study 21 sites within the “contaminant plume” of the Riachuelo River in the Rio de la Plata were analysed on the same date in order to evaluate the biological status of the area which receives this strong environmental impact, and to examine its effect on the zoobenthic communities. Diversity, taxonomic richness, abundance, physico-chemical parameters and a biological index (IMRP) were used to assess the responses of the macroinvertebrates. The correlation between exposure and effect was calculated by means of the exposure index (IEX). The relationship between the macroinvertebrate communities and environmental variables was examined using CCA analysis. Conductivity, Cr, BOD and COD, were most strongly correlated with Axis 1, suggesting the existence of a gradient of environmental degradation. The most severely contaminated sites (IMRP= 1.1–2.5; IEX = 100–78%) were all characterized by a reduced community dominated by Nematoda and Oligochaeta. A moderate response was observed between 1400 and 1600 m from the coast (IMRP = 2.6–3.9; IEX = 36%) largely owing to the physico-chemical characteristics of the recipient river which contributed to moderating the effect of the anthopogenic perturbation. For statistical validation, this area was compared with historical physico-chemical and biological data, where OD and COD showed the same tendency throughout the 10-year period.Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y MuseoInstituto de Limnología "Dr. Raúl A. Ringuelet

Antifungal susceptibility of invasive yeast isolates in Italy: the GISIA3 study in critically ill patients

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Yeasts are a common cause of invasive fungal infections in critically ill patients. Antifungal susceptibility testing results of clinically significant fungal strains are of interest to physicians, enabling them to adopt appropriate strategies for empiric and prophylactic therapies. We investigated the antifungal susceptibility of yeasts isolated over a 2-year period from hospitalised patients with invasive yeast infections.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>638 yeasts were isolated from the blood, central venous catheters and sterile fluids of 578 patients on general and surgical intensive care units and surgical wards. Etest strips and Sensititre panels were used to test the susceptibility of the isolates to amphotericin B, anidulafungin, caspofungin, fluconazole, itraconazole, posaconazole and voriconazole in 13 laboratories centres (LC) and two co-ordinating centres (CC). The Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI) reference broth microdilution method was used at the CCs for comparison.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Etest and Sensititre (LC/CC) MIC₉₀values were, respectively: amphotericin B 0.5/0.38, 1/1 mg/L; anidulafungin 2/1.5 and 1/1 mg/L; caspofungin 1/0.75 and 0.5/0.5 mg/L; fluconazole 12/8 and 16/16 mg/L; itraconazole 1/1.5, 0.5/0.5 mg/L; posaconazole 0.5 mg/L and voriconazole 0.25 mg/L for all. The overall MIC₉₀values were influenced by the reduced susceptibility of <it>Candida parapsilosis </it>isolates to echinocandins and a reduced or lack of susceptibility of <it>Candida glabrata </it>and <it>Candida krusei </it>to azoles, in particular fluconazole and itraconazole. Comparison of the LC and CC results showed good Essential Agreement (90.3% for Etest and 92.9% for Sensititre), and even higher Categorical Agreement (93.9% for Etest and 96% for Sensititre); differences were observed according to the species, method, and antifungal drug. No cross-resistance between echinocandins and triazoles was detected.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Our data confirm the different antifungal susceptibility patterns among species, and highlight the need to perform antifungal susceptibility testing of clinically relevant yeasts. With the exception of a few species (e.g. <it>C. glabrata </it>for azoles and <it>C. parapsilosis </it>for echinocandins), the findings of our study suggest that two of the most widely used commercial methods (Etest and Sensititre) provide valid and reproducible results.</p

Design and Implementation of a National Data Warehouse

Abstract: - The Information Technology is an essential support in the decisional process to improve manager’ phenomena knowledge, that is often approximate and ill-structured. Tools underlying decision support systems (as OLAP systems, data mining, and data warehouses) have a central role in enterprise information systems. In this paper, we present the design and the implementation of a national data warehouse

Approximate query processing in decision support system environment

Abstract: - Both the approximate query process and decisional portals are emerging technologies in the decision support system environment. The former tool provides fast execution time for the analysis applications which require access to large amounts of data in the warehouse, by furnishing estimates of summary data with an approximation error acceptable for decision-maker users. The web-based second tool allows managers to monitor the enterprise activities on which decisions have to be taken by means of opportune statistical leds. From the technological viewpoint, such an environment is the result of the integration of data warehouse, query optimizers and Internet technologies

Semantic Data Analysis using Bitmap Indices

Abstract: - The use of bitmap indexes for representing analytical views of user’s data is presented. This approach differs from the conventional definition and use of bitmap indexes in that they are defined not only to index different domain attribute values, but also for pre-computing any legal relational algebra query expression of the user for the analytic purposes. The paper illustrates the meaning of the analytical bitmaps and their application for solving problems of data integration and logical association between data. Furthermore, a fast access algorithm to enquire analytic bitmaps is presented

Estimation of Database Unique Values

Abstract: - Counts of database unique values are crucial information in query optimization. Estimating the number of the distinct values occurs frequently in database queries, due to its importance in selecting query plans. We present a nonparametric method for estimating the database distincts, and, then, the number of distinct values. The method computes few parameters which describe the distribution of distances of distinct values in the attribute value ranges. Tests have been carried out that also show the useful applicability of the method to estimate equi-join selectivity factors

An Analytic Approach to Statistical Databases

n the commonly adopted data models (as in Chen's entity-relationship data model [1], for example) an attribute is a mapping between an entity set or a relationship set and a value set. The intension of a mapping property is given implicitly or explicitly in the data models, but the extension can be generally represented by the set {&lt;entity,value&gt;}, as in the relational model. We propose an alternative data model for statistical databases, in which an attribute is represented by its analytic properties (the distribution function of the values of the attribute). These analytic properties are described by a set of parameters, which we call the canonical coefficients of the attribute. The canonical coefficients can be used to solve the usual statistical queries with no access to the data. In particular, we present: 1) the methods for computing and updating the canonical coefficients, 2) the use of the canonical coefficients for solving the main statistical queries, also in distributed statistical database environments. Besides, an application of such parameters to the query decomposition in distributed database environments is discussed

Data warehousing system for national railway traffic

implementation is dealt with. In particular, we present the data warehouse system for the decisional process based on our national train trasportation data owned by Trenitalia, the Italian main train service company and customer of the project. We discuss the operational environments interfacing with the data warehouse for data acquisition and elaboration, and related problems. The systemic aspects we describe refer to both the feasibility requirements, functionality, and technical architecture of the system. Moreover, a number of analysis reports actually realized are illustrated as examples of the functionalities provided to the customer. With the cooperation of the IT solutions provider, the prototype system has been released following primarily the guidelines of software reuse. In this way, and in order to satisfy all the customer’s requests, the entire warehouse’s data marts concerning the project are now in the complete re-engineering phase