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OBJECTIVE: We investigated the effects of ventilator mask atomization inhalation of ipratropium bromide and budesonide suspension liquid in the treatment of acute exacerbation COPD (AECOPD) on circulating levels of inflammatory factors and prognosis. PATIENTS AND METHODS: A total of 86 cases of patients on ventilator support were randomly divided into control group and observation group with 43 cases each. The control group was administered routine treatment including basic disease treatment, anti-infection, maintenance of a stable internal environment, nutritional support, oxygen inhalation and so on. All the patients were administered saline through a ventilator mask. The observation group was treated with atomized inhalation of ipratropium bromide and budesonide suspension and oxygen flow 3-5 L/min, 15-20 min/time and twice a day for 1 week. The treatment effects were compared. RESULTS: Serum TNF-α, IL-6, and CRP levels were decreased in both groups after treatment, but levels in the observation group were significantly lower than those of the control group; differences were statistically significant (p < 0.05). Forced vital capacity (FVC), forced expiratory volume (FEV1), FEV1/FVC and maximal expiratory flow rate in the observation group were significantly higher than those in the control group after treatment (p < 0.05). After treatment, the PaO2, SpO2 and respiratory failure index (RFI) of the observation group were significantly higher than those of the control group. The PaCO2 levels of the observation group were lower than those of the control group. The differences were statistically significant (p < 0.05). The clinical efficacy of the observation group was better than that of the control group; the ventilation time and total treatment time was significantly shorter and the differences were statistically significant (p < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: The ventilator mask atomizing inhalation of ipratropium bromide and budesonide suspension liquid in the treatment of AECOPD can significantly improve circulating inflammatory reaction, improve lung function and blood gas levels, increase the treatment efficiency, and shorten the treatment time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: A parasitological survey of Schistosoma haematobium and S. intercalatum infection among primary schoolchildren in capital area of Democratic Republic of São Tomé and Príncipe (DRSTP) was undertaken. Methods: Subjects with positive infection were confirmed by the detection of S. haematobium ova in the urine or S. intercalatum ova in the stool by using centrifugation concentration or merthiolate-iodineformalin concentration method. Totally, 252 urine and stool samples, respectively, were obtained from apparently healthy schoolchildren, of which 121 from boys (9.8 ± 1.4 yr) and 131 from girls (9.7 ± 1.3 yr). Results: None of participating schoolchildren were found having S. haematobium ova in the urinary specimen. While, among 4 primary schools studied, only schoolchildren from Saint Marçal were detected with S. intercalatum ova in the fecal specimen, making the overall prevalence of S. intercalatum infection among schoolchildren was 2.4% (6/252) and girls had insignificantly higher prevalence (3.1%, 4/131) than that (1.7%, 2/121) in boys (χ?2 = 0.5, P = 0.5). Conclusion: Water control and sanitation as well as snails eliminated by molluscicides are urgently needed to reduce S. intercalatum infection in DRSTP inhabitants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The deduced amino acid sequence of Gluconobacter oxydans RecA protein shows 75.2, 69.4, and 66.2% homology with those from Aquaspirillum magnetotacticum, Escherichia coli, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa, respectively. The amino acid residues essential for function of the recombinase, protease, and ATPase in E. coli recA protein are conserved in G. oxydans. Of 24 amino acid residues believed to be the ATP binding domain of E. coli RecA, 17 are found to be identical in G. oxydans RecA. Interestingly, nucleotide sequence alignment between the SOS box of G. orphans recA gene and those from different microorganisms revealed that all the DNA sequences examined have dyad symmetry that can form a stem-loop structure. A G. oxydans recA-deficient mutant (LCC96) was created by allelic exchange using the cloned recA gene that had been insertionally inactivated by a kanamycin-resistance cassette. Such replacement of the wild-type recA with a kanamycin resistance gene in the chromosome was further verified by Southern hybridization. Phenotypically, the recA-deficient mutant is significantly more sensitive to UV irradiation than the wild-type strain, suggesting that the recA gene of G. oxydans ATCC9324 plays a role in repairing DNA damage caused by UV irradiation. Moreover, the mutant strain is much more plasmid transformable than its parent strain, illustrating that G. oxydans LCC96 could be used as a host to take up the recombinant plasmid for gene manipulation.

A DNA fragment containing the recA gene of Gluconobacter oxydans was isolated and further characterized for its nucleotide sequence and ability to functionally complement various recA mutations. When expressed in an Escherichia coli recA host, the G. oxydans recA protein could efficiently function in homologous recombination and DNA damage repair. The recA gene's nucleotide sequence analysis revealed a protein of 344 amino acids with a molecular mass of 38 kDa. We observed an E. coli-like LexA repressor-binding site in the G. oxydans recA gene promoter region, suggesting that a LexA-like mediated response system may exist in G. oxydans. The expression of G. oxydans recA in E. coli RR1, a recA+ strain, surprisingly caused a remarkable reduction of the host wild-type recA gene function, whereas the expression of both Serratia marcescens recA and Pseudomonas aeruginosa recA gene caused only a slight inhibitory effect on function of the host wild-type recA gene product. Compared with the E. coli RecA protein, the identity of the amino acid sequence of G. oxydans RecA protein is much lower than those RecA proteins of both S. marcescens and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. This result suggests that the expression of another wild-type RecA could interfere with host wild-type recA gene's function, and the extent of such an interference is possibly correlated to the identity of the amino acid sequence between the two classes of RecA protein.

The penicillin G acylase gene (pac gene) from Escherichia coli ATCC 9637 has been isolated. It conferred the production of penicillin G acylase upon E. coli HB101 and other enteric bacilli. Restriction enzyme analysis and subcloning studies reveal that the gene is contained within a 2.3 kb HindIII-SmaI DNA fragment. In vitro protein synthesis study suggests a gene product of approximately 90 kDa. By using the genetically engineered bacteria which harbor a novel recombinant plasmid (pGL5) bearing a constitutively expressible pac gene, a 20-fold increased production yield of penicillin G acylase activity was obtained as compared with that produced by the original strain, E. coli ATCC 9637.

A process for production, isolation, and purification of melanin produced by the fermentation of Streptomyces lividans 66 harboring a recombinant plasmid pIJ702-bearing tyrosinase gene has been developed. The efficacy of melanin in the protection of mosquito larvacidal activity of Bacillus thuringiensis var. israelensis against uv light has been studied. Results obtained by the live cell counts and the bioassay of residual mosquitocidal activity of B. thuringiensis var. israelensis after exposure to uv radiation showed that melanin is an excellent photoprotective agent.