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BACKGROUND: In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, noninvasive respiratory support (NRS) therapies such as high-flow nasal cannula (HFNC) and noninvasive ventilation (NIV) were central to respiratory care. The extent to which these treatments increase the generation and dispersion of infectious respiratory aerosols is not fully understood. The objective of this study was to characterize SARS-CoV-2 aerosol dispersion from subjects with COVID-19 undergoing NRS therapy. METHODS: Several different aerosol sampling devices were used to collect air samples in the vicinity of 31 subjects with COVID-19, most of whom were receiving NRS therapy, primarily HFNC. Aerosols were collected onto filters and analyzed for the presence of SARS-CoV-2 RNA. Additional measurements were collected in an aerosol chamber with healthy adult subjects using respiratory therapy devices under controlled and reproducible conditions. RESULTS: Fifty aerosol samples were collected from subjects receiving HFNC or NIV therapy, whereas 6 samples were collected from subjects not receiving NRS. Only 4 of the 56 aerosol samples were positive for SARS-CoV-2 RNA, and all positive samples were collected using a high air flow scavenger mask collection device placed in close proximity to the subject. The chamber measurements with healthy subjects did not show any significant increase in aerosol dispersion caused by the respiratory therapy devices compared to baseline. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings demonstrate very limited detection of SARS-CoV-2--containing aerosols in the vicinity of subjects with COVID-19 receiving NRS therapies in the clinical setting. These results, combined with controlled chamber measurements showing that HFNC and NIV device usage was not associated with increased aerosol dispersion, suggest that NRS therapies do not result in increased dispersal of aerosols in the clinical setting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The mechanism underlying the LuxR repression of the type 3 secretion system (T3SS) system in Vibrio harveyi is determined. The studies have defined the genes in the Vibrio harveyi quorum sensing (QS) regulon and have analyzed a mechanism showing how multiple regulators are linked in series to direct the expression of QS target genes specifically at low or high cell density.

Gonococci secrete chromosomal DNA into the extracellular environment using a type IV secretion system ( T4SS). The secreted DNA acts in natural transformation and initiates biofilm development. Although the DNA and its effects are detectable, structural components of the T4SS are present at very low levels, suggestive of uncharacterized regulatory control. We sought to better characterize the expression and regulation of T4SS genes and found that the four operons containing T4SS genes are transcribed at very different levels. Increasing transcription of two of the operons through targeted promoter mutagenesis did not increase DNA secretion. The stability and steady-state levels of two T4SS structural proteins were affected by a homolog of tail-specific protease. An RNA switch was also identified that regulates translation of a third T4SS operon. The switch mechanism relies on two putative stem-loop structures contained within the 5′ untranslated region of the transcript, one of which occludes the ribosome binding site and start codon. Mutational analysis of these stem loops supports a model in which induction of an alternative structure relieves repression. Taken together, these results identify multiple layers of regulation, including transcriptional, translational and post-translational mechanisms controlling T4SS gene expression and DNA secretion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]