Background
Perennial allergic rhinitis (PAR) often coexists in asthmatic patients. Intranasal cellulose powder (ICP) was reportedly effective in ameliorating PAR.
Objective
We investigated whether ...ICP is equally effective compared with intranasal corticosteroids in improving asthma control as well as nasal symptoms among children with PAR and allergic asthma (AA).
Methods
Between July 2015 and September 2016, we did a single-center, randomized, placebo-controlled trial. Asthmatic children aged 6 to 11 years with mild-to-moderate PAR were randomly assigned to formoterol/budesonide inhalation (4·5 µg/80 µg, twice daily) plus intranasal budesonide 64 µg twice daily (group A), ICP 250 µg thrice daily (group B), or intranasal placebo 250 µg thrice daily (group C) for 8 weeks. The primary outcome was change in asthma control test for children (C-ACT) score from baseline to week 8 posttreatment. Changes in spirometry, peak expiratory flow (PEF), fractional exhaled nitric oxide (FeNO), and visual analog scale (VAS) for nasal and ocular symptoms were detected as secondary outcomes.
Results
We included 121 patients (38 in group A, 41 in group B, and 42 in group C) in full-analysis set. C-ACT score was markedly higher at week 8 compared with baseline (mean difference: 5.11, 6.05, and 4.85 points in groups A, B, and C, respectively; P < .05). There were interactions between baseline and treatment in C-ACT scores (P < .05). Group B demonstrated greater improvement in C-ACT score than group C among children with baseline C-ACT score of 6 to 18. 95% confidence intervals of group A at baseline overlapped with those of groups B and C. The treatment achieved reduced VAS symptoms in groups A and B but not in group C. Incidence of adverse events was comparable. No serious adverse event was reported.
Conclusions
ICP could be recommended for children with PAR and AA who have poorer asthma control.
An improved multiplex RT-PCR assay combined with magnetic nanobeads (MNB-RT-PCR) was developed for simultaneous detection of four sweet potato viruses, Sweet potato virus G (SPVG), Sweet potato ...feathery mottle virus (SPFMV), Sweet potato virus C (SPVC) and Sweet potato chlorotic fleck virus (SPCFV). Four primer pairs specific for each virus were designed and the corresponding PCR products were 169, 357, 516 and 900 bp in length for SPVG, SPFMV, SPVC and SPCFV, respectively. The specificity of the method was tested using different combinations of virus templates, and the identities of the amplification products were confirmed by sequencing. The limits of detection for all four viruses by single and multiplex MNB-RT-PCR assays were comparable. The assay was further evaluated using laboratory and field samples compared with a conventional CTAB-RT-PCR assay, and the comparative results showed that the MNB-RT-PCR assay was more rapid and sensitive. These results suggest that the multiplex MNB-RT-PCR assay is an effective and preferable method for virus detection in sweet potato.
Cross‐protection has been used successfully and commercially to control a range of virus diseases for which the selection of suitable mild strains of plant viruses is necessary. Turnip crinkle virus ...(TCV) is highly pathogenic on Arabidopsis plants and its silencing suppressor‐defective mutant, TCVΔCP, can induce highly localized RNA silencing which is differs from that of other protective strains. We found that TCVΔCP provides some protection against wild‐type TCV but lacks complete protection, and the relative locations of the protective virus and challenge virus affect the degree of cross‐protection. However, similar cross‐protection afforded by TCVΔCP is not observed in Nicotiana benthamiana plants. As expected, TCVΔCP pre‐infected Arabidopsis plants fail to protect against infection with the unrelated Cucumber mosaic virus, strain Fhy. It appears that cross‐protection afforded by TCVΔCP requires that the challenge virus be very similar in sequence, which is a characteristic of RNA silencing. In order to investigate whether the protection is associated with the highly localized RNA silencing, mutant plants involved in key silencing pathway genes of RNA silencing machinery, including dcl2, dcl4 and triple dcl2/dcl3/dcl4 mutants were used. The results demonstrate that cross‐protection afforded by TCVΔCP is dependent on host RNA silencing, and both DCL2 and DCL4 play important roles in this process.
The main contribution of this paper is the development of H∞ fault tolerant control for a wind energy conversion system (WECS) based on the stochastic piecewise affine (PWA) model. In this paper the ...normal and fault stochastic PWA models for WECS including multiple working points at different wind speeds are established. A reliable piecewise linear quadratic regulator state feedback is designed for the fault tolerant actuator and sensor. A sufficient condition for the existence of the passive fault tolerant controller is derived based on some linear matrix inequalities (LMIs). It is shown that the H∞ fault tolerant controller of WECS can control the wind turbine exposed to multiple simultaneous sensor faults or actuator faults; that is, the reliability of wind turbines can be improved.
Salicylic acid (SA) is a critical signal for activation of both local and systemic resistance responses. However, SA-deficient plants adapt to RNA virus infections better, which show a less-severe ...symptom and less reactive oxygen species (ROS) accumulation. The higher levels of reduced glutathione (GSH) and reduced ascorbic acid (AsA) in SA-deficient plants may contribute to their alleviated symptoms, which are consistent with their higher expression levels of dehydroascorbate reductase gene (DHAR) and glutathione reductase gene (GR). High-dose AsA or GSH treatment could alleviate the symptom and inhibit virus replication after 20 days, but ROS eliminators could not imitate the effect of AsA or GSH. The data show a new link between SA and AsA/GSH-mediated redox homeostasis.
Here we present a rare case of localized amyloidosis involving the nasolacrimal duct and lacrimal sac which was managed by endoscopic surgery.
A 50-year-old man whose medical history included ...bilateral ventricular fold and vocal cord amyloidosis complained of bilateral epiphora. Magnetic resonance imaging revealed a neoplasm within the nasolacrimal sac. Characteristic positivity for Congo red staining and birefringence under a polarized microscope proved the diagnosis of amyloidosis. Dacryocystorhinostomy
an endoscope obtained a favorable result. A one-year follow-up found no recurrence.
There are few reports on amyloidosis involving the lacrimal outflow system, and management and outcome are not clear. Endoscopic dacryocystorhinostomy can be a choice to relieve symptoms. Regular follow-up and monitoring of systemic diseases are highly recommended.
Plant hormones play pivotal roles as signals of plant-pathogen interactions. Here, we report that exogenous application of salicylic acid (SA), jasmonic acid (JA), ethephon (ETH), and abscisic acid ...(ABA) can reduce Turnip crinkle virus (TCV) accumulation in systemic leaves of Arabidopsis thaliana during early infection. SA and ABA are more efficient and confer a longer-lasting resistance against TCV than JA and ETH, and the plant hormones interact in effecting the plant defence. Synergistic actions of SA and JA, and SA and ET, and an antagonistic action of SA and ABA have been observed in the Arabidopsis-TCV interaction. ABA can down-regulate the expression of the pathogenesis-related genes PR1 and PDF1.2, and compared to the wild type, it drastically reduces TCV accumulation in NahG transgenic plants and the eds5-p1 mutant, both of which do not accumulate SA. This indicates that SA signaling negatively regulates the ABA-mediated defence. ABA-induced resistance against TCV is independent of SA. We also found that mitogen-activated protein kinase 5 (MPK5) may be involved in ABA-mediated defence. These results indicate that Arabidopsis can activate distinct signals to inhibit virus accumulation. Cooperative or antagonistic crosstalk between them is pivotal for establishing disease resistance. These results show potential to enhance the plant defence against viruses by manipulating diverse hormones.
Strain M
438
, deposited as CGMCC3917 and isolated from inoculums of bacterial cellulose (BC) producing strain screened in homemade vinegar and then induced by high hydrostatic pressure treatment ...(HHP), has strong ability to produce BC more than three times as that of its initial strain. It is the highest yield BC-producing strain ever reported. In this paper, M
438
was identidied as
Gluconacetobacter hansenii
subsp. nov. on the basis of the results obtained by examining it phylogenetically, phenotypically, and physiologically–biochemically. Furthermore, the genetic diversity of strain M
438
and its initial strain was examined by amplified fragment length polymorphism. The results indicated that strain M
438
was a deletion mutant induced by HHP, and the only deleted sequence showed 99% identity with 24,917–24,723 bp in the genome sequence of
Ga. hansenii
ATCC23769, and the complement gene sequence was at 24,699–25,019 bp with local tag GXY_15142, which codes small multidrug resistance (SMR) protein. It can be inferred that SMR might be related to inhibiting BC production to a certain extent.
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