Addressing difficulty in communication while wearing a respirator mask during the COVID-19 pandemic by using a laryngophone

Objective@#To describe the use of a laryngophone to aid in verbal communication when wearing elastomeric respirator masks. @*Methods@#Design: Instrumentation Innovation. Setting: Tertiary Private Training Hospital.@*Participants@#Five volunteers using elastomeric respirator masks rated laryngophone use, afterwhich they individually rated an additional volunteer on speech intelligibility before and after laryngophone use. @*Results@#On a scale of 1-10, the average score of the five volunteers for the laryngophone was 8.8 for ease of use, 8.0 for comfort, and 8.0 for ease of communication. Their average speech intelligibility score for the additional volunteer using the respirator mask alone was 2.0, and for use of the respirator mask with laryngophone was 3.6 on a scale of 1-4. @*Conclusion@#This portable laryngophone speaker may be useful in aiding otolaryngologists and health care providers using elastomeric respirator masks in verbal communication by amplifying speech without needing an external microphone, preventing vocal strain.

Enhanced shoot investment makes invasive plants exhibit growth advantages in high nitrogen conditions

Abstract Resource amendments commonly promote plant invasions, raising concerns over the potential consequences of nitrogen (N) deposition; however, it is unclear whether invaders will benefit from N deposition more than natives. Growth is among the most fundamental inherent traits of plants and thus good invaders may have superior growth advantages in response to resource amendments. We compared the growth and allocation between invasive and native plants in different N regimes including controls (ambient N concentrations). We found that invasive plants always grew much larger than native plants in varying N conditions, regardless of growth- or phylogeny-based analyses, and that the former allocated more biomass to shoots than the latter. Although N addition enhanced the growth of invasive plants, this enhancement did not increase with increasing N addition. Across invasive and native species, changes in shoot biomass allocation were positively correlated with changes in whole-plant biomass; and the slope of this relationship was greater in invasive plants than native plants. These findings suggest that enhanced shoot investment makes invasive plants retain a growth advantage in high N conditions relative to natives, and also highlight that future N deposition may increase the risks of plant invasions.

Resumo As alterações de recursos geralmente promovem invasões de plantas, suscitando preocupações quanto às conseqüências potenciais da deposição de nitrogênio (N); No entanto, não está claro se os invasores se beneficiarão da deposição de N mais do que com os nativos. O crescimento é um dos traços inerentes mais fundamentais das plantas e, portanto, os bons invasores podem ter vantagens de crescimento superiores em resposta a alterações de recursos. Comparamos o crescimento e a alocação entre plantas invasivas e nativas em diferentes regimes de N, incluindo controles (concentrações ambientais de N). Descobrimos que as plantas invasivas sempre cresceram muito mais do que as plantas nativas em diferentes condições de N, independentemente das análises baseadas em crescimento ou filogenia, e que o primeiro atribuiu mais biomassa aos rebentos do que o segundo. Embora N aumentou o crescimento de plantas invasivas, esse aumento não aumentou com o aumento da adição de N. Através das espécies invasivas e nativas, as mudanças na alocação da biomassa do extrato foram correlacionadas positivamente com as mudanças na biomassa da planta inteira; e a inclinação desse relacionamento foi maior em plantas invasivas do que plantas nativas. Essas descobertas sugerem que o aumento do investimento em lançamentos faz com que as plantas invasivas mantenham uma vantagem de crescimento em altas condições de N em relação aos nativos, e também destacar que a futura deposição de N pode aumentar os riscos de invasões de plantas.

In vitro antibacterial activity of mometasone furoate, fluticasone propionate and fluticasone nasal preparations againts streptococcus pneumoniae, hemophilus influenzae, Streptococcus viridans, staphylococcus aureus, pseudomonas aeruginosa, and escherichi

Objective: To test the antibacterial properties of three commercially available nasal corticosteroid preparations containing Mometasone Furoate (MF), Fluticasone Propionate (FP) and Fluticasone Furoate (FF) against S. pneumoniae, S. viridans, S. aureus, H. influenza, P. aeruginosa and E. coli. Methods: Study Design: Experimental in vitro study using the disc diffusion method. Clinical isolates of Streptococcus pneumoniae, Hemophilus influenzae, Streptococcus viridans, Staphylococcus aureus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Escherichia coli were inoculated on separate plates. 0.15 ml of nasal corticosteroid preparations containing MF, FP and FF were applied to blank paper discs, then placed on the plates, including an empty disc. Following 24 and 48 hours of incubation, the inhibition zones were measured to the nearest mm from the point of abrupt inhibition of growth. Results: After 24 and 48 hours of incubation, S. pneumoniae, S. viridans, and S. aureus showed inhibition zones to all three preparations. S. aureus and S. viridans show the largest zones of inhibition at 24 and 48 hours respectively. H. influenza, P. aeruginosa and E. coli were negative. The inhibition zones of each bacteria were shown to be statistically different. The preparation containing FP had the largest zone of inhibition at 24 and 48 hours, although post hoc tests showed their difference was not significant. Conclusion: The present study demonstrates possible antimicrobial properties of commercially available nasal corticosteroid preparations. However, it is unclear whether these can be attributed to the steroids, their excipients, or both. Further studies testing each component may offer better insights into their therapeutic use.

anti-inflammatory properties of interleukin 18 binding protein in rheumatoid arthritis

Interleukin-18 binding protein [IL-18BP] is functioning as a natural anti-inflammatory and immunosuppressive molecule by neutralizing the effects of IL-18 during inflammation. This study aimed to identify the role of IL-18BPa in the regulation of immune responses associated with the pathogenesis of RA. 65 RA patients, 22 OA patients, and 40 sex and age matched healthy donors were enrolled in this study. Synovial specimens were obtained through synovectomy or arthroscopic procedures. SFMC and PBMC were prepared by using Ficoll-Hypaque separation procedure. Superarray analysis was used to measure the expression profile of immune-related genes in normal PBMC treated with recombinant human IL-18BPa. The mRNA levels of Th1 and Th2 cytokines were measured by Real-time PCR, and the protein levels of IFN-gamma, IL-4 were detected by ELISA. SuperArray analysis of immune related gene expression profile in normal PBMC treated with IL-18BPa indicated decreases in the gene expression of IFN- gamma and its regulatory molecules STAT-1 and STAT-2. This study pointed out that IL-18BPa has additional anti-inflammatory property through downregulating the expression of IFN- gamma and IL-12, at the same time, upregulating the expression of IL-4 and IL-10. Both IFN- gamma and IL-12 could upregulate the mRNA and protein levels of IL-18BPa in both the normal and RA subjects. Our results demonstrated the importance of IL-18BPa as an immune regulatory molecule and as a promising therapy for treating RA

Glutathione S-transferases null genotype in acute myeloid leukemia

The glutathione S-transferase [GST] family of metabolising enzymes plays an important role in the detoxification of mutagens and carcinogens. The expression of many of these cancer susceptibility enzymes is genetically polymorphic. An increased frequency of GST-null genotypes has been associated with several malignancies. To investigate the rate of GSTT1 and GSTM1 null genotypes in AML patients and to determine its importance in prognosis of the disease. DNA was extracted by phenol/chloroform method from peripheral blood or bone marrow of 180 white Caucasian patients. A multiplex PCR method was used simultaneously to amplify regions of GSTM1, GSTT1, and beta-globin genes in genomic DNA. The survival curves were analyzed by the Kaplan-Meier method and compared by the log-rank test [Mantel-Cox] using the SPSS software program. Of the total of 180 patients, 23 cases [12.8%] showed null genotypes in both genes, while in 52 patients [28.9%] both genes were wild-types. GSTM1 null-GSTT1 wild-type was detected in 91 patients [50.6%] and GSTM1 wild-type-GSTT1 null genotype was detected in 14 patients [7.8%]. These rates are within the upper limit of the rates detected in the normal European population. There was no significant difference in the overall survival and in disease free survival between different groups. These observations suggest that the inherited absence of the GSTT1 and GSTM1 carcinogen detoxification pathway may be related to carcinogenesis but it is not an important determinant of prognosis in AML

Expression of heme oxygenase-1 in the peripheral blood mononuclear cells from asthmatic patients / 华中科技大学学报（医学）（英德文版）

To explore the expression of heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1) in the peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) and its relationship with pulmonary ventilation function in asthmatic patients, 18 asthmatic patients and 18 healthy subjects were selected. HO-1 protein and mRNA levels in PBMCs were measured by immunohistochemical staining and reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), respectively. Blood carbon monoxide Hb (COHb), serum total IgE and pulmonary ventilatory function were observed. Our results showed that the percentage of cells positive for immunohistochemical staining of HO-1 were significantly higher in asthmatic patients (41.72 +/- 7.44) % than that in with healthy subjects (10.45 +/- 4.36) % (P < 0.001) and the optical density of PBMC HO-1 mRNA was higher in asthmatic patients (26.05 +/- 4.14) than that in healthy subjects (10. 82 +/- 4.26) (P < 0.001). The relation analysis showed that PBMC HO-1 protein and mRNA levels had significantly negative relation with FEV1%, PEFR, MEFR50%, respectively (r = -0.51-0.89, P < 0.05-0.001, respectively) and a positive relation with COHb and serum total IgE (r = 0.48-0. 85, 0.05-0.001, respectively). It is concluded that the expression of PBMC HO-1 protein and mRNA increased significantly in asthmatic patients, and HO-1 may play a significant role in the pathogenesis of asthma. The expression of HO-1 may bear a relation with severity of asthma.