[Growth and degradation characteristics of an efficient and broad-spectrum atrazine-degrading strain SB5]. / ä¸€æ ªé«˜æ•ˆå¹¿è°±èŽ åŽ»æ´¥é™è§£èŒSB5的生长和降解特性.

In this study, triazine-degrading strain SB5 was isolated and screened from the activated sludge contaminated with atrazine by enrichment culture technology. Based on its morphology and 16S rRNA gene analysis, strain SB5 was initially identified as Paenarthrobacter sp. It contained the atrazine-degrading genes trzN, atzB, and atzC. The addition of glucose, sucrose, sodium citrate, yeast extract and peptone to the culture medium significantly increased the biomass and atrazine degradation efficiency of strain SB5. The addition of (NH4)2SO4 and NH4Cl inhibited the biomass of strain SB5, but did not affect its degradation efficiency for atrazine. The addition of starch did not affect the biomass of strain SB5, but significantly inhibited its degradation for atrazine. Strain SB5 showed good atrazine tolerance and atrazine degradation ability in the temperature range of 4-42 ℃, initial pH of 4-10 and initial concentration of 50-1000 mg·L-1. Using 100 mg·L-1 atrazine as the sole carbon source, the strain SB5 degraded 100% of atrazine within 36 h under the optimal conditions of 37 ℃ and initial pH 8.0. The results of degradation spectrum analysis showed that strain SB5 had a good degradation effect on the six triazine herbicides (simazine, terbuthylazine, propazine, cyanazine, ametryn and prometryn) at an initial concentration of 100 mg·L-1, and the degradation rates were 86.4%, 92%, 98.6%, 95.6%, 100% and 99.2% after 48 h of incubation, respectively. The results demonstrated that SB5 was an efficient and broad-spectrum degradation strain. The strain SB5 further enriched the strain resources for atrazine biodegradation, and its high-efficient and broad-spectrum degradation characteristics for triazine herbicides showed a potential application value in the development of bioremediation technology for the pollution of triazine herbicides.

Allergic fungal sinusitis caused by Schizophyllum commune.

A case of allergic fungal sinusitis (AFS) due to Schizophyllum commune was reported. The pathogen was identified using molecular bioanalysis. The patient underwent the functional endoscopic sinus surgery followed by the radical maxillary sinusotomy with canine fossa trephine. This case suggested that complete surgery allowed optimal disease clearance for AFS caused by Schizophyllum commune.

Characterization of the promoter and 5'-UTR intron of oleic acid desaturase (FAD2) gene in Brassica napus.

In the present study, we characterized the transcriptional regulatory region (KF038144) controlling the expression of a constitutive FAD2 in Brassica napus. There are multiple FAD2 gene copies in B. napus genome. The FAD2 gene characterized and analyzed in the study is located on chromosome A5 and was designated as BnFAD2A5-1. BnFAD2A5-1 harbors an intron (1,192 bp) within its 5'-untranslated region (5'-UTR). This intron demonstrated promoter activity. Deletion analysis of the BnFAD2A5-1 promoter and intron through the ß-glucuronidase (GUS) reporter system revealed that the -220 to -1 bp is the minimum promoter region, while -220 to -110 bp and +34 to +285 bp are two important regions conferring high-levels of transcription. BnFAD2 transcripts were induced by light, low temperature, and abscisic acid (ABA). These observations demonstrated that not only the promoter but also the intron are involved in controlling the expression of the BnFAD2A5-1 gene. The intron-mediated regulation is an essential aspect of the gene expression regulation.

[An overview of non-specific lipid transfer protein in plant].

Plant non-specific lipid transfer proteins (nsLTPs) are a group of abundantly expressed small basic proteins, which can reversibly bind and transport hydrophobic molecules in vitro. Nine types of nsLTP have been identified from a variety of plants. All the type of nsLTPs possesses the conserved eight cysteine residue motif with a three-dimensional structure of an internal hydrophobic cavity and the lipid binding site. Based on the growing knowledge about the structure, gene expression, regulation and in vitro activity, nsLTPs are considered to play a role in key processes of plant physiology, including wax synthesis and transport, abiotic stress resistance, disease resistance, and plant reproduction. This review aims at presenting comprehensive information of key topics, including basic features, classification, gene cloning, expression profiles, and functional studies of nsLTP. Finally the perspectives were included on the future study of nsLTP family.

[Plant Trihelix transcription factors family].

The Trihelix transcription factor family has raised great concerns only in recent years. It was named after its conserved DNA binding domain containing three tandem helix (helix-loop-helix-loop-helix), which could bind specifically with GT element, a light-responsive DNA element. So, this family is also known as GT factors. At the early stage of study, the knowledge of this family was only confined to their functions in regulation of light-responsive genes. However, recent researches indicated that Trihelix family also plays important roles in different growth and development processes involving flowers, stomata, trichomes, embryos, and seeds, as well as roles in response to abiotic and biotic stresses. This review mainly focused on the structural characteristics, classification, and the latest functional research progresses on the Trihelix family.

Rapid identification and characterization of Penicillium marneffei using multiplex ligation-dependent probe amplification (MLPA) in paraffin-embedded tissue samples.

Penicillium marneffei infection is a deadly disease and early diagnosis leads to prompt and appropriate antifungal therapy. To develop a sensitive method to diagnose P. marneffei infection, a multiplex ligation-dependent probe amplification (MLPA) assay was adapted. This method can rapidly and specifically detect P. marneffei DNA in cultured cells and paraffin-embedded tissue samples. Three pairs of probes were designed for amplifying the internally (intergenic) transcribed spacer (ITS) region of P. marneffei rRNA using a systematic phylogenetic analysis. These three probe sets produced three amplicons of 198, 166, and 152 bp, respectively, specific for P. marneffei. In contrast, there was only one 198 bp amplicon produced for Talaromyces stipitatus, and one 152 bp amplicon for P. funiculosum, T. intermedius and T. derxii. The probes did not amplify any other reference strains. An array of 40 P. marneffei strains isolated from human patients, bamboo rat, and the local environment was tested by using MLPA, and all were positively identified. Most importantly, P. marneffei in paraffin-embedded tissue specimens from infected human patients was positively amplified by MLPA. The sensitivity and specificity of the MLPA assay could be a useful tool for prompt diagnosis, pathogen characterization, and epidemiological studies of fungal infections.

[Inhibitory effect of dexamethasone on myeloid differentiation factor 88 and tumor necrosis factor-alpha expressions in mouse peritoneal macrophages].

OBJECTIVE: To study the inhibitory effect of dexamethasone (DEX) on myeloid differentiation factor 88 (MyD88) and tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) expression in mouse peritoneal macrophages in innate immune response to Penicillium marneffei (PM). METHODS: Mouse peritoneal macrophages were cultured in the presence of heat-inactivated yeast-phase PM with or without DEX, and the protein and mRNA expressions of MyD88 in the macrophages were detected using Western blotting and real-time PCR, respectively. TNF-alpha in the cell culture supernatant was measured with enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. RESULTS: DEX suppressed TNF-alpha production by the macrophages co-cultured with PM. The expressions of MyD88 were up-regulated by PM stimulation, whose effect was inhibited by the application of DEX. CONCLUSION: The inhibitory effect of DEX on PM-induced proinflammatory responses of the macrophage is directly associated with the inhibition of MyD88 expression.

The effects of a self-esteem program incorporated into health and physical education classes.

BACKGROUND: Self-esteem, a key construct of personality, influences thoughts, actions, and feelings. Adolescence is a critical stage to the development of self-esteem. Taiwan currently offers no self-esteem building curriculum in the public education system. Therefore, incorporating self-esteem-related teaching activities into the existing curriculum represents a feasible approach to enhance self-esteem in middle school students. PURPOSE: This study aimed to explore the effects on junior high school students' self-esteem of a self-esteem program incorporated into the general health and physical education curriculum. METHODS: A quasi-experimental research design was used, and 184 seventh-grade students at two junior high schools in Taipei City were randomly selected and separated into two groups. The experimental group received one 32-week self-esteem program incorporated into their regular health and physical education curriculum, which was administered in three 45-minute-session classes each week. The control group received the regular health and physical education with no specially designed elements. During the week before the intervention began and the week after its conclusion, each participant's global and academic, physical, social, and family self-esteem was assessed. Data were analyzed using analysis of covariance. RESULTS: For all participants, the experimental group was significantly superior to the control group in respect to physical self-esteem (p = .02). For girls, the experimental group was significantly superior to the control group in family self-esteem (p = .02). However, there was no significant difference between the two groups in terms of global self-esteem. CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE: This study provides preliminary evidence that incorporating self-esteem activities into the regular school health and physical education curriculum can result in minor effects in students' physical self-esteem and family self-esteem. Findings may provide teachers and school administrators with information to help them design programs to improve students' self-esteem. This study also reminds health professionals to focus on providing self-esteem-building programs when working with adolescent clients.

Pseudomembranous-like tinea of the scrotum: report of six cases.

Six cases of tinea of the scrotum with atypical clinical features were observed in the dermatology department of our hospital between 2001 and 2007. The age of onset ranged from 14 to 26 years. Unusual clinical presentations of pseudomembranous-like disease were observed in every patient. Causative agents were Microsporum gypseum in five patients and Trichophyton rubrum in one patient. Three of the M. gypseum isolates had atypical morphologies. All six isolates were identified by cultural morphologies and DNA sequence analysis of the internal transcribed spacer region of the ribosomal DNA.

Psychosocial factors affecting hip fracture elder's burden of care in Taiwan.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to analyze the factors that affect the burden of care for primary caregivers of older people during the transition period after discharge from the hospital to home. METHODS: Using convenience sampling, 95 older patients who had been hospitalized for a hip fracture and their primary caregivers were enrolled. Data pertaining to the burden experienced by the caregivers were collected 1 week and 1 month after discharge from the hospital. RESULTS: The burden of care was characterized as moderate. Physical functioning of the older people improved gradually with time after discharge from hospital (F = 164.582, p < .001) and were negatively related to caregiver burden. The predictive factors for caregiver burden 1 week after hospital discharge included the older people's physical functioning and self-efficacy, which together contributed to 15.6% of the total variance in caregiver burden. The predictive factors for caregiver burden 1 month after hospital discharge were the degree of caregiver burden at 1 week and social support, which together contributed to 56.0% of the total variance in caregiver burden. CONCLUSION: A health education program should be designed to improve the primary caregiver's knowledge of providing care and suggest strategies to increase social support to reduce the overall burden of care.

Hip fracture: family caregivers' burden and related factors for older people in Taiwan.

AIMS: The purpose of this study was to explore the burden experienced by caregivers during the transition from hospital to home. BACKGROUND: With a growing older population, home-based care has gradually gained more recognition. Most older people with hip fracture in Taiwan have to be discharged at a relatively early stage. Therefore, the caregiving tasks falls on the families. METHODS: A total of 98 older people with hip fracture and their caregivers were interviewed. The sample was selected from three medical centres in Taipei, and questionnaires were collected at one week and one month following hospital discharge. RESULTS: (i) Family caregivers were usually women (63.3%) with spouses being the primary caregivers in most cases (30.6%). About one-third of caregivers took care of other family members on top of their responsibilities caring for the sick elders at home, and 77.6% shared the care tasks with others. (ii) The caregivers experienced moderate burdens. About 91.8% of caregivers reported 'I feel sad watching the elder's health deteriorating', 84.9% reported 'I must keep an eye on the elder constantly' and 56.7% reported 'Taking care of the sick elder at home makes me feel exhausted'. (iii) Caregiver burden and the functional level of older people were adversely correlated. (iv) Caregivers who were unable to access other resources for help and/or had provided care to the older person prior to the fracture resulting in hospitalization experienced a higher burden. CONCLUSIONS: These findings should be helpful in the formulation of evidence-based discharge planning and home health care services. RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE: Comprehensive discharge planning and developing social support systems for family caregivers to reduce caregivers burden are needed.

An agonist human ICOS monoclonal antibody that induces T cell activation and inhibits proliferation of a myeloma cell line.

The inducible costimulator (ICOS), the third member of the CD28/CD152 receptor family, is an important costimulatory molecule during the immune response. In this study, a functional anti-human ICOS MAb 2C7 was obtained. The specificity of this MAb was verified by flow cytometry, Western blotting, and competition with anti-ICOS MAb ISA3. This MAb could well recognize ICOS molecule expressed on activated T cells and induce the activation as well as proliferation of T cells prestimulated by anti-human CD3 MAb. Furthermore, we found that MAb 2C7 could induce the growth arrest of XG2 cells, a human multiple myeloma cell line, which abnormally expressed ICOS molecule, and led to its apoptosis after 48 h of treatment. This functional anti-human ICOS MAb provides a valuable tool for further study of biological functions as well as signal transduction of ICOS/GL50.

Effects of a self-management asthma educational program in Taiwan based on PRECEDE-PROCEED model for parents with asthmatic children.

This study was conducted to evaluate the comparative effectiveness of two different asthma educational programs. One was self-management asthma education based on the PRECEDE-PROCEED model to change the influential factors based on a previous need assessment study in Taiwan. The other consisted of regular outpatient asthma education. The purposes were: 1) to compare differences in the asthma knowledge, self-efficacy, perceived effectiveness, children's cooperation, doctor-patient communication, and self-management behaviors in the experimental and control groups before education, and 2 weeks, 3 months, and 6 months after education; and 2) to compare differences in drug use, medication utilization, asthma severity, signs/symptoms of asthma, school absenteeism, and exercise ability before education, and 2 weeks, 3 months, and 6 months after education. Parents of asthmatic children were recruited from among outpatients of Chang Gung Children's Hospital, Taoyuan, Taiwan. They were grouped by registration number: those with even numbers were assigned to the experimental group, and those with odd numbers were assigned to the control group. Measurements were collected four times from all parents by means of a questionnaire and chart review. The General Linear Model: Repeat Measurement was used to compare variance differences. The following results were found. 1) Asthma knowledge, self-efficacy, perceived effectiveness, children's cooperation, and self-management behaviors significantly improved after the self-management asthma educational program based on PRECEDE-PROCEED. Except for perceived effectiveness, all variables still had good effectiveness after 6 months of follow-up. The experimental group was better than the control group in knowledge, children's cooperation, and self-management behaviors at the 3-month follow up, as well as in knowledge and children's cooperation at the 6-month follow-up. 2) In both the experimental and control groups, the educational program had a good impact on the health outcome. The average degree of drug use was reduced from 2.7 to 2.1. The number of visits was reduced from 4.75 to 3.55 per half year in the experimental group, and from 5.8 to 3.48 in the control group. The severity of asthma was reduced from 2.7 to 2.1. The signs/symptoms of asthma decreased, school absenteeism was reduced, and exercise ability improved after education at the 6-month follow-up in both groups. From the results of this study, the theory-based educational program had a good effect on self-management behaviors. From the repeat measurement analysis, we can understand the changing trend of the determinants, behaviors, and outcome indicators. The trend indicated that educational effects were sustained for at least 3 months, with some for 6 months. In order to maintain the educational effects, further specific series of educational programs can be designed based on the patterns of self-management behavior stages every 6 months. The effects of health outcomes may show significant differences using longer follow-up times in future clinical trials.

Expression of recombinant human ICOS and in vitro characterization of its bioactivity on B lymphocytes.

Inducible costimulator (ICOS) is a novel costimulatory molecule expressed in activated T cell and has critical regulation effect on special immune response. In this study, the cDNA encoding human ICOS was cloned from activated tonsil cells via RT-PCR, and was expressed in E. coli on pET28 expression vector. The recombinant ICOS protein expressed from E. coli showed a molecular weight of 14 kD on SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and was further confirmed by Western blot. In presence of IL-10, the purified rhICOS significantly increased in vitro B cell growth stimulated by pokeweed mitogen (PWM), and enhanced the secretion of IgG from B cells.

Educational diagnosis of self-management behaviors of parents with asthmatic children by triangulation based on PRECEDE-PROCEED model in Taiwan.

This assessment study is an educational and behavioral diagnosis based on the PRECEDE-PROCEED model which identifies factors (predisposing, enabling, and reinforcing) that must be changed to initiate and sustain the self-management behaviors of parents with asthmatic children (aged 3-14 years) in the largest children's hospital in northern Taiwan. In the first step, 21 self-management behaviors were induced from the content analysis of qualitative interviews of 16 successful parents. The construct validity of 21 self-management behaviors was established by principal component factor analysis, followed by the rotation method with Varimax and Kaiser normalization. Three extracted components were named: preventing behaviors, managing behaviors, and assessing behaviors. The cumulative percentage of variance of the three factors was 48.2%. In order to identify the determinate factors of self-management behaviors, 133 parents with asthmatic children were recruited and investigated at the outpatient department of the hospital, in the second step. All the instruments were developed based on the results of content analysis from an in-depth interview. The results indicated that the self-management behaviors of this group were middle level. Stepwise multiple regression was used to analyze the predicted rate of self-management behaviors by 12 educational factors. The results indicate that self-efficacy, perceived effectiveness, and children's cooperation can explain 50.2% of the variance in the self-management behaviors. The determinate factors of preventive behaviors were self-efficacy, perceived effectiveness, and children's cooperation with R(2)=0.448. The determinate factor of managing behaviors was perceived effectiveness with R(2)=0.262. The determinate factors of assessing behaviors were perceived severity, knowledge, self-efficacy, and perceived effectiveness with R(2)=0.311. These results suggest the direction of a self-management education program for different parents of asthmatic children with poor management skills. Future research should be conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of treatment by a more specific self-management education program, which focuses on increasing self-efficacy and perceived effectiveness.

Increasing bioactivity of Flt3 ligand by fusing two identical soluble domains.

Flt3 ligand (FL) is a hematopoietic growth factor, initiating its in tracellular signaling cascade by binding to counterpart receptor and driving receptor dimerization. The native form of soluble FL in vivo is mainly monomeric. In this study, we constructed a rFL-FL fusion protein cDNA by linking two copies of cDNA encoding the soluble domain of FL in tandem and expressed it in Pichia pastoris. On SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, the rFL-FL fusion protein showed a molecular weight of 43 kD, agreeing well with the predicted value. The 43 kD protein was further confirmed by Western blot using polyclonal rabbit anti-human FL antibody. The rFL-FL fusion protein exhibited about 10-fold increment in its activity on colony formation of bone marrow progenitor cells. RFL-FL fusion protein also exerted more potent effect than monomeric FL on extending the survival of starving Raji cells.

Impact of a transtheoretical model on the psychosocial factors affecting exercise among workers.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of exercise intervention on improvement of perceived exercise benefit, perceived exercise barrier, and exercise self-efficacy. A quasi- experimental design was utilized and purposive sampling was conducted at a telecom worksite in southern Taiwan. One hundred and ninety-three subjects were assigned to an experimental and a control group. The experimental group, which consisted of 133 subjects, participated in a program of exercise intervention. The intervention program applied a transtheoretical model to aid subjects in developing effective approaches within different stages of the exercise change. It included written materials and teaching activities for the different stages of exercise. The control group, which consisted of 60 subjects, had no treatment. All subjects completed a structured questionnaire, including perceived exercise benefits, perceived exercise barriers, exercise self-efficacy, and stages of exercise, pre-test and post-test. Statistical analyses included Chi-square test, paired t-test, analysis of covariance, one-way ANOVA, and Scheffe's post hoc comparison. After the exercise intervention, the results post-test of the experimental group showed that (1) perceived exercise benefit, perceived exercise barriers, and exercise self-efficacy improved significantly, and (2) perceived exercise benefit and exercise self-efficacy were significantly higher than those of the control group post-test while perceived exercise barriers were significantly lower than those of the control group post-test.