Atypical pathogen infection in adults with acute exacerbation of bronchial asthma.

In a serologically based prospective study, acute infections with four atypical pathogens were determined in 100 adults hospitalized for acute exacerbation of bronchial asthma, and compared with the corresponding rate in a matched control group. Paired sera were tested using immunofluorescence or enzyme immunoassay methods to establish the serologic diagnosis. In 18 patients (18%), there was evidence of acute infection with Mycoplasma pneumoniae, compared with 3% in the control group (p = 0.

Conformations and flexibility of native and re-natured xanthan in aqueous solutions.

The conformation and flexibility of sonicated 'native' and 're-natured' xanthan have been investigated by size exclusion chromatography (SEC) with coupled multi-angle light scattering and viscosity detectors. 'Native' xanthan (NX) refers to xanthan dissolved in moderate ionic strength aqueous solution, which has not been exposed either to high temperature or very low ionic strength, and 're-natured' xanthan (RX) here refers to xanthan which has been heated above the conformational melting temperature and then recooled. The mass distributions of the NX and RX are virtually identical, implying that the RX does not involve aggregates of, or disassociated fragments of, NX.