Over-prescription of short-acting beta agonists in the treatment of asthma.

Background: Despite a clear guideline for asthma medication, excessive use of short-acting β2-agonists (SABAs) is common in clinical practice. Previous research has shown that excessive use of SABAs is associated with poor asthma control.

Objective: This study examines current use of asthma medication in primary care and whether excessive use of SABAs is associated with exacerbations.

The pleiotropic response regulator DegU functions as a priming protein in competence development in Bacillus subtilis.

The response regulator DegU is involved in various late-growth developmental processes in Bacillus subtilis, including the production of degradative enzymes and the development of genetic competence. DegU is essential for the expression of the competence transcription factor, encoded by comK. ComK is required for the transcription of genes encoding the DNA uptake and integration machinery, as well as for the transcription of its own gene.

The competence transcription factor of Bacillus subtilis recognizes short A/T-rich sequences arranged in a unique, flexible pattern along the DNA helix.

The development of genetic competence in Bacillus subtilis is regulated by a complex signal transduction cascade, which leads to the synthesis of the competence transcription factor (CTF). Previous studies suggested that CTF is encoded by comK. ComK is required for the transcription of comK itself, as well as of the late competence genes encoding the DNA uptake machinery and of genes required for homologous recombination.