Reverse transcription loop-mediated isothermal amplification assay for detecting tomato chlorosis virus.

A betaine-free reverse transcription loop-mediated isothermal amplification (RT-LAMP) assay was developed and optimised for detecting tomato chlorosis virus (ToCV), one of the most important viruses that infect tomato crops worldwide. A set of four specific primers was designed against the RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp) gene. The betaine-free RT-LAMP procedure could be completed within 40 min under isothermal conditions at 60 °C without a thermal cycler, and no cross-reactivity was seen with other tomato viral pathogens.

[Prospective, multicenter study of mortality and risk factors in children with acute respiratory distress syndrome in 25 pediatric intensive care units in China].

Objective: To investigate the mortality and predictors of outcome of children with acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) in pediatric intensive care unit (PICU).

Methods: ARDS cases were selected from the 12 018 patients admitted in 25 pediatric intensive care units in China from January 1 to December 31, 2004, aged 29 days to 14 years, using the Chinese Pediatric Critical Index of Severity (PCIS) and American Guidelines for Admission and Discharge Policies for PICU. ARDS was diagnosed according to the 1994 American-European Consensus Conference criteria.

[Effects of combined surfactant and inhaled nitric oxide in ventilated rabbits with meconium aspiration-induced acute lung injury].

Objective: To evaluate dose response of inhaled nitric oxide (iNO) for surfactant-treated rabbits with meconium aspiration-induced acute lung injury (ALI) and hypoxemic respiratory failure (HRF), and variation of measured iNO by continuous NO delivery in pressure support ventilation (PSV).

Methods: Adult rabbits (2.0 - 3.

Regulation of activity of nuclear factor-kappaB and activator protein-1 by nitric oxide, surfactant and glucocorticoids in alveolar macrophages from piglets with acute lung injury.

Aim: To investigate whether acute lung injury (ALI) in ventilated piglets with bacterial infection affects NF-kappaB and AP-1 expression in alveolar macrophages (AM) and whether nitric oxide (NO), surfactant (Surf), glucocorticoids (GC) affect NF-kappaB and AP-1 activation in AM in vivo and in vitro.

Methods: The animals were intraperitoneally injected Escherichia coli, which caused ALI. Nuclear extracts of AM were analyzed by electrophoretic mobility shift assay (EMSA) for the nuclear factor-kappa B (NF-kappaB) and activation protein-1 (AP-1) expression.