\n\nAllelic frequencies in the Chilean sample studied were intermediate between those of

the two ancestral populations (European and Pehuenche).”
“The present study deals with the development of novel pH-sensitive tamarind seed polysaccharide (TSP)-alginate composite beads for controlled diclofenac sodium delivery using response surface methodology by full 3(2) factorial design. The effect of polymer-blend ratio (sodium alginate:TSP) and cross-linker (CaCl2) concentration on the drug encapsulation efficiency (DEE, %) and drug release from diclofenac sodium loaded TSP-alginate composite beads prepared by ionotropic gelation Entinostat supplier was optimized. The observed responses were coincided well with the predicted values by the experimental design. The DEE (%)

Emricasan inhibitor of these beads containing diclofenac sodium was within the range between 72.23 +/- 2.14 and 97.32 +/- 4.03% with sustained in vitro drug release (69.08 +/- 2.36-96.07 +/- 3.54% in 10 h). The in vitro drug release from TSP-alginate composite beads containing diclofenac sodium was followed by controlled-release pattern (zero-order kinetics) with case-II transport mechanism. Particle size range of these beads was 0.71 +/- 0.03-1.33 +/- 0.04 mm. The swelling and degradation of the developed beads were influenced by different pH of the test medium. The FUR and NMR analyses confirmed the compatibility of the diclofenac sodium with TSP and sodium alginate used to prepare the diclofenac sodium loaded TSP-alginate composite beads. The newly developed TSP-alginate composite beads are suitable for controlled delivery of diclofenac sodium for prolonged period. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.”
“In a gas membrane, gas is transferred

between a liquid and a gas through a microporous membrane. The main challenge is to achieve a high gas transfer while preventing wetting and clogging. With respect to the oxygenation of blood, haemocompatibility is also required. Here we coat macroporous meshes selleck screening library with a superamphiphobic-or liquid repellent-layer to meet this challenge. The superamphiphobic layer consists of a fractal-like network of fluorinated silicon oxide nanospheres; gas trapped between the nanospheres keeps the liquid from contacting the wall of the membrane. We demonstrate the capabilities of the membrane by capturing carbon dioxide gas into a basic aqueous solution and in addition use it to oxygenate blood. Usually, blood tends to clog membranes because of the abundance of blood cells, platelets, proteins and lipids. We show that human blood stored in a superamphiphobic well for 24 h can be poured off without leaving cells or adsorbed protein behind.

“
“Behcet’s disease (BD)

SC79 chemical structure is a chronic multisystem disorder. Infectious agents, immune system mechanisms, and genetic factors are implicated in the etiopathogenesis of BD, which remains to be explained. The human MDR1 (ABCB1) gene encoder P-glycoprotein (P-gp) plays a key role in drug disposition, serves as a protective mechanism against xenobiotics, and provides additional protection for the brain, testis, and fetus. We investigated the genotype and haplotype distributions of three MDR1 gene polymorphisms (C1236T, G2677T/A, and C3435T) in 104 BD patients and 130 control subjects. The genotyping analysis was performed by using PCR-RFLP methods.\n\nNo statistically significant differences were found for the genotypic and allelic distributions of three individual AZD5153 chemical structure single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the MDR1 gene between BD patients and control subjects in this study (p > 0.05). However, combined genotype and haplotype frequencies have found statistically significant differences between BD and control subjects for some combinations (p < 0.05). The CC-GG binary genotype for C1236T-G2677T/A loci couple in particular may have a high degree of predisposition

to BD (p = 0.009: OR, 3.03; 95% CI, 1.41-6.54).\n\nFurthermore, significant differences between colchicine-responsive and -nonresponsive groups were found. Genotypic and allelic distributions of C3435T and G2677T/A loci, as well as their genotype and haplotype combinations, were found to have statistically significant differences (p<0.05). The TT genotype for the C3435T locus (p = 0.001; OR, 6.59; 95% CI, 1.86-23.30) and

T allele (p= 0.009; OR, 2.09; 95% CI, 1.18-3.70) plays a substantial role in the colchicine response. Our study showed that MDR1 genes and their polymorphisms may affect a patient’s BD susceptibility and colchicine response. (c) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.”
“Equine infectious anemia virus (EIAV) infection is distinctive in that it causes a rapid onset of clinical disease relative to other retroviruses. In order to understand the interaction dynamics between EIAV and the host immune response, we explored the effects of EIAV and its S2 protein in the regulation of the cytokine and chemokine response in macrophages. EIAV infection markedly altered the expression pattern of a variety of pro-inflammatory CHIR-99021 cytokines and chemokines monitored in the study. Comparative studies in the cytokine response between EIAV(17) and EIAV(17 Delta S2) infection revealed that S2 enhances the expression of IL-1 alpha, IL-1 beta, IL-8, MCP-2, MIP-1 beta and IP-10. Moreover, S2 specifically induced the expression of the newly discovered cytokine, IL-34. Taken together, these results may help explain the effect of cytokine and chemokine dysregulation in EIAV pathogenesis and suggest a role of S2 in optimizing the host cell environment to promote viral dissemination and replication. (C) 2009 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

The findings of the study are consistent with previous research regarding the selleck chemicals llc negative relationship between job satisfaction and turnover intention. The findings provide new information about Jordanian nurses who work in government hospital psychiatric services.”
“Background Homozygous familial hypercholesterolaemia is a rare, serious disorder caused by very low or absent plasma clearance of LDL, substantially raised

LDL cholesterol, and accelerated development of cardiovascular disease. Conventional lipid-lowering treatments are modestly effective. Evolocumab, a monoclonal antibody to proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin type 9 (PCSK9), reduced LDL cholesterol by 16% in a pilot study. We now report results with evolocumab in a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled phase 3 trial. Methods This randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled phase 3 trial was undertaken at 17 sites in ten countries in North America, Europe, the Middle East, and South Africa. 50 eligible patients (aged bigger than = 12 years) with homozygous familial hypercholesterolaemia, on stable lipid-regulating therapy for at least 4 weeks, and not receiving lipoprotein apheresis, were randomly allocated by a computer-generated randomisation sequence in a 2:1 ratio to receive subcutaneous evolocumab

420 mg or placebo every 4 weeks for 12 weeks. Randomisation was stratified by LDL cholesterol at screening ( smaller than 11 mmol/L or bigger than = 11 mmol/L)

and implemented by a computerised interactive voice-response system. Patients, study personnel, and the funder were masked β-Nicotinamide chemical structure to https://www.selleckchem.com/products/cobimetinib-gdc-0973-rg7420.html treatment and to the efficacy results by the central laboratory not returning LDL cholesterol or any lipid results to the clinical sites after the baseline visit. The primary endpoint was percentage change in ultracentrifugation LDL cholesterol from baseline at week 12 compared with placebo, analysed by intention-to-treat. This trial is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, number NCT01588496. Findings Of the 50 eligible patients randomly assigned to the two treatment groups, 49 actually received the study drug and completed the study (16 in the placebo group and 33 in the evolocumab group). Compared with placebo, evolocumab significantly reduced ultracentrifugation LDL cholesterol at 12 weeks by 30.9% (95% CI-43.9% to 18.0%; p smaller than 0.0001). Treatment-emergent adverse events occurred in ten (63%) of 16 patients in the placebo group and 12 (36%) of 33 in the evolocumab group. No serious clinical or laboratory adverse events occurred, and no anti-evolocumab antibody development was detected during the study. Interpretation In patients with homozygous familial hypercholesterolaemia receiving stable background lipid-lowering treatment and not on apheresis, evolocumab 420 mg administered every 4 weeks was well tolerated and significantly reduced LDL cholesterol compared with placebo.

3%) were positive for IAV by RT-PCR and seven out of the eleven were also positive for A(H1N1)pdm09 by gRRT-PCR. Chronic diffuse bronchopneumonia was observed in all samples and IHC analysis was negative for influenza A antigen.

Duvelisib datasheet Full genes segments of H1N2 IAV were sequenced using Illumina’s genome analyzer platform (MiSeq). The genomic analysis revealed that the HA and NA genes clustered with IAVs of the human lineage and the six internal genes were derived from the H1N1pdm09 IAV. This is the first report of a reassortant human-like H1N2 influenza virus infection in captive wild boars in Brazil and indicates the need to monitor IAV evolution in Suidae populations. (C) 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.”
“Objective. The purpose of this study was learn more two-fold: first, to develop a Korean version of the Gynecologic Cancer Lymphedema Questionnaire (GCLQ-K) and evaluate its reliability and reproducibility and second, to examine the diagnostic efficacy of GCLQ-K in predicting lymphedema in gynecologic cancer survivors. Methods. We designed a case-control study, and the GCLQ-K was completed by 33 gynecologic cancer survivors with lymphedema and 34 gynecologic cancer survivors without lymphedema. A follow-up GCLQ-K was completed 3 weeks after the baseline questionnaire. Results.

The GCLQ-K showed high reliability with a Cronbach’s alpha of 0.83 and high reproducibility with an intraclass correlation of 0.96. Of the 7 symptom clusters, 6 identified patients with lymphedema with statistical

significance; identification of lymphedema using the physical functioning and infection-related symptom clusters did not reach significance. The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) to distinguish patients with and without lymphedema was 0.868 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.779-0.956). Following the exclusion of the physical functioning and infection-related Autophagy activity symptom clusters, which showed poor prediction value for lymphedema, the AUC of the GCLQ-K total score further improved to 0.922 (95% CI, 0.864-0.981). Conclusion. The GCLQ-K was successfully developed with minimal modifications to adapt the original GCLQ to the Korean culture and showed high internal consistency and reproducibility. Moreover, gynecologic cancer survivors with and without lymphedema could be satisfactorily distinguished using the GCLQ-K. Thus, GCLQ-K was proven to be a reliable tool, capable of identifying lymphedema in Korean gynecological cancer survivors. (C) 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.”
“Adrenal diseases, including Cushing syndrome (CS), primary aldosteronism (PA), pheochromocytoma, and adrenocortical carcinoma, are uncommon in pregnancy; a high degree of clinical suspicion must exist. Physiologic changes to the hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal axis in a normal pregnancy result in increased cortisol, renin, and aldosterone levels, making the diagnosis of CS and PA in pregnancy challenging.

Seven treatments with triplicate tanks consisted of control (C) fed to satiation over 98days and the remainder being one (R1) to six (R6) weeks of restriction and then refeeding for the remaining 8weeks of the experiment. At the end of the experiment R1 and R2 were able to catch up with C. Repeated measures anova suggested a convergence in body mass but not in body length CAL-101 mw (structure), whereas there was an association between mass and structural CG responses. Hyperphagia and transiently better food utilisation were main mechanisms of the observed CG. Organosomatic indices of the restricted groups were significantly reduced at the end of the restriction

periods, but were restored to the control fish levels by the end of the refeeding period. There was a linear increase in body moisture and a decrease in lipid and lipid/lean body mass ratio with the severity of the restriction periods, but these trends vanished by the end of refeeding. The findings of the present experiment suggest that restricted feeding and the following realimentation to elicit CG as a management tool can be used in rainbow trout, but for no more than 2weeks under summer conditions.”
“An

important issue in semantic memory models is the formation of categories and taxonomies, and the different role played by shared vs. distinctive and salient vs. marginal features. Aim of this work Ferroptosis inhibitor review is to extend our previous model to critically discuss the mechanisms leading to the formation of categories, and to investigate how feature saliency can be learned from past experience. The model assumes that an object is represented as a collection of features, which belong to different cortical areas and are topologically organized. Excitatory synapses among features are created on the basis of past experience of object presentation, with a Hebbian paradigm,

including the use of potentiation and depression of synapses, and thresholding for the presynaptic and postsynaptic. The model was trained using simple schematic objects as input (i.e., vector of features) having some shared features (so as to realize a simple category) and some distinctive features with different www.selleckchem.com/products/arn-509.html frequency. Three different taxonomies of objects were separately trained and tested, which differ as to the number of correlated features and the structure of categories. Results show that categories can be formed from past experience, using Hebbian rules with a different threshold for postsynaptic and presynaptic activity. Furthermore, features have a different saliency, as a consequence of their different frequency during training. The trained network is able to solve simple object recognition tasks, by maintaining a distinction between categories and individual members in the category, and providing a different role for salient features vs. not-salient features.

We conducted eight focus groups in the parent’s preferred language. Spanish and English transcripts were translated and coded with intercoder reliability >80%.\n\nResults: There were 52 participants (30 mothers, 22 fathers). There is a wide range of parental knowledge and attitudes about confidential health services for teens. Parents believed they had the right to know about their teens’ health but were uncomfortable discussing sexual topics and thought confidential teen-clinician discussions would be helpful. Factors that influence parental acceptability

of confidential health services include parental trust in the clinician; the clinician’s interpersonal skills, clinical competencies, and ability to partner with parents and teens; and clinician-teen gender concordance. Most parents preferred teens’ access to confidential services than having their teens forego Compound C solubility dmso needed care.\n\nConclusions: This study identifies several underlying issues that may influence Latino youths’ access to confidential health services. Implications for clinical application and future research are discussed. (C) 2012 Society for Adolescent MK-0518 cost Health and Medicine. All rights

reserved.”
“Objective: To characterize the feasibility and safety of a wireless networked system incorporating physiologic assessments and direct confirmation of digital tablet ingestions in ambulatory patients with schizophrenia or bipolar disorder. Method: In this 4-week observational study conducted between AL3818 purchase May 2010 and May 2011 at 2 US academic clinical study sites, 12 adults with bipolar disorder and 16 adults with schizophrenia (all diagnosed according to DSM-IV criteria) utilized a digital health feedback system (DHFS). All subjects were on a stable regimen of oral medication. The DHFS utilized a digital tablet, consisting of an ingestion sensor that was embedded in a tablet containing nonpharmacologic excipients, which subjects coingested

with their regularly prescribed medication. The formulation of this digital tablet allowed ingestion sensor separation and activation by stomach fluids after ingestion, followed by communication of a unique identifying signal from the ingestion sensor to an adhesive sensor worn on the torso, which automatically logged the date and time of each digital tablet ingestion. The wearable sensor also collected physiologic measures including activity and heart rate. The primary study objective was to compare the accuracy of DHFS in confirming digital tablet ingestion versus a method of directly observed ingestion; secondary aims included characterization of adherence and physiologic measures longitudinally in these cohorts. Results: 27 of 28 subjects (96%) completed the study. The mean adherence rate was 74% (95% CI, 64%-86%), and 67% (95% CI, 55%-79%) of doses were taken within 2 hours of the prescribed dosing time.

Anat Rec, 294: 1352-1359, 2011. (C) 2011 Wiley-Liss, Inc.”
“Vaccine design approaches that target dendritic cells (DC) aim at achieving high levels of transgene expression. Careful selection

of the promoter element driving the foreign gene is therefore important. We have constructed adenovirus vectors carrying the gene for enhanced green fluorescent protein (eGFP) driven by three different promoters, CMV, CMV5 and ubiquitin C (UbC) promoter, and analysed their activity in different SNX-5422 order populations of human DC, namely blood plasmacytoid (pDC) and myeloid DC (mDC), monocyte-derived DC (moDC), Langerhans (LC) and dermal type DC (dDC). Although the CMV5 promoter was more active than the other two promoters in the HeLa Z-DEVD-FMK purchase and 911 HER cell lines, in human DC the highest level of transgene expression was seen with the CMV promoter. There was very low-level eGFP expression in all cell types transduced with the UbC promoter. Highest eGFP expression levels were observed in moDC, cultured

mDC and LC and the lowest levels in pDC. Expression of eGFP was augmented in all DC populations upon stimulation with CD40 ligand (CD40L). These findings demonstrate that the CMV promoter is the most effective of the three promoters tested in a range of different human DC populations. (C) 2007 Published by Elsevier B.V.”
“Background: Humeral shaft fractures account for 1 to 3% of all fractures in adults and for 20% of all humeral fractures. Non-operative treatment is still the standard treatment of isolated humeral shaft fractures, although this method can present unsatisfactory results. Surgical treatment is reserved for specific conditions. Modern concepts of internal fixation of long bone shaft fractures advocate relative stabilisation techniques with no harm to fracture zone. Recently described, minimally invasive bridge plate osteosynthesis has been shown to be a secure technique with good results for treating humeral shaft fractures. There is no good quality evidence advocating which method is more effective. This randomised controlled trial will be performed

to investigate the effectiveness of surgical treatment of humeral DMH1 shaft fractures with bridge plating in comparison with conservative treatment with functional brace.\n\nMethods/Design: This randomised clinical trial aims to include 110 patients with humeral shaft fractures who will be allocated after randomisation to one of the two groups: bridge plate or functional brace. Surgical treatment will be performed according to technique described by Livani and Belangero using a narrow DCP plate. Non-operative management will consist of a functional brace for 6 weeks or until fracture consolidation. All patients will be included in the same rehabilitation program and will be followed up for 1 year after intervention. The primary outcome will be the DASH score after 6 months of intervention.

The acceptable evolution of herbicide concentration in surface waters from 2002 to 2010 is associated to the current regional and national regulations and actions, which should be maintained. (C) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.”
“Numerous studies have

demonstrated that endocrine-disrupting compounds (EDC) are a possible cause of male reproductive organ malfunction and malformation. Cypermethrin (CYP) is a widely used synthetic pyrethroid and a potential EDC. This study aimed to examine the effects of perinatal exposure to low-dose CYP on the development and function of the offspring testes. buy DMH1 Pregnant mice were intragastrically administered 0.12 to 12 mg/kg/day CYP from embryonic day 0.5 (E0.5) to weaning (PD21.5, postnatal day 21.5). Maternal exposure to 0.12, 1.2, and 12 mg/kg/day CYP affected the body and organ weight of the offspring. Exposure of CYP led to a dose-dependent decrease in the male-to-female sex ratio. A histopathological analysis revealed a thinner seminiferous epithelium layer at PD21.5, interstitial hyperplasia at PD45.5, and germ cell vacuolization at PD90.5 in the 12 mg/kg/day CYP group. The TUNEL assay results revealed increased germ

cell apoptosis in the 12 mg/kg/day CYP group. The serum testosterone (T) level decreased, whereas the estradiol level increased with age in the 1.2 and 12 mg/kg/day CYP groups. The RT-PCR analysis demonstrated decreased see more expression of T production-related, mitosis-related, and meiosis-related genes in the 1.2 and 12 mg/kg/day CYP groups. The

in vitro experimental results demonstrated reduced expression of steroidogenesis genes and decreased T levels. It is concluded that perinatal exposure to low-dose CYP affects testes development and function in adults.”
“RNA folding is the most essential process underlying RNA function. While significant progress has been made in understanding the forces driving RNA folding in vitro, exploring the rules governing intracellular RNA structure formation is still in its infancy. The cellular environment hosts a great diversity of factors that potentially influence RNA folding in vivo. For example, the nature of transcription and translation is known to shape the folding landscape of RNA molecules. Trans-acting factors such as proteins, Selleckchem AZD4547 RNAs and metabolites, among others, are also able to modulate the structure and thus the fate of an RNA. Here we summarize the ongoing efforts to uncover how RNA folds in living cells. (C) 2011 Landes Bioscience.”
“Objective: Socioeconomic deprivation is associated with an increased risk of breast cancer mortality. This article summarizes the relationships between socioeconomic status (SES) and breast cancer in white European women compared with racial and ethnic groups in the United States. Furthermore, we examine the association between obesity and breast cancer within socioeconomic disparities.

In UK AF personnel, embedding mental health awareness within Captisol Microbiology inhibitor a comedy show format had a short-term positive effect upon military stigmatisation regarding mental health. The low rate of follow-up limited our ability to assess whether this effect was durable. If the longevity of change can be adequately

assessed and demonstrated in further research, comedy could potentially form a component of a comprehensive stigma-reduction strategy.”
“Fish in a tropical country like India are frequently exposed to different duration of hypoxia. The effect of hypoxia on the physiology of fish, air-breathing catfish Clarias batrachus were exposed to different duration of hypoxia and its effect on activities of lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) and malate dehydrogenase (MDH) were studied in four tissues (heart, liver, brain and muscle). The specific activity of LDH increases

in all tissues, which reflects towards onset of anaerobic respiration and decrease in energy demand in all these tissues. In contrast, MDH specific activities were decreased significantly in heart, suggesting involvement CB-839 inhibitor of strong aerobic respiration in heart during hypoxia. The present investigation revealed that during hypoxia enzyme activities responded in a tissue-specific manner in the fish Selleck Epacadostat C. batrachus reflecting the balance of energetic demands, metabolic role and oxygen supply of particular tissues.”
“Background & Aims: Recently, we reported that sorafenib sensitizes hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) cells to TRAIL through the inhibition of signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3). Here, we report that sorafenib inhibits HCC via a kinase-independent mechanism: SHP-1 dependent STAT3 inactivation.\n\nMethods: SC-1 is a sorafenib derivative that closely resembles sorafenib structurally but with no kinase inhibition activity. HCC cell lines (PLC5, Huh-7, Hep3B, and Sk-Hep1) were treated with sorafenib or

SC-1 and apoptosis and signal transduction were analyzed. In vivo efficacy was determined in nude mice with Huh-7 xenografts.\n\nResults: SC-1 showed similar effects to sorafenib on growth inhibition and apoptosis in all tested HCC cell lines. SC-1 down-regulated phosphorylation of phospho-STAT3 (p-STAT3) at tyrosine 705 in all tested HCC cells. Expression of STAT3-driven genes, including Cyclin D1 and Survivin, was also repressed by SC-1. Luciferase reporter assay confirmed the inhibition of transcriptional activity of STAT3 in both sorafenib-treated and SC-1-treated cells. Ectopic expression of STAT3 in PLC5 cells abolished apoptosis in SC-1-treated cells. Sorafenib and SC-1 up-regulated SHP-1 activity.

33) and 10.62 +/- 0.68, 9.64 +/- 0.49, 8.48 +/- 0.96, 6.32 +/- 0.15 and 6.90

+/- 0.04, respectively, 5-7 days after ovulation (spearman’s correlation coefficient = -0.66) estradiol and progesterone levels, measured in the day of 2nd ultrasonography had not statistic relation with endometrial thickness (P = 0.27 and 0.31). The relation of endometrial thickness and age was not significant (P = 0.54 and 0.06).\n\nConclusions: Dilatation and curettage has a significant effect on the endometrial thinning.”
“When two targets, T1 and T2, are embedded in a rapid serial visual presentation of distractors, successful report of T2 depends on its lag from T1: When T2 is separated by a few distracters, it is 4SC-202 mw likely to be missed; this phenomenon is known as the Attentional Blink (AB). When T2 is presented consecutively from T1, T2 is likely to be detected despite the temporal proximity of both targets; this effect is called Lag-1 sparing. We studied how the Lag-1 sparing and AB effects change with practice. Observers repeated a typical dual-target-report task over separate selleckchem days, while behavioral indices and EEG were recorded. Practice increased the Lag-1 sparing and reduced the AB effects, improving

the sensitivity to T2 while leaving the response criterion unchanged. With improving sensitivity, T2-related amplitude of P3 and negative deflection (ND), an N2 subcomponent, increased. The latter, especially in the Lag-1 condition, could not fully be explained by changes in the ratio of the T2-hit and Immunology & Inflamm inhibitor miss trials. ND usually indicates spatial target selectivity

but here reflects the selection of temporally proximal targets. The effect, therefore, suggests common mechanisms for spatial and temporal selectivity. Relevance of these results for computational models of the AB is discussed. (C) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.”
“Objective: To evaluate the efficacy of physical exercise (swimming and jumping), with and without overload, working in reducing the pain of rats undergone to an experimental model of sciatica. Methods: 24 rats were divided into four groups: Placebo (PG), Swimming Group (SG) Swimming 10% Group (SG10) and Jump Group (JG). All groups were submitted to the experimental sciatica model and assessed for pain post-exercise for the Functional Disability Test and the Von Frey filament. Results: In comparison within groups there were significant differences in the moments after injury with the pre-injury, for both assessment instruments. With Von Frey filament was observed a significant difference in group GN10 and GS in the final moments of evaluation. In comparisons between groups were not statistically significant differences obtained with any assessment instrument. Conclusion: Treatment with physical exercise was not effective in reducing pain in rats subjected to experimental sciatica model.”
“Mycoplasma pneumoniae is known to be a major cause of lower respiratory tract infections (LRTIs) in children.