5-Benzylidene-4-Oxazolidinones are Synergistic with Antibiotics for the Treatment of Staphylococcus Aureus Biofilms

The failure of frontline antibiotics in the clinic is one of the most serious threats to human health and requires a multitude of novel therapeutics and innovative treatment approaches to curtail the growing crisis. In addition to traditional resistance mechanisms resulting in the lack of efficacy of many antibiotics, most chronic and recurring infections are further made tolerant to antibiotic action by the presence of biofilms. Herein, we report an expanded set of 5-benzylidene-4-oxazolidinones that are able to inhibit the formation of Staphylococcus aureus biofilms, disperse preformed biofilms and in combination with common antibiotics are able to significantly reduce the bacterial load in a robust collagen-matrix model of biofilm infection.</div

The influence of microgravity on Euglena gracilis as studied on Shenzhou 8

The German Aerospace Center (DLR) enabled German participation in the joint space campaign on the unmanned Shenzhou 8 spacecraft in November 2011. In this report, the effect of microgravity on Euglena gracilis cells is described. Custom-made dual compartment cell fixation units (containing cells in one chamber and fixative - RNA lysis buffer - in another one) were enclosed in a small container and placed in the Simbox incubator, which is an experiment support system. Cells were fixed by injecting them with fixative at different time intervals. In addition to stationary experiment slots, Simbox provides a 1g reference centrifuge. Cell fixation units were mounted in microgravity and 1g reference positions of Simbox. Two Simbox incubators were used, one for space flight and the other as ground reference. Cells were fixed soon after launch and shortly before return of the spaceship. Due to technical problems, only early in-flight samples (about 40min after launch microgravity and corresponding 1g reference) were fully mixed with fixative, therefore only data from those samples are presented. Transcription of several genes involved in signal transduction, oxidative stress defence, cell cycle regulation and heat shock responses was investigated with quantitative PCR. The data indicate that Euglena cells suffer stress upon short-term exposure to microgravity; various stress-induced genes were up-regulated. Of 32 tested genes, 18 were up-regulated, one down-regulated and the rest remained unaltered. These findings are in a good agreement with results from other research groups using other organisms.The German Aerospace Center (DLR) enabled German participation in the joint space campaign on the unmanned Shenzhou 8 spacecraft in November 2011. In this report, the effect of microgravity on Euglena gracilis cells is described. Custom-made dual compartment cell fixation units (containing cells in one chamber and fixative - RNA lysis buffer - in another one) were enclosed in a small container and placed in the Simbox incubator, which is an experiment support system. Cells were fixed by injecting them with fixative at different time intervals. In addition to stationary experiment slots, Simbox provides a 1g reference centrifuge. Cell fixation units were mounted in microgravity and 1g reference positions of Simbox. Two Simbox incubators were used, one for space flight and the other as ground reference. Cells were fixed soon after launch and shortly before return of the spaceship. Due to technical problems, only early in-flight samples (about 40min after launch microgravity and corresponding 1g reference) were fully mixed with fixative, therefore only data from those samples are presented. Transcription of several genes involved in signal transduction, oxidative stress defence, cell cycle regulation and heat shock responses was investigated with quantitative PCR. The data indicate that Euglena cells suffer stress upon short-term exposure to microgravity; various stress-induced genes were up-regulated. Of 32 tested genes, 18 were up-regulated, one down-regulated and the rest remained unaltered. These findings are in a good agreement with results from other research groups using other organisms

Tailoring print materials to match literacy levels:A challenge for document designers and practitioners in adult literacy

One in three South Africans aged 20 and older has not completed primary school, or has no schooling at all. Communication specialists who are in the business of writing public information documents need to take cognisance of this fact if they are committed to producing documents that meet the needs and skill levels of their different audiences. They also need a basic understanding of the reading strategies of both highly skilled and less-skilled readers, an awareness of the differences in processing and acceptance of visuals by skilled and unskilled viewers, and the ability to translate the relevant user variables into textual variables. This article is aimed at giving an overview of the most important theories that describe and/or explain how low-literate audiences process and react to printed information, and to match these theories with research-based principles and best practices for designing readercentred public information documents. The outcome of the article is a comprehensive set of design heuristics for low-literacy public information materials, based on relevant information-processing features that have been derived from the literature on reading comprehension and visual literacy