These results indicated that TALE-triggered and iTALE-suppressed Xa1-mediated resistance to bacterial blight is independent of OsTFIIAγ1 or OsTFIIAγ5 in rice, and suggest that an unknown factor is potentially involved in the interaction of Xa1, TALEs and iTALEs.

Ventilator-associated pneumonia is one of the most common nosocomial infections, caused mainly by bacterial/fungal biofilm. Therefore, it is necessary to develop preventive strategies to avoid biofilm formation based on new compounds.

We performed an in vitro study to compare the efficacy of endotracheal tubes (ETTs) coated with the ceragenin CSA-131 and that of uncoated ETTs against the biofilm of clinical strains of Pseudomonas aeruginosa (PA), Escherichia coli (EC) and Staphylococcus aureus (SA).

We applied an in vitro bench top model using coated and uncoated ETTs that were treated with three different clinical strains of PA, EC and SA for 5 days. After exposure to biofilm, ETTs were analysed for cfu count by culture of sonicate and total number of cells by confocal laser scanning microscopy.

The median (IQR) cfu/mL counts of PA, EC and SA in coated and uncoated ETTs were, respectively, as follows 1.00 × 101 (0.0-3.3 × 102) versus 3.32 × 109 (6.6 × 108-3.8 × 109), P < 0.001; 0.0 (0.0-5.4 × 103) versus 1.32 × 106 (2.3 × 103-5.0 × 107), P < 0.001; and 8.1 × 105 (8.5 × 101-1.4 × 109) versus 2.7 × 108 (8.6 × 106-1.6 × 1011), P = 0.058. The median (IQR) total number of cells of PA, EC and SA in coated and non-coated ETTs were, respectively, as follows 11.0 [5.5-not applicable (NA)] versus 87.9 (60.5-NA), P = 0.05; 9.1 (6.7-NA) versus 62.6 (42.0-NA), P = 0.05; and 97.7 (94.6-NA) versus 187.3 (43.9-NA), P = 0.827.

We demonstrated significantly reduced biofilm formation in coated ETTs. However, the difference for SA was not statistically significant. Future clinical studies are needed to support our findings.

We demonstrated significantly reduced biofilm formation in coated ETTs. However, the difference for SA was not statistically significant. Future clinical studies are needed to support our findings.Ladislau Steiner (1920-2013) was a Romanian neurosurgeon, born in the historic and picturesque region of Făgăraş. He was educated by some of the best doctors and professors in Romania, during the communist regime. After his escape through the communist regime, in 1961, at 41 years old, he started his neurosurgical and radiosurgical career at Karolinska Institute, in Stockholm, under the renown Herbert Olivecrona and Lars Leksell. He worked here for 25 years, until he retired in 1987 as head of 1st and 2nd Departments of Neurosurgery in the institute’s affiliated clinic Sophiahemmet Hospital. He is most known in Sweden as the first to introduce microsurgical techniques in neurosurgery, but internationally he is known as “the unofficial emissary of Gamma Knife Surgery”. After his retirement, he continued his practice at University of Virginia, USA, for another 23 years and another two years at International Neurosciences Institute, Hannover, Germany, being a Professor of Neurosurgery and Radiology of Gamma Knife Surgery. Thanks to his efforts, Romanian neurosurgery had an accelerated progress after the fall of communism, in 1989. Also, thanks to him, Romania was the first Southeast European country with a Gamma Knife unit. For his efforts, he was appointed Honorary President of the Romanian Society of Neurosurgery. We pay tribute to a great Romanian neurosurgeon who managed to touch the lives of thousands of patients and doctors from almost all countries in the world, in time when the world was divided between east and west, communism and freedom.Plexus myentericus Auerbachi and Friedreich-Auerbach disease are widely used eponyms that are associated with eminent morphologist Leopold Auerbach (1828-1897), whose life is relatively little known due to limited access to his German-written XIX century biographies and lack of English biographical papers about him in world literature. Hereby we focused on hardly known achievements of Leopold Auerbach in the field of gametogenesis and embryology of invertebrates. Auerbach did not only confirm unicellularity of amoebas, which was previously discovered. He described cleavage of fertilized eggs of Ascaris nigrovenosa and Strongylus auricularis. DAPK inhibitor Moreover, his accurate descriptions on germination of Paracentrotus lividus inspired a recognized German zoologist Oscar Hertwig (1849-1922). Auerbach also profoundly studied an encystation of Oxytricha pellionella on morphological grounds. His descriptions referred to karyokinesis as well as oogenesis and spermatogenesis to discover conjugations of spermatozoa in pairs in the epididymis of a beetle, Dytiscus marginalis. He also distinguished two types of spermatozoa of Paludina vivipara the hairlike-shaped (German haarförmigen) and the worm-shaped (wurmförmigen) ones of these fresh water (river) snails. His studies on germination (including cell division during cleavage of nematodes) inspired the others, e.g., Oscar Hertwig, and following generations to conclude that “Auerbach deserves the credit for having provided the first scientific foundation for modern teaching on fertilization” according to professor of anatomy Gustav Born (1851-1900) at Breslau University.Hieronymus Fabricius ab Aquapendente (1533-1619) described the homonymous bursa in the “De Formatione Ovi et Pulli”, published posthumously in 1621. He also included a figure in which the bursa was depicted. We here present the figure of the bursa of Fabricius, along with corrections of some mislabeling still presents in some anastatic copies. The bursa of Fabricius is universally known as the origin of B-lymphocytes; morphogenetical and physiological issues are also considered.We present a case of a pregnant woman in the third trimester who came to the Department of Emergency, Sf. Apostol Andrei Emergency County Hospital, Constanţa, Romania, in September 2016, for abdominal pain and ascites. After admission, the patient was periodically tested (biochemically and by ultrasound). We also payed attention to the fetal well-being. During the hospitalization, the patient was also found positive for syphilis. Biochemical values have progressively altered, the fetus started to present acute fetal distress and the patient gave birth by Caesarean section after two days of hospitalization. The intraoperatory surprise was hemoperitoneum caused by posttraumatic splenic rupture. The relevance of this case consists in its rarity (we were not able to find in the literature a case with the association of pregnancy, syphilis, trauma, and splenic rupture), in the difficult histopathological clear assertion and in the clinical awareness of such a condition.