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Background: Routine performance of a prophylactic postoperative drainage after abdominal surgeries was done to prevent and manage postoperative intra-abdominal complications. Sure evidence to avoid routine performance of prophylactic drainage after surgery in gastric cancer (GC) patients and its role in reducing postoperative morbidity was not reached yet. Aim: The aim of the present study was to compare between patients who underwent prophylactic drainage and patients who did not undergo prophylactic drainage following total laparoscopic gastrectomy in patients diagnosed with distal GC. Patients and methods: We included 150 patients who underwent totally laparoscopic distal gastrectomy for surgical management of histopathologically confirmed GCs. We divided patients into two groups, the first group included 100 patients and underwent totally laparoscopic gastrectomy with prophylactic drainage, and the other group included 50 patients underwent totally laparoscopic gastrectomy without performing drainage. We compare between both included groups regarding short-term and long-term outcomes. Results: Operative times in the group of patients who have drain group were longer than that in those with no drain. We showed that in the group of patients with drain, the number of days from time of surgery to time of soft diet initiation and time to first flatus was more than that in the no drain group. Conclusion: Avoiding prophylactic drain insertion in some patients after performing totally laparoscopic gastrectomy for management of gastric cancer could be feasible. It increases patients comfort without increasing the risk of postoperative complications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: There are reconstructing methods of the alimentary tract after TLG as Roux-en-Y anastomosis and functional Jejunal interposition (FJI), and each of these methods has its advantages and drawbacks. But, no consensus has been reached yet about the best method. We aim to assess the post-operative outcomes of performing FJI or the Roux-en-Y procedure then jejunum transection as reconstruction procedures of the alimentary tract after performing TLG in gastric cancer patients and to compare between both procedures regarding post-operative complications and functional recovery. Patients and methods: We included 100 cases with clinical and radiological evidence of gastric carcinoma stages I-III. Patients were randomly divided for 2 equal groups the first group underwent FJI and the second group underwent Roux-en-Y as reconstructive techniques after performing gastrectomy. We correlate between both groups of patients regarding, operative parameters, post-operative complications. Results: time of the operation in patients who underwent PJI procedure was longer than that in patients who underwent Roux-en-Y procedure (P < 0.001). The postoperative hemoglobin, total protein and albumin in patients who underwent PJI procedure were higher than in patients who underwent Roux-en-Y procedure (P < 0.001). The post-operative loss in bodyweight at 3 and 12 months in the group of patients who underwent FJI groups was less than that in group of patients who underwent Roux-en-Y (P = 0.011). Conclusions: performing jejunal interposition as a reconstructive post-gastrectomy procedure is more effective than performing Roux-en-Y anastomosis regarding lowed incidence of postoperative complications and improving long-term post-operative life quality of patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Using minimally invasive surgeries (MISs) in non-elective and urgent cases was assessed by many previous studies and found to be nearly similar to and even better than open surgeries. There was no sufficient data regarding long-term, follow-up, tumor recurrence, or survival data of studied patients in those studies. Aim of our study is to compare performing MIS and open colectomy in patients undergoing urgent (nonemergency, non-elective) colectomies, regarding primary outcomes of 30-day morbidity and mortality, secondary short-term outcomes, long-term and follow-up findings of included patients. Patients and methods: A total of 200 patients were included, and we divided them into two groups according to the performed surgical approach: The first group included 100 patients who underwent MISs and the second group underwent open surgery and included 100 patients. We evaluated the primary patients' outcome which was 30-day postoperative morbidity and mortality. Secondary evaluated patients' outcomes included; ICU admissions, surgical reintervention, wound infection or dehiscence, postoperative ileus, postoperative leakage at an anastomotic site, and occurrence of intra-abdominal infections. Long-term evaluated patients' outcomes included the occurrence of incisional hernias and oncological outcomes as overall survival rates and recurrence rates. Results: Regarding demographic and baseline data, patients who underwent open surgery were older (65 years vs 58 years, p < 0.001). More females underwent open surgery (54% vs 50%, p = 0.002). Overweight and obese patients were more likely to have MIS colectomy (p < 0. 001). There is a statistically significant relation between approach and all histopathological types (24.2% within the laparoscopic approach vs 11.6% within the open approach had mucoid carcinoma), N stage (82.8% within the laparoscopic approach vs 43.8% within open the approach had N stage 0), American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) stage (63.8% within laparoscopic approach vs 20.8% within open approach had AJCC stage II) Open colectomy were liable to be diagnosed with acute diverticulitis and volvulus (p < 0.001). Operative time is longer in MIS patients in comparison to open colectomy patients the median time to complete an MIS colectomy was 21 minutes longer (p < 0.001). Postoperative mortality is less in MIS patients than the open surgery patients. On univariable analysis, 30-day postoperative mortality following MIS colectomy was lower than that after open surgery (p < 0.05). Conclusions: Using MIS in urgent colectomy is associated with less postoperative, morbidity, mortality, short-term complications, and longterm complications than open colectomy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The UV-vis, resonance Raman, and EPR spectroscopic techniques are used to study the anaerobically isolated NsrR from Bacillus subtilis containing a [[4Fe-4S].sup.2+] cluster that reacts with NO to form dinitrosyl iron complexes. The results showed that NsrR adopts a dimeric structure in its [[4Fe-4S].sup.2+] holo form as well as in the apo form and could be used to the understand the mechanism of NO sensing in NsrR.

This study aimed to detect DRD4 receptor gene polymorphisms in attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) children and to correlate their phenotype-genotype. Fifty children with ADHD were diagnosed by Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition, criteria and were subjected to Conners Parent Rating Scale. All cases and controls were subjected to history taking, physical examination, IQ assessment, and dopamine receptor D4 (DRD4) exon 3 genotyping. The 7-repeat allele was present only in controls, whereas 2-repeat allele was present in the ADHD children (heterozygous 2-repeat allele in 16% and homozygous in 26% of cases). Eight percent of cases had homozygous 4-repeat allele vs 28% of controls, whereas 10% of cases had heterozygous 4-repeat allele vs 6% of controls, with its predominance in controls. The 2-repeat and 4-repeat alleles have been associated with more inattention, hyperactivity, and impulsivity phenotypes. In conclusion, children with ADHD had a significant presence of the 2-repeat allele and absence of the 7-repeat allele. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT: In Bacillus subtilis, NsrR is required for the upregulation of ResDE-dependent genes in the presence of nitric oxide (NO). NsrR was shown to bind to the promoters of these genes and inhibit their transcription in vitro. NO relieves this inhibition by an unknown mechanism. Here, we use spectroscopic techniques (UV-vis, resonance Raman, and EPR) to show that anaerobically isolated NsrR from B. subtilis contains a [4Fe-4S]2+ cluster, which reacts with NO to form dinitrosyl iron complexes. This method of NO sensing is analogous to that of the FNR protein of Escherichia coli. The Fe-S cluster of NsrR is also reactive toward other exogenous ligands such as cyanide, dithiothreitol, and 02. These results, together with the fact that there are only three cysteine residues in NsrR, suggest that the 4Fe-4S cluster contains a noncysteinyl labile ligand to one of the iron atoms, leading to high reactivity. Size exclusion chromatography and cross-linking experiments show that NsrR adopts a dimeric structure in its [4Fe-4S]2+ holo form as well as in the apo form. These findings provide a first stepping stone to investigate the mechanism of NO sensing in NsrR. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The valve disease is frequently caused by the rheumatic mitral stenosis in developing and developed countries alike and it is still a key issue. Although there is a significant decrease in rheumatic fever diffusion, its percentage is still about 12% of the native valvular heart disease. Aim of Work: The key objective of this work was to assess the impact of percutaneous mitral balloon valvuloplasty (PMBV) on the LV torsion and this objective was achieved by using the two-dimensional speckle-tracking echocardiography. Patients and Methods: The study used the prospective observational method and had been carried out in the Department of Cardiology, Al-Azhar University Hospitals. The treatment group consisted of 35 patients who were candidates for PMBV and the control group consisted of 20 matching patients in terms of gender and age but they were healthy. All the participants of study had been assessed using the conventional echocardiography and speckletracking echocardiography on the previous day and 3 months after the procedure. Results: Using the parameters of the conventional echocardiography, we found that there were no significant differences between the treatment group and the control group in the LV ejection fraction (EF) and RV systolic function (TAPSE) before the PMBV. After applying the Speckle-tracking echocardiography, the results indicated that LV torsion decreased in the treatment group compared to the control group before the PMBV. After 24 hours and 3 months after the PMBV, the patients of treatment group had shown a statistically significant improvement in LV torsion. Conclusion: The LV torsion in MS patients significantly improved immediately and in the short-run follow-up after the PMBV. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Urate oxidase (uricase) was isolated and purified from Pseudomonas aeruginosa to apparent homogeneity using ammonium sulphate precipitation followed by ion exchange and gel filtration chromatography. The specific activity of the purified uricase enzyme was found to be 636.36 with the use of uric acid as a substrate. The purified uricase enzyme is a monomeric protein with molecular weight of 64 kilodaltons. The optimal pH and temperature of the purified enzyme is 9.0 and 30 degrees C, respectively. The effect of some metal ions was studied. Sulphate forms of Fe+2, Zn+2 and Co+2 inhibit the uricolytic activity whereas; NaCl and CaCl2 enhance the enzyme activity. Moreover, the purified enzyme is inhibited by EDTA and KCN.

In a previous study we reported for the first time the isolation and characterization ofurate oxidase enzyme from Pseudomonas aeruginosa. In this work we isolated and cloned a 1.350 kilobase DNA fragment that encode a putative urate oxidase gene from the genomic library of P. aeruginosa Ps-x. The nucleotide sequence of the cloned DNA insert revealed an open reading frame that encodes a protein of a molecular weight of 54.0 kDa. The cloned DNA fragment showed an uricolytic activity when expressed in E. coli DH5alpha. Surprisingly, the nucleotide sequence of the cloned gene showed more than 99% identity to the gene encoding hypothetical protein of P. aeruginosa PAO1. Moreover, the sequence of the cloned gene was closely similar to the corresponding uricase gene of Cellulomonas flavigena (44% similarity), but showed lower similarity values to that of Bacillus sp. BT-90 (24% similarity), Candida utilis (24% similarity). Interestingly, the isolated uricase gene showed closer similarity to uricase from yeast-like symbiotic fungi Beauveria bassiana (35%), Tolypocladium inflatum (29%), Paecilomyces tenuipes (27%) and Cerataphis fransseni (24%).