Evaluation of Laparoscopic Sphincter Saving Surgery in Management of Rectal Cancer

Background: Sphincter-saving surgery for rectal carcinoma (RC) has been classically performed by open surgery. Laparoscopic restorative proctectomy (LRP) has been evolved for the same purpose, but its benefits are controversial representing an enigma in the choice of management of RC.Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate the feasibility, adequacy, safety, short- and long-term outcomes of LRP.Patients and methods: This was a prospective observational study included 35 patients suffering from middle and distal third RC admitted electively to Sohag University Hospital and Colorectal Unit in Ain Shams University. Patients were evaluated and analysed regarding efficacy of LRP, length of stay and different risk factors for post-operative complications.Results: Regarding operative outcomes the mean operative time was 189 minutes, and mean operative blood loss was 95.4 mL, while operative complications happened in 8.5%. Post-operatively, complications happened in 22.9%. The mean post-operative hospital stay was 4.2 ± 1.4 days. Higher American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) risk scoring and advanced pathological stage proved to be independent risk factors responsible for complications. During follow-up, local recurrence was evident in 5.7% and distant recurrence developed in further 5.7%. Disease-free survival rate was 80.02 %, and overall survival rate was 91.3% for stage II and 83.3% for stage III. Conclusion: LRP can be done safely reflecting adequacy of the procedure with a comparable complication rate and long-term outcomes to conventional surgery, which makes it a good alternative to conventional technique

Liquid chromatographic-mass spectrometric method for determination of drug content uniformity of two commonly used dermatology medications in a split-tablet dosage form

Purpose: To develop and validate a simple, efficient and reliable Liquid  chromatographic-mass spectrometric (LC-MS/MS) method for the quantitative determination of two dermatological drugs, Lamisil® (terbinafine) and Proscar® (finasteride), in split tablet dosage form.Methods: Thirty tablets each of the 2 studied medications were randomly selected. Tablets were weighed and divided into 3 groups. Ten tablets of each drug were kept intact, another group of 10 tablets were manually split into halves using a tablet cutter and weighed with an analytical balance; a third group were split into quarters and weighed. All intact and split tablets were individually dissolved in a water: methanol mixture (4:1), sonicated, filtered and further diluted with mobile phase. Optimal chromatographic separation and mass spectrometric detection were achieved using an Agilent 1200 HPLC system coupled with an Agilent 6410 triple quadrupole mass spectrometer. Analytes were eluted through an Agilent eclipse plus C8 analytical column (150 mm × 4.6 mm, 5 μm) with a mobile phase composed of solvent A (water) containing 0.1% formic acid and 5mM ammonium formate pH 7.5, and solvent B (acetonitrile mixed with water in a ratio A:B 55:45) at a flow rate of 0.8 mL min-1 with a total run time of 12 min. Mass spectrometric detection was carried out using positive ionization mode with analyte quantitation monitored by multiple reaction monitoring (MRM) mode.Results: The proposed analytical method proved to be specific, robust and  adequately sensitive. The results showed a good linear fit over the concentration range of 20 - 100 ng mL-1 for both analytes, with a correlation coefficient (r2) ≥ 0.999 and 0.998 for finasteride and terbinafine, respectively. Following tablet splitting, the drug content of the split tablets fell outside of the proxy USP  specification for at least 14 halves (70 %) and 34 quarters (85 %) of FIN, as well as 16 halves (80 %) and 37 quarters (92.5 %) of TBN. Mean weight loss, after splitting, was 0.58 and 2.22 % for FIN half- and quarter tablets, respectively, and 3.96 and 4.09 % for TBN half- and quarter tablets,respectively.Conclusion: The proposed LC-MS/MS method has successfully been used to provide precise drug content uniformity of split tablets of FIN and TBN. Unequal distribution of the drug on the split tablets is indicated by the high standard deviation beyond the accepted value. Hence, it is recommended not to split non-scored tablets  especially, for those medications with significant toxicityKeywords: Tablet splitting, Finasteride, Terbinafine, Drug content uniformity,  LC-MS/M

Morphological and molecular characterization of somaclonal variations in tissue culture-derived banana plants

AbstractIn this study, 40000 tissue culture-derived banana plants (vitroplants) at different growth stages, i.e. acclimatization, nursery and open field of banana (Musa spp.) cultivar ‘Grand Naine’ were screened for somaclonal variations using morphological investigations and molecular characterization. The total detected variants were grouped into 25 off-types (two of them died) in addition to the normal plant. Random Amplified Polymorphic DNA (RAPD) was carried out to study the differences among the normal cultivar ‘Grand Naine’ and its 23 variants using 17 arbitrary primers. Cluster analysis results revealed that ‘winged petiole’ and ‘deformed lamina’ were more related to the normal plant. However, ‘Giant plant’ and ‘weak plant’ related to each other and clustered with normal plant. According to principal coordinate analysis, most of the variants were aggregated nearly, whereas ‘variegated plant’ was separated apart from the other variants. This may reflect the genetic difference between ‘variegated plant’ and the other variants. The results obtained from both molecular and morphological analyses were in contiguous with better resolution when using the PCOORDA analysis than cluster analysis. Thus, it can be said that molecular markers can be used to eliminate the undesirable somaclonal variants from the lab without additional culture of the vitroplants in the field in order to save time and efforts

Ethno-cultural Aura of Language Images in the Light of Cognitive Linguopoetics

The nature and essence of the language image are considered from the standpoint of modern cognitive linguopoetics, its differences from the general philological concepts of "image" and "imagery" are show

First results from the CRESST-III low-mass dark matter program

The CRESST experiment is a direct dark matter search which aims to measure interactions of potential dark matter particles in an earth-bound detector. With the current stage, CRESST-III, we focus on a low energy threshold for increased sensitivity towards light dark matter particles. In this manuscript we describe the analysis of one detector operated in the first run of CRESST-III (05/2016-02/2018) achieving a nuclear recoil threshold of 30.1eV. This result was obtained with a 23.6g CaWO$_4$ crystal operated as a cryogenic scintillating calorimeter in the CRESST setup at the Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso (LNGS). Both the primary phonon/heat signal and the simultaneously emitted scintillation light, which is absorbed in a separate silicon-on-sapphire light absorber, are measured with highly sensitive transition edge sensors operated at ~15mK. The unique combination of these sensors with the light element oxygen present in our target yields sensitivity to dark matter particle masses as low as 160MeV/c$^2$.Comment: 9 pages, 9 figure

Eugenia supra-axillaris Essential Oil and Its Nanoemulsion: Chemical Characterization, In Vivo Anti-Inflammatory, Analgesic, and Antipyretic Activities

The use of standard synthetic medications to treat inflammatory illnesses is associated with several negative effects. It has been shown that medicinal plants and their by-products are useful for safely treating inflammation. Herein, the essential oil of Eugenia supra-axillaris (family: Myrtaceae, ESA-EO) was isolated and further chemically characterized by GC-MS, and then, its nanoemulsion (ESA-EO-NE) was prepared. In addition, the anti-inflammation against the carrageenan-induced rats, the analgesic, and antipyretic activities of ESA-EO and ESA-EO-NE were evaluated in rats. Forty-three compounds were identified via GC-MS and categorized as mono- (61.38%) and sesquiterpenes (34.86%). d-limonene (32.82%), α-pinene (24.33%), germacrene-D (4.88%), α-humulene (4.73%), α-cadinol (3.39%), and trans-caryophyllene (3.15%) represented the main components. The administration of ES-EO and ES-EO-NE (50 and 100 mg/kg) demonstrated strong, dose-dependent inflammation inhibition capabilities in the model of rat paw edema, in comparison with both the reference drug and control. Reduced levels of malondialdehyde (MDA), increased levels of glutathione (GSH), and decreased levels of the proinflammatory cytokines (TNF-α), nitrosative (NO), and prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) in paw tissues all contributed to these substantial reductions in inflammation. Moreover, the oral administration of ESA-EO and ESA-EO-NE (50 and 100 mg/kg) exhibited potent analgesic and antipyretic activities in rats. Although the higher dose of ESA-EO and ESA-EO-NE (100 mg/kg) displayed delayed anti-inflammatory activity, they have long-lasting inflammation inhibition with fast onset and long-standing analgesic effects better than reference drugs. Furthermore, the most effective antipyretic efficacy was provided by ESA-EO-NE (100 mg/kg). These results provide insight into the possible therapeutic application of ESA-EO and its nanoemulsion against various inflammatory and painful illnesses as well as hyperthermia ailments

Multistage Fragmentation of Ion Trap Mass Spectrometry System and Pseudo-MS 3

A new approach was recently introduced to improve the structure elucidation power of tandem mass spectrometry simulating the MS3 of ion trap mass spectrometry system overcoming the different drawbacks of the latter. The fact that collision induced dissociation in the triple quadrupole mass spectrometer system provides richer fragment ions compared to those achieved in the ion trap mass spectrometer system utilizing resonance excitation. Moreover, extracting comprehensive spectra in the ion trap needs multistage fragmentation, whereas similar fragment ions may be acquired from one stage product ion scan using the triple quadrupole mass spectrometer. The new strategy was proven to enhance the qualitative performance of tandem mass spectrometry for structural elucidation of different chemical entities. In the current study we are endeavoring to prove our hypothesis of the efficiency of the new pseudo-MS3 technique via its comparison with the MS3 mode of ion trap mass spectrometry system. Ten pharmacologically and synthetically important (E)-3-(dimethylamino)-1-arylprop-2-en-1-ones (enaminones 4a–j) were chosen as model compounds for this study. This strategy permitted rigorous identification of all fragment ions using triple quadrupole mass spectrometer with sufficient specificity. It can be used to elucidate structures of different unknown components. The data presented in this paper provide clear evidence that our new pseudo-MS3 may simulate the MS3 of ion trap spectrometry system

New limits on the resonant absorption of solar axions obtained with a 169^{169}Tm-containing cryogenic detector

A search for resonant absorption of solar axions by $^{169}$Tm nuclei was carried out. A newly developed approach involving low-background cryogenic bolometer based on Tm$_3$Al$_5$O$_{12}$ crystal was used that allowed for significant improvement of sensitivity in comparison with previous $^{169}$Tm based experiments. The measurements performed with $8.18$ g crystal during $6.6$ days exposure yielded the following limits on axion couplings: $|g_{A\gamma} (g_{AN}^0 + g_{AN}^3) \leq 1.44 \times 10^{-14}$ GeV$^{-1}$ and $|g_{Ae} (g_{AN}^0 + g_{AN}^3) \leq 2.81 \times 10^{-16}$.Comment: 7 pages, 5 figure