OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to compare the results of antegrade (AG) ureteral stenting with retrograde (RG) stenting during laparoscopic dismembered pyeloplasty.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: Between October 2003 and April 2007, a case series of 47 laparoscopic dismembered pyeloplasties were done by three surgeons of equal expertise in laparoscopic surgery, where the Double-J ureteral stent was placed by the RG method (RG stenting group) in 15 cases and by the AG method (AG stenting group) in 32 patients. Intraoperative findings and operative data were recorded. Clinical and radiological outcomes were evaluated during the follow-up visits at 3, 6, 12 months and then annually.

RESULTS: Differences in patient's age and body mass index were not statistically significant. Laparoscopic pyeloplasty was successfully completed in 45 patients, with two cases of conversion to open (one in each group). A crossing vessel was identified in 42% of RG stenting group versus 45% of AG stenting group. A state of high ureteral insertion was identified in 16% of AG stenting group, a finding that was never seen in RG stenting group. Mean operative time was 271 +/- 21 minutes for RG stenting group versus 199 +/- 34 minutes for AG stenting group, a difference that was statistically significant (p

The aim of this study was to evaluate the potential anticancer properties and modulatory effect of selected Aloe vera (A. vera) active principles on antioxidant enzyme activities. Thus, three anthraquinones (Namely: aloesin, aloe-emodin and barbaloin) were extracted from A. vera leaves by supercritical fluid extraction and subsequently purified by high performance liquid chromatography. Additionally, the N-terminal octapeptide derived from verectin, a biologically active 14 kDa glycoprotein present in A. vera, was also tested. In vivo, active principles exhibited significant prolongation of the life span of tumor-transplanted animals in the following order: barbaloin> octapeptide> aloesin > aloe-emodin. A. vera active principles exhibited significant inhibition on Ehrlich ascite carcinoma cell (EACC) number, when compared to positive control group, in the following order: barbaloin> aloe-emodin > octapeptide > aloesin. Moreover, in trypan blue cell viability assay, active principles showed a significant concentration-dependent cytotoxicity against acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and acute lymphocytes leukemia (ALL) cancerous cells. Furthermore, in MTT cell viability test, aloe-emodin was found to be active against two human colon cancer cell lines (i.e. DLD-1 and HT2), with IC(50) values of 8.94 and 10.78 microM, respectively. Treatments of human AML leukemic cells with active principles (100 microg ml(-1)) resulted in varying intensities of internucleosomal DNA fragmentation, hallmark of cells undergoing apoptosis, in the following order: aloe-emodin> aloesin> barbaloin> octapeptide. Intererstingly, treatment of EACC tumors with active principles resulted in a significant elevation activity of key antioxidant enzymes (SOD, GST, tGPx, and LDH). Our data suggest that the tested A. vera compounds may exert their chemo-preventive effect through modulating antioxidant and detoxification enzyme activity levels, as they are one of the indicators of tumorigenesis. These findings are discussed in the light of the potential of A. vera plant extracts for developing efficient, specific and non-toxic anticancer drugs that are affordable for developing countries.

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Background and objective The effect of dexmedetomidine on
the duration of sensory blockade has not been studied in
humans. We evaluated the effect of adding dexmedetomidine to
bupivacaine on the duration of postoperative analgesia in
children who underwent repair of a cleft palate.
Methods Thirty children who were scheduled for repair of a
complete cleft palate using a combination of general
anaesthesia and greater palatine nerve block were allocated
randomly into one of two equal groups (n¼15). In both groups,
the greater palatine nerve block was performed bilaterally using
0.5 ml of solution on each side. The B group received
bupivacaine 0.25%, whereas the BD group received
bupivacaine 0.25% with 1mgkg
1 dexmedetomidine. Heart
rate, systolic blood pressure, pain score, the time to the first
request for analgesia, and the degree of sedation were
recorded.
Results There was no difference in haemodynamic variables
between the two groups. The pain score was significantly higher
in the B group as compared with the BD group. The time to the
first request for analgesia was significantly longer in children in
the BD group (mean 22 h, range 20.6–23.7 h) as compared
with those who received bupivacaine alone (14.2 h, 13–15 h).
Sedation scores in the postoperative period did not differ
between the study groups.
Conclusion Greater palatine nerve block with a combination of
dexmedetomidine and bupivacaine increased the duration of
analgesia after repair of a cleft palate by 50% with no clinically
relevant side effects.
Eur J Anaesthesiol 2010;27:280–284
Keywords: cleft palate, dexmedetomidine, palatine nerve block

Cloud computing technology is envisioned as the next generation architecture of IT Enterprise. It is defined as a set of scalable data servers or chunk servers that provide computing and storage services to clients. The cloud storage is a relatively basic and widely applied service which can provide users with stable, massive data storage space. Our research shows that the architecture of current Cloud Computing System moves from central to distributed one; the reason for such movement is to avoid the bottle neck introduces since all data chunks must be indexed by a master index server. In this paper, we propose new cloud storage architecture based on P2P using agents. The system is based on a new architecture with better scalability, fault tolerance and enhanced performance.