The comparison groups were similar. The robotic cases were significantly longer for right colectomies because of the intracorporeal anastomosis instead of the extracorporeal anastomosis performed in the laparoscopy cases. Every cost category was higher for the robotic cases. The right colectomies showed significant increases in total OR cost, OR personnel cost, OR supply cost, and OR time cost. The sigmoid colectomies had significant increases in OR personnel cost and OR supply cost. The total hospital cost was higher for the robotic groups, but the difference was not statistically significant.

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Uterine growth factors are potential effector molecules in embryo growth signaling pathways. Pig uterine luminal flushings contained a heparin-binding growth factor (HBGF) that required 0.8 M NaCl for elution from heparin columns and was termed HBGF-0.8. This factor, which was heat-and acid-labile and of M r 10,000 as assessed by gel filtration, stimulated DNA synthesis in fibroblasts and smooth muscle cells but not endothelial cells. Two forms of HBGF-0.8, termed HBGF-0.8-P1 and HBGF-0.8-P2, exhibited differential heparin-binding properties. SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis showed that each form of HBGF-0.8 migrated with an apparent M r of 10,000 under reducing conditions. Amino acid sequencing revealed the N-terminal sequence EEN-IKKGKKXIRTPKI for HBGF-0.8-P1 and ENIKKGKKX-IRT for HBGF-0.8-P2. These sequences corresponded, respectively, to residues 247-262 and 248 -259 of the 349-residue predicted primary translation product of porcine connective tissue growth factor (pCTGF). 10-kDa CTGF-mediated fibroblast DNA synthesis was modulated by exogenous heparin, and CTGF-immunoreactive proteins of 10, 16, and 20 kDa were present in unfractionated uterine luminal flushings. These data reveal the identity of a novel growth factor in uterine fluids as a highly truncated form of CTGF and show that the N-terminal two-thirds of the CTGF primary translation product is not required for mitogenic activity or heparin binding.

LL can be performed safely in selected patients with no increase in complications. Short-term results are superior to OL and can be achieved without any increase in operative duration.

The co-existence of multiple genotypes in colonization by Staphylococcus aureus has not been fully investigated. The aim of this study was to evaluate the heterogeneity of S. aureus carriage in children. We evaluated 125 nasal and perianal swab samples that were positive for S. aureus from 76 children scheduled for elective surgery. For each sample, at least four colonies with the same or different morphotypes were selected for analysis. Multiple-locus variable-number tandem-repeat fingerprinting was used to determine the genetic relatedness and to characterize the clonality of the S. aureus strains. Of the 125 swabs, 91 (73 %) contained meticillin-sensitive S. aureus (MSSA), 8 (6 %) contained meticillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA), and 26 (21 %) contained MSSA and MRSA simultaneously. A total of 738 S. aureus strains were evaluated with a mean of 6 colonies (range 4-15) picked from each culture. Of the 125 swabs, 32 (26 %) samples contained two genetically distinct S. aureus strains and 6 (5 %) contained three different genotypes. Multiple S. aureus strains simultaneously carried by individual children were genetically unrelated to each other. We concluded that the co-existence of multiple genotypes of S. aureus was common. The significance of multiple carriage is yet to be determined, but this intraspecies interplay could be important to pathogenicity and virulence in S. aureus. INTRODUCTIONStaphylococcus aureus is an important pathogen responsible for a wide range of clinical entities from asymptomatic colonization to invasive and life-threatening infections. Carriage of S. aureus has been associated with subsequent infections, especially surgical site infections (Herwaldt, 2003;Wenzel & Perl, 1995), and a variety of other clinical conditions (Keene et al., 2005;Niven et al., 2009;Von Eiff et al., 2001). Studies have revealed that among individuals with S. aureus infections, the infecting strains were indeed genetically identical or related to the carriage strains (Keene et al., 2005;Kreft et al., 2001;Von Eiff et al., 2001).Two studies have reported the carriage of multiple subtypes of meticillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) in sequential cultures from adult patients during their stay in an intensive care unit (Bloemendaal et al., 2009;Lim et al., 2006). However, Bloemendaal et al. (2009) did not look at multiple colonies within the same S. aureus positive swabs. Therefore, it was uncertain whether these episodes were polyclonal as a result of multiple clones simultaneously colonizing patients, or acquisition of different MRSA strains over time. Lim et al. (2006) studied MRSA carriage at various body sites and found that multiple subtypes can be carried simultaneously at different sites by a single patient. Simultaneous carriage of more than one genetically distinct S. aureus isolate was also reported in groups of paediatric patients with certain medical conditions, such as cystic fibrosis and atopic dermatitis (Goerke et al., 2007;Lomholt et al., 2005). However, the frequency of concurrent colonization with m...

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Our study suggests that TULAA is a reasonable alternative to the standard minimally invasive technique for appendicitis in both acute and ruptured situations. All analyzed complications were similar between the groups, suggesting that TULAA is an acceptable surgical method in pediatric patients for all stages of appendicitis.

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