Quenching of quorum sensing in multi-drug resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa: insights on halo-bacterial metabolites and gamma irradiation as channels inhibitors.

Background: Anti-virulence therapy is a promising strategy to treat multi-drug resistant (MDR) pathogens. Pseudomonas aeruginosa is a potent opportunistic pathogen because of an array of virulence factors that are regulated by quorum sensing systems.

Methods: The virulence features of four multi-drug resistant P.

Optimizing the synthesis of yeast Beta-glucan via response surface methodology for nanotechnology application.

Background: The production of biopolymers from waste resources is a growing trend, especially in high-population countries like Egypt. Beta-glucan (β-glucan) belongs to natural polysaccharides that are derived from plant and microbial origins. In this study, following increasing demands for β-glucan owing to its bioactive properties, a statistical model to enhance microbial β-glucan production was evaluated for its usefulness to the food and pharmaceutical industries.

Optimizing ectoine biosynthesis using response surface methodology and osmoprotectant applications.

Purpose: Numerous applications of compatible salts (osmolytes) as ectoine in food and pharmaceutical industries have been intensively increased nowadays. Decreasing the cost of industrial production of ectoine using low-cost cultivation media and improving the yield through modeling procedures are the main scopes of the present study.

Methods: Three statistical design experiments have been successfully applied for screening the parameters affecting the production process, studying the relations among parameters and optimizing the production using response surface methodology.

Adenoid hypertrophy causing obstructive sleep apnea in children after pharyngeal flap surgery.

Purpose: Pharyngeal flap surgery used for treatment of velopharyngeal insufficiency (VPI) may be followed by obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) especially if the patient has developed adenoid hypertrophy. However, adenoidectomy may adversely affect speech in these patients. The aim of this study was to assess the effectiveness of transnasal endoscopic power-assisted adenoidectomy in relieving OSA in patients with adenoid hypertrophy who underwent pharyngeal flap surgery, and the impact of the procedure on their speech.

Treatment of post-adenotonsillectomy velopharyngeal stenosis with bivalved uvular flaps.

Objective: Velopharyngeal stenosis (VS) is a rare devastating complication of adenotonsillectomy that causes obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). Its treatment is challenging and has a high recurrence rate. The aim of this study was to assess the efficacy of a bivalved uvular flap technique with topical application of mitomycin C for treatment of this problem.