Benefits and Harms of Conservative, Pharmacological, and Surgical Management Options for Women with Bladder Outlet Obstruction : A Systematic Review from the European Association of Urology Non-neurogenic Female LUTS Guidelines Panel

Peer reviewedPostprin

Diagnostic Tests for Female Bladder Outlet Obstruction : A Systematic Review from the European Association of Urology Non-neurogenic Female LUTS Guidelines Panel

Acknowledgements Jae Hung Jung, Murat Gul, Ege Can Serefoglu (translation of foreign language articles) and Karin Plass for administrative support.Peer reviewedPostprin

Properties and customization of sensor materials for biomedical applications.

Low-power chemo- and biosensing devices capable of monitoring clinically important parameters in real time represent a great challenge in the analytical field as the issue of sensor calibration pertaining to keeping the response within an accurate calibration domain is particularly significant (1–4). Diagnostics, personal health, and related costs will also benefit from the introduction of sensors technology (5–7). In addition, with the introduction of Registration, Evaluation, Authorization, and Restriction of Chemical Substances (REACH) regulation, unraveling the cause–effect relationships in epidemiology studies will be of outmost importance to help establish reliable environmental policies aimed at protecting the health of individuals and communities (8–10). For instance, the effect of low concentration of toxic elements is seldom investigated as physicians do not have means to access the data (11)

Challenges in engine health monitoring instrumentation during developmental testing of gas turbine engines

Developmental testing of gas turbine propulsion systems involves iterative experimental studies right from First Engine to Test (FETT) till production release. During initial design validation tests, engines require dedicated instrumentation for carrying out online monitoring with a capability to detect and isolate impending failures which may lead to structural damage. Instrumentation may be optimized further over the developmental lifecycle to determine the general engine health and life consumption of critical parts. Instrumentation generally focuses on monitoring of structural and aerodynamic behavior of engine subsystems. It is challenging to arrive at optimum instrumentation and methodologies of measurement with respect to engine performance and structural health monitoring. Structural health monitoring of rotating engine components poses challenges in acquiring high bandwidth data through either contact or non-contact sensing techniques and further data processing. Special instrumentation systems used for measuring various parameters from rotating parts as a part of health monitoring include slip rings, rotating telemetry, and non-intrusive strain measurement systems. Instrumentation of other engine parameters includes temperature, pressure, rotational speed, casing vibration, control actuator positions, flow rate, clearance between stationary and rotating parts and lubrication oil quality. Gas turbine engines are a complex assembly of rotating and stationary parts which operate at extreme temperatures which limits the operational capability of sensors. It is a challenging task to error budget complete measurement chains and arrive at uncertainties. Various aspects discussed in this paper are complex and inter disciplinary in nature. This paper provides a bird’s eye view of the challenges associated with measurement systems during developmental stage of a gas turbine engine

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cover provides soil protection, and most fine residues are retained on-site to recycle organic matter and nutrients. Enquiries should be addressed to

Diagnostic Tests for Female Bladder Outlet Obstruction: A Systematic Review from the European Association of Urology Non-neurogenic Female LUTS Guidelines Panel

Context: Female bladder outlet obstruction (fBOO) is a relatively uncommon condition compared with its male counterpart. Several criteria have been proposed to define fBOO, but the comparative diagnostic accuracy of these remains uncertain. Objective: To identify and compare different tests to diagnose fBOO through a systematic review process. Evidence acquisition: A systematic review of the literature was performed according to the Cochrane Handbook and Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analyses (PRISMA) checklist. The EMBASE/MEDLINE/Cochrane databases were searched up to August 4, 2020. Studies on women ≥18 yr of age with suspected bladder outlet obstruction (BOO) involving diagnostic tests were included. Pressure-flow studies or fluoroscopy was used as the reference standard where possible. Two reviewers independently screened all articles, searched reference lists of retrieved articles, and performed data extraction. The risk of bias was assessed using Quality Assessment of Diagnostic Accuracy Studies (QUADAS-2). Evidence synthesis: Overall, 28 nonrandomised studies involving 10 248 patients were included in the qualitative analysis. There was significant heterogeneity regarding the characteristics of women included in BOO cohorts (ie, mixed cohorts including both anatomical and functional BOO). Pressure-flow studies ± fluoroscopy was evaluated in 25 studies. Transperineal Doppler ultrasound was used to evaluate bladder neck dynamics in two studies. One study tested the efficacy of transvaginal ultrasound. The urodynamic definition of fBOO also varied amongst studies with different parameters and thresholds used, which precluded a meta-analysis. Three studies derived nomograms using the maximum flow rate (Qmax) and voiding detrusor pressure at Qmax. The sensitivity, specificity, and overall accuracy ranges were 54.6–92.5%, 64.6–93.9%, and 64.1–92.2%, respectively. Conclusions: The available evidence on diagnostic tests for fBOO is limited and heterogeneous. Pressure-flow studies ± fluoroscopy remains the current standard for diagnosing fBOO. Patient summary: Evidence on tests used to diagnose female bladder outlet obstruction was reviewed. The most common test used was pressure-flow studies ± fluoroscopy, which remains the current standard for diagnosing bladder outlet obstruction in women. Take Home Message: The available evidence on diagnostic tests for female bladder outlet obstruction is limited and heterogeneous. The most common test used was video-urodynamics, which remains the current standard for diagnosing bladder outlet obstruction in women. © 2021 European Association of Urolog