Uroflowmetry nomogram in Iranian children aged 7 to 14 years

BACKGROUND: As the voiding habits of Iranian children differs from other children because of some cultural and religious considerations, we aimed to establish normal reference values of urinary flow rates in Iranian children between 7 to 14 years of age. METHODS: Eight hundred and two uroflowmetry studies were performed on children with no history of a renal, urological, psychological or neurological disorder, between the ages 7 and 14. Five hundred twenty five studies from 192 girls and 335 boys were considered in this study excluding the staccato/interrupted voiding pattern or voided volume less than 20 ml. The voiding volume, the maximum and average urinary flow rates were extensively analyzed. RESULTS: The maximal and average urine flow rate nomograms were plotted for both girls and boys. Mean maximum urine flow rate was 19.9 (ml/sec) for boys and 23.5 (ml/sec) for girls with a mean voided volume of 142 (ml) for boys and 147 (ml) for girls. Flow rates showed a close association with voiding volume in both sexes. The maximum and average flow rates were higher in girls than in boys, and they showed a significant increase in flow rates with increasing age, where boys did not. The mean maximum urine flow rates (19.9 ml/sec for boys and 23.5 ml/sec for girls) were found to be higher in this study than other studies. CONCLUSION: Nomograms of maximal and average flow rates of girls and boys are presented in centile form, which can help the physician to evaluate the response to medical or surgical treatment and be useful for the screening of lower urinary tract disturbances in children, for a wide range of voided volumes

Establishment of a Multi-Analyte Serum Biomarker Panel to Identify Lymph Node Metastases in Non-small Cell Lung Cancer

IntroductionIn non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), the presence of locoregional lymph node metastases remains the most important prognostic factor and significantly guides treatment regimens. Unfortunately, currently-available noninvasive staging modalities have limited accuracy. The objective of this study was to create a multianalyte blood test capable of discriminating a patient's true (pathologic) nodal status preoperatively.MethodsPretreatment serum specimens collected from 107 NSCLC patients with localized disease were screened with 47 biomarkers implicated in disease presence or progression. Multivariate statistical algorithms were then used to identify the optimal combination of biomarkers for accurately discerning each patient's nodal status.ResultsWe identified 15 candidate biomarkers that met our criteria for statistical relevance in discerning a patient's preoperative nodal status. A ‘random forest’ classification algorithm was used with these parameters to define a 6-analyte panel, consisting of macrophage inflammatory protein-1α, carcinoembryonic antigen, stem cell factor, tumor necrosis factor-receptor I, interferon-γ, and tumor necrosis factor-α, that was the optimum combination of biomarkers for identifying a patient's pathologic nodal status. A Classification and Regression Tree analysis was then created with this panel that was capable of correctly classifying 88% of the patients tested, relative to the pathologic assessments. This value is in contrast to our observed 85% classification rate using conventional clinical methods.ConclusionsThis study establishes a serum biomarker panel with efficacy in discerning preoperative nodal status. With further validation, this blood test may be useful for assessing nodal status (including occult disease) in NSCLC patients facing tumor resection therapy

Numerical and Experimental Study of Cross-Sectional Effects on the Mixing Performance of the Spiral Microfluidics

Mixing at the microscale is of great importance for various applications ranging from biological and chemical synthesis to drug delivery. Among the numerous types of micromixers that have been developed, planar passive spiral micromixers have gained considerable interest due to their ease of fabrication and integration into complex miniaturized systems. However, less attention has been paid to non-planar spiral micromixers with various cross-sections and the effects of these cross-sections on the total performance of the micromixer. Here, mixing performance in a spiral micromixer with different channel cross-sections is evaluated experimentally and numerically in the Re range of 0.001 to 50. The accuracy of the 3D-finite element model was first verified at different flow rates by tracking the mixing index across the loops, which were directly proportional to the spiral radius and were hence also proportional to the Dean flow. It is shown that higher flow rates induce stronger vortices compared to lower flow rates; thus, fewer loops are required for efficient mixing. The numerical study revealed that a large-angle outward trapezoidal cross-section provides the highest mixing performance, reaching efficiencies of up to 95%. Moreover, the velocity/vorticity along the channel length was analyzed and discussed to evaluate channel mixing performance. A relatively low pressure drop (<130 kPa) makes these passive spiral micromixers ideal candidates for various lab-on-chip applications