Discovery and validation of urinary biomarkers for prostate cancer

Only 30% of patients with elevated serum prostate specific antigen (PSA) levels who undergo prostate biopsy are diagnosed with prostate cancer (PCa). Novel methods are needed to reduce the number of unnecessary biopsies. We report on the identification and validation of a panel of 12 novel biomarkers for prostate cancer (PCaP), using CE coupled MS. The biomarkers could be defined by comparing first void urine of 51 men with PCa and 35 with negative prostate biopsy. In contrast, midstream urine samples did not allow the identification of discriminatory molecules, suggesting that prostatic fluids may be the source of the defined biomarkers. Consequently, first void urine samples were tested for sufficient amounts of prostatic fluid, using a prostatic fluid indicative panel (“informative” polypeptide panel; IPP). A combination of IPP and PCaP to predict positive prostate biopsy was evaluated in a blinded prospective study. Two hundred thirteen of 264 samples matched the IPP criterion. PCa was detected with 89% sensitivity, 51% specificity. Including age and percent free PSA to the proteomic signatures resulted in 91% sensitivity, 69% specificity.     

图像处理技术在尿液检测中的应用

尿检也叫尿液分析,是临床应用中非常重要也使用非常广泛的一种方法,传统的基于光电法颜色识别分辨率低,误差大,本文提出一种基于图像处理的尿液检测方案,用数字图像处理的方法进行颜色识别。通过比较分析选取YUV色彩空间为颜色空间,在对尿液试纸图像预处理、边缘检测及分割的基础上对试纸颜色块进行了颜色识别,通过MATLAB仿真实现了较好的颜色识别效果。     

Effect of urine volume on nitrate leaching in the northeast USA

To investigate how the urine volume (i.e. size of cow) affects how much NO₃-N is leached from a urine deposition in the climatic conditions of the northeast USA, a field study using large drainage lysimeters to measure NO₃-N leaching loss from synthetic urine applied in spring, summer and fall in 1-, 2-, and 3-l volumes to an orchardgrass (Dactyls glomerata L., c.v. Pennlate) sward was conducted from April 1997 to March 1999. The study site was located in central Pennsylvania on a Hagerstown silt loam soil (fine, mixed, mesic Typic Hapludalf). It was found that increasing urine volume increased the amount of urine N leached but had no significant effect on the apparent percent of urine N leached. The apparent percent of urine N leached was 25% averaged over all treatment times and volumes and was 21% for spring and summer applied urine and 32% for fall applied urine.     

Analysis of 5-hydroxymethyl-2-furoic acid (HMFA) the main metabolite of alimentary 5-hydroxymethyl-2-furfural (HMF) with HPLC and GC in urine

A liquid chromatographic method with UV detection was developed to analyse 5-hydroxymethyl-2-furfural and its main metabolite 5-hydroxymethyl-2-furoic acid in urine. For the analysis on a reversed phase column was used with 5% methanol in water and 5 mM tetramethylammoniumhydrogen sulphate as ion-pair reagent as eluent. The detection was done at the UV absorption maximum of HMFA at 255 nm. The limit of quantification for HMFA was 7 mg/L with a recovery of 89%. For sample preparation the urine was centrifuged and the supernatant diluted with water. Three hundred samples of human urine were analysed. The concentration of HMFA was in the range of 0–100 mg/L with most of the samples around 10 mg/L.     

人体尿液中黄蝶呤水平检测及其意义

目的：探讨尿黄蝶吟与癌症的关系及临床意义．方法：采用荧光光度结合纸层析法测定了29例健康人、11例普通病人、23例癌症病人的尿黄蝶呤水平。结果：癌症患者尿黄蝶呤含量明显高于健康人。普通病人与健康人的尿黄蝶呤水平相差不大,健康组中老年人的尿黄蝶呤含量高于年轻人。淋巴瘤、肝癌、胃癌患者尿黄蝶呤水平较高．结论：尿黄蝶呤的含量与人的年龄大小有关。黄蝶呤有可能作为淋巴瘤、肝癌和胃癌等癌症的肿瘤标志物。     

Low-cost struvite production using source-separated urine in Nepal

This research investigated the possibility of transferring phosphorus from human urine into a concentrated form that can be used as fertilizer in agriculture. The community of Siddhipur in Nepal was chosen as a research site, because there is a strong presence and acceptance of the urine-diverting dry toilets needed to collect urine separately at the source. Furthermore, because the mainly agricultural country is landlocked and depends on expensive, imported fertilizers, the need for nutrient security is high. We found that struvite (MgNH₄PO₄·6H₂O) precipitation from urine is an efficient and simple approach to produce a granulated phosphorus fertilizer. Bittern, a waste stream from salt production, is a practical magnesium source for struvite production, but it has to be imported from India. Calculations show that magnesium oxide produced from locally available magnesite would be a cheaper magnesium source. A reactor with an external filtration system was capable of removing over 90% of phosphorus with a low magnesium dosage (1.1 mol Mg mol P), with coarse nylon filters (pore width up to 160 ± 50 μm) and with only one hour total treatment time. A second reactor setup based on sedimentation only achieved 50% phosphate removal, even when flocculants were added. Given the current fertilizer prices, high volumes of urine must be processed, if struvite recovery should be financially sustainable. Therefore, it is important to optimize the process. Our calculations showed that collecting the struvite and calcium phosphate precipitated spontaneously due to urea hydrolysis could increase the overall phosphate recovery by at least 40%. The magnesium dosage can be optimized by estimating the phosphate concentration by measuring electrical conductivity. An important source of additional revenue could be the effluent of the struvite reactor. Further research should be aimed at finding methods and technologies to recover the nutrients from the effluent.