An Objective Measure of Vaginal Lubrication in Women With and Without Sexual Arousal Concerns.

Changes in vaginal blood flow and lubrication are primary components of physiological sexual arousal in women. Despite the existence of well-established tools for measuring vaginal blood flow, there is not yet a consistently implemented measure of physiological lubrication. To address this methodological gap, researchers have begun examining the utility of litmus test strips, primarily in sexually healthy women. The present study builds on this work by examining the utility of an alternative tool, the Schirmer Tear Test strips, in women with (n = 32) and without (n = 32) sexual arousal concerns. Significant increases in physiological lubrication were found in response to a sexual film, and these changes were moderately correlated with self-reported genital arousal (r = .41) and lubrication (r = .30). No between-group differences in lubrication were observed. These results indicate the Schirmer Tear Test strips are sensitive enough to detect increases in lubrication and may be valuable in clinical and research assessments of female sexual arousal.

Influence of inflammatory arthritis on leukocyte esterase strip results in the diagnosis of periprosthetic joint infection.

BACKGROUND: The leukocyte esterase (LE) strip is considered as a helpful method to detect infection, which might be influenced by other inflammatory diseases. This study aims to explore whether the centrifugation of synovial fluid could influence the positive result of LE strip caused by inflammatory arthritis during the diagnosis of periprosthetic joint infection (PJI). METHODS: From March 2016 to December 2018, 64 patients who were diagnosed as PJI or aseptic arthritis and another 20 patients with inflammatory arthritis were enrolled in our study. After synovial fluid samples were obtained, the LE strip test was performed with and without centrifugation. Then clinicians read the color changes 3 min after the samples were dropped and classify the results based on the instruction of strip. The differences between septic and aseptic arthritis patients and septic and inflammatory arthritis patients were analyzed. RESULTS: Among the included 21 PJI samples, 19 of them showed positive results (++) of LE strip before centrifugation. After centrifugation, two samples changed from two-positive (++) to one-positive (+), which is also considered as positive. Before centrifugation, 29 of the LE strip tests in the aseptic arthritis group (43 samples included) were ++ or +. After centrifugation, 16 of the samples yielded negative results. Among 20 samples with inflammatory arthritis, LE strip of 18 samples were positive (++ or +) before centrifugation, among which only 3 samples remained as positive after centrifugation. CONCLUSION: LE strip test results could be influenced by inflammatory arthritis during the diagnosis of PJI. Centrifugation should be performed for LE strip tests to determine whether the result is a true positive or a false positive influenced by inflammatory arthritis.

Preparation and Evaluation of Combined Detection of Norovirus GI and GII: An Innovative Fluorescent Particles Test Strip.

This study was designed to prepare and evaluate the sensitivity and specificity of a Norovirus GI and GII fluorescent particles combined detection test strip method. Using selected chromatographic materials and antibodies specific to Norovirus GI and GII, the Norovirus GI and GII fluorescent particles combined detection test strip (tested method) was prepared as a conventional double antibody sandwich. The samples assayed included cultured rotavirus and 465 specimens from patients with symptoms of gastrointestinal infection. Norovirus was detected using the tested method and a reference method (CerTest Norovirus GI-GII test card). The results indicated that the sensitivity of the tested method was 4 (for GI detection) or 8 times (for GII detection) greater than the reference method. Neither of the two methods cross-reacted with rotavirus and so on. For specimens, 29 were found to be negative by the reference method and positive by the tested method, and 8 were found to be negative by the tested method and positive by the reference method. Furthermore, a retesting of these samples by qPCR showed that 28 of the 29 were positive, and 3 of the 8 were positive. In summary, the Norovirus GI and GII fluorescent particles combined detection test strip was successfully prepared and had good detection performance.

Acoustic rhinometry: impact of external nasal dilator on the two first notches of the rhinogram.

BACKGROUND: Acoustic rhinometry is more accurate in the anterior portion of the nasal cavities, from the nostril to the nasal valve (NV), the most important site of nasal obstruction. Literature presents different opinions regarding the anatomical correlation of the two notches at the beginning of the rhinogram curve in normal adult white individuals. The aim of this study was to present new data for a better understanding of the anatomic correlation of these two notches. METHODS: This prospective study included 32 nasal cavities under the following conditions: (1) basal condition, (2) with external nasal dilator strip (ENDS), (3) after decongestion (0.05% oxymetazoline chloride applied as an aerosol spray), and (4) after decongestion with ENDS. RESULTS: No statistically significant variation was observed in the cross-sectional area of the first notch (CSA1) after decongestion. However, there was a statistically significant increase in the CSA2 after ENDS. CONCLUSION: Analysis of the results suggested that the first notch of the rhinogram refers to the nostril and the second notch refers to the NV as a whole. This study was part of the clinical trial NCT01411969 registered at http://www.clinicaltrials.gov.

Stenting the nasal airway for maximizing inspiratory airflow: internal Max-Air Nose Cones versus external Breathe Right strip.

BACKGROUND: Several nasal dilator devices designed to stent the anterior nasal airway to increase peak nasal inspiratory flow (PNIF) currently exist; however, comparisons of such devices are limited. This study was designed to compare the efficacy of two different nasal dilator devices, an internal device (Max-Air Nose Cones; Sanostec Corp., Beverly Farms, MA) and an external device (Breathe Right nasal strip; GlaxoSmithKline, Brentford, Middlesex, U.K.) on stenting of the anterior nasal airway to maximize PNIF. METHODS: Repeated measurements of PNIF were obtained in 30 individuals noting complaints of sleep-disordered breathing due to nasal breathing discomfort and nasal airway obstruction, both with and without the two different nasal dilator devices. RESULTS: A one-within analysis of variance (ANOVA) was performed among the three conditions (control, Max-Air Nose Cones, and Breathe Right nasal strip), and a statistically significant effect was found (F[2,58] = 298.13; p< 0.00001). Tukey post hoc contrasts revealed that the control condition PNIF (66.07 L/min) was significantly lower than both the Max-Air Nose Cones (138.73 L/min) and the Breathe Right nasal strip (102.17 L/min) conditions. The Max-Air Nose Cone increased inspiratory airflow by 73 L/min, or a 110% improvement over baseline. In addition, the Max-Air Nose Cone condition PNIF was significantly higher than both the control condition and the nasal strip condition. CONCLUSION: Although both the Max-Air Nose Cones and the Breathe Right nasal strips increased PNIF from baseline, the Max-Air Nose Cones showed significantly greater efficacy at stenting the anterior nasal airway, providing twice the improvement in PNIF over baseline than did the Breathe Right nasal strips.

Diagnostic accuracy of NicAlert cotinine test strips in saliva for verifying smoking status.

Semiquantitative immunoassay technology, in the form of rapid test strips, offers a less time-consuming and less costly alternative to other methods of verifying self-reported smoking status, such as gas chromatography-nitrogen phosphorus detection (GC). Unfortunately, information on the validity and reliability of some test strips in urine and saliva samples is not always available. This paper describes the diagnostic accuracy of one type of test strip currently available (NicAlert cotinine test strips; NCTS). GC was used as the reference standard and saliva as the sample medium. The study involved 86 people (41 smokers and 45 nonsmokers) aged 18 years or over, who were able to understand written English and provide written consent. Pregnant women, women with infants less than 6 weeks old, and people who had eaten 30 min prior to sample collection were excluded. Two saliva samples were collected simultaneously from each participant, with one sample tested using NCTS and the other by GC analysis. People with at least 10 ng/ml cotinine (in both tests) in their saliva were considered smokers. NCTS were found to have a specificity of 95% (95% CI 89%-100%), a sensitivity of 93% (95% CI 85%-100%), a positive predictive value of 95% (95% CI 89%-100%), and a negative predictive value of 93% (95% CI 86%-100%). The use of NCTS is a valid and reliable method, compared with GC, to test saliva samples for verification of smoking status.

Sensitivity and specificity of a reagent-impregnated test strip in identifying smokeless tobacco users.

This study was designed to determine the sensitivity and specificity of a reagent-impregnated test strip in identifying habitual snuff users and tobacco chewers. Urine specimens were obtained from smokeless tobacco users and controls and blind tested on-site using a reagent-impregnated test strip. Samples also were sent to our university hospital lab for cotinine and nicotine analysis by gas chromatography (GC). The test strip results were compared with GC results and self-reported use of snuff and chewing tobacco. A total of 61 subjects enrolled in the study: 26 snuff users, 25 tobacco chewers, and 10 nonconsumers of nicotine. Using GC assessment of nicotine and cotinine (>or=200 ng/ml) as the standard, we found the sensitivity of the test strip to be 96% (25/26) for snuff users and 96% (24/25) for tobacco chewers. When compared with self-report, the sensitivity of the test strip was 92.3% (24/26) for snuff users and 84% (21/25) for tobacco chewers. The specificity for nonusers of nicotine was 100% (10/10) for both the self-report and GC conditions. These results suggest that a reagent-impregnated test strip is a rapid, valid, and user-friendly means of differentiating smokeless tobacco users from nonconsumers of tobacco. The intensity of the pink color on the test strip is proportional to the amount of nicotine or its metabolites present in urine and therefore offers a semiquantitative measure of nicotine consumption.

The accuracy of self-reported smoking status assessed by cotinine test strips.

We evaluated a new cotinine test strip to assess smoking status. Urine cotinine was measured using cotinine test strips and also by gas chromatographic techniques (GC) (as the reference criterion). Smoking status was assessed with a self-administered questionnaire. The cotinine test strip identified smokers with a very high level of agreement (97.3% using 100 ng/ml and 97.1% using 250 ng/ml for the cutoff point) and non-smokers with a fair-to-moderate level of agreement (74.5% using 100 ng/ml and 86.4% using 250 ng/ml for the cutoff point). These data suggest that the cotinine test strip appears to provide a reasonably accurate measure of smoking status. Since this was the first study to evaluate the cotinine test strip using the test strip prototype, larger clinical trials are needed to evaluate the validity of the cotinine test strip compared to GC measurements to confirm smoking status.