Quantitative urinary tract infection diagnosis of leukocyte esterase with a microfluidic paper-based device.

Leukocyte esterase (LE) is a useful marker that can be used in establishing a diagnosis of urinary tract infections (UTIs). The development of a UTI diagnostic method with quantitative determinations of biomarkers across all age groups is becoming more important. In this report, microfluidic resistance sensors based on silver ink (Ag ink) and silver ink mixed with ZnO nanoparticles (Ag-ZnO ink) were synthesized and coated on cellulose paper, namely LE-Ag-µPADs and LE-Ag-ZnO-µPADs, respectively, for the sensitive detection of LE. The microfluidic design increases the precision of data and further allows for quantitative determination and early detection of LE in human urine. The quantification of LE relies on the change in the resistance readout coating with Ag ink as well as Ag-ZnO ink in the detection zone. A mixture of 3-(N-tosyl-l-alaninyloxy)-5-phenylpyrrole (PE) and 1-diazo-2-naphthol-4-sulfonic acid (DAS) was deposited in the sample zone to selectively recognize LE, and the resulting nonconductive products, i.e., azo compounds, further reacted with the Ag ink and Ag-ZnO ink to increase resistance. The quantitative detectable LE concentrations between 2 to 32 (×5.2 U mL-1), i.e. ≈12 to 108 µg L-1, cover the commercial dipstick range of trace, +1 and +2. The minimum detectable concentration of LE in urine was 1 (×5.2 U mL-1). The lower concentrations of LE detectable by LE-Ag-µPADs (1-8 × 5.2 U mL-1) are below the value achieved with the ELISA LE kit. Urine samples from inpatients with indwelling urinary catheters were used, and the LE levels measured by the present device were highly correlated with those determined by a commercial urine analyser.

Predictors of response to pegylated interferon in chronic hepatitis B: a real-world hospital-based analysis.

Information on the efficacy of pegylated interferon (PEG-IFN) treatment of chronic hepatitis B (CHB) patients and predictors of the response based on real-world data is limited. Consecutive 201 patients who underwent PEG-IFN treatment for CHB were reviewed. A virological response (VR) was defined as a serum HBV DNA of <2000 IU/mL, and a combined response (CR) was defined a VR accompanied by serological response for hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg)-positive CHB. For HBeAg-positive CHB patients, the HBeAg seroconversion rate and CR rate were 30.5% and 21.2% at 48 weeks after end of treatment (EOT), respectively. Baseline alanine aminotransferase (ALT) level was associated with HBeAg seroconversion, while baseline hepatitis B s antigen (HBsAg) levels of <250 IU/mL and HBV DNA <2.5 × 10(7) IU/mL were strongly associated with sustained off-treatment CR. For HBeAg-negative CHB, the VR rates were 85.5%, and 27.7% at EOT, and 48 weeks after EOT, respectively; a baseline HBsAg <1,250 IU/mL was associated with sustained off-treatment VR. PEG-IFN treatment has durable HBeAg seroconversion in HBeAg-positive CHB, but results in a high risk of relapse among HBeAg-negative CHB patients. Pre-treatment HBsAg level is an important predictor of VR in CHB patients undergoing PEG-IFN treatment.

Service integrated access network using highly spectral-efficient MASK-MQAM-OFDM coding.

A highly spectral-efficient M-ary amplitude shift keying M-ary quadrature amplitude modulation orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (MASK-MQAM-OFDM) was proposed for the access network. With the highly spectral-efficient characteristic of MASK-MQAM-OFDM, seamless integration among passive-optical network (PON), wireless fiber-to-the-antenna (FTTA), and optical wireless visible light communication (VLC) can be achieved without using extra bandwidth for different services. A proof-of-concept experiment was demonstrated. The relation between the spectral efficiency of the MASK-MQAM-OFDM and the upstream signal performance was also discussed.