Clinical considerations in study designs that use cotinine as a biomarker

Subjects enrolled in studies are not always screened for routine habits such as smoking. Personal history is not always reliable and therefore an objective biomarker is necessary to screen for smokers. The objectives of this article were to review the metabolism of nicotine and other metabolic considerations associated with smoking; to review some of the routine methods used to assess exposure to nicotine-containing products; to revisit cotinine breakpoints utilized to distinguish smokers from non-smokers during screening for clinical trials; to assess the utility of screening questions regarding smoking practices; and to recommend standards for clinical pharmacology studies. The results indicated that cotinine levels serve as a useful biomarker of tobacco exposure; racial issues may be clinically relevant in determining smoking status; cessation of smoking should occur at least 14 days prior to the start of the study; adverse effects from nicotine withdrawal such as craving, hunger and weight gain may persist for more than 6 months; potential metabolic interactions via cytochrome P2A6 and P1A2 need to be considered when designing a study; and the use of a single calibrator as a breakpoint is acceptable if a categorical outcome such as 'smoker' versus 'non-smoker' is desired. Nicotine from food products is not expected to impact assay sensitivity or to be clinically relevant; a serum cotinine concentration of 10 ng ml^?1 be employed as a breakpoint for non-smokers versus smokers; other non-invasive alternatives are collection of urine, saliva, or hair (with suggested breakpoints of 200 ng ml^?1, 5 ng ml^?1 and 0.3 ng mg^?1, respectively; screening questions be accompanied by testing for cotinine; and the inclusion of smokers in studies should be considered once the impact of smoking on the targeted population is understood.     

Translation of proteomic biomarkers into FDA approved cancer diagnostics: issues and challenges

Tremendous efforts have been made over the past few decades to discover novel cancer biomarkers for use in clinical practice. However, a striking discrepancy exists between the effort directed toward biomarker discovery and the number of markers that make it into clinical practice. One of the confounding issues in translating a novel discovery into clinical practice is that quite often the scientists working on biomarker discovery have limited knowledge of the analytical, diagnostic, and regulatory requirements for a clinical assay. This review provides an introduction to such considerations with the aim of generating more extensive discussion for study design, assay performance, and regulatory approval in the process of translating new proteomic biomarkers from discovery into cancer diagnostics. We first describe the analytical requirements for a robust clinical biomarker assay, including concepts of precision, trueness, specificity and analytical interference, and carryover. We next introduce the clinical considerations of diagnostic accuracy, receiver operating characteristic analysis, positive and negative predictive values, and clinical utility. We finish the review by describing components of the FDA approval process for protein-based biomarkers, including classification of biomarker assays as medical devices, analytical and clinical performance requirements, and the approval process workflow. While we recognize that the road from biomarker discovery, validation, and regulatory approval to the translation into the clinical setting could be long and difficult, the reward for patients, clinicians and scientists could be rather significant.     

Fabrication,Operation and Flow Visualization in Surface-acoustic-wave-driven Acoustic-counterflow Microfluidics

Surface acoustic waves (SAWs) can be used to drive liquids in portable microfluidic chips via the acoustic counterflow phenomenon. In this video we present the fabrication protocol for a multilayered SAW acoustic counterflow device. The device is fabricated starting from a lithium niobate (LN) substrate onto which two interdigital transducers (IDTs) and appropriate markers are patterned. A polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) channel cast on an SU8 master mold is finally bonded on the patterned substrate. Following the fabrication procedure, we show the techniques that allow the characterization and operation of the acoustic counterflow device in order to pump fluids through the PDMS channel grid. We finally present the procedure to visualize liquid flow in the channels. The protocol is used to show on-chip fluid pumping under different flow regimes such as laminar flow and more complicated dynamics characterized by vortices and particle accumulation domains.     

Nanomoulding of Functional Materials,a Versatile Complementary Pattern Replication Method to Nanoimprinting

We describe a nanomoulding technique which allows low-cost nanoscale patterning of functional materials, materials stacks and full devices. Nanomoulding combined with layer transfer enables the replication of arbitrary surface patterns from a master structure onto the functional material. Nanomoulding can be performed on any nanoimprinting setup and can be applied to a wide range of materials and deposition processes. In particular we demonstrate the fabrication of patterned transparent zinc oxide electrodes for light trapping applications in solar cells.     

高龄老年心力衰竭患者临床特点分析

目的：通过对不同年龄组心力衰竭常见临床表现进行对比分析,寻找出老年心力衰竭的特点,为临床诊断和治疗老年特别是高龄老年（〉80岁）心力衰竭提供依据。方法：我院专职人员采取回顾性调查方法,记录所选病例相关的数据：一般临床资料、基础心脏疾病、诱发因素、伴随疾病、临床表现、相关实验室检验检查情况、药物治疗具体种类、转归情况等;根据年龄分为3组：246例60—69岁组,平均年龄（64．28±3．0）2V;215例70-79岁组,平均年龄（74．19±2．85）岁;71例〉80岁组,平均年龄（84±3．34）岁。运用计算机软件Excel建立老年心衰患者资料数据库,SPSS13．0for：windows软件包进行统计分析。结果：1）随着年龄增加,心衰典型的临床表现减少,特别是高龄心衰患者,其临床表现极不典型,心力衰竭程度较重,容易在短期内出现重要器官的严重并发症;2）高龄老年人心衰以冠心病、高血压病为主要病因,随年龄增加,多病因心衰比例在上升;3）我院高龄老年人心衰的治疗以利尿剂、洋地黄类、硝酸醋类药物为主。结论：高龄老年人心力衰竭具有明确病因、程度重,症状不典型,具有严重并发症,治疗相对规范的临床特点。     

医学生实习中外科基本操作常犯错误及对策分析

目的：探讨医学生临床实习中在基本操作上常犯的错误,并对此提出建议和纠正措施,旨在进一步提高临床带教水平及临床教学质量。方法i总结我院临床医学专业实习生进行常见的外科临床基本操作考核成绩的情况,对错误类型等进行统计并提出合理的解决措施。结果：共考察学生90名,其中外科换药方法欠佳者22人（24．4％）,消毒铺巾存在问题24人（26．6％）,缝合存在问题32人（35．5％）,打结存在问题38（42．2％）人,拆线存在问题19（21．1％）人。结论：加强医学生外科实习期间的无菌观念培养及强化手术基本操作是临床教学的重要环节。     

失代偿期肝硬化患者感染的危险因素及临床特点分析

目的：分析失代偿期肝硬化患者感染的相关危险因素和临床特点。方法：回顾性分析我院2012年4月--2013年4月住院的197例肝硬化失代偿期患者,比较感染患者与非感染患者的年龄、性别、肝功能分级、白细胞水平、门静脉内径、肝硬化并发症、侵入性操作措施、应用抗菌药物、住院时间等差异。结果：197例患者中发生感染的56例,其中以呼吸道和腹部感染为主。统计发现肝功能分级、白细胞水平、侵入性操作、住院时间及抗菌药的运用等与感染因素有关（P〈0．05）。结论：引起失代偿期肝硬化感染的危险因素是多方面的,临床特点也较突出,需要我们采取防措施去避免。     

类风湿关节炎药物治疗的规范化及临床实践探析

目的：在前人研究基础上进一步调查和研究类风湿关节炎（RA）患者药物治疗的规范化状况。方法：对湘潭市中心医院2012年3月至12月门诊就诊的120例风湿关节炎患者进行问卷调查。内容包括患者个人资料、就诊及确诊时间、科室,随诊时间间隔以及改善病情抗风湿药（DMARDs）的应用情况。结果：类风湿关节炎药物治疗不规范,甲氨蝶呤是患者应用最多的DMARDs,占60％,其次为来氟米特（30％）、柳氮磺吡啶（5％）及羟氯喹（5％）。结论：51％以上的RA病人DMARDs治疗不规范,尤其是在县级基层医院。类风湿性疾病的规范治疗需要从早期诊断治疗,优化联合用药,个性化治疗,定期跟踪疗效等方面来规范。     

交感皮肤反应在糖尿病周围神经病变诊断中的应用

糖尿病周围神经病变（Diabetic Peripheral Neuropathy,DPN）是糖尿病最常见的并发症之一。由于目前DPN发病机制不清楚、治疗效果不理想,故早诊断、早治疗显得至关重要。有研究指出交感神经皮肤反应（Sympathetic Skin Response,SSR）可作为评价2型糖尿病患者早期周围植物神经功能状态的指标。本文对SSR应用于DPN临床诊断中的检测技术、观测参数进行综述,发现多数研究中指出,在临床应用中SSR波形、波幅以及潜伏期指标的异常率常受到多种因素的影响、会发生很大波动,而电位曲线下面积减少值相对稳定。据此笔者建议在DPN早期临床诊断中以SSR电位曲线下面积减少作为关键参数,辅助参考SSR波形、波幅以及潜伏期指标进行诊断。     

重度妊娠期肝内胆汁淤积症对母婴结局影响的临床分析

目的：分析重度妊娠期肝内胆汁淤积症（intrahepatic cholestasis of pregnancy,ICP）对母婴结局的影响,以提高对ICP的认识与治疗水平。方法：选择ICP产妇58例,根据ICP分度标准分为轻度组（n=26例）和重度组（n=32例）,比较两组产妇的母婴结局。结果：与轻度组相比,重度组产妇剖宫产率、产后出血与平均产后出血量显著升高或增加,阴道分娩率显著降低,组间比较差异均具有统计学意义（P〈0.05）;重度组新生儿早产、胎儿窘迫、羊水污染和新生儿窒息的发生率均显著上升,新生儿平均出生体重显著降低,组间比较差异均具有统计学意义（P〈0.05）。结论：ICP对产妇及新生儿均有不良影响,对ICP严重程度进行划分,有利于临床处理。对于重度ICP产妇,应尽早采取剖宫产分娩的方式终止妊娠。