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Superabsorbent polymers, a three-dimensional cross-linked polymer, show excellent properties in retaining a large amount of water and have been widely applied in various fields. This report studied the synthesis of chitosan-strach superabsorbent by chemical crosslinking. The polymers were prepared by using 1:1 ratio of chitosan and starch in a concentration of 2% w/v with 2-25% v/v of glutaraldehyde as cross-linker. The characterization of chitosan-starch polymers was performed by using analytical tools, such as FTIR and SEM. Water absorption capacity was evaluated by swelling ability followed by the batch sorption of different 0.9% w/v salt solutions of NaCl, MgCl2, FeCl3 and synthetic urine composed of urea, NaCl, KCl, and Na3PO4. The biodegradation was evaluated by the difference mass of polymers before and after plantation in soil. The optimum polymers were obtained by using 5% of glutaraldehyde with water sorption capacity of 349.68%. The water absorbency capacity of different salts was 121.37%, 138.59%, and 165.20% for NaCl, MgCl2, FeCl3, respectively. The absorption capacity of SAP in synthetic urine, 1% w/v NaCl, 0.64% w/v Na3PO4, 0.6% w/v KCl, and 2.43% w/v urea solutions was 87.83%, 117.72%, 103,39%, 99.28%, and 91.08%, respectively. The degradation study indicated that the polymers were completely degraded in 14 days. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Urinary tract infection (UTI) is one of most common bacterial infections in women. These infections cause uncomfortableness, morbidity, loss of work time and high cost for therapies. Gold standard examination for diagnosis of UTI is urine culture. Another common laboratory examination for UTI is urinalysis. Urinalysis is faster and easier to do than urine culture. To know how well the ability of urinalysis to detect UTI, urinary leukocytes, nitrite, and leukocyte esterase correlation with urine culture is assessed. This is an analytic observational study using a cross sectional design. Data was obtained from Laboratory Information System (LIS) Clinical Pathology and Microbiology Installation at Dr. Mohammad Hoesin General Hospital Palembang. The population consisted of all of UTI patients whose result of urinary leukocytes, nitrite, leukocyte esterase and urine culture. By using incidental sampling, 163 samples were collected, taken from 1st November 2015 until 31st January 2016 data period. The data was analyzed by descriptive and bivariate methods (Somers'd correlation) and presented in tables and narration. Urinary leukocytes, nitrite, and leukocyte esterase have a very significant correlation with urine culture (p<0.01). Urinary leukocytes have a weak correlation with urine culture (r = 0.295), urinary nitrite has a weak correlation (r = 0.391), and urinary leukocyte esterase has a weak correlation (r = 0.302). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The production of hydrogen from urine as an electrolyte is about 6 to 9times faster than water as electrolyte measured at constant voltage 10V, 15V, 19V, 23V, 27V, and 30V per minute. The power consumption for urine electrolytes is higher than water-electrolyte was observed. Such a rate producesan increase in the efficiency of hydrogen production which is future energy. The utilization of urine rather than water as an electrolyte control soil and water pollution. Urine electrolyte has more beneficial than water because water-electrolyte needed chemical (acid or base) to increase the efficiency of hydrogen production, have to buy and transport while but urine electrolyte has no such problem. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, the effectiveness of the use of telmisartan in cats with chronic kidney disease in the early stages (stages 1-2) for the correction of proteinuria was considered. The study revealed a positive trend – a decrease in the ratio of protein / creatinine in urine, which confirms the effectiveness of telmisartan in complex therapy. Telmisartan was administered at a dose of 1 mg / kg once a day (every 24 hours) for 12 weeks. In the studied group of cats, a persistent decrease in the concentration of protein in urine was found in 76% of cases. In animals that did not respond to standard therapy, a kidney biopsy is indicated to verify necrotic lesions and prescribe immunosuppressive therapy if necessary. Control of pathological protein excretion in urine is necessary to reduce the risks of active progression of chronic kidney disease, and it is also advisable to use nephroprotective therapy in cats in the early stages of chronic kidney disease to improve kidney function and slow down renal failure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Conventional extraction techniques have various limitations in separating the active compounds bound to saliva and urine. Maceration in the traditional way requires a relatively long time to separate the nicotine so it requires a new technique. The sonication technique has the advantage of rapidly separating nicotine from saliva and urine. This technology is basically developed based on simplicity, energy efficiency and economy. The sonication process was developed at 42 KHz using chloroform and methanol as solvents at a ratio of 60: 40 (volume = 5 ml and sonication time = 20 minutes). The impurity separation is continued by passing to Silica gel 254 to produce a purer compound. The extracted nicotine was analyzed using thin layer chromatography yielding an Rf value of 0.24. analysis results using UV spectroscopy are nicotine concentration in saliva and urine respectively 2.1 ppm and 2.3 ppm. However, the amount of nicotine produced was greater when compared to conventional methods, namely 1.3 ppm and 1.2 ppm respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sweet corn continues to increas in demand and more attractive to the people and it becomes one source of supplement food. One of the causes of low sweet corn production is the level of soil fertility, namely the nutrient content in the soil which is not sufficient for the plant's needs. One way to overcome this problem is to increase soil fertility by improving soil quality using organic manures. This research was carried out from February 2020 to May 2020. The research site was at the Campus II of UIN SGD Bandung. The method used a 2-factors factorial randomized block design. First factors are the planting space of 70 cm x 25 cm, 70 cm x 35 cm, and 70 cm x 45 cm. Second factors are fermented cow urine 0 ml plant per plant, 150 ml plant per plant, 200 ml plant per plant, and 250 ml plant per plant. The results showed that there were interaction between planting space and fermented cow urine on leaf area, weight of corn, weight of corn without, wet weight of stover and dry weight of stover. The results showed that the best planting space and dose of cow urine for yield and growth of maize were 75 x 40 cm planting space and 250 ml cow urine per plant. The yield per hectare is 15.85 tons. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Urinary Tract Infection (UTI) is a common cause of serious bacterial illness among infants and children and can result in severe consequences including permanent kidney damage. The diagnosis and management of paediatric UTIs are challenging as it has non-specific symptoms and the confirmatory test is time-consuming. The present study compared the rapid diagnostic technique, full and microscopic examination of urine (Urine FEME), and the confirmatory test, urine culture among suspected neonates and children admitted to Hospital Simunjan, Sarawak, Malaysia. Urine FEME was conducted using a urine dipstick test, for the determination of pH of urine, nitrites, blood, leukocytes, glucose, protein, and ketone levels and as for the microscopic examination, the urine was observed for elements such as pus cells, red blood cells, white blood cells, epithelial cells, bacteria, and yeast cells. Urine samples were cultured on Cysteine Lactose Electrolyte Deficient agar (CLED), blood agar, and MacConkey agar plates to isolate and identify clinically significant microorganisms present in urine causing UTI. Of 145 total cultures, 95 samples were cultured positive for growth. 69.4% of the cultures contain mixed pathogens, 20% were positive for uropathogen Escherichia coli, 4.2% Klebsiella spp., 3.2% Proteus Spp., and 1% Staphylococcus aureus. The positive predictive value (PPV), negative predictive value (NPV), sensitivity, and specificity of the Urine-FEME (leukocyte esterase and nitrite) test were 100%, 79.3%, 86.3% and 100% respectively when compared to urine culture test. Urine microscopy observation generated a positive predictive value (PPV) of 100%, negative predictive value (NPV) of 80.6%, sensitivity and specificity of 87.3% and 100% respectively when compared to urine culture. The present data indicate that both dipstick test and urine microscopy were significantly different (P<0.05) from urine culture in diagnosing UTI. In conclusion, both Urine FEME and urine culture are important methods for the diagnosis of UTI. Urine FEME is a rapid test aids in the early detection of infection and urine culture acts as the gold standard method, which can distinguish between positive or negative culture, thus confirming the uropathogens infection and crucial for UTI management (antibiotic and treatment intervention). Hence, urine culture is integral in UTI diagnosis and cannot be substituted by the Urine FEME test. The present data can be used as a reference and guideline to manage UTI cases and consequently, provides rapid and effective treatment for pediatric UTI. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rabbit urine was a liquid fertilizer that could be used for agriculture because of its high nitrogen content. The weakness of this rabbit urine if it rains, rabbit urine will be carried away by the flow of rainwater. Rabbit urine encapsulation is a solution to the above problems. This research aims to study the process of making rabbit urine encapsulation in alginate bead coated with chitosan as a slow-release. An alginate bead was carried out by extruding a mixture of rabbit urine and sodium alginate into a 500 mL CaCl2 solution 50 mM with a pump with various syringe tip sizes as output, 18G, 16G, and 12G. The resulting beads were immersed into 100 mL chitosan solution 2%. The resulting beads were analyzed by measuring the alginate bead radius using a digital microscope and analyzing the nitrogen concentration in the nitrogen release process with UV-Vis Spectro. The average alginate bead diameter for 18G, 16G, and 12G tip sizes were 3.14 mm, 2.18 mm, and 1.89 mm and after being coated with chitosan were 3.49 mm, 2.48 mm, and 2.05 mm. Diffusivity coefficient nitrogen in chitosan was 1.167 x 10 −5 cm2/s. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Legin is an inoculum containing bacteria that can fix N2 in the air. The activity of Bradyrhizobium japonicum in legin was influenced by the availability of macro and micronutrients supplied from cow urine liquid fertilizer. This study aimed to determine the effect of legin inoculation and cow urine liquid fertilizer on N uptake and yield of soybean (Glycine max (L.) Merill. var. dega 1). The research was carried out from January to April 2021 in.Ngabean Village, Secang District, Magelang Regency with an altitude of 470 m above sea level with latosol soil type. The research design was a Completely Randomized Block Design (RAKL) with 2 treatment factors and 4 replications. The first factor was legin inoculation with doses of 0, 10, 20, 30, 40 g/kg. The second factor is the treatment of cow urine liquid fertilizer 0 ml/l water and treatment of cow urine liquid fertilizer 100 ml/l water. Data were analyzed with variance and continued with Orthogonal Polynomial Test and 1 % LSD Test. The results showed that the legin inoculation treatment increased the number of root nodules, N uptake and number of filled pods. Treatment of cow urine increased the number of root nodules, N uptake and number of filled pods. The interaction between legin inoculation and cow urine treatment did not affect all parameters of the observation. Inoculation of legin 20 g/kg and cow urine 100 ml/L gave the highest results for all parameters observed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Forensic investigations include identifications of body fluids that are found on the crime scene, urine is one of the common body fluids found at the scene of a crime. Identification of the urine stains done by various methods based on physical, chemical, and microscopic properties of the sample. Recent studies also include novel instrumental techniques that are non-destructive for urine stains. This study was conducted using qualitative research methods and experimental study of urine samples. Experiments were performed for the identification of urine at 3hr to 72 hr time intervals. The qualitative estimation was done through the physical test using UV light, Jaffe's chemical test for Creatinine, and nitric acid crystal test for microscopic examination of crystals present in the urine. The results of the conducted study show positive results in all the experiments or tests that are performed for analysis. UV test results show greenish-yellow fluorescence on all surfaces. Jaffe's test gives deep orange color as a positive result on all the surfaces. Microscopic examination shows various crystals that are present in urine. Abnormal urine crystals were observed in the study, are rare in common urine, and only present in the person with the Nephrotic disease. From the conducted study it was concluded that urine gives positive results in UV and Jaffe's test even after the period. Both types of surfaces absorbent and non-absorbent give positive results. Microscopic examination in the bright field microscopy shows best results for all urine samples of male, female, menstrual urine, and baby urine. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A basic, rapid, and straightforward potentiometric method was developed for the determination of ofloxacin in pharmaceutical preparations and human fluids. Three PVC membranes for ofloxacin (OFN) were prepared by combining the ion-pair compound ofloxacin-methyl orange (OFN-MO) with three different plasticizers: Tris (2-Ethylhexyl) phosphate (TEHP), Di-butyl phthalate (DBPH), and Di-butyl sebacate (DBS). These electrodes generated Nernstain responses of 58.58, 51.54, and 57.08mV/decade with linear ranges of (5*10−5 – 1*10−2)M for membranes containing TEHP, DBPH, or DBS as plasticizers. The detection limits were equivalent to 4.6*10−6, 3.8*10−5, and 4.8*10−5 M, respectively. pH ranges were also investigated at various concentrations for ofloxacin solutions, lifetime and selectivity. The potentiometric methods such as direct addition, standard addition, and multiple standard additions were applied for the determination of ofloxacin. The proposed TEHP electrode was successfully used to determine the ofloxacin in a variety of pharmaceutical formulations and human fluids. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Microbial communities contribute to most organisms in our environment and have greater capacity to transform the world around. However, a large number of them remain uncultivable. Identification and functional validation of the uncultured microbial communities in environmental samples remains a challenging task. Metagenomics has become one of the indispensable tools for studying the diversity and function of these uncultured microbes. Our sample has been collected from a public toilet of an undeveloped area in North Coimbatore District, Tamil Nadu, INDIA. Waste effluents from this public toilet were used to generate electricity for the area using Microbial Fuel Cell (MFC) which involves bio-film formation which helps in electron transfer. Our study aims in identification of the diverse microbial community present in urine sample and to functionally annotate the gene responsible for biofilm formation aiding in electron transfer process. As metagenomic studies are becoming widespread, a large number of computational tools and a wide range of bioinformatics pipelines have been developed for metagenomic assembly, taxonomic and functional annotation. Choosing an appropriate tool is crucial and requires validation. In this present study, a range of bioinformatics tools were used quantify the sequence reads, taxonomic classification of the microbial population in the urine sample, assembly of the mixed sequence reads of multiple species and to attain functional annotation of the hypothetical protein. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Antioxidants are able to bind free radicals in the body. One of the antioxidants that is easy to consume is Vitamin C with a certain dose. Vitamin C contains high antioxidant compounds and plays an important role in increasing endurance. Consumption of vitamin C can reduce stress levels of active smokers. During stress, cortisol levels are very high. Cortisol levels are regulated by Vitamin C which also acts as a connective tissue regenerator and functions in the immune system. This study aims to study the reduction in stress levels of active smokers after giving Vitamin C. The reduction in stress levels of smokers was measured using the HARS method on the third day after giving this compound. Purposive sampling method was developed for 60 respondents. The paired t test was developed using SPSS. The results showed that there was a very strong and significant relationship obtained at the 0.01 level. There is a difference between before and after treatment in consuming antioxidant in this study. Nicotine levels in the urine in active smokers were determined experimentally. There was a decrease in nicotine levels on the third day. This indicates that giving Vitamin C can reduce stress levels of active smokers and there is an indirect relationship with a decrease in nicotine concentrations in the urine of active smokers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A paper battery is a 6 cm × 4 cm × 1 mm dimension battery that uses CuCl as a cathode, magnesium as an anode, and urine as an electrolyte. CuCl2 dan CuSO4 as used to synthesis CuCl was analyzed. A simple and cheap sandwiched fabrication model has been identified using the low-cost CuCl synthesis process. This paper battery has passed experimental testing and delivers the best power generation at 169,588 mW and continuously up to 4 hours. Voltage also measured and provided a stable voltage at least for 6 hours at 582.667 mV. Method 2 of using CuSO4, which has price lower than CuCl2 showed better power generation and stability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

N1, N12-diacetylspermine (DiAcSpm) is a diacetylated derivative of spermine. Urinary DiAcSpm levels of various cancer patients had been found to be significantly higher than those in normal people, which suggested that DiAcSpm might be a potential broad-spectrum tumor marker. In this study, anti-DiAcSpm polyclonal antibody was obtained by immunization of rabbits. 8 kinds of analogous or relative molecules were employed to estimate the specificity of the antibody. The direct competitive and indirect competitive ELISAs were developed. And the sensitivity of the two assays were 7.79 ± 0.48 ng/mL (n=3) and 4.73 ± 0.67 ng/mL (n=3); the limits of detection of the two assays were 0.55 ± 0.07 ng/mL (n=3) and 0.22 ± 0.02 ng/mL (n=3), respectively. The indirect competitive ELISA was used to measure DiAcSpm in healthy people urine, and the recoveries of spiked DiAcSpm ranged from 109.96 to 117.13%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We have developed bent fiber optic based sensors for non-invasive glucose level measurement. The developed sensor employs the attenuation of evanescent wave in the optical fiber due to its interaction with glucose molecules in urine samples. The attenuation is proportional to the concentration of the glucose molecules. We investigated dependence of the sensitivity and the accuracy of the sensor on the wavelength of diode laser source. Three diode lasers (i.e. red laser = 650 nm, green laser = 532 nm, and violet laser = 400 nm) were used for measurements. The attenuated light in the fiber optic was detected by a photodiode and then converted to electrical signal. The interaction of evanescent wave interaction with glucose molecules was enhanced by partial removing of fiber optic cladding. The length of cladding removal was varied between 1 cm and 4 cm while bending radius was kept constant at 3.5 cm. We found that the diode laser wavelength influences the sensitivity and the accuracy of blood glucose sensor significantly. The highest sensitivity of 0.9 mV/(mg/dL) is obtained for sensor using red laser with the length of cladding removal of 2 cm. The sensitivity of the sensor using green and violet laser are 0.78 mV/(mg/dL) and 0.72 mV/(mg/dL), respectively. The highest accuracy is obtained for sensor with green laser. The accuracy of sensor with red, green, and violet laser are respectively 96.9%, 85.5%, and 84.1%.The accuracy of the developed sensor fulfills the requirement to be used by diabetic patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This experiment aimed to identify isolate and to evaluate their capability for growing in ammonium and animal’s urine high content medium. A nitrifying bacterium, strain LS2T was isolated from soil in the odorous region of poultry farms in Yogyakarta City due to the ability to encounter high dose of ammonium in the medium. Based on morphological, biochemical, and molecular identifications (16S rRNA sequence), strain LS2T was classified into the genus Alcaligenes, close to Alcaligenes faecalis ZJUTBX11, and it was identified as species Alcaligenes sp. LS2T. The 16S rRNA gene sequences were also compared using BLASTN, and strain LS2T showed high similarity to Alcaligenes (99 %). The cells of strain LS2T were rod-shaped [(0.5–1.0) μm × (0.5–2.6) μm], Gram-negative, and confirmed as oxides positive. Strain LS2T has the ability for growing in ammonium sulphate and animal’s urine; it showed that strain LS2T could tolerate ammonium at high concentration. These results suggested the possibility of strain LS2T in deodorization plants for enhancing the efficiency of deodorization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nickel-modified boron-doped diamond (Ni-BDD) electrode was prepared to produce an electrical energy in a fuel cell. The electrode was prepared by electrodeposition from 1 mM Ni(NO3)2 in 0.1 M acetate buffer solution followed by repeated cycling in KOH. This electrode was then utilized to electrocatalyze the oxidation of urea in urine to produce electrical energy in a fuel cell. The use of Ni-BDD is expected to increase the activity of the fuel cell system. The catalytic performance was investigated by direct urea/hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) fuel cell. The result showed that a comparable potential of around 0.41 V could be achieved for one hour at room temperature when using Ni-BDD and Ni as the working electrode with a mixture of 0.01 mol L-1 KOH and 0.33 mol L-1 urea was used as the anolyte and a mixture of 2 mol L-1 H2SO4 and 2 mol L-1 H2O2 as the catholyte. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

By designing a new convolution neural network framework, this paper breaks the constraints of the original convolution neural network framework requiring large training samples and samples of the same size. Move and cropping the input images, generate the same size of the sub-graph. And then, the generated sub-graph uses the method of dropout, increasing the diversity of samples and preventing the fitting generation. Randomly select some proper subset in the sub-graphic set and ensure that the number of elements in the proper subset is same and the proper subset is not the same. The proper subsets are used as input layers for the convolution neural network. Through the convolution layer, the pooling, the full connection layer and output layer, we can obtained the classification loss rate of test set and training set. In the red blood cells, white blood cells, calcium oxalate crystallization classification experiment, the classification accuracy rate of 97% or more. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry is used to separate two and more compounds and identify fragment ion specific of biomarker ethanol such as palmitic acid ethyl ester (PAEE), as one of the fatty acid ethyl esters as early detection through conyugated reaction. This study aims to calibrate ethyl palmitate and develop analysis with oleate acid. This methode can be used analysis ethanol and its chemistry biomarker in ethanol sub-acute consumption as analytical forensic toxicology. The result show that ethanol level in urine rats Wistar were 9.21 and decreased 6.59 ppm after 48 hours consumption. Calibration curve of ethyl palmitate was y = 0.2035 x + 1.0465 and R2 = 0.9886. Resolution between ethyl palmitate and oleate were >1.5 as good separation with fragment ion specific was 88 and the retention time was 18 minutes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nuclear Medicine studies are performed with a variety of types of radiation measurement instruments, depending on the kind of radiation source that is being measured and the type of information sought. For example, some instruments are designed for in vitro measurements on blood samples, urine specimens, and so forth. Others are designed for in vivo measurements of radioactivity in patients. All these instruments have special design characteristics to optimize them for their specific tasks, as described in this study; however, some considerations of design characteristics and performance limitations are common to all of them. An important consideration for any radiation measurement instrument is its detection efficiency. Maximum detection efficiency is desirable because one thus obtains maximum information with a minimum amount of radioactivity. Also important are instrument's counting rate limitations. There are finite counting rate limits for all counting and imaging instruments used in nuclear medicine, above which accurate results are obtained because of data losses and other data distortions. Non penetrating radiations, such as B particles, have special detection and measurement problems. In this study, some of these general considerations have been discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on cultural and biochemical characteristics, a number of uropathogen strains of Escherichia coli and Proteus sp. have been isolated and identified. For this isolated strains, the spectrum of sensitivity - resistance against 10 antibiotics has been determined. One pathogenic strain of E. coli has been randomly chosen, sensitive to all tested antibiotics. This strain has been used as genetic material acceptor strain. Another uropathogen strains of E. coli and Proteus sp., both ciprofloxacin-resistant with chromosomal resistance, have been used as donor strains. Chromosomal DNA donor strains were initially subjected to a plasmidial curing process and then used in genetic transformation experiments by growing strains in common environments acceptor fluid - urine and domestic waste water - ensuring physiological conditions of temperature and calcium concentration. The frequency and the efficiency of natural intergeneric Escherichia - Proteus genetic transformation and natural interspecific Escherichia -- Escherichia genetic transformation were assessed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of the number of veneer layers on the bending shear strength and delamination of Laminated Veneer Lumber (LVL) from oil palm trunk (OPT). Five (5), Six (6) and Seven (7) veneer layers of OPT LVL were manufactured. The dimension of the boards was 45 cm by 45 cm by 1.9 cm. The boards were hot pressed for 13 minutes at a pressure of 31 kgf per m2. Urea formaldehyde (UF) supplied by a local adhesive manufacturer was used as the binder for the boards. The bending shear tests consisted of the edgewise and flatwise tests, whereas the delamination test consisted of the cold and hot water boil tests. The preparation of the test specimens and tests set-up was in accordance to the Japanese Standards, JAS-1991 [1]. Six replications were used for each test. The results were analyzed by Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) using the Duncan’s Multiple Range Test to test for significant differences. The results indicated that as the number of layers increased the strength also increased. All the boards passed the standard. The difference in strength between the different types of samples was significant at 95 percent confidence level. Bending shear failures were primarily in the veneers. It is possible to use the boards as light weight interior building and furniture components. Over the years, the supply of quality timber resources from the natural forest has decrease as the wood-based industry experienced rapid growth. The supply of rubberwood for the furniture industry is also decreasing as a result of increase latex price. Accordingly, OPT LVL can be an alternative or supplementary raw material for the wood-based industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

According to some studies, the secretion of urinary glycoprotein Tamm-Horsfall protein (uromodulin) plays a significant part in the suppression of calcium nephrolith formation. The aim of the present study was to detect correlation of Tamm-Horsfall protein with soluble Ca2+ in the urine of urolithic patients and compare it with a control group, in order to estimate the degree of the disease progress, as well as the prognosis for the disease. The research included 29 urolithic patients, aged 8, 0±0, 2 y. The content of soluble Ca2+ in fresh urine was estimated by the method of capillary zone electrophoresis. The level of Tamm-Horsfall protein in urine was measured from cryoprecipitate using SDS polyacrylamide electrophoresis and semiquantitative analysis. Urine from the urolithic patients was consistently higher in Ca2+ and in Tamm-Horsfall protein concentrations than urine from controls, at all periods of the day. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

About 5% of American women and 12% of men will develop a kidney stone at some time in their life and these numbers appear to be on the rise. Despite years of scientific research into the mechanisms of stone formation and growth, limited advances have been made until recently. Randall’s original observations and thoughts on the mechanisms for kidney stone formation have been validated for idiopathic calcium oxalate stone formers (ICSF) but not for most other stone forming groups. Our current studies on selected groups of human stone formers using intraoperative papillary biopsies has shown overwhelming evidence for the presence of Randall’s plaque in ICSF and that stone formation and growth are exclusively linked to its availability to urinary ions and proteins. Intense investigation of the plaque-stone junction is needed if we are to understand the factors leading to the overgrowth process on exposed regions of plaque. Such information should allow the development of treatment strategies to block stone formation in ICSF patients. Patients who form brushite stones, or who form apatite stones because of distal renal tubular acidosis (dRTA), or patients with calcium oxalate stones due to obesity bypass procedures, or patients with cystinuria, get plugged inner medullary collecting ducts (IMCD) which leads to total destruction of the lining cells and focal sites of interstitial fibrosis. These stone formers have plaque but at levels equal to or below non-stone formers, which would suggest that they form stones by a different mechanism than do ICSF patients. © 2007 American Institute of Physics [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The papillary surface epithelium (PSE) covers the renal papilla in mammalian kidneys and serves as a diffusion barrier between the urine on the apical surface and the interstitium on the basolateral surface. The PSE also plays a physiological role in transport of solutes between the urine and interstitium both by active transport and paracellular pathways. Permeability of the PSE may be affected by alterations in specific transporters, components of intercellular tight junctions, cell surface glycosaminoglycans and urine composition. In idiopathic calcium oxalate (CaOx) stone formers, apatite deposits known as Randall’s plaque form in the papillary interstitium and lodge beneath the PSE. The presence of plaque may perturb the normal function of the PSE, possibly by provoking the up-regulation of pro-inflammatory cytokines such as TNFα in the interstitium. Disruption of the epithelial barrier may lead to increased permeability and exposure of the plaque matrix to urine constituents, followed by loss of the PSE and growth of CaOx stone over the plaque. To investigate the role of the PSE in stone development, new experimental systems are needed, including animal models of plaque formation as well as cell culture systems for papillary epithelial cells. © 2007 American Institute of Physics [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite years of research, no single macromolecule in kidney calculi or in urine has yet been shown to fulfill a specific function in stone pathogenesis. In this paper we briefly review papers investigating the urinary excretion of individual macromolecules, their effects on calcium oxalate (CaOx) crystallization and attachment of crystals to renal epithelial cells, and the influence of lithogenic conditions on their renal expression in cultured cells and animal models. Using prothrombin fragment 1 (PTF1) and human serum albumin as examples, we show the types of patterns resulting from the binding of a fluorescently tagged protein to a specific CaOx monohydrate (COM) crystal face and its incorporation into the crystal structure. Molecular modeling is also used to illustrate how PTF1 can align with the atomic array on a COM crystal surface. We conclude that although many macromolecules are, by strict definition, relevant to stone formation, very few are probably truly influential. © 2007 American Institute of Physics [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The stone farm is a system for measuring macroscopic stone growth of 12 calcium stones simultaneously. It is based on mixed suspension, mixed product removal continuous crystallization principles and the stones are grown continuously for about 500 hours or more. The growth of the stones follows a surface area dependent pattern and the growth rate constants are very similar irrespective of whether the stating materials are fragments of human stone or pieces of marble chip. Increasing citrate from 2mM to 6mM caused a significant growth inhibition which persisted in the presence of urinary macromolecules. Phytate was a very effective inhibitor (about 50% at sub-μM concentrations) but the effective concentration was increased by an order of magnitude in the presence of urinary macromolecules. The effective concentration for inhibition in a crystallization assay was a further two orders of magnitude higher. Urinary macromolecules or almost whole urine were also strongly inhibitory although neither human serum albumin nor bovine mucin had any great effect. The relationship between the size distribution of crystals in suspension and the stone enlargement rate suggests that the primary enlargement mechanism for these in vitro stones is through aggregation. The stone farm is a powerful tool with which to study crystallization inhibitors in a new light. Some differences between inhibition of crystallization and inhibition of stone growth have emerged and we have obtained quantitative evidence on the mechanism of stone enlargement in vitro. Our findings suggest that the interface between crystals in suspension and the stone surface is the key to controlling stone enlargement. © 2007 American Institute of Physics [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]