BACKGROUND Sleep duration has been hypothesized to be inversely associated with breast cancer risk, possibly due to greater overall melatonin production in longer sleepers. However, data are inconclusive from the three studies conducted in Western populations on sleep duration and breast cancer risk. METHODS We investigated the relationship between self-reported usual sleep duration determine...

AIMS Current practice in most laboratories stipulates the preparation of duplicate slides for the analysis of urine cytology specimens. This study evaluates whether the duplicate slide is necessary. METHODS Cytospin diagnosis was assessed in three ways. First, all urine cytology preparations from a single month in 1998 were reviewed; the two slides for each case were reported separately and t...

The primary constituent of urinary protein in diabetic nephropathy is albumin. Consequently, quantification of urinary albumin excretion is central to any description of diabetic renal disease. Albumin excretion can be determined from timed urine collections, and 24hour, overnight, or even shorter collection periods are used. Measurement of the urinary albumin-to-creatinine ratio in untimed uri...

Increases in serum phosphorus levels and dietary phosphorus intake induces vascular calcification, arterial sclerosis and cardiovascular diseases. Limiting phosphorus intake is advisable, however, no assessment methods are capable of estimating dietary phosphorus intake. We hypothesized that urinary phosphorus excretion can be translated into estimation of dietary phosphorus intake, and we eval...

Studies on short-term renal responses to (pharmacological) intervention require accurate and multiple collection of urine samples. Several invasive techniques have been described for frequent urine collection of the conscious rat, each having their own limitations. No data are available about the feasibility of the spontaneously voiding, freely moving rat for this purpose. In the present study,...

This study investigated fluid and electrolyte balance in well-trained male and female swimmers during 2 training sessions. Participants were 17 nationally ranked swimmers measured during a period of intensive training. Sweat loss was assessed from changes in body mass after correction for fluid intake and urine collection. Sweat composition was measured from waterproof absorbent patches applied...

INTRODUCTION Accurate estimates of water intake and hydration status in populations are essential to identify populations at risk of dehydration and define strategies to improve standards of water intake. OBJECTIVE To evaluate the hydration status and the contribution of food and beverages to the total water intake in a sample of free-living physically active Portuguese elderly. METHODS A s...

Sir, I read the detailed description given by Lund et al.1 with great interest. Two years ago, while studying very preterm babies, I began to use an almost identical system. Since then I have made several modifications which have increased its versatility, simplified the changing of the slings, and greatly improved its acceptability for use with very small and immature subjects (Figure). As our...

Urine analysis is affected significantly by biological variability. The objective of this study was to study the feasibility of reducing the biological variability of excretion of various analytes in urine, especially albumin in children with diabetes, by mixing small volumes of early morning samples. Twenty-two male children with type 1 diabetes collected early morning aliquots of approximatel...

BACKGROUND Urine LAM testing has been approved by the WHO for use in hospitalised patients with advanced immunosuppression. However, sensitivity remains suboptimal. We therefore examined the incremental diagnostic sensitivity of early morning urine (EMU) versus random urine sampling using the Determine® lateral flow lipoarabinomannan assay (LF-LAM) in HIV-TB co-infected patients. METHODS Cons...