Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is a progressive condition that affects more than 10% of the population worldwide, accounting for more than 843 million (M) individuals. The prevalence of CKD (844 M patients) is higher than that of diabetes mellitus (422 M patients), cancer (42 M patients), and HIV (37 M patients), but people are often less aware of it. Global expert groups predict reductions in the nephrology workforce in the next decade, with a declining interest in nephrology careers.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFRhabdomyolysis (RM) is characterised by the breakdown of skeletal muscle tissue, releasing toxic intracellular components into circulation. It presents with dark urine, muscle weakness, myalgia, and elevated creatine phosphokinase levels (CPK). Drug-induced RM is aetiologically significant.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIntroduction: Emphysematous pyelonephritis is a rare but potentially life-threatening urinary tract infection characterized by the formation of gas in the renal parenchyma, collecting system, and perinephric tissue. The condition typically develops in patients with specific predisposing factors such as diabetes mellitus, congenital or acquired obstructive uropathies, or individuals taking immunosuppressive agents. Rarely can the disease occur in patients with other predisposing factors, such as the use of SGLT2 inhibitors, but this is quite uncommon.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFDue to their capability for comprehensive sample-to-answer automation, the interest in centrifugal microfluidic systems has greatly increased in industry and academia over the last quarter century. The main applications of these "Lab-on-a-Disc" (LoaD) platforms are in decentralised bioanalytical point-of-use / point-of-care testing. Due to the unidirectional and omnipresent nature of the centrifugal force, advanced flow control is key to coordinate multi-step / multi-reagent assay formats on the LoaD.
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