BACKGROUND Current routine semen preparation techniques do not inclusively target all intrinsic sperm characteristics that may impact the fertilization potential. In order to address these characteristics, several methods have been recently developed and applied to sperm selection. The objective of this study was to systematically review the literature describing these advanced sperm selection ...

Mitochondrial pseudogenes in the human nuclear genome have been previously described, mostly as a source of artifacts during the analysis of the mitochondrial genome. With the availability of the complete human genome sequence, we performed a comprehensive analysis of mtDNA insertions into the nucleus. We found 612 independent integrations that are evenly distributed among all chromosomes as we...

Rare-earth-containing oxide nanocomposites are prepared in a controlled fashion from porous GaAs templates. The initial porous GaAs network is replaced by a β-Ga2O3 one during annealing at temperatures from 500 to 900 ◦C. The impregnation of Eu and Er lanthanides from EuCl3:C2H5OH and ErCl3:C2H5OH solutions results in the formation of xenotime EuAsO4 and ErAsO4 microcrystals finely dispersed in...

We report here on an efficient one-step-impregnation method to synthesize crystalline mesoporous bimetal oxides (e.g. NiFe(2)O(4), CuFe(2)O(4), Cu/CeO(2)) using mesoporous silicas as hard templates under optimized mixing conditions. This new procedure enables a true replication of the mesostructure with high yield and phase purity, while retaining particle morphology of the template.

Background: Male infertility associated with sperm DNA alteration has raised a new issue in assisted reproduction techniques (ARTs).Methods: It was retrospective analytical study on 250 cases of routine IVF/ICSI performed at Swagat ART Centre from January 2017 to 2020. We divided the patient according fragmentation index (DFI) as normal DFI≤15%, n=95, moderate DFI≤30%, n=89, and high DFI group ...

Bateman's principle states that reproductive success is limited a) in females by the resources available for egg production; and b) in males, only by access to females and/or eggs. The principle has been used to generate predictions for two aspects of hermaphroditism; a) the advantage of hermaphroditism and b) sexual conflict. Comparing these predictions to the empirical data offers tests of Ba...

OBJECTIVE To determine if strict morphology correlates with outcome parameters in couples undergoing intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI). DESIGN Retrospective review. SETTING Academic nonprofit IVF center. PATIENT(S) Couples undergoing IVF/ICSI. INTERVENTION(S) In vitro fertilization and ICSI. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(S) Samples were evaluated for total sperm count, motlity, progressi...

Despite the usefulness of quantum dots (QDs) in biomedicine and optoelectronics, their toxicity risks remain a major obstacle for clinical usages. Hence, we studied the reproductive toxicity of CdSe/ZnS QDs on two aspects, (i) in vivo ovarian functions and (ii) in vitro fertilization process. The body weight, estrous cycles, biodistribution of QDs, and oocyte maturation are evaluated on female ...

In this study, we compared the fertilization rate and embryo quality after intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) as they relate to oocyte morphology. A total of 654 ICSI cycles yielding 5903 metaphase II oocytes were observed. The oocytes retrieved in these cycles were divided into (i) normal oocytes, (ii) oocytes with extracytoplasmic abnormalities (dark zona pellucida and large perivitellin...

OBJECTIVE Obesity is a worldwide concern with detrimental health effects including decreased fecundity. However, obesity's impact on in vitro fertilization (IVF) is inconclusive and there is little data concerning poor ovarian responders (POR). This study explored the effects of overweight and obesity on IVF outcomes of POR. Design. We retrospectively evaluated 188 POR undergoing IVF cycles. ...