scholarly journals Partial deletions are associated with an increased risk of complete deletion in AZFc: a new insight into the role of partial AZFc deletions in male infertility

2007 ◽  
Vol 44 (7) ◽  
pp. 437-444 ◽  
Author(s):  
F. Zhang ◽  
C. Lu ◽  
Z. Li ◽  
P. Xie ◽  
Y. Xia ◽  
...  
2020 ◽  
Vol 21 (5) ◽  
pp. 1728 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rossella Cannarella ◽  
Rosita A. Condorelli ◽  
Laura M. Mongioì ◽  
Sandro La Vignera ◽  
Aldo E. Calogero

Male infertility affects half of infertile couples and, currently, a relevant percentage of cases of male infertility is considered as idiopathic. Although the male contribution to human fertilization has traditionally been restricted to sperm DNA, current evidence suggest that a relevant number of sperm transcripts and proteins are involved in acrosome reactions, sperm‒oocyte fusion and, once released into the oocyte, embryo growth and development. The aim of this review is to provide updated and comprehensive insight into the molecular biology of spermatogenesis, including evidence on spermatogenetic failure and underlining the role of the sperm-carried molecular factors involved in oocyte fertilization and embryo growth. This represents the first step in the identification of new possible diagnostic and, possibly, therapeutic markers in the field of apparently idiopathic male infertility.


1992 ◽  
Vol 67 (01) ◽  
pp. 111-116 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marcel Levi ◽  
Jan Paul de Boer ◽  
Dorina Roem ◽  
Jan Wouter ten Cate ◽  
C Erik Hack

SummaryInfusion of desamino-d-arginine vasopressin (DDAVP) results in an increase in plasma plasminogen activator activity. Whether this increase results in the generation of plasmin in vivo has never been established.A novel sensitive radioimmunoassay (RIA) for the measurement of the complex between plasmin and its main inhibitor α2 antiplasmin (PAP complex) was developed using monoclonal antibodies preferentially reacting with complexed and inactivated α2-antiplasmin and monoclonal antibodies against plasmin. The assay was validated in healthy volunteers and in patients with an activated fibrinolytic system.Infusion of DDAVP in a randomized placebo controlled crossover study resulted in all volunteers in a 6.6-fold increase in PAP complex, which was maximal between 15 and 30 min after the start of the infusion. Hereafter, plasma levels of PAP complex decreased with an apparent half-life of disappearance of about 120 min. Infusion of DDAVP did not induce generation of thrombin, as measured by plasma levels of prothrombin fragment F1+2 and thrombin-antithrombin III (TAT) complex.We conclude that the increase in plasminogen activator activity upon the infusion of DDAVP results in the in vivo generation of plasmin, in the absence of coagulation activation. Studying the DDAVP induced increase in PAP complex of patients with thromboembolic disease and a defective plasminogen activator response upon DDAVP may provide more insight into the role of the fibrinolytic system in the pathogenesis of thrombosis.


2019 ◽  
Vol 58 (2) ◽  
pp. 249-259
Author(s):  
Joseph Acquisto

This essay examines a polemic between two Baudelaire critics of the 1930s, Jean Cassou and Benjamin Fondane, which centered on the relationship of poetry to progressive politics and metaphysics. I argue that a return to Baudelaire's poetry can yield insight into what seems like an impasse in Cassou and Fondane. Baudelaire provides the possibility of realigning metaphysics and politics so that poetry has the potential to become the space in which we can begin to think the two of them together, as opposed to seeing them in unresolvable tension. Or rather, the tension that Baudelaire animates between the two allows us a new way of thinking about the role of esthetics in moments of political crisis. We can in some ways see Baudelaire as responding, avant la lettre, to two of his early twentieth-century readers who correctly perceived his work as the space that breathes a new urgency into the questions of how modern poetry relates to the world from which it springs and in which it intervenes.


2020 ◽  
pp. 49-57
Author(s):  
S. V. Orlova ◽  
E. A. Nikitina ◽  
L. I. Karushina ◽  
Yu. A. Pigaryova ◽  
O. E. Pronina

Vitamin A (retinol) is one of the key elements for regulating the immune response and controls the division and differentiation of epithelial cells of the mucous membranes of the bronchopulmonary system, gastrointestinal tract, urinary tract, eyes, etc. Its significance in the context of the COVID‑19 pandemic is difficult to overestimate. However, a number of studies conducted in the past have associated the additional intake of vitamin A with an increased risk of developing cancer, as a result of which vitamin A was practically excluded from therapeutic practice in developed countries. Our review highlights the role of vitamin A in maintaining human health and the latest data on its effect on the development mechanisms of somatic pathology.


Letonica ◽  
2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Māra Grudule

The article gives insight into a specific component of the work of Baltic enlightener Gotthard Friedrich Stender (1714–1796) that has heretofore been almost unexplored — the transfer of German musical traditions to the Latvian cultural space. Even though there are no sources that claim that Stender was a composer himself, and none of his books contain musical notation, the texts that had been translated by Stender and published in the collections “Jaunas ziņģes” (New popular songs, 1774) and “Ziņģu lustes” (The Joy of singing, 1785, 1789) were meant for singing and, possibly, also for solo-singing with the accompaniment of some musical instrument. This is suggested, first, by how the form of the translation corresponds to the original’s form; second, by the directions, oftentimes attached to the text, that indicate the melody; and third, by the genres of the German originals cantata and song. Stender translated several compositions into Latvian including the text of the religious cantata “Der Tod Jesu” (The Death of Jesus, 1755) by composer Karl Heinrich Graun (1754–1759); songs by various composers that were widely known in German society; as well as a collection of songs by the composer Johann Gottlieb Naumann (1741–1801) that, in its original form, was published together with notation and was intended for solo-singing (female vocals) with the accompaniment of a piano. This article reveals the context of German musical life in the second half of the 18th century and explains the role of music as an instrument of education in Baltic-German and Latvian societies.


2018 ◽  
Vol 69 (8) ◽  
pp. 2209-2212
Author(s):  
Alexandru Radu Mihailovici ◽  
Vlad Padureanu ◽  
Carmen Valeria Albu ◽  
Venera Cristina Dinescu ◽  
Mihai Cristian Pirlog ◽  
...  

Left ventricular noncompaction is a primary cardiomyopathy with genetic transmission in the vast majority of autosomal dominant cases. It is characterized by the presence of excessive myocardial trabecularities that generally affect the left ventricle. In diagnosing this condition, echocardiography is the gold standard, although this method involves an increased risk of overdiagnosis and underdiagnosis. There are also uncertain cases where echocardiography is inconclusive, a multimodal approach is needed, correlating echocardiographic results with those obtained by magnetic resonance imaging. The clinical picture may range from asymptomatic patients to patients with heart failure, supraventricular or ventricular arrhythmias, thromboembolic events and even sudden cardiac death. There is no specific treatment of left ventricular noncompaction, but the treatment is aimed at preventing and treating the complications of the disease. We will present the case of a young patient with left ventricular noncompactioncardiomyopathy and highlight the essential role of transthoracic echocardiography in diagnosing this rare heart disease.


Author(s):  
James Marlatt

ABSTRACT Many people may not be aware of the extent of Kurt Kyser's collaboration with mineral exploration companies through applied research and the development of innovative exploration technologies, starting at the University of Saskatchewan and continuing through the Queen's Facility for Isotope Research. Applied collaborative, geoscientific, industry-academia research and development programs can yield technological innovations that can improve the mineral exploration discovery rates of economic mineral deposits. Alliances between exploration geoscientists and geoscientific researchers can benefit both parties, contributing to the pure and applied geoscientific knowledge base and the development of innovations in mineral exploration technology. Through a collaboration that spanned over three decades, we gained insight into the potential for economic uranium deposits around the world in Canada, Australia, USA, Finland, Russia, Gabon, Namibia, Botswana, South Africa, and Guyana. Kurt, his research team, postdoctoral fellows, and students developed technological innovations related to holistic basin analysis for economic mineral potential, isotopes in mineral exploration, and biogeochemical exploration, among others. In this paper, the business of mineral exploration is briefly described, and some examples of industry-academic collaboration innovations brought forward through Kurt's research are identified. Kurt was a masterful and capable knowledge broker, which is a key criterion for bringing new technologies to application—a grand, curious, credible, patient, and attentive communicator—whether talking about science, business, or life and with first ministers, senior technocrats, peers, board members, first nation peoples, exploration geologists, investors, students, citizens, or friends.


2020 ◽  
Vol 26 (32) ◽  
pp. 3915-3927 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stefano Ballestri ◽  
Claudio Tana ◽  
Maria Di Girolamo ◽  
Maria Cristina Fontana ◽  
Mariano Capitelli ◽  
...  

: Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) embraces histopathological entities ranging from the relatively benign simple steatosis to the progressive form nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), which is associated with fibrosis and an increased risk of progression to cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma. NAFLD is the most common liver disease and is associated with extrahepatic comorbidities including a major cardiovascular disease burden. : The non-invasive diagnosis of NAFLD and the identification of subjects at risk of progressive liver disease and cardio-metabolic complications are key in implementing personalized treatment schedules and follow-up strategies. : In this review, we highlight the potential role of ultrasound semiquantitative scores for detecting and assessing steatosis severity, progression of NAFLD, and cardio-metabolic risk. : Ultrasonographic scores of fatty liver severity act as sensors of cardio-metabolic health and may assist in selecting patients to submit to second-line non-invasive imaging techniques and/or liver biopsy.


Author(s):  
Nikolaos Sofikitis ◽  
Aris Kaltsas ◽  
Fotios Dimitriadis ◽  
Jens Rassweiler ◽  
Nikolaos Grivas ◽  
...  

The therapeutic range of cyclic nucleotide phosphodiesterase 5 inhibitors (PDE5) inhibitors is getting wider in the last years. This review study focuses on the potential employment of PDE5 inhibitors as an adjunct tool for the therapeutic management of male infertility. The literature tends to suggest a beneficial effect of PDE5 inhibitors on Leydig and Sertoli cells secretory function. It also appears that PDE5 inhibitors play a role in the regulation of the contractility of the testicular tunica albuginea and the epididymis. Moreover scientific data suggest that PDE5 inhibitors enhance the prostatic secretory function leading to an improvement in sperm motility. Other studies additionally demonstrate a role of PDE5 inhibitors in the regulation of sperm capacitation process. Placebo-controlled, randomized, blind studies are necessary to unambiguously incorporate PDE5 inhibitors as an adjunct tool for the pharmaceutical treatment of semen disorders and male infertility.


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