Extended Injection Intervals of Gonadotropins by Intradermal Administration in IVF Treatment

Context Gonadotropins can be administered every five days under intradermal injection in in vitro fertilization (IVF) treatment. Objective To explore the effectiveness of intradermal injection of recombinant human FSH (rhFSH) for women undergoing IVF. Materials and Methods Women who received their first time IVF enrolled in this prospective intervention in 2018. All women received a bolus of 900 IU rhFSH intradermally at day 2 of the treatment cycle followed by additional dosage of rhFSH at day 7 and/or day 10. The main outcome measures included the total dose of rhFSH and number of injections required, sequential serum FSH level detected, and number of mature oocytes retrieved. Results Seventy women completed the study. On average, 2.31±0.73 injections and 1662±397 IU of rhFSH were administered. While the baseline FSH level was 5.6±2.2 IU/L, the serum concentrations of FSH after rhFSH administration were 35.3±7.0 on the first day (24 hours) and 10.7±3.7 IU/L on the fifth day (120 hours). A total of 10.5±6.6 mature oocytes were retrieved, resulting in 7.3±5.1 pronuclear embryos; and 1.8±0.6 embryos were transferred to the uterus. Our findings resulted in 72% fertilization, 91% cleavage, 31% implantation, and 36% live birth rates. Although less larger follicles were found, non-inferiority results were noted in the mature oocytes retrieved, good embryos available and clinical pregnancy rate compared to those received conventional daily subcutaneous rhFSH administration. Conclusion Intradermal administration of rhFSH, with less dose of rhFSH and numbers of injection, may achieve the goal of a cost-effective and more patient-friendly regimen.

Conventional Weight-Based versus Low-Dose Regimen of Heparin Administration to Achieve Target Activated Clotting Time on Cardiopulmonary Bypass in Pakistani Population

Objective: A weight-based dose of heparin is calculated to achieve target ACT (Activated clotting time) for establishing CPB (cardiopulmonary bypass). Whether a target ACT can be achieved with lower dose of heparin in Pakistani population was the aim of this study. Methodology: The cross-sectional comparative study was conducted at Rawalpindi Institute of Cardiology, Department of Cardiac Surgery from 1st January 2019 to 1st January 2020. Three hundred thirty-six (336) patients undergoing elective open-heart surgeries on CPB were included in this study. Patients receiving weight-based heparin dose were placed in Group-A, while those on low-dose heparin were placed in Group-B. ACT was considered to have reached the target value in range of 400-480 seconds, values between 481-1500 seconds were considered excessive, whereas ACT of >1500 was regarded as potentially high-risk for peri-operative bleeding . Results: 14.1% (n= 28) of Group-A patients achieved target ACT, whereas 58.3% (n=116) exceeded the target of 480. In 25.1% (n=50), ACT values were beyond the measuring capacity of the assay machine i.e. >1500. Only 2.5% (n=5) required additional dosage of heparin. Target ACT in Group B was achieved in 19.7% (n= 27), 55.5% (n=76) had excessive ACT values, whereas in 16.8% (n= 23), it was >1500. 9.5% (n=13) required an additional dosage of Heparin. Conclusion: In Pakistani population, a target ACT can be achieved with significantly lower dose than the conventional weight-based heparin dose. Larger studies, preferably randomized controlled trials are needed to determine the optimal heparin dose calculation for safe anti-coagulation during CPB.

Influence of Dose Delivery of Low-Beam Energy Gallium on FinFET Devices

In a previous study, the authors introduced a novel technique of using low-beam energy Gallium Focused Ion Beam to expose a large area of Shallow Trench Isolation (STI) over a Dynamic Ring Oscillator (DRO) incurring virtually no change of its operating frequency. In this paper, the authors further investigate the influence of extended dose delivery of 5 kV Ga+ after the initial exposure of the STI over a DRO on modern 7 nm process. The motivation of this study is to understand the dynamics between the Ga+ ion interaction at lower beam energies on live and functional devices and the failure mechanism of the device from such interaction. The frequency of the DROs after the initial STI exposure at 5 kV exhibits <1% increase. Additional dosage of lowkV exposure was performed over the exposed STI and its effects on the DRO frequency was monitored. Finally TEM analysis of the irradiated DROs will be analyzed to understand the failure mechanism of transistors.

Extraction of Valuable Components from Man-made Waters

The results of experimental studies on isolation of poly-charged metals cations from man-made waters, which are valuable components, are presented. For their isolation and concentration, the method of homogenous sedimentation was used, which provides self-purification of water bodies in natural conditions and is responsible for the formation of bottom sediments. To implement these processes, energy-consuming low-pressure membrane methods were used- nanofiltration and dialysis, which creates conditions for the formation of solid solutions inside the composite membrane and do not require additional dosage of reagents. With the help of such combination, it was possible to obtain conditionally clean water for technical and household use, to divert environmentally friendly waste waters to the hydrographic network of the region. In addition, the shape of resulting original “ore body” simplifies its processing into individual components. It is noted the use of membrane reactors makes it possible to implement the homogenous deposition regime, which ensures the isolation of transition metals in the form of solid solutions with natural components of surface waters.

Influences of Urea and Za Fertilizers to Soil Chemical Properties, N Uptake and Sugarcane Growth in Ultisols Seputih Mataram, Lampung

Ultisols is a less fertile soil also esay to soil leaching and erosion can cause lower efficiency of soil nutrient uptakes such as Nitrogen. The objective of this research was to find out the influences of Urea and ZA fertilizers to soil chemical properties, N uptake and sugarcane growth in Seputih Mataram Ultisols in Lampung. The experiment was conducted in a completely randomized design in 2 factors and 3 blocks for repetitions. The first factor was the sugarcane varieties; TC-09 (V1) sugarcane variety and TC-15 (V2) sugarcane variety. The second factor was fertilizer doses and combinations in 7 levels: 0 kg N/ha or without N fertilizer (N0); 100% of urea fertilizer from total of standard dosage of SGC (151 kgs of N/ha), which is 328 kg Urea/ha (N1); 86% urea and 14% ZA or 283 kg urea/ha and 100 kg ZA/ha (N2); 75% urea and 25% ZA or 246 kg urea/ha and 100 kg ZA/ha (N3); 50% urea and 50% ZA or 164 kg ura/ha and 360 kg ZA/ha (N4); 25% urea and 75% ZA or 82 kg urea/ha and 539 kg ZA/ha (N5); and 100% ZA fertilizer of 719 kg ZA/ha (N6). This results showed that Urea at the dosage of 328 without Za is the most effective and economist combination to increase the weight of sugar-cane per hectare, N uptake of plants, and N efficiency uptake of plants. Additional dosage of ZA increased soil acidity (decreased of soil pH). The study also showed recent that the weight and amount of population per hectare of TC 15 variety are higher than TC 09 variety.

Influence of heavy metal ions on the spectra and charge characteristics of DOM of municipal sewage secondary effluent

The spectral and charged characteristics of dissolved organic matter (DOM) in municipal sewage secondary effluent influenced by heavy metal ions were studied by three-dimensional fluorescence spectroscopy, ultraviolet spectrometry, etc. As the Cu(II) concentration increased, the fluorescence intensity of the DOM's fluorescence peak reduced. When the Cu(II) concentration was 100 μmol/L, the fluorescence intensity of the humic-like acid in the DOM reduced by 19.5%–27.6%. However, there was no obvious change in the fluorescence intensity when Cd(II) was added. According to the modified Stern–Volmer equation, the conditional stability constant lgK and the proportion of the fluorescent functional groups of the DOM binding with Cu(II) were 2.19–2.69 and 16%–48%, respectively. The UV253/UV203 value changed little with the additional dosage of metal ions below 10 μmol/L, which increased as the concentration of Cu(II) or Pb(II) increased from 10–100 μmol/L. As the metal concentrations increase, the absolute values of the Zeta potential and the particle sizes of the DOM basically increased. The results showed that Cu(II) had the strongest binding ability to the groups that emitted fluorescence in the secondary effluent DOM compared to Pb(II) and Cd(II).

Preparation and Application of Polyacrylamide-Grafted Starch Flocculant

A polyacrylamide-grafted starch (St-g-PAM) flocculant for the coal slurry wastewater, was prepared by using corn starch and acrylamide (AM) as monomers through solution polymerization. The structure of the synthesized St-g-PAM was characterized by FT-IR and TG. The effects of initiator concentration, reaction temperature, and monomer concentration on percentage of grafting and the grafting efficiency were investigated. The results show that the optimal conditions of the polymerization are as follows: the monomer to substrate ratio of 2.5, potassium persulfate of 0.08 g/mL, reaction time of 3h, the reaction temperature of 65°C. The additional dosage of St-g-PAM is varying between 35 and 45 mg/L to obtain good flocculation capability, better flocculation capability with the addition of 30mg/L of FeCl3.

Preparation of Anionic Polyacrylamide-Grafted Starch Flocculant and its Application

An anionic polyacrylamide-grafted starch (St-g-APAM) flocculant for the coal slurry waste water, was prepared by using corn starch and acrylamide (AM) as monomers, acrylic acid (AA) as anionic monomer through solution polymerization. The effects of initiator concentration, reaction temperature, and monomer concentration on percentage of grafting and the grafting efficiency were investigated. The results show that the optimal conditions of the polymerization are as follows: the monomer to substrate ratio of 2.0, AM:AA ratio of 2:1, potassium persulfate of 0.7 x 10-3mol/L, reaction time of 4h, the reaction temperature of 50°C. The additional dosage of St-g-APAM is varying between 10 and 20 mg/L to obtain good flocculation capability.