The ratio between carcinoma antigen-125 levels in the seminal plasma and serum may be a marker for fertilization in intracytoplasmic sperm injection

Objective: To assess the relationship between tumor marker carcinoma antigen-125 levels in seminal plasma and serum and fertilization rates in an IVF program, using intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI).

Design: A prospective study.

Setting: IVF Unit, Lis Maternity Hospital, Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center, Tel Aviv, Israel.

Patient(s): Twenty-five infertile patients with severe oligo-terato-asthenospermia syndrome and 25 fertile male donors.

Intervention(s): None.

Main Outcome Measure(s): Serum and seminal plasma carcinoma antigen-125 concentrations and fertilization rate per cycle.

Result(s): In the infertile group, the seminal plasma carcinoma antigen-125 levels ranged from 22.0 to 1,284.0 U/mL (mean level ± SD, 229.9 ± 274.2 U/mL). In the normospermic fertile male donors, the seminal plasma carcinoma antigen-125 concentrations ranged from 12.2 to 336.7 U/mL (mean level ± SD, 110.1 ± 91.6 U/mL). This difference was statistically significant. The mean ± SD ratio between the seminal plasma/serum carcinoma antigen−125 levels differed significantly between the infertile group (47.9 ± 61.3) and the fertile male donors (5.7 ± 3.5). In the infertile group, the ratio between the seminal plasma/serum carcinoma antigen-125 levels was found to be negatively correlated with the oocyte fertilization rate.

Conclusion(s): The ratio between carcinoma antigen−125 levels in the seminal plasma and serum may be an indirect marker for male infertility and fertilization rate in IVF treatment using ICSI.     

Highlights from the scientific and educational abstracts presented at the ASER 2016 annual scientific meeting and postgraduate course

The annual meeting of the American Society of Radiology (ASER) took place in San Francisco, California on September 14 through September 17, 2016. Attendees represented the USA as well as international emergency radiology communities, including those from academic, private practice, and teleradiology settings. There were several “members in training” in attendance as well. The meeting again featured the “Trauma Head to Toe” 2-day didactic course, highlighting various important topics on imaging of traumatic injuries. Scattered throughout the 4 days were several poster and case of the day presentations, scientific sessions, and self-assessment modules. The following is a summary of the educational posters and scientific papers.     

A common tattoo chemical for energy storage: henna plant-derived naphthoquinone dimer as a green and sustainable cathode material for Li-ion batteries

The burgeoning energy demands of an increasingly eco-conscious population have spurred the need for sustainable energy storage devices, and have called into question the viability of the popular lithium ion battery. A series of natural polyaromatic compounds have previously displayed the capability to bind lithium via polar oxygen-containing functional groups that act as redox centers in potential electrodes. Lawsone, a widely renowned dye molecule extracted from the henna leaf, can be dimerized to bislawsone to yield up to six carbonyl/hydroxyl groups for potential lithium coordination. The facile one-step dimerization and subsequent chemical lithiation of bislawsone minimizes synthetic steps and toxic reagents compared to existing systems. We therefore report lithiated bislawsone as a candidate to advance non-toxic and recyclable green battery materials. Bislawsone based electrodes displayed a specific capacity of up to 130 mA h g⁻¹ at 20 mA g⁻¹ currents, and voltage plateaus at 2.1–2.5 V, which are comparable to modern Li-ion battery cathodes.

The burgeoning energy demands of an increasingly eco-conscious population have spurred the need for sustainable energy storage devices, and have called into question the viability of the popular lithium ion battery.     

A starter's guide to preclinical teeth arrangement: simplified clinometer

Arrangement of artificial teeth in a bilaterally symmetrical fashion with proper inclinations of teeth had been a challenging task for beginners. A variety of tools and guiding equipment have been developed to help students to learn teeth arrangement. Unfortunately, those tools were either costly or unsuitable for use with mean value articulators. This article attempts to introduce a simplified clinometer which can be attached to mean value articulator and can be used as a guide to arrange teeth in a bilaterally symmetrical manner by the undergraduates in both clinical and preclinical set-up. CLINICAL SIGNIFICANCE: Training of the future dentists in sound esthetic principles in a preclinical environment, using this device, will increase the final clinical efficacy of their work. AIM: The aim of this article is to provide a simple but effective device to undergraduate students to help them learn teeth arrangement easily and systematically.