Apoptosis in human granulosa cells after induction of ovulation in women participating in an intracytoplasmic sperm injection program

Objectives: To investigate whether analysis of granulosa cell apoptosis can be useful in assessing follicular and oocyte maturation and the regulation of granulosa cell apoptosis by follicular fluid steroids in preovulatory follicles of stimulated women. Study design: Apoptosis in aspirated granulosa cells (n=64) was measured using the Annexin V-affinity assay by flow cytometry. Follicular fluid steroids were determined by ELISA and RIA. Statistics were evaluated using the Levenne test, Student t-test and simple linear regression analysis. Results: No significant differences in the number and percentage of apoptotic granulosa cells per follicle were observed according to the maturity and fertilizability of the oocytes by intracytoplasmic sperm injection within these follicles. No correlations were found between levels of steroid hormones in follicular fluid and the number and proportion of granulosa cells undergoing apoptosis. Conclusions: The percentage of apoptosis in granulosa cells is not related to oocyte maturity and fertilizability by ICSI or to follicular quality in stimulated cycles of normal women. However, the possibility cannot be discarded that this parameter may be of importance at other phases of follicular development or in natural cycles when no treatment that influences follicular physiology is being applied.     

Endocrine disruptors and congenital anomalies

The specialized literature was reviewed concerning the suspected increasing secular trends in the frequency of female births, male genital congenital anomalies, abnormal sperm counts, and testicular cancer. Although no risk factors could be identified yet, the observed sex ratio decline during the last decades has been considered to be an effect of certain pollutants on normal hormone activity, and human reproductive development. Reported increasing trends in the frequencies of hypospadias and cryptorchidism are very difficult to be interpreted due to the large variability in the registered frequency of these malformations due to operational as well as biological reasons.     

氧瓶燃烧-紫外分光光度法测定硒灵胶囊中硒的含量

目的：控制本品中硒的含量。方法：采用氧瓶燃烧法使本样品中的主要成份硒酯多糖成四阶硒离子,并与２,３－二氨基萘（ＤＮＡ）络合生成４,５－苄苯并硒二唑,然后采用紫外分光光度法测定其含量,结果：硒的浓度在０．２～２．０μｇ／ｍｌ之间线性范围良好。结论：该法具有简便,快速,准确的优点。     

High-risk sex behavior and HIV prevalence among gay and bisexual men in the community of Madrid

BACKGROUND: To analyze high-risk sexual behavior as regards HIV, the use of preventive measures and the patient-reported prevalence of HIV infections among males belonging to one of the leading homosexual associations in the Region of Madrid. METHODS: Cross-sectional study conducted in 1997-1998 by way of mailed anonymous questionnaires. An analysis is made of the sociodemographic characteristics, how often condoms are used for different types of sexual intercourse with regular or casual partners, patient-reported prevalence of HIV and other related aspects. RESULTS: 157 questionnaires were returned by gay/bisexual males. These subjects averaged 32 years of age, 85% having a high school or college education, over the past 3 months, 56% had had intercourse with more than one man; 70.6% practiced insertive anal intercourse with a regular partner and 57.4% with casual partners, solely 32.5% and 61.1% of whom always used a condom. 69.7% had receptive anal intercourse with a regular partner and 39.4% with casual partners, 35.5% and 78.4% of whom respectively always used a condom. 86.6% had oral-genital intercourse, less than 10% having always used a condom. 137 were aware of their serological condition, and 15.2% were HIV positive. 10% had had some STD at some point during the previous year. CONCLUSIONS: A major percentage of those surveyed were involved in high-risk practices (several partners and unprotected high-risk sexual intercourse) which, in conjunction with the major prevalence of infection, can be said to be the same as a major seroconversion rate.     

Changes in HIV-related attitudes and knowledge of teenagers following the Aulasida intervention in 1996-1997

BACKGROUND: Schools being the ideal setting for carrying out Health Education activities, the aim of this study was that of pinpointing and quantifying the changes in attitudes and knowledge on the part of teenagers enrolled in school in Algemesí (Valencia) following an educational intervention regarding HIV infection. METHOD: Eleven schools at which a total of 2,599 teenagers (ages 12-19) were enrolled in eleven different years of study (Secondary Education, Secondary Ed. and School Leaving Certificate, College Preparation Course and Vocational Training) were invited to take part. The Aulasida intervention carried out during the 1996-1997 school year consisted of an informative lecture-panel discussion and student involvement activities in small groups using educational materials. The gauging instrument was a questionnaire. This questionnaire was designed in a before-and-after cross-sectional study. An analysis was made divided into age and educational level strata. The averages were compared with the Student "t" test and the percentages of change with ji square. RESULTS: A total of nine schools accepted taking part. 1575 students answered the "before" test (47.4% males and 52.1% females), the average age being 15.2 (1.96) years old. The average number of correct answers to the "before" test was 13.5 (2.8). The "after" test showed an overall increase of up to 14.7 (3.0) correct answers (p < 0.01). By educational levels, this increase was highly appreciable in the younger age group. The most common sources of information on HIV were: television (80.8%); Aulasida (76.8%), teachers (60.9%), pamphlets (58.4%) and films (53.7%9. CONCLUSIONS: Educational interventions are useful tools for increasing knowledge and improving attitudes regarding HIV infection. Secondary schools are the best environment for this purpose, it being necessary to carry out interventions among younger groups, as a greater impact is thus achieved.     

A temporal-spatial cluster of sudden infant death syndrome in Navarre,Spain

An apparent temporal-spatial cluster of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) was noted in the Autonomous Community of Navarre, Spain, when four unrelated children aged between 1 and 6 months died unexpectedly within a 7-day interval in January, 1990. The population under one year of age in Navarre was approximately 4,800. The scan test of temporal clustering showed that the sudden infant deaths occurred closer to one another in time significantly more often than would be expected by chance. All four infants lived in a neighbourhood of the capital of Navarre, which accounts for approximately half the region's population. The clustered cases coincided with an outbreak of influenza type A detected by the epidemiological surveillance system and seen by the increase in 1990 over the same period in the previous year in the number of paediatric emergency-ward admissions during the epidemic days. The results confirm the presence of a temporal-spatial cluster of SIDS and favour an environmental etiology where exposure to influenza A viruses is implicated.     

Biological variation of seminal parameters in healthy subjects

BACKGROUND: A study was undertaken to assess the components of biological variation of seminal parameters in healthy subjects. METHODS: Twenty donor candidates were included in a 10-week follow-up study. Within- and between-subject biological variation, indices of individuality and heterogeneity, coefficient of reliability, critical differences, analytical goals and the lowest value observed with a <5% probability of having a true value less than the World Health Organization (1999) reference value were estimated for the following seminal parameters: concentration, total motility (WHO grades a + b + c), progressive motility (grades a + b), rapid progressive motility (grade a), sperm morphology and vitality. All analysis was performed by a single technician according to WHO 1999 guidelines for routine semen analysis. Analytical variation was assessed on different types of quality control material (frozen straws, sperm suspension, videotape, and slides) and at different (low, medium, high) quality levels. RESULTS: The analytical variation observed depended on the quality control material used and the level of semen quality. Concentration was the semen parameter with highest within- and between-subject variation, and vitality the lowest. Indices of individuality were all <0.7, and coefficients of reliability were high (0.68-0.84). The critical difference for sequential values significant at P < 0.05 for vitality, progressive motility and morphology (34.4, 49.2 and 58.0% respectively) were lower than for concentration (77.8%). CONCLUSIONS: The study results showed that conventional reference values for seminal parameters have little diagnostic value because of their marked individuality, though seminal parameters can be useful for assessing differences in an individual's serial results, in particular of progressive motility, morphology and vitality.     

Effect of paternal age in achondroplasia,thanatophoric dysplasia,and osteogenesis imperfecta

The paternal ages of nonfamilial cases of achondroplasia (AC) (n = 78), thanatophoric dysplasia (TD) (n = 64), and osteogenesis imperfecta (OI) (n = 106), were compared with those of matched controls, from an Italian Indagine Policentrica Italiana sulle Malformazioni Congenite and a South American Estudio Colaborativo Latinoamericano de Malformaciones Congénitas series. The degree of paternal age effect on the origin of these dominant mutations differed among the three conditions. Mean paternal age was highly elevated in AC, 36.30 ± 6.74 years in the IPIMC, and 37.19 ± 10.53 years in the ECLAMC; less consistently elevated in TD, 33.60 ± 7.08 years in the IPIMC, and 36.41 ± 9.38 years in the ECLAMC; and only slightly elevated in OI in the ECLAMC, 31.15 ± 9.25 years, but not in the IPIMC, 32.26 ± 6.07 years. Increased maternal age or birth order in these conditions disappeared when corrected for paternal age. Approximately 50% of AC and TD cases, and only 30% of OI cases, were born to fathers above age 35 years. For AC and TD, the increase in relative incidence with paternal age fitted an exponential curve. The variability of paternal age effect in these new mutations could be due, among other reasons, to the high proportion of germ-line mosaicism in OI parents, or to the localization of the AC gene, mapped to the 4p16.3 region, in the neighborhood of an unstable DNA area. © 1995 Wiley-Liss, Inc.