Motile sperm organelle morphology examination (MSOME): intervariation study of normal sperm and sperm with large nuclear vacuoles

Background  

Although the motile sperm organelle morphology examination (MSOME) was developed only as a selection criterion, its application as a method for classifying sperm morphology may represent an improvement in evaluation of semen quality, with potential clinical repercussions. The present study aimed to evaluate individual variations in the motile sperm organelle morphology examination (MSOME) analysis after a time interval.     

Encephalocraniocutaneous lipomatosis accompanied by maxillary compound odontoma and juvenile angiofibroma: report of a case

BACKGROUND: Encephalocraniocutaneous lipomatosis (ECCL) is a rare neurocutaneous syndrome characterized by congenital cutaneous, ocular, and neurologic abnormalities, which may be pronounced in the head and neck. CASE: In this article we present a well-documented case of a six-year-old boy with ECCL associated with oral manifestations. In this case, typical features such as large lipomatous brown pigmented plaques of the top of the skull with overlying alopecia, ptotic eyelid with decreased function, bulbar conjunctiva lipodermoid, microcalcifications and atrophy of cerebral parenchyma, and the widening of the frontal subarachnoid space and the fissure of Sylvius were accompanied by intraoral lesions, maxillary compound odontoma, and juvenile extranasopharyngeal angiofibroma of the gingiva. CONCLUSIONS: Although cases of odontomas have already been described and angiofibromas are a quite common extraoral finding, to our knowledge this is the first case of intraoral evaluation of both extranasopharyngeal juvenile angiofibroma and maxillary compound odontoma in ECCL syndrome.     

Rational engineering of the TOL meta-cleavage pathway

The meta-cleavage pathway of Pseudomonas putida mt-2 was simulated using a biochemical systems simulation developed by Regan (1996). A non-competitive inhibition term for catechol-2,3-dioxygenase (C23O) by 2-OH-pent-2,4-dienoate (Ki = 150 μM) was incorporated into the model. The simulation predicted steady state accumulation levels in the μM range for metabolites pre-meta-cleavage, and in the mM range for metabolites post-meta-cleavage. The logarithmic gains L[V-i, Xj] and L[X-i, Xj] clearly indicated that the pathway was most sensitive to the concentration of the starting substrate, benzoate, and the first enzyme of the pathway, toluate-1, 2-dioxygenase (TO). The simulation was validated experimentally; it was found that the amplification of TO increased the steady state flux from 0.024 to 0.091 (mmol/g cell dwt)/h. This resulted in an increased accumulation of a number of the pathway metabolites (intra- and extracellularly), especially cis-diol, 4-OH-2-oxovalerate, and 4-oxalocrotonate. Metabolic control analysis indicated that C23O was, in fact, the major controling enzymic step of the pathway with a scaled control coefficient of 0.83. The amplification of TO resulted in a shift of some of the control away from C23O. Catechol-2,3-dioxygenase, however, remained as the major controling element of the pathway. Copyright 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Characterization of 13 newly isolated strains of anaerobic, cellulolytic, thermophilic bacteria

Characteristics of 13 newly isolated thermophilic, anaerobic, and cellulolytic strains were compared with previously described strains of Clostridium thermocellum: ATCC 27405 and JW20 (ATCC 31549). Colony morphology, antibiotic sensitivity, fermentation end-products, and cellulose degradation were documented. All 13 strains were sensitive to erythromycin (5 μg/ml) and chloramphenicol (25 μg/ml), and all strains but one were sensitive to kanamycin (20 μg/ml). Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplification using primers based on gene sequences from C. thermocellum ATCC 27405 was successful for all 13 strains in the case of the hydrogenase gene and 11 strains in the case of phosphotransacetylase/acetate kinase genes. Ten strains amplified a product of the expected size with primers developed to be specific for C. thermocellum 16SrRNA primers. Two of the 13 strains did not amplify any product with the PCR primers designed for the phosphotransacetylase/acetate kinase and 16SrRNA primers. A MboI-like GATC- recognizing restriction activity was present in all of the five strains examined. The results of this study have several positive implications with respect to future development of a transformation system for cellulolytic thermophiles. Journal of Industrial Microbiology & Biotechnology (2001) 27, 275–280. Received 12 September 2000/ Accepted in revised form 20 November 2000     

Relationship between in vitro fertilisation of ewe oocytes and the fertility of ewes following cervical artificial insemination with frozen-thawed ram semen

No laboratory test exists that can reliably predict differences among rams in field fertility after artificial insemination (AI) with frozen-thawed semen. In vitro fertilisation (IVF) has been proposed as a method of predicting these differences. The objectives of this study were to evaluate whether IVF system could discriminate among rams of different fertility in vivo after AI using frozen-thawed semen. Also, to examine effects of lowering sperm concentration on discrimination power between rams used for IVF. The aim of Experiment 1 was to evaluate the effect of altering the sperm concentration from 2 x 10(6) to 0.03125 x 10(6) spermatozoa/mL on subsequent cleavage rate and blastocyst rate in vitro. In Experiment 2, six rams (three High and three Low in vivo fertility; average pregnancy rates of 37.6% and 21.8%, respectively) were compared for their fertilising ability in IVF. Spermatozoa from each of the six rams were added to ewe oocytes using a concentration of either 2 x 10(6) or 0.0625 x 10(6)/mL. There were six replicates with 25 oocytes per well and two wells per ram per replicate. Cleavage rate was monitored at 48 h post-insemination (p.i.) and blastocyst rate determined on Days 6-8 p.i. In Experiment 1, cleavage rate increased with increasing sperm concentration and blastocyst rate was not affected by sperm concentration on any day. When the six rams were tested using 2 x 10(6) spermatozoa/mL, no significant differences were found between High and Low fertility groups for cleavage rate or blastocyst rate on Days 6, 7, or 8 p.i. (P>0.05). When the experiment was repeated using 0.0625 x 10(6) spermatozoa/mL, no differences were found between High and Low group rams for blastocyst rate on any of Days 6, 7 or 8 p.i. (P>0.05). However, there was a significant difference between High and Low fertility rams for percentage of oocytes cleaved (16.4, S.E. 2.02%; P<0.01) and the correlation between fertility in vivo and cleavage rate in vitro was significant (P=0.013). Replicate of IVF was a source of significant variation for both cleavage rate and blastocyst rate and conditions need to be further controlled. However, we suggest that using a low concentration of spermatozoa (0.0625 x 10(6)/mL) for IVF may be a useful method for predicting field fertility of frozen-thawed ram semen.     

Fragilidad como predictor de episodios adversos en estudios epidemiológicos: revisión de la literatura

Several epidemiological studies have analyzed the association between frailty status and adverse geriatric health outcomes, with there being a clear relationship being demonstrated in mortality, disability, mobility loss, institutionalization and falls. However, different studies have evaluated different number of these adverse events, with different criteria, and with different follow-up periods. As a result of this relationship, the objective of geriatric medicine must not only be the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of diseases based on multidisciplinary team work and use of geriatric units according to functional status of patients, but the detection, prevention and treatment of frailty. Frailty must be considered as a pre-disability state that can be prevented and treated to delay its progression towards disability, institutionalization, and death. The characterization of frailty status can also help other medical specialties to stratify the risk of adverse health outcomes in oncology treatments, surgical interventions, or diagnostic procedures.