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Objective. To examine whether density gradient centrifugation (DGC) alone or its combination with annexin V magnetic-activated cell sorting (DGC-MACS) can be used to process semen samples from infertile male patients with poor sperm quality prior to subjecting these to freeze/thaw process in order to optimize the outcomes of sperm freezing. Methods. This study enrolled sixteen patients with sperm concentration ≥ 20 × 10 6 / mL , sperm motility < 30 %, and/or

Interorganizational trust significantly impacts performance, while distrust leads to high costs. How to effectively build interorganizational trust is critical, whereas few studies point out how bo...

Objectives: To investigate the differences in clinical pregnancy, miscarriage, and live birth rates when male partners were diagnosed with a varicocele and to compare these outcomes to those without and study the outcomes based on the grade of varicocele. Methods: The retrospective study was based on a cohort of consecutive infertile couples undergoing assisted reproductive technology (ART) at the Reproductive Center of Shandong Provincial Hospital affiliated to the Shandong University during the period between January 2017 and December 2018. A total of 4203 couples comprised of men with and without varicocele undergoing the first ART cycle (1501 intrauterine inseminations (IUI), 1623 in vitro fertilisations (IVF) and 1079 intracytoplasmic sperm injections (ICSI)) were included. Semen parameters and ART outcomes were determined. Results: ICSI (26.5%) originated from men with a significant lower level in sperm concentration and motility but with a strict normal morphology had a higher prevalence of varicocele than men undergoing IUI (20.7%) and IVF (18.1%). In IUI, the odds ratios (ORs) for pregnancy and live birth were significantly lower for couples in men diagnosed with grades 1 or 2 varicocele as compared to those for men with grade 3 varicocele. In IVF, ORs for live birth where men were diagnosed with grades 1 or 2 varicocele were also lower than those for men with grade 3,whereas a higher miscarriage rate was found when men had grades 1 or 2 varicocele than when men had grade 3. However, for ICSI, no significant outcomes were found in grades 1, 2 or 3 varicocele versus the no varicocele group. Conclusions: The increasing grade of varicocele was negatively associated with sperm parameters and can alter the outcome of further IUI/IVF.

Current understanding holds that Klinefelter syndrome (KS) is not inherited, but arises randomly during meiosis. Whether there is any genetic basis for the origin of KS is unknown. Here, guided by our identification of some USP26 variations apparently associated with KS, we found that knockout of Usp26 in male mice resulted in the production of 41, XXY offspring. USP26 protein is localized at the XY body, and the disruption of Usp26 causes incomplete sex chromosome pairing by destabilizing TEX11. The unpaired sex chromosomes then result in XY aneuploid spermatozoa. Consistent with our mouse results, a clinical study shows that some USP26 variations increase the proportion of XY aneuploid spermatozoa in fertile men, and we identified two families with KS offspring wherein the father of the KS patient harbored a USP26-mutated haplotype, further supporting that paternal USP26 mutation can cause KS offspring production. Thus, some KS should originate from XY spermatozoa, and paternal USP26 mutations increase the risk of producing KS offspring.

Antisperm antibodies (ASAs) are assumed to be a possible causative factor for male infertility, with ASAs detected in 5%-15% of infertile men but in only 1%-2% of fertile ones. It remains unclear whether ASAs have an adverse effect on the outcome of in vitro fertilization (IVF) or intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI). This study investigated differences in the rates of fertilization, pregnancy, and live births associated with serum ASA-positive and ASA-negative men following IVF or ICSI. Five hundred and fifty-four consecutive infertile couples undergoing IVF (n = 399) or ICSI (n = 155) were included. The two-sample two-sided t-test and Chi-square or Fisher's exact test was used for statistical analysis. Lower rates of fertilization (41.7% vs 54.8%, P = 0.03), good embryos (18.9% vs 35.2%, P = 0.00), pregnancy (38.5% vs 59.4%, P = 0.00), and live births (25.8% vs 42.5%, P = 0.00) were observed in men of the IVF group with a positive serum ASA than in those with a negative ASA. ASA positivity/negativity correlated with pregnancy rates (P = 0.021, odds ratio [OR]: 0.630, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.425-0.932) and live birth rates (P = 0.010, OR: 1.409, 95% CI: 1.084-1.831) after controlling for the female serum follicle-stimulating hormone level and the couple's ages at IVF. Women coupled with ASA-positive men had lower live birth rates with IVF than with ICSI (25.8% and 47.4%, respectively; P = 0.07). Women coupled with ASA-positive men had lower rates of pregnancy and live births following IVF than those coupled with ASA-negative men but had a similar outcome with ICSI.

There are many unknown genetic factors that lead to infertility in nonobstructive azoospermia men. Here, we performed whole-exome sequencing in blood samples obtained from 40 azoospermia patients with meiotic arrest and found a novel c.151_154del (p.D51fs) frame-shift mutation in exon 3 of the testis expressed 11 (TEX11) gene in one patient. Sanger sequencing analysis of the patient and 288 fertile men was performed to validate the mutation. Immunohistochemical analysis showed TEX11 expression in late-pachytene spermatocytes and in round spermatids in fertile human testes. In contrast, testes of the patient with TEX11 mutation underwent meiotic arrest and lacked TEX11 expression. Western blotting of human embryonic kidney (HEK293) cells transfected with a vector for the p.D51fs TEX11 variant detected no TEX11 expression. In conclusion, we identified a novel frame-shift mutation in the TEX11 gene in an azoospermia patient, emphasizing that this gene should be included in genetic screening panels for the clinical evaluation of azoospermia patients.

A variety of fluorescent 5-aryl-2,3-dicyanofurans were prepared by the treatment of electron-rich aryl ketones with DDQ. The presence of an alkoxy substituent on the benzene ring in the substrates was essential for an efficient cyclization to occur. This novel approach allows the metal-free construction of furan rings from simple aryl ketones.

Flash memory, as a storage medium, is normally featured with high security, and thus often contains sensitive data such as passwords, cryptographic keys and other confidential contents. Optical fault injection attack is a conventional way that aims at extracting the information stored on memories. However, it has not been developed yet using this method to attack flash memories of modern micro smartcards. In this paper, the attack on flashes with optical fault injection is analyzed theoretically, and the experimental process is presented in detail. Experimental results show that some certain bytes of data can be changed into known value with optical fault injection attacks. In the read/write process, some secure information can be obtained by this approach of attack. The feature of the fault injection attack on flashes shown in the experiment can be utilized to bypass the verify operation of certain changed bytes and to guess the remaining original bytes to gain contents stored in non-volatile memories.

A novel domino cross dehydrogenative coupling of 2-aryl acetals with unmodified ketones has been developed, using DDQ as both the oxidant and reactant precursor.

A facile and efficient approach to the synthesis of secondary thioamides from ketoximes via Beckmann rearrangement has been established, using phosphorus pentasulfide as a dehydrating and thiating agent. It is also efficient for the preparation of primary thiobenzamide from benzaldoxime. This approach features simple-operation, easy-control and good to excellent yields.

Objective To evaluate intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) results with regard to congenital bilateral absence of vas deferens (CBAVD) versus non-CBAVD obstruction, cystic fibrosis transmembrane-conductance regulator (CFTR) mutations versus non-CFTR mutations, and miscarriages or stillbirths versus live births per embryo transferred. Design Retrospective study with detailed chart review. Setting Center for reproductive medicine. Patient(s) Nine hundred forty-five men with obstructive azoospermia. Intervention(s) One thousand four hundred fourteen ICSI cycles classified as CBAVD versus non-CBAVD obstruction, CFTR mutations versus non-CFTR mutations, and miscarriages/stillbirths versus live births per embryo transferred. Main Outcome Measure(s) Frequency of CFTR mutations and rates of fertilization, good embryos, clinical pregnancy, miscarriages and stillbirths, ectopic pregnancy, and live births. Result(s) CFTR mutations were more prevalent in men with CBAVD than in those with non-CBAVD obstruction. The rate of miscarriages and stillbirths per embryo transferred was higher in men with CBAVD than in those with non-CBAVD obstruction, whereas the rate of live births per embryo transferred was lower in men with CBAVD than in those with non-CBAVD obstruction. The rate of miscarriages and stillbirths per embryo transferred was higher in men with CFTR mutations than in those with non-CFTR mutations. The frequency of CFTR mutations was higher in patients who experienced miscarriages/stillbirths than in those with live births. Conclusion(s) The frequency of CFTR mutations was higher in cases of CBAVD versus non-CBAVD obstruction. Possibly as a result of CFTR mutations, patients with CBAVD had a significantly increased risk of miscarriage and stillbirth and a reduced rate of live birth compared with patients with non-CBAVD.

Water-soluble regioregular head-to-tail zwitterionic fluorescent conjugated boronic acid-bearing polythiophene (polymer 2) was prepared through a postpolymerization quaternization of a pyridine group of 3-pyridineboronic acid with bromide groups of regioregular head-to-tail poly(3-bromohexylthiophene) (polymer 1). Titration of monosaccharides, lactose, ascorbic acid, or dopamine with 0.1 M phosphate buffer (pH 7.4), containing 4.0 microM of polymer 2, results in significant concentration-dependent quenching of the polymer fluorescence. The polymer displays an optimum response to the biological species at pH 7.0. The binding constants of polymer 2 with mannose, fructose, glucose, galactose, vitamin C, dopamine, and lactose are 3.33 x 10(4), 1.13 x 10(5), 1.23 x 10(5), 1.69 x 10(5), 3.17 x 10(5), 3.27 x 10(5), and 4.60 x 10(5), respectively.