Fluctuations in Seminal Quality throughout the Year: How do Temperature, Humidity and Atmospheric Pressure Impact on Human Sperm Quality?

Background: Most studies evaluating the possible seasonal variation of semen quality have considered temperature as the only causal factor.

Aims: To assess possible seasonality in sperm quality and associations between semen parameters and several meteorological variables (temperature, humidity, apparent temperature and atmospheric pressure) in a large cohort of andrological patients.

Settings And Design: This was a retrospective, cross-sectional and correlational/descriptive study.

Infection by human polyomaviruses JCPyV and BKPyV in blood donors of Argentina.

Background And Objectives: A spectrum of blood-borne infectious agents may be transmitted through transfusion of blood components from asymptomatic donors. Despite the persistence of polyomaviruses in blood cells, no studies have been conducted in Argentina to assess the risk of transfusion infection.

Materials And Methods: We investigated BKPyV and JCPyV in 720 blood donors, using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for a region of T antigen common to both viruses.

Neutralizing response elicited by homologous and heterologous prime booster vaccination against ancestral SARS-CoV-2 B.1, P.1, C.37 and B.1.617.2 variants.

Heterologous Covid-19 vaccination strategies arose due to interruption of vaccination programs plus delay and shortage of vaccine supplies. We analysed neutralizing response against ancestral SARS-CoV-2 B.1 and P.

Is seminal quality worsening? A 20-year experience in Córdoba, Argentina.

Purpose: To assess the possible variations in semen quality during the last 20 years in Córdoba, Argentina, and to identify possible causal lifestyle or genitourinary factors.

Methods: Retrospective study of 23,130 patients attending an andrology laboratory. The 20-year period (2001-2020) was divided into four quinquenniums.

Evaluation of the Gam-COVID-Vac and vaccine-induced neutralizing response against SARS-CoV-2 lineage P.1 variant in an Argentinean cohort.

We evaluated humoral immune-response elicited by Sputnik-V by measuring anti-Spike (S) IgG antibodies (Abs) and neutralizing antibodies (NAb) prior to, 14 and 42 days after-vaccination. The safety and disease rates among vaccinated individuals were also evaluated. Since SARS-CoV-2 lineage P.

Do aging, drinking, and having unhealthy weight have a synergistic impact on semen quality?

Purpose: To evaluate if age, alcohol consumption, and body mass index (BMI) have synergistic effects on seminal quality, and to rank these factors based on their impact on semen.

Methods: Retrospective study of 9464 patients attending an andrology laboratory. Data on patients' age and daily alcohol intake were provided by the patients.

Gender-neutral donor deferral policies: experience in Argentina implementing individual risk-assessment policies.

Background: In Argentina, with the aim of moving to a safe supportive and inclusive National Blood System, in September 2015 the Ministry of Health stipulated that eligibility criteria for blood donation should only take into account the so-called 'risk practices', focusing on a 'gender-neutral' policy. The aim of this study is to demonstrate the impact of such regulation on the prevalence of STI in the population of blood donors in Argentina, through the analysis of the scientific evidence obtained from 174 074 donors from a large central region of the country, focused on a regional Blood Bank for a 6-year period (pre- and post-entry into force of the regulations).

Materials And Methods: To analyse the evolution of prevalence rates of STI, two periods of 3 years each were evaluated: The first period (P1) lasted from 16 September 2012 to 15 September 2015 (prior to the entry into force of the law) and the second one (P2) from 16 September 2015 to 15 September 2018 (after the entry into force of the law).

Recategorisation of body mass index to achieve andrological predictive power: a study in more than 20 000 patients.

The aim of this study was to recategorise body mass index (BMI) in order to classify patients according to their risk of semen abnormalities. Patients (n=20563) presenting at an andrology laboratory were classified into five groups according to BMI: underweight (BMI <20kg m-2), normal weight (BMI 20-24.9kg m-2), overweight (BMI 25-29.

Searching variables to assess recreational water quality: the presence of infectious human enterovirus and its correlation with the main variables of water pollution by multivariate statistical approach in Córdoba, Argentina.

Surface waters are used by local populations for different purposes, such as recreational activities, water source for human and animal consumption, and irrigation among others, which lead to the need for management strategies on water health and associated risks. During this study, we investigated physicochemical parameters, fecal coliform bacteria, and infectious human enterovirus detection to determine the water quality in different beaches (categorized as an urban area, non-urban areas, and an intermediate position) from San Roque Dam, in Argentina. Multivariate techniques were applied.

[Features of Bordetella pertussis, Bordetella spp. infection and whopping cough in Córdoba province, Argentina].

Introduction: Whooping cough is a re-emerging infection in the world and Latin America.

Objective: It was considered relevant to investigate the clinical and epidemiological profile of Bordetella spp. and Bordetella pertussis infection in Córdoba province, Argentina; evaluating, at the same time, the co-infection with virus producing respiratory infections that may be confused with whooping cough.

Silent dissemination of HTLV-1 in an endemic area of Argentina. Epidemiological and molecular evidence of intrafamilial transmission.

Background: Molecular and epidemiological studies of transmission routes and risk factors for infection by HTLV-1 are extremely important in order to implement control measures, especially because of the high prevalence of HTLV-1 in several regions of the world. San Salvador de Jujuy, Northwest Argentina, is a highly endemic area for HTLV-1 and foci of tropical spastic paraparesis/HTLV-1-associated myelopathy.

Objective: To gain further insight into the role of intrafamilial transmission of HTLV-1 in a highly endemic region in Argentina.

[Sensitivity of the COBAS AmpliScreen™ HIV-1 test v1.5 for HIV-1 detection].

The introduction of nucleic acid amplification techniques (NAT) in blood banks was intended to reduce the residual risk of transfusion-transmitted infections. Co-circulation of a great diversity of HIV-1 variants in Argentina portrays the need to assess the sensitivity of serological and molecular assays available for their detection. In this study, we evaluated the sensitivity of the COBAS AmpliScreen™ HIV-1 Test, version 1.

[Seedlings growth and survival of five Acacia (Fabaceae) species that coexists in neotropical semi-arid forests of Argentina, under different light and water availability conditions].

Seedlings growth and survival of five Acacia (Fabaceae) species that coexists in neotropical semi-arid forests of Argentina, under different light and water availability conditions. Seedling establishment is one of the most risky stages of plants, especially in arid and semiarid regions, where low water availability and high solar radiation influence its emergence, development and survival. In seasonally dry xerophytic forests occurring in North-Western Córdoba, central Argentina, five neotropical species of Acacia co-exist: A.

Development and validation of a real-time PCR assay for a novel HTLV-1 tax sequence detection and proviral load quantitation.

A quantitative real-time PCR (qPCR) assay using SYBR Green dye was established in order to detect and quantify the proviral DNA of HTLV-1 in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs). Primers were designed, and the assay was standardized to amplify a novel, conserved HTLV-1 tax region. Proviral load was normalized to the amount of cellular DNA by quantitation of the human albumin gene.

Relationship between the lung function and anthropometric measures and indexes in adolescents from Córdoba, Argentina.

Objectives: The objectives of this study were to determine the degrees of association between the Forced Vital Capacity (FVC) with four anthropometric variables: height, sitting height, surface, and body volume, and two somatometrics indexes: Body Mass Index (BMI) and Cormic index, and to confront the values of FVC obtained with the predicted ones by the method of Polgar.

Methods: One sample of 54 boys and 31 girls was selected. All of them were 11-18 years of age, and were students of the National School of Monserrat (Cordoba, Argentina).

Overweight and seminal quality: a study of 794 patients.

Objectives: To evaluate sperm quality, levels of markers of epididymal and accessory gland function, and T in semen from men grouped according to their body mass index (BMI).

Design: Blind prospective study.

Setting: Andrology and reproduction laboratory in Cordoba, Argentina (2006-2007).

Developmental and neurobehavioral effects of perinatal exposure to diets with different omega-6:omega-3 ratios in mice.

Objective: To investigate in mice the effect of diets enriched with soy or sunflower oil with different omega-6:omega-3 ratios on gestation, reproductive success, physical maturation, and the neurobiological development of the pups.

Methods: Dams were assigned, throughout gestation and lactation, to different groups: a commercial diet (CD), a soy oil-enriched diet (SOD), or a sunflower oil-enriched diet (SFOD). Measurements during gestation were dams' body weights and daily food intakes.

Laboratory evaluation of Artemisia annua L. extract and artemisinin activity against Epilachna paenulata and Spodoptera eridania.

Ethanolic extract of aerial parts of Artemisia annua L. and artemisinin were evaluated as anti-insect products. In a feeding deterrence assay on Epilachna paenulata Germ (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae) larvae, complete feeding rejection was observed at an extract concentration of 1.