Nephropathy, but not Angiographically Proven Retinopathy, is Associated with Neutrophil to Lymphocyte Ratio in Patients with Type 2 Diabetes.

Background: Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus is a leading cause of end stage renal disease in the worldwide. Inflammation is regarded as one of the main reasons for the progression of diabetes complications. We aimed to evaluate the association of neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio (NLR) as indicator of systemic inflammation with diabetic retinopathy and nephropathy.

Proposed guidelines on the nomenclature and annotation of dynamic human embryo monitoring by a time-lapse user group.

Study Question: Can the approach to, and terminology for, time-lapse monitoring of preimplantation embryo development be uniformly defined in order to improve the utilization and impact of this novel technology?

Summary Answer: The adoption of the proposed guidelines for defining annotation practice and universal nomenclature would help unify time-lapse monitoring practice, allow validation of published embryo selection algorithms and facilitate progress in this field.

What Is Known Already: An increasing quantity of publications and communications relating to time-lapse imaging of in vitro embryo development have demonstrated the added clinical value of morphokinetic data for embryo selection. Several articles have identified similar embryo selection or de-selection variables but have termed them differently.

Predictive Modeling of Implantation Outcome in an In Vitro Fertilization Setting: An Application of Machine Learning Methods.

Background: Multiple embryo transfers in in vitro fertilization (IVF) treatment increase the number of successful pregnancies while elevating the risk of multiple gestations. IVF-associated multiple pregnancies exhibit significant financial, social, and medical implications. Clinicians need to decide the number of embryos to be transferred considering the tradeoff between successful outcomes and multiple pregnancies.

Drug Dose Adjustment in Dialysis Patients Admitted in Clinics Other Than Internal Medicine.

Many drugs that are administered during hospitalization are metabolized or excreted through kidneys, consequently require dosage adjustment. We aimed to investigate inappropriate prescription of drugs requiring renal dose adjustment (RDA) in various surgical and medical inpatient clinics. We retrospectively determined dialysis patients hospitalized between January 2007 and December 2010.

Liver abscess after implantation of dental prosthesis.

Pyogenic liver abscesses are rare but a life-threatening important condition. Dental procedures constitute only rare cases of pyogenic liver abscesses, with only a few cases in the literature. We report a patient with liver abscess following a dental procedure.

Time-lapse evaluation of human embryo development in single versus sequential culture media--a sibling oocyte study.

Objective: To compare the dynamics of early development between embryos cultured in single and sequential media.

Design: Randomized, comparative study.

Setting: Private IVF centre.

Cryopreservation of blastocysts is the most feasible strategy in good responder patients.

Objective: To assess on which day to cryopreserve and transfer thawed embryos in good-responder patients by comparing the cycle outcomes of day 3 transfers vs blastocysts formed through extended culture before or after cryopreservation.

Design: Retrospective clinical study.

Setting: Private IVF center.

Physician experience in performing embryo transfers may affect outcome.

The distribution of six physicians' pregnancy rates with cycle and patient demographics was investigated for 2,212 transfer cycles. The results indicate that when the patient and cycle characteristics are compromised, the level of physician experience may determine the outcome of embryo transfers.

Birth after 12 hours of oocyte refrigeration.

Objective: To assess cycle outcome after oocyte refrigeration.

Design: Case report.

Setting: Private IVF center.

A frequency based encoding technique for transformation of categorical variables in mixed IVF dataset.

Implantation prediction of in-vitro fertilization (IVF) embryos is critical for the success of the treatment. In this study, Support Vector Machine (SVM) method has been used on an original IVF dataset for classification of embryos according to implantation potentials. The dataset we analyzed includes both categorical and continuous feature values.

In vitro culture under physiologic oxygen concentration improves blastocyst yield and quality: a prospective randomized survey on sibling oocytes.

A prospective randomized study was carried on sibling oocytes in which human gametes and embryos were cultured at physiologic (6% CO(2) + 5% O(2) + 89% N(2)) condition from insemination to day 6 or at atmospheric (6% CO(2) in air) condition until day 3 and at physiologic environment afterward. The results showed that physiologic oxygen concentration throughout culture period improved total blastocyst yield and day 5 embryo quality.

Preliminary study of embryo development following assessment of male and female gametes.

Gamete characteristics are likely to contribute to embryo development. In this preliminary study, early parameters were assessed in embryos generated following microinjection of hyaluronan-bound and unbound spermatozoa into 176 sibling oocytes, which had themselves been assessed using a polarizing light microscope imaging system. The fertilization and early cleavage rates, and day 3 embryo quality did not differ when oocytes displaying similar characteristics were inseminated with either bound or unbound sperm.

Gonadotrophin therapy in combination with ICSI in men with hypogonadotrophic hypogonadism.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of gonadotrophin therapy in combination with intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) in men with hypogonadotrophic hypogonadism (HH). Twenty-five azoospermic men were diagnosed with HH due to low FSH, LH and total testosterone concentrations. These patients were treated with human chorionic gonadotrophin for 1 month plus recombinant FSH the following month.

Prolonged duration of transfer does not affect outcome in cycles with good embryo quality.

The objective of investigating the impact of the time that embryos remain in the catheter on the outcome of cycles was assessed by measuring the period between loading the catheter and discharging the embryos in 300 transfer cycles. The pregnancy and implantation rates were similar in cycles with good embryo quality regardless of transfer duration.

Outcome of 1114 ICSI and embryo transfer cycles of women 40 years of age and over.

The purpose of this study was to contribute to the development of strategies to obtain acceptable outcomes in assisted reproduction treatments in women over 40 years of age. A retrospective study was carried out on the database of the German Hospital in Istanbul using data from the years 1997 to 2004. A total of 1114 embryo transfer cycles were assessed.

Efficiency of changing the embryo transfer time from day 3 to day 2 among women with poor ovarian response: a prospective randomized trial.

Objective: To compare the outcome of day 2 and day 3 embryo transfers in women demonstrating poor ovarian response.

Design: Prospective randomized clinical trial.

Setting: Private assisted reproductive technology center.

Early cleavage morphology affects the quality and implantation potential of day 3 embryos.

Objective: To assess the development and implantation potential of early-cleaved embryos displaying various morphological patterns.

Design: Retrospective analysis.

Setting: Private IVF center.

Use of both early cleavage and day 2 mononucleation to predict embryos with high implantation potential in intracytoplasmic sperm injection cycles.

Objective: To evaluate the value of early cleavage and day 2 mononucleation as combined parameters in predicting the implantation potential of embryos.

Design: Prospectively designed retrospective cohort analysis.

Setting: Private IVF center.

Effect of oxygen concentration during the incubation of embryos of women undergoing ICSI and embryo transfer: a prospective randomized study.

The hypothesis that ICSI outcome can be improved by culturing human embryos in an atmosphere of controlled O(2) concentration (5%) compared with 20% was tested in a prospective randomized study of 712 transfer cycles. The cycle characteristics and the embryology parameters were similar between groups. The embryo qualities were similar with day 2 transfers; however, they were better with day 3 transfers incubated in 5% O(2) than in 20% O(2).

Transfer of early-cleaved embryos increases implantation rate in patients undergoing ovarian stimulation and ICSI-embryo transfer.

The hypothesis that inspection for early cleavage improves pregnancy rate by aiding selection of the best embryos for transfer was tested in this study. Inspection for early cleavage was performed randomly in women undergoing intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) cycles. No differences were observed between early cleavage-inspected and uninspected embryos.

Presence and localization of connexins 43 and 26 in cell cultures derived from myometrial tissues from nonpregnant and pregnant women and from leiomyomas.

Objective: Our objective was to study the appearance and distribution of connexins 43 and 26 in various human myometrial cell cultures.

Study Design: Scrape loading, Western blotting, and immunohistochemical techniques were applied to cultured cells derived from myometrial tissues obtained from nonpregnant and pregnant women (upper and lower uterine segments) and from leiomyomas (tumor and analogous myometrial tissues).

Results: Scrape loading revealed the presence of metabolic coupling in all tissues.

Ineffectiveness of oxytocin on intercellular communication between term pregnant human myometrial cells before labor.

Objective: The effects of the uterotonic agent oxytocin on intercellular communication between term pregnant human myometrial cells before labor were studied to investigate its contribution to the synchronicity of uterine contractions.

Study Design: The membrane potential and the input resistance of myometrial cells were measured with intracellular micropipettes, and dye-coupling assays were concomitantly performed while the tissues were perfused with three concentrations of oxytocin (10(-8) mol/L, 10(-7) mol/L, and 10(-6) mol/L). The results were compared with those obtained from tissues perfused with gap junctional uncoupling agent octanol and those with Tyrode's solution (control).

Steroid hormone effects on intercellular communication between term pregnant human myometrial cells before labor.

The appearance of gap junctions (GJs) between myometrial smooth muscle cells is one of the major events associated with the onset of labor. We have employed dye-coupling and electrical-current injection techniques to study the mechanisms by which steroid hormones regulate GJs in term pregnant myometrium of women before labor. Progesterone (P4) did not alter the input resistance (Ro) of the tissues when added to Tyrode's solution, which was used as control treatment.