Comparison of Day-Specific Serum LH, Estradiol, and Progesterone with Mira Monitor Urinary LH, Estrone-3-glucuronide, and Pregnanediol-3-glucuronide Levels in Ovulatory Cycles.

: Fertility tracking apps and devices are now currently available, but urinary hormone levels lack accuracy and sensitivity in timing the start of the 6-day fertile window and the precise 24 h interval of transition from ovulation to the luteal phase. We hypothesized the serum hormones estradiol (E2) and progesterone (P) might be better biomarkers for these major ovulatory cycle events, using appropriate mathematical tools. : Four women provided daily blood samples for serum E2, P, and LH (luteinizing hormone) levels throughout their entire ovulatory cycles, which were indexed to the first day of dominant follicle (DF) collapse (defined as Day 0) determined by transvaginal sonography; therefore, ovulation occurred in the 24 h interval of Day -1 (last day of maximum diameter DF) to Day 0.

Fear, misinformation, and pharmaceutical messianism in the promotion of compounded bioidentical hormone therapy.

Compounded bioidentical hormone therapy (cBHT) for menopausal symptoms maintains popularity in western countries despite the availability of hormone products in different formulations and dosages produced by pharmaceutical companies with federal oversight. Akin to many populist therapeutic trends in the history of medicine, cBHT advocates tend to capitalize on consumer fears about existing FDA-approved hormone treatments. Unsubstantiated, exaggerated, or outright false claims are commonplace in promoting cBHT.

An ethical assessment of compounded bioidentical hormone therapy.

The use of compounded bioidentical hormone therapy (cBHT) continues to grow in popularity despite the availability of many US Food and Drug Administration-approved hormone products produced in different formulations and dosages. Numerous claims made by proponents of cBHT are not substantiated by properly designed studies. Valid concerns about purity, efficacy, bioavailability and safety of cBHT have been raised.

A Comparison of Major Petroleum Life Cycle Models.

Many organizations have attempted to develop an accurate well-to-pump life cycle model of petroleum products in order to inform decision makers of the consequences of its use. Our paper studies five of these models, demonstrating the differences in their predictions and attempting to evaluate their data quality. Carbon dioxide well-to-pump emissions for gasoline showed a variation of 35%, and other pollutants such as ammonia and particulate matter varied up to 100%.

Optimization of non-natural nucleotides for selective incorporation opposite damaged DNA.

The promutagenic process known as translesion DNA synthesis reflects the ability of a DNA polymerase to misinsert a nucleotide opposite a damaged DNA template. To study the underlying mechanism of nucleotide selection during this process, we quantified the incorporation of various non-natural nucleotide analogs opposite an abasic site, a non-templating DNA lesion. Our kinetic studies using the bacteriophage T4 DNA polymerase reveal that the pi-electron surface area of the incoming nucleotide substantially contributes to the efficiency of incorporation opposite an abasic site.