ICSI outcome in patients with transient azoospermia with initially motile or immotile sperm in the ejaculate.

Background: In patients with transient azoospermia, few sperm may be found in the ejaculate. We investigated the outcome of ICSI in patients with transient azoospermia.

Methods: Records of patients with transient azoospermia referred during a 42 month period were reviewed.

Successful carboplatin desensitization in patients with proven carboplatin allergy.

Background: Carboplatin is one of the most useful and well tolerated cytotoxic drugs for gynecologic malignancies. Hypersensitivity to carboplatin is not rare among patients receiving multiple recurrent treatments with this drug. The aim of the current study was to offer a safe and convenient carboplatin desensitization strategy to patients with a proven allergic reaction to this drug.

Simvastatin has deleterious effects on human first trimester placental explants.

Background: Statins inhibit 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme-A reductase (HMG-CoA reductase), the rate-limiting enzyme of the mevalonate pathway, and have been used successfully in the treatment of hypercholesterolaemia. Animal models have provided evidence for the teratogenic effects of statins on pregnancy outcome. Thus statins are contraindicated during pregnancy.

Total tympanic membrane reconstruction: AlloDerm versus temporalis fascia.

Background And Objective: Patients who require surgery for chronic otitis media with perforation and cholesteatoma frequently provide no residual tympanic membrane that is usable in grafting procedures. A novel technique of total tympanic membrane reconstruction (TTMR) is described that maximizes perforation closure rate in these situations while minimizing mucosalization, incomplete healing, and anterior blunting. The specific aim of this report is to assess the safety and efficacy of TTMR and to compare the results obtained with AlloDerm compared with temporalis fascia as a grafting material.

Comparing the genetic changes detected in the primary and secondary tumor sites of ovarian cancer using comparative genomic hybridization.

Our objective was to compare the genetic abnormalities in the primary tumors of epithelial ovarian cancer and their associated secondary peritoneal implants using comparative genomic hybridization (CGH). CGH was performed on seven apparent stage III ovarian serous cancer cases. Dissected tissue samples from the primary tumor and from the metastatic peritoneal implant were obtained at initial surgical staging and analyzed in each case.

A cryosolution infrared and ab initio study of the van der Waals complexes of cyclopentene with hydrogen chloride and boron trifluoride.

The formation of weak molecular complexes of cyclopentene with HCl and BF3, dissolved in liquid argon is investigated using infrared spectroscopy. Evidence is found for the formation of 1:1 complexes in which the Lewis acid under study binds to the CC double bond. At higher concentrations of HCl, weak absorption bands due to 1:2 species are also observed.

A comparison between different postoperative treatment modalities of uterine carcinosarcoma.

Objective: Uterine carcinosarcomas are highly aggressive neoplasms with no established effective adjuvant therapy. The aim of the present study was to compare between the outcome in three medical institutions in each of which a different postoperative treatment modality was preferred, namely, chemotherapy in one, whole pelvic irradiation (WPI) in another, and sequential treatment (i.e.

The effect of 6-mercaptopurine on early human placental explants.

Background: 6-mercaptopurine (6-MP) is an antineoplastic and immunosuppressive drug. Recently, more women have received this drug during pregnancy. Animal studies have shown that 6-MP has deleterious effects on the fetus, while human data include prematurity, intrauterine growth restriction, low birth weight and malformations that occur especially when the drug is administered in the first trimester of pregnancy.

Uterine sarcomas versus leiomyomas: gray-scale and Doppler sonographic findings.

Purpose: The aim of the study was to evaluate the contribution of gray-scale sonography and Doppler flow studies in differentiating between uterine sarcomas of different histologic types and leiomyomas.

Patients And Methods: The study included 111 patients, divided retrospectively into 2 groups: 98 patients with leiomyomas and 13 with postoperative diagnosis of uterine sarcoma. This latter group was further divided into a group of 6 patients with uterine leiomyosarcoma and 7 with malignant mixed mesodermal tumor.

The moderating influence of procedural fairness on the relationship between work-life conflict and organizational commitment.

To help employees better manage work-life conflict, organizations have introduced various initiatives, which have met with mixed results. The present studies examined the utility of a procedurally based approach to understanding employees' reactions to work-life conflict. The authors examined whether the fairness of procedures used by organizational authorities to plan and implement decisions moderates the (inverse) relationship between work-life conflict and employees' organizational commitment.

The value of transvaginal ultrasonography in the prediction of endometrial pathologies in asymptomatic postmenopausal breast cancer tamoxifen-treated patients.

Objective: There is no established ultrasonographic endometrial cutoff value for the diagnosis of endometrial pathologies in asymptomatic postmenopausal tamoxifen (TAM)-treated patients. We attempted to seek the most accurate cutoff value.

Materials And Methods: Multiple ultrasonographic cutoff points were evaluated by logistic regression analysis based on 279 patients who had transvaginal ultrasonographic examinations followed by endometrial histopathological analysis.

Controlling the regiospecific oxidation of aromatics via active site engineering of toluene para-monooxygenase of Ralstonia pickettii PKO1.

A primary goal of protein engineering is to control catalytic activity. Here we show that through mutagenesis of three active site residues, the catalytic activity of a multicomponent monooxygenase is altered so that it hydroxylates all three positions of toluene as well as both positions of naphthalene. Hence, for the first time, an enzyme has been engineered so that its regiospecific oxidation of a substrate can be controlled.

The morphological normalcy of the sperm nucleus and pregnancy rate of intracytoplasmic injection with morphologically selected sperm.

Background: Our preceding studies have already demonstrated the advantage of intracytoplasmic morphologically selected sperm injection (IMSI) over the conventional IVF-ICSI procedure in terms of pregnancy rate. This study was undertaken to determine whether the increased pregnancy outcome was attributable to the preferred nuclear morphology of the selected spermatozoa, and not to the special sperm preparation technique modified by IMSI.

Methods: Comparison between two matched IMSI groups, i.

Three-dimensional first trimester fetal volumetry: comparison with crown rump length.

Background: Ultrasonographic volumetry measurements of human fetus have become possible using three-dimensional ultrasound systems.

Objective: To evaluate the weekly increase of fetal volume during the first trimester of normal pregnancies compared to the crown rump length and creating a first trimester fetal volume nomogram.

Methods: Crown rump length and three-dimensional ultrasonographic volumetry measurements performed on 72 first trimester fetuses using virtual organ computer aided analysis (VOCAL).

The value of sonohysterography in the prediction of endometrial pathologies in asymptomatic postmenopausal breast cancer tamoxifen-treated patients.

Background: The study evaluated the efficacy of sonohysterography in identifying endometrial pathologies in asymptomatic postmenopausal tamoxifen (TAM)-treated patients by evaluating its performance characteristics.

Materials And Methods: Multiple assessments of sonohysterography evaluations of intrauterine mass diameter were evaluated by logistic regression analysis based on overall 85 patients (who had transvaginal ultrasonographic endometrial thickness of >/=8 mm) followed by hysteroscopy and endometrial histological findings. Performance characteristics were calculated with correlation to the endometrial histological findings.

The diagnostic accuracy of 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose PET/CT in patients with gynecological malignancies.

Objective: To evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of integrated positron emission tomography/computerized tomography (PET/CT) in patients with gynecological cancer.

Methods: Fifty-three consecutive patients with gynecologic malignancies were included. The patients were referred to our tertiary center to undergo a PET/CT scan.

Protein engineering of toluene 4-monooxygenase of Pseudomonas mendocina KR1 for synthesizing 4-nitrocatechol from nitrobenzene.

After discovering that toluene 4-monooxygenase (T4MO) of Pseudomonas mendocina KR1 oxidizes nitrobenzene to 4-nitrocatechol, albeit at a very low rate, this reaction was improved using directed evolution and saturation mutagenesis. Screening 550 colonies from a random mutagenesis library generated by error-prone PCR of tmoAB using Escherichia coli TG1/pBS(Kan)T4MO on agar plates containing nitrobenzene led to the discovery of nitrocatechol-producing mutants. One mutant, NB1, contained six amino acid substitutions (TmoA Y22N, I84Y, S95T, I100S, S400C; TmoB D79N).

Aggressive tocolysis does not prolong pregnancy or reduce neonatal morbidity after preterm premature rupture of the membranes.

Objective: This study was undertaken to evaluate whether aggressive tocolysis improves pregnancy outcome after preterm premature rupture of the membranes (PPROM).

Study Design: Retrospective case-control study of patients with PPROM before 34 weeks of gestation, followed by a prospective cohort study with historical controls. The retrospective phase covered 1995 through 1999 when we used tocolysis aggressively.

Oxidation of benzene to phenol, catechol, and 1,2,3-trihydroxybenzene by toluene 4-monooxygenase of Pseudomonas mendocina KR1 and toluene 3-monooxygenase of Ralstonia pickettii PKO1.

Aromatic hydroxylations are important bacterial metabolic processes but are difficult to perform using traditional chemical synthesis, so to use a biological catalyst to convert the priority pollutant benzene into industrially relevant intermediates, benzene oxidation was investigated. It was discovered that toluene 4-monooxygenase (T4MO) of Pseudomonas mendocina KR1, toluene 3-monooxygenase (T3MO) of Ralstonia pickettii PKO1, and toluene ortho-monooxygenase (TOM) of Burkholderia cepacia G4 convert benzene to phenol, catechol, and 1,2,3-trihydroxybenzene by successive hydroxylations. At a concentration of 165 microM and under the control of a constitutive lac promoter, Escherichia coli TG1/pBS(Kan)T4MO expressing T4MO formed phenol from benzene at 19 +/- 1.

Altering toluene 4-monooxygenase by active-site engineering for the synthesis of 3-methoxycatechol, methoxyhydroquinone, and methylhydroquinone.

Wild-type toluene 4-monooxygenase (T4MO) of Pseudomonas mendocina KR1 oxidizes toluene to p-cresol (96%) and oxidizes benzene sequentially to phenol, to catechol, and to 1,2,3-trihydroxybenzene. In this study T4MO was found to oxidize o-cresol to 3-methylcatechol (91%) and methylhydroquinone (9%), to oxidize m-cresol and p-cresol to 4-methylcatechol (100%), and to oxidize o-methoxyphenol to 4-methoxyresorcinol (87%), 3-methoxycatechol (11%), and methoxyhydroquinone (2%). Apparent Vmax values of 6.

Clinical classification of pulmonary hypertension.

In 1998, during the Second World Symposium on Pulmonary Hypertension (PH) held in Evian, France, a clinical classification of PH was proposed. The aim of the Evian classification was to individualize different categories sharing similarities in pathophysiological mechanisms, clinical presentation, and therapeutic options. The Evian classification is now well accepted and widely used in clinical practice, especially in specialized centers.

Primary pulmonary arterial hypertension: a look back.

For the first half of the twentieth century, the published reports on primary pulmonary hypertension (PPH) were confined to clinical pathological correlations. In the 1950s the physiological aspects began to be reported followed by epidemiologic studies triggered by an epidemic of PPH due to the ingestion of an appetite suppressant, aminorex fumarate. The epidemic prompted a series of meetings of the World Health Organization, which led, in turn, to the creation of the U.