Follicular fluid composition and reproductive outcomes of women with polycystic ovary syndrome undergoing in vitro fertilization: A systematic review.

Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is recognized as one of the most prevalent endocrinopathy in women at reproductive age. As affected women tend to have poorer assisted reproductive technology (ART) outcomes, PCOS has been suggested to endanger oocyte quality and competence development. The aim of this systematic review was to summarize the available evidence on how the follicular fluid (FF) profile of women with PCOS undergoing in vitro fertilization (IVF) treatment differs from the FF of normo-ovulatory women.

Untreated sewage contamination of beach sand from a leaking underground sewage system.

Thirty people (mostly children) experienced an episode of skin rash days after a sand sifting beach operation at Porto Pim Beach in Faial, Azores during June 2019. An environmental and epidemiologic investigation was conducted to identify the cause of the outbreak of skin rash. The epidemiologic investigation found that some of the patients experiencing symptoms had never entered the beach water.

Arthropod diversity in two Historic Gardens in the Azores, Portugal.

The aim of our study was to characterise and compare the richness and composition of endemic, native (non-endemic) and introduced arthropod assemblages of two Azorean Historic Gardens with contrasting plant species composition. We hypothesised that Faial Botanic Garden would hold higher arthropod diversity and abundance of native and endemic arthropod species due to its larger native plant community. Species were collected using several arthropod standardised techniques between April 2017 and June 2018.

TTC7B emerges as a novel risk factor for ischemic stroke through the convergence of several genome-wide approaches.

We hereby propose a novel approach to the identification of ischemic stroke (IS) susceptibility genes that involves converging data from several unbiased genetic and genomic tools. We tested the association between IS and genes differentially expressed between cases and controls, then determined which data mapped to previously reported linkage peaks and were nominally associated with stroke in published genome-wide association studies. We first performed gene expression profiling in peripheral blood mononuclear cells of 20 IS cases and 20 controls.

Evidence for epistatic gene interactions between growth factor genes in stroke outcome.

Background And Purpose: Growth factors are thought to modulate neurological function in stroke recovery through effects in angiogenesis, neurogenesis, and neuroprotection.

Methods: We tested the association of variants in the brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), fibroblast growth factor 2 (FGF2) and vascular endothelial growth factor A (VEGFA) genes, and epistatic interactions between them, with functional outcome in a sample of 546 stroke patients.

Results: While none of the tested genes was independently associated with stroke outcome, two significant gene-gene interaction models were identified.