Publications by authors named "Jonathan Ramsay"

Article Synopsis
  • Non-obstructive azoospermia (NOA) is a prevalent and complex issue with varied treatment options and no definitive guidelines, leading to differing management practices internationally.
  • A comprehensive survey with 336 responses from specialists in 49 countries explored current medical and surgical strategies for NOA, analyzing results against existing guidelines and offering expert recommendations.
  • Key findings included diverse approaches to hormonal therapy, significant variation in sperm retrieval success rates, and differing protocols around varicocele repair and follicle-stimulating hormone cutoff levels for sperm retrieval.
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Article Synopsis
  • * Conducted from July to September 2022, a questionnaire gathered responses from 367 doctors in 49 countries, focusing on how they diagnose NOA through methods like hormone tests and genetic analyses.
  • * The survey identified that while many practices align with guidelines, significant differences in approaches were found, underscoring the need for standardized, evidence-based international guidelines for NOA evaluation.
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Article Synopsis
  • The meta-analysis investigates the effects of varicocele repair on semen parameters in infertile males, combining data from diverse studies without language restrictions.
  • A total of 351 studies were analyzed, revealing significant improvements in several semen parameters post-repair, including semen volume, sperm concentration, total sperm count, motility, and morphology, while sperm vitality showed no improvement.
  • This research is the largest of its kind and highlights the benefits of varicocele repair for male infertility, contributing valuable insights for clinical practice.
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Article Synopsis
  • The study investigates global practices for managing sperm DNA fragmentation (SDF) in infertile men, highlighting its impact on fertility and assisted reproductive technology (ART).
  • A survey collecting data from 436 reproductive experts across 55 countries revealed a common recommendation for lifestyle changes and antioxidants, with varying durations for treatment and differing management approaches for specific infertility cases.
  • The findings indicate a lack of uniformity in practices, emphasizing the need for standardized guidelines and expert consensus for treating men with elevated SDF.
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Article Synopsis
  • The study explores global practices for sperm DNA fragmentation (SDF) testing in infertile men, following its inclusion in the WHO laboratory manual.
  • A survey conducted among 436 infertility clinicians across 55 countries reveals varied testing practices, with many testing SDF in cases of unexplained infertility, recurrent pregnancy loss, and among smokers.
  • The findings highlight the need for clearer professional guidelines on SDF testing, given the diversity in current practices and the potential benefits for certain patient populations.
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The study of curiosity as a construct has led to many conceptualisations, comprising of different dimensions. Due to this, various scales of curiosity have also been developed. Moreover, some researchers have conceived of curiosity as a general trait-like, while others have included contexts, such as the workplace, or education when investigating curiosity.

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Purpose: Varicocele is a common problem among infertile men. Varicocele repair (VR) is frequently performed to improve semen parameters and the chances of pregnancy. However, there is a lack of consensus about the diagnosis, indications for VR and its outcomes.

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This study aimed to investigate the prevalence of religious coping and explore the association between religious coping, religiosity, and distress symptoms amongst 364 outpatients diagnosed with psychosis in Singapore. Positive and Negative Religious Coping (PRC and NRC), religiosity (measuring the constructs of Organised Religious Activity (ORA), Non-Organised Religious Activity (NORA), and Intrinsic Religiosity (IR)) and severity of distress symptoms (depression, anxiety and stress) were self-reported by the participants. The majority of participants (68.

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People tend to evaluate information from reliable sources more favourably, but it is unclear exactly how perceivers' worldviews interact with this source credibility effect. In a large and diverse cross-cultural sample (N = 10,195 from 24 countries), we presented participants with obscure, meaningless statements attributed to either a spiritual guru or a scientist. We found a robust global source credibility effect for scientific authorities, which we dub 'the Einstein effect': across all 24 countries and all levels of religiosity, scientists held greater authority than spiritual gurus.

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Purpose: The success of vasectomy is determined by the outcome of a post-vasectomy semen analysis (PVSA). This article describes a step-by-step procedure to perform PVSA accurately, report data from patients who underwent post vasectomy semen analysis between 2015 and 2021 experience, along with results from an international online survey on clinical practice.

Materials And Methods: We present a detailed step-by-step protocol for performing and interpretating PVSA testing, along with recommendations for proficiency testing, competency assessment for performing PVSA, and clinical and laboratory scenarios.

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Antisperm antibodies (ASA), as a cause of male infertility, have been detected in infertile males as early as 1954. Multiple causes of ASA production have been identified, and they are due to an abnormal exposure of mature germ cells to the immune system. ASA testing (with mixed anti-globulin reaction, and immunobead binding test) was described in the WHO manual 5th edition and is most recently listed among the extended semen tests in the WHO manual 6th edition.

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An imbalance in the genitourinary microbiome is emerging as a contributing factor to male infertility. The purpose of this study was to determine whether there is an association between genitourinary microorganisms and seminal oxidative stress, sperm DNA fragmentation and semen parameters. It included 770 men attending for diagnostic testing for subfertility.

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Article Synopsis
  • * Differentiating between asthenozoospermia (low sperm motility) and necrozoospermia (low sperm vitality) is crucial for diagnosing and treating infertility, as their causes can be local or systemic.
  • * A global survey was conducted to assess current practices regarding sperm vitality testing and necrozoospermia management, aiming to create a standard approach for diagnosis and treatment in clinical settings.
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The personality factor of openness to experience, which encompasses curiosity, imagination, and a desire for new experiences, has been associated negatively with prejudice and positively with the closely related value of tolerance. While these relationships have been reviewed at the factor level, there has been no review of research at the lower facet level. This review aims to uncover the relationships between the facets of openness and the constructs of prejudice and tolerance.

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Article Synopsis
  • Semen analysis is usually the first way to check if a guy has fertility issues, but it can be tricky because results can vary a lot.
  • The article emphasizes the need for better lab standards to get accurate sperm shape assessments so patients can get the right treatment.
  • It also talks about how the shape of sperm can affect fertility treatments, especially for men with very abnormal sperm.
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The current WHO 2010 manual for human semen analysis defines leukocytospermia as the presence of peroxidase-positive leukocytes at a concentration >1×10/mL of semen. Granular leukocytes when activated are capable of generating high levels of reactive oxygen species in semen resulting in oxidative stress. Oxidative stress has been correlated with poor sperm quality, increased level of sperm DNA fragmentation and low fertility potential.

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Retrograde ejaculation (RE) is a condition defined as the backward flow of the semen during ejaculation, and when present can result in male infertility. RE may be partial or complete, resulting in either low seminal volume or complete absence of the ejaculate (dry ejaculate). RE can result from anatomic, neurological or pharmacological conditions.

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Sperm DNA fragmentation (SDF) is implicated in male infertility and adverse reproductive outcomes. With the publication of many studies regarding the etiologies and contributors to SDF, as well as the effects of SDF, guidelines are necessary to aid clinicians in the application of SDF for male fertility evaluation. Two recent clinical practice guidelines were published by Agarwal et al and Esteves et al.

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Purpose: The use of antioxidants is common practice in the management of infertile patients. However, there are no established guidelines by professional societies on antioxidant use for male infertility.

Materials And Methods: Using an online survey, this study aimed to evaluate the practice pattern of reproductive specialists to determine the clinical utility of oxidative stress (OS) testing and antioxidant prescriptions to treat male infertility.

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Background: Poor sperm function is a major cause of infertility. There is no drug therapy to improve sperm function. Semen oxidative stress is a recently identified pathway for sperm damage.

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Background: Male factor is attributable in up to 50% of cases of infertility. In vitro studies demonstrate that bacteria can negatively impact sperm function. The use of next-generation sequencing techniques has provided a better understanding of the human microbiome, and dysbiosis has been reported to impact health.

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Background: There are no current pharmacological therapies to improve sperm quality in men with sub-fertility. Reducing the exposure to lifestyle risk factor (LSF) is currently the only intervention for improving sperm quality in men with sub-fertility. No previous study has investigated what proportion of men with sub-fertility are exposed to adverse lifestyle factors.

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Study Question: Do the Comet parameters of the proportions of sperm with low or high DNA damage improve the power of the test in the diagnosis of male infertility and/or prediction of IVF and ICSI live birth rates?

Summary Answer: The mean Comet score and the scores for proportions of sperm with high or low DNA damage were useful in diagnosing male infertility and provided additional discriminatory information for the prediction of both IVF and ICSI live births.

What Is Known Already: Sperm DNA damage impacts adversely on male fertility and IVF outcomes.

Study Design, Size, Duration: A retrospective study was performed involving a total of 457 participants (381 patients and 76 fertile donors).

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Despite advances in the field of male reproductive health, idiopathic male infertility, in which a man has altered semen characteristics without an identifiable cause and there is no female factor infertility, remains a challenging condition to diagnose and manage. Increasing evidence suggests that oxidative stress (OS) plays an independent role in the etiology of male infertility, with 30% to 80% of infertile men having elevated seminal reactive oxygen species levels. OS can negatively affect fertility a number of pathways, including interference with capacitation and possible damage to sperm membrane and DNA, which may impair the sperm's potential to fertilize an egg and develop into a healthy embryo.

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