The Effects of an Advanced Air Purification Technology on Environmental and Clinical Outcomes in a Long-Term Care Facility.

Background: Long-term care facilities (LTCFs) are constantly working to reduce sources of infectious pathogens to improve resident care. LTCF residents are particularly susceptible to health care-associated infections (HAIs), many of which originate from the air. An advanced air purification technology (AAPT) was designed to comprehensively remediate volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and all airborne pathogens including all airborne bacteria, fungi, and viruses.

Modelling the equilibrium partitioning of low concentrations of airborne volatile organic compounds in human IVF laboratories.

Research Question: Can volatile organic compounds (VOC) be modelled in an IVF clinical setting?

Design: The study performed equilibrium modelling of low concentrations of airborne VOC partitioning from the air phase into the oil cover layer into the water-based culture media and into/onto the embryo (air-oil-water-embryo). The air-phase VOC were modelled based on reported VOC concentrations found in modern assisted reproductive technology (ART) suites, older IVF clinics, and hospitals, as well as at 10 parts per billion (ppb) and 100 ppb for all compounds. The modelling was performed with 23 documented healthcare-specific VOC.

Use of hyaluronan in the selection of sperm for intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI): significant improvement in clinical outcomes--multicenter, double-blinded and randomized controlled trial.

Study Question: Does the selection of sperm for ICSI based on their ability to bind to hyaluronan improve the clinical pregnancy rates (CPR) (primary end-point), implantation (IR) and pregnancy loss rates (PLR)?

Summary Answer: In couples where ≤ 65% of sperm bound hyaluronan, the selection of hyaluronan-bound (HB) sperm for ICSI led to a statistically significant reduction in PLR.

What Is Known And What This Paper Adds: HB sperm demonstrate enhanced developmental parameters which have been associated with successful fertilization and embryogenesis. Sperm selected for ICSI using a liquid source of hyaluronan achieved an improvement in IR.

Co-culture with assisted hatching of human embryos using Buffalo rat liver cells.

Commercially obtained Buffalo rat liver (BRL) cells were grown in monolayer culture. The effect of BRL cell co-culture with assisted hatching on embryo development, implantation and pregnancy was investigated in a population of 200 'first-time' in-vitro fertilization (IVF) patients, subdivided into three groups according to the methods of fertilization [IVF; intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI); ICSI/IVF]. Assisted hatching was performed on all embryos chosen for transfer.