Performance evaluation of computerized antepartum fetal heart rate monitoring: Dawes-Redman algorithm at term.

Objectives: To assess the effectiveness of the Dawes-Redman algorithm in identifying fetal wellbeing at term by analyzing 30 years of retrospective clinical data, comparing normal and adverse pregnancy outcomes, evaluating key metrics and testing its performance when used 0-48 h before delivery.

Methods: Antepartum fetal heart rate (FHR) traces from term singleton pregnancies at 37 + 0 to 41 + 6 weeks' gestation obtained between 1991 and 2024 were extracted from the Oxford University Hospitals database. Traces with > 30% of their signal information missing or with incomplete Dawes-Redman analyses were excluded.

Stroke severity shapes extracellular vesicle profiles and their impact on the cerebral endothelial cells.

Ischaemic stroke is a leading cause of death and disability. Circulating extracellular vesicles (EVs) post-stroke may help brain endothelial cells (BECs) counter ischaemic injury. However data on how EVs from ischaemic stroke patients, considering injury severity, affect these cells are limited.

Extracellular Vesicles From Preeclampsia Disrupt the Blood-Brain Barrier by Reducing CLDN5.

Background: The physiopathology of life-threatening cerebrovascular complications in preeclampsia is unknown. We investigated whether disruption of the blood-brain barrier, generated using circulating small extracellular vesicles (sEVs) from women with preeclampsia or placentae cultured under hypoxic conditions, impairs the expression of tight junction proteins, such as CLDN5 (claudin-5), mediated by VEGF (vascular endothelial growth factor), and activation of KDR (VEGFR2 [VEGF receptor 2]).

Methods: We perform a preclinical mechanistic study using sEVs isolated from plasma of pregnant women with normal pregnancy (sEVs-NP; n=9), sEVs isolated from plasma of women with preeclampsia (sEVs-PE; n=9), or sEVs isolated from placentas cultured in normoxia (sEVs-Nor; n=10) or sEVs isolated from placentas cultured in hypoxia (sEVs-Hyp; n=10).

A novel multiple marker microarray analyzer and methodology to predict major obstetric syndromes using surface markers of circulating extracellular vesicles from maternal plasma.

Introduction: Placental-derived extracellular vesicles (EVs) are nano-organelles that facilitate intercellular communication between the feto-placental unit and the mother. We evaluated a novel Multiple Microarray analyzer for identifying surface markers on plasma EVs that predict preterm delivery and preeclampsia compared to term delivery controls.

Material And Methods: In this prospective exploratory cohort study pregnant women between 24 and 40 gestational weeks with preterm delivery (n = 16), preeclampsia (n = 19), and matched term delivery controls (n = 15) were recruited from Bnai Zion Medical Center, Haifa, Israel.

Ovarian follicular flushing as a means of increasing oocyte yield and embryo production in cattle.

Context The number of developmentally competent cumulus-oocyte complexes (COCs) retrieved during Ovum Pick-Up (OPU) determines success in both bovine and human assisted reproduction. Follicular flushing for COC retrieval is practicsed widely in humans but not in cattle. Aims To determine the benefits of follicular flushing in cattle and assess the merits of a novel 16G double-lumen needle ('OxIVF') that flushes laterally to the needle shaft.