Pathogen prospecting of museums: Reconstructing malaria epidemiology.

Malaria is a disease of global significance. Ongoing changes to the earth's climate, antimalarial resistance, insecticide resistance, and socioeconomic decline test the resilience of malaria prevention programs. Museum insect specimens present an untapped resource for studying vector-borne pathogens, spurring the question: Do historical mosquito collections contain DNA, and, if so, can museum specimens be used to reconstruct the historical epidemiology of malaria? In this Perspective, we explore molecular techniques practical to pathogen prospecting, which, more broadly, we define as the science of screening entomological museum specimens for human, animal, or plant pathogens.

A distant city: Assessing the impact of Dutch socioeconomic developments on urban and rural health using respiratory disease as a proxy.

Objectives: To investigate the prevalence of respiratory disease in several populations from the Netherlands across different time periods and socioeconomic conditions.

Materials: We analyzed 695 adult individuals from six different Dutch contexts of urban and rural settlements dating to different time periods (i.e.

Developing an archaeology of malaria. A critical review of current approaches and a discussion on ways forward.

Objective: This paper presents the current state of the art in the investigation of past malaria by providing an extensive review of previous studies and identifying research possibilities for the future.

Materials: All previous research on the detection of malaria in human skeletal material using macroscopic and biomolecular approaches is considered.

Methods: The approaches and methods used by scholars and the results they obtained are evaluated and the limitations discussed.

A short versus a long time interval between semen collection and intrauterine insemination: a randomized controlled clinical trial.

Study Question: Does a short interval (i.e. ≤90 min), compared to a long interval (i.

Fertility preservation for women with breast cancer: a multicentre randomized controlled trial on various ovarian stimulation protocols.

Study Question: Does ovarian stimulation with the addition of tamoxifen or letrozole affect the number of cumulus-oocyte complexes (COCs) retrieved compared to standard ovarian stimulation in women with breast cancer who undergo fertility preservation?

Summary Answer: Alternative ovarian stimulation protocols with tamoxifen or letrozole did not affect the number of COCs retrieved at follicle aspiration in women with breast cancer.

What Is Known Already: Alternative ovarian stimulation protocols have been introduced for women with breast cancer who opt for fertility preservation by means of banking of oocytes or embryos. How these ovarian stimulation protocols compare to standard ovarian stimulation in terms of COC yield is unknown.

Thyroid function and IVF outcome for different indications of subfertility.

Abstract: Studies evaluating pregnancy outcomes after assisted reproductive treatment (ART) in women with high-normal (2.5-4.5 mIU/L) thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) levels are conflicting, possibly due to different patient charactistics and subfertility indications.

Cribriotic lesions in archaeological human skeletal remains. Prevalence, co-occurrence, and association in medieval and early modern Netherlands.

Objective: This paper studies the prevalence, co-occurrence, and association of cribra orbitalia, cribra humeri, and cribra femora to contribute to the complex debate on cribriotic lesions and their relationship with one another.

Materials: 179 adults and 53 non-adults from the medieval/early modern Netherlands (800-1600 CE) for whom all three lesions could be observed are included in this study.

Methods: Presence or absence of cribriotic lesions was studied macroscopically.

More Live Births in Primary Subfertile Intracytoplasmic Sperm Injection-Treated Women with High Normal TSH Levels.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to analyze the fertility outcome in intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI)-treated women across normal range thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) levels. Published results are inconclusive about optimal TSH levels and fertility.

Design: This is a retrospective cohort study in 752 ICSI-treated women with predominantly severe male factor subfertility, starting treatment between the first of January 2008 and the first of March 2012 with a follow-up until 2014.

Long-Term Risk of Ovarian Cancer and Borderline Tumors After Assisted Reproductive Technology.

Background: Long-term effects of assisted reproductive technology (ART) on ovarian tumor risk are unknown.

Methods: This nationwide cohort study comprises 30 625 women who received ovarian stimulation for ART in 1983-2000 and 9988 subfertile women not treated with ART. Incident invasive and borderline ovarian tumors were ascertained through linkage with the Netherlands Cancer Registry and the Dutch Pathology Registry until July 2018.

Coming of age in the Netherlands: An osteological assessment of puberty in a rural Dutch post-medieval community.

Objectives: The objective of this study is to apply pubertal stage estimation methods to a sample from a rural community: the post-medieval Dutch skeletal collection from Middenbeemster. Puberty is a key developmental period involving transition to physical adulthood with broad societal relevance through its impact on fertility, morbidity, and mortality.

Materials And Methods: Individuals (n = 55), including 27 of known sex and age-at-death, between the ages of 8 and 25 years were assessed for six skeletal markers indicative of pubertal growth spurt.

Anthropometric biomarkers for abnormal prenatal reproductive hormone exposure in women with Mayer-Rokitanksy-Küster-Hauser syndrome, polycystic ovary syndrome, and endometriosis.

Objective: To study whether markers of prenatal exposure to reproductive hormones are related to Mayer-Rokitansky-Küster-Hauser (MRKH) syndrome, polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), and endometriosis.

Design: Case-control study. Comparison of sex hormone-related external genital and digital characteristics in cases and controls.

Ancient Bacterial Genomes Reveal a High Diversity of Treponema pallidum Strains in Early Modern Europe.

Syphilis is a globally re-emerging disease, which has marked European history with a devastating epidemic at the end of the 15 century. Together with non-venereal treponemal diseases, like bejel and yaws, which are found today in subtropical and tropical regions, it currently poses a substantial health threat worldwide. The origins and spread of treponemal diseases remain unresolved, including syphilis' potential introduction into Europe from the Americas.

Reduced pregnancy and live birth rates after in vitro fertilization in women with previous Caesarean section: a retrospective cohort study.

Study Question: Does a previous Caesarean section affect reproductive outcomes, including live birth, in women after IVF or ICSI?

Summary Answer: A previous Caesarean section impairs live birth rates after IVF or ICSI compared to a previous vaginal delivery.

What Is Known Already: Rates of Caesarean sections are rising worldwide. Late sequelae of a Caesarean section related to a niche (Caesarean scar defect) include gynaecological symptoms and obstetric complications.

Feasibility study for performing uterus transplantation in the Netherlands.

Study Question: Is it feasible to perform uterus transplantations (UTx) in a tertiary centre in the Netherlands?

Summary Answer: Considering all ethical principles, surgical risks and financial aspects, we have concluded that at this time, it is not feasible to establish the UTx procedure at our hospital.

What Is Known Already: UTx is a promising treatment for absolute uterine factor infertility. It is currently being investigated within several clinical trials worldwide and has resulted in the live birth of 19 children so far.

The relationship between FSH receptor polymorphism status and IVF cycle outcome: a retrospective observational study.

Research Question: What is the association between FSH receptor (FSHR) gene polymorphism at position 680 and live birth in women undergoing IVF and intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI).

Design: In this retrospective cohort study, data were collected from the Electronic Patient Database of the VU University Medical Centre, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Women undergoing their first IVF/ICSI cycle between January 2008 and March 2012, of whom the FSHR genotype was determined, were included.

Whole-blood transcriptomic signatures induced during immunization by chloroquine prophylaxis and Plasmodium falciparum sporozoites.

A highly effective vaccine that confers sterile protection to malaria is urgently needed. Immunization under chemoprophylaxis with sporozoites (CPS) consistently confers high levels of protection in the Controlled Human Malaria infection (CHMI) model. To provide a broad, unbiased assessment of the composition and kinetics of direct ex vivo human immune responses to CPS, we profiled whole-blood transcriptomes by RNA-seq before and during CPS immunization and following CHMI challenge.

Live birth rate after intrauterine insemination is not different between women with lower quartile versus higher quartile normal range thyroid stimulating hormone levels.

Study Question: Does lower quartile normal range thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) compared to higher quartile normal range in women without thyroid hormone substitution affect live birth rate after a complete IUI treatment series?

Summary Answer: Lower quartile normal range TSH, in women without thyroid hormone substitution, does not affect live birth rate after a complete intrauterine insemination treatment series compared to higher quartile normal range TSH.

What Is Known Already: TSH is historically seen as the most sensitive test for thyroid function. Its distribution is right-skewed.

Continuous oral contraceptives versus long-term pituitary desensitization prior to IVF/ICSI in moderate to severe endometriosis: study protocol of a non-inferiority randomized controlled trial.

Study Questions: The primary objective is to investigate if continuous use of oral contraceptives is non-inferior compared to long-term pituitary desensitization with a GnRH agonist prior to IVF/ICSI in patients with moderate to severe endometriosis with regard to treatment efficacy. Secondary objectives concern treatment safety and cost-effectiveness.

What Is Known Already: Long-term pituitary desensitization with a GnRH agonist for 3-6 months prior to IVF/ICSI improves clinical pregnancy rates in women suffering from endometriosis.

Gestational surrogacy: results of 10 years of experience in the Netherlands.

Research Question: What are the reproductive and obstetric outcomes of the gestational surrogacy treatment in the Netherlands?

Design: This retrospective cohort study reports all data of gestational surrogacy treatment in the VU University Medical Centre over a period of 10 years. Data was collected from 60 intended parents and 63 gestational carriers, including reproductive and obstetric outcomes.

Results: All intended mothers had a medical indication for gestational surrogacy and used autologous oocytes, and semen of the intended father.

A probable case of metastatic carcinoma in the medieval Netherlands.

Despite recent considerable gains, our knowledge of cancer in antiquity is still limited. This paper discusses an adult individual from a Dutch medieval hospital site who demonstrates osteoblastic and osteolytic lesions on the ribs, scapula, clavicle, and vertebrae. The morphology, radiographic appearance, and distribution of the skeletal lesions suggest that this individual was affected by metastatic carcinoma.

The addition of a low-quality embryo as part of a fresh day 3 double embryo transfer does not improve ongoing pregnancy rates.

Study Question: Does the addition of a low-quality embryo in fresh Day 3 double embryo transfer (DET) affect the ongoing pregnancy rate (OPR) and multiple gestation rate in patients with only one or no high-quality embryos available?

Summary Answer: In patients with only one- or no high-quality embryo available, the addition of a low-quality embryo in fresh Day 3 DET does not improve the OPR but increases multiple gestation rates in fresh DET.

What Is Known Already: Pregnancy rates after DET are considered to be higher compared to single embryo transfer (SET) when analyzed per first embryo transfer only. However, these conclusions are based on RCTs in which mostly patients with two or more high-quality embryos were included, and can therefore not be applied to patients with only one or no high-quality embryo available.

Immobilization or mobilization after IUI: an RCT.

Study Question: Does 15 min of immobilization after IUI improve pregnancy rates?

Summary Answer: Immobilization for 15 min after IUI does not improve pregnancy rates.

What Is Known Already: Prior RCTs report a beneficial effect of supine immobilization for 15 min following IUI compared to immediate mobilization, however, these studies can be criticized. Given the importance for the logistics in daily practice and the lack of biological plausibility we planned a replication study prior to potential implementation of this procedure.

Stimulation of the ovaries in women with breast cancer undergoing fertility preservation: Alternative versus standard stimulation protocols; the study protocol of the STIM-trial.

Background: Chemotherapy for breast cancer may have a negative impact on reproductive function due to gonadotoxicity. Fertility preservation via banking of oocytes or embryos after ovarian stimulation with FSH can increase the likelihood of a future live birth. It has been hypothesized that elevated serum estrogen levels during ovarian stimulation may induce breast tumour growth.

Fresh and Frozen-Thawed Embryo Transfer Compared to Natural Conception: Differences in Perinatal Outcome.

Background/aim: To compare the pregnancy outcome of singletons conceived after transfer of cryopreserved and thawed embryos (frozen embryo transfer [FET]) to singletons conceived after fresh embryo transfer (fresh ET) and natural conceived singletons.

Methods: Using a retrospective data analysis on a study population consisting of 1,261 singletons born after FET and 2,519 singletons born after fresh ET between 2006 and 2015. The control group consisted of singletons born after natural conception.

Unusual Twinning Resulting in Chimerism: A Systematic Review on Monochorionic Dizygotic Twins.

Traditionally, it is understood that dizygotic (DZ) twins always have a dichorionic placenta. However, with 8% blood chimerism in DZ twins, placental sharing is probably more common than previously has been recognized. In this article, we will review all available cases of monochorionic dizygotic (MCDZ) twins.