Periconceptional maternal and paternal alcohol consumption and embryonic and fetal development: the Rotterdam periconception cohort.

Research Question: What is the impact of maternal and paternal alcohol consumption in the periconception period on embryonic and fetal development assessed using three-dimensional ultrasound and virtual reality techniques?

Design: This prospective observational study was embedded in the Rotterdam periconception cohort (Predict study). Participating women received longitudinal three-dimensional transvaginal ultrasound examinations from week 7 to week 12 of gestation to measure crown-rump length and embryonic volume. Mid-pregnancy fetal size parameters and birth weight were retrieved from medical files.

Reported experienced stress during the COVID-19 pandemic and patient preferences for the consultation of periconception blended lifestyle care: a survey among (pre)pregnant women.

Purpose: To assess experienced stress on different aspects of life and evaluate patient preferences for the consultation of periconception blended lifestyle care, combining face-to-face counseling with eHealth, during the COVID-19 pandemic among (pre)pregnant women. Using this two-fold aim, we were able to analyze the levels of stress among (pre)pregnant women during the COVID-19 pandemic, and to study whether their preferences for the consultation modality of periconception blended lifestyle care was influenced by the levels of stress.

Methods: A quantitative survey among (pre)pregnant women who received blended periconception lifestyle care between March 2020 and December 2021, from the first until the fourth COVID-19 wave in the Netherlands.

Prototyping of a Digital Life Course Care Platform for Preconception and Pregnancy Care: Pilot Feasibility and Acceptability Study.

Background: A healthy lifestyle plays a key role in the prevention of lifestyle-related diseases, including subfertility and pregnancy complications. Although the benefits of a healthy lifestyle are well-known, long-term adherence is limited. Moreover, memory for lifestyle-related information as well as medical information provided by the medical professional is often poor and insufficient.

Implementation of effective blended periconception lifestyle care in a tertiary hospital in the Netherlands: a cross-sectional study on determinants and patient satisfaction.

Objective: To identify implementation determinants of blended periconception lifestyle care, and to evaluate patient satisfaction.

Design: Cross-sectional study.

Setting: The outpatient clinic of the department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology of the Erasmus MC.

Effective psychological therapies to improve lifestyle behaviors in (pre)pregnant women: A systematic review.

Poor lifestyle behaviors impact (pre)pregnant women by affecting pregnancy outcomes and offspring health. This systematic review provides an overview of psychological therapies to support lifestyle behavior changes among (pre)pregnant women. Scientific databases were searched from their inception to 20 December 2020 for studies investigating the effects of psychological therapies on improvements in lifestyle behaviors.

Optimizing the Periconception Lifestyle of Women With Overweight Using a Blended Personalized Care Intervention Combining eHealth and Face-to-face Counseling (eFUSE): Protocol for a Randomized Controlled Trial.

Background: Maternal overweight has a substantial impact on reproductive, maternal, pregnancy, and neonatal outcomes with long-term and transgenerational health consequences. Interventions that aim to optimize periconception maternal lifestyle can improve maternal and fetal health during pregnancy and throughout the life course. However, it remains difficult to change and adopt adequate lifestyle behaviors.

Impact of a Blended Periconception Lifestyle Care Approach on Lifestyle Behaviors: Before-and-After Study.

Background: Periconception lifestyle behaviors affect maternal, paternal, offspring, and transgenerational health outcomes. Previous research in other target populations has shown that personalized lifestyle interventions, in which face-to-face counseling and eHealth ("blended care") are combined, may effectively target these lifestyle behaviors.

Objective: We aimed to assess the effectiveness of a periconceptional lifestyle intervention on the improvement of specific lifestyle components.

The impact of periconceptional maternal lifestyle on clinical features and biomarkers of placental development and function: a systematic review.

Background: Worldwide, placenta-related complications contribute to adverse pregnancy outcomes, such as pre-eclampsia, fetal growth restriction and preterm birth, with implications for the future health of mothers and offspring. The placenta develops in the periconception period and forms the interface between mother and embryo/fetus. An unhealthy periconceptional maternal lifestyle, such as smoking, alcohol and under- and over-nutrition, can detrimentally influence placental development and function.

Quantitative Insights into the Fast Pyrolysis of Extracted Cellulose, Hemicelluloses, and Lignin.

The transformation of lignocellulosic biomass into bio-based commodity chemicals is technically possible. Among thermochemical processes, fast pyrolysis, a relatively mature technology that has now reached a commercial level, produces a high yield of an organic-rich liquid stream. Despite recent efforts to elucidate the degradation paths of biomass during pyrolysis, the selectivity and recovery rates of bio-compounds remain low.

Thyroid hormone and its metabolites in relation to quality of life in patients treated for differentiated thyroid cancer.

Background: Levothyroxine (LT4) is the standard of care in patients with hypothyroidism. Despite this replacement therapy, quality of life (QoL) remains impaired in a substantial amount of patients. The reasons for this are still a matter of debate.

Climate change and respiratory disease: European Respiratory Society position statement.

Climate change will affect individuals with pre-existing respiratory disease, but the extent of the effect remains unclear. The present position statement was developed on behalf of the European Respiratory Society in order to identify areas of concern arising from climate change for individuals with respiratory disease, healthcare workers in the respiratory sector and policy makers. The statement was developed following a 2-day workshop held in Leuven (Belgium) in March 2008.

Use of a zona laser treatment system in assisted hatching: optimal laser utilization parameters.

Objective: This study aimed to establish the benefit of laser micromanipulation of the zona pellucida as a method of assisted hatching and to determine the optimal technical settings.

Design: Prospective pilot study.

Setting: University teaching hospital.

Elevated atopy in healthy obese women.

Background: Allergic disorders, including asthma, have increased dramatically in the United States in the past 20 y. Epidemiologic studies have found body mass index (body weight in kg/height squared in m) to be a positive independent correlate of atopy in women but not in men.

Objective: We investigated the prevalence of atopy among healthy obese and nonobese women and its relation to fat mass (FM), insulin resistance, and plasma concentrations of 17beta-estradiol, interleukin 4 (IL-4), and leptin.

Comparative analysis of pregnancy rates after the transfer of early dividing embryos versus slower dividing embryos.

Background: We compared retrospectively the pregnancy outcome in two subgroups of ICSI patients, using early division (26 h post injection) to the 2-cell stage as a criterion for embryo quality and viability (ability to produce a pregnancy).

Methods And Results: In the early dividing embryo (EDE) group, at least one of the transferred embryos was early dividing. In the late dividing embryo (LDE) group, no early dividing embryo was transferred.

Relationship between zona pellucida-induced acrosome reaction, sperm morphology, sperm-zona pellucida binding, and in vitro fertilization.

Objective: To evaluate the possible relationships between sperm morphology, acrosome responsiveness to solubilized human zona pellucida, and sperm-zona binding potential among [1] consecutive andrology referrals and [2] randomly selected in vitro fertilization (IVF) cases.

Design: Prospective analytical study.

Setting: Academic training hospital.

Experimental quest for orbital waves.

One challenge in condensed-matter physics is the experimental confirmation of a new kind of elementary excitation orbital waves, or orbitons, which are predicted to exist in an orbitally ordered state. Saitoh et al. have observed three peaks at 160, 144 and 126 meV in the Raman scattering of orbitally ordered lanthanum manganate (LaMnO(3)), and interpret these as evidence of orbitons.

Intracytoplasmic sperm injection with testicular spermatozoa in men with azoospermia.

Purpose: The aim of the study was to gain an insight into the optimal management of the infertile couple with the husband suffering from azoospermia.

Methods: One hundred and forty-two intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) cycles performed with testicular extracted spermatozoa were retrospectively analysed. The following factors were investigated for their possible influence on fertilization, cleavage, damage, pregnancy, and ongoing pregnancy rates: the use of fresh, cryopreserved, and preincubated (24 h) spermatozoa and the etiology of the husbands' azoospermia (obstructive and nonobstructive).

Ultrastructural evaluation of recurrent and in-vitro maturation resistant metaphase I arrested oocytes.

An infertile couple whose female partner showed recurrent retrieval of immature metaphase I (MI) oocytes that were resistant to in-vitro maturation, was studied. Four spermiograms revealed teratozoospermia. Consistent non-fertilization and negative pregnancy outcomes were obtained after intrauterine insemination, gamete intra-Fallopian transfer and IVF.

Observation of two-magnon bound states in the two-leg ladders of (Ca,La)(14)Cu(24)O(41).

Phonon-assisted two-magnon absorption is studied in the spin- 1/2 two-leg ladders of (Ca,La)(14)Cu(24)O(41) for E parallel c (legs) and E parallel a (rungs). We verify the theoretically predicted existence of two-magnon singlet bound states, which give rise to peaks at approximately equal to 2140 and 2800 cm(-1). The two-magnon continuum is observed at approximately equal to 4000 cm(-1).

Ongoing pregnancies resulting from intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) of spermatozoa from frozen-thawed testicular biopsy specimens.

Two clinical pregnancies following intracytoplasmic sperm injection of spermatozoa from frozen-thawed testicular biopsies in two azoospermic men are reported. The use of spermatozoa from cryopreserved testicular tissue is therefore a viable option for azoospermic men, as our results indicate that pregnancies is achievable in these cases.

Effect of sperm preincubation time on GIFT pregnancy outcome.

This investigation was conducted to evaluate the effect of human sperm preincubation time on the pregnancy outcome in gamete intrafallopian tube transfers. This was determined in a retrospective study on gamete intrafallopian transfer patients (ideopathic infertility) using logistic regression with the covariates, preincubation time (< or = 60 and > 60 min) and age (< or = 35 and > 35 years). The study included 485 consecutive gamete intrafallopian transfer cycles in which 3 metaphase II oocytes were transferred.