Association Between Sleep Quality and Semen Parameters and Reproductive Hormones: A Cross-Sectional Study in Zhejiang, China.

Background: The effects of sleep duration on semen quality have been documented in many epidemiological studies. However, the association between sleep quality and semen parameters and reproductive hormones is still unclear.

Patients Enrollment And Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional study among 970 outpatients from the Reproductive Medicine Center in Zhejiang, China between October 2017 and July 2019.

[Microsurgical subinguinal varicocelectomy with delivery of the testis and ligation of gubernacular veins: Evaluation of clinical effects].

Objective: To compare the clinical effects and postoperative complications of microsurgical subinguinal varicocelectomy (MSV) with or without delivery of the testis and ligation of gubernacular veins in the treatment of varicocele.

Methods: We retrospectively analyzed the clinical data about 163 varicocele patients treated by MSV, 40 with (group A) and the other 123 without delivery of the testis and ligation of gubernacular veins (group B). We compared the operation time, postoperative complications, rate of recurrence, and semen parameters before and at 3 months after surgery between the two groups of patients.

Risk factors for bladder calculi in patients with benign prostatic hyperplasia.

We aim to find the risk factors that influence the formation of bladder calculi in patients with benign prostate hyperplasia (BPH) and to reduce the surgical intervention related to bladder calculi.Between January 2015 and October 2016, 332 patients with BPH underwent surgical therapy were retrospectively evaluated. Patients with BPH were categorized into 2 groups: 94 patients with bladder calculi in group 1 and 238 patients without bladder calculi in group 2.

Chronic Kidney Disease and Carotid Atherosclerosis in Patients With Acute Stroke.

Background And Purpose: Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is increasingly recognized as an independent risk factor for cardiovascular disease and stroke. Our aim was to examine the association between estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) and carotid plaques, stenosis and occlusions, and to assess whether CKD and its severity affect carotid atherosclerosis in a cohort of unselected patients with acute stroke.

Methods: A total of 249 consecutive patients with acute stroke (ischemic or hemorrhagic) were included in this study and baseline eGFR, carotid intima-media thickness (cIMT), and carotid stenosis were evaluated.

Creation of Bt rice expressing a fusion protein of Cry1Ac and Cry1I-like using a green tissue-specific promoter.

The insecticidal genes from Bacillus thuringiensis Berliner (Bt) have long been successfully used for development of insect-resistant rice. However, commercial planting of Bt rice has been delayed by the concern over food safety, although no scientific evidence is ever found to justify the concern. To address this safety concern, we developed a transgenic insect-resistant rice line using a green tissue promoter to minimize the Bt protein expression in the rice seeds.

Attentional blink in adolescents with varying levels of impulsivity.

We explore the temporal attention function in a non-clinical sample of adolescents varying in impulsivity, as assessed with the Barratt Impulsiveness Scale. In a Rapid Serial Visual Presentation task, in which two targets (T(1) and T(2)) were presented in close temporal proximity among distractors, participants tried to identify T(1) and detect T(2) in one (dual-task) experiment and only to detect T(2) in a second, control (single-task) experiment. The sensitivity of T(2) detection was analyzed using signal detection theory.

Auditory discrimination in female adolescents varying in schizotypal features: preliminary findings.

Earlier experiments have suggested impaired auditory perception in patients with schizophrenia. The purpose of the present study was to investigate auditory discrimination in young adults varying in schizotypal features. Three hundred and forty-nine female adolescent subjects were rated with the Schizotypal Personality Questionnaire (SPQ) and the Perceptual Aberration Scale (PAS) and with questions from the Chinese Health Questionnaire (CHQ) that address non-psychotic, psychological status of the subjects.

Impairment of temporal attention in patients with schizophrenia.

Evidence is accumulating that attention impairment is a core cognitive deficit in patients with schizophrenia. Here we investigate whether they are impaired in the temporal deployment of attention. Specifically, we explore how allocation of processing resources at one time point might affect the processing of a subsequent event differently in normal and schizophrenia subjects.

Altered performance of schizophrenia patients in an auditory detection and discrimination task: exploring the 'self-monitoring' model of hallucination.

It has been suggested that perceptual hallucination results from a bias in attributing a self-generated event to an external source. The 'self-monitoring' model proposes that the impairment arises from a defective corollary discharge in perceptual decisions. However, psychophysical studies in schizophrenia patients have not found consistent support for the model.