Effects of different doses of hyaloronan on human sperm motility, vitality and morphology

Important aspect of sperm function such as motility and capacitation appear to be mediated at least partially though hyaloronic acid (HA). Present study investigated effects of different doses of HA on sperm motility and vitality in human. Sperm was obtained from 20 male from IVF clinic in Imam Khomeini Hospital. Sperm motility and vitality in human semen was analyzed according to WHO criteria before and 4 hours after treatment with different doses of HA (0.750, 1000 and 1250 μg/ml). The results showed that in 1000 μg/ml the percent of stage 3 and 4 increased compare to control group. Percent of stage 1 and 2 decreased in group with 1000 μg/ml HA, there was an increase in the percentage of stage 3 and 4 and decrease in percentage of stage 1 and 2 compare to control. In the group treated with 1250 μg/ml stage 1 and 2 increased while stage 3 and 4 decreased. Vitality in all groups decreased except of the group treated with 1000 μg/ml HA. The group with 1250 μg/ml showed significantly decrease in vitality compare to fresh group (P < 0.05). The present study showed that the effects of HA on sperm motility and vitality is dose dependant and 1000 μg/ml HA had the effective role on sperm parameters. © 2009 Tehran University of Medical Sciences. All rights reserved

COVID-19: Can this crisis be transformative for global health?

The UN has described the health, social and economic consequences of Covid-19 as a global crisis unlike any other encountered in its history. Although a pandemic of this nature was not unforeseeable, its arrival seems to have caught the world off guard, hurling us into a state of partly haphazard disaster mitigation. It has shed sharper light on the failure of global health in its current form to tackle acute and systemic challenges in a rapidly changing world, and the unequal patterns in society that leave us vulnerable. This commentary argues that, despite its devastating effects, the Covid-19 pandemic can be a longer-term positively transformative event for global health. However, this will require going beyond the development of more effective plans for health emergency preparedness, to confront the crisis in global health governance and leadership, and rethink the roles of key actors involved in world health. It ultimately calls us back to the very concept of ‘global health’: the values it should encompass, what we should expect from it and how we might envisage reshaping or ‘co-creating’ it for the future

Systematic review of available guidelines on fertility preservation of young patients with breast cancer

Background: Since the survival rate of breast cancer patients has improved, harmful effects of new treatment modalities on fertility of the young breast cancer patients has become a focus of attention. This study aimed to systematically review and critically appraise all available guidelines for fertility preservation in young breast cancer patients. Materials and Methods: Major citation databases were searched for treatment guidelines. Experts from relevant disciplines appraised the available guidelines. The AGREE II Instrument that includes 23 criteria in seven domains (scope and purpose of the guidelines, stakeholder involvement, rigor of development, clarity, applicability, editorial independence, and overall quality) was used to apprise and score the guidelines. Results: The search strategy retrieved 2,606 citations; 72 were considered for full-text screening and seven guidelines were included in the study. There was variability in the scores assigned to different domains among the guidelines. ASCO (2013), with an overall score of 68.0, had the highest score, and St Gallen, with an overall score of 24.7, had the lowest scores among the guidelines. Conclusions: With the promising survival rate among breast cancer patients, more attention should be given to include specific fertility preservation recommendations for young breast cancer patients

Survival to intensive care unit discharge among in-hospital cardiac arrest patients by applying audiovisual feedback device.

AIMS: Survival rates after in-hospital cardiac arrest remain very low. Although there is evidence that the use of audiovisual feedback devices can improve compression components, there are no data on patient survival. Therefore, we conducted this study to analyse the survival rate of patients with in-hospital cardiac arrest after discharge from the intensive care unit. METHODS AND RESULTS: This study was a secondary analysis of a prospective, randomized, controlled, parallel study of patients who received either standard manual chest compression or a real-time feedback device. Parametric and semi-parametric models were fitted to the data. Different survival time of length of stay was investigated by univariate and multiple analyses. Pearson's correlation between length of stay and hospital length of stay was obtained. A total of 900 patients with a mean survival time of 35 days were included. Intervention was associated with a higher length of stay. Relative time was significant in adjusted fitted log-normal regression for intervention group, female gender, and cardiopulmonary resuscitation in the night shift. A positive correlation between length of stay and hospital length of stay was found. CONCLUSIONS: Implementation of feedback device improved survival and length of stay. Cardiopulmonary resuscitation performance during the night shift decreased the survival time, which could be due to the inexperienced staff available outside working hours

Differentiation of Volatile Profiles and Odor Activity Values of Turkish Coffee and French Press Coffee

Volatile compositions of coffee obtained from two different coffee brewing methods, Turkish coffee (TC) and French press coffee (FPC), were analyzed by the gas chromatography-mass spectrometry technique. Liquid–liquid extraction with dichloromethane was used for extraction of volatile compounds. A total of 60 and 58 volatile compounds comprising furans, lactones, phenolic compounds, pyridines, pyrazines, acids, cyclopentenes, pyrroles, furanones, ketones, alcohols, aldehydes and thiols were identified and quantified in TC and FPC, respectively. Among the detected compounds, furans were present in the highest levels, followed by lactones. Furfuryl alcohol followed by ?-butyrolactone, pyridine, hexadecanoic acid, maltol, 2-methyl pyrazine and furfuryl acetate were found in large amounts in both coffee brews. It was observed that the volatile profiles of both samples were quite similar. Based on the odor activity values (OAVs), 13 volatile compounds presented OAVs greater than 1 and guaiacol, 2,3-butanedione and furfuryl acetate were the highest OAVs in both coffee samples. Practical Applications: Coffee is one of the most widely consumed beverages in the world. The results of this first study provide valuable information for understanding the aroma and odor activity value differences between Turkish coffee and French press coffee. The liquid–liquid extraction technique for isolation followed by analysis and identification of those compounds by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry is an effective practical application tool for volatile description in coffee samples. It was observed that the volatile profiles of both samples were quite similar. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc

Aroma components of Iranian dried Heracleum persicum fruit (golpar) using solvent-assisted flavour evaporation technique

Aroma composition obtained from Iranian dried Heracleum persicum Desf. ex Fisch. was analysed by the gas chromatography- mass spectrometry (GC-MS) technique. For the first time in this plant aroma, the solvent-assisted flavour evaporation (SAFE) extraction method with dichloromethane was used prior to GC-MS. A total of 26 aroma compounds comprising esters, terpenes, acids, alcohol and aldehyde were identified and quantified in dried H. persicum fruit. Among the detected compounds, esters were present on highest levels, followed by terpenes. Hexyl butyrate was quantitatively the main aroma compound in this fruit, representing 65.6% of the total aroma compounds analysed, followed by octyl acetate (18.2%), hexyl isobutanoate (5.6%), ?-terpinene (1.6%) and o-cymene (1.3%). © 2016 National Agricultural and Food Centre (Slovakia)

The most aroma-active compounds in shade-dried aerial parts of basil obtained from Iran and Turkey

Volatile profile, aroma-active compounds and odor activity values of the shade-dried aerial parts of basil (Ocimum basilicum) were investigated. Basil samples used under the study were provided from Iran and Turkey. Volatile compounds were isolated using a purge and trap extraction system and analyzed by gas chromatography olfactometry. A total of 50 volatile compounds of which 29 originated from Iranian and 32 were of Turkish origin were determined. Terpenes were present at the overwhelmingly highest levels, followed by alcohols and aldehydes. Of the terpenes, methyl chavicol was the main compound of both samples. The aroma-active compounds of basils were investigated by using aroma extract dilution analysis (AEDA) for the first time. The application of AEDA revealed 18 aroma-active compounds, including terpenes (10), aldehydes (3), ketone (1), phenol (1), alcohol (1), and unknown compounds (2) were detected. Linalool and methyl chavicol had the greatest flavour dilution (FD) factors in both samples, amounting to 2048 and 1024, respectively. © 2018 Elsevier B.V

Aroma constituents of shade-dried aerial parts of Iranian dill (Anethum graveolens L.) and savory (Satureja sahendica Bornm.) by solvent-assisted flavor evaporation technique

The aroma profile of shade-dried aerial part from Iranian dill (Anethum graveolens L.) and Savory (Satureja sahendica Bornm.) plants was analyzed by the gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC–MS) and gas chromatography–flame ionization detector (GC–FID). For the first time in these aromatic plants, the solvent-assisted flavour evaporation (SAFE) extraction method with dichloromethane was used prior to GC–MS. A total of 40 and 26 aroma compounds was identified in dill and savory. Dill contained 271.52 µg/g total amount of aroma compounds, which included terpenes (28), aldehydes (3), alcohol (1), acids (3), volatile phenols (3), ketone (1) and norisoprenoid (1). Savory possessed 10,547.16 µg/g total amount of aroma compounds, including terpenes (20), alcohol (1) and volatile phenols (5). Of all aroma compounds detected in both plants, terpenes were quantitatively the most dominant aroma volatiles. In the overall aroma volatiles, ?-phellandrene (160.0 µg/g) together with sabinene (26.5 µg/g), d-carvone (16.2 µg/g), dl-limonene (12.3 µg/g) and dill ether (7.8 µg/g) in dill and ?-terpinene (6236.83 µg/g) along with carvacrol (3239.19 µg/g), ?-pinene (267.08 µg/g), ?-thujene (219.36 µg/g) and ß-bisabolene (130.8 µg/g) in savory were the major compounds. © 2017, Springer Science+Business Media New York

GC-MS-olfactometric characterization of the most aroma-active components in a representative aromatic extract from Iranian saffron (Crocus sativus L.)

PubMedID: 25842335Aroma and aroma-active compounds of Iranian saffron (Crocus sativus L.) were analyzed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry-olfactometry. The saffron aromatic extracts were obtained by four different extraction techniques including solvent-assisted flavour evaporation (SAFE), liquid-liquid extraction (LLE), solid phase extraction (SPE), and simultaneous distillation extraction (SDE) and compared to achieve a representative aromatic extract from saffron. According to sensory analysis, the aromatic extract obtained by SAFE was the most representative of saffron odour. A total of 28 aroma compounds were identified in saffron. Ketones were quantitatively the most dominant volatiles in saffron, followed by aldehydes and acids. Aroma extract dilution analysis (AEDA) was used for the determination of aroma-active compounds of saffron. A total of nine aroma-active compounds were detected in the aromatic extract. On the basis of the flavour dilution (FD) factor, the most powerful aroma active compounds were safranal (FD = 512), 4-ketoisophorone (FD = 256) and dihydrooxophorone (FD = 128). © 2015 Elsevier Ltd All rights reserved

Elucidation of Infusion-Induced Changes in the Key Odorants and Aroma Profile of Iranian Endemic Borage (Echium amoenum) Herbal Tea

PubMedID: 30758196Infusion-induced changes in the aroma and key odorants and their odor activity values of Iranian endemic herbal (Gol-Gavzaban) tea obtained from shade-dried violet-blue petals of borage (Echium amoenum) were studied for the first time. Two hot teas and one cold tea were investigated and coded as 4MN (4 min/98 °C), 16MN (16 min/98 °C), and 24HR (24 h/ambient temperature), respectively. Aromatic extracts of the tea samples were isolated by the liquid-liquid extraction method and analyzed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry-olfactometry (GC-MS-O) for the first time. According to the results of the aroma profiling, a total of 35 common aroma compounds comprising alcohols, acids, volatile phenols, lactones, aldehydes, ketone, pyrroles, and furans were identified and quantified in the tea samples. Indeed, it is worth noting that the aroma profiles of the borage teas were similar. However, the effects of the infusion techniques were clearly different as observed on the content of each individual and total compounds in the samples. The highest mean total concentration was detected in 24HR (266.0 mg/kg), followed by 16MN (247.1 mg/kg) and 4MN (216.1 mg/kg). 1-Penten-3-ol was the principal volatile component in all borage teas. On the basis of the result of the flavor dilution (FD) factors, a combined total of 22 different key odorants was detected. The potential key odorants with regard to FD factors in all samples were prevailingly alcohols, acids, and terpenes. The highest FD factors were observed in 2-hexanol (2048 in 4MN and 24HR; 1024 in 16MN) and 1-penten-3-ol (2048 in 24HR; 1024 in 4MN and 16MN) in samples providing herbal and green notes. Principal component analysis (PCA) showed that the tea samples could clearly be discriminated in terms of their aroma profiles and key odorants. The findings of the current study demonstrate that the tea preparation conditions have a significant impact on the organoleptic quality of borage tea. Copyright © 2019 American Chemical Society