The association of impaired semen quality and pregnancy rates in assisted reproduction technology cycles: Systematic review and meta-analysis

Some studies suggest a relationship between semen quality and pregnancy rates of assisted reproduction technologies (ART). Others have questioned the utility of semen quality as proxy for fertility in couples attempting to conceive with or without assistance. We aimed to investigate the current body of evidence which correlates semen parameters and clinical pregnancy among couples utilizing ART (i.e. in vitro fertilization [IVF], intracytoplasmic sperm injection [ICSI]) through a systematic review and meta-analysis of cross-sectional and retrospective cohort studies. Pooled Odd Ratio (OR) for oligo-, astheno- and teratospermic compared to normospermic number of ART cycles were calculated among. Meta-regression and sub-group analysis were implemented to model the contribution of clinical/demographic and laboratory standards differences among the studies. Overall, 17 studies were analysed representing 17,348 cycles were analysed. Pooled OR for impaired sperm concentration, motility and morphology was 1 (95%Confidence Interval [CI]: 0.97-1.03), 0.88 (95%CI: 0.73-1.03) and 0.88 (95%CI: 0.75-1) respectively. Further analysis on sperm morphology showed no differences with regard of IVF versus ICSI (p = 0.14) nor a significant correlation with rising reference thresholds (Coeff: -0.02, p = 0.38). A temporal trend towards a null association between semen parameters and clinical pregnancy was observed over the 20-year observation period (Coeff: 0.01, p = 0.014). The current analysis found no association between semen quality (as measured by concentration, motility or morphology) and clinical pregnancy rates utilizing ART. Future investigations are necessary to explore the association between semen parameters and other ART outcomes (e.g. fertilization, implantation, birth and perinatal health)

Efficacy of three BCG strains (Connaught, TICE and RIVM) with or without secondary resection (re-TUR) for intermediate/high-risk non-muscle-invasive bladder cancers: results from a retrospective single-institution cohort analysis

Purpose: (I) To evaluate the clinical efficacy of three different BCG strains in patients with intermediate-/high-risk non-muscle-invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC). (II) To determine the importance of performing routine secondary resection (re-TUR) in the setting of BCG maintenance protocol for the three strains. Methods: NMIBCs who received an adjuvant induction followed by a maintenance schedule of intravesical immunotherapy with BCG Connaught, TICE and RIVM. Only BCG-naïve and those treated with the same strain over the course of follow-up were included. Cox proportional hazards model was developed according to prognostic factors by the Spanish Urological Oncology Group (CUETO) as well as by adjusting for the implementation of re-TUR. Results: n = 422 Ta-T1 patients (Connaught, n = 146; TICE, n = 112 and RIVM, n = 164) with a median (IQR) follow-up of 72 (60-85) were reviewed. Re-TUR was associated with improved recurrence and progression outcomes (HRRFS: 0.63; 95% CI 0.46-0.86; HRPFS: 0.55; 95% CI 0.31-0.86). Adjusting for CUETO risk factors and re-TUR, BGC TICE and RIVM provided longer RFS compared to Connaught (HRTICE: 0.58, 95% CI 0.39-0.86; HRRIVM: 0.61, 95% CI 0.42-0.87) while no differences were identified between strains for PFS and CSS. Sub-analysis of only re-TUR cases (n = 190, 45%) showed TICE the sole to achieve longer RFS compared to both Connaught and RIVM. Conclusion: Re-TUR was confirmed to ensure longer RFS and PFS in intermediate-/high-risk NMIBCs but did not influence the relative single BCG strain efficacy. When routinely performing re-TUR followed by a maintenance BCG schedule, TICE was superior to the other strains for RFS outcomes

Predictive role of node-rads score in patients with prostate cancer candidates for radical prostatectomy with extended lymph node dissection: comparative analysis with validated nomograms

Background and objectives: The Reporting and Data System (RADS) have been used in the attempts to standardize the results of oncological scans in different scenarios, such as lymph nodes, adding configuration criteria to size determination. We analyze the predictive value of preoperative Node-RADS determination at imaging for pelvic lymph node (PLN) involvement in cases of prostate cancer (PC) considered for radical prostatectomy (RP) with extended lymph node dissection (eLND) and we compare it with validate predictive nomograms (MSKCC, Briganti and Gandaglia). Methods: 150 patients with a histological diagnosis of PC (high risk or intermediate with an estimated risk for pN+ higher than 5% using the Briganti or 7% using the Gandaglia nomogram) submitted for RP with an ePLND from 2018 and 2021 were retrospectively examined. Node-RADS determination was performed in all cases using the preoperative magnetic resonance (MR), performed by a radiologist blinded for pathologic results and compared with the MSKCC, Briganti 2012, Gandaglia 2017 and Gandaglia 2019 nomograms. Results: PLN involvement at final pathology (pN+) was found in 36/150 (24.0%) of cases and the mean percentage of positive LNs in pN+ cases was 15.90 ± 13.40. The mean number of PLNs removed at RP was similar (p = 0.188) between pN0 (23.9 ± 8.0) and pN+ (25.3 ± 8.0) cases. Considering a Node RADS 4-5 positive and a Node RADS 1-2 negative, the PPV was 100% and the NPV was 79.6%. A Node RADS score 4-5 showed a lower sensitivity (0.167 versus 0.972, 1.000, 0.971, 0.960 respectively), a higher specificity (1.000 versus 0.079, 0.096, 0.138, 0.186 respectively) and a similar AUC (0.583 versus 0.591, 0.581, 0.574, 0.597 respectively) when compared to MSKCC, Briganti 2012, Gandaglia 2017 and Gandaglia 2019 nomograms. Conclusions: Our evaluation suggests that Node RADS score, combining configuration criteria to size determination could improve specificity in terms of pathologic PLN prediction but a very low sensitivity has been also described

Measurement and Interpretation of Fermion-Pair Production at LEP energies above the Z Resonance

This paper presents DELPHI measurements and interpretations of cross-sections, forward-backward asymmetries, and angular distributions, for the e+e- -> ffbar process for centre-of-mass energies above the Z resonance, from sqrt(s) ~ 130 - 207 GeV at the LEP collider. The measurements are consistent with the predictions of the Standard Model and are used to study a variety of models including the S-Matrix ansatz for e+e- -> ffbar scattering and several models which include physics beyond the Standard Model: the exchange of Z' bosons, contact interactions between fermions, the exchange of gravitons in large extra dimensions and the exchange of sneutrino in R-parity violating supersymmetry.Comment: 79 pages, 16 figures, Accepted by Eur. Phys. J.

A Determination of the Centre-of-Mass Energy at LEP2 using Radiative 2-fermion Events

Using e+e- -> mu+mu-(gamma) and e+e- -> qqbar(gamma) events radiative to the Z pole, DELPHI has determined the centre-of-mass energy, sqrt{s}, using energy and momentum constraint methods. The results are expressed as deviations from the nominal LEP centre-of-mass energy, measured using other techniques. The results are found to be compatible with the LEP Energy Working Group estimates for a combination of the 1997 to 2000 data sets.Comment: 20 pages, 6 figures, Accepted by Eur. Phys. J.

A Measurement of the Tau Hadronic Branching Ratios

The exclusive and semi-exclusive branching ratios of the tau lepton hadronic decay modes (h- v_t, h- pi0 v_t, h- pi0 pi0 v_t, h- \geq 2pi0 v_t, h- \geq 3pi0 v_t, 2h- h+ v_t, 2h- h+ pi0 v_t, 2h- h+ \geq 2pi0 v_t, 3h- 2h+ v_t and 3h- 2h+ \geq 1pi0 v_t) were measured with data from the DELPHI detector at LEP.Comment: 53 pages, 18 figures, Accepted by Eur. Phys. J.

Search for supersymmetric particles in scenarios with a gravitino LSP and stau NLSP

Sleptons, neutralinos and charginos were searched for in the context of scenarios where the lightest supersymmetric particle is the gravitino. It was assumed that the stau is the next-to-lightest supersymmetric particle. Data collected with the DELPHI detector at a centre-of-mass energy near 189 GeV were analysed combining the methods developed in previous searches at lower energies. No evidence for the production of these supersymmetric particles was found. Hence, limits were derived at 95% confidence level.Comment: 31 pages, 14 figure

Measurement of the inclusive and dijet cross-sections of b-jets in pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV with the ATLAS detector

The inclusive and dijet production cross-sections have been measured for jets containing b-hadrons (b-jets) in proton-proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of sqrt(s) = 7 TeV, using the ATLAS detector at the LHC. The measurements use data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 34 pb^-1. The b-jets are identified using either a lifetime-based method, where secondary decay vertices of b-hadrons in jets are reconstructed using information from the tracking detectors, or a muon-based method where the presence of a muon is used to identify semileptonic decays of b-hadrons inside jets. The inclusive b-jet cross-section is measured as a function of transverse momentum in the range 20 < pT < 400 GeV and rapidity in the range |y| < 2.1. The bbbar-dijet cross-section is measured as a function of the dijet invariant mass in the range 110 < m_jj < 760 GeV, the azimuthal angle difference between the two jets and the angular variable chi in two dijet mass regions. The results are compared with next-to-leading-order QCD predictions. Good agreement is observed between the measured cross-sections and the predictions obtained using POWHEG + Pythia. MC@NLO + Herwig shows good agreement with the measured bbbar-dijet cross-section. However, it does not reproduce the measured inclusive cross-section well, particularly for central b-jets with large transverse momenta.Comment: 10 pages plus author list (21 pages total), 8 figures, 1 table, final version published in European Physical Journal