The relationship between the halosperm assay and semen analysis performed according to the 4th and 5th Editions of the World Health Organization guidelines

Background: As a standard reference to evaluate male factor infertility, the majority of fertility laboratories use the 4th or 5th Editions of the World Health Organization’s semen analysis guidelines. Following the release of the 5th Edition, debate over its legitimacy has resulted in some laboratories using the 4th and others the 5th Edition. DNA integrity tests have been shown to be a valuable adjunct to semen analysis and have subsequently been adopted by many fertility laboratories. This study explored the prevalence of samples with high DNA fragmentation levels according to semen analysis categories using both the 4th and the 5th Edition reference ranges. Materials and Methods: The study included 905 consecutive semen samples from 863 infertile couples attending a fertility clinic. A semen analysis was conducted according to both the 4th and 5th Edition guidelines published by the World Health Organization. DNA damage was assessed using the Halosperm G2 test kit and expressed as a percentage DNA fragmentation level. Results: Alongside both the World Health Organization 4th and 5th Edition semen analysis criteria abnormal DNA fragmentation levels were more common in abnormal semen samples however elevated DNA fragmentation levels were also found in normal semen samples using the same criteria. Of the samples that were graded as normozoospermic according to the 5th Edition guidelines 16% were deemed to have elevated DNA fragmentation levels compared to 11.7% graded by the 4th Edition guidelines. The number of normozoospermic samples, graded according to the 5th Edition guidelines was significantly higher (n=697) than when the same samples were graded according to 4th Edition guidelines (n=385) (p=0.001). A significant proportion of samples with an abnormal DNA fragmentation level corresponding to the World Health Organisation 4th and 5th Edition criteria were evident in normozoospermic (

The preparation and culture of washed human sperm: a comparison of a suite of protein-free media with media containing human serum albumin

Objective To compare two suites of culture media (one with HSA and one protein-free (PF) supplemented with methylcellulose) for washing human sperm in IVF. Methods Semen samples (n = 41) underwent parallel density gradient preparation using PF or HSA-supplemented culture medium and subsequent yield, survival, morphology and motility were compared. Results The PF medium resulted in a significantly higher sperm yield (P \u3c 0.0001), but similar sperm morphology (P = 0.822) and 24-h survival (P = 0.11). There was, however, a lower percentage of progressively motile sperm (P \u3c 0.0001) and a higher proportion of sperm demonstrating non-progressive motility (P \u3c 0.0001) in the PF medium when observed on a Makler Chamber, apparently an artefact as a similar sperm motility index was measured using a Sperm Quality Analyser (P = 0.83). Attachment of sperm in PF medium to the glass chamber reduced with time and any differences had disappeared after 6 min on the counting chamber. Conclusion These results support the use of PF media supplemented with methylcellulose as an alternative to HSA, although a modification to the manufacturer\u27s protocol of 6-min pre-incubation before assessing sperm motility must be used. Further studies should investigate the function of such sperm prepared in PF medium

Serum concentrations of the biomarkers CA125, CA15-3, CA72-4, tPSA and PAPP-A in natural and stimulated ovarian cycles

Objective: Biomarkers associated with cancer screening (CA125, CA15-3, CA72-4, total prostate specific antigen [tPSA]) and the monitoring of pregnancy (pregnancy associated plasma protein-A [PAPP-A]) were measured during natural and stimulated ovarian cycles in disease-free non-pregnant women to determine if they could reflect normal events relating to ovulation and/or endometrial changes. Methods: A total of 73 blood samples (10 women) collected throughout the natural menstrual cycle, and 64 blood samples (11 women) taken during stimulated ovarian cycles, were analysed on the Roche Cobas e411 automated analyser. Results: Detectable levels of tPSA were measured in at least one point in the cycle in 6/10 of women in the natural cycle and 10/11 of women in stimulated cycles, and CA72-4 was detected in only 12/21 women tested. Concentrations of CA125, tPSA, CA15-3 and CA72-4 showed no significant difference between the natural and stimulated ovarian cycle groups. On average the mean PAPP-A of the natural group was (2.41±0.58) mIU/L higher than the stimulated group (t=4.10, P\u3c 0.001). CA125 and CA15-3 results were both significantly influenced by the stage of the cycle (P\u3c0.0001), whereas tPSA and PAPP-A concentrations revealed no significant changes (P≥0.65). CA72-4 was not affected by the stage of the cycle nor ovarian stimulation. Conclusion: Ovarian stimulation reduced serum PAPP-A levels, CA125 and CA15-3 levels were generally unaffected by ovarian stimulation but displayed cyclical changes throughout both natural and stimulated cycles, whilst tPSA and CA72-4 were not affected by the stage of the cycle or ovarian stimulation

Longitudinal changes in thyroid hormones during conception cycles and early pregnancy

Objective: The aim of this study was to characterize changes in free triiodothyronine (fT3), free thyroxine (fT4) and thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) during the follicular and luteal phase and during subsequent early pregnancy in individual women. Method: TPOAb negative women with a viable pregnancy (n=49) had fT3, fT4 and TSH measured longitudinally in serum samples at baseline/non-pregnant (gestation week 0), ovulation (gestation week 2), mid-luteal phase (gestation week 3) and twice weekly from gestation weeks 4 to 6.5. Patient groups received in their conception cycle either no medication (n=13), low ovarian stimulation, (n=17) or controlled ovarian hyperstimulation (COH) for IVF treatment (n=19). Results: Women receiving COH had a transient drop in TSH at the time of ovulation followed by a peak at midluteal (p=0.024). Levels of fT3 and fT4 at each gestation week were not significantly different between the treatment groups, whereas TSH levels were significantly higher at all gestation weeks (p=0.036) in the COH group compared to the natural and low stimulation groups. There were significant changes in thyroid function once pregnancy was established (gestation week 4) through to gestation week 6.5, with a gradual decrease in serum fT3 (r=-0.104, p=0.030) and TSH (r=-0.123 p=0.031), whilst fT4 levels remained constant. 3 women (6.1%) had TSH levels \u3e4.0 mU/L during their pregnancy although these were isolated measurements. Conclusion: Thyroid hormones in individual women did not remain constant but showed discrete changes. TSH was significantly lower at time of ovulation in women who received high doses of ovarian stimulation medication for IVF, and was higher throughout pregnancy than for the other groups. Serum fT3 and TSH decreased significantly during early pregnancy irrespective of medication given in the conception cycle

Identification of the top TESS objects of interest for atmospheric characterization of transiting exoplanets with JWST

Funding: Funding for the TESS mission is provided by NASA's Science Mission Directorate. This work makes use of observations from the LCOGT network. Part of the LCOGT telescope time was granted by NOIRLab through the Mid-Scale Innovations Program (MSIP). MSIP is funded by NSF. This paper is based on observations made with the MuSCAT3 instrument, developed by the Astrobiology Center and under financial support by JSPS KAKENHI (grant No. JP18H05439) and JST PRESTO (grant No. JPMJPR1775), at Faulkes Telescope North on Maui, HI, operated by the Las Cumbres Observatory. This paper makes use of data from the MEarth Project, which is a collaboration between Harvard University and the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory. The MEarth Project acknowledges funding from the David and Lucile Packard Fellowship for Science and Engineering, the National Science Foundation under grant Nos. AST-0807690, AST-1109468, AST-1616624 and AST-1004488 (Alan T. Waterman Award), the National Aeronautics and Space Administration under grant No. 80NSSC18K0476 issued through the XRP Program, and the John Templeton Foundation. C.M. would like to gratefully acknowledge the entire Dragonfly Telephoto Array team, and Bob Abraham in particular, for allowing their telescope bright time to be put to use observing exoplanets. B.J.H. acknowledges support from the Future Investigators in NASA Earth and Space Science and Technology (FINESST) program (grant No. 80NSSC20K1551) and support by NASA under grant No. 80GSFC21M0002. K.A.C. and C.N.W. acknowledge support from the TESS mission via subaward s3449 from MIT. D.R.C. and C.A.C. acknowledge support from NASA through the XRP grant No. 18-2XRP18_2-0007. C.A.C. acknowledges that this research was carried out at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, under a contract with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (80NM0018D0004). S.Z. and A.B. acknowledge support from the Israel Ministry of Science and Technology (grant No. 3-18143). The research leading to these results has received funding from the ARC grant for Concerted Research Actions, financed by the Wallonia-Brussels Federation. TRAPPIST is funded by the Belgian Fund for Scientific Research (Fond National de la Recherche Scientifique, FNRS) under the grant No. PDR T.0120.21. The postdoctoral fellowship of K.B. is funded by F.R.S.-FNRS grant No. T.0109.20 and by the Francqui Foundation. H.P.O.'s contribution has been carried out within the framework of the NCCR PlanetS supported by the Swiss National Science Foundation under grant Nos. 51NF40_182901 and 51NF40_205606. F.J.P. acknowledges financial support from the grant No. CEX2021-001131-S funded by MCIN/AEI/ 10.13039/501100011033. A.J. acknowledges support from ANID—Millennium Science Initiative—ICN12_009 and from FONDECYT project 1210718. Z.L.D. acknowledges the MIT Presidential Fellowship and that this material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship under grant No. 1745302. P.R. acknowledges support from the National Science Foundation grant No. 1952545. This work is partly supported by JSPS KAKENHI grant Nos. JP17H04574, JP18H05439, JP21K20376; JST CREST grant No. JPMJCR1761; and Astrobiology Center SATELLITE Research project AB022006. This publication benefits from the support of the French Community of Belgium in the context of the FRIA Doctoral Grant awarded to M.T. D.D. acknowledges support from TESS Guest Investigator Program grant Nos. 80NSSC22K1353, 80NSSC22K0185, and 80NSSC23K0769. A.B. acknowledges the support of M.V. Lomonosov Moscow State University Program of Development. T.D. was supported in part by the McDonnell Center for the Space Sciences. V.K. acknowledges support from the youth scientific laboratory project, topic FEUZ-2020-0038.JWST has ushered in an era of unprecedented ability to characterize exoplanetary atmospheres. While there are over 5000 confirmed planets, more than 4000 Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) planet candidates are still unconfirmed and many of the best planets for atmospheric characterization may remain to be identified. We present a sample of TESS planets and planet candidates that we identify as “best-in-class” for transmission and emission spectroscopy with JWST. These targets are sorted into bins across equilibrium temperature Teq and planetary radius Rp and are ranked by a transmission and an emission spectroscopy metric (TSM and ESM, respectively) within each bin. We perform cuts for expected signal size and stellar brightness to remove suboptimal targets for JWST. Of the 194 targets in the resulting sample, 103 are unconfirmed TESS planet candidates, also known as TESS Objects of Interest (TOIs). We perform vetting and statistical validation analyses on these 103 targets to determine which are likely planets and which are likely false positives, incorporating ground-based follow-up from the TESS Follow-up Observation Program to aid the vetting and validation process. We statistically validate 18 TOIs, marginally validate 31 TOIs to varying levels of confidence, deem 29 TOIs likely false positives, and leave the dispositions for four TOIs as inconclusive. Twenty-one of the 103 TOIs were confirmed independently over the course of our analysis. We intend for this work to serve as a community resource and motivate formal confirmation and mass measurements of each validated planet. We encourage more detailed analysis of individual targets by the community.Peer reviewe

Sperm motility assessment using computer assisted semen analysis (CASA): a comparison of standard microscope slides and coverslips and the 20 µm MicroCell™

Computer assisted semen analysis (CASA) uses instrumentation that makes precise measurements of sperm motility, but the values obtained can be influenced by a number of technical aspects. Motility of human sperm was measured using a Sperm Class Analyzer (Microptic S.L., Barcelona, Spain), and the effect of using different counting chamber/slide configurations was investigated. Results for 20μm MicroCell slides (Vitrolife Sweden AB, Göteborg, Sweden) were compared with microscope slides and 22mmx22mm coverslips loaded with either 5µl (CV.5µl) or 10µl (CV.10µl) semen. Operator-correction of readings for all slide configurations resulted in a significantly lower number of sperm assessed due to the elimination of non-sperm bodies. Following operator-correction, the MicroCell chamber and CV.10µl slide gave similar readings for both progressive motility and immotility for up to 5 minutes, whereas the CV.5µl had a progressive increase in immotile sperm. The interval to analysis was therefore standardised at 2 minutes prior to the measurement of kinetic parameters, and the MicroCell values were significantly different to the CV.10µl for curvilinear velocity (VCL), average path velocity (VAP) and straight line velocity (VSL), and the CV.5µl for VAP. It is concluded that the same configuration be used within the same study, and that care should be taken when comparing different studies that have used different slide/chamber configurations

Article ID: WMC001063 2046-1690 Refreezing Does Not Affect Their Survival Or Implantation

Abstract The thawing of frozen human zygotes and culture to the blastocyst stage often generates supernumerary blastocysts which can be refrozen. A total of 9 recipients of donated oocytes and 35 women originally at risk of ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome had such blastocysts thawed. There were respective survival rates of 72.0% and 66.7%, and on-going pregnancy rates of 23.5% and 18.8% after transfer, which did not differ from the general IVF population of women receiving thawed blastocysts generated from fresh zygotes. The refreezing of blastocysts from thawed zygotes can therefore be undertaken with confidence