Semen quality and reproductive hormones in Faroese men: a cross-sectional population-based study of 481 men

Objectives To determine semen quality and reproductive hormone levels in young Faroese men. Design Descriptive cross-sectional study of Faroese men compared with Danish men. Setting Faroese one-centre study. Participants 481 men born from 1981 to 1987 and investigated from 2007 to 2010. Outcome measures Sperm concentration, semen volume, total sperm count, sperm motility, sperm morphology and reproductive hormone levels. Results Sperm concentrations for the Faroese men were lower than for the Danish men (crude median 40 vs 48 mill/ml, p<0.0005). Semen volume was higher, and thus the total sperm counts did not differ (159 vs 151 mill, p=0.2). Motility and morphology did not differ between the Faroese and Danes. The inhibin B/follicle-stimulating hormone ratios for the Faroese men were lower than for the Danes (64 vs 76, p=0.001). Similarly, lower total testosterone/luteinising hormone (LH) ratio (4.6 vs 6.0, p<0.0005) and lower calculated free-testosterone/LH ratio (94 vs 134, p<0.0005) were detected for the Faroese men. Conclusions Semen quality among the Faroese men is at the same low level as reported for Danish men, and the reproductive hormone levels furthermore indicated a lower Leydig cell capacity for testosterone production. The influence of environmental exposure and genetic factors on semen quality has to be studied further

Micromechanical fatigue experiments for validation of microstructure-sensitive fatigue simulation models

Crack initiation governs high cycle fatigue life and is sensitive to microstructural details. While corresponding microstructure-sensitive models are available, their validation is difficult. We propose a validation framework where a fatigue test is mimicked in a sub-modeling simulation by embedding the measured microstructure into the specimen geometry and adopting an approximation of the experimental boundary conditions. Exemplary, a phenomenological crystal plasticity model was applied to predict deformation in ferritic steel (EN1.4003). Hotspots in commonly used fatigue indicator parameter maps are compared with damage segmented from micrographs. Along with the data, the framework is published for benchmarking future micromechanical fatigue models

Umbilical Cord Mercury Concentration as Biomarker of Prenatal Exposure to Methylmercury

Biomarkers are often applied to assess prenatal exposure to methylmercury in research and surveillance. In a prospective study in the Faroe Islands, the main exposure biomarkers were the mercury concentrations in cord blood and maternal hair obtained at parturition. We have now supplemented these exposure biomarkers with mercury analyses of umbilical cord tissue from 447 births. In particular, when expressed in relation to the dry weight of the tissue, the cord mercury concentration correlated very well with that in cord blood. Structural equation model analysis showed that these two biomarkers have average total imprecision of about 30%, which is much higher than the laboratory error. The imprecision of the dry-weight–based concentration was lower than that of the wet-weight–based parameter, and it was intermediate between those of the cord blood and the hair biomarkers. In agreement with this finding, regression analyses showed that the dry-weight cord mercury concentration was almost as good a predictor of methylmercury-associated neuropsychologic deficits at 7 years of age as was the cord-blood mercury concentration. Cord mercury analysis can therefore be used as a valid measure of prenatal methylmercury exposure, but appropriate adjustment for the imprecision should be considered