Follicle-stimulating hormone receptor gene polymorphism in chronic anovulatory women, with or without polycystic ovary syndrome: a cross-sectional study

BACKGROUND: Polymorphisms at codons 307 and 680 are the most commonly encountered allelic variants of the follicle-stimulating hormone receptor (FSHR) gene. Studies in Caucasians suggest that certain FSHR variants are more common in women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) than normal women. The objective of this study was to determine the distribution of FSHR gene polymorphisms at codons 307 and 680 in Thai women with chronic anovulation, without (121 women) and with PCOS (133 women), using 132 known fertile women as controls. METHODS: DNA samples from peripheral blood lymphocytes were extracted and analyzed by polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism. RESULTS: The prevalence of Threonine307Threonine (TT), Threonine307Alanine (TA), and Alanine307Alanine (AA) genotypes at codon 307 was 53.0% (95% CI = 44.2-61.7%), 42.4% (95% CI = 34–51.3%), and 4.5% (95% CI = 1.9-10.1%) in controls; 52.6% (95% CI = 43.8-61.3%), 39.8% (95% CI = 31.6-48.7%), and 7.5% (95% CI = 3.9-13.7%) in PCOS women; and 50.4% (95% CI = 42.8-61.2%), 45.4% (95% CI = 34.9-53.1%), and 4.5% (95% CI = 1.5-9.6%) in anovulatory women without PCOS, respectively. The prevalence of Asparagine680Asparagine (NN), Asparagine680Serine (NS), and Serine680Serine (SS) genotypes at codon 680 was 54.5% (95% CI = 45.7-63.2%), 40.9% (95% CI = 32.5-49.8%), and 4.5% (95% CI = 1.9-10.1%) in controls; 51.9% (95% CI = 43.1-60.6%), 44.4% (95% CI = 35.8-53.2%), and 3.8% (95% CI = 1.4-9.0%) in PCOS women; and 47.9% (95% CI = 40.4-58.8%), 47.1% (95% CI = 36.5-54.7%), and 5.0% (95% CI = 2–10.9%) in anovulatory women without PCOS, respectively. The prevalence of FSHR gene polymorphisms at both codons were not statistically different among the three groups. CONCLUSIONS: In Thai women, there was no association between the FSHR gene polymorphism at codons 307 and 680 and chronic anovulation

Role of Antiviral Drugs in Management of Mild and Moderate Coronavirus Disease-19: A Systematic Review

This study was conducted to determine the objective role of antiviral drugs such as arbidol, lopinavir/ritonavir, and others in improving clinical symptoms, decreasing duration of hospitalization, and decreasing duration of viral shedding in patients with mild and moderate COVID-19 infection. A systematic literature search was carried out on Google Scholar and PubMed databases, using the keywords “COVID-19”, “Antiviral”, “Treatment”, and “Symptomatic” in various combinations. Observational studies, cohort and case control studies, and clinical trials published in English with full-text available were included in the study. Data extraction was carried out from selected studies, and all statistical analysis for the study was carried out using Microsoft Excel. The key outcomes studied were time to negative PCR, duration of clinical stay, time to clinical improvement, and occurrence of adverse events. Seven studies were selected for final review after rigorous selection process. Data of total 4734 participants was analyzed, the majority of which were females (n=2810, 59.3%). The majority of participants had mild disease (n=4197, 88.65%). Average time for negative RT-PCR in the included treatment groups was 13.5 days, whereas the average duration of hospitalization was 14.9 days for the treatment groups. Adverse reactions such as ECG changes, gastrointestinal symptoms, secondary bacterial infections, and hepatic and renal dysfunction were scarcely reported in the included studies. There is no clear benefit in terms of duration of hospitalization and time to negative PCR with the use of various antiviral regimens in mild disease; however, these drugs did play a role in limiting disease progression in the participant population. Pending further evidence, the use of these drugs for the management of COVID-19 is not recommend in patients with mild disease

Models of advanced recording systems: A multi-timescale micromagnetic code for granular thin film magnetic recording systems.

Micromagnetic modelling provides the ability to simulate large magnetic systems reliably without the computational cost limitation imposed by atomistic modelling. Through micromagnetic modelling it is possible to simulate systems consisting of thousands of grains over a time range of nanoseconds to years, depending upon the solver used. Here we present the creation and release of an open-source multi-timescale micromagnetic code combining three key solvers: Landau-Lifshitz-Gilbert; Landau-Lifshitz-Bloch; Kinetic Monte Carlo. This code, called MARS (Models of Advanced Recording Systems), is capable of accurately simulating the magnetisation dynamics in large and structurally complex single- and multi-layered granular systems as is shown by comparison to established atomistic simulation results. The short timescale simulations are achieved for systems far from and close to the Curie point via the implemented Landau-Lifshitz-Gilbert and Landau-Lifshitz-Bloch solvers respectively. This enables read/write simulations for general perpendicular magnetic recording and also state of the art heat assisted magnetic recording (HAMR). The long timescale behaviour is simulated via the Kinetic Monte Carlo solver, enabling investigations into signal-to-noise ratio and data longevity. The combination of these solvers opens up the possibility of multi-timescale simulations within a single software package. For example the entire HAMR process from initial data writing and data read back to long term data storage is possible via a single simulation using MARS. The use of atomistic parameterisation for the material input of MARS enables highly accurate material descriptions which provide a bridge between atomistic simulation and real world experimentation. Thus MARS is capable of performing simulations for all aspects of recording media research and development. This ranges from material characterisation and optimisation to system design and implementation. The object orientated nature of MARS is structured to facilitate quick and simple development and easy implementation of user defined custom simulation types which can utilise either timescale or a combination of both timescales. Program summary: Program title: MARS CPC Library link to program files: https://doi.org/10.17632/8mx7cndcdx.1 Developer's repository link: https://bitbucket.org/EwanRannala/mars/ Code Ocean capsule: https://codeocean.com/capsule/2549929 Licensing provisions: MIT Programming language: C++ Supplementary material: MARS testing methodology (PDF), HAMR simulation example video. Nature of problem: A combined model that enables the complete modelling of magnetic recording processes at elevated temperatures covering all time scales from writing (nanoseconds) up to long term data storage (years). The model must also accurately describe the granular nature of the recording media as grain sizes are reduced to a few nanometres. Solution method: Short timescale behaviours are captured via the Landau-Lifshitz-Gilbert and Landau-Lifshitz-Bloch solvers for low and high temperature systems respectively. The long time scale behaviours are captured via a kinetic Monte Carlo solver. To enable complex models which account for mixed timescale behaviours the solvers are implemented as a single class structure which allows for dynamic solver selection. The granular structure is generated via a Laguerre-Voronoi tessellation with a custom implemented packing algorithm to produce highly realistic grain size distributions. Complex thermal dependencies of materials can be incorporated via atomistic parameterisation forming a multi-timescale model of the material

Magnetization dynamics of granular heat-assisted magnetic recording media by means of a multiscale model

Heat-assisted magnetic recording (HAMR) technology represents the most promising candidate to replace the current perpendicular recording paradigm to achieve higher storage densities. To better understand HAMR dynamics in granular media we need to describe accurately the magnetization dynamics up to temperatures close to the Curie point. To this end we propose a multiscale approach based on the Landau-Lifshitz-Bloch (LLB) equation of motion parametrized using atomistic calculations. The LLB formalism describes the magnetization dynamics at finite temperature and allows us to efficiently simulate large system sizes and long time scales. Atomistic simulations provide the required temperature dependent input quantities for the LLB equation, such as the equilibrium magnetization and the anisotropy and can be used to capture the detailed magnetization dynamics. The multiscale approach makes it possible to overcome the computational limitations of atomistic models in dealing with large systems, such as a recording track, while incorporating the basic physics of the HAMR process. We investigate the magnetization dynamics of a single FePt grain as a function of the properties of the temperature profile and applied field and test the LLB results against atomistic calculations. Our results prove the appropriateness and potential of the approach proposed here where the granular model is able to reproduce the atomistic simulations and capture the main properties of a HAMR medium

What Goes Around Comes Around: Learning Sentiments in Online Medical Forums

Currently 19%-28% of Internet users participate in online health discussions. A 2011 survey of the US population estimated that 59% of all adults have looked online for information about health topics such as a specific disease or treatment. Although empirical evidence strongly supports the importance of emotions in health-related messages, there are few studies of the relationship between a subjective lan-guage and online discussions of personal health. In this work, we study sentiments expressed on online medical forums. As well as considering the predominant sentiments expressed in individual posts, we analyze sequences of sentiments in online discussions. Individual posts are classified into one of five categories. We identified three categories as sentimental (encouragement, gratitude, confusion) and two categories as neutral (facts, endorsement). 1438 messages from 130 threads were annotated manually by two annotators with a strong inter-annotator agreement (Fleiss kappa = 0.737 and 0.763 for posts in se-quence and separate posts respectively). The annotated posts were used to analyse sentiments in consec-utive posts. In four multi-class classification problems, we assessed HealthAffect, a domain-specific af-fective lexicon, as well general sentiment lexicons in their ability to represent messages in sentiment recognition

Protein changes in rat liver induced by the nongenotoxic carcinogens phenobarbital and Wy-14,643

EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo

Ovarian follicular fluid reflects the clinical condition and oocyte cumulus homeostasis.

Infertility is a worldwide problem that is often overlooked. Although assisted reproductive technology has been developed over decades, many women still suffer from infertility. More knowledge is needed to understand ovarian homeostasis to optimise fertility treatment. This study aimed to explore the relationship of lipids and glucose levels in blood and follicular fluid, and compare these substrates among women with normal or abnormal metabolic condition. It also sought to measure lipid content within human oocytes as well as the expression of endoplasmic reticulum stress marker genes in cumulus cells, and their relationship with metabolic substances, obesity and IVF outcome. The blood, follicular fluid, cumulus cells and unfertilised oocytes from 88 women, who underwent IVF in FertilitySA from February 2011 to August 2011, were collected and analysed for glucose, lipids and endoplasmic reticulum stress markers. Follicular glucose, insulin, high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) and majority of polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) and monounsaturated fatty acid (MUFA) levels correlated with the serum levels (r= 0.16-0.23). Insulin was associated with the BMI, waist circumference, metabolic syndrome and many fatty acids, but not follicular glucose. However, the immaturity rate of the retrieved oocytes correlated with the follicular glucose and total fatty acids (r = 0.19-0.26, p <0.04). Variability of the unfertilised oocyte morphology correlated with follicular glucose, and the immaturity rate also differed among the metabolic syndrome group. An increase of follicular 18:3 n-3 (alpha-linolenic) and decrease of 20:3 n-3 (eicosatrienoic acid; ETA) existed in women with a waist circumference of more than 80 cm. The follicular 20:5 n-3 (eicosapentaenoic acid; EPA) percentage correlated with fertilisation and cleavage rate (r = -0.32, p = 0.003 and r = -0.35, p = 0.001). The follicular low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) and HDL-C related to follicular fatty acids. Higher levels of serum LDL-C (2.31 ± 0.65 and 1.98 ± 0.61mmol/L, p 0.02) and follicular fatty acid (0.26 ± 0.09 and 0.22 ± 0.05 mmol/L, p = 0.03) were found in non-pregnant women. There was a wide variability of ER stress expression in cumulus cells among women in this study. There was no obvious correlation between ER stress markers and other measurements. The unfertilised oocyte BODIPY fluorescence intensity had high variability among women and individuals. However, the unfertilised oocyte lipid content correlated with the serum LDL-C level. Substances with a good follicular-serum relationship may be transported directly from blood to the follicle. The discorrelation might be affected by intrafollicular metabolism. Insulin may be involved in follicular lipid metabolism because it correlated with many follicular fatty acids and cholesterols. The equilibrium between follicular fatty acids involving insulin modulation may affect oocyte quality. Overall, this study found there were correlations between serum and follicular lipids, follicular insulin and cholesterol with follicular fatty acids and the importance of serum LDL-C and follicular omega-3 fatty acids. Serum insulin and LDL-C screening might be another tool for predicting the follicular lipid dysequilibrium and poor IVF outcome. The unfertilised oocyte may be a useful tool for a study on oocyte quality. A larger study is needed to recruit more women of different ages and BMI for a stronger correlation between follicular insulin, glucose and lipid metabolism, and ER stress markers.Thesis (M.Med.Sc.) -- University of Adelaide, School of Paediatrics and Reproductive Health, 201

Endometrios skapar begränsningar i livet

Bakgrund:  Endometrios är en vanlig gynekologisk sjukdom som drabbar var tionde kvinna i fertil ålder. I Sverige lever cirka 200 000 kvinnor med diagnosen endometrios och globalt ungefär 176 miljoner. Endometrios innebär att celler som liknar livmoderslemhinnan och normalt befinner sig i livmodern, växer utanför livmodern och lokaliserar sig på olika ställen i kroppen, där cellerna kan reproducera sig, exempelvis äggstockar, tarmar, bukhinna och urinblåsa. Smärta vid endometrios är den största anledningen till begränsningar och ett långvarigt lidande i kvinnors dagliga liv. Begreppet lidande förklaras enligt Katie Erikssons teori med sjukdomslidande, livslidande och vårdlidande.  Syfte: Syftet var att beskriva kvinnors upplevelser av begränsningar i det dagliga livet i relation till endometrios. Metod: Litteraturstudie baserad på åtta kvalitativa vetenskapliga artiklar. Analysen genomfördes enligt Lundman och Graneheims kvalitativa innehållsanalys. Resultat: Resultatet resulterade i fyra kategorier som beskrev kvinnors begränsningar. Dessa är; begränsningar vid fysisk aktivitet, begränsningar vid intima relationer, begränsningar vid sociala relationer samt begränsning av psykiskt välmående. Slutsats: Endometrios är en gynekologisk kronisk sjukdom som begränsade kvinnor i många avseenden där smärtan var största anledningen till kvinnors begränsningar i livet. I studien redovisades resultatet avseende begränsningar vid fysisk aktivitet, begränsningar vid intima relationer, begränsningar vid sociala relationer och begränsningar av psykiskt välmående som visar hur påverkade kvinnorna blev både fysiskt och psykiskt i många avseenden varför kunskapen om endometrios behöver bli bättre

Endometrios skapar begränsningar i livet

Bakgrund:  Endometrios är en vanlig gynekologisk sjukdom som drabbar var tionde kvinna i fertil ålder. I Sverige lever cirka 200 000 kvinnor med diagnosen endometrios och globalt ungefär 176 miljoner. Endometrios innebär att celler som liknar livmoderslemhinnan och normalt befinner sig i livmodern, växer utanför livmodern och lokaliserar sig på olika ställen i kroppen, där cellerna kan reproducera sig, exempelvis äggstockar, tarmar, bukhinna och urinblåsa. Smärta vid endometrios är den största anledningen till begränsningar och ett långvarigt lidande i kvinnors dagliga liv. Begreppet lidande förklaras enligt Katie Erikssons teori med sjukdomslidande, livslidande och vårdlidande.  Syfte: Syftet var att beskriva kvinnors upplevelser av begränsningar i det dagliga livet i relation till endometrios. Metod: Litteraturstudie baserad på åtta kvalitativa vetenskapliga artiklar. Analysen genomfördes enligt Lundman och Graneheims kvalitativa innehållsanalys. Resultat: Resultatet resulterade i fyra kategorier som beskrev kvinnors begränsningar. Dessa är; begränsningar vid fysisk aktivitet, begränsningar vid intima relationer, begränsningar vid sociala relationer samt begränsning av psykiskt välmående. Slutsats: Endometrios är en gynekologisk kronisk sjukdom som begränsade kvinnor i många avseenden där smärtan var största anledningen till kvinnors begränsningar i livet. I studien redovisades resultatet avseende begränsningar vid fysisk aktivitet, begränsningar vid intima relationer, begränsningar vid sociala relationer och begränsningar av psykiskt välmående som visar hur påverkade kvinnorna blev både fysiskt och psykiskt i många avseenden varför kunskapen om endometrios behöver bli bättre