Gender-typed toy play and social abilities in boys and girls: Are they related?

In the present study, we tested whether children’s play with feminine toys is related to social abilities in which girls typically excel. We measured gender-typed toy play, empathy, and comforting skill in 80 Grade 1 children (about 6 years-old) in Hong Kong, China. Toy play was assessed with a standard observational paradigm; empathy, with the Empathy Quotient-Child questionnaire; and comforting skill, with an infant-cry paradigm requiring the generation of comforting strategies. As predicted, boys and girls differed in their preferences for play with masculine and feminine toys, but not for gender-neutral toys. Importantly, toy play was related to comforting skill. Girls scored higher on the comforting task, and girls who played more with feminine toys and boys who played more with gender-neutral toys generated more comforting strategies. Regression and mediational analyses also suggested a stronger role of gender-typed play on comforting than the other way round. Contrary to hypothesis, there was no gender difference in empathy, and no relationship between empathy and toy play. These results extend previous understandings of the link between play and development and suggest that early gender-typed experiences may have long-term consequences for the development of some social skills

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Live birth after perimortem cesarean delivery in a 36-year-old out-of-hospital cardiac arrest nulliparous woman

Objective: The aim of this study is to share a valuable experience of perimortem Cesarean delivery (PMCD) when no signs of spontaneous circulation were detected after 4 min of resuscitation. The time interval between maternal cardiac arrest and neonatal delivery was evaluated and reviewed. Case report: We present the case of an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) in a nulliparous woman who survived a car accident with only seatbelt injuries. The term infant was delivered by PMCD at our emergency department at least 43 min after maternal cardiac arrest. The mother only had concussion and was healthy at the time of discharge. The infant survived but had moderate neurological growth impairment (cerebral palsy) at the age of 7 months. Conclusion: Contrary to previous studies and case reports, maternal and neonatal outcomes seem to be better when performing PMCD within 10 min. Multidisciplinary teamwork is the key for optimal outcomes in such situations. Keywords: Cardiac arrest, Perimortem cesarean section, Pregnancy, Resuscitatio

Day 4 good morula embryo transfer provided compatible live birth rate with day 5 blastocyst embryo in fresh IVF/ET cycles

Objective: Embryo transfers during cleavage stage (day 2 or day 3) and blastocyst stages (day 5 or day 6) are common in current daily practice in fresh IVF/ET cycles. Data regarding transferring day 4 embryos, morula/compact stage, is still restricted and the grading system is also inconsistent, as between IVF clinics. This study provided a new detailed classification system for morula/compact stage embryos and compared successes rates between day 4 and day 5 ET. Materials and methods: This was a retrospective study. A review of medical records from January 1st, 2013, to December 31st 2015, performed for all conventional insemination and ICSI cycles with a GnRH-antagonist protocol at the Infertility Division of MacKay Memorial Hospital in Taipei City, Taiwan. Results: There were 427 cycles included in our study, 107 in study group (day 4 MET) and 320 in control group (day 5 BET). Pregnancy rates and live birth rate were compatible, as between morula embryo transfer (MET) and blastocyst embryo transfer (BET). The implantation rate (36.3% vs. 39.6%, respectively, p = 0.500), clinical pregnancy rate (49.5% vs. 51.9%, respectively, p = 0.737), and live birth rate (42.1% vs. 45.6%, respectively, p = 0.574) were statistically insignificant between groups. The term birth rate was statistically higher in the MET group than in the BET group (95.7% vs. 79.5%, respectively, p = 0.006). When the clinical outcomes between day 4 good MET and day 5 good BET were compared, the results were compatible. The implantation rate (48.8% vs. 41.1%, respectively, p = 0.335), clinical pregnancy rate (55.0% vs. 53.2%, respectively, p = 0.867), and live birth rate (47.5% vs. 47.1%, respectively, p = 1.000) showed no significant difference. The term birth rate was also higher in day 4 good MET group than in day 5 good BET group (100% vs. 78.3%, respectively, p = 0.025). Conclusion: In this study, we performed day 4 MET avoid BET on Sunday. The grading system we provided was more detailed for embryo selection and it was easier to remember. Our data showed that morula embryo transfer might be a flexible, easier and applicable method for embryo transfer in daily routine

Increased adrenomedullin expression in lungs in endotoxaemia

The 9th Medical Research Conference, Hong Kong, 7-8 February 200

Increased adrenomedullin expression in lungs in endotoxaemia

Adrenomedullin (AM) is a peptide involved in cardiovascular homeostasis and in inflammation. We examined its expression in a rat model of endotoxaemia. Male Sprague-Dawley rats received intraperitoneal injection of 5 or 10 mg/kg lipopolysaccharide (LPS), or saline as control. Rats were killed at 1, 3, 6, 12 and 24 h after injection. LPS at 5 mg/kg, but not saline, increased plasma AM significantly at 3 h. At 10 mg/kg, plasma AM was raised at 3, 6 and 12 h. Immunoreactive AM concentration in lung increased after 5 or 10 mg/kg LPS, but not saline. PreproAM mRNA level in lung was significantly increased at 3 and 6 h. In conclusion, endotoxin stimulates the expression of AM in the lungs and increases its circulatory concentration. AM may be involved in the systemic response to sepsis. © 2004 Society for Endocrinology.link_to_OA_fulltex

Dual trigger with gonadotropin releasing hormone agonist and human chorionic gonadotropin significantly improves live birth rate for women with diminished ovarian reserve

Abstract Background Diminished ovarian reserve (DOR) remains one of the greatest obstacles affecting the chance of a successful live birth after fertility treatment. The present study was set to investigate whether using a “dual trigger” consisted of human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) plus gonadotropin releasing hormone agonist (GnRH-a) for final oocyte maturation could improve the IVF cycle outcomes for patients with diminished ovarian reserve. Methods A total of 427 completed GnRH-antagonist downregulated IVF cycles with fresh embryo transfer (ET) were included in this retrospective analysis. DOR was defined as antral follicle count ≤5 and serum anti-Müllerian hormone level ≤ 1.1 ng/mL. The control group (n = 130) used a 6500 IU of recombinant hCG for trigger, and the study group (n = 297) used 0.2 mg of triptorelin plus 6500 IU of recombinant hCG for trigger. Results The dual-trigger group had significantly higher oocyte fertilization rate (73.1% vs. 58.6%), clinical pregnancy rate (33.0% vs. 20.7%) and live birth rate (26.9% vs. 14.5%) when compared to the hCG trigger group. In addition, the abortion rate (17.4% vs. 37.0%) and embryo transfer cancellation rate (6.1% vs. 15.4%) were both significantly lower in the dual trigger group. The primary outcome measure was the live birth rate per oocyte retrieval cycle. Secondary outcome measures were embryo transfer cancellation rate, clinical pregnancy rate, implantation rate, chemical pregnancy rate and abortion rate per oocyte retrieval cycle. Conclusions Dual triggering the final oocyte maturation with GnRH-a and standard dose of hCG can significantly improve the live birth rate, clinical pregnancy rate, and fertilization rate in women with diminished ovarian reserve undergoing GnRH antagonist down-regulated IVF-ICSI cycles

Intron 2 (T/C) CYP46 polymorphism is associated with Alzheimer's disease in Chinese patients

Background: Cholesterol metabolism has been implicated in the pathophysiology of Alzheimer's disease (AD), and cholesterol-related genes are plausible candidate genes for AD. Genetic association of CYP46A1 polymorphisms with AD had been under extensive investigations; however, observations on intron 2 T→C (rs754203) generated inconclusive results. Objective: To analyse an independent data set in a Chinese population to see whether the polymorphic site rs754203 of the CYP46A1 gene is associated with AD. Methods: We analysed 130 sporadic AD patients and 110 healthy controls of the Southern Chinese origin. Results: An association between the genotype frequency and AD was suggested in the general population (p = 0.047, odds ratio, OR = 1. 61, 95% confidence interval, CI = 0.96-2.70), while the association was most significant in the apolipoprotein E (ApoE) ε4-negative group (p = 0.004, OR = 2.54,95% CI =1.31-4.95). Linkage disequilibrium block prediction results also favoured this association. Consistent with previous reports, intron 3 C→T (rs4900442) polymorphism did not show any evidence of association; in our data set ApoEε 4 was confirmed to be a genetic risk factor for AD (p = 0.0016, OR = 2.76, 95% CI = 1.50-5.11). Copyright © 2006 S. Karger AG.link_to_subscribed_fulltex

Early blastulation (EB) of day 4 embryo is predictive of outcomes in single embryo transfer (SET) cycles

Objective: The aim of this study was to assess whether the early blastulation (EB) of day 4 embryo is a useful predictor for outcomes in fresh elective single embryo transfer (eSET) cycles. Materials and methods: We retrospectively enrolled patients undergoing fresh SET cycles in our hospital from April 2014 to September 2016 and met with the following criteria: 1) age <38 years, 2) first IVF/ICSI cycle, 3) at least two blastocysts with morphological grading better than or equal to 4BB. Results: A total of 81 patients were included. Of whom, 55 patients (68%) had undergone eSET with embryos that had early blastulation on day 4 while the other 26 patients had had no EB. Early blastulation has shown a higher rate of good blastocyst (84.3% vs. 60.5%, p < 0.0001). The clinical pregnancy rate of EB group was significantly higher than that of non-EB group (56.4% vs. 27.0%, p = 0.013). There is also a tendency in EB group to have a lower abortion rate (3.23% vs. 28.6%, p = 0.081). Conclusions: EB on day 4 is a useful predictor of the quality of the following embryos (i.e. day 5 embryo). It is a simple tool in selecting the best embryo to get a higher pregnancy rate in fresh eSET cycles.Trial registration: This study was supplementally registered by the MacKay Memorial Hospital Institutional Review Board on April 18, 2017 (registration No. 17MMHIS039e). Keywords: Early blastulation, Single-embryo transfer, Blastocyst morphology, Clinical pregnanc