Successful autotransplantation of cryopreserved ovarian tissue with recovery of the ovarian function

Cel pracy: Celem pracy był autologiczny przeszczep tkanki jajnikowej poddanej kriokonserwacji u pacjentki z przedwczesnym wygaśnięciem czynności jajników po agresywnej terapii onkologicznej. Materiał i metody: W 18 tygodniu ciąży u 28 letniej ciężarnej (C2P1) rozpoznano inwazyjną postać gruczołowego raka szyjki macicy. W 31 tygodniu przeprowadzono elektywne cięcie cesarskie, podczas, którego urodził się noworodek płci męskiej (1780g Apgar 8/10). Następnie wykonano radykalne wycięcie macicy techniką „nervesparing” z przydatkami, węzłami chłonnymi biodrowymi i około aortalnymi dolnymi. Jajniki poddano kriokonserwacji techniką powolnego zamrażania. Pacjentka przeszła cykl radiochemioterapii z następczą brachyterapią. Przedwczesne wygaśnięcie czynności jajników potwierdzono pomiarem hormonów płciowych: estradiol – 2 pg/ml, FSH – 96,52 IU/ml, LH – 37,55 IU/ml, AMH – 0,03 ng/ml. Trzynaście miesięcy po zabiegu chirurgicznym w powłokach brzusznych laparoskopowo wytworzono zachyłek otrzewnowy, w którym umieszczono rozmrożoną tkankę jajnikową Wyniki: Dziewięć tygodni po transplantacji uzyskano remisje objawów wypadowych, wzrost stężenia estradiolu (53 pg/ml), spadek FSH (64,89 IU/ml) i LH (33,39 IU/ml). Dwadzieścia cztery tygodnie po zabiegu zaobserwowano wysokie stężenia estradiolu (269 pg/ml), fizjologiczne stężenia FSH (5,92 IU/ml), LH (4,09 IU/ml) oraz wzrost stężenia AMH (0,37 ng/ml). Podczas badania ultrasonograficznego w przeszczepionej tkance jajnika uwidoczniono pęcherzyk dominujący. Wnioski: Przeszczep tkanki jajnikowej spowodował powrót czynność hormonalnej jajnika. Transplantacja tkanki jajnikowej może posłużyć, jako alternatywne leczenie przedwczesnej menopauzy spowodowanej agresywnym leczeniem onkologicznym.  Objectives: The aim of the study was autotransplantation of cryopreserved ovarian tissue to a patient suffering from premature ovarian failure caused by aggressive oncological therapy. Material and methods: A 28-year-old woman, GII PI, was diagnosed with invasive adenocarcinoma of the cervix at 18 weeks of gestation. At 31 weeks of gestation, a cesarean section was performed, resulting in the delivery of a healthy male newborn, followed by simultaneous, radical hysterectomy with bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy and lymphadenectomy. Half of each ovary was cryopreserved. The patient was scheduled for radiochemotherapy, supplemented with brachytherapy. After the intervention, the patient experienced menopausal symptoms. The basal hormonal levels were: estradiol – 2 pg/ml, FSH – 96.52 IU/ml, LH – 37.55 IU/ml, AMH – 0.03 ng/ml. Thirteen months after surgery, the peritoneal pocket was formed on the anterior abdominal wall during laparoscopy and heterotrophic autotransplantation of the frozen-thawed ovarian tissue was performed, replacing 59% of the tissue. Results: Nine weeks after transplantation, symptom resolution, an increase in estradiol (53 pg/ml), and a decrease in FSH (64.89 IU/ml) and LH (33.39 IU/ml) levels were noted. Twenty-four weeks after transplantation, high estradiol levels (269 pg/ml), normal level of FSH (5.92 IU/ml) and LH (4.09 IU/ml), and an increase in AMH (0.37 ng/ml) were observed. Follicular development in the transplanted ovarian tissue was confirmed. Conclusions: Cryopreservation and transplantation of ovarian tissue allowed to restore the ovarian function. It could offer an alternative physiological solution to treating premature ovarian failure caused by oncological therapy.

Detection of intracavitary lesions in 820 infertile women: comparison of outpatient hysteroscopy with histopathological examination

Objectives: The aim of the study was to compare the results of a diagnostic hysteroscopy with a histopathology examination (referential test) in a group of infertile women. Materials and methods: Eight hundred and twenty infertile patients were included in the study. The subjects with intracavitary lesions underwent operative hysteroscopy to enable the removal of polyps and intracavitary myomas. Endometrial biopsy was performed in all patients with no pathologies in hysteroscopy. The removed tissue underwent histopathological examination. Results: The mean age was 32.9 ±4.1. A total of 648 (79%) patients were diagnosed with primary and 172 (21%) with secondary infertility; 542 (66.1%) hysteroscopies were performed with no anesthesia and 278 (33.9%) hysteroscopies were performed in short total intravenous anesthesia. Sensitivity and specificity, accuracy, error, positive predictive value (PPV) and negative predictive value (NPV) of hysteroscopy in detecting endometrial lesions were 99.6%, 96.6%, 97.4%, 2.6%, 92.2% (PPV) and 99.8% (NPV), respectively. The agreement between hysteroscopy and pathology report was very high (kappa K=0.94). In case of normal uterine cavity, 562 of the 563 endometrial samples showed evidence of normal endometrium. In all 32 cases of resected submucosal myomas histopathology confirmed the hysteroscopic findings (sensitivity100%, specificity 100%, accuracy 100%, error 0%, kappa K=1.0). Both, hysteroscopy and histopathology confirmed the presence of endometrial polyps in 199 cases. The diagnosis of a polyp was not confirmed in histopathological findings (false-positive results) in 20 hysteroscopies. No endometrial polyps were missed during hysteroscopy. Sensitivity, specificity, accuracy, error, positive and negative predictive values in detecting endometrial polyps were 100%, 96.8%, 97.6%, 2.4%, 90.9% (PPV) and 100% (NPV), respectively. The Kappa coefficient agreement between hysteroscopy and histopathology for endometrial polyps was 0.91. Conclusions: Hysteroscopy is a method of high sensitivity and specificity in detecting pathologies, but in case of a pathology it cannot replace histological examination. Our result show that a routine endometrial biopsy performer in infertile patients with no pathology in hysteroscopy should not be recommended

Implementing of the Common Assessment Framework (CAF) in public administration offices : consultaant's perspective

Model CAF (Common Assessment Framework) w wersji polskiej nazywany Powszechnym Modelem Oceny czy też Wspólną Metodą Samooceny, jest modelem samooceny i zarządzania przeznaczonym przede wszystkim dla jednostek sektora publicznego. CAF jest rezultatem współpracy pomiędzy ministerstwami państw Unii Europejskiej odpowiedzialnymi za administrację publiczną. Model CAF zaprojektowano dla wykorzystania we wszystkich częściach sektora publicznego, w organizacjach publicznych na szczeblu centralnym, regionalnym i lokalnym w administracji rządowej i samorządowej.The CAF Model (Common Assessment Framework), in Polish is called Powszechny Model Oceny or Wspólna Metoda Oceny is a model of self-assesments and management dedicated mainly to public sector institutions. CAF results from the cooperation between the governments of the European Union countries in the field of public administration.The CAF Model has been constructed to be applied to any part of the public sector: public organisations of the central, regional and local level, and to both government and self-government administration

Human resources management in the academic library in the scope of common model criteria of CAF assessment

Wspólna metoda oceny (ang. The Common Assessment Framework – CAF) to narzędzie zarządzania jakością oparte na filozofii kompleksowego zarządzania jakością (TQM), dedykowane organizacjom sektora publicznego, m.in. bibliotekom akademickim. Metodologia oparta jest na założeniu, że osiąganie celów organizacji jest uzyskiwane dzięki przywództwu ukierunkowanemu na strategię, planowanie, pracowników, partnerstwo, zasoby oraz procesy. Są to tzw. kryteria potencjału modelu, oceniane w odniesieniu do osiągnięć organizacji zdefiniowanych w ramach tzw. kryteriów wyników. Zarządzanie zasobami, w tym zasobami ludzkimi to ważny element funkcjonowania każdej biblioteki. Samoocena funkcjonowania biblioteki akademickiej z wykorzystaniem metody CAF może się istotnie przyczynić do wdrożenia wielu usprawnień i poprawy jakości funkcjonowania. W referacie przedstawiono teoretyczne i praktyczne możliwości implementacji metody do systemu zarządzania biblioteką na przykładzie trzeciego kryterium metody – „pracownicy” oraz kryterium szóstego – „wyniki w relacjach z klientami/obywatelami”.The Common Assessment Framework (CAF) is a quality management tool based on the philosophy of Total Quality Management (TQM) dedicated to public sector organizations i.a. university libraries. The method’s methodology is based on the assumption that achieving an organization’s goals is attained thanks to leadership focused on strategy and planning, employees, partnership, resources and processes. These are socalled criteria of a model’s potential which are evaluated in relation to the organization’s achievements defined as part of so-called “results criteria”. Resource management, including human resource management is an important element of every library’s functioning. Self-evaluation of a library’s functioning using the CAF method may significantly contribute to implementing numerous improvements and increasing the quality of functioning. The paper presents theoretical and practical possibilities of implementing the method into the system of library management by the example of the method’s third criterion – employees and the sixth criterion – the outcome of the relations with customers/citizens

Colony size, but not density, affects survival and mating success of alternative male reproductive tactics in a polyphenic mite, Rhizoglyphus echinopus

Among acarid mites, a number of species are characterised by the presence of discontinuous morphologies (armed heteromorphs vs. unarmed homeomorphs) associated with alternative mating tactics (fighting vs. scramble competition). In Rhizoglyphus echinopus, expression of the fighter morph is suppressed, via pheromones, in large, dense colonies. If this mechanism is adaptive, fighters should have relatively lower fitness in large and/or dense colonies, due to costs incurred from fighting, which is often fatal. In order to test these predictions, we quantified the survival and mating success of fighters and scramblers in colonies of equal sex and morph ratios; these colonies either differed in size (4, 8, or 32 individuals) but not density or differed in density but not size (all consisted of 8 individuals). We found that the relative survival and mating success of fighters was inversely related to colony size, but we did not find a significant effect of colony density. The higher mating success of fighters in small colonies was due to the fact that, after killing rival males, these fighters were able to monopolise females. This situation was not found in larger colonies, in which there was a larger number of competitors and fighters suffered relatively higher mortality. These results indicate that morph determination, guided by social cues, allows for the adaptive adjustment of mating tactics to existing demographic conditions

A Paradox of Genetic Variance in Epigamic Traits: Beyond "Good Genes" View of Sexual Selection

Radwan J, Engqvist L, Reinhold K. A Paradox of Genetic Variance in Epigamic Traits: Beyond "Good Genes" View of Sexual Selection. EVOLUTIONARY BIOLOGY. 2016;43(2):267-275.Maintenance of genetic variance in secondary sexual traits, including bizarre ornaments and elaborated courtship displays, is a central problem of sexual selection theory. Despite theoretical arguments predicting that strong sexual selection leads to a depletion of additive genetic variance, traits associated with mating success show relatively high heritability. Here we argue that because of trade-offs associated with the production of costly epigamic traits, sexual selection is likely to lead to an increase, rather than a depletion, of genetic variance in those traits. Such trade-offs can also be expected to contribute to the maintenance of genetic variation in ecologically relevant traits with important implications for evolutionary processes, e.g. adaptation to novel environments or ecological speciation. However, if trade-offs are an important source of genetic variation in sexual traits, the magnitude of genetic variation may have little relevance for the possible genetic benefits of mate choice

Selective pressures on MHC class II genes in the guppy (Poecilia reticulata) as inferred by hierarchical analysis of population structure

Genes of the major histocompatibility complex, which are the most polymorphic of all vertebrate genes, are a pre-eminent system for the study of selective pressures that arise from host–pathogen interactions. Balancing selection capable of maintaining high polymorphism should lead to the homogenization of MHC allele frequencies among populations, but there is some evidence to suggest that diversifying selection also operates on the MHC. However, the pattern of population structure observed at MHC loci is likely to depend on the spatial and/or temporal scale examined. Here, we investigated selection acting on MHC genes at different geographic scales using Venezuelan guppy populations inhabiting four regions. We found a significant correlation between MHC and microsatellite allelic richness across populations, which suggests the role of genetic drift in shaping MHC diversity. However, compared to microsatellites, more MHC variation was explained by differences between populations within larger geographic regions and less by the differences between the regions. Furthermore, among proximate populations, variation in MHC allele frequencies was significantly higher compared to microsatellites, indicating that selection acting on MHC may increase population structure at small spatial scales. However, in populations that have significantly diverged at neutral markers, the population-genetic signature of diversifying selection may be eradicated in the long term by that of balancing selection, which acts to preserve rare alleles and thus maintain a common pool of MHC alleles

MHC allele frequency distributions under parasite-driven selection: A simulation model

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The extreme polymorphism that is observed in major histocompatibility complex (MHC) genes, which code for proteins involved in recognition of non-self oligopeptides, is thought to result from a pressure exerted by parasites because parasite antigens are more likely to be recognized by MHC heterozygotes (heterozygote advantage) and/or by rare MHC alleles (negative frequency-dependent selection). The Ewens-Watterson test (EW) is often used to detect selection acting on MHC genes over the recent history of a population. EW is based on the expectation that allele frequencies under balancing selection should be more even than under neutrality. We used computer simulations to investigate whether this expectation holds for selection exerted by parasites on host MHC genes under conditions of heterozygote advantage and negative frequency-dependent selection acting either simultaneously or separately.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>In agreement with simple models of symmetrical overdominance, we found that heterozygote advantage acting alone in populations does, indeed, result in more even allele frequency distributions than expected under neutrality, and this is easily detectable by EW. However, under negative frequency-dependent selection, or under the joint action of negative frequency-dependent selection and heterozygote advantage, distributions of allele frequencies were less predictable: the majority of distributions were indistinguishable from neutral expectations, while the remaining runs resulted in either more even or more skewed distributions than under neutrality.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Our results indicate that, as long as negative frequency-dependent selection is an important force maintaining MHC variation, the EW test has limited utility in detecting selection acting on these genes.</p