Do follicular fluid advanced glycation end products levels affect the ovarian response in unexplained infertility?

Objective: To compare the advanced glycation end products (AGEs) levels in follicular fluid according to the different ovarian responses of women who underwent controlled ovarian stimulation due to unexplained infertility and to examine the relationship between these levels and pregnancy outcomes. Methods: Sixty-three women who underwent fresh IVF/ICSI cycles with GNRH antagonist protocol were divided into 3 groups according to the number of retrieved oocytes as suboptimal (4–9 oocytes), optimal (10–15 oocytes) and high (>15 oocytes) responders. AGEs levels in follicular fluid were measured by ELISA method. Results: AGEs levels were 6.81 ± 2.20 mg/ml, 5.30 ± 2.01 and 6.44 ± 1.43 mg/ml in suboptimal, optimal and high response group, respectively. AGEs level was significantly higher in suboptimal response group than in optimal response group. The cutoff level of 6.19 mg/ml had a sensitivity of 59.3% and a specificity of 66.7% in distinguishing the suboptimal response group from the optimal response group. However, there were no statistically significant difference between AGEs levels and clinical pregnancy and live birth rates. Conclusion: Increased AGEs level in follicular fluid may be associated with decreased ovarian response during controlled ovarian stimulation in unexplained infertility case, however, it does not provide information about pregnancy outcomes

Does progesterone therapy increase nuchal translucency in women with threatened miscarriage?

Objectives: The effect of exogenous progesterone on fetal nuchal translucency (NT) has been proposed recently. In this study, we aimed to compare the thickness of NT of patients receiving and not receiving progesterone for threatened miscarriage. Material and methods: This study was designed as a retrospective comparative study. Ninety five women treated with progesterone constituted the study group whereas 97 women who were not treated with progesterone constituted the control group. An ultrasonographic examination was performed on all of the women to measure NT. All patients were treated with oral micronized progesterone in the study group. The main parameters recorded for each woman were; age, body mass index (BMI), obstetrical characteristics, and gestational age at first examination, treatment duration of progesterone therapy, and results of combined and triple tests. Results: A total of 192 pregnant women with threatened miscarriage were included in this study. The mean NT thickness was statistically significantly higher in the study group (p < 0.001), and mean serum level of human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) was also higher in this group (p < 0.05). There was no statistically significant difference between groups in terms of age, BMI, and gestational age at first examination. ROC curve analysis demonstrated that only increased NT (area under the curve: 0.634, p = 0.005, 95% CI: 0.541–0.727) was a discriminative factor for women receiving progesterone for threatened miscarriage. Also there was a positive correlation between NT and treatment duration (r = 0.269; p < 0.001). Conclusions: We think that oral progesterone therapy may increase NT depending on treatment duration without causing abnormal prenatal screening test results

Maternal serum advanced glycation end products level as an early marker for predicting preterm labor/PPROM: a prospective preliminary study

Objective: To evaluate the value of maternal serum advanced glycation end products (AGEs) level at 11–13 weeks’ gestation for the prediction of preterm labor and or preterm premature rupture of membranes (PPROM). Materials and methods: This prospective cross-sectional study is performed in a university-affiliated hospital between February and April 2016. The participants of this study are low-risk pregnant women. Blood samples for maternal AGEs level were collected in the first trimester of pregnancy and all women completed their antenatal follow-up and delivered in our center. During the follow-up 21 women developed preterm labor/PPROM. The first trimester maternal AGEs levels of preterm labor/PPROM cases were compared with uncomplicated cases (n¼25) matched for age-parity and BMI. The predictive value of AGEs levels for preterm labor/PPROM was also assessed. Results: First-trimester AGEs levels were significantly higher in cases complicated with preterm labor/PPROM (1832 (415–6682) versus 1276 (466–6445) ng/L, p¼.001 and 1722 (804–6682) versus 1343 (466–6445) ng/L, p¼.025). According to receiver-operating characteristic curve analysis, the calculated cut off value of AGEs was 1538 ng/L with the sensitivity 91.7%, specificity 73.8%; and the negative and positive predictive values were 91.6% and 29.5%, respectively. Conclusions: For the prediction of preterm labor/PPROM, the relatively high AGEs levels in the first trimester might be a useful marker

Maternal and umbilical cord ischemia-modified albumin levels in nonreassuring fetal heart rate tracings regarding the mode of delivery

Objective: To evaluate umbilical cord blood ischemia-modified albumin (IMA) levels in cases of fetal distress (FD) and to explore fetal blood IMA levels regarding the route of delivery. Methods: Umbilical cord and maternal serum IMA concentrations were assessed in term 40 cases with cesarean section (CS) due to FD, 76 cases with elective repeat CS and 85 cases with noncomplicated vaginal delivery. Results: The maternal and umbilical cord IMA levels were significantly lower in vaginal deliveries when compared with CS cases either in FD or previous CS groups (p = 0.02). Although no statistically significant difference was found in IMA levels of CS groups (previous CS vs. FD), cord blood IMA levels tend to be higher in FD group. Neither demographic characteristics nor fetal outcome parameters were found to have any correlation with maternal IMA levels. However, umbilical cord IMA levels were found to be negatively correlated with 1th min Apgar scores (r = –0.143, p = 0.043). Conclusions: IMA seems to be responsive to hypoxic FD showing the highest levels in cases with severe fetal hypoxia. Higher levels of IMA in cases with elective repeat CS might indicate acute transient hypoxia and possible myocardial ischemia in these cases

Factors Influencing Clinical Pregnancy Rates After Myomectomy Among Infertile Women: A Single Center Retrospective Study

Aim:To determine the clinical pregnancy rates after myomectomy in infertile women who underwent surgery due to myoma uteri and to investigate the clinical factors affecting outcomes.Methods:This retrospective single-centered study included infertile patients who underwent intramural and/or subserousal uterine myomectomy in the infertility clinic at our hospital between February 2012 and October 2014. Data were obtained from the hospital records and patients’ files. Age, body mass index, physical features of myomas (diameter, number, structure, and location), surgical treatment methods used and postoperative pregnancy status were recorded for each patient separately.Results:A total of 211 infertile women who met the inclusion criteria for this study and who underwent myomectomy due to myoma uteri were included. The mean myoma diameter was 7.3±4.4 cm and intramural tumors (49.8%) were the most commonly observed type. Laparoscopic myomectomy was performed in 186 patients (88.1%) and laparoscopic in 25 patients (11.9%). The clinical pregnancy rate was calculated as 19.9% (42/211), while 28.6% (12/42) of pregnancies resulted in live birth and 71.4% (30/42) in spontaneous abortion. The mean age of the pregnant and non-pregnant patients was 33.2±5.6 and 36.8±5.8 years, respectively. The mean body mass index was 25.9±3.5 and 28.8±4.8 kg/m2, respectively (p0.05).Conclusion:The most important factors for predicting pregnancy in patients who undergo surgery due to myoma and infertility are female age and body mass index. It seems that myoma diameter, number, myometrial location, uterine location and method of surgery are not significant factors in predicting pregnancy

The role of the school in the academic achievement of students who are in adolescent period (12 - 15 years) - The case in the city of Batman

YÖK Tez ID: 419200Ergenlik dönemi gibi hızlı değişimlerin yaşandığı, inişli çıkışlı bir dönemde, ergen bazen kendisi bile kendisini tanımakta zorlanabilmektedir. Bu dönemde soyut düşünce gelişir. Sosyal hayat çok önemsenir. Aile ikinci planda kalır, arkadaşlıklar onun için çok daha önemlidir. Anne babayla çatışmalar başlamıştır. Ergen kendi kimliğini ortaya koyma çabası içerisindedir. İşte böylesine hızlı değişimlerin yaşandığı bir dönemde ergenin okul başarısı da bu durumdan etkilenebilmektedir. Ailenin ve Okulun yaklaşımları bu aşamada önemli rol oynamaktadır. Nitekim birçok araştırma, okulun sahip olduğu fiziksel, sosyal olanakların, öğretmen ve idarecilerin tutumlarının, uygulanan disiplin anlayışının öğrencilerin akademik başarısında önemli etkiye sahip olduğunu vurgulamaktadır. Bir okulun olumlu bir okul ikliminin, örgütsel kültürünün oluşturulması ve bunların yönetici ve öğretmenlerce kabul alanına alınması, okulun başarısının artmasına ve öğretmen performansının olumlu olarak şekillenmesine yardımcı olacağı yadsınamaz bir gerçektir. Araştırmamız, Ergenlik döneminde bulunan ilköğretim ikinci kademe öğrencilerin akademik başarısında okulun rolünü belirlemeye yönelik yapılmıştır. Bu bağlamda; Ergenlik, Ergenlik Dönemin özellikleri, Ergenlik Kuramları, Akademik başarı, Akademik Başarıyı etkileyen faktörler, Aileden, Öğrenciden, Okuldan ve sosyal çevreden kaynaklanan nedenler literatür taramasıyla derinlemesine analiz edilmiştir. Çalışma evrenini, Batman merkezdeki üç ilköğretim okulundaki 6, 7 ve 8. sınıfta okuyan toplam 630 öğrenci oluşturmuştur. Örneklem grubuna konuyla ilgili hazırlanan anket uygulanmıştır. Anketimiz iki bölümden oluşmuştur. Birinci bölümde demografik sorular, ikinci bölümde okul iklimini ölçmeye yönelik likert ölçekli sorular yer almıştır. Okul iklimini ölçmeye yönelik hipotezlerimiz; Öğretmenin etkisi, etkisi, Okul olanaklarının etkisi, Aile, Arkadaş ve sosyal çevrenin etkisi, Rehber öğretmenlerin etkisi olarak beş grupta toplanmıştır. Değerlendirmemizde üç okulda da akademik başarıda en büyük etkiyi okulun sahip olduğu fiziksel ve sosyal olanakların oluşturduğu görülmüştür. İkinci etkiyi öğretmenlerin tutum ve davranışlarının belirlediği, üçüncü etkiyi Aile, Arkadaş ve sosyal çevrenin oluşturduğu, dördüncü sıradaki etkiyi İdarecilerin oluşturdu en az etkiye ise Rehber öğretmenlerin sahip olduğu tespit edilmiştir.In a period of ups and downs, such as adolescence, experiencing rapid changes, adolescents sometimes have trouble recognizing themselves. During this period, they develop abstract thinking. They really care about their social life. Parents are of secondary importance. Their friends are more important to them. They try to prove their own identities. In a period of experiencing such rapid changes, the adolescent's school performance is affected by this situation. How the parents and the school approach the situation plays a major role at this stage. Indeed, many research emphasize that the school's physical, social facilities, the attitudes of teachers and administrators, and disciplinary have significant influence on students' academic success. It is an undeniable fact that creating a positive school climate, organizational culture, and that administrators and teachers accept these help increase school's success, and shape teacher's performance positively. Our research has been made to determine the role of the school in adolescent secondary school students' academic success. In this context, puberty, adolescence period characteristics, theories of adolescence, academic achievement, and factors affecting academic achievement, reasons arising from the parents, student, school and social environment were analyzed in depth by literature review. Target population of the study is a total of 630 students in 6, 7 and 8 grades in three primary schools in the center of Batman. A questionnaire on the subject has been applied to the sample group and the results have been evaluated

Comparison of the Different PCOS Phenotypes Based on Monocyte to HDL Cholesterol Ratio

In this study, we aimed to evaluate thedegree of inflammation in PCOS phenotypes by comparing the monocyte-to-HDLratios showing inflammatory and oxidative stress among different phenotypes ofPCOS. Inthis case-control study, we studied 186 women with PCOS and 59 age-matchedhealthy women. PCOS women were prospectively classified into four phenotypes based on NIH ExpertPanel criteria. The degree of inflammation between the non-PCOS control groupand four PCOS phenotypes was compared by measuring MHR. The prevalence ofphenotypes A, B, C and D were 29%, 22%, 26%, and 23%, respectively. MHR wasfound to be the highest in phenotype A (13.7 ± 4.9) among the PCOS phenotypesand the lowest level was found in phenotype D (9.0 ± 1.9), which is thenon-androgenic phenotype. MHRwere significantly different across the four PCOS phenotypes; with the highestvalue were present with phenotypeA. &nbsp;As an easily accessible simple marker, the monocyte /HDL ratio may be promising for detecting at-risk metabolic phenotypes in PCOS.</p