Cryoprotective Effect of l-Carnitine on Motility, Vitality and DNA Oxidation of Human Spermatozoa

Successful cryopreservation for human spermatozoa markedly influences the reproductive outcomes of assisted reproductive technologies. But in spite of its usefulness, cryopreservation significantly decreases sperm quality. l-carnitine has been found to improve the quality of spermatozoa in selected cases with male infertility. Here, we examined the efficacy of l-carnitine in improving sperm motility and vitality and reducing sperm DNA oxidation during cryopreservation. Semen samples from infertile patients (n = 22) were collected and analysed. Cryopreservation medium supplemented with l-carnitine was mixed with the semen at a ratio of 1 : 1 (v/v). The final l-carnitine concentration in each cryovial was 0.5 mg ml−1 per 5 × 106 cell ml−1. Controls were cryopreserved without addition of l-carnitine. After 24 h of cryopreservation, thawed sperm samples were analysed for motility, vitality and DNA oxidation. Sperm vitality was assessed by the eosin–nigrosin test, while sperm DNA oxidation was measured by flow cytometry. Addition of l-carnitine significantly improved sperm motility and vitality (P \u3c 0.05) compared with the control. The flow cytometry experiment showed no statistical difference (P \u3e 0.05) in the levels of DNA oxidation between samples and controls. In conclusion, l-carnitine improves human sperm motility and vitality, but has no effect on sperm DNA oxidation after cryopreservation

Human Sperm DNA Oxidation, Motility and Viability in The Presence of l-Carnitine During in Vitro Incubation and Centrifugation

In vitro incubation and centrifugation is known to decrease human sperm quality. In the human body, besides its antioxidant effects, l-carnitine (LC) facilitates the transport of activated fatty acids from the cytosol to the mitochondrial matrix. In this study, we investigated the effect of LC on human sperm motility, viability and DNA oxidation after incubation and centrifugation, following the sperm preparation protocols of assisted reproduction. Normozoospermic semen samples (n = 55) were analysed according to the World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines. LC concentrations that are not toxic to spermatozoa as determined by sperm motility and viability were standardised after 2 and 4 h of incubation at 37 °C. Semen samples to which the optimal LC concentrations were added were also centrifuged for 20 min at 300 g and analysed for sperm motility, viability and DNA oxidation. Sperm motility was improved at 0.5 mg ml−1 LC after incubation and centrifugation with 5 × 106 sperm ml−1. Higher concentration of LC (50 mg ml−1) significantly decreased sperm motility and viability. LC did not alter the baseline of sperm DNA oxidation during both incubation and centrifugation. In conclusion, LC may enhance sperm motility following incubation and centrifugation, while it might not affect sperm viability and DNA oxidation

A Clinicopathological Study of Urinary Bladder Neoplasms in Patients at Three Centers in Khartoum, Sudan

OBJECTIVES: To present the histopathological pattern of urinary bladder neoplasms using the WHO/ISUP classification system and relate it to the outcome.METHODS: This study was conducted in the period from January 2004 through December 2005 at three centres in Khartoum, Sudan. One hundred and six patients with urinary bladder neoplasms were included in the study.RESULTS: The commonest affected age group was 60-80 years with male to female ratio 4.6:1. Urothelial neoplasms were found in 72 (67.9%), Squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) in 26 (24.5%), urothelial neoplasms with Squamous differentiation in 3 (2.8%), and other types in 5 (4.7%) of thepatients. There were 43.4% of the urothelial neoplasms graded as papillary carcinoma of high grade, 52.6% papillary carcinoma of low grade, 1.3% papillary neoplasm of low malignant potential, 1.3% papilloma, and 1.3% was graded as flat neoplasm. Of the SCCs, twelve (42.9%)were poorly differentiated SCCs, nine (32.1%) moderately differentiated, and seven (25%) cases were well differentiated SCCs. Follow-up information was available in 32 patients. At last followup, fifteen (46.9%) patients were dead of the disease, twelve (35.5%) were alive with no evidence of disease, four (12.5%) were alive with disease, and one (3.1%) was alive and terminally ill. CONCLUSION: Histological grade (P: 0.006), and muscle invasion (P: 0.002) were significantly associated with survival. A subset of the cases could not be assessed for muscle invasion due toinadequate sampling; we thus recommend proper trans-urethral bladder biopsy (TUBP) sampling.Key words: Urinary bladder neoplasm; Papillary carcinoma; Squamous cell carcinoma; WHO/ISUP classification system

Human Sperm DNA Oxidation, Motility and Viability in The Presence of l-Carnitine During in Vitro Incubation and Centrifugation

In vitro incubation and centrifugation is known to decrease human sperm quality. In the human body, besides its antioxidant effects, l-carnitine (LC) facilitates the transport of activated fatty acids from the cytosol to the mitochondrial matrix. In this study, we investigated the effect of LC on human sperm motility, viability and DNA oxidation after incubation and centrifugation, following the sperm preparation protocols of assisted reproduction. Normozoospermic semen samples (n = 55) were analysed according to the World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines. LC concentrations that are not toxic to spermatozoa as determined by sperm motility and viability were standardised after 2 and 4 h of incubation at 37 °C. Semen samples to which the optimal LC concentrations were added were also centrifuged for 20 min at 300 g and analysed for sperm motility, viability and DNA oxidation. Sperm motility was improved at 0.5 mg ml−1 LC after incubation and centrifugation with 5 × 106 sperm ml−1. Higher concentration of LC (50 mg ml−1) significantly decreased sperm motility and viability. LC did not alter the baseline of sperm DNA oxidation during both incubation and centrifugation. In conclusion, LC may enhance sperm motility following incubation and centrifugation, while it might not affect sperm viability and DNA oxidation

Benchmarking the SHL Recognition Challenge with classical and deep-learning pipelines

In this paper we, as part of the Sussex-Huawei Locomotion-Transportation (SHL) Recognition Challenge organizing team, present reference recognition performance obtained by applying various classical and deep-learning classifiers to the testing dataset. We aim to recognize eight modes of transportation (Still, Walk, Run, Bike, Bus, Car, Train, Subway) from smartphone inertial sensors: accelerometer, gyroscope and magnetometer. The classical classifiers include naive Bayesian, decision tree, random forest, K-nearest neighbour and support vector machine, while the deep-learning classifiers include fully-connected and convolutional deep neural networks. We feed different types of input to the classifier, including hand-crafted features, raw sensor data in the time domain, and in the frequency domain. We employ a post-processing scheme to improve the recognition performance. Results show that convolutional neural network operating on frequency domain raw data achieves the best performance among all the classifiers

TTA solvation kinetics in the ionic liquid BumimTf2NTf_2N

TTA, a classical complexing agent of metallic cations, has been studied by UV–vis in the ionic liquid (IL) 1-methyl-3-butyl-imidazolium bistriflimide (BumimTf2N), in the presence of variable amounts of water. Depending on the water content, the keto-hydrate/enol equilibrium kinetics can last up to tens of hours. Modelling by use of classical homogeneous kinetic equations appears unsatisfactory, which pledges for the existence of non-homogeneous phenomena in such solutions, most probably related to the state of water in ILs

The Impact of COVID-19 Infection on Gonadal Hormonal Hunctions in Iraqi Wome

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has had effects beyond the respiratory system, impacting health and quality of life. Stress-related to the pandemic has led to temporary menstrual pattern changes in around one-third of women. These changes, likely driven by stress and anxiety, can result in problematic heavy bleeding, causing anemia and negatively affecting women's well-being. This also places a substantial socioeconomic burden on individuals, families, healthcare, and society. Objectives: This study examined the impact of COVID-19 infection on the hormone levels (estradiol, prolactin, follicle-stimulating hormone, and luteinizing hormone) and heavy menstrual bleeding in Iraqi premenopausal women infected for at least four months. Patients and Methods: This case-control study was conducted from November 2021 to April 2022, involving 100 married women aged 18 to 40. Participants were divided into two groups: 50 women with heavy bleeding post-COVID-19 infection (infection duration of at least four months) and 50 non-infected women. Results: Comparing the Mean ± SD of the two groups, showed that the LH levels were statistically highly significant in women who suffered heavy bleeding post-COVID-19 infection compared to non-COVID-19 women, with a p-value of 0.000. There was no statistically significant difference in FSH levels between the two groups. The PRL levels were significantly higher for women who suffered substantial bleeding following COVID-19 infection compared to non-COVID-19 women, with a p-value of 0.003. Moreover, The E2 was significantly higher in women who suffered excessive bleeding following COVID-19 infection than non-infected women. Conclusion: This study suggests that COVID-19 may temporarily disrupt menstrual patterns, possibly due to stress and anxiety affecting the hypothalamus-pituitary-ovary axis. This disruption can manifest as elevated levels of gonad hormones (LH, PRL, and E2) and, in some cases, lead to heavy bleeding after a coronavirus infection. Received Oct. 2022 Accepted Oct. 2023 Published Jan. 2024

The Effect of Symptoms on the Survival Time of Coronavirus Patients in the Sudanese Population

The COVID-19 pandemic has rapidly spread worldwide, resulting in substantial rates of illness and death. Gaining insight into the various factors that impact the duration of survival among individuals diagnosed with COVID-19 is of utmost importance to inform clinical practices and public health strategies This study aims to evaluate the relationship between the acuteness of symptoms and the survival time of coronavirus patients in Sudan. The Kaplan-Meier curves and log-rank test were used to determine the symptom pattern. The results of COVID-19 and Cox regression were utilized to determine the most critical symptoms affecting coronavirus patients. The log-rank test revealed that there are differences in the pattern of age and symptoms among coronavirus patients. Cox regression revealed that symptoms affect on the survival time of coronavirus patients. The Cox proportional Hazard Model shows that the hazard of age at any time increases by 116.5%, diarrhea increases by 9%, headache increases by 62.0%, fatigability increases by 13.3%, and other symptoms increase by 47.3%. This study differs from prior studies in several ways. No current study in Sudan has used survival analysis to discover the most relevant symptoms affecting survival time

Histopathological Features of Whipple Pancreaticoduodenectomy in Sudan: A Single-center Experience

Background: Periampullary tumors (PATs) are rare and Whipple pancreaticoduodenectomy is the commonest surgical approach for its management. The aim of this study was to analyze the histopathological features of Whipple-resected periampullary tumors in Sudanese patients.Methods: This retrospective descriptive study included 62 cases of Whipple resection seen in a center in Khartoum, Sudan from January 2016 to June 2021. The specimens were assessed for nine features of the tumor: site of the tumor (whether within the periampullary region), size of the tumor, histological type of the tumor, grade, perineural invasion, lymph vascular invasion, surgical margin status, lymph node metastasis status, and the pathological stage (pTNM).Results: In total, 62 cases, 40 (64.5%) males and 22 (35.5%) females, were included. Age ranged from 20 to 90 years with a mean age of 56.08 years (±12.98 SD). Of the 62 cases, 58 were malignant (93.5%), while 4 cases were benign (6.5%). The pancreas was the commonest site for malignant tumors (53.4%), followed by the ampulla (24.1%), duodenum (15.5%), and distal common bile duct tumors (DCBD) (7%). The maximum tumor size was 8 cm, and the number of lymph nodes resected ranged from 3 to 33. Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinomas (PDACs) showed the highest percentage of perineural (62.1%) and lymphovascular (55.2%) invasions, and a positive margin was seen in four cases. The most common tumor stage was pT3pN1pMx.Conclusion: PATs in the Sudanese population showed histological diversity regarding subtyping, grading, and staging. Further studies involving molecular prognostic features will support improving patient management. Keywords: periampullary tumors; Whipple pancreaticoduodenectomy; resection; histological features; Suda

Raised D-dimer levels in acute sickle cell crisis and their correlation with chest X-ray abnormalities

Objective: Quantitation of D-dimer level during a sickling crisis and its correlation with other clinical abnormalities