Male and female partners of couples who conceived a child by donor insemination (DI)independently completed a questionnaire. Fifty-seven women and 53 men representing 58 couples taking part. ...Fifty-one were in a continuing relationship and seven were separated. A Likert scale (0-7) of 'happiness' before, during and after treatment and their perception of their partner's feelings were used as measures. These feelings were evaluated in relation to demographic and clinical factors. Fifty-one women and 49 men who were in a continuing relationship answered questions about their feelings about DI, compared to six and three, respectively, who had separated. Feelings about DI were consistently low before treatment began. For both continuing and separated couples there was an improvement of their feelings about having DI during treatment, and then again after treatment was complete. For the male partner, factors that were associated with greater unhappiness included difficulties with the relationship prior to treatment, waiting time for treatment and subsequent separation. The women, however, had more positive experiences with no measured factors adversely affecting their feelings about DI. The arrival of the DI child had a significant effect in improving the relation-ship. Our findings suggest that for many couples acceptance of the DI program was less than ideal and only improved with having the treatment and then conceiving. The data highlight the need for psychosocial assistance to be made available to couples prior to the commencement of treatment.
Large-insert genome analysis (LIGAN) is a broadly applicable, high-throughput technology designed to characterize genome-scale structural variation. Fosmid paired-end sequences and DNA fingerprints ...from a query genome are compared to a reference sequence using the Genomic Variation Analysis (GenVal) suite of software tools to pinpoint locations of insertions, deletions, and rearrangements. Fosmids spanning regions that contain new structural variants can then be sequenced. Clonal pairs of
Pseudomonas aeruginosa isolates from four cystic fibrosis patients were used to validate the LIGAN technology. Approximately 1.5 Mb of inserted sequences were identified, including 743 kb containing 615 ORFs that are absent from published
P. aeruginosa genomes. Six rearrangement breakpoints and 220 kb of deleted sequences were also identified. Our study expands the “genome universe” of
P. aeruginosa and validates a technology that complements emerging, short-read sequencing methods that are better suited to characterizing single-nucleotide polymorphisms than structural variation.
The surface of the ovary has been found to be composed of two types of epithelial cells called A and B cells which are found in their own respective zones, the A and B zones. A quantitative study was ...undertaken to determine the mean cell volumes and cell ultrastructure. Ovarian biopsies were taken from six women and A and B zones, having been identified by scanning electron microscopy, were re-embedded for transmission electron microscopy. Stereological measurements using point sampled intercepts were made on vertical sections and showed that B cells are significantly larger than A cells. The volume weighted mean cell volumes of the A and B cells were 237.3 microns 3 and 676.8 microns 3 respectively. The volume fractions of the nucleus and mitochondria were similar in the two cell types. Although the vesicle content of each type was similar, a large variation between cases made the interpretation difficult. The stereological tools used in this study proved to be easy and efficient estimators of surface cell ultrastructure and give an important direction for ultrastructural research.
To investigate whether the human ovarian surface has an intact epithelial layer, 69 ovarian biopsies from 39 women were taken. When the surface was touched or wiped, there was a widespread loss of ...cells that were otherwise retained in surface depressions or crypts. By avoiding contact with the surface, the layer was retained. A temporary disruption to the surface following ovulation was followed by complete healing and re-epithelialization. These observations suggest that previous studies describing the loss of surface epithelium may have artifactually generated this loss, possibly by handling the surface during surgical retrieval. The possible clinical significance of these observations is that inadvertent ovarian handling during any ovarian surgery may be implicated in the pathogenesis of adhesion formation, simply by removing the surface that is important in tissue repair.
To assess factors that may alter the pregnancy rate in women undergoing tubocornual anastomosis, the cases of 42 women were studied. Because a combination of surgical procedures was performed, the ...operative side deemed to be the best side was distinguished from the other side. The overall cumulative normal pregnancy rate was 56.0% after 2years. Deep resection of the intramural tube and cases with technical difficulty had a reduced pregnancy rate. Neither the cornual pathology nor the presence of adnexal adhesions adversely affected the pregnancy rate. Associated infertility factors reduced the chances of conceiving. These factors should give a reliable prognosis to aid in the direction of postoperative management, particularly with regard to in vitro fertilization.
Background
Tubal sterilisation is the most popular contraceptive method in the world. Approximately 138 million women of reproductive age have had tubal sterilisation and there is evidence that ...increasingly younger women are being sterilized. With such large numbers of women choosing this option of birth control, it is clear that even if a small percentage of women later regret the decision, large numbers of women will seek counselling regarding reversal from their physicians.
Objectives
To compare the efficacy of surgical tubal reanastomosis and in vitro fertilisation in terms of live birth rates. The morbidity and cost‐effectiveness of both techniques were also to be compared.
Search methods
In a recent update of this review the following databases were searched: Cochrane Menstrual Disorders and Subfertility Review Group Specialised Register, MEDLINE (1966 to 2009), EMBASE (1980 to 2009), PsychInfo (1806‐2009) and CENTRAL (2nd quarter 2009). We handsearched the reference lists of trials, reviews and relevant textbooks; searched s from relevant conferences, and personally communicated with experts in the field.
Selection criteria
Randomised trials comparing surgical reversal of tubal sterilisation with in vitro fertilisation (IVF).
Data collection and analysis
No RCTs were found that met the selection criteria.
Main results
No data exist on which to report.
Authors' conclusions
There is little likelihood that any future research will be conducted to compare IVF with tubal reanastomosis for subfertility after tubal sterilisation. Therefore this review will not be updated in the future.
The influence of soil properties on nitrification potential was studied using a simple 4
h incubation test applied to 56 field-collected soils contaminated mainly with Pb or Cu. The soils were ...analyzed for total and dissolved metal and the soil solution was speciated for free Pb
2+ or Cu
2+ ions. The rates of nitrite production (NH
+
4 oxidation to NO
−
2) after the addition of a 1.0
mM NH
+
4 substrate and 2.0
mM NaClO
3 varied between 25 and 4200
μmol NO
−
2
kg
−1 of soil d
−1. The rates of nitrate production (NH
+
4 oxidation to NO
−
2 minus NO
−
2 oxidation to NO
−
3) for the same experimental conditions without chlorate varied between 2 and 2420
μmol NO
−
2
kg
−1 of soil d
−1. The results show that the nitrification potential relationships with soil properties varied between sites. Soil pH and organic matter are the most influential parameters, but solution free metal activity and total metal content are also significant. It is not clear if soil pH and organic matter directly affect the nitrification potential or if they indirectly modify the chemical properties affecting metal speciation. However, given the high sensitivity of this microbial process towards many environmental soil parameters, the nitrification potential does not appear to be a straight-forward specific bioindicator for the evaluation of soil metal contamination.
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