Undetectable viral RNA in oocytes from SARS-CoV-2 positive women.

A central concern for the safe provision of ART during the current coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic is the possibility of vertical transmission of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection through gametes and preimplantation embryos. Unfortunately, data on SARS-CoV-2 viral presence in oocytes of infected individuals are not available to date. We describe the case of two women who underwent controlled ovarian stimulation and tested positive to SARS-CoV-2 infection by PCR on the day of oocyte collection. The viral RNA for gene N was undetectable in all the oocytes analyzed from the two women.

Lipid peroxidation and antioxidants in newborns.

The aim of this investigation was to elucidate a possible correlation between lipid peroxidation, antioxidant concentrations and erythrocyte membrane fluidity in plasma from newborns. Ten healthy newborns were recruited. Venous blood samples were collected at birth, and thereafter at 3 and 72 h postnatal age. The following parameters were assessed: hydroperoxides, Coenzyme Q10 and alpha-tocopherol both in plasma and in erythrocyte membranes, and fluorescence polarization (as a tool for assessing membrane fluidity). Hydroperoxides were shown to be high in erythrocyte membranes at birth and significantly decreased at 3 and 72 h after birth. In the erythrocyte membranes, coenzyme Q10 content showed an opposite behaviour with respect to the plasma compartment. Membrane fluidity appeared unchanged even in the presence of the above mentioned modifications.

Primary amyloidosis with diffuse splenic infiltration presenting as fulminant pneumococcal sepsis.

This case illustrates a unique clinical presentation of primary systemic amyloidosis, namely, overwhelming pneumococcal sepsis. Although there exists a well-established association between hyposplenism and overwhelming bacterial infection, amyloid replacement of the spleen as a primary cause of the hyposplenism has not been reported. Functional hyposplenism in regard to the effect of the spleen on erythrocytes has been reported in cases of diffuse splenic amyloid infiltration. The patient described had a fulminant course and associated disseminated intravascular coagulation, two clinical features more commonly seen in pneumococcemia occurring in asplenic patients as opposed to patients with normal splenic function. He had no predisposing factors, other than amyloid replacement of the spleen, to account for the development of overwhelming pneumococcemia. The immunologic function of the spleen in protection against overwhelming bacterial infection is briefly discussed.

Protein demand in the premature neonate and in the small for gestational age full-term neonate.

From our analysis, it may be seen that from simple data it is possible to evaluate the protein and energy adequacy of very low weight neonates, which is crucial to help them achieve normal intellectual and somatic growth and development.

Oxidative stress in the neonate.

The aim of this study is to determine the oxidative state of term and preterm neonates at the moment of birth and during the first days of life, and the influence of exposure to oxygen on the premature neonates.A total of 20 neonates were selected. Group A: 10 healthy full-term neonates, and Group B: 10 preterm neonates with no other pathology associated, requiring oxygen therapy. Venous samples were taken in cord at 3 and 72 h in Group A, and in cord at 3, 24 and 72 h and 7 days in Group B.Hydroperoxides, Q10 coenzyme (Co Q10) and alpha-tocopherol were measured within the erythrocyte membrane. Levels of hydroperoxides present in erythrocyte membrane were higher than normal both in Group A and in Group B at birth. This increase was greater in the group of premature neonates. Levels of alpha-tocopherol at birth increase significantly at 72 h in term neonates. Among the premature newborns, alpha-tocopherol levels are two to three times lower at birth and do not rise to higher levels as in the term neonate group. Fall in levels of Co Q10 in erythrocyte membranes is observed, and perhaps is due to the role of Co Q10 in maintaining the pool of reduced tocopherol. At birth, the neonate presents an increase of markers of oxidative stress and a decrease of their antioxidant defenses. This difference is greater as gestational age decreases. The application of oxygen therapy resulted in these levels which remain low throughout the study period.

Lipid peroxidation and antioxidants in erythrocyte membranes of full-term and preterm newborns.

The most probable factor connecting premature infant problems such as retinopathy, intraventricular hemorrhage and chronic lung disease appears to be the excessive production of oxygen free radicals which can occur as a consequence of oxygen therapy. The aim of our investigation was to elucidate the possible correlations between lipid peroxidation, in this study measured as hydroperoxides production, and antioxidant concentrations in erythrocyte membranes of both full term and preterm infants. Hydroperoxide concentrations were found to be high, especially in premature infants, in erythrocyte membranes at birth and in the initial days of life. The erythrocyte membranes were also found to contain low levels and/or low activities of antioxidant defense mechanisms which was more evident in premature newborns where alpha-tochopherol levels were significantly lower in comparison to full term infant levels. Furthermore, when premature infants undergo oxygen therapy these effects were exacerbated. These results demonstrate that at birth, particularly in the premature newborn, the degree of oxidative stress outweighs the antioxidant defense mechanisms.

Policies around sexual and reproductive health and rights in Peru: conflict, biases and silence.

This study is aimed at examining how subsequent Peruvian governments, since 1990, have addressed reproductive rights, HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment, and sexual diversity rights, as well as the drastic policy shifts and its many contradictions. Abortion and contraception consistently generated the deepest public controversies and debates, which made progress in reproductive rights difficult. HIV/AIDS was often portrayed as having the potential to affect everyone, which allowed advocates and activists to achieve some success in advancing HIV/AIDS-related rights. Sexual diversity rights, perceived as a demand made by "others", were generally trivialised and disdained by politicians, officials, and the general population. Positive changes occurred as long as the issue was given a low political and institutional profile. The analysis of policy-making and programme implementation in these three areas reveals that: (1) Weaknesses in national institutional frameworks concerning reproductive health made it possible for governments to adopt two very different (even contradictory) approaches to the issue within the past 15 years; (2) Policies were presented as rights-based in order to garner political legitimacy when, in fact, they evidenced a clear disregard for the rights of individual citizens; and (3) By favouring low-profile "public health" discourses, and marginalising "the sexual" in official policies related to sexuality, advocacy groups sometimes created opportunities for legal changes but failed to challenge conservative powers opposing the recognition of sexual and reproductive rights and the full citizenship of women and sexual minorities.

[Adventures of the feminist movement on the road to Cairo]. / As aventuras do movimento feminista no caminho para o Cairo.

PIP: The meeting of the health network of Latin American and Caribbean women was held in July 1993 and focused on strategies and issues of reproductive health and rights of women on the way to the Cairo conference in 1994. The complexity of the debate in the area of population politics was indicated by the pronatalist views expressed by the Vatican and Islam fundamentalism, the arguments and beliefs of the ecologists, the dichotomy of the North-South confrontation, and the tension between Western modernity and tradition. Several limitations also hamstrung feminists: with regard to fertility, the preoccupation with reproduction-sexuality-motherhood; advocation of the demographic transition in spite of pronatalist policies; and the absence of inefficiency of services. Tension within the feminist movement also surfaced with respect to tools used for exercising reproductive rights, reproductive decisions as permitted by technology, the radical division between masculine and feminine in feminist analysis, and false option between separatism and integration in political strategies. The limitations and paralyzing tension which frustrate the feminist debate about population can be transformed into fertile undertakings by articulating long-term projects; redefining the concepts of population and of population policies with regard to fertility and reproductive rights; by constructing the mechanisms of consensus within the movement (development of a common agenda); by defining the desirable alliances, possible alliances, and the necessary negotiations; and by following up the Cairo Conference with a Plan of Action and other meetings as the upcoming session on social development in Copenhagen in 1995 and the Conference on Women and Development in Beijing in 1995.^ieng

Expression of human erythropoietin transgenes and of the endogenous WAP gene in the mammary gland of transgenic rabbits during gestation and lactation.

An understanding of the expression of transgenes in the mammary gland during gestation and lactation is crucial for the use of transgenic mammals as bioreactors. Here we describe the temporal pattern of expression of the endogenous rabbit WAP gene and human erythropoietin (hEPO) transgenes under the control of rabbit WAP promoter and 3' flanking sequences. The endogenous rabbit WAP gene was expressed throughout gestation including the day of mating, as well as during lactation in transgenic rabbits bearing a minigene construct. In non-pregnant cycling females, WAP expression was found independent of transgenic status; however, WAP expression was not detected in non-cycling females. The significance of this new finding is not clear at present. hEPO mRNA was detected in mammary gland biopsies from pregnant transgenic rabbits only on day 28 of gestation. During lactation, transcripts were present in mammary gland biopsy samples taken on days 0, 7, 14 and 21. A sharp decline in the levels of transcripts was found for an hEPOcDNA gene construct at the end of lactation (day 28). Although the levels of hEPO were too low to allow a conclusion to be drawn regarding temporal or position-dependent expression, this finding may reflect an integration position effect.