SARS-CoV-2 effects on sperm parameters: a meta-analysis study.

AIM: The rapid outbreak of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic posed challenges across different medical fields, especially reproductive health, and gave rise to concerns regarding the effects of SARS-CoV-2 on male infertility, owing to the fact that the male reproductive system indicated to be extremely vulnerable to SARS-CoV-2 infection. Only a small number of studies have investigated the effects of SARS-CoV-2 on male reproduction, but the results are not consistent. So, we performed this meta-analysis to draw a clearer picture and evaluate the impacts of COVID-19 on male reproductive system. METHOD: We searched Embase, Web of Science, PubMed, and Google Scholar databases to identify the potentially relevant studies. Standardized mean difference (SMD) with 95% confidence interval (CI) was applied to assess the relationship. Heterogeneity testing, sensitivity analysis, and publication bias testing were also performed. RESULTS: A total of twelve studies including 7 case control investigations and 5 retrospective cohort studies were found relevant and chosen for our research. Our result showed that different sperm parameters including semen volume [SMD = - 0.27 (- 0.46, - 1.48) (p = 0.00)], sperm concentration [SMD = - 0.41 (- 0.67, - 0.15) (p = 0.002)], sperm count [SMD = - 0.30 (- 0.44, - 0.17) (p = 0.00)], sperm motility [SMD = - 0.66 (- 0.98, - 0.33) (p = 0.00)], and progressive motility [SMD = - 0.35 (- 0.61, - 0.08) (p = 0.01)] were negatively influenced by SARS-CoV-2 infection. However, sperm concentration (p = 0.07) and progressive motility (p = 0.61) were not found to be significantly associated with SARS-CoV-2 infection in case control studies. No publication bias was detected. CONCLUSION: The present study revealed the vulnerability of semen quality to SARS-CoV-2 infection. Our data showed a strong association of different sperm parameters with SARS-CoV-2 infection. The results suggested that SARS-CoV-2 infection in patients may negatively influence their fertility potential in a short-term period, but more studies are needed to decide about the long-term effects.

Solar light degradation of organic dye pollutants and preparation of bis(indolyl)methanes using core-shell Fe3O4@SiO2@CuO nanocomposite.

In this research, a new ferromagnetic-recoverable core-shell Fe3O4@SiO2@CuO nanocomposite of a certain size (20-25 nm) has been synthesized based on Cu(II) complex coated on Fe3O4@SiO2 nanoparticles by facile and fast solid state microwave irradiation method. The photocatalytic activity of the nanocomposite was investigated for degradation of methylene blue (MB) and methyl orange (MO) dye pollutants in aqueous media under solar light irradiation. The nanocomposite could destroy these dyes with high efficiency in short time. With comparison of degradation percentages can be concluded that the nanocomposite shows better photocatalytic activity for MB dye (97% in 180 s). Kinetic study revealed higher rate constant for degradation of MB (k= 3.6×10-3 s-1) with pseudozero-order model. Also, Fe3O4@SiO2@CuO nanocomposite was an efficient magnetically recoverable catalyst for the preparation of bis(indolyl)methanes (BIMs) through the condensation of an aldehyde with 2 equivalents of indole in EtOH/H2O as green solvents.

Years of life lost due to asthma in a population-based 10-year study in Yazd, Iran.

INTRODUCTION: Asthma is a prevalent disease in both children and adults. Significant progress in the management of asthma and prevention of asthmatic attacks resulted in a reduction of asthma deaths, but there is a variation among different regions based on health-care access and environmental factors. We aimed to investigate the trend of asthma mortality during a 10-year period in Yazd Province, a region in the center of Iran. METHODS: We obtained our data from the death registry of Yazd health center. This registry collects data from hospitals, clinics, forensic medicine department, and cemeteries. All deaths due to asthma from 2002 to 2011 were included in our study. We used the remaining life expectancy of each person at death and sex group to calculate the years of life lost (YLL) due to asthma. RESULTS: Nearly 10,371 years of life was lost due to asthma in our study (M/F ratio of 1.29). Asthma mortality rate increased with age, rising sharply after age 50. Average YLL per death was 18.6 years. Asthma mortality rate decreased from 6.66/100,000 in 2002 to 3.97 in 2011. YLL from asthma among men decreased from 796 in 2002 to 338 in 2011, but among women, it showed an increase from 335 to 534 at the same time. CONCLUSION: The trend of reduction in asthma mortality is not similar between different age and gender groups. Further studies are needed to determine the cause of increasing trend among more vulnerable groups.

Pregnancy outcomes in asthmatic women.

Asthma is considered to be the most common respiratory disorder complicating pregnancy. Seventy-six asthmatic and 152 non-asthmatic pregnant women were studied. Maternal asthma was significantly associated with adverse infant outcomes, including prematurity, low birth weight and the need for Cesarean delivery. The results of this study could indicate that pregnant women with asthma were at substantially increased risk for adverse infant outcomes and suggest the need for extra attention to mothers with asthma before and during pregnancy.