Embryo Blastomere Exclusion Identified in a Time-Lapse Culture System Is Associated with Embryo Ploidy.

This study examined blastomere exclusion which is seen during embryo development and could represent imperfect cell division or a mechanism of aneuploidy correction. This was a retrospective cohort study which included embryos cultured in a time-lapse incubator undergoing preimplantation genetic testing for aneuploidy (PGT-A) with trophectoderm biopsy. Embryos were evaluated for blastomere exclusion early in development, late in development, both, or neither. Blastomere exclusion was compared to embryo ploidy. Embryos with no blastomere exclusion had an aneuploidy rate of 52.9%, while embryos displaying blastomere exclusion at any stage had an aneuploidy rate of 68.5% (p < .001). Early blastomere exclusion was not significantly associated with an increased aneuploidy risk (59.2% vs. 52.9% in no blastomere exclusions; p = 0.22). However, embryos with late blastomere exclusion were significantly more likely to be aneuploid, compared to embryos with no blastomere exclusions (77.5% vs. 52.9%; p < 0.001) as were embryos with both early + late blastomere exclusions (71.2% vs. 52.9%; p < 0.001). Upon restricting the analysis to aneuploid embryos, the presence of any blastomere exclusion was not significantly associated with complex aneuploidy, defined as 2 more affected chromosomes (43.9% vs. 38.7%; p = 0.28). However, the proportion with adverse embryo genetics significantly increased with the timing of blastomere exclusion (38.7%, 37%, 45.5%, and 50% for none, early, late, and early + late; p = 0.043). Late blastomere exclusion or a combination of both early + late blastomere exclusion was associated with an increased risk of aneuploid embryo genetics. Embryo selection using time-lapse culture systems should incorporate these findings when untested embryos are transferred.

Exploring Knowledge, Beliefs, and Attitudes about Teen Pregnancy among Latino Parents in Arkansas.

OBJECTIVES: Arkansas has the highest incidence of teen pregnancy in 15- to 19-year-olds in the United States, and Latinas remain one of the cultural groups that are most at risk of becoming adolescent mothers. Teen mothers and their children are more likely to face poor socioeconomic conditions and negative health sequelae that perpetuate the cycle of poverty. Tailored interventions meant for families, communities, and/or churches should address both abstinence and other types of contraception to educate young people how to stay healthy, prevent unwanted pregnancy, and empower them to make informed decisions. To develop effective educational interventions, it is essential to understand the current knowledge, beliefs, and attitudes toward teen pregnancy among Latino parents in Arkansas. METHODS: Adult Latino parents were surveyed at two clinical sites, one church and one school in Little Rock between January 16, 2019 and February 23, 2019. The survey instrument was conducted in Spanish and included questions on demographics, knowledge, attitudes, and beliefs about teenage pregnancy. Response frequencies, percentages and descriptive statistics were calculated for the dataset. RESULTS: A total of 181 individuals completed the survey. Participants almost unanimously agreed with the statement that it is important to talk about sex with their children for their sexual health development. Nearly all respondents, 96.1%, believe that it is important to prevent teenage pregnancy. Most respondents agreed that they speak with their sons and daughters differently on the topic of sexual health. In our sample, only 17.8% of parents believed that abstinence-only education should be the primary focus of reproductive health education. "My family values" was most frequently cited as the predominant factor in shaping participants' beliefs about teen pregnancy, followed by a desire for their child to attend college or be economically stable before having a child. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings indicate that based on attitudes toward sexual health, interventions should be tailored to certain groups based on children's sex and age and to parents who had children as teens themselves. Educational materials should emphasize the strengths of Latino culture, such as family values and desire for children to attain a college degree and economic stability before bearing children.

Predicting the length of volleyball serves: The role of early auditory and visual information.

In light of the growing body of research that is revealing the significant role of the auditory domain in sport, the present study aims to investigate the contribution of early auditory and visual information to the prediction of volleyball serves' length. To this purpose, three within-subjects experiments were run, which differed among them in terms of stimuli (audiovisual congruent vs audiovisual incongruent; audio only vs video only) and/or in terms of number of possible answers. In particular, expert volleyball players were asked to predict the length of temporally occluded overhand serves, choosing among either two or three possible landing sectors. Response accuracy and response times were measured. For the incongruent stimuli, the results revealed that the percentage of predictions in line with early auditory information was significantly higher than the respective percentage of predictions in line with early visual information. For unimodal stimuli, prediction accuracy was significantly higher on the basis of auditory information than on the basis of visual information, without any difference on response times. Taken together, the results highlighted the relevance of early auditory information for the prediction of volleyball serves' length.

Risk Factor Modification Behaviors of Practicing Vascular Surgeons.

BACKGROUND: National smoking rates have declined; however, it remains the primary modifiable risk factor for nearly all vascular disease. While vascular surgeons have the availability to treat patients via medical or surgical/endovascular means, involvement in risk factor modification may be lacking. This study seeks to understand vascular surgeons' involvement in tobacco cessation and risk factor modification and to determine if practice variables had any effect on provision of these services to vascular surgery patients. METHODS: Anonymous electronic surveys examining tobacco cessation and risk factor modification were sent to the Vascular & Endovascular Surgery Society members (n = 633). Influence of time from training, practice type (dichotomized into academic and nonacademic vascular surgeons), hospital size, region, and workload was assessed, and data were analyzed by univariate contingency tables. RESULTS: A total of 149 (24%) surveys were completed. While the majority of respondents ask patient's smoking status (97%), assess willingness to quit (84%), and advise patients to quit (95%), only 34% prescribe medications to assist in cessation, 7% see patients in tobacco cessation follow-up, and 3% verify cessation with cotinine levels or carbon monoxide monitoring. Surgeons who prescribed medications for cessation are more likely to assess patient's willingness to quit, prescribe/advise nicotine replacement, or prescribe initial statin or other lipid-lowering medications. There was no difference in perceived education received during training in risk factor modification, but only 26% of respondents thought they were well trained. Comparing academic to private practice vascular surgeons, there was no difference in cessation techniques used; however, academic surgeons were less likely to perform endovascular procedures for claudication in patients who continued to smoke (29% vs. 46%, P = 0.03) and more likely to prescribe an initial antihyperlipid medication (65% vs. 39%, P = 0.0018). CONCLUSIONS: Tobacco dependence remains a critical issue for vascular surgery patients; however, there is wide variation in cessation techniques used. The majority of vascular surgeons are not well versed in cessation techniques and risk factor modification, and thus, efforts should be made to provide this education in vascular surgery training programs.