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Objective: Currently, esterility affects between 15% and 20% of couples of fertile age. Female reproductive success is mainly determined by age and ovarian reserve (OR). Recent studies highlight the influence of modifiable factors such as dietary habits and nutritional status on OR. In this regard, the Mediterranean Diet (MD) is postulated as a standard of healthy eating. Therefore, the objective of this paper was to analyze the influence of adherence to DM and nutritional status on the OR of infertile women., Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study was carried out, lasting one year, between February 2022 and February 2023, in a sample of forty-five female patients who attended the Gynaecology-Esterility consultation at the Marina Salud Hospital in Denia (Spain) due to genital desire older than one year. An exploratory descriptive analysis based on univariate statistics was performed., Results: The mean age of the sample (n=45) was 31.84 (±3.99) years, with an average BMI of 26.27 (±6.08) kg/m2, with 44.4% (n=20) having excess body weight. The RO was measured based on AMH, with an average value of 2.32 (±1.59) ng/ml and RFA, with an average of 19.80 (±14.13) antral follicles. A statistically significant association was found between low adherence to DM and lower anti-Müllerian hormone (AMH; p=0.025) levels. In addition, an association was found between low consumption of vegetables (p=0.044), excessive consumption of red meat (p=0.027) and carbonated beverages (p=0.015) with insufficient AMH levels, indicative of low OR. Low fruit consumption was also found to be associated with low oestradiol levels (p=0.045). Statistically significant associations were also found reflecting the influence of nutritional status on OR., Conclusions: One of the main factors conditioning the success of ART (assisted reproductive technology) is the woman's OR. The most widely used parameter to assess OR is AMH. Lifestyle and diet are modifiable factors that can influence OR. High adherence to DM and consumption of vegetables is associated with higher levels of AMH; however, high intake of red meat and carbonated beverages is associated with lower levels. Nutritional status, adherence to DM and dietary habits influence the status of OR, so it would be advisable to promote programmes to improve the population's diet in order to improve reproductive health.

Currently, there is a growing interest in the study of fertility because fertility-related problems affect up to 15% of the world's population. The aim of this study was to determine the influence of the Mediterranean diet on seminal quality in men of reproductive age. For this purpose, a systematic review of the literature was carried out following the PRISMA method. Electronic searches were carried out in the international databases PubMed, Scopus, the Cochrane Library, and Web of Science. In total, 10 articles with 2032 men were included. As inclusion criteria, articles published between 2012 and 2022 were selected, including those that included men aged between 18 and 55 years. Nutritional status was assessed through weight, height, and BMI. Dietary habits were evaluated through different indexes and food frequency questionnaires, and finally, semen quality was evaluated by measuring sperm concentration and motility (progressive and non-progressive). In six (60%) of the included articles, a positive relationship between adherence to the Mediterranean diet and semen quality was demonstrated; in two (20%) of the articles, no association was found; and finally, in two (20%) of the included articles, the relationship between dietary patterns typical of DM and semen quality was evaluated. Dietary habits influence semen quality. Adherence to the Mediterranean diet can improve male reproductive health, as it is a diet with antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects. This is the first systematic review about the influence of the Mediterranean diet on semen quality, and the results are positive. These findings may allow us to provide better advice to our patients and to establish interventions with the aim of improving the results of assisted reproduction techniques., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2024 Piera-Jordan, Prieto Huecas, Serrano De La Cruz Delgado, Zaragoza Martí, García Velert, Tordera Terrades, Sánchez-SanSegundo, Hurtado-Sánchez, Tuells and Martín Manchado.)

Background: Nowadays, there is a growing interest in the relationship among lifestyle, reproductive health, and fertility. Recent investigations highlight the influence of environmental and lifestyle factors such as stress, diet, and nutritional status on reproductive health. The aim of this review was to determine the influence of nutritional status on ovarian reserve in order to improve the reproductive health of women of childbearing age., Methods: A systematic literature review was carried out following the PRISMA method. The quality of the studies was assessed using the Cochrane Collaboration Risk of Bias tool. Data were extracted, and the results were summarized into two blocks: according to the technique used to assess ovarian reserve and nutritional status; according to the results found in the relationship between ovarian reserve and nutritional status., Results: A total of 22 articles involving 5929 women were included. In 12 of the included articles (54.5%), a relationship between nutritional status and ovarian reserve was demonstrated. In seven publications (31.8%), the increased body mass index (BMI) led to a decrease in ovarian reserve, two of them (0.9%) in patients with polycystic ovary syndrome, showing a decrease only if BMI > 25. In two articles (0.9%), there was a negative relationship between ovarian reserve and waist-to-hip ratio, and in one (0.45%), a positive relationship was shown between ovarian reserve and testosterone levels, the latter being related to body mass index. In five articles (22.7%), body mass index was used as a confounder and was negatively related to ovarian reserve, and in another four (18%), no correlation was found., Conclusions: Ovarian reserve appears to be influenced by nutritional status. A high body mass index has a negative impact on the ovary, decreasing antral follicle count and anti-Müllerian hormone. Oocyte quality is compromised, increasing the rate of reproductive problems and the demand for assisted reproductive techniques. Further studies are needed to understand which dietary factors have the greatest effect on ovarian reserve in order to promote reproductive health.

Introduction: Pregnancy is a transcendent period for the mother and the fetus, characterized by an increase on energy requirements. Mediterranean diet (MD) is considered a healthy eating pattern that can provide the nutritional requirements of pregnancy and protect from the development of obstetric pathologies., Objective: To know the relationship between adherence to the MD and its maternal-fetal benefits., Methodology: A systematic review was conducted by identifying articles in the PubMed and Cochrane databases. The publication date of the studies was between 2010 and 2020, and the inclusion criteria established were that the articles were written in English and Spanish and were accessible in full text. Studies concerning assisted reproduction, gene modulation, conference abstracts, systematic reviews, and pilot studies were excluded., Results: Finally, a total of 14 studies were included in the review. The association between the MD and the reduction of some pathologies of pregnancy, such as gestational diabetes, overweight or obesity, sleep quality, complications of childbirth, urinary tract infections (UTIs), and alterations in fetal growth was demonstrated, as well as perinatal problems, including birth weight, prematurity, gastroschisis, and other childhood problems., Conclusion: The MD is an optimal diet to consume during pregnancy., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2022 Zaragoza-Martí, Ruiz-Ródenas, Herranz-Chofre, Sánchez-SanSegundo, Serrano Delgado and Hurtado-Sánchez.)

Optogenetic switches allow light-controlled gene expression with reversible and spatiotemporal resolution. In Saccharomyces cerevisiae , optogenetic tools hold great potential for a variety of metabolic engineering and biotechnology applications. In this work, we report on the modular optimization of the fungal light-oxygen-voltage (FUN-LOV) system, an optogenetic switch based on photoreceptors from the fungus Neurospora crassa . We also describe new switch variants obtained by replacing the Gal4 DNA-binding domain (DBD) of FUN-LOV with nine different DBDs from yeast transcription factors of the zinc cluster family. Among the tested modules, the variant carrying the Hap1p DBD, which we call "HAP-LOV", displayed higher levels of luciferase expression upon induction compared to FUN-LOV. Further, the combination of the Hap1p DBD with either p65 or VP16 activation domains also resulted in higher levels of reporter expression compared to the original switch. Finally, we assessed the effects of the plasmid copy number and promoter strength controlling the expression of the FUN-LOV and HAP-LOV components, and observed that when low-copy plasmids and strong promoters were used, a stronger response was achieved in both systems. Altogether, we describe a new set of blue-light optogenetic switches carrying different protein modules, which expands the available suite of optogenetic tools in yeast and can additionally be applied to other systems.

Background: Global assessment of antimicrobial agents prescribed to infants in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) may inform antimicrobial stewardship efforts., Methods: We conducted a one-day global point prevalence study of all antimicrobials provided to NICU infants. Demographic, clinical, and microbiologic data were obtained including NICU level, census, birth weight, gestational/chronologic age, diagnoses, antimicrobial therapy (reason for use; length of therapy), antimicrobial stewardship program (ASP), and 30-day in-hospital mortality., Findings: On July 1, 2019, 26% of infants (580/2,265; range, 0-100%; median gestational age, 33 weeks; median birth weight, 1800 g) in 84 NICUs (51, high-income; 33, low-to-middle income) from 29 countries (14, high-income; 15, low-to-middle income) in five continents received ≥1 antimicrobial agent (92%, antibacterial; 19%, antifungal; 4%, antiviral). The most common reasons for antibiotic therapy were "rule-out" sepsis (32%) and "culture-negative" sepsis (16%) with ampicillin (40%), gentamicin (35%), amikacin (19%), vancomycin (15%), and meropenem (9%) used most frequently. For definitive treatment of presumed/confirmed infection, vancomycin (26%), amikacin (20%), and meropenem (16%) were the most prescribed agents. Length of therapy for culture-positive and "culture-negative" infections was 12 days (median; IQR, 8-14) and 7 days (median; IQR, 5-10), respectively. Mortality was 6% (42%, infection-related). An NICU ASP was associated with lower rate of antibiotic utilization ( p  = 0·02)., Interpretation: Global NICU antibiotic use was frequent and prolonged regardless of culture results. NICU-specific ASPs were associated with lower antibiotic utilization rates, suggesting the need for their implementation worldwide., Funding: Merck & Co.; The Ohio State University College of Medicine Barnes Medical Student Research Scholarship., Competing Interests: Dr. Pablo J. Sánchez has received research grant support from Merck & Co. during the conduct of the study, and grant from MedImmune, Inc - AstraZeneca, outside of the submitted work. Dr. Pavel Prusakov has received research grant support from Merck & Co. and Pfizer. Dr. Debra A. Goff has received research grant support from Merck & Co. and Pfizer. Dr. Landgrave reports other support from GSK, outside the submitted work. Dr. Kekomäki reports grants and personal fees from Sanofi, grants and personal fees from Merck Sharp & Dome, other support from Pfizer, all outside of the submitted work. Dr. Mesa reports speaker fees from Pfizer and GlaxoSmithKline, outside of the submitted work. Mr. Wozniak received a Barnes Medical Student Research Scholarship grant from The Ohio State University College of Medicine. The other authors have nothing to disclose., (© 2021 The Authors.)

In Spain, Health Education is included in the Early Childhood Education curriculum, but teachers do not manage to develop it effectively. We intended to verify the opinion of the students of the Early Childhood Education Degree of the universities of Andalusia about their education and the relevance of this subject. The research was conducted on a population of 2,178 students, using the questionnaire as the main instrument. Its validation required measuring its internal consistency with Cronbach's alpha coefficient and exploratory factor analysis. The students consider essential Child Health Education training (87.8%), and affirmed that the one they received in the official curricula had been weak. The subjects offered are mostly focused on the promotion of healthy lifestyles (61.5%) and prevention (38.5%). On the other hand, they consider first aid training very important. We propose the implementation of a complete and appropriate Health Education in the training of teachers.

Optogenetic switches permit accurate control of gene expression upon light stimulation. These synthetic switches have become a powerful tool for gene regulation, allowing modulation of customized phenotypes, overcoming the obstacles of chemical inducers, and replacing their use by an inexpensive resource: light. In this work, we implemented FUN-LOV, an optogenetic switch based on the photon-regulated interaction of WC-1 and VVD, two LOV (light-oxygen-voltage) blue-light photoreceptors from the fungus Neurospora crassa When tested in yeast, FUN-LOV yields light-controlled gene expression with exquisite temporal resolution and a broad dynamic range of over 1,300-fold, as measured by a luciferase reporter. We also tested the FUN-LOV switch for heterologous protein expression in Saccharomyces cerevisiae , where Western blot analysis confirmed strong induction upon light stimulation, surpassing by 2.5 times the levels achieved with a classic GAL4 /galactose chemical-inducible system. Additionally, we utilized FUN-LOV to control the ability of yeast cells to flocculate. Light-controlled expression of the flocculin-encoding gene FLO1 , by the FUN-LOV switch, yielded flocculation in light (FIL), whereas the light-controlled expression of the corepressor TUP1 provided flocculation in darkness (FID). Altogether, the results reveal the potential of the FUN-LOV optogenetic switch to control two biotechnologically relevant phenotypes such as heterologous protein expression and flocculation, paving the road for the engineering of new yeast strains for industrial applications. Importantly, FUN-LOV's ability to accurately manipulate gene expression, with a high temporal dynamic range, can be exploited in the analysis of diverse biological processes in various organisms. IMPORTANCE Optogenetic switches are molecular devices which allow the control of different cellular processes by light, such as gene expression, providing a versatile alternative to chemical inducers. Here, we report a novel optogenetic switch (FUN-LOV) based on the LOV domain interaction of two blue-light photoreceptors (WC-1 and VVD) from the fungus N. crassa In yeast cells, FUN-LOV allowed tight regulation of gene expression, with low background in darkness and a highly dynamic and potent control by light. We used FUN-LOV to optogenetically manipulate, in yeast, two biotechnologically relevant phenotypes, heterologous protein expression and flocculation, resulting in strains with potential industrial applications. Importantly, FUN-LOV can be implemented in diverse biological platforms to orthogonally control a multitude of cellular processes., (Copyright © 2018 Salinas et al.)

Glycerol is one of the most important by-products of alcohol fermentation, and depending on its concentration it can contribute to wine flavor intensity and aroma volatility. Here, we evaluated the potential of utilizing the natural genetic variation of non-coding regions in budding yeast to identify allelic variants that could modulate glycerol phenotype during wine fermentation. For this we utilized four Saccharomyces cerevisiae strains (WE - Wine/European, SA - Sake, NA - North American, and WA - West African), which were previously profiled for genome-wide Allele Specific Expression (ASE) levels. The glycerol yields under Synthetic Wine Must (SWM) fermentations differed significantly between strains; WA produced the highest glycerol yields while SA produced the lowest yields. Subsequently, from our ASE database, we identified two candidate genes involved in alcoholic fermentation pathways, ADH3 and GPD1 , exhibiting significant expression differences between strains. A reciprocal hemizygosity assay demonstrated that hemizygotes expressing GPD1 WA , GPD1 SA , ADH3 WA and ADH3 SA alleles had significantly greater glycerol yields compared to GPD1 WE and ADH3 WE . We further analyzed the gene expression profiles for each GPD1 variant under SWM, demonstrating that the expression of GPD1 WE occurred earlier and was greater compared to the other alleles. This result indicates that the level, timing, and condition of expression differ between regulatory regions in the various genetic backgrounds. Furthermore, promoter allele swapping demonstrated that these allele expression patterns were transposable across genetic backgrounds; however, glycerol yields did not differ between wild type and modified strains, suggesting a strong trans effect on GPD1 gene expression. In this line, Gpd1 protein levels in parental strains, particularly Gpd1p WE , did not necessarily correlate with gene expression differences, but rather with glycerol yield where low Gpd1p WE levels were detected. This suggests that GPD1 WE is influenced by recessive negative post-transcriptional regulation which is absent in the other genetic backgrounds. This dissection of regulatory mechanisms in GPD1 allelic variants demonstrates the potential to exploit natural alleles to improve glycerol production in wine fermentation and highlights the difficulties of trait improvement due to alternative trans -regulation and gene-gene interactions in the different genetic background.

Light is increasingly recognized as an efficient means of controlling diverse biological processes with high spatiotemporal resolution. Optogenetic switches are molecular devices for regulating light-controlled gene expression, protein localization, signal transduction and protein-protein interactions. Such molecular components have been mainly developed through the use of photoreceptors, which upon light stimulation undergo conformational changes passing to an active state. The current repertoires of optogenetic switches include red, blue and UV-B light photoreceptors and have been implemented in a broad spectrum of biological platforms. In this review, we revisit different optogenetic switches that have been used in diverse biological platforms, with emphasis on those used for light-controlled gene expression in the budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. The implementation of these switches overcomes the use of traditional chemical inducers, allowing precise control of gene expression at lower costs, without leaving chemical traces, and positively impacting the production of high-value metabolites and heterologous proteins. Additionally, we highlight the potential of utilizing this technology beyond laboratory strains, by optimizing it for use in yeasts tamed for industrial processes. Finally, we discuss how fungal photoreceptors could serve as a source of biological parts for the development of novel optogenetic switches with improved characteristics. Although optogenetic tools have had a strong impact on basic research, their use in applied sciences is still undervalued. Therefore, the invitation for the future is to utilize this technology in biotechnological and industrial settings.

Ulipristal Acetate (UPA) modifies the endometrium, as well as fibroids, and therefore it might make hysteroscopic surgery more difficult. To confirm that pre-treatment with UPA is as safe and effective an option as pre-treatment with GnRH analogues, considered the gold standard. We present the first series of 26 hysteroscopic myomectomies after 3 months treatment with UPA and we compare the results with a series of 24 cases pretreated with GnRH analogues. This was a retrospective cohort study between July 2013 and May 2015. We analyszed patients with submucous myomas >2.5 in diameter. Hysteroscopic myomectomy was performed after 3 months of treatment with either UPA (5mg daily) or the GnRH agonist (3.75mg/month). Both groups were similar in age, myoma initial size and classification. There were no significant differences between UPA and GnRHa treated groups in terms of percentage of myomas resected (93% vs 98%), duration of surgery (38 vs 37min), fluid deficit (200 vs 350ml) and complications. In the surgeon's subjective opinion, UPA treatment was associated with an easier resection. Based on our experience, previous treatment with UPA does not difficult Hhysteroscopic myomectomy. Endometrial changes have no impact on surgery. Safety and feasibility are comparable to hysteroscopic myomectomies with previous treatment with GnRH analogues. This allows us to take advantage of the reduction in size of fibroids before surgery with less side effects., (Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.)

In this study we used recent (2010) and herbarium material (1980) of six bryophyte species to assess long-term atmospheric deposition in natural forested areas in northern Spain. For this purpose, tissue nitrogen and carbon content, as well as δ(13) C and δ(15) N signatures of samples of Hypnum cupressiforme, Polytrichastrum formosum, Leucobryum juniperoideum, Rhytidiadelphus loreus, Homalothecium lutescens and Diplophyllum albicans were analysed and comparisons made between years and species. In addition, the usefulness of each of the six species was evaluated. The range of values observed was similar to that in other studies carried out in rural areas. Significantly lower values were found in 2010 for N (H. cupressiforme), δ(15) N (R. loreus and D. albicans), C (R. loreus) and δ(13) C (all except L. juniperoideum). Our natural areas are thus now less influenced by atmospheric pollutants than they were, most probably due to changes in some traditional local activities. Differences were observed between species for all the four parameters studied, so different species must not be analysed together. Finally, R. loreus and H. lutescens seem to be good bioindicators, sensitive even with a few samples, although further studies are needed to corroborate their usefulness., (© 2013 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.)

Treatment of steroid sapogenins with benzaldehyde and BF(3)·Et(2)O cleanly produces E-23(23')-benzylidenspirostanes in good yields in a reaction pathway which consists on an aldol reaction followed by a dehydration step. The obtained E-23(23')-benzylidenspirostanes can be easily converted to dinorcholanic lactones by treatment with CrO(3) in acetic acid. The synthetic sequence to dinorcholanic lactones is compatible with the presence of double bonds and carbonyl groups in the steroid framework., (Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)