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Background and objective: In 10-20% of men with abnormal semen, azoosperima, the absence of sperm in ejaculation is common. Up to now, there has been no chance of pregnancy for couples in which the male partner had permanent azoospermia except by the use of donor insemination treatment but intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) has initiated a new era for azoospermic patients. The present study assessed the outcome of 50 consecutive ICSI cycles with spermatozoa surgically retrieved from azoospermic patients. Methods: In a male infertility center, 50 ICSI using precutaneouse epididymal sperm aspiration (PESA) or testicular sperm extraction (TESE) was carried out in 30 obstructive and 20 non-obstructive azoospermic patients, respectively. Fertilization and pregnancy rates were compared in two groups. Findings: One hundred and seventy two and 116 MII oocyte were injected with motile or shaking sperm, which 69.2% and 64.6% were fertilized in obstructive and non-obstructive group, respectively. The clinical pregnancy rate were 23.3% and 25% in obstructive and non-obstructive group, respectively. The ongoing pregnancy rates were similar in two groups (20%). Conclusion: It seems that by using ICSI with a new sperm retrieval technique, the azoospermic patients could be potentially fertile.

We report on the optomechanical properties of a breathing mechanical mode oscillating at 5.5 GHz in a 1D corrugated Si nanobeam. This mode has an experimental single-particle optomechanical coupling rate of |go,OM| = 1.8 MHz (|go,OM|/2π = 0.3 MHz) and shows strong dynamical back-action effects at room temperature. The geometrical flexibility of the unit-cell would lend itself to further engineering of the cavity region to localize the mode within the full phononic band-gap present at 4 GHz while keeping high go,OM values. This would lead to longer lifetimes at cryogenic temperatures, due to the suppression of acoustic leakage.

Objectives: The event of menarche is an exceptional phenomenon, which occurs once in a lifetime. It is the precursor of future fertility. The onset of menarche is mainly dependent on genetic factors, however geographical and nutritional factors among other factors have been attributed to the events of menarche. The aim of this study is to determine the age of onset of menarche and the factors which induce it in northern Iran., Methods: This is a cross sectional study which will assess the onset of menarche in girls between the age of 11-16 years. The subjects were either in middle or high school and had experienced menarche within 6 months prior to the study. This study revolves around 600 girls who were selected using stratified randomized sampling techniques. The data was collected in the form of a questionnaire which focused on age, weight (was measured to the nearest 0.1 kg using a balance beam scale), height (was measured to nearest 0.1cm with a manual height board), and Body Mass Index (BMI: kg/m2) was used as an index of relative weight. Principal Component Analysis (PCA) was applied to analyze Socio-economic Status (SES). The defined standard age of the first menstrual event was applied as the standard. The data collected was analyzed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS.10) statistical analysis software and the Chi-square and Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) tests were applied. In an effort to establish the factors associated with the age of menarche, multivariate analysis was performed based on linear logistic regression which was performed using a model where all the variables changing the risk estimated by more than 10%. Statistical significance was determined at P<0.05., Results: The mean age at menarche was observed to be 12.99±1.33yrs (ranging from 10.16 to 15.91 yrs). The study showed that menarche occurred during the summer for 270 (45%) patients making it the most common season for menarche while winter was the least common season. The mean age of menarche was delayed in patients from low SES groups and it occurred earlier in patients from high SES. In girls with low BMI, menarche occurred earlier in comparison to girls with high BMI. There was a significant correlation between session and age of menarche (p<0.05). There was no significant relationship statistically between BMI and age of menarche (p>0.05). Linear regressions showed no significant effect of BMI on the age of menarche but there was a significant correlation between season and SES on the age of menarche., Conclusion: The age of menarche and the most common seasons for menarche were similar to previous studies. Results from this study showed that the age of menarche decreased with higher SES, and also the age of menarche in girls with high and low BMI occurred earlier. However, previous studies showed that it ocurred earlier in high BMI and later in low BMI. It appears that genetic and environmental factors have influenced these differences.

Type 2 diabetes mellitus (non insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus: NIDDM) is known to be associated with degenerative complications. Although, the pathophysiology of such complications is well known, the role of homocysteine (Hcy) is still discussed. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the relationship between the homocysteine levels and the NIDDM related complications in a group of NIDDM patients. Our study population consisted of 41 NIDDM patients including 13 subjects (G1) without complications (group controls), 17 patients (G2) with microangiopathy and 11 patients (G3) with coronary deficiency. Plasmatic homocysteine, glycemia, glycated haemoglobin (HbA1C) and lipidic parameters were essessed in all patients. Our results showed that mean levels of plasmatic homocysteine were within the normal range (10.4 +/- 3.3 micromol/l, 9.9 +/- 5.5 micromol/l and 14.8 +/- 10.4 micromol/l in G1, G2 and G3 respectively). Nevertheless, moderate hyperhomocysteinaemia was found in 36% in the coronary group (G3), 17.3% in patients with microangiopathy (G2) and 7.7% in controls. These preliminary results showed that cardiovascular complications in NIDDM patients may be related to high levels of homocysteine.