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Male infertility accounts for approximately 40% of infertility cases. There are many causes of male infertility, including environmental factors, age, lifestyle, infections, varicocele, and cancerous pathologies. Severe oligozoospermia, cryptozoospermia, and azoospermia (obstructive and non-obstructive) are identified as severe male factor infertility, once considered conditions of sterility. Today, in vitro fertilization (IVF) techniques are the only treatment strategy in cases of male factor infertility for which new methodologies have been developed in the manipulation of spermatozoa to achieve fertilization and increase success rates. This review is an update of in vitro manipulation techniques, in particular sperm selection, emphasizing clinical case-specific methodology. The success of an IVF process is related to infertility diagnosis, appropriate choice of treatment, and effective sperm preparation and selection. In fact, selecting the best spermatozoa to guarantee an optimal paternal heritage means increasing the blastulation, implantation, ongoing pregnancy and live birth rates, resulting in the greater success of IVF techniques., Competing Interests: The authors declare that they do not have any commercial or associative interests that represent a conflict of interest in connection with the work submitted. S.F. is also an employee of CooperSurgical Fertility Solutions but the company had no knowledge of, or role in the design, execution, interpretation or writing of this review article.

Temporomandibular joint (TMJ) osteoarthritis is a degenerative disease, characterized by gradual cartilage degradation, bone remodeling, synovitis, and chronic pain. Due to the limited self-healing capacity in condylar cartilage, traditional clinical therapy have limited symptom-modifying and structure-modifying effects to restore impaired cartilage as well as other TMJ tissues. In last years, stem cell-based therapy has collected much attention as a possible approach toward tissue repair and regeneration. Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs), derived from the bone marrow, synovium, and even umbilical cord, play a role as seed cells for the cartilage regeneration of TMJ. MSCs possess multilineage differentiation potential, including chondrogenic differentiation as well as osteogenic differentiation. In addition, the modulations of MSCs exert anti-inflammatory and immunomodulatory effects under aberrant conditions. Furthermore, MSCs combined with appropriate scaffolds can form cartilaginous or even osseous compartments to repair damaged tissue and impaired function of TMJ. In this review, we will describe the potential sources of MSCs and novel approaches for the cartilage regeneration of TMJ, particularly focusing on the MSC-based therapy and tissue engineering., Competing Interests: The authors report no conflicts of interest., (Copyright © 2022 by Mutaz B. Habal, MD.)

Background: Alopecia areata (AA) is believed to have an autoimmune mechanism in which the hair follicles are targeted by CD4+ and CD8+ lymphocytes. Studies investigating the autoimmune mechanism of other cutaneous diseases, including vitiligo, showed that T reg is a component of cutaneous immune privilege. Our study uses immunohistochemical staining in formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tissue to examine the percentage of CD4 + FoxP3 + , CD25 + FoxP3 + , and CD8 + FoxP3 + T reg in AA in human specimens., Methods: Immunohistochemical double staining for CD4 + FoxP3 + , CD25 + FoxP3 + , and CD8 + FoxP3 + was performed on 12 AA cases and 12 other autoimmune and non-autoimmune cutaneous diseases. The frequency of CD4 + FoxP3 + , CD25 + FoxP3 + , and CD8 +  FoxP3 + T reg was counted and expressed as a percentage of total CD4 + , CD25 + , and CD8 + lymphocytes, respectively, in order to account for intersample inflammatory response variability., Results: There was a significant reduction in the mean frequency of CD4 +  FoxP3 + and CD25 +  FoxP3 + in AA when compared to other autoimmune and non-autoimmune cutaneous diseases., Conclusion: T reg is significantly lower in AA when compared to other cutaneous diseases. Additionally, this immunohistochemical-staining protocol may be useful to evaluate T reg in formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded specimens for other cutaneous diseases. Studies examining T reg in AA and other cutaneous diseases may have implications for future interventions., (© 2019 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Introduction: Pulsed dye laser (PDL) has been used to treat acne lesions and scar erythema by interrupting superficial vasculature. Salicylic acid chemical peels are employed chiefly due to their lipophilic, comedolytic, and anti-inflammatory properties. Although studies have looked at peels and laser therapy independently in acne management, we examined these treatments in combination. Our primary objective was to evaluate the safety and efficacy of concurrent use of salicylic acid peels with PDL versus salicylic acid peels alone in the treatment of moderate to severe acne vulgaris., Methods: Adult patients with moderate to severe acne were included. Subjects received a total of 3 treatments at 3-week intervals. Per randomized split-face treatment, at week 0, one half of the subject's face was treated with PDL (595 nm) followed by whole face application of a 30% salicylic acid peel. At weeks 3 and 6, the treatments were repeated. At 0 and 9 weeks, patients were assessed with the Global Evaluation Acne (GEA) scale and Dermatology Life Quality Index (DLQI) questionnaire., Results: Nineteen subjects were enrolled, and 18 completed the study. Significant improvement in acne was seen in both the combined (laser and peel) and chemical peel alone treatment arms (P < .0005 and P = .001). Using the GEA scale score, compared to week 0, the mean difference in acne improvement at week 9 was -1.61 in the combination therapy group versus -1.11 in the peel only group. Based on the GEA scale scoring, a statistically significant greater difference in acne improvement was seen, from week 0 to week 9, in the combination treatment group compared with the peel only group (P = .003)., Conclusion: While acne subjects had significant benefit from the salicylic acid peel alone, they experienced greater significant benefit from PDL treatment used in conjunction with salicylic acid peels. The adjunctive utilization of PDL to salicylic acid peel therapy can lead to better outcomes in acne management.

Objectives: To further evaluate the relationship of prostate-specific antigen (PSA) with prostate size and tumor volume in a contemporary surgical series. Although early studies showed a strong correlation between PSA and tumor volume, it has been suggested that PSA is no longer a valid marker for prostate cancer and only correlates with prostate size., Methods: From 2003 to 2009, 1234 men with data on prostate weight and total tumor volume underwent radical prostatectomy by a single surgeon. Prostate size was classified into tertiles: small (≤ 41.2 g), medium (41.3-54.5 g), and large (≥ 54.6 g). Pearson correlation coefficients were used to examine the relationship of PSA with prostate size and tumor volume across different prostate sizes., Results: Median preoperative PSA was 4.9 ng/mL (standard deviation ± 4.6), mean prostate size was 51.7 g, and mean tumor volume was 5.6 cm(3). PSA had a significant correlation with prostate size only at a prostate weight ≥ 54.6 g (P = .02). Regardless of prostate size, PSA had a more robust significant correlation with tumor volume than with prostate size (all P < .0001)., Conclusions: PSA was significantly correlated with prostate size only in the largest prostate glands, but was significantly associated with tumor volume in small, medium, or large prostates. Thus, PSA continues to be a better marker for tumor volume than for prostate size., (Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

The ruthenium aqua complexes [Ru(H(2)O)(2)(bipy)(2)](OTf)(2), [cis-Ru(6,6'-Cl(2)-bipy)(2)(OH(2))(2)](OTf)(2), [Ru(H(2)O)(2)(phen)(2)](OTf)(2), [Ru(H(2)O)(3)(2,2':6',2''-terpy)](OTf)(2) and [Ru(H(2)O)(3)(Phterpy)](OTf)(2) (bipy = 2,2'-bipyridine; OTf(-) = triflate; phen = phenanthroline; terpy = terpyridine; Phterpy = 4'-phenyl-2,2':6',2''-terpyridine) are water- and acid-stable catalysts for the hydrogenation of aldehydes and ketones in sulfolane solution. In the presence of HOS(O)(2)CF(3) (triflic acid) as a dehydration co-catalyst they directly convert 1,2-hexanediol to n-hexanol and hexane. The terpyridine complexes are stable and active as catalysts at temperatures > or = 250 degrees C and in either aqueous sulfolane solution or pure water convert glycerol into n-propanol and ultimately propane as the final reaction product in up to quantitative yield. For the terpy complexes the active catalyst is postulated to be a carbonyl species [(4'-R-2,2':6',2''-terpy)Ru(CO)(H(2)O)(2)](OTf)(2) (R = H, Ph) formed by the decarbonylation of aldehydes (hexanal for 1,2-hexanediol and 3-hydroxypropanal for glycerol) generated in the reaction mixture through acid-catalyzed dehydration. The structure of the dimeric complex [{(4'-phenyl-2,2':6',2''-terpy)Ru(CO)}(2)(mu-OCH(3))(2)](OTf)(2) has been determined by single crystal X-ray crystallography (Space group P1 (a = 8.2532(17); b = 12.858(3); c = 14.363(3) A; alpha = 64.38(3); beta = 77.26(3); gamma = 87.12(3) degrees, R = 4.36 %).