OBJECTIVES The aim of the present study was to compare two procedures for sperm selection in ICSI cycles - conventional morphology sperm selection (ICSI-PVP) and chemical selection through Hyaluronan-treated petri dishes (PICSI), when male factor was associated. METHODS The evaluated parameters were semen quality, fertilization and cleavage rates, chemical and clinical pregnancy rates, as wel...

This is the second in a series of three papers devoted to energy flow and entropy changes in chemical and biological processes, and to their relations to the thermodynamics of computation. In the first paper of the series, it was shown that a general-form dimensional argument from the second law of thermodynamics captures a number of scaling relations governing growth and development across man...

Cycles are abundant in most kinds of networks, especially in biological ones. Here, we investigate their role in the evolution of a chemical reaction system from one self-sustaining composition of molecular species to another and their influence on the stability of these compositions. While it is accepted that, from a topological standpoint, they enhance network robustness, the consequence of c...

Dual phospho/dephosphorylation cycles, as well as covalent enzymatic-catalyzed modifications of substrates are widely diffused within cellular systems and are crucial for the control of complex responses such as learning, memory, and cellular fate determination. Despite the large body of deterministic studies and the increasing work aimed at elucidating the effect of noise in such systems, some...

Cemented paste backfill structures are complex underground cementitious structures. After fresh cemented paste backfill (CPB; a mix of tailings, binder and water) is poured into underground stopes (mined-out voids), its strength which is a key mechanical design criterion of CPB structures, gradually develops with time. The development of CPB strength is governed by the coupled thermo-hydro-mech...