The MADS-box genes of land plants are extensively diverged to form a superfamily and are important in various aspects of development including the specification of floral organs as homeotic selector genes. The closest relatives of land plants are the freshwater green algae charophyceans. To study the origin and evolution of land plant MADS-box genes, we characterized these genes in three charop...

Shape-programmable matter is a class of active materials whose geometry can be controlled to potentially achieve mechanical functionalities beyond those of traditional machines. Among these materials, magnetically actuated matter is particularly promising for achieving complex time-varying shapes at small scale (overall dimensions smaller than 1 cm). However, previous work can only program thes...

Rosmarinus officinalis has been used in traditional medicine extensively. This study evaluated the hormonal and cellular effects of Rosmarinus officinalis extract on testes of adult rats. Thirty male Wistar rats (in three groups) received 50 or 100 mg/Kg b.w of Rosmarinus officinalis extract (made from the plant's leaves, flower and stem) (treatment groups) and 10 mL/Kg b.w normal saline (contr...

Background: Infertility is a major clinical and worldwide reproductive problem that affects approximately 15% of young couples. The male factors are responsible for periphery 50 percent of these cases. Recently, the generation of oxidative stress, also described as an imbalance between the production of Reactive oxygen species (ROS) and the body’s antioxidant defence mechanisms, in the male rep...

Intracytoplasmic spermatozoid injection (ICSI) is one of the commonest methods used in assisted reproductive technologies human medicine. However, this procedure has low efficacy for bovines, mainly because insufficient activation oocytes after microinjection. One most effective activating considered to be use phosphorus calcium, though optimal concentration activator and its effect on pre-impl...

Objectives: Nowadays, a lot of attention has been paid to the therapeutic properties of herbs, including evaluation of the effects of these plants on fertility in laboratory animals. Apium graveolens L. (celery) has been widely used in traditional medicine for treatment of various disorders including impotency. Therefore, this study was designed to investigate the effects of aqueous extract of ...

CD36, an 88kd-adhesion molecule, plays a major role as a scavenging receptor implicated in cellular lipid metabolism. Secretory mammary epithelium, microvasculature endothelium, adipocytes, smooth muscle cells, and platelets express CD36. In addition, CD36 expression is significantly enhanced in macrophages differentiating into foam cells. The effect of pathological levels of cholesterol, as ob...

Rosmarinus officinalis has been used in traditional medicine extensively. This study evaluated the hormonal and cellular effects of Rosmarinus officinalis extract on testes of adult rats. Thirty male Wistar rats (in three groups) received 50 or 100 mg/Kg b.w of Rosmarinus officinalis extract (made from the plant’s leaves, flower and stem) (treatment groups) and 10 mL/Kg b.w normal saline (contr...

In the last years, digital image processing and analysis are used for computer assisted evaluation of semen quality with therapeutic goals or to estimate its fertility by means of spermatozoid motility and morphology. Sperm morphology is assessed routinely as part of standard laboratory analysis in the diagnosis of human male infertility. Nowadays assessments of sperm morphology are mostly done...

Purpose: to evaluate the effect of previous ovarian surgery for endometriosis on the ovarian response in assisted reproduction treatment cycles and its pregnancy outcome. Methods: a total of 61 women, with primary infertility and previous ovarian surgery for endometriosis, submitted to 74 in vitro fertilization/intracytoplasmic spermatozoid injection (IVF/ICSI) cycles, were studied (study group...