Life can be kept in suspended animation either before fertilization at oocyte stage or after fertilization at different stages of embryonic development for a variety of reasons. It not only has potential applications in fertility preservation and management in human but also has important roles in the preservation and management of animal genetic resources, low-cost international movement of selected genetics, and rapid dissemination of germplasm through assisted reproductive technologies (ART) and genetic engineering. Currently, slow-freezing and vitrification are the two approaches by which oocytes and embryos can be cryopreserved for long-term storage. Both of these methods have their own advantages and disadvantages but allow the cryopreservation of oocytes and embryos with comparable efficiency. Vitrification of oocyte and embryos, although proven successful just 13 years after slow-freezing, is generally considered an emerging technology and appears to slow gain acceptance in both animal and human ART despite having controversial storage and contamination issues. In this manuscript, we discuss the basic techniques of oocyte/embryo cryopreservation and review the current status and recent developments in vitrification.
Animals ; Cryopreservation ; Embryonic Development ; Embryonic Structures ; Female ; Fertility Preservation ; Fertilization ; Genetic Engineering ; Humans ; Oocytes ; Pregnancy ; Reproductive Techniques, Assisted ; Vitrification

BACKGROUND: AND PURPOSE: To adequately evaluate the extent of neurocognitive impairment in patient living with human immunodeficiency virus (PLHIV), a battery of neuropsychological tests is typically administered which are neither cost effective nor time efficient in the outpatient clinical setting. The aim of the study was to assess neurocognitive status and functional ability of people living with HIV and find a brief screening tool to identify those who would benefit from a full diagnostic evaluation. METHODS: The study enrolled 160 PLHIV (80 pre-antiretroviral therapy [ART] and 80 on ART) fulfilling the inclusion and exclusion criteria. Neurocognitive assessment and an assessment of Functional ability was done by using the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) and Lawton and Brody Instrumental Activities of Daily Living Scale scale, respectively. RESULTS: The study population consisted of 75.6% males and 24.4% females with mean age of 44±10 years. The overall prevalence of HIV associated neurocognitive disorder (HAND) in the study subjects was 52.5%. Of these, 47.5% had asymptomatic neurocognitive impairment and 5% had minor neurocognitive disorder. In MoCA, the most frequently affected domains were Language (97.6%), visuospatial ability (92.9%) and memory (71.4%). CONCLUSIONS The prevalence of HAND in both groups were similar suggesting that neurocognitive impairment starts early in HIV infection. Memory and Visuospatial function impairment had the most predictive potential for detecting the presence of HAND. HAND screening is recommended in all PLHIV at enrolment into care. Simple tools like MoCA can be used in busy outpatient settings by healthcare workers to screen for HAND.

Methods: In a double-blinded setup, 124 patients randomly received either of the following injections: 2% lidocaine with 1:80,000 epinephrine, 2% lidocaine with 1:80,000 epinephrine mixed with 2 mg dexamethasone, or plain 2% lidocaine mixed with 2 mg dexamethasone, which were injected as a primary IANB. Ten minutes after injection, patients with profound lip numbness underwent electric and thermal pulp sensibility tests. Patients who responded positively to the tests were categorized as “failed” anesthesia and received supplemental anesthesia. The remaining patients underwent endodontic treatment using a rubber dam. Anesthetic success was defined as “no pain or faint/weak/mild pain” during endodontic access preparation and instrumentation (HP visual analog scale score < 55 mm). The effect of the anesthetic solutions on the maximum change in heart rate was also evaluated. The Pearson chi-square test at 5% and 1% significance was used to analyze anesthetic success rates. Results: The 2% lidocaine with 1:80,000 epinephrine, 2% lidocaine with 1:80,000 epinephrine mixed with 2 mg dexamethasone, and plain 2% lidocaine mixed with 2 mg dexamethasone groups had anesthetic success rates of 34%, 59%, and 29%, respectively. The addition of dexamethasone resulted in significantly better results (P < 0.001, χ 2 = 9.07, df = 2). Conclusions The addition of dexamethasone to 2% lidocaine with epinephrine, administered as an IANB, can improve the anesthetic success rates during the endodontic management of symptomatic mandibular molars with irreversible pulpitis.

INTRODUCTION: Although drug-eluting stents (DES) have outclassed the use of bare metal stents, the safety and efficacy of DES at long-term follow-up has still been conflicting because of increased occurrence of late or very late restenosis and stent thrombosis after DES implantation. Hence, the present study was aimed to evaluate the 3-year safety and clinical performance of biodegradable polymer-coated ultra-thin (60 µm) sirolimus-eluting stent (SES) in real-world patients with coronary artery disease (CAD). MATERIALS AND METHODS: This was a physician-initiated, retrospective, single-centre, observational study that included 237 consecutive patients who had previously undergone implantation of only Supraflex SES (Sahajanand Medical Technologies Pvt Ltd, Surat, India) for the treatment of CAD. Follow-up was received after 1 year and 3 years of stent implantation. The primary endpoint was major adverse cardiac events (MACE), a composite of cardiac death, myocardial infarction (MI) and target lesion revascularisation (TLR). Stent thrombosis was considered as a safety endpoint. RESULTS: The mean age of patients was 64.1 ± 10.2 years, and 192 (81.0%) patients were male. The average stent length and diameter were 24.4 ± 9.0 mm and 3.1 ± 0.4 mm, respectively. The cumulative MACE rate at 3 years follow-up was 6.5% which included 4 (1.8%) cardiac deaths, 6 (2.8%) MI, and 4 (1.8%) TLR. There were 2 (0.9%) cases of stent thrombosis. CONCLUSION Treatment of patients with CAD in real-world clinical practice was associated with sustained clinical safety and low rates of restenosis, stent thrombosis and MACE up to 3 years after Supraflex SES implantation.