Varicocele is a major entity defined within male infertility. In this report we have studied the influence of laparoscopic varicocelectomy on semen quality, biochemical parameters of seminal plasma and sperm DNA fragmentation. In this study, the semen samples from patients with left-side varicocele of grade II-III before and after laparoscopic varicocelectomy were compared to healthy individuals and separated into three groups. The volume of semen, sperm concentration (106/ml), motility (%), viability (%) and normal morphology (%) were assessed. Total antioxidant capacity (TAC), catalase (CAT), superoxide dismutase (SOD) and malondialdehyde (MDA) together with other biochemical substances in seminal plasma as alpha-glucosidase (α-Glu), fructose (Fr) and citric acid (CA) were determined by ELISA method. The spermatozoa activity including ion-transports through sodium, potassium ATPase (Na+, K+-ATPase) and calcium, magnesium ATPase (Ca2+, Mg2+-ATPase) were determined by using spectrophotometry. In addition, flow cytometry method for detection of sperm DNA fragmentation was used. The results showed, that three months after varicocelectomy such intervention led to significant postoperative improvement in volume of semen (p<0.001), total sperm count (p<0.001), sperm motility (p<0.001) and spermatozoa with normal morphology (p<0.001). We found decreased α-Glu levels due to varicocelectomy (p<0.05). There has been shown a high positive correlation between Na+, K+-ATPase and Ca2+, Mg2+-ATPase activity with total number of spermatozoa (p<0.05). The TAC levels and DNA fragmentation values after varicocelectomy can be considered as significant indicators of good prognosis after surgical intervention. It has to be emphasized that α-Glu levels and total sperm count expressed statistically significant both positive and negative predictive values for semen assessment. Varicocelectomy may lead to significant improvement of semen quality although the observations must be correlated with clinical pregnancies observed thereafter.

Responding to the need for the verification of some experimental animal studies showing the involvement of oxidative stress in germ cell damage in the heat-induced testis, we investigated the possibility of a direct relationship between seminal oxidative stress markers (total antioxidant capacity, catalase activity, superoxide dismutase activity, and malondialdehyde concentration) and ejaculated sperm chromatin/DNA integrity (DNA fragmentation and chromatin condensation abnormalities) in distinct groups of men exposed and not exposed to prolonged scrotal hyperthermia. A statistical increase in the proportion of sperm with DNA fragmentation was observed in all the studied subgroups compared to the fertile men. In turn, the groups subjected to heat stress as professional drivers or infertile men with varicocele presented greater disturbances in the oxidative stress scavenging system than men not exposed to genital heat stress. Based on the comparative  analysis of the studied parameters, we can conclude that alterations in the seminal oxidative stress scavenging system are directly engaged in the pathogenesis of ejaculated sperm DNA damage regardless of the intensity of the impact of thermal insult. To the best of our knowledge, this study, for the first time, revealed the co-existence of oxidative stress and sperm DNA damage in the semen of professional drivers.

Молоко матері є оптимальним продуктом харчування немовлят. Воно характеризується не лише унікальним збалансованим складом нутрієнтів, а і незамінними біологічними властивостями, що особливо важливо для передчасно народжених дітей. Якщо материнського молока немає або його кількість недостатня для задоволення харчових потреб дитини, замість нього рекомендується використовувати донорське молоко. Однак донорське молоко, як правило, отримують від жінок, які народили своїх дітей в термін (доношеними), а тому воно переважно містить недостатньо білка для сприяння належному росту передчасно народжених немовлят. Незалежно від того, використовується донорське або власне молоко матері, його збагачення необхідне для задоволення потреб у харчових речовинах передчасно народжених немовлят, які мають високий ризик затримки постнатального фізичного розвитку під час перебування в лікарні. Існує декілька стратегій і продуктів, які можна використовувати для підтримки бажаних темпів росту передчасно народженої дитини. Стандартне збагачення грудного молока (ГМ), яке наразі найчастіше використовують у відділеннях інтенсивної терапії новонароджених, може не забезпечувати підвищених потреб у білках у значної частини немовлят з дуже малою масою тіла при народженні. Натомість, індивідуалізоване збагачення може оптимізувати споживання поживних речовин. Індивідуалізувати харчове забезпечення можливо за допомогою регульованого або цільового збагачення ГМ. Важливими також є якість і походження комерційних збагачувачів ГМ. Для реалізації індивідуалізованого підходу до збагачення ГМ може бути корисним використання відповідних аналізаторів. Водночас, клінічні переваги окремих підходів до збагачення ГМ, так само, як і використання різних комерційних збагачувачів, здебільшого залишаються невідомими. У цьому огляді представлені результати найважливіших досліджень, які впливають на клінічну практику, а також описані сучасні підходи до збагачення грудного молока (ГМ) з відповідними практичними рекомендаціями.

Mother’s own milk is the optimal food for infants. It is characterized not only by a unique balanced composition of nutrients, but also by essential biological properties, which is especially important for preterm infants. If there is no mother’s milk or it is amount is not enough to meet daily needs, it is recommended to use donor human milk (HM) instead. However, donor HM is commonly obtained from the women who delivered at term and often does not contain enough protein to promote proper growth of preterm infants. Whether donor milk or the mother’s own milk, human milk fortifi cation is essential to meet the nutrient needs for growth and development of these preterm infants, who are at high risk of growth retardation during hospital stay. There are several strategies and commercially available HM fortifi ers that can be used to maintain the desired growth rate. Standard HM fortifi cation, which is currently most commonly used in neonatal intensive care units, may not meet the increased protein needs of a signifi cant proportion of very low birth weight infants. Instead, individualized fortifi cation can optimize nutrient intake. It is possible to individualize the food supply with the help of regu-lated or targeted HM fortifi cation. The quality and origin of commercially available HM fortifi ers are also important. To implement an individualized approach to the fortifi cation of HM, the use of milk analyzers can be useful. However, the clinical benefi ts of individual approaches to breast milk fortifi cation and the use of diff erent commercially available HM fortifi ers remain largely unknown. This review presents the results of the most important studies that infl uence clinical practice and describes current approaches to HM fortifi cation with relevant practical recommendations

Background. The spread of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and overcoming its consequences, including immune-related disorders, is one of the critical issues requiring extensive study and resolution in practical medicine, particularly under present conditions in Ukraine.

Materials and methods. The study group consisted of 79 (27.5%) patients with verified PTSD: 46 (58.2%) female and 33 (41.8%) male, with an average age of 38.7±7.2 years; a control group of 20 apparently healthy people was used. The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) American National Center for PTSD (2013) questionnaire was used to verify PTSD. In addition, history taking, clinical examination, general and biochemical laboratory tests, and statistical analysis were performed.

Results. All patients with PTSD experienced clinical disorders and changes in laboratory indicators, with a probable increase in absolute and relative values of neutrophils and mononuclear cells, an increase in the levels of acute phase proteins, and activation of transaminases. In addition, these patients were characterized as immunocompromised patients with the potential to study immunological disorders.

Conclusions. The results of the review of the scientific literature and the clinical and paraclinical manifestations that we found in patients with PTSD indicate the role of immune mechanisms in the development of this syndrome and necessitate expanding diagnostic measures among such patients with the different pathogenetic approach of their management.

The paper reports a systematic assessment of the radiation-hard Hall probes (RHP) magnetic diagnostic system of the JET tokamak, which is based on InSb semiconductor thin films, and describes the path that lead to the proposal of an innovative magnetic probe concept. A relevant account of RHP operation during the recent deuterium–tritium experimental campaign is also provided, showing correct operation under ITER-like intense neutron flux. The period considered for the systematic assessment of the RHP system ranges from October 2009 to March 2021, during which the machine produced more than 19 000 pulses. The RHP system consists of six three-dimensional Hall probes, which have built-in recalibration capability, thanks to the presence of microsolenoids that produce a local known field during a tailored automatic pre-pulse calibration sequence, that can also be initiated manually. During pulses, the microsolenoids can also be used as inductive sensors as their signals are recorded as well. Moreover, the system provides temperature measurements at the location of the probes, which are continuously recorded too. The assessment demonstrates accurate long-term operation of the RHP system. All the diagnostic channels reliably provide pre-pulse calibration data and pulse signals and the original sensitivities of the Hall sensors are preserved.  Integration considerations and a data fusion analysis lead to the proposal of a high performance, compact, broadband, hybrid field probe, consisting of the combination of an inductive coil and a Hall sensor, to be manufactured by means of the coil technology developed for ITER or an alternative concept with improved radiation-hardness. The hybrid probe is expected to deliver the advantages of both inductive and Hall sensing technologies, essentially in the same package size of a single ITER magnetic discrete probe. In particular, it would solve the problem of the drift of the integrator for long lasting burning plasma discharges. The signals produced by the coil and the Hall sensor, processed by means of a Luenberger–Kalman observer, provide a magnetic field measurement which is non-drifting and low-noise. For these reasons, the hybrid probe has been proposed as the potential primary magnetic diagnostic sensor for future burning plasma experiments and demonstration fusion power plants.