Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, there has been interest in the impact of both SARS-CoV-2 infection and pandemic-induced social restrictions on male reproductive health. This study aimed to evaluate the spermiogram values of men who presented for infertility during the pandemic compared with the previous 2 years. Patients who presented to a urology outpatient clinic for the first time due to infertility were included. The patients' age, semen volume, and spermiogram results were recorded. Based on the presentation date, the patients were divided into prepandemic group 1 (March 2018-February 2019), prepandemic group 2 (March 2019-February 2020), and pandemic group (March 2020-February 2021) for comparison. A total of 594 patients were included. There was no significant difference between the three groups in terms of the number of patients who presented for infertility (207, 190, and 197 patients, respectively; p=0.691). The mean age was 36.6±7.2 in the prepandemic group 1, 35.5±7.1 in the prepandemic group 2, and 33.1±6.3 in the pandemic group. Patients who presented during the pandemic were significantly younger (p<0.001). There were no differences between the groups in terms of semen volume (p=0.910) or rates of normospermia and pathological spermiogram findings (p=0.222). In the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, there was no significant difference in the number of patients who presented for infertility or in their spermiogram results compared with 2018 and 2019. However, it is noteworthy that the patients were significantly younger during the pandemic than in the previous 2 years.

In this study, the effects of four different temperatures on the sporulation and development of 6 Bacillus species, 2 native and 4 reference were investigated. The SDS PAGE analysis emerged that two different proteins, 40 and 39 kilodalton (kDa), were produced by Bacillus sphaericus ATCC 2362 after 24 and 48, respectively hours at 48°C, by local isolate 4 after 24 and 48 hours at 42°C and by local isolate 31 after 24 and 48 hours at 48°C. Additionally Bacillus firmus (ATCC 14573) produced a 40 kDa protein after 48 hours at 52°C and Bacillus thuringiensis var. israelensis produced a 42 kDa protein after 48 hours at 42°C. At temperatures of 48 and 52°C, after 12, 24 and 48 hours incubation, vegetative and heat resistant spore counts were determined to reduce by 104-106 fold according to bacterial counts. As a result, the data revealed that at 48 and 52°C spore vitality fell by a significant degree. Additionally, SDS PAGE analysis results showed that high temperature resistance was provided by different heat shock proteins a 40 kDa protein produced by B. firmus ATCC (14573), 40-39 kDa proteins produced by B. sphaericus (ATCC 2362), and local isolates 4 and 31 and 42 kDa protein produced by B. thuringiensis var. israelensis.

Objective: Parkinson disease (PD) involves dopaminergic neuron loss from mitochondrial dysfunction and oxidative stress. We investigated the combined, sequential effects of mesenchymal stem cell–derived mitochondrial transplantation (MitoTr) and pharmacological agmatine modulation in a PD–like undifferentiated SH-SY5Y cellular model. Methods: Undifferentiated SH-SY5Y cells were exposed to 6-hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA; 350 μM) for 24 hours and sequentially treated with mitochondria (5 or 10 μg/mL) and agmatine (100 μM; 2 hours post-MitoTr). Cell viability was assessed via MTT assays (n = 8 independent experiments). Total-lysate cytochrome c ELISA (n = 3) and Western blots for DJ-1, REDD1, and α-synuclein (n = 4) were performed across 4 core groups. Results: 6-OHDA significantly reduced viability compared with Control (mean [SEM], 0.50 [0.05] vs 1.00 [0.04]; P < .001); postinjury agmatine restored it to near-control levels (mean [SEM], 0.97 [0.20]; P < .001\) vs 6-OHDA), while agmatine alone had no effect (P > .99). Conversely, MitoTr-containing groups showed significantly lower viability than Control, Agmatine, and Agmatine + 6-OHDA groups (P < .001). Most MitoTr arms fell significantly below 6-OHDA alone (P < .05), except the 5 μg/mL triple group (P = .13). Expression of DJ-1, REDD1, and α-synuclein decreased numerically relative to Control without statistical significance (P > .05). Total-lysate cytochrome c was significantly elevated only in the triple-combination group compared with the Control group (mean [SEM], 36.01 [3.65] versus 22.63 [1.08] ng/mL; P = .03). Conclusions: Postinjury agmatine rescued 6-OHDA-induced viability loss, but sequential MitoTr followed by agmatine caused an additional marked reduction in viability rather than synergistic neuroprotection. Molecular alterations remained exploratory and nonsignificant. This MitoTr-associated loss may reflect antiproliferative effects in neuroblastoma-derived cells, underscoring the need for optimized protocols and nonmalignant models.