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Prediction of Zn concentration in human seminal plasma of Normospermia samples by Artificial Neural Networks (ANN)

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Abstract

Purpose

There has been an increasing interest in the evaluation of metal ion concentration, present in different body fluids. It is known that metal ions, especially zinc play vital role in the fertility of human semen.

Objective

The main objective of the study is to evaluate the Zn concentration in Normospermia samples by Atomic absorption spectroscopy (AAS) and to predict the same by artificial neural network (ANN).

Materials and methods

Normospermia semen samples were collected from the patients who came to attend semen analysis at Bangalore assisted conception centre, Bangalore, India. Semen analysis was done according to World Health Organization (WHO) guidance. Atomic absorption spectroscopy was used to estimate the total Zn in these samples, while the Back propagation neural network algorithm (BPNN) was used to predict the Zn levels in these samples.

Results

Zinc concentration obtained by AAS and BPNN indicated that there was a good correlation between the estimated and predicted values and was also found to be statistically significant.

Conclusion

The BPNN algorithm developed in this study could be used for the prediction of Zn concentration in human Normospermia samples.

Future perspective

The algorithm could be further developed to predict the concentration of all the trace elements present in human seminal plasma of different infertile categories.

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Acknowledgments

The authors wish to acknowledge the management of both the institutes, VIT University and BACC, for support towards the execution of this study.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Biosciences and Technology, Gene cloning Technology Laboratory, VIT University, Vellore, 632014, India

    Vickram A. S., Raja Das, Jayaraman G. & Sridharan T. B.

  2. Bangalore Assisted Conception Centre (BACC), Bangalore, Karnataka, India

    Srinivas M. S. & Kamini A. Rao

Authors
  1. Vickram A. S.
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  2. Raja Das
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  3. Srinivas M. S.
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  4. Kamini A. Rao
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  5. Jayaraman G.
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  6. Sridharan T. B.
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Sridharan T. B..

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Capsule

Back propagation neural network can be used for predicting the concentration of Zn in normospermia human semen samples.

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A. S., V., Das, R., M. S., S. et al. Prediction of Zn concentration in human seminal plasma of Normospermia samples by Artificial Neural Networks (ANN). J Assist Reprod Genet 30, 453–459 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10815-012-9926-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10815-012-9926-4

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