Abstract Study question Do morphometric and morphokinetic profiles of pronuclei (PN) following intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) vary between male female human zygotes? Summary answer Male zygotes displayed different PN morphometrics morphokinetics. Additionally, variations were identified sperm-originated (SPN) oocyte-originated (OPN) pronuclei. What is known already Previous studies hav...

Abstract Study question What are the prevalence and implications of cytoplasmic strings (Cyt-S) in preimplantation development after blastulation? Summary answer Cyt-S common human embryos associated with faster blastocyst development, larger expansion, better morphological quality. is known already dynamic cellular projections connecting inner-cell-mass (ICM) trophectoderm during expansion. Th...

Abstract Study question Are decisions on day7 and/or poor-quality blastocysts’ (PQB; <Gardner’s BB) use consistent among embryologists of diverse European countries and what factors influence them? Summary answer “Discard” choice prevalence was ≈40%, however inter-rater agreement just fair (Fleiss-k=0.26). Country practice, maternal age number sibling embryos each decision. What is known...

I n the recent literature, several interesting articles have been published using the zona pellucdia (ZP)-bound sperm for intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) to enhance embryo quality, implantation and clinical pregnancy rates. The three studies were performed independently in different ART clinics. In the test group, patients’ sibling immature (either germinal vesicle (GV) or metaphase I) ...

AT the urging of Professor G. M. McKinley, who sophila genetics had become too complex for him. Mortaught genetics at the University of Pittsburgh, I gan was a discoverer, not a bookkeeper, and after the applied for graduate school at Caltech, was accepted, basic findings of Drosophila genetics had been made, he and arrived in Pasadena for the opening of the fall term left the subject in the co...

Structural inheritance in the ciliate cortex. Ciliates make up a distinctive group of unicellular organisms characterized by dualism of germ line and somatic nuclei, sex by reciprocal exchange of gametic nuclei with subsequent replacement of the somatic nucleus, and an extraordinarily complex organization of the cell surface layer. This organization is dominated by cytoskeletal structures, incl...

The epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) is commonly considered as a main driving force of the metastatic cascade. An impressive series of experiments and observations worldwide supports its pivotal role in promoting cancer cell dissemination at the invasive fronts of tumors, intravasation, cell survival in fluids, and extravasation, with secondary site colonization being the only step re...

Background: The establishment of a high quality ART program requires a multi-disciplinary effort, involvement and commitment of all staff members – team work. It is of vital importance that all aspects of the treatments are taken into consideration and that you already from the start use high international standards to initiate a wellorganised ART program that meets the requirements from patien...

As J. P. Spencer et al. (2009) argue, the theories of some developmental psychologists continue to be nativistic, even though nativism is an inherently nondevelopmental school of thought. Psychologists interested in development study the emergence of human characteristics—including predispositions—and are not content to simply catalogue competences that characterize human newborns; instead, the...