Background: The most important factor affecting the efficiency of somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) is the initial quality of the oocyte. Since the abattoir-derived oocytes are heterogeneous in quality, selection of cohort fully grown/competent oocytes is necessary for proper development of SCNT embryos. Materials and Methods: Glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PDH) is actively expressed i...

This paper reports a novel fabrication process to develop planarized isolated islands of benzocyclobutene (BCB) polymer embedded in a silicon substrate. Embedded BCB in silicon (EBiS) can be used as an alternative to silicon dioxide in fabrication of electrostatic micromotors, microgenerators, and other microelectromechanical devices. EBiS takes advantage of the low dielectric constant and ther...

This paper presents a new tuning mechanism for millimetre-wave BPF based on deflection of the BCB membrane of BCB packaging cap. A 3-pole parallel-coupled microstrip filter operating at 60 GHz is first implemented on 30 μm-thick BCB polymer substrate and then BCB-capped through our new anti-adhesion layer assisted wafer-level transfer technique. Gold electrodes are fabricated on top of the BCB ...

1,2-Dibromo-2,4-dicyanobutane (BCB) is a broad-spectrum microbicide used commercially in consumer products. The objectives of this study were to elucidate the biotransformation of BCB, characterize its ability to covalently bind macromolecules, and predict the possible toxicological ramifications of such events. After iv administration of [14C]BCB to male Fischer 344 rats, 14C-equivalents were ...

Background: Since the sheep ‘Dolly’ was successfully cloned by somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT), the inefficiency of SCNT cloning and abnormality of cloned animals have been a focus of considerable controversy. Oocyte quality has been shown to contribute to poor somatic cloning and cell reprogramming efficiency with many factors affecting oocyte quality and developmental potential. It has b...

Integration of thick, low-k dielectric benzocyclobutene (BCB) film with deep etched structures in silicon allows the fabrication of microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) devices with low parasitic loss. A fabrication process is developed for integration of 1-μm-thick BCB low-k dielectric film and 200-μm-deep anisotropically etched grooves in silicon with potassium hydroxide (KOH). In order to p...

Title of thesis: INTEGRATION OF BENZOCYCLOBUTENE POYMERS AND SILICON MICROMACHNED STRUCTURES FABRICATED WITH ANISOTROPIC WET ETCHING Nima Ghalichechian, Master of Science, 2005 Thesis directed by: Professor Reza Ghodssi Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering Integration of low dielectric constant Benzocyclobutene (BCB) film with deep etched structures in silicon allows the fabricatio...

background: many studies reported that follicle size has an essential role in developmental potential of oocytes. also, the brilliant cresyl blue (bcb) test is one of the most important criteria in selection of more competent oocytes. objective: selection of developmentally competent bovine oocytes. materials and methods: a total of 1730 bovine cumulus oocyte complexes (cocs) were recovered fro...

The mitochondrion is explicitly involved in cytoplasmic regulation and is the cell's major generator of ATP. Our aim was to determine whether mitochondria alone could influence fertilisation outcome. In vitro, oocyte competence can be assessed through the presence of glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) as indicated by the dye, brilliant cresyl blue (BCB). Using porcine in vitro fertilisati...

Background: The developmental competence of oocytes matured in vitro (IVM) is yet far below than in vivo counterparts. Recent studies suggest that the asynchrony between nuclear/cytoplasmic maturation and the initial low/heterogeneous quality of oocytes are the most important factors affecting IVM success. We investigated whether selection of growing oocytes (based on their glucose 6- phosphate...