BACKGROUND Recent studies have demonstrated that morphology of the first polar body (1(st)PB) is related to oocyte viability, which can be used as a prognostic tool to predict oocyte performance and pregnancy outcomes in an intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) program. According to some studies, there is a correlation between oocyte performance and 1(st)PB morphology, while others have not r...

Background The role of vascular endothelium in the control of epicardial coronary artery vasomotion during treadmill exercise remains unclear. Therefore, we examined the consequences of in vivo balloon endothelial denudation on external coronary diameter of the left circumflex artery during exercise in conscious dogs. Methods and Results Seven dogs instrumented for the measurement of arterial b...

The denudation budget of the Alps is quantified for the main period of lateral extrusion between 22 and 12 Ma. The relative importance of tectonic denudation increases from W to E from ,70% in the Lepontine window in the Swiss Alps to ,80% in the Tauern window and to more than 95% in the Rechnitz window. The driving mechanism of tectonic denudation was eastward extrusion due to an unconstrained...

Background Endothelium-dependent, pertussis toxin-sensitive relaxation to 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT) is impaired selectively after balloon injury of porcine coronary artery, followed by regeneration of the endothelial cells. The present study was designed to test the hypothesis that 5-HT, released from aggregating platelets, affects the progression of the endothelial dysfunction. Methods and Re...

BACKGROUND Endothelium-dependent, pertussis toxin-sensitive relaxation to 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT) is impaired selectively after balloon injury of porcine coronary artery, followed by regeneration of the endothelial cells. The present study was designed to test the hypothesis that 5-HT, released from aggregating platelets, affects the progression of the endothelial dysfunction. METHODS AND ...

this study investigated the effect of different harvesting techniques on the recovery rate and quality of bovine cumulus oocyte complexes (cocs) and their subsequent developmental competence including in vitro maturation, fertilization and blastocyst formation. the cocs were retrieved from slaughter ovaries using aspiration, slicing, or aspiration followed by slicing. the cocs were examined mic...

BACKGROUND The role of vascular endothelium in the control of epicardial coronary artery vasomotion during treadmill exercise remains unclear. Therefore, we examined the consequences of in vivo balloon endothelial denudation on external coronary diameter of the left circumflex artery during exercise in conscious dogs. METHODS AND RESULTS Seven dogs instrumented for the measurement of arterial...