Revision of the Hylaea fasciaria (Linnaeus, 1758) species group in the western Palaearctic (Lepidoptera: Geometridae, Ennominae).

The Palaearctic Hylaea fasciaria (Linnaeus, 1758) species group is revised (Lepidoptera: Geometridae, Ennominae). Four taxa are considered valid at species level: H. fasciaria (Linnaeus, 1758), H.

Ultrastructure of human mature oocytes after slow cooling cryopreservation with ethylene glycol.

The morphological characteristics of frozen-thawed human mature oocytes (n = 12) were studied by light and transmission electron microscopy following cryopreservation using a slow cooling protocol including increasing concentrations of ethylene glycol (0.5-1.5 mol/l) and sucrose 0.

Vaginal gel versus intramuscular progesterone for luteal phase supplementation: a prospective randomized trial.

The aim of this randomized study was to compare the efficacy of intramuscular progesterone (IMP) and progesterone in vaginal gel (VGP) at two different doses for luteal support in IVF. A total of 412 patients, aged between 28 and 37 years, were randomized into three groups. The day after oocyte retrieval each patient began supplementation with one of the following: IMP 50 mg daily (150 patients), VGP 90 mg once daily (143 patients), or VPG 90 mg twice daily (148 patients).

Permeability of human oocytes to ethylene glycol and their survival and spindle configurations after slow cooling cryopreservation.

Background: To develop novel cryopreservation methods, we estimated the permeability coefficients Lp (hydraulic conductivity) and P(EG) (cryoprotectant permeability) of mature human oocytes after exposure to ethylene glycol (EG) and tested the efficiency of a multi-step slow cooling protocol based on this cryoprotectant.

Methods: Oocytes were perfused with 1.5 mol/l EG for 10 min.

Clinical relevance of sperm DNA damage in assisted reproduction.

Many studies have shown how a 'paternal effect' can cause repeated assisted reproduction failures. In particular, with increasing experience of intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI), it became evident that spermatozoa from some patients repeatedly fail to form viable embryos, although they can fertilize the oocyte and trigger early preimplantation development. Many authors have shown how this paternal effect can be traced back to anomalies in sperm chromatin organization: the spermatozoa of subfertile men are characterized by numerical abnormalities in spermatozoal chromosome content, Y chromosome microdeletions, alterations in the epigenetic regulation of paternal genome and non-specific DNA strand breaks.