Should biodiversity and nature have to earn their keep? What it really means to bring environmental goods into the marketplace.

Pursuit of economic gain has sponsored much of our planet's despoliation. Yet conservation increasingly operates as an economic sector that markets biodiversity, ecosystems, and nature as natural capital, service provider, or option value. This essay first elucidates what basic moral theory says about the principle that the goodness of biodiversity and nature is largely economic.

Selection of first in vitro fertilization cycle stimulation protocol for good prognosis patients: gonadotropin releasing hormone antagonist versus agonist protocols.

Objective: The objective of this study was to compare outcome parameters in patients anticipated to have a good response to stimulation based upon baseline characteristics using either a gonadotropin releasing hormone (GnRH) agonist or antagonist protocol in their first in vitro fertilization (IVF) cycle.

Study Design: A retrospective chart review of all first-time IVF cycles performed during the time period 2005 through 2007 in an academic teaching center. Patients <40 years of age with a normal baseline follicle stimulating hormone (<10 mIU/mL) and normal antral follicle counts (> or = 3 in each ovary) were included.

Gonadotropin-releasing hormone agonist to induce final oocyte maturation prevents the development of ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome in high-risk patients and leads to improved clinical outcomes compared with coasting.

Ninety-four women undergoing IVF with peak E2 level>4000 pg/mL received leuprolide acetate (LA) trigger (LA trigger group) or had gonadotropins withheld for one or more days (coasting group) followed by hCG trigger, unless cycle cancellation occurred. There were no cases of ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome in either group, and the LA trigger group had significantly more oocytes retrieved (26.9+/-9.

Predictive value of embryo grading for embryos with known outcomes.

Objective: To compare pronuclear morphology (Z-score), day 3 embryo grade, and day 3 cell number in the prediction of successful implantation rates (IRs), including cycles in which all or none of the embryos implanted.

Design: Retrospective analysis.

Setting: University-based IVF center.

Transfer of two versus three embryos in women less than 40 years old undergoing frozen transfer cycles.

Objective: To compare outcomes of frozen embryo transfer (FET) cycles when two or three embryos were transferred in women aged <40 years.

Design: Retrospective chart review.

Setting: A university-affiliated IVF program.

Maturation, fertilization, and the structure and function of the endoplasmic reticulum in cryopreserved mouse oocytes.

Oocyte cryopreservation is a promising technology that could benefit women undergoing assisted reproduction. Most studies examining the effects of cryopreservation on fertilization and developmental competence have been done using metaphase II-stage oocytes, while fewer studies have focused on freezing oocytes at the germinal vesicle (GV) stage, followed by in vitro maturation. Herein, we examined the effects of vitrifying GV-stage mouse oocytes on cytoplasmic structure and on the ability to undergo cytoplasmic changes necessary for proper fertilization and early embryonic development.

Comparison of luteal estradiol patch and gonadotropin-releasing hormone antagonist suppression protocol before gonadotropin stimulation versus microdose gonadotropin-releasing hormone agonist protocol for patients with a history of poor in vitro fertilization outcomes.

Objective: To compare IVF outcomes in poor-responder patients undergoing stimulation after luteal phase E(2) patch/GnRH antagonist (LPG) protocol versus microdose GnRH agonist protocol.

Design: Retrospective analysis.

Setting: University-based IVF center.

Prevention of recurrent adnexal torsion.

Objective: To report a case of adnexal torsion after in vitro fertilization (IVF) with two subsequent episodes of contralateral adnexal torsion and a novel approach for reducing the risk of recurrence.

Design: Case report.

Setting: University-based IVF program.

Ruptured ectopic pregnancy with contralateral adnexal torsion after spontaneous conception.

Objective: To describe a case of ruptured ectopic pregnancy and contralateral adnexal torsion after spontaneous conception.

Design: Case report.

Setting: Tertiary university medical center.

Meiotic arrest in human oocytes is maintained by a Gs signaling pathway.

In mammalian oocytes, the maintenance of meiotic prophase I arrest prior to the surge of LH that stimulates meiotic maturation depends on a high level of cAMP within the oocyte. In mouse and rat, the cAMP is generated in the oocyte, and this requires the activity of a constitutively active, Gs-linked receptor, GPR3 or GPR12, respectively. To examine if human oocyte meiotic arrest depends on a similar pathway, we used RT-PCR and Western blotting to look at whether human oocytes express the same components for maintaining arrest as rodent oocytes.

The effect of luteal phase vaginal estradiol supplementation on the success of in vitro fertilization treatment: a prospective randomized study.

Objective: To determine whether the use of luteal phase vaginal E(2) supplementation improves clinical pregnancy rates in patients undergoing IVF treatment.

Design: Prospective randomized controlled trial.

Setting: University-based tertiary fertility center.

The use of gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) agonist to induce oocyte maturation after cotreatment with GnRH antagonist in high-risk patients undergoing in vitro fertilization prevents the risk of ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome: a prospective randomized controlled study.

Objective: To determine whether there are any differences in the incidence of ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome (OHSS) and implantation rates in high-risk patients undergoing IVF using a protocol consisting of GnRH agonist trigger after cotreatment with GnRH antagonist or hCG trigger after dual pituitary suppression protocol.

Design: Prospective randomized controlled trial.

Setting: University-based tertiary fertility center.

The Stanford Microarray Database: implementation of new analysis tools and open source release of software.

The Stanford Microarray Database (SMD; http://smd.stanford.edu/) is a research tool and archive that allows hundreds of researchers worldwide to store, annotate, analyze and share data generated by microarray technology.

A simple spreadsheet-based, MIAME-supportive format for microarray data: MAGE-TAB.

Background: Sharing of microarray data within the research community has been greatly facilitated by the development of the disclosure and communication standards MIAME and MAGE-ML by the MGED Society. However, the complexity of the MAGE-ML format has made its use impractical for laboratories lacking dedicated bioinformatics support.

Results: We propose a simple tab-delimited, spreadsheet-based format, MAGE-TAB, which will become a part of the MAGE microarray data standard and can be used for annotating and communicating microarray data in a MIAME compliant fashion.

Impact of leuprolide acetate on luteal phase function in women undergoing controlled ovarian hyperstimulation and intrauterine insemination.

Objective: To determine if the combination of leuprolide acetate (LA) and human menopausal gonadotropin (hMG) results in luteal phase dysfunction.

Design: A prospective, randomized clinical trial.

Setting: A tertiary care university fertility center.

Influence of embryo quality and number of previous cycles on pregnancy and multiple pregnancy rates in women aged 35 to 37 years who received two or three embryos.

Women aged 35-37 years undergoing IVF-ET with fresh embryos at a university infertility center were analyzed to evaluate factors useful in determining whether two or three embryos should be transferred in this age group. Embryo quality and number, but not number of previous failed cycles, were important in determining outcome, and all triplet pregnancies could have been avoided at our program in this age group by limiting the transfer to two good-quality embryos, without reducing pregnancy rates.

Outcome of in vitro fertilization treatment in patients who electively inseminate a limited number of oocytes to avoid creating surplus human embryos for cryopreservation.

Objective: To determine whether the outcome of IVF treatment in patients who electively inseminate a limited number of oocytes is comparable to that in a group of good-prognostic or poor-prognostic patients.

Design: Retrospective clinical study.

Setting: University-based tertiary fertility center.

A randomized prospective study of microdose leuprolide versus ganirelix in in vitro fertilization cycles for poor responders.

Forty-eight patients who met the criteria of poor response during prior gonadotropin stimulation were enrolled in a randomized prospective study comparing a gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) antagonist protocol, using ganirelix acetate, with a microdose GnRH agonist protocol for in vitro fertilization-embryo transfer (IVF-ET). This pilot study contributes to the literature of poor response IVF treatment protocols because the use of ganirelix appears to be as effective as the microdose protocol and may be a superior choice in terms of cost and convenience for the patient.

Obstetrical complications in gestational carrier pregnancies.

Objective: To report two cases of severe obstetrical complications in gestational carrier pregnancies and to review our clinical experience and compare our results with those reported in the literature.

Design: Retrospective analysis.

Setting: A university IVF program.

An unusual anatomic variation of a unicornuate uterus with normal external uterine morphology.

Objective: To describe a case of a unicornuate uterus with a normal external uterine morphology.

Design: Case report.

Setting: University-based fertility center.

Reducing the dose of human chorionic gonadotropin in high responders does not affect the outcomes of in vitro fertilization.

Objective: The lowest effective hCG dose in high responders during IVF-embryo transfer (ET) has not been established. This study was performed to confirm that a dose of 3,300 IU is sufficient to provide adequate oocyte maturation and fertilization.

Design: Retrospective review of IVF clinical data.

Septate uterus with cervical duplication: a full-term delivery after resection of a vaginal septum.

We report a full-term delivery after resection of a longitudinal vaginal septum in a patient with a septate uterus and cervical duplication.