Clinical pregnancy is significantly associated with the blastocyst width and area: a time-lapse study.

In order to maintain pregnancy rates following single embryo transfer, optimisation of embryo culture and selection is vital. Time-lapse monitoring (TLM) has the potential to play a crucial role by providing sequential images of embryo development and minimal disturbance. Therefore, in this study morphometric assessment of blastocyst area and maximum width was performed in order to evaluate if these parameters are associated with pregnancy outcomes in IVF/ICSI cycles.

Blastocyst collapse as an embryo marker of low implantation potential: a time-lapse multicentre study.

Spontaneous blastocyst collapse during in vitro embryo development has been suggested as a novel marker of embryo quality. Therefore, the aim of this multicentre study was to carry out a retrospective multicentre analysis to investigate the correlation between blastocyst collapse and pregnancy outcome. Here, 1297 intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI)/in vitro fertilization (IVF) fresh cycles, with an elective single blastocyst transfer (eSET) were included in this study.

Increased pregnancy outcome after day 5 versus day 6 transfers of human vitrified-warmed blastocysts.

Vitrification is a highly efficient technique for the cryopreservation of the human embryo. The effect of delayed blastulation may be responsible for implantation failures and negatively affects in vitro fertilization (IVF) outcomes. The current literature displays discordant results; some studies have announced higher pregnancy rates after day 5 (D5) transfer compared with day 6 (D6) transfer, while others have shown equivalent outcomes.

Spontaneous blastocyst collapse as an embryo marker of low pregnancy outcome: A Time-Lapse study.

Objective: In this study we investigate the correlation between spontaneous blastocyst collapse and pregnancy outcome.

Methods: This is a retrospective study performed at Edinburgh Assisted Conception Programme, EFREC, Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh, UK. Embryos were cultured individually in 6.

Single blastocyst transfer (SET) and pregnancy outcome of day 5 and day 6 human blastocysts vitrified using a closed device.

This study investigates the utility of the Rapid-i closed device for vitrification of human blastocysts on day-5 (D5) and day-6 (D6) of development and the implantation and pregnancy rate following single blastocyst transfer (SBT) of warmed D5/D6 blastocysts. This retrospective cohort study was performed at Edinburgh Assisted Conception Programme, EFREC, Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh between January 2013 and January 2017. Good quality blastocysts were vitrified on D5 or D6 using Irvine Vitrification medium (Irvine Scientific-USA) and the Rapid-I closed Vitrification System™ (Vitrolife, Sweden).

DYRK3 dual-specificity kinase attenuates erythropoiesis during anemia.

During anemia erythropoiesis is bolstered by several factors including KIT ligand, oncostatin-M, glucocorticoids, and erythropoietin. Less is understood concerning factors that limit this process. Experiments performed using dual-specificity tyrosine-regulated kinase-3 (DYRK3) knock-out and transgenic mice reveal that erythropoiesis is attenuated selectively during anemia.

Verbal and visuospatial short-term and working memory in children: are they separable?

This study explored the structure of verbal and visuospatial short-term and working memory in children between ages 4 and 11 years. Multiple tasks measuring 4 different memory components were used to capture the cognitive processes underlying working memory. Confirmatory factor analyses indicated that the processing component of working memory tasks was supported by a common resource pool, while storage aspects depend on domain-specific verbal and visuospatial resources.

Generation of a human embryonic stem cell line encoding the cystic fibrosis mutation deltaF508, using preimplantation genetic diagnosis.

Human embryonic stem (hES) cells are pluripotent cells isolated from early human embryos. They can be grown in vitro and made to differentiate into many different cell types. These properties have suggested that they may be useful in cell replacement therapy for many degenerative diseases.

Investigation of chromosomal imbalance in human embryos using comparative genomic hybridization.

Studies of cleavage-stage human embryos using fluorescence in-situ hybridization (FISH) to identify sub-sets of chromosomes have indicated that the incidence of chromosomal abnormalities is high. Whole genome amplification (WGA) and comparative genomic hybridization (CGH) to investigate the full chromosome complement applied to a small number of human embryos suggested an even higher rate of abnormality. WGA and CGH were used to identify genomic imbalance in individual blastomeres from human embryos, and the results were correlated with FISH analysis of sibling blastomeres.

The structure of working memory from 4 to 15 years of age.

The structure of working memory and its development across the childhood years were investigated in children 4-15 years of age. The children were given multiple assessments of each component of the A. D.

Preimplantation genetic diagnosis as a novel source of embryos for stem cell research.

The generation of human embryonic stem (hES) cells has captured the public and professional imagination, largely due their potential as a means of overcoming many debilitating and degenerative diseases by cell replacement therapy. Despite this potential, few well-characterized hES cell lines have been derived. Indeed, in the UK, despite several centres having been active in this area for more than 2 years, there are as yet no published reports of human embryonic stem cells having been generated.

Deletion of the UT receptor gene results in the selective loss of urotensin-II contractile activity in aortae isolated from UT receptor knockout mice.

1 Urotensin-II (U-II) is among the most potent mammalian vasoconstrictors identified and may play a role in the aetiology of essential hypertension. Currently, only one mouse U-II receptor (UT) gene has been cloned. It is postulated that this protein is solely responsible for mediating U-II-induced vasoconstriction.

The development of visuo-spatial working memory.

Children's performance on tests of visuo-spatial working memory improves with age, although relatively little is known about why this happens. One explanation concerns the development of the ability to recode visually presented information into phonological form. This process appears to be used from around 8 years of age and is a major contributor to tasks in which stimuli can be verbally labelled.