BACKGROUND Controlled-rate freezing of ovarian cortical tissue for preservation of fertility among young women facing chemo- or radio-therapy is a widely accepted procedure. To improve the method for ...cryopreservation of ovarian tissue, particularly the stroma, we carried out a systematic comparison of vitrification versus slow programmed freezing. METHODS Ovarian tissue from 20 women, donated during Caesarean section, was used for parallel comparison of survival and detailed light and electron microscopic (EM) morphology of oocytes, granulosa cells and ovarian stroma after freezing (slow freezing and vitrification), thawing and 24-h culture. Using tissue obtained from the same patient, we compared four cryopreservation protocols and fresh tissue. The cryoprotectants used in slow freezing were 1,2-propanediol (PrOH)-sucrose and ethylene glycol (EG)-sucrose. For vitrification, tissues were incubated for 5 or 10 min in three solutions containing a combination of dimethyl sulphoxide (DMSO), PrOH, EG and polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP). RESULTS Cryopreservation using controlled-rate freezing and vitrification preserved the morphological characteristics of ovarian tissue generally well. As revealed by morphological analysis, particularly EM, the ovarian stroma was significantly better preserved after vitrification than after slow freezing (P < 0.001). The follicles were similarly preserved after all freezing methods. CONCLUSIONS Vitrification using a combination of PrOH, EG, DMSO and PVP was comparable to slow freezing in terms of preserving follicles in human ovarian tissue. Ovarian stroma had significantly better morphological integrity after vitrification than after controlled-rate freezing.
Physics at the e+e- linear collider Moortgat-Pick, G.; Baer, H.; Battaglia, M. ...
The European physical journal. C, Particles and fields,
08/2015, Volume:
75, Issue:
8
Journal Article
Peer reviewed
Open access
A comprehensive review of physics at an
e
+
e
-
linear collider in the energy range of
s
=
92
GeV–3 TeV is presented in view of recent and expected LHC results, experiments from low-energy as well ...as astroparticle physics. The report focusses in particular on Higgs-boson, top-quark and electroweak precision physics, but also discusses several models of beyond the standard model physics such as supersymmetry, little Higgs models and extra gauge bosons. The connection to cosmology has been analysed as well.
Abstract Prediction of assisted reproduction treatment outcome has been the focus of clinical research for many years, with a variety of prognostic models describing the probability of an ongoing ...pregnancy or a live birth. This study assessed whether serum anti-Müllerian hormone (AMH) concentrations may be incorporated into a model to enhance the prediction of a live birth in women undergoing their first IVF cycle, by analysing a database containing clinical and laboratory information on IVF cycles carried out between 2005 and 2008 at the Mother–Infant Department of University Hospital, Modena. Logistic regression was used to examine the association of live birth with baseline patient characteristics. Only AMH and age were demonstrated in regression analysis to predict live birth, so a model solely based on these two criteria was generated. The model permitted the identification of live birth with a sensitivity of 79.2% and a specificity of only 44.2%. In the prediction of a live birth following IVF, a distinction, however moderate, can be made between couples with a good and a poor prognosis. The success of IVF was found to mainly depend on maternal age and serum AMH concentrations, one of the most relevant and valuable markers of ovarian reserve. The prediction of assisted reproduction treatment outcome has been the focus of clinical research for many years, with a variety of prognostic models describing the probability of an ongoing pregnancy or a live birth. The present study assessed whether serum anti-Müllerian hormone (AMH) concentrations may be incorporated into a prediction model to enhance the prediction of a live birth in women undergoing their first IVF. Statistical analysis was used to examine the association of live birth with baseline patient characteristics, in particular age, AMH, body mass index, and type, duration and aetiology of infertility. Given that only AMH and age were demonstrated to predict live birth, a model solely based on these two criteria was generated. At the best cut-off, the model permitted the identification of live birth with a sensitivity of 79.2% and specificity of 44.2%. The present study demonstrates that in the prediction of a live birth following IVF a distinction, however moderate, can be made between couples with a good and a poor prognosis. The success of IVF was found to mainly depend on maternal age and serum AMH concentrations, one of the most relevant and valuable markers of ovarian reserve.
BACKGROUND: Recently, a new marker, the anti-Müllerian hormone (AMH), has been evaluated as a marker of ovarian response. Serum AMH levels have been measured at frequent time-points during the ...menstrual cycle, suggesting the complete absence of fluctuation. The aim of this study was to evaluate whether serum AMH measurement on any day of the menstrual cycle could predict ovarian response in women undergoing assisted reproductive technology (ART). METHODS: This study included 48 women attending the IVF/ICSI programme. Blood withdrawal for AMH measurement was performed in all the patients independently of the day of the menstrual cycle. RESULTS: Women in the lowest AMH quartile (<0.4 ng/ml) were older and required a higher dose of recombinant FSH than women in the highest quartile (>7 ng/ml). All the cancelled cycles due to absent response were in the group of the lowest AMH quartile, whereas the cancelled cycles due to risk of ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome (OHSS) were in the group of the highest AMH quartile. This study demonstrated a strong correlation between serum AMH levels and ovarian response to gonadotrophin stimulation. CONCLUSION: For the first time, clinicians may have a reliable serum marker of ovarian response that can be measured independently of the day of the menstrual cycle.
The LHC has started operation and provided roughly
60
nb
−
1
of 7 TeV proton-proton collisions in the period March–June 2010. These data have been used to understand the performance of the ATLAS ...experiment, and in particular, of the tau trigger system. The tau trigger is a key element in the discovery of new physics, where tau lepton final states play a crucial role. It allows efficient collection of the physics signal, while keeping the rate of background events within the allowed bandwidth. During 2010 it has been commissioned in various stages. At first, the hardware-based first level trigger (L1) was used to select interesting high
p
T
physics samples. During this period the High Level Trigger (HLT) was running online, but not rejecting any events. This stage has allowed for a detailed study of the HLT performance before activation. At a later time, when the luminosity was high enough that the rejection offered by the L1 trigger alone was not sufficient without compromising the collection of interesting physics events, the active selection at the HLT was turned on.
This contribution will summarize the status of the tau trigger system at the different stages of data taking, emphasizing the key elements of the online selection and their performance. Methods for obtaining trigger efficiency curves from data will be shown and first results presented. The strategy for ensuring measurements of Standard Model and new physics will be outlined, in light of the recent real data results.
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