The toxicity of QD has been extensively studied over the past decade. However, the potential toxicity of QDs impedes its use for clinical research. In this work, we established a preantral follicle in vitro culture system to investigate the effects of QD-Transferrin (QDs-Tf) bioconjugates on follicle development and oocyte maturation. The preantral follicles were cultured and exposed to CdTe/Zn...

ERK-type MAP kinase activity is required for normal first meiotic (MI) metaphase spindle dynamics and first polar body formation at the MI/MII transition, and for MII arrest until egg activation. MEK and MAPK, however, remain active until meiosis is completed and pronuclei form, but whether MEK/MAPK activity affects MII spindle function during egg activation has been unknown. Polarized light mi...

The extent to which the morphology of the oocyte at the light microscopy level is related to the results of intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) is controversial. In this study, after cumulus removal, oocytes were graded into four groups according to the status of the first polar body, size of the perivitelline space and the presence of cytoplasmic inclusions. Oocyte data from 65 consecutive...

Rates of reproduction and survival are dependent upon adequate body size and condition of individuals. Declines in size and condition have provided early indicators of population decline in polar bears (Ursus maritimus) near the southern extreme of their range. We tested whether patterns in body size, condition, and cub recruitment of polar bears in the southern Beaufort Sea of Alaska were rela...

OBJECTIVE To determine the extent of intra-age and intercycle variations in the frequency of first polar body aneuploidy in two consecutive cycles of oocyte retrieval undertaken by the same patient within 1 year. DESIGN Retrospective study. SETTING Fertility centers. PATIENT(S) Infertile couples undergoing IVF. INTERVENTION(S) Patients underwent two consecutive cycles of preimplantation...

In this article we consider the affinely-rigid body moving in the three-dimensional physical space and subject to the Kirchhoff–Love constraints, i.e., while it deforms homogeneously in the two-dimensional central plane of the body it simultaneously performs one-dimensional oscillations orthogonal to this central plane. For the polar decomposition we obtain the stationary ellipsoids as special ...

Using the fluorescent dye Calcium Green-dextran, we measured intracellular Ca2+ in oocytes of the ascidian Ciona intestinalis at fertilization and during progression through meiosis. The relative fluorescence intensity increased shortly after insemination in a single transient, the activation peak, and this was followed by several smaller oscillations that lasted for approximately 5 minutes (ph...

When metaphase II-arrested mouse oocytes (M II) are activated very soon after ovulation, they respond abortively by second polar body extrusion followed by another metaphase arrest (metaphase III, M III; Kubiak, 1989). The M II/M III transition resembles the natural transition between the first and second meiotic metaphases (M I/M II). We observed that a similar sequence of events takes place d...

Elderberry (Sambucus nigra L.) lipophilic and polar extract dietary supplementation effects were evaluated according to diabetes management indices, using an in vivo model. A research pipeline was constructed, that ranged from extract preparation, partial chemical characterization and toxicity evaluation, to examining the elderberry extract dietary supplementation effects on biofluid and tissue...