BACKGROUND Advances in embryo culture technology and cryopreservation have led to a shift in in vitro fertilization (IVF) from early fresh or frozen-thawed cleavage embryo transfer to fresh or frozen-thawed blastocyst stage transfer. OBJECTIVE To compare the clinical outcomes of fresh embryo transfers and frozen-thawed embryo transfers. MATERIALS AND METHODS In this retrospective case contr...

BACKGROUND The main reason for adverse treatment outcome in assisted reproduction is the high rate of multiple pregnancies. The only strategy to avoid dizygotic twins is to transfer one embryo at a time. METHODS A total of 144 women, who had had at least four good quality embryos available after IVF/intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) and who had no more than one previous failed treatment...

Oocyte maturation and embryo development are controlled by intra-ovarian factors such as steroid hormones. Progesterone (P4) exists in the follicular fluid that contributes to normal mammalian ovarian function and has several critical functions during embryo development and implantation, including endometrial receptivity, embryonic survival during gestation and transformation of the endometrial...

Proper seed development requires coordinated growth among the three genetically distinct components, the embryo, the endosperm, and the seed coat. In Arabidopsis, embryo growth rate accelerates after endosperm cellularization, which requires a chromatin-remodeling complex, the FIS2-Polycomb Repressive Complex 2 (PRC2). After cellularization, the endosperm ceases to grow and is eventually absorb...

The aim of the study was to determine the level of awareness and acceptance of in vitro fertilization pre-embryo transfer (IVF-ET) patients for freeze-all embryo transfer, improve relevant technical specifications, and optimize treatment results based on medical experience.Questionnaires were completed by women who received in vitro fertilization embryo transfer. A total of 377 valid samples we...

The female gametophyte of flowering plants, the embryo sac, develops within the diploid (sporophytic) tissue of the ovule. While embryo sac-expressed genes are known to be required at multiple stages of the fertilization process, the set of embryo sac-expressed genes has remained poorly defined. In particular, the set of genes responsible for mediating intracellular communication between the em...

BACKGROUND The use of ultrasound-guided embryo transfer has been reported to affect success rates in some centres but not others. In a prospective study, we examined the influence of ultrasound guidance in embryo transfer performed on different days after oocyte retrieval. METHODS Two different methods of embryo transfer were evaluated in 1069 consecutive transfers. The ultrasound-guided embr...