Like babies, embryos like to be rocked, too

Rocking growing embryos during IVF (in vitro fertilisation) could improve pregnancy rates among women undergoing the procedure, and decrease its risks. Scientists at the University of Michigan, US, have built a device which mimics the movement felt by embryos on their way to the uterus. When they used this during IVF with mouse embryos, they found pregnancy rates were 22 per cent higher compared to those grown statically. The research was published online in the journal Human Reproduction and was funded by the National Institutes of Health, the US Department of Agriculture, the Michigan Economic Development Corporation, the US Army Research Laboratory and the Coulter Foundation.

'By making the cells feel more at home, we get better cells, which is key to having better infertility treatment', said Shu Takayama, an associate professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering and in macromolecular science and engineering. The rocking movement in the device is created by pulsing Braille pins, sitting underneath a thimble-sized funnel holding the embryos. The pins stimulate a flow of fluid through channels in the bottom of the funnel, copying the currents created by cilia - hair-like projections inside the body - and muscles. In the body these motions help to push fertilised eggs to the uterus and flush out waste products.

'One of our goals for years now has been to modify how we grow embryos in the lab to be more like how they grow in the human body, because we know that the human body grows them most efficiently', commented Gary Smith, co-author of the paper and associate professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering and in macromolecular science and engineering. Presently in IVF, eggs are fertilized with sperm and left to grow for several days in a culture dish that remains still.

If similar results are found in humans, it could lead to reduced multiple pregnancies from the IVF process, its biggest risk. Professor Smith emphasised: 'We're making healthier embryos, which not only can improve pregnancy rates, but also could allow us to transfer fewer embryos per cycle and reduce the incidence of twins and triplets'. In the UK, the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) is currently campaigning to reduce multiple births, and the government wants to cut them from one in four to one in ten in IVF by 2012. Trials on humans are already underway, through the company Professor Takayama and Professor Smith founded, Incept Biosystems.

In the US, IVF currently costs around $15,000 per cycle and is often not covered by insurance. It has a success rate of about 35 per cent. 'If we could increase that, even just to 45 per cent, that's significant', said Professor Smith.

Chemicals in old furniture can make it harder to get pregnant

Exposure to chemicals found in household objects such as furniture, carpets and electronic equipment increases the time taken to become pregnant, according to a study published online in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives. Professor Kim Harley and colleagues at the University of California, Berkeley (UCB) School of Public Health found that women with a higher blood concentration of polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs), which have been used as flame retardants since the 1970s, took 'significantly' longer to conceive. It is the first study in humans to examine the association between PBDEs and fertility.

The researchers interviewed 223 pregnant women living in a predominantly Mexican-immigrant, low-income community in northern California. They were asked how long it had taken for them to conceive and blood samples were collected. 'For every tenfold increase in PBDEs in the blood, we saw a 30 per cent to 50 per cent decrease in the odds of becoming pregnant in any given month,' said Professor Harley. The researchers controlled for other factors, such as pesticide exposure, which could potentially affect fertility.

PBDEs were commonly used in the US after the implementation of new fire safety standards four decades ago. Production of certain types of PBDE ceased in 2004, but the chemicals are still found in older products. Previous studies showed that 97 per cent of Americans have detectable levels of these chemicals in their blood, with Californians having higher than average levels due to strict flammability laws. Overall, the levels found in the new study were below the national average.

Household items are considered a major source of PDBE exposure. After leaching out, the chemicals can be inhaled with house dust and stored in the body's fat cells. The chemicals are also found in some foods, such as dairy products and high-fat meat. It is unclear how PDBEs may impair fertility, but one possibility is that they alter the level of the thyroid hormone, which is believed to play an important role in fertility. They have previously been associated with reproductive and hormonal defects in animals.

Industry spokesman John Kyte responded to the study by saying that the findings are limited to PBDEs no longer in use, the environmental levels of which are expected to decline over time. However, Professor Harley maintained that although several PDBEs are banned, exposure is likely to continue for many years. She also described the need for research into newer flame retardants: 'We know less about the health effects of these new chemicals than we do about PBDEs'. This is not the first time that chemicals found in household materials have been linked to reproductive problems. In January 2009 scientists found a link between perfluorinated chemicals (PFCs) and fertility, and in May last year household chemicals were reported to disrupt the sexual development of male fetuses.

Experts warn of rising infertility in developing countries

Infertility levels are rising faster in developing countries than in developed countries, warned experts speaking at the 'Updates in Infertility Treatment (UIT) 2010' conference in Seville, Spain, last week. The infertility treatment specialists called for assisted reproductive technologies (ARTs) to be made accessible to those in the poorest parts of the world, where infertility has the greatest consequences. They proposed a low-cost IVF (in vitro fertilisation) programme that could be made available for only Rs 15,000 per couple, a fraction of the cost of treatment in the US and Western Europe.

Infertility affects a far greater proportion of couples in developing countries than in developed nations. Estimates suggest that infertility is over three times higher in some developing regions, often as a result of inadequate healthcare, unsafe abortions or untreated infections of the reproductive organs. In many of these countries, infertility treatment is almost non-existent. Professor Basil Tarlatzis, President of the International Federation of Fertility Society (IFFS) and a human reproduction expert at Aristotle University, Greece, commented that the poorest countries fall far short of the optimum target of 1500 cycles of IVF per million population per year. Most fail to reach even one per cent of the target.

The consequences of infertility are also greatest in developing countries, and this is especially true for women. Professor Tarlatzis commented that 'womanhood is defined by motherhood in some regions so infertile women can be seen as 'cursed' and are deprived of all social status'. Infertile women can also face domestic violence, separation or a polygamous marriage. So infertility treatment could prove particularly beneficial to women in the developing world.

Professor Tarlatzis suggested a two-pronged attack to manage infertility, focusing on 'prevention of avoidable infertility and making available assisted reproduction techniques'. The prevention of avoidable infertility will require many social changes including improved sexual education, treatment of sexually transmitted diseases and the introduction of safe birthing and abortion practices. Increasing the availability of ARTs will require the provision of inexpensive fertility treatment.

A Task Force from the European Society for Human Reproduction and Embryology (ESHRE) is currently developing a framework for the provision of cheap infertility treatment in developing countries. Meanwhile the Low Cost IVF Foundation (LCIF) of Massanfo, Switzerland has funded three clinics located in the Sudan, Tanzania and South Africa to pilot their budget IVF treatment package. The LCIF has managed to cut the cost of IVF dramatically by using inexpensive equipment, simplifying procedures and customising services so that couples are given the minimum level of treatment for their specific condition.

Merck receives EU approval for new infertility drug

The European Commission has granted approval of ELONVA, a first-in-class drug manufactured by White House Station pharmaceutical company, Merck. ELONVA is used for controlled ovarian stimulation in women embarking on IVF (in vitro fertilisation) treatment for infertility. With this approval, Merck has marketing authorisation for the drug in all EU member states.

Approximately 15 per cent of couples are considered to be affected by infertility. This can be due to a number of causes such as blocked Fallopian tubes or sperm ducts. Several treatment options are now available which may enable the couple to have children, including IVF. In IVF, mature eggs are removed from 'follicles' in the female ovary and fertilised outside the body by the sperm. Viable embryos are then replaced in the uterus of the female after which pregnancy may result.

In order to increase the chances of a viable embryo being produced, multiple follicles are stimulated to mature at once in a process called superovulation. Typically the woman undergoes several injections of a hormone called 'follicle stimulating hormone' (FSH) on a daily basis. ELONVA has the same pharmacological properties to FSH, with the advantage that the stimulatory effects of ELONVA are maintained over an entire week post-injection; it is a first-in-class of sustained follicle stimulants (SFS). Consequently a single subcutaneous injection of the recommended dose of ELONVA may replace the first seven injections of any daily FSH preparation in a treatment cycle. After the first week of treatment, FSH is given on a daily basis until follicles are ready to be removed. In a trial of more than 1500 couples undergoing IVF, the pregnancy rates of those receiving ELONVA followed by FSH compared to women receiving only FSH were comparable.

'ELONVA will reduce the burden of injections for women experiencing difficulty conceiving, and the positive opinion is an important step toward a European approval,' said Mirjam Mol-Arts, senior vice president of Merck Research Laboratories, adding: 'ELONVA demonstrates Merck's commitment to providing effective patient-focused fertility treatments and extends the company's leadership in this therapy area'.

Britain's first iPhone baby due

The couple had tried for three years to conceive before they heard about the fertility app and downloaded it to her iPhone. The 30-year-old entered her body temperature daily and the app calculated when she would be most fertile.

A relative said: "She followed the advice and within two months she was expecting. We're all overjoyed." The mother-to-be does not want to be identified until after the baby has been born.

The relative said: "It's due any day. Every one's keeping their fingers crossed there are no complications. She's proud to say it will be an 'iPhone baby'. Without the app she might not have fallen pregnant."

Last week an iPhone application that claims to be able to tell parents what their baby's cries mean was launched.

The Cry Translator app, which costs INR 1600 is said by its designers to be 96 per cent accurate in interpreting cries of distress from babies.

The program uses the iPhone's microphone to receive the sound, analyzes it, and displays information about what it means on the screen.

Researchers led by Dr Antonio Portugal Ramírez, a Spanish paediatrician, developed the project after finding that babies' wails could be broken down into five separate categories.

They learned that all babies, regardless of the language they are exposed to at home, have the same distinctive cries to indicate whether they are hungry, annoyed, tired, stressed or bored.

Do It Yourself Binary

This film clip was really eye-opening and scary. I take 100+ flights a year & a regular flyer will s*^t bricks watching this!

Terminator 3

Field-Trip

The Town Devoured By Rock

Struck by a meteor? The 3,000-odd inhabitants of Setenil de las Bodegas, a city in Spain’s beautiful Andalucia region, seem to be stuck between a rock and a hard place. When they enter their houses, they see rock face; when they stroll through their city, they walk on rocks. Has the city been hit by a meteor and if not what caused its unusual construction?Setenil de las Bodegas, about 18 km away from Ronda in the province of Cadiz, has wedged itself between the cliffs eroded by the Rio Trejo river. The old houses especially are built under the cliff overhang and the newer ones against the hillside.
The name Setenil developed from the the Latin septem nihil – “seven times no” – which refers back to the period of the Christian reconquest, when Catholic kings tried to win back territory from the Moors, who had come from Africa and ruled the Iberian peninsula since 711. In Setenil’s case, only the seventh reconquest attempt was successful, in 1485, making the city one of the last bastions of the Moors until they were driven out of western Europe in 1492.
Regarding the second part of the name, “de las Bodegas,” at least two different stories circulate. According to one, Sentenil proudly added “de las Bodegas” to its name in the 15th century, because of the many vineyards that had sprung up. Sadly, vine pests ended this tradition in the 1860s.
According to another story, since the early 16th century, “bodegas” referred to Sentenil’s big storerooms under the rock that kept all kinds of produce cool even in the hottest of summers. Regardless of which version is true, fact is that even today, Setenil is famous for delicacies like chorizo, cerdo, olive oil, honey, jam and excellent Andalucian wine.
Other than being built into the rock, Setenil is also one of the typical White Villages of Andalucia; villages that try to stay as cool as possible in this hottest region of Spain by whitewashing their houses every year, as white reflects sunlight best.When looking at images like this, with a whole village literally living in the shadow of a huge rock, one wonders: Why, isn’t it depressing, especially in the winter?
The reason people choose to live here is pragmatism, more or less. The natural caves at Setenil proved perfect living quarters, it is believed since pre-historic times. Instead of having to build a whole house and insulating it against heat in the summer and cold in the winter, many rock caves just needed a façade and voila, there was a house in tune with nature!
Also, one shouldn’t forget that Setenil de las Bodegas is a city that is many centuries old and thus has seen its fair share of fighting. And which enemy would go for the city with rock solid defenses, literally, when the next town over has no such protection? After all, that’s why it took the Catholic kings seven attempts before they won Setenil back from the Moors…
Overall, a very minimally invasive building style. Rock on, Setenil!

Weather Warning

When you walk out the door in the morning and see this in the sky......




....just go back inside, have another cup of coffee, and stay home. It's NOT going to be a good day.

Study shows infertile men can be good IVF candidates

Men suffering from from non-obstructive azoospermia (NOA), meaning they have undetectable levels of sperm in their semen, which is not caused by an obstruction in their reproductive system, have long been considered poor candidates for IVF (in vitro fertilisation). However new research published in the online journal of Reproductive Biology and Endocrinology has reported that NOA sufferers could be just as capable of producing viable embryos as other men.

Approximately one per cent of the male population and 10 per cent of men seeking fertility evaluation have testicular failure. Previous research conducted by Belgian scientists reported lower pregnancy rates than normal (approximately 20 per cent) when using sperm from NOA patients. It has also been thought that sperm isolated from NOA patients, while able to produce embryos, is less capable of producing live births and that the incidence of genetic mutations may be higher resulting in congenitial deffects. However, new research contradicts this and gives hope that men with NOA can be just as likely to father a child.

Nina Desai and her team at the Cleveland Clinic Foundation analysed 156 ICSI (intracytoplasmic sperm injection) cycles which used sperm taken from the testes of 44 men suffering from obstructive azoospermia (OA) and 17 men diagnosed with NOA. For their study they assessed embryonic development, implantation, pregnancy and live birth rates. They found on all counts that there were no significant differences between the groups.

Desai and her team analysed the ability for the pateranl sperm to iniate genomic activation, this is when the genome of the embryo divides and begins to arrange itself. They way to morphologically measure this is to observe the degree of cell to cell aderence as the embryo cells divide, if there is genomic activation it is thought that by the eight-cell stage there will be an increase in cell-cell adherence. The anaysis found no differences between the sperm groups suggesting that the genome activation is independent of sperm origin and type of azoospermia. They also noted that there were no cogenital abnormalities in the 115 healthy births.

Key to long life is having two mothers but no father!

Mice produced in the laboratory from two biological mothers and without a father have been found to live significantly longer than normal mice bred from a mother and a father. These findings indicate that genetic traits inherited from the father but not the mother may play an important role in ageing and longevity.

Researchers from Saga University and Tokyo University of Agriculture, Japan, took DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) from eggs of one day-old mice and genetically modified it so that it would behave like sperm. They then used it to fertilise eggs from adult mice, thereby producing offspring with two mothers, dubbed bi-maternal mice. Control mice were bred that were genetically identical to the bi-maternal mice except that they had been conceived conventionally using genetic material from a sperm and an egg.

Professor Tomohiro Kono, who led the study, explained the researchers' goals: 'We have known for some time that women tend to live longer than men in almost all countries worldwide, and that these sex-related differences in longevity also occur in many other mammalian species... The study may give an answer to the fundamental questions: that is, whether longevity in mammals is controlled by the [genes] of only one or both parents, and just maybe, why women are at an advantage over men with regard to the lifespan.'

Reporting in the journal Human Reproduction, the researchers compared the lifespans of 13 bi-maternal mice with those of 13 control mice. On average, the bi-maternal mice lived for 841.5 days - 186 days longer than the control mice, which averaged 655.5 days. The researchers also found that the bi-maternal mice were significantly smaller and lighter than the control mice. There were also signs that the bi-maternal mice had better immune systems than the control mice, as they had higher numbers of eosinophils (a type of white blood cell that play an important role in protecting mammals against parasites and infections) in their blood.

The researchers believe that the effects they observed may result from a genetic process called 'imprinting' whereby the activity of a gene depends on whether it is inherited from the mother or the father. They suggest that a gene called Rasgrf1, found on chromosome 9, may be responsible for the increased lifespan and smaller weight of the bi-maternal mice.

Rasgrf1 is an imprinted gene that is always turned on when it is inherited from the father and always turned off when it is inherited from the mother. The bi-maternal mice had two inactive Rasgrf1 genes as they were both inherited from female mice instead of having the usual one active Rasgrf1 gene inherited from a father and one inactive Rasgrf1 gene inherited from a mother. However, Professor Kono emphasised: 'it's not clear whether Rasgrf1 is definitively associated with mouse longevity, but it is one of the strong candidates... we cannot eliminate the possibility that other, unknown genes that rely on their paternal inheritance to function normally may be responsible.'

Professor Kay-Tee Khaw, an expert in ageing at Cambridge University, commented to the BBC: 'These are interesting findings but I think any sex differences in longevity - which in humans have changed over time and differ in different environments - may have more complex explanations than any single gene'.

Full Body Scans 2010

Organized Crime

Finally, the true story....

If you have heard this one before then it is still worth a second read !!!

Some time ago, President Clinton was hosting a state dinner when, at the last minute, his regular cook fell ill, and they had to get a replacement on short notice.

The fellow arrived and turned out to be a very grubby-looking man named Jon. The President voiced his concerns to his Chief of Staff but was told that this was the best they could do on such short notice.

Just before the meal, the President noticed the cook sticking his finger in the soup to taste it and again complained to the Chief of Staff, but he was told that this man was supposed to be a very good chef. The meal went okay, but the President was sure that the soup tasted a little funny. By the time dessert came, he was starting to have stomach cramps and nausea.

It was getting worse and worse until finally the President had to excuse himself from the dinner to look for the bathroom. Passingthrough the kitchen, he caught sight of the cook, Jon, scratching his rear end, which made him feel even worse.

By now, the President was desperately ill with violent cramps and was so disorientated that he couldn't remember which door led to the bathroom. He was on the verge of passing out from the pain when he finally found a door that opened. As he unzipped his trousers and ran in, he realized to his horror that he had stumbled into the office of Ms.Monica Lewinsky with his trousers around his knees.

As he was just about to pass out, she bent over him and heard the President whisper in a barely audible voice, 'Sack my cook.'

And that is how the whole misunderstanding occurred...

Wives Will Be Wives

Texting & Driving

Quality Time with Kids in 2010

Lovebirds - On Sale

British scientists move closer to womb transplant

Doctors say the first successful womb transplant may be performed within two years. Research on rabbits has shown that it is possible to transplant a uterus and provide a reliable blood supply so that the organ lasts long enough to enable a pregnancy.

The research, led by Richard Smith, a consultant gynaecological surgeon at Hammersmith Hospital in London, UK, and involving teams in New York and Budapest, was presented this week at the American Society for Reproductive Medicine (ASRM) annual conference in Atlanta. Surgery performed on rabbits at the Royal Veterinary College in London led to five rabbits receiving a successful womb transplant which included connecting major blood vessels and the aorta but they did not achieve pregnancy naturally. Two of the rabbits lived to ten months and post-mortem examinations proved the transplants to be a success.

It is reported that around 15,000 women of childbearing age are without a womb in the UK. Some of whom are born without one or have been required to have it removed because of cancer. For these women the only option at present to have children is either through adoption or surrogacy. It is estimated that up to 200 women use surrogate mothers every year. If womb transplants can in the future be successfully applied to humans then this would provide women with a viable alternative.

A human womb transplant has already been performed in Saudi Arabia on a 26 year old woman in 2000 but failed after the organ, taken from a live donor, was rejected and needed to be removed after three months. Smith thinks that the organ was rejected because of difficulties in ensuring adequate blood supply which resulted in a clot developing. The difficulty is that the womb needs to be functioning in the woman for the duration of a pregnancy, during which the recipient would be required to take immuno-suppressant drugs to reduce the risk of rejection. The womb would then be removed.

'I think there are certain technical issues to be ironed out but I think the crux of how to carry out a successful graft that's properly vascularised - I think we have cracked that one,' Smith told the conference. The technology still needs to be translated into a safe and effective method to be used in humans, and the team are yet to attempt to create a successful pregnancy in rabbits through IVF.

Tony Rutherford, chairman of the British Fertility Society, commented, 'I think there is a big difference between demonstrating effectiveness in a rabbit and being able to do this in a larger animal or a human...'. There are also ethical issues which will need to be addressed. Clare Lewis-Jones, from Infertility Network UK, said 'a great deal of thought and discussion' was needed before the research was applied to humans.

The team plans to use the technique on larger animals but the project is running out of money after research grants were rejected. To continue the research, a charity called the Uterine Transplant UK will be set up to help obtain the necessary funding of £250,000. The Times newspaper reports that surgeons in New York have already been given the go ahead to perform a human trial after demonstrating a uterus can be preserved long enough for surgery to be carried out.

Mayawati Behenji's Face Book Page

Beer Ever After

Stem cell hope for healing premature babies' lungs

Stem cells could be used in the future to repair the lungs of premature babies, according to the lead researcher on a study on newborn rats. Dr Bernard Thébaud from the University of Alberta, Canada, and his team studied the lungs of newborn rats given oxygen to simulate premature birth before being treated with bone marrow-derived stem cells. They showed for the first time that the stem cells repaired the rats' lungs and prevented further damage.

Two weeks after the newborn rats had the stem cells injected into their airways, they could run twice as far and had better survival rates than their untreated peers, according to the research team, whose paper was published in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine.

'The really exciting thing that we discovered was that stem cells are like little factories, pumping out healing factors,' says Dr Thébaud, who divides his time between the University of Alberta's Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry and at the Stollery Children's Hospital's Neonatal Intensive Care Unit in Edmonton, Canada. He added: 'That healing liquid seems to boost the power of the healthy lung cells and helps them to repair the lungs'.

Baby rat lungs are similar to those of a 24-week premature human baby. Many premature babies have underdeveloped lungs and around half of babies born before 28 weeks develop chronic lung disease, according to a report in the Canadian Broadcasting Centre.

'The dilemma we face with these tiny babies is a serious one. When they are born too early, they simply cannot breathe on their own. To save the babies' lives, we put them on a ventilator and give them oxygen, leaving many of them with chronic lung disease,' said Dr Thébaud, adding: 'Before the next decade is out I want to put a stop to this devastating disease'.

The team is studying whether using stem cells as a lung therapy poses a risk of cancer. They are examining rats' lungs and organs three months and six months after treatment. The scientists are also examining whether human cord blood is a better lung disease treatment than bone marrow stem cells. 'We are also studying closely the healing liquid produced by the stem cells', explained Dr Thébaud. 'If that liquid can be used on its own to grow and repair the lungs, that might make the injection of stem cells unnecessary', he added.

The research has been welcomed by others in the field. 'I want to congratulate Dr. Thébaud and his team. This research offers real hope for a new treatment for babies with chronic lung disease', said Dr Roberta Ballard, Professor of Pediatrics at University of California, US. 'In a few short years, I anticipate we will be able to take these findings and begin clinical trials with premature babies', she explained.

Farcus Again

Sunday Specials

Liu Bolin ~ The Invisible Man

This guy paints himself, no kidding.

He uses no trick photography.

He just paints himself.

Pictures 2 & 3 are amazing!

Just Wal-Mart People - 2