ABSTRACT
Survival of IVF-derived bovine embryos of different ages and stages of development, produced in 2 different co-culture systems and frozen in 2 different cryoprotectants, was investigated. In vitro-derived bovine embryos (n = 5,525) were utilized to study survival following exposure to cryoprotectants and after freezing. Survival of the frozen embryos was based on blastocyst re-expansion 24 h and hatching 72 h after thawing. There was no difference in survival when embryos were exposed to either glycerol (Gly) or ethylene glycol (EG) for 10 or 40 min with the cryoprotectant diluted with or without freezing. In 2 of 3 experiments in which a comparison was possible, more blastocysts frozen in 1.4 M glycerol than in 1.5 M ethylene glycol survived. Addition of 0.25 M sucrose to 1.5 M ethylene glycol in the freezing solution did not improve embryo survival. More blastocysts frozen on Day 7 of in vitro culture survived than those frozen on Day 6 or Day 8. On Days 6, 7 and 8, embryos in the most advanced stage of development survived better than those at less advanced stages. Post-thaw survival did not differ for embryos produced in co-culture with Buffalo Rat Liver (BRL) cells with either Menezo B2 Medium or Tissue Culture Medium 199 and frozen in 1.4 M glycerol.
ABSTRACT
One hundred pseudophakic patients (aged 62.1 +/- 10.8 years) were examined for glare sensitivity and contrast vision, using the Mesoptometer II, 15.8 +/- 9.8 months after implantation of monofocal intraocular lenses. The patients were tested in order to determine whether they met the requirements of the German Ophthalmological Society (DOG) for the granting of a driver's license. The patients were divided into three groups: (1) pseudophakic bilaterally (n = 50), (2) pseudophakic in one eye with phakic contralateral eye (n = 25), and (3) pseudophakic in one eye with cataract in contralateral eye (n = 25). There were no differences between the groups in corrected distance acuity (ANOVA, P = 0.17). Fifty-two percent of the patients did not fulfill the requirements of the DOG (group 1 50%, group 2 24%, group 3 84%). In groups 1 and 2 the binocular results for glare sensitivity and contrast vision were significantly better than the monocular results (P < 0.001). In group 3, however, there was no difference between binocular and monocular results (P > 0.3). In 20% of patients in this group the binocular results were worse than the monocular results. Results for both contrast vision and glare sensitivity were significantly related to age. Overall, this population of pseudophakic patients were 40-50% less suited to night driving than were healthy volunteers with normal eyes.
