A newly released study conducted by SustainLane Government concludes that Oakland, California, generates the highest percentage of renewable energy out of all U.S. cities, producing 5 percent more energy than any other city surveyed.
"Results in Oakland are built on the substantial foundation of renewable energy created by California's Renewable Portfolio Standard."
-- Scott Wentworth, City of Oakland, Energy Engineer
Leading the nation with 17 percent of its electricity produced by sources such as solar, wind and geothermal, most renewable energy generation in the city comes from commercial and residential photovoltaic (PV) systems.
According to City of Oakland Energy Engineer Scott Wentworth, the city is undertaking many important projects including: working with San Francisco State University, Marin County, and the City and County of San Francisco to create tools for assessing solar potential of commercial and residential properties; conducting wave and tidal power studies in collaboration with the Electric Power Research Institute and other California cities; and outfitting new municipal buildings to accommodate solar systems -- even if the resources are not available to install the system immediately.
Oakland has strongly supported solar energy and encouraged citizens to do the same, said Wentworth.
"We are excited that SustainLane Governments figures show that we are achieving positive results. The results that are happening in Oakland are derived from increasingly effective collaboration between government agencies, utilities, for-profit businesses and non-governmental organizations," he said.
Wentworth noted that Oakland works with other California cities like San Francisco and Marin to learn from one another and develop stronger renewable energy and energy efficiency programs. San Francisco, Sacramento and San Jose all tied for second place with 12 percent of their energy coming from renewable energy sources.
|
Percentage of Power from Renewable Energy |
|
1 |
Oakland, CA |
17% |
|
2 |
Sacramento/San Francisco/San Jose, CA |
12% |
|
3 |
Portland, OR |
10% |
|
4 |
Boston, MA |
8.6% |
|
5 |
San Diego, CA |
8% |
|
6 |
Austin, TX |
6% |
|
7 |
Los Angeles, CA |
5% |
|
8 |
Minneapolis, MN |
5% |
|
9 |
Seattle, WA |
3.5% |
|
10 |
Chicago, Il |
3% |
|
Source: SustainLane U.S. City Rankings data 2006/2007 |
"The San Francisco Bay Area is one of several places in the nation where there is a very active and very constructive dialogue about renewable energy, backed up by a public and private will to invest in real projects," Wentworth added.
In 2004, SustainLane Government reports, more than one-third of greenhouse gases produced in the U.S. came from electricity production, making it a leading polluter in areas such as transportation (27.9 percent), industry (19.6 percent), and agriculture (7 percent).
The more renewable energy a city generates, the better equipped it will be for costly environmental regulations in the future. For example, if the greenhouse gases that cause climate change get taxed, cities with strong renewable energy programs could save a lot of money and their economies could gain a tax advantage. That puts Oakland and other top cities in a good position when such regulations arise.
Another economic benefit of implementing renewable energy technologies is the creation of regional jobs. As cities generate more power locally, many more direct and indirect jobs will spawn as a result. Domestic energy production also limits the importation of energy from other nations, reducing security risks.
Four of the top five cities in the report are located in California. California cities rank higher in general because of the state's Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS), which set minimal requirements in 2002 for utility purchases of renewable energy for the state's electric grid. The RPS requires a 20 percent renewable energy total for the state's utilities by 2020.
"Results in Oakland are built on the substantial foundation of renewable energy created by California's Renewable Portfolio Standard," said Wentworth.
In addition to state portfolio standards, some U.S. cities have set goals for increasing renewable energy, ranging from Chicago's 20 percent goal by 2010, to Portland, Oregon's goal of obtaining 100 percent renewable energy by 2010.
Other cities, such as Austin, Texas, and Portland, Oregon have leading residential and business green choice programs as part of city-owned utility service offerings. As communities worry about the economic and environmental impacts of climate change, many cities and towns are implementing their own renewable energy programs instead of waiting for the federal government to act.
Philippine Council for Agriculture, Forestry and Natural Resources Research and Development (PCARRD)
Philippine Council for Health Research and Development (PCHRD)
Philippine Council for Industry and Energy Research and Development (PCIERD)
National Academy of Science and Technology (NAST)
National Research Council of the Philippines (NRCP)
The Top 10 Green-Tech Breakthroughs of 2008
Green technology was hot in 2008. Barack Obama won the presidential election promising green jobs to Rust Belt workers. Investors poured $5 billion into the sector just through the first nine months of the year. And even Texas oilmen like T. Boone Pickens started pushing alternative energy as a replacement for fossil fuels like petroleum, coal and natural gas.
But there's trouble on the horizon. The economy is hovering somewhere between catatonic and hebephrenic, and funding for the big plans that green tech companies laid in 2008 might be a lot harder to come by in 2009. Recessions haven't always been the best times for environmentally friendly technologies as consumers and corporations cut discretionary spending on ethical premiums.
Still, green technology and its attendant infrastructure are probably the best bet to drag the American economy out of the doldrums. So, with the optimism endemic to the Silicon Valley region, we present you with the Top 10 Green Tech Breakthroughs of 2008, alternatively titled, The Great Green Hope.
10. THE ISLAND OF THE SOLAR
With money flowing like milk and honey in the land of solar technology, all sorts of schemers and dreamers came streaming into the area. One Swiss researcher, Thomas Hinderling, wants to build solar islands several miles across that he claims can produce hundreds of megawatts of relatively inexpensive power. Though most clean tech advocates question the workability of the scheme, earlier this year, Hinderling's company Centre Suisse d'Electronique et de Microtechnique received $5 million from the Ras al Khaimah emirate of the United Arab Emirates to start construction on a prototype facility, shown above, in that country. (Image: Centre Suisse d'Electronique et de Microtechnique)
9. NEW MATERIALS CAGE CARBON
Carbon capture and sequestration has a seductively simple appeal: We generate carbon dioxide emissions by burning geology — coal and oil — so to fix the problem, we should simply capture it and inject it back into the ground.
It turns out, however, that it's not quite so simple. Aside from finding the right kind of empty spaces in the earth's crust and the risks that the CO2 might leak, the biggest problem with the scheme is finding a material that could selectively snatch the molecule out of the hot mess of gases going up the flues of fossil fuel plants.
That's where two classes of special cage-like molecules come into play, ZIFs and amines. This year, Omar Yaghi, a chemist at UCLA, announced a slough of new CO2-capturing ZIFs and Chris Jones, a chemical engineer at Georgia Tech, reported that he'd made a new amine that seems particularly well-suited to working under real-world condition. Both materials could eventually make capturing CO2 easier -- and therefore, more cost effective.
Perhaps better still, Yaghi's lab's technique also defined a new process for quickly creating new ZIFs with the properties that scientists — and coal-plant operators — want. Some of their crystals are shown in the image above. (Image: Omar Yaghi and Rahul Banerjee/UCLA)
8. GREEN TECH LEGISLATION GETS REAL
On the federal and state levels, several historic actions put the teeth into green tech bills passed over the last few years. A review committee of the EPA effectively froze coal plant construction, a boon to alternative energy (though earlier this month the EPA ignored the committee's ruling and it is unclear how the issue will be settled). In California, the state unveiled and approved its plan to regulate carbon dioxide emissions, which could be a model for a nationwide system. Combined with the green-energy tax credits in the $700-billion bailout bill, the government did more for green tech in 2008 than in whole decades in the past.
7. THE CATALYST THAT COULD ENABLE SOLAR
In July, MIT chemist Daniel Nocera announced that he'd created a catalyst that could drop the cost of extracting the hydrogen and oxygen from water.
Combined with cheap photovoltaic solar panels (like Nanosolar's), the system could lead to inexpensive, simple systems that use water to store the energy from sunlight. In the process, the scientists may have cleared the major roadblock on the long road to fossil fuel independence: Reducing the on-again, off-again nature of many renewable power sources.
"You've made your house into a fuel station," Daniel Nocera, a chemistry professor at MIT told Wired.com. "I've gotten rid of all the goddamn grids."
The catalyst enables the electrolysis system to function efficiently at room temperature and at ordinary pressure. Like a reverse fuel cell, it splits water into oxygen and hydrogen. By recombining the molecules with a standard fuel cell, the O2 and H2 could then be used to generate energy on demand.
6. PICKENS PLAN PUSHES POWER PLAYS INTO AMERICAN MAINSTREAM
Texas oilman T. Boone Pickens might be a lot of things, but environmentalist he is not. That's why his support for a nationwide network of wind farms generated so much excitement. While his solution for transportation, natural gas vehicles, may not pan out, his Pickens Plan is the most visible alternative energy plan out there and it began to channel support from outside coastal cities for finding new sources of energy.
Of course, no one said Pickens is stupid. If his plan was adopted and major investments in transmission infrastructure were made, his wind energy investments would stand to benefit.
5. SOLAR THERMAL PLANTS RETURN TO THE DESERTS
When most people think of harnessing the sun's power, they imagine a solar photovoltatic panel, which directly converts light from the sun into electricity. But an older technology emerged as a leading city-scale power technology in 2008: solar thermal. Companies like Ausra, BrightSource, eSolar, Solel, and a host of others are using sunlight-reflecting mirrors to turn liquids into steam, which can drive a turbine in the same way that coal-fired power plants make electricity.
Two companies, BrightSource and Ausra, debuted their pilot plants. They mark the first serious solar thermal experimentation in the United States since the 1980s. BrightSource's Israeli demo plant is shown above. (Image: BrightSource)
4. OBAMA PICKS A GREEN TECH EXPERT TO HEAD DOE
President-elect Barack Obama ran on the promise of green jobs and an economic stimulus package that would provide support for scientific innovation. Then, Obama picked Steven Chu, a Nobel-prize winning physicist, to head the Department of Energy. Chu had been focused on turning Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory into an alternative-energy powerhouse. The green tech community rejoiced that one of their own would be in the White House.
That's because green tech is going to need some help. With the world economy falling into recession, the price of oil has dropped, even though there are serious concerns about the long-term oil supply. When energy prices drop, clean tech investments don't seem quite as attractive, and the renascent industry could be in trouble. It's happened before, after all.
Back in the '70s, geopolitical events sent the price of oil soaring, which, as it tends to, created a boom in green tech. But the early 1980s saw the worst recession since the Depression. Sound familiar? In the poor economic climate, focus and funds were shifted away from green tech. The last nail in the coffin was the election of Ronald Reagan, who immediately pulled off the solar panels Jimmy Carter had placed on the White House. The green tech industry collapsed.
History has given U.S. alternative energy research a second chance and environmental advocates hope that a different president will lead to a very different result. (Image: DOE)
3. SOLAR CELL PRODUCTION GETS BIG, GIGA(WATT)BIG
Every clean tech advocate's dream is a power-generating technology that could compete head-to-head with coal, the cheapest fossil fuel, on price alone. Nanosolar, one of a new generation of companies building solar panels out of cheap plastics, could be the first company to get there. Early this year, the company officially opened its one-gigawatt production facility, which is many times the size of most previous solar facilities.
Nanosolar, in other words, has found a process that can scale: it works as well in production as it does in the lab. That's the main reason that the company has picked up half-a-billion dollars in funding from investors like MDV's Erik Straser.
"[It's the] first time in industry a single tool with a 1GW throughput," Straser wrote in an e-mail. "It's a key part of how the company is achieving grid parity with coal."
2. PROJECT BETTER PLACE FINDS HOMES
Green technologies are dime a dozen, but a business model that could allow an entirely new, green infrastructure to be built is a rare thing.
Doing just that is the centerpiece of
Sun Microsystems'SAP veteran Shai Agassi's vision for Project Better Place, a scheme that would distribute charging and swappable battery stations throughout smallish geographies like Israel, Hawaii and San Francisco. So far, there's very little steel in the ground, but in early December, the company's first charging location opened in Tel Aviv, Israel. Agassi's plan is one of several projects — like new biofuels rail terminals — that could create fundamentally new energy ecosystems.Some of these systems, however, are actually throwbacks to earlier eras. As Peter Shulman, a historian of technology at Case Western Reserve University, likes to remind his students: in the early 20th century, before the Model T, one-third of all cars were electric. (Image: Joe Puglies/WIRED)
1. CALERA'S GREEN CEMENT DEMO PLANT OPENS
Cement? With all the whiz bang technologies in green technology, cement seems like an odd pick for our top clean technology of the year. But here's the reason: making cement — and many other materials — takes a lot of heat and that heat comes from fossil fuels.
Calera's technology, like that of many green chemistry companies, works more like Jell-O setting. By employing catalysis instead of heat, it reduces the energy cost per ton of cement. And in this process, CO2 is an input, not an output. So, instead of producing a ton of carbon dioxide per ton of cement made — as is the case with old-school Portland cement — half a ton of carbon dioxide can be sequestered.
With more than 2.3 billion tons of cement produced each year, reversing the carbon-balance of the world's cement would be a solution that's the scale of the world's climate change problem.
In August, the company opened its first demonstration site next to Dynegy's Moss Landing power plant in California, pictured here.
Netbook
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
A netbook (a portmanteau of Internet and notebook) is a class of laptop computer designed for wireless communication and access to the Internet.[1]
Primarily designed for web browsing and e-mailing, netbooks rely heavily on the Internet for remote access to web-based applications"[2] and are targeted increasingly at cloud computing users who require a less powerful client computer.[3] Netbooks typically run either Linux or Windows XP operating systems[2] rather than more resource-intensive operating systems like Windows Vista.[4] The devices range in size from below 5 inches[5] to over 13,[6] typically weigh 2 to 3 pounds (~1 kg) and are often significantly cheaper than general purpose laptops.[2]
History
The roots of the netbook can be traced to Psion's discontinued netBook line, the One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) project and the Palm Foleo which were all small, light network-enabled computers,[7][8][9] however the influx of netbooks began in 2007 when Asus unveiled the ASUS Eee PC. Originally designed for emerging markets, the 8.9 × 6.5 in (23 x 17 cm) device weighed about two pounds and featured a 7-inch display, a keyboard approximately 85% the size of a normal keyboard, and a custom version of Linux with a simplified user interface geared towards netbook use.[8] Following the EeePC, Everex launched its CloudBook, MSI released the Wind, Dell and HP both released a "Mini" series (the Inspiron Mini and HP Mini), and others soon followed suit. Windows XP based models were also introduced.[8]
By late 2008, netbooks had begun to take market share away from laptops.[10] It is estimated that almost thirty times more netbooks were sold in 2008 (11.4 million, 70% of which were in Europe[11]) than in 2007 (400,000).[12] For 2009 sales are expected to jump to 35 million, rising to an estimated 139 million in 2013.[13] This trend is reinforced by the rise of web-based applications as well as mobile networking and, according to Wired Magazine, netbooks are evolving into "super-portable laptops for professionals".[14]
Trends
At the start of 2009, models based on ARM[15][16] and PowerPC[17] architectures were released, indicating a shift away from Intel processors like the Atom (though some hybrid models contain both Intel and alternative architectures[18]). Models using a MIPS System-on-a-chip (SoC) architecture also appeared around the same time, resulting in very low-cost systems.[19]
As modern versions of Windows require x86-family microprocessors, it will not run on these netbooks.[20] Linux, however, has fully supported non-x86 architectures such as MIPS, ARM, and PowerPC for many years.
Trademarks
In 1996 Psion started applying for trademarks for a line of netBook products that was later released in 1999[21]. International trademarks were issued (including U.S. Trademark 75,215,401 and Community Trade Mark 000428250) but the models failed to gain popularity[22] and are now discontinued (except for providing accessories, maintenance and support to existing users)[23]. Similar marks were recently rejected by the USPTO citing a "likelihood of confusion" under section 2(d)[24][25][26].
Despite expert analysis that the mark is "probably generic"[27], Psion Teklogix issued cease and desist letters on 23 December 2008[28][29][30]. This was heavily criticised[31][32][33], prompting the formation of the "Save the Netbooks" grassroots campaign which worked to reverse the Google AdWords ban, cancel the trademark and encourage continued generic use of the term[34]. While preparing a "Petition for Cancellation" of U.S. Trademark 75,215,401 they revealed[35] that Dell had submitted one the day before[36] on the basis of abandonment, genericness and fraud[37]. They later revealed Psion's counter-suit against Intel, filed on 27 February 2009[38].
It was also revealed around the same time that Intel had also sued Psion Teklogix (US & Canada) and Psion (UK) in the Federal Court on similar grounds[39]. In addition to seeking cancellation of the trademark, Intel sought an order enjoining Psion from asserting any trademark rights in the term "netbook", a declarative judgement regarding their use of the term, attorneys' fees, costs and disbursements and "such other and further relief as the Court deems just and proper"[40].
Some trademark experts argue that the petition will be upheld[41][27], in which case Psion's trademarks will be "vulnerable to cancellation across the globe"[42].
Technology
Hardware
Users typically rely on online applications and services which do not require powerful hardware on the local computer.[43] While specifications and features of netbooks continue to evolve (for example with the introduction of 12-inch screens and ARM processors), one report at the end of 2008 suggested the typical netbook featured a 3-lb (1.4 kg) weight, a 9-inch (23 cm) screen, wireless Internet connectivity, Linux or Windows XP, an Intel chip, and a cost of less than US$400.[44]
Netbooks may also forego hard[45] and optical disc drives, instead using solid-state storage devices such as internal solid-state hard drives and SD cards for their small size and weight, robustness, and durability. Software must be downloaded or read from a storage peripheral on machines with no optical drive. All netbooks on the market today support Wi-Fi wireless networking and many can be used on mobile telephone networks with data capability. Mobile data plans are supplied under contract in the same way as mobile telephony[46].
Software
Windows
Over 90% of netbooks employ Windows XP[47]. Microsoft claim that they "will have high market share on netbooks" at around $35 in licenses per device[48]. Microsoft has extended the availability of Windows XP for ultra-low cost personal computers from June 2008 until June 2010,[49] possibly to keep netbooks from gaining market share at the expense of desktops and "value" laptops[50] and to avoid increased use of Linux installations on netbooks.[51] Microsoft is also testing[52] and has demonstrated[53] a 'Starter' edition of Windows 7 for this class of devices which is limited to three running applications.[54][55]
Windows CE has also been used in netbook applications, due to its reduced feature design, that keeps with the design philosophy of netbooks. [56]
Microsoft will only allow XP to be installed by the manufacturer on netbooks with no more than 1 GB of RAM, requiring Windows Vista otherwise. It is permissible for a user to purchase and install a copy of Windows XP although the older operating system may not support newer hardware, and could be difficult or impossible to install.[citation needed]
Linux
Customised Linux distributions are estimated to ship on about 10% of netbooks,[57] making it the second most popular operating system after Windows.
Google's Linux-based Android operating system, designed for mobile telephone handsets, has been demonstrated on an Asus Eee PC and its kernel contains policies for mobile internet devices including the original Asus Eee PC 701.[58] Asus has allocated engineers to develop an Android-based netbook.[59] Freescale have also announced plans for a low-cost ARM-based netbook design, running Android.[60]
Mac OS X
Mac OS X has been demonstrated running on various netbooks using Hackintosh,[61] although this may be in violation of the operating system's End User License Agreement.[62] Apple have complained to sites hosting information on how to install OS X onto non-Apple hardware (including Wired and YouTube) who have redacted and removed content in response.[63] Although Apple have previously taken legal action regarding such installations (see Psystar), a February 2009 federal court ruling may result in the eventual removal of this restriction.[64]
Others
Netbooks have been demonstrated running other operating systems including FreeBSD, OpenBSD and Darwin.[citation needed]
Gallery
ASUS Eee PC 700
HP 2133 Mini-Note PC
MSI Wind
Acer Aspire One
Dell Inspiron Mini 9
Zelybron Micro Nina
In vitro fertilisation
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
In vitro fertilisation (IVF) is a process by which egg cells are fertilised by sperm outside of the womb, in vitro. IVF is a major treatment in infertility when other methods of assisted reproductive technology have failed. The process involves hormonally controlling the ovulatory process, removing ova (eggs) from the woman's ovaries and letting sperm fertilise them in a fluid medium. The fertilised egg (zygote) is then transferred to the patient's uterus with the intent to establish a successful pregnancy. The first test tube baby, Louise Brown, was born in 1978.
The term in vitro, from the Latin root meaning within the glass, is used, because early biological experiments involving cultivation of tissues outside the living organism from which they came, were carried out in glass containers such as beakers, test tubes, or petri dishes. Today, the term in vitro is used to refer to any biological procedure that is performed outside the organism it would normally be occurring in, to distinguish it from an in vivo procedure, where the tissue remains inside the living organism within which it is normally found. A colloquial term for babies conceived as the result of IVF, test tube babies, refers to the tube-shaped containers of glass or plastic resin, called test tubes, that are commonly used in chemistry labs and biology labs. However, in vitro fertilisation is usually performed in the shallower containers called Petri dishes. (Petri-dishes may also be made of plastic resins.) However, the IVF method of Autologous Endometrial Coculture is actually performed on organic material, but is yet called in vitro. This is used when parents are having infertility problems or they want to have multiple births.
Indications
Initially IVF was developed to overcome infertility due to problems of the fallopian tube, but it turned out that it was successful in many other infertility situations as well. The introduction of intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) addresses the problem of male infertility to a large extent.
For IVF to be successful it may be easier to say that it requires healthy ova, sperm that can fertilise, and a uterus that can maintain a pregnancy. Due to the costs of the procedure, IVF is generally attempted only after less expensive options have failed.
This means that IVF can be used for females who have already gone through menopause. The donated oocyte can be fertilised in a crucible. If the fertilisation is successful, the zygote will be transferred into the uterus, within which it will develop into an embryo.
Method
Ovarian stimulation
Treatment cycles are typically started on the third day of menstruation and consist of a regimen of fertility medications to stimulate the development of multiple follicles of the ovaries. In most patients injectable gonadotropins (usually FSH analogues) are used under close monitoring. Such monitoring frequently checks the estradiol level and, by means of gynecologic ultrasonography, follicular growth. Typically approximately 10 days of injections will be necessary. Spontanenous ovulation during the cycle is typically prevented by the use of GnRH agonists or GnRH antagonists, which block the natural surge of luteinising hormone (LH).
Egg retrieval
When follicular maturation is judged to be adequate, human chorionic gonadotropin (β-hCG) is given. This agent, which acts as an analogue of luteinising hormone, would cause ovulation about 42 hours after injection, but a retrieval procedure takes place just prior to that, in order to recover the egg cells from the ovary. The eggs are retrieved from the patient using a transvaginal technique involving an ultrasound-guided needle piercing the vaginal wall to reach the ovaries. Through this needle follicles can be aspirated, and the follicular fluid is handed to the IVF laboratory to identify ova. It is common to remove between ten and thirty eggs. The retrieval procedure takes about 20 minutes and is usually done under conscious sedation or general anesthesia.
Fertilisation
In the laboratory, the identified eggs are stripped of surrounding cells and prepared for fertilisation. In the meantime, semen is prepared for fertilisation by removing inactive cells and seminal fluid. If semen is being provided by a sperm donor, it will usually have been prepared for treatment before being frozen and quarantined, and it will be thawed ready for use. The sperm and the egg are incubated together (at a ratio of about 75,000:1) in the culture media for about 18 hours. In most cases, the egg will be fertilised by that time and the fertilised egg will show two pronuclei. In certain situations, such as low sperm count or motility, a single sperm may be injected directly into the egg using intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI). The fertilised egg is passed to a special growth medium and left for about 48 hours until the egg has reached the 6-8 cell stage.
Selection
Laboratories have developed grading methods to judge oocyte and embryo quality. Typically, embryos that have reached the 6-8 cell stage are transferred three days after retrieval. In many American and Australian programmes[citation needed], however, embryos are placed into an extended culture system with a transfer done at the blastocyst stage at around five days after retrieval, especially if many good-quality embryos are still available on day 3. Blastocyst stage transfers have been shown to result in higher pregnancy rates.[1] In Europe, transfers after 2 days are common.
Embryo transfer
Embryos are graded by the embryologist based on the number of cells, evenness of growth and degree of fragmentation. The number to be transferred depends on the number available, the age of the woman and other health and diagnostic factors. In countries such as the UK, Australia and New Zealand, a maximum of two embryos are transferred except in unusual circumstances. In the UK and according to HFEA regulations, a woman over 40 may have up to three embryos transferred, whereas in the USA, younger women may have many embryos transferred based on individual fertility diagnosis. Most clinics and country regulatory bodies seek to minimise the risk of pregnancies carrying multiples. The embryos judged to be the "best" are transferred to the patient's uterus through a thin, plastic catheter, which goes through her vagina and cervix. Several embryos may be passed into the uterus to improve chances of implantation and pregnancy.
Pregnancy rates
Pregnancy rate is the success rate for pregnancy. For IVF, it is the percentage of all attempts that lead to pregnancy, with attempts generally referring to menstrual cycles where eggs are retrieved and fertilised in vitro.
With enhanced technology, the pregnancy rates are substantially better today than a couple of years ago. In 2006, Canadian clinics reported an average pregnancy rate of 35%.[2]
Effect of stress
According to a 2005 Swedish study published in the Oxford Journal Human Reproduction, 166 women were monitored starting one month before their IVF cycles and the results showed no significant correlation between psychological stress and their IVF outcomes. The study concluded with the recommendation to clinics that it might be possible to reduce the stress experienced by IVF patients during the treatment procedure by informing them of those findings. While psychological stress experienced during a cycle might not influence an IVF outcome, it is possible that the experience of IVF can result in stress that leads to depression. The financial consequences alone of IVF can influence anxiety and become overwhelming. However, for many couples, the alternative is infertility, and the experience of infertility itself can also cause extreme stress and depression.
Live birth rate
Live birth rate is the percentage of all IVF cycles that lead to live birth, and is the pregnancy rate adjusted for miscarriage.
In 2006, Canadian clinics reported a live birth rate of 27%.[2] In 2007 Australian clinics recorded that the live birth rate was 84%, [3]
Complications
The major complication of IVF is the risk of multiple births. This is directly related to the practice of transferring multiple embryos at embryo transfer. Multiple births are related to increased risk of pregnancy loss, obstetrical complications, prematurity, and neonatal morbidity with the potential for long term damage. Strict limits on the number of embryos that may be transferred have been enacted in some countries (e.g., England) to reduce the risk of high-order multiples (triplets or more), but are not universally followed or accepted. Spontaneous splitting of embryos in the womb after transfer can occur, but this is rare and would lead to identical twins. A double blind, randomised study followed IVF pregnancies that resulted in 73 infants (33 boys and 40 girls) and reported that 8.7% of singleton infants and 54.2% of twins had a birth weight of < 2500 g.[4] However recent evidence suggest that singleton offspring after IVF is at higher risk for lower birth weight for unknown reasons.
Another risk of ovarian stimulation is the development of ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome.
If the underlying infertility is related to abnormalities in spermatogenesis, it is plausible, but too early to examine that male offspring is at higher risk for sperm abnormalities.
Birth defects
The issue of birth defects has been a controversial topic in IVF. Many studies do not show a significant increase after use of IVF, and some studies suggest higher rates for ICSI, whereas others do not support this finding.[5] In 2008, an analysis of the data of the National Birth Defects Study in the US found that certain birth defects were significantly more common in infants conceived with IVF, notably septal heart defects, cleft lip with or without cleft palate, esophageal atresia, and anorectal atresia; the mechanism of causality is unclear.[6]
Japan's government prohibited the use of in vitro fertilisation procedures for couples in which both partners are infected with HIV. Despite the fact that the ethics committees previously allowed the Ogikubo Hospital, located in Tokyo, to use in vitro fertilisation for couples with HIV, the Health, Labour and Welfare Ministry of Japan decided to block the practice. Hideji Hanabusa, the vice president of the Ogikubo Hospital, states that together with his colleagues, he managed to develop a method through which scientists are able to remove the AIDS virus from sperm.[7]
Cryopreservation
Embryo cryopreservation
The first pregnancy derived from a frozen human embryo was reported by Allan Trounson & Linda Mohr in 1983 (although the pregnancy aborted spontaneously at about 20 weeks of gestation); the first term pregnancies derived from frozen human embryos were reported by Zeilmaker et al. and the first human baby hatched via a rate frozen freezing process was born in 1984. Since then and up to 2008 it is estimated that between 350,000 and half a million IVF babies have been born from embryos controlled rate frozen and then stored in liquid nitrogen; additionally a few hundred births have been born from vitrified oocytes but firm figures are hard to come by.
On the safety of embryo cryopreservation, a 2008 study reported at the European Society for Human Reproduction and Embryology discovered that children born from frozen embryos did “better and had a higher birth weight” than children born from a fresh transfer. The study was conducted out of Copenhagen and evaluated babies born during the years 1995–2006. 1267 children born after Frozen Embryo Replacement (FER), via controlled-rate freezers and storage in liquid nitrogen, were studied and categorised into three groups. 878 of them were born using frozen embryos that were created using standard in vitro fertilisation in which the sperm were placed into a dish close to the egg but had to penetrate the egg on their own. 310 children were born with frozen embryos created using ICSI in which a single sperm was injected into a single egg, and 79 were born where the method of creation of the embryos was not known.
17,857 babies born after a normal IVF/ICSI with fresh embryos were also studied and used as a control group or reference group. Data on all of the children’s outcomes were taken regarding birth defects, birth weights, and length of pregnancy. The results of the study showed that the children who came from frozen embryos had higher birth weights, gave longer pregnancies and produced fewer “pre-term” births. There was no difference in the rate of birth defects whether the children came from frozen embryos or fresh embryos. In the FER group, the birth defect rate was 7.7% compared to the fresh transfer group which was slightly higher at 8.8%. The scientists also found that the risk for multiple pregnancies was increased in the fresh embryo transfers.
Around 11.7% of the ICSI and 14.2% of the IVF frozen cases were multiple pregnancies. In the case of fresh embryos, 24.8% of the ICSI and 27.3% of the IVF were multiple pregnancies. It should also be noted that maternal age was significantly higher in the FER group. This is significant since based on age one would have expected a higher rate of problems and birth defects. The study adds to the body of knowledge suggesting that traditional embryo freezing is a safe procedure. It was unclear however why the frozen embryo children did better than their fresh embryo counterparts
If multiple embryos are generated, patients may choose to freeze embryos that are not transferred. Those embryos are slow frozen and then placed in liquid nitrogen and can be preserved for a long time. There are currently 500,000 frozen embryos in the United States.[8] The advantage is that patients who fail to conceive may become pregnant using such embryos without having to go through a full IVF cycle. Or, if pregnancy occurred, they could return later for another pregnancy. Spare embryos resulting from fertility treatments may be donated to another woman or couple, and embryos may be created, frozen and stored specifically for transfer and donation by using donor eggs and sperm.
Oocyte cryopreservation
Cryopreservation of unfertilised mature oocytes has been successfully accomplished, e.g. in women who are likely to lose their ovarian reserve due to undergoing chemotherapy.[9] It should be note that the rate of thaw leading to successful pregnancies is still very low.
Ovarian tissue cryopreservation
Cryopreservation of ovarian tissue is of interest to women who want to preserve their reproductive function beyond the natural limit, or whose reproductive potential is threatened by cancer therapy. Research on this issue is promising.
Variations
There are several variations or improvements of IVF:
Embryo & Oocyte Donation
The first transfer of an embryo from one human to another resulting in pregnancy was reported in July 1983 and subsequently led to the announcement of the first human birth February 3, 1984.[10] It was accomplished by in vivo fertilisation, a process that was derived from animal husbandry. This procedure was performed at the Harbor UCLA Medical Center [11] under the direction of Dr.John Buster and the University of California at Los Angeles School of Medicine.
In the procedure, an embryo that was just beginning to develop was transferred from one woman in whom it had been conceived by artificial insemination to another woman who gave birth to the infant 38 weeks later. The sperm used in the artificial insemination came from the husband of the woman who bore the baby.[12][13]
Donor embryo transfer has given women a mechanism to become pregnant and give birth to a child that will contain their husband’s genetic makeup. Although donor embryo transfer as practiced today has evolved from the original non-surgical method, it now accounts for approximately 5% of in vitro fertilization recorded births.
Prior to this, women who were infertile, had adoption as the only path to parenthood. This set the stage to allow open and candid discussion of embryo donation and transfer. This breakthrough has given way to the donation of human embryos as a common practice similar to other donations such as blood and major organ donations. At the time of this announcement the event was captured by major news carriers and fueled healthy debate and discussion on this practice which impacted the future of reproductive medicine by creating a platform for further advancements in woman's health.
This work established the technical foundation and legal-ethical framework surrounding the clinical use of human oocyte and embryo donation, now a mainstream clinical practice that has evolved over the past 25 years.[12][14] Since the initial birth announcement in 1984, well over 47,000 live births resulting from donor embryo transfer have been and continue to be recorded by the Centers for Disease Control(CDC)[15] in the United States.[16][17]
Acupuncture
An increasing number of fertility specialists and centers offer acupuncture as a part of their IVF protocol. Limited but supportive evidence from clinical trials and case series suggests that acupuncture may improve the success rate of IVF and the quality of life of patients undergoing IVF and that it is a safe adjunct therapy.[18] A systematic review and meta-analysis published in the British Medical Journal found that complementing the embryo transfer process with acupuncture was associated with significant and clinically relevant improvements in clinical pregnancy (where the expected number of patients needed to be treated to produce 1 additional pregnancy was 10), ongoing pregnancy (NNT 9), and live birth (NNT 9).[19]
Acupuncture Mechanisms
Four mechanisms by which it has been suggested that acupuncture may improve IVF outcomes are[18]
Electro-acupuncture in oocyte retrieval for IVF
Electro-acupuncture has been found to be less successful than conventional medical analgesia at reducing pain during oocyte retrieval for IVF, although it results in shorter hospitalisation times and lower costs.[20]
History
John Rock was the first to extract an intact fertilised egg.[21]
The first pregnancy achieved through in vitro human fertilisation of a human oocyte was reported in The Lancet from the Monash team in 1973, although it lasted only a few days and would today be called a biochemical pregnancy. This was followed by a tubal ectopic pregnancy from Steptoe and Edwards in 1976, resulting from the successful partnership with Bob Edwards, which resulted in the birth of Louise Brown on 25 July 1978, followed by Courtney Cross on 16 October 1978 and Alastair MacDonald on 14 January 1979, the world’s first, second and third IVF babies. This was followed by the birth of Candice Reed in Melbourne in 1980. It was the subsequent use of stimulated cycles with clomiphene citrate and the use of human chorionic gonadotrophin (hCG) to control and time oocyte maturation, thus controlling the time of collection, that converted IVF from a research tool to a clinical treatment.
This was followed by a total of 14 pregnancies resulting in nine births in 1981 with the Monash university team. The Jones team[22] at the Eastern Virginia Medical School in Norfolk, Virginia, further improved stimulated cycles by incorporating the use of a follicle-stimulating hormone (uHMG). This then became known as controlled ovarian hyperstimulation (COH). Another step forward was the use of gonadotrophin-releasing hormone agonists (GnRHA), thus decreasing the need for monitoring by preventing premature ovulation, and more recently gonadotrophin-releasing hormone antagonists (GnRH Ant), which have a similar function. The additional use of the oral contraceptive pill has allowed the scheduling of IVF cycles, which has made the treatment far more convenient for both staff and patients.
The ability to freeze and subsequently thaw and transfer embryos has also significantly improved the effectiveness of IVF. The other very significant milestone in IVF was the development of the intracytoplasmic sperm injection of single sperms by Andre van Steirtegham in Brussels, 1992. This has enabled men with minimal sperm production to achieve pregnancies, sometimes in conjunction with sperm recovery, using a testicular fine needle or open testicular biopsy, with some men with Klinefelter's syndrome occasionally achieving pregnancy. Thus, IVF has become the final solution for most fertility problems, moving from tubal disease to male factor, idiopathic subfertility, endometriosis, advanced maternal age, and anovulation not responding to ovulation induction.
Ethics
Issues
In a few cases, laboratory mix-ups (misidentified gametes, transfer of wrong embryos) have occurred, leading to legal action against the IVF provider and complex paternity suits. An example is the case of a woman in California who received the embryo of another couple and was notified of this mistake after the birth of her son.[23]
Another concern is that people will screen in or out for particular traits, using preimplantation genetic diagnosis. For example, a deaf English couple, Tom and Paula Lichy, have petitioned to create a deaf baby using IVF.[24] Some medical ethicists have been very critical of this approach. Jacob Appel wrote that "intentionally culling out blind or deaf embryos might prevent considerable future suffering, while a policy that allowed deaf or blind parents to select for such traits intentionally would be far more troublesome."[25]
Pregnancy past menopause
Although menopause is a natural barrier to further conception, IVF has allowed women to be pregnant in their fifties and sixties. Women whose uterus has been appropriately prepared receive embryos that originated from an egg of an egg donor. Therefore, although these women do not have a genetic link with the child, they have an emotional link through pregnancy and childbirth. In many cases the genetic father of the child is the woman's partner. Even after menopause the uterus is fully capable of carrying out a pregnancy.[26]
Same-sex couples
A recent controversy in California focused on the question of whether physicians opposed to same-sex relationships should be required to perform IVF for a lesbian couple. Guadalupe T. Benitez, a medical assistant from San Diego, sued doctors Christine Brody and Douglas Fenton of the North Coast Women's Care Medical Group after Brody told her that she had "religious-based objections to treating homosexuals to help them conceive children by artificial insemination," and Fenton refused to authorise a refill of her prescription for the fertility drug Clomid on the same grounds.[27][28] The case, North Coast Women's Care Medical Group v. Superior Court, was decided in favor of Benitez on August 19, 2008.[29]
Religious objections
The Roman Catholic Church opposes all kinds of in vitro fertilisation because, as with contraception, it separates the procreative purpose of the marriage act from its unitive purpose:
According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church,
The Catholic Church advocates that infertility is a call from God to adopt children because
Also, embryos are sometimes discarded in the in vitro fertilisation process, resulting in their death. Catholics and many people of other faiths see embryos as human lives with the same rights as all others and therefore view the destruction of embryos as the loss of innocent lives.
Although some mistakenly consider Gamete Intrafallopian Transfer (GIFT) to be in vitro fertilization, it is not. With GIFT, fertilisation takes place inside the body, not on a Petri dish. The Catholic Church nevertheless does not condone it because "Some theologians consider this to be a replacement of the marital act, and therefore immoral."[32]
List down Nadya Suleman’s octuplet babies, their names, gender, birth weight in birth order.
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