British Cyprus Research Articles

P-160 Trophectoderm biopsy techniques with and without laser use and their contribution to PGT-A results in sibling embryos

Abstract Study question Do the methods used in trophectoderm biopsy and the use of laser affect the genetic results of the harvested cells and the embryos thus examined? Summary answer The different methods of trophectoderm biopsy showed no differences in terms of euploidy rate and the specific type of chromosomal abnormalities. What is known already Next generation sequencing (NGS) is a comprehensive method for the genetic screening of preimplantation embryos and is now favored by many clinics. The method can detect structural abnormalities on all chromosomes and offers better reproductive success compared to earlier tests. However, as the test is very sensitive, biopsy of the embryo and treatment of the biopsied embryos and harvested cells are important to improve diagnostic success. Contamination of the biopsied sample can affect the results of the genetic test and lead to misdiagnosis. Study design, size, duration A prospective, randomized controlled trial of 44 couples undergoing infertility treatment with pre-implantation genetic screening (PGT-A, NGS) at the British Cyprus IVF Hospital between October 2021 and December 2022. Participants/materials, setting, methods PGT-A cases with more than two blastocysts were included in the study. Randomization was performed on days 5 and 6 of embryo development and embryos were divided into two groups before the biopsy. In group 1, embryos were biopsied using the flicking method without laser assistance. In group 2 embryos, cells were removed by pulling the desired cells with 3 to 5 laser shots at the edge of the selected cell group. Main results and the role of chance PGT-A results of 288 blastocyst-stage embryos from 44 cases were analyzed. 136 embryos were in group 1 (flicking) and 152 to group 2 (laser). The embryos in the groups were siblings, so the basic patient characteristics, number of eggs retrieved, sperm characteristics, and early embryonic details were identical between the groups. The mean number of retrieved cells was 6.19 ± 0.915 and 6.14 ± 0.849 (p = 0.764), the number of euploid embryos was 49/122 (40.2%) and 57/137 (41.6%) (p = 0.814), the number of embryos with whole chromosome aneuploidy was 46/73 (63%) and 58/80 (72.5%) (p = 0.209) and embryos with complex aneuploidy (more than two abnormal chromosomes) were 30/73 (41.1%) and 40/80 (50%) (p = 0.268) in group 1 and group 2, respectively. Limitations, reasons for caution As this is a preliminary research result, the small sample size is the major limitation. Mosaicism, which is common in preimplantation embryos and has a significant impact on the results, was not investigated. Wider implications of the findings Although the present data showed no differences between the two biopsy procedures in terms of PGT-A test results, invasive embryo biopsy procedures can damage embryos or misdirect genetic test results. Therefore, validation and universalization of the method for embryo biopsy are needed, which is emerging in recent publications. Trial registration number not applicable

P-126 Investigation of the deterministic value of presence of visible spindle on fertilization and blastocytes utilization potential in frozen/thawed oocyte cycle

Abstract Study question Does presence or absence of birefringent spindle after warming of the oocytes has deterministic value on fertilization and early embryonic development potentiaL? Summary answer The warmed oocytes with birefringent spindle seem to have a higher potential to fertilize and become good quality blastocytes. What is known already To date, characteristics of the meiotic spindles in human oocytes were studied by several authors by using a non-invasive method (PolScope) and shown that they are associated with fertilization, embryo quality, pregnancy, and live birth rates. Also, it has been known that meiotic spindle structures are very susceptible to cryodamage and can be disassembled and re-assembled depending on the change in temperature. Thus, studying spindle characteristics of the vitrified-warmed oocytes is important and can provide information about the full recovery of the oocytes, fertilization, embryo development, and pregnancy, which the data is limited in the literature. Study design, size, duration A retrospective study consisting 40 egg donation cycles by using vitrified-warmed oocytes between December 2017 and December 2019 at British Cyprus IVF Hospital. Participants/materials, setting, methods Spindle morphologies of vitrified-warmed oocytes were analyzed by PolScope (RI) combined with an image analysis system after approximately 1.5 hours post-warming. The data is divided into two according to the presence or absence of visible nucleus and correlation with embryonic development analyzed accordingly. To make a comparison in groups a new numerical scoring system for embryo quality on days 5 and 6 was created where embryos scored depending on the stage of expansion, Main results and the role of chance In total, 587 out of 648 vitrified/warmed oocytes survived (90.6%) and 447 of them were fertilized (75.0%). Among the survived oocytes, 503 (85.5%) oocytes were containing detectable spindle (Group I) while spindles were missing in 84 oocytes (Group II). The results showed that the fertilization rate (78.1% vs. 64.3%, p < 0.01), the proportion of good PN morphology (Z Score: Z1 and Z2 over other parameters: 50.4% vs 35.2%, p = 0.036), and viable embryo count (40.6% vs 15.1%, p < 0.01) which is defined as embryos that good enough to transfer or freezing, were higher in group I. Similarly, the degree of expansion on day 5/6 (p = 0.013, p = 0.015 respectively) and the quality of the cells in ICM and TE (p < 0.01) were found higher in group I. We further investigated the differences in embryo quality between groups by converting the embryo grades to numerical value starting from arrested (Score=0) to 6AA (Score=22) and found that embryo scores on day 5 (p = 0.01) and day 6 (p = 0.013) were higher in group I. Limitations, reasons for caution The main limitation of this study is the lack of data regarding the spindle status of the frozen oocytes before vitrification where some of the oocytes might not have visible spindle due to incomplete maturation rather than cryodamage. Wider implications of the findings The present data showed that the presence of birefringent meiotic spindles in warmed oocytes is a very important sign for a full recovery and early embryonic development potential, which can be useful for egg banks and IVF clinics. Trial registration number not applicable

European Imperial Rule through Ottoman Land Law: British Cyprus, the Italian Dodecanese, and French Mandatory Syria

AbstractThis paper focuses on the articulation between property, sovereignty, and the construction of new political subjectivities in post-Ottoman provinces. Drawing on the cases of British Cyprus, the Italian Dodecanese, and French Mandatory Syria, it shows that European sovereign claims on these territories were pursued through the perpetuation of Ottoman land laws and the reorganisation of the judicial system responsible for implementing them. Dictated by the enduring legal uncertainty regarding the international status of these three provinces, this peculiar path to imperium did not deter European officials from working towards the ambitious goal of creating a class of individual peasant-proprietors, protected in their rights by colonial courts. Acknowledging the differences between these projects, their mutual influences, as well as their relative failure, the article contends that they nonetheless impel us to envision the transition from “Ottoman” to “European” rule as a gradual, multilayered process, instead of a sudden break.

British Cyprus and the Long Great War, 1914‐1925: Empire, Loyalties and Democratic Deficit

Historians of the First World War face the daunting task of offering a fresh and original perspective on this much‐researched subject. Andrekos Varnava successfully meets this challenge with his latest monograph and provides a new interpretation of the Great War and its impact. He focuses on a non‐settler part of the British Empire, Cyprus, and covers the period from the start of the war until its proclamation as a Crown Colony. In this book, he studies three key themes: the impact of the war on the British Empire, focusing on one of its smallest parts; the loyalties of the population, especially the often overlooked majority lower classes; and the disproportionate role of elites — whether these were the colonial administrators or the local leading elites — in shaping the future of Cyprus. In doing so, Varnava provides a compelling analysis of the political objectives, social structures and attitudes prevailing in British Cyprus.

The Sultan's Domain: British Cyprus' Role in the Redefinition of Property Regimes in the Post-Ottoman Levant

ABSTRACTThis article argues that property law is the main means through which Britain built its imperial sovereignty on Cyprus and in the post-Ottoman Levant. It charts the development of an official British expertise in Ottoman land legislation following the so-called affair of the Sultan's claims to properties in Cyprus. To settle this matter in the island which they had obtained to ‘occupy’ and ‘administer’ through a treaty with the Sublime Porte, colonial authorities were compelled to become conversant with the 1858 Ottoman Land Code. Hence, the article argues that because of its ambiguous status – a province occupied and administered by Britain but under the nominal suzerainty of the Sultan from 1878 to 1914 – Cyprus, as the first Ottoman territory to pass under direct Western rule, played a decisive role in the elaboration of a colonial knowledge in Ottoman land laws. And this, despite long-standing economic and political ties between Britain and the Ottoman Empire and exposure to other settings where layered land tenure systems prevailed. Published in treatises authored by British administrators of Cyprus, the legal expertise in Ottoman land law thus acquired was then transposed to other territories which passed under British rule, such as Palestine.

Forced money: legal development of a criminal economic rule

In 1793, Revolutionary France forced its inflated paper money on all sellers. Revived by Napoleon, this law was transplanted all over the world, crossed legal families and still survives, because it has catered to more needs than the specific problem it was meant to address. As it forces sellers to accept the government’s money, it appealed to other nearly collapsing governments, with inflation or not. Since it forces everyone to respect a symbol of the state, it appealed to legislators favouring political authoritarianism. Since it is a component in management of the economy, it appealed to legislators favouring economic authoritarianism. The article traces one branch in the law’s family tree, going through various phases of the French Revolution to Napoleon, the Ottoman Empire, British Cyprus, British Palestine and Israel. It shows how this law survived and adapted again and again in vastly diverse, easily identifiable political and economic circumstances.

The Transnational Formation of Imperial Rule on the Margins of Europe:1 British Cyprus and the Italian Dodecanese in the Interwar Period

This article records and offers to interpret a parallel hardening of British and Italian colonial governances in the Eastern Mediterranean in the interwar period. It focuses on the cases of the Dodecanese, an Italian ‘Possedimento’ since 1912, and Cyprus, a British dependency since 1878, lying on the geographical and cultural margins of, and the border between, these two colonial empires. Building on the recurrent cross-references between British and Italian colonial systems in British, Italian and Greek archives, official and unofficial, this article highlights the circulation of administrative ideas and practices across imperial boundaries. It suggests that British and Italian authorities saw in enosis, or the union with Greece advocated by the Orthodox majorities under their rule, an opportunity to implement an authoritarian form of governance potentially transposable to other Mediterranean settings. Engaging with current debates on inter-imperial transfers, this article enquires into colonial policymaking as the outcome of a mutually productive exchange across territorial frontiers and assumed ideological differences.

FRENCH AND BRITISH POST-WAR IMPERIAL AGENDAS AND FORGING AN ARMENIAN HOMELAND AFTER THE GENOCIDE: THE FORMATION OF THE LÉGION D'ORIENT IN OCTOBER 1916

ABSTRACTIn October 1916, the French government agreed with Armenian political elites to establish a Légion of Armenian volunteers in British Cyprus to fight the common Ottoman enemy. Despite British, French, and even Armenian rejections of such a Légion during different times throughout 1915 and early 1916, all sides overcame earlier concerns. Understanding how they managed to overcome these concerns will allow for this little-known episode in the history of the Great War in the eastern Mediterranean to contribute to the knowledge on (1) the complex French and British wartime stances towards this region, driven by imperialism and humanitarianism; (2) the ability of local elites to draw concessions from the Allies; (3) the important role played by local British and French colonial and military officers; and (4) broader historiographical debates on the responses to the Armenian Genocide. This article explores the origins of how theEntenteco-opted Armenians in their eastern Mediterranean campaigns, but also made them into pawns in the French and British reinvention of their imperial rivalry in this region in order to achieve their post-war imperialist agendas.

The Treaty of Paris of 1856 and Its Execution

Previous articleNext article No AccessThe Treaty of Paris of 1856 and Its ExecutionHarold TemperleyHarold Temperley Search for more articles by this author PDFPDF PLUS Add to favoritesDownload CitationTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints Share onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail SectionsMoreDetailsFiguresReferencesCited by The Journal of Modern History Volume 4, Number 4Dec., 1932 Article DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1086/235940 Views: 1Total views on this site Citations: 3Citations are reported from Crossref Copyright 1932 The University of Chicago PressPDF download Crossref reports the following articles citing this article:Alexis Rappas European Imperial Rule through Ottoman Land Law: British Cyprus, the Italian Dodecanese, and French Mandatory Syria, Itinerario 46, no.11 (Feb 2022): 109–127.https://doi.org/10.1017/S0165115321000358Nuri Yurdusev Turkey’s Engagement with Europe: A History of Mutual Management, (Jan 2010): 277–299.https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230277397_15Nur Bilge Criss Europe and Turkey: Does Religion Matter?, (Jan 2008): 67–89.https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230615403_4