Egg

• Shady Grove Fertility's research team provides reassuring data that patients undergoing egg retrieval can keep IUDs.
• "Women who are considering fertility preservation are often worried about keeping their IUDs in place throughout the egg retrieval cycle," shares Phillip A. Romanski, M.D., M.Sc.
• "Our research team was excited to learn that patients can rest assured they can keep their IUDs in place without worrying about the impact of eggs retrieved.
• This important research can help many women take that next step toward preserving their fertility to help build their future family."

• It lurks in long evening shadows, calls out through mysterious bumps in the night and blows down your neck whenever you feel a sudden shiver.
• With Halloween approaching, we asked six of our academic experts to tell us about the scariest book they’ve ever read.

A Dictionary of Monsters and Mysterious Beasts, by Carey Miller (1974)

• Lady Macbeth says it’s “The eye of childhood / That fears a painted devil.” She’s right.
• I bought A Dictionary of Monsters and Mysterious Beasts at a school book fair when I was seven.
• Miller’s book was undeniably a landmark in the development of my literary interests.

The Flypaper, by Elizabeth Taylor (1969)

• “Scary” is too glib a word for the chillingly believable conclusion of the author Elizabeth Taylor’s short story, The Flypaper.
• It starts with 11-year-old Sylvia, unloved and unlovely, riding the bus to her hated music lesson in the drab outskirts of a provincial town.
• When a man starts harassing her, she is reassured by a middle-aged lady who she feels is “keeping an eye on the situation”.

Dracula, by Bram Stoker (1897)

• Reading Bram Stoker’s Dracula was an unsettling experience I can’t forget.
• The story unfolds through journal entries and letters, revolving around a young solicitor who discovers that his client is a vampire.
• You know that feeling when something is so terrifying yet beautiful that you can’t look away?

The Haunting of Hill House, by Shirley Jackson (1959)

• “Hill House is vile, it is diseased,” muses protagonist Eleanor Vance, on approach to the titular manor of Shirley Jackson’s 1959 novel The Haunting of Hill House.
• Jackson, like me, suffered from parasomnias such as sleepwalking and nightmares, and there are moments in The Haunting of Hill House where the spookiness manifests itself through Vance’s sleep and dream-like trance states.

Things We Lost in the Fire, by Mariana Enríquez, translated by Megan McDowell (2016)

• A book that still scares me whenever I think of it is Things We Lost in the Fire, a 2016 short story collection by Argentine writer Mariana Enríquez.
• The stories take conventional horror tropes – murder, mutilation, abuse, the occult – and weave them into contemporary tales of Buenos Aires.
• The stories shift between satirical realism and brutal surrealism, often when you least expect it.

The Woman in Black, by Susan Hill (1983)

• A place miles away from the nearest house or village where, as cliche as it sounds, there is no one to hear you scream.
• Susan Hill’s The Woman in Black serves as a truly haunting example of this.
• Lawyer Arthur Kipps is hired to settle the estate of the late Alice Drablow and embarks on a trip to her home, Eel Marsh House.

Les Chants de Maldoror, by Isidore Ducasse (1868-1869)

• Written under the pen name Comte de Lautreamont, Isidore Ducasse’s Les Chants de Maldoror (The Songs of Maldoror) did not scare me, but its images have long haunted me.
• This deranged and surreal work takes readers into the mind of Maldoror, a misanthropic wanderer who revels in his unrepentant evil.
• The book’s self-described “poison-filled pages” have a nightmarish quality throughout, with disturbing and yet sometimes darkly poetic descriptions of murder, malice and madness.

• This year is off to a bumper start, with bush flies swarming beach-goers, March flies on the march, and mosquitoes taking to the skies en masse.
• Despite their sheer diversity, we’re likely to encounter only a select few flies daily.

Familiar faces

• They slake their thirst on the sweat and tears of mammals and so linger around our heads, shoulders and faces in search of a refreshing drink.
• These small explorers are otherwise harmless, and pose no serious threat to health or home beyond being a mild nuisance.
• They are also, however, excellent pollinators, with some orchids relying on their hard work and specialised mouthparts for survival.
• Malaria is among the farthest-reaching, while Ross River Virus, chikungunya, zika and dengue all circulate with help from mosquitoes.

Shoo fly?

For the minority of flies that prove a recurring annoyance, the primary goal is to deter rather than kill them. In this case, the remedies are simple:

• Read more:
  The battle against bugs: it's time to end chemical warfare

  Avoid reaching for the bug-bombs and sprays, which have devastating impacts on beneficial insects.

• Similarly, those noise-emitting, electrified or smelly gadgets that promise a fly-free existence are best avoided, as most are either ineffective, or harm far more than their intended targets.

From pesky to paramount

• Flies are among the most diverse animals on the planet, and are utterly crucial for the healthy function of our ecosystems.
• On the other side of the circle of life are outstanding decomposers, such as black soldier flies.
• Moreover, flies have proven invaluable in forensics, medicine and scientific research, and environmental monitoring, underscoring how deeply our lives intertwine with theirs.

Fly on

• The natural world – us included – would not be the same without them.
• He is also affiliated with the conservation charity Invertebrates Australia.

• Spring Fertility announces plans to bring its signature patient-first fertility care to Portland, expanding its unique approach to the Pacific Northwest.
• PORTLAND, Ore., Oct. 16, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Spring Fertility, a premier provider of fertility care known for delivering a superior patient experience and exceptional IVF outcomes, in addition to having one of the most robust egg freezing programs in the country, today announced plans to open a new state-of-the-art fertility clinic in Portland, Oregon with an anticipated opening in April 2023.
• Spring Fertility will bring its signature patient-centric, individualized, compassionate care to the Portland area, raising the bar for fertility care in the greater Pacific Northwest.
• Spring Fertility announces plans to bring its signature patient-first fertility care to Portland, Oregon.