ABSTRACT
Worldwide, greater than 90% of sows are inseminated with fresh semen. Less than 1% is inseminated using frozen semen. Albeit, frozen semen is an effective technology for the transfer of genes between breeding pyramids and also to reliably provide semen for planned matings. Little information exists on the long term use of frozen boar semen in commercial pork production operations. The objective in the present study was to assess application of frozen semen throughout a 4 year period comprising more than 2600 AI services. The frozen semen sourced from a boar stud in Manitoba, Canada. All artificial insemination (AI) occurred on a single 1800 sow farm in Indiana, USA. The sperm-rich fraction was collected and only those collections having ≥80% motility and ≤15% abnormalities were further processed. Semen was prepared for cryopreservation using Androhep(®) CryoGuard™, packaged in 0.5mL French straws (average 500 million total sperm per straw) and frozen using a programmable freezer (IceCube™). For each frozen ejaculate, a post-thaw quality check was performed. Ninety eight percent of the ejaculates that were frozen showed at least a 50% post-thaw motility and were approved for shipment. For AI, eight straws were thawed (to achieve at least 2.0×10(9)motile sperm) and diluted with 60mL of extender pre-warmed to 26°C. Within 2-5min of thawing, the sows or gilts were inseminated via intra-cervical deposition using a standard AI pipette. Sows and gilts were inseminated three times PM/AM/PM and AM/PM/AM, respectively. Of 2696 recorded services, 2122 (78.7%) of the females farrowed. The mean (±SD) total number piglets born were 12.5 (±3.9). A progressive improvement of fertility over time was observed mainly due to adaptive procedures associated with an introduced technology. In summary, acceptable fertility is possible with frozen semen and has merit for application as a reproductive management tool.
Subject(s)
Fertility/physiology , Insemination, Artificial/veterinary , Semen Preservation/veterinary , Swine/physiology , Animals , Animals, Newborn , Female , Insemination, Artificial/methods , Logistic Models , Male , Manitoba , Pregnancy , Retrospective Studies , Semen Preservation/methods , Semen Preservation/standards , Sperm Motility/physiologyABSTRACT
AIM: To what extent do cancer patients use an inpatient aftercare programme and how is its effect been estimated by them? How is the progress of "general physical complaints", "psychosocial stress" and "satisfaction with life" in some cases over a period of up to eight months? PATIENTS AND METHODS: To 201 patients with breast or intestinal cancer respectively, who were going to be or had already been admitted to an inpatient aftercare, standardised and unstandardized questionnaire were presented to be filled out at 4 or 5 different dates before and during the programme as well as 3 and 6 months later. RESULTS: Many patients tried to take part in the aftercare programme actively. Even 6 months later 95.6% estimated it as being "successful" and 70% said that there had been a lasting positive effect after the treatment. The "general physical complaints" and "psychosocial stress" grew significantly less during the inpatient aftercare programme and "satisfaction with life" improved. After the treatment these effects were declining again. CONCLUSIONS: The results indicate that many patients, who participate in an inpatient aftercare programme, profit by it directly. As the positive effects partially get lost during the following months, the patients should be prepared more intensely for the time after dismission with its higher level of strain and should get an especially attentive ambulant care at home.
