In vitro interactions of cryopreserved stallion spermatozoa and oviduct (uterine tube) epithelial cells or their secretory products.

Formation of a spermatozoa ('sperm') reservoir in the mare is thought to occur through lectin-mediated sperm attachment to the oviductal epithelium. Once attached, prefertilization sperm survival is supported by oviductal factors. Cryopreservation of stallion sperm decreases the number of sperm attaching to oviduct epithelial cells (OEC) and the length of time these sperm survive. Quantification of in vitro interactions between sperm and OEC in a co-culture system may provide an assay for functional integrity of cryopreserved or fresh sperm samples. Additionally, superior additives for in vitro handling of stallion sperm may be isolated from OEC secretory products. Experiment 1 compared first service conception (FSC) rates resulting from the use of cryopreserved sperm of seven stallions, with sperm function in co-culture such as attachment to OEC and subsequent survival time. Stallions were grouped by cumulative FSC rates observed over three seasons as having average (44 +/- 3%) or high (65 +/- 2%) fertility over a total of 217 first services (31 +/- 9 per stallion). Samples from stallions in the high fertility group had more (P = 0.04) sperm attached to OEC and longer subsequent sperm survival in co-culture (P = 0.05) as compared with those from the average fertility group. FSC rates correlated with numbers of sperm attaching to OEC and their survival time in co-culture (r > or = 0.71). In Experiment 2, the function of cryopreserved stallion sperm was evaluated in culture with OEC secretory products from three different sources. After 5 h of culture, sperm incubated with medium conditioned by bovine OEC which had been 'bioactivated' (e.g. previously exposed to sperm in culture) were found to be more (P < or = 0.05) motile and capacitated as compared to sperm in basal TALP medium alone. Sperm in this conditioned medium also survived longer (P = 0.05; 27 +/- 5 h vs. 17 +/- 4 h) than did those in control medium.

Using bar-code technology to capture clinical intervention data in a hospital with a stand-alone pharmacy computer system.

The use of bar-code technology to capture data on pharmacists' clinical interventions is described. At a hospital in Northern Ireland, patient-specific information could not be accessed through the pharmacy computer system. A system comprising six hand-held bar-code readers and software for downloading data was purchased. The pharmacy staff selected a range of fields for recording a wide array of data on clinical interventions, including the outcomes. Patient details that could not easily be bar-coded had to be recorded manually. The process was evaluated over three four-week cycles, with the data fields being revised after each cycle and the interventions being judged for their clinical appropriateness and their conformance to inhouse standards. After the third cycle, the need for manual recording of information was eliminated. A total of 857 interventions were made during the three cycles. Performance met or exceeded the standard for 7 (50%) of 14 indicators for the first cycle, 8 (53%) of 15 for the second cycle, and 13 (81%) of 16 for the final cycle. For all three cycles, the majority of the interventions were important and resulted in an improvement in the standard of care. A bar-code-driven data collection system successfully replaced a manual system for documenting pharmacists' clinical interventions.