The purpose of our study was to determine the effect of dilution and liquid-preservation of boar sperm on oxidoreductive capability of their mitochondria. The semen was diluted with BTS extender produced from water purified by destillation or by reverse osmosis. The spermatozoa were stored over a four-day period at 16-18 degrees C. The function of sperm mitochondria was assessed using the scree...

A total of 30 ejaculates from three Hampshire crossbred boars were used to study the effect of freezing rates and thawing methods on quality of frozen boar semen. Semen was frozen using three freezing rates-30 0 c/min, 50 0 c/min and 70 0 c/min in a programmable biological semen freezer. The semen characteristics viz., sperm motility, live sperm, HOST reacted spermatozoa and intact acrosome wer...

Two cases of a previously unreported sperm defect appearing in boar studs in Finland are presented. Spermatozoa showed small particles scattered on their surface with a prevalence decreasing with boar age. Semen samples, either stained with eosin-nigrosin or examined with phase contrast optics on formaldehyde-fixed spermatozoa, revealed the presence of multiple particles attached to the surface...

We apply Learning Vector Quantization (LVQ) in automated boar semen quality assessment. The classification of single boar sperm heads into healthy (normal) and non-normal ones is based on grey-scale microscopic images only. Sample data was classified by veterinary experts and is used for training a system with a number of prototypes for each class. We apply as training schemes Kohonen’s LVQ1 an...

The boar has a tremendous impact on the reproductive efficiency of the swine breeding herd. Depending on the collection frequency and insemination dose, semen from a single boar can be used to breed between 750 and 1000 sows per year. As a result, reproductive failure of a single male influences a large number of sows. Consequently, a thorough understanding of the basic aspects of male reproduc...