Influence of vibration duration on the quality of boar semen doses packed in bags or tubes.

As previous data showing the negative impact of semen agitation during transport on sperm quality was obtained only in tube-type packages, this study aimed to compare two packages for boar semen dose (bag or tube) submitted to different agitation times. Ejaculates from thirty different boars were diluted in BTS extender, packed in bags or tubes in split sample, and submitted to agitation for 0, 6, or 12 h at 100 rpm at 17 ºC. Semen doses were stored for up to 168 h and evaluated for quality traits.

Evaluation of ATP bioluminescence for rapid determination of farrowing room cleanliness after pressure washing at a commercial sow farm.

Rotavirus and other pathogenic microorganisms are known to cause scours, respiratory infection, and increased mortality, spread from pig to pig via contaminated equipment, insuffcient washing, and improper disinfection processes in farrowing rooms on commercial sow farms. Pig producers have adopted cleaning procedures and biosecurity policies as an attempt to ensure farrowing rooms are free of infectious organisms before the next group of sows is introduced. Adenosine triphosphate () bioluminescence has been used in other industries to provide real-time feedback on surface cleanliness through the detection of ATP from organic sources.

L-cysteine improves boar semen motility at 5 ºC but does not affect the oxidative status.

Hypothermic storage has been proposed as a method to reduce bacterial loads and promoting prudent use of antibiotics. Reducing temperature, however, can lead to cold shock damage and oxidative stress in boar semen. This study verified the effect of L-cysteine on the quality of semen stored at 5 °C for 120 h.

Impact of agitation time of boar semen doses on sperm traits in short- and long-term extenders.

Transport of extended boar semen doses is a common practice in the swine industry. This study aimed to verify the effect of agitation time on sperm parameters during storage in two semen extenders. One normospermic ejaculate from each boar (n = 20) was diluted in a split sample design with long-term (LONG, Androstar® Plus) and short-term (SHORT, Beltsville Thawing Solution) extenders.

On the intrinsic optical absorptions by tetrathiafulvalene radical cations and isomers.

Gas-phase action spectroscopy shows unambiguously that the low-energy absorptions by tetramethylthiotetrathiafulvalene and tetrathianaphthalene cations in solution phase are due to monomers and not π-dimers.