Mozart Chocolates and Microelectronics,Lipizzaner Stallions and Lightweight Construction.Less well-known:Austria Is A Top Research Location

Whoever thinks of Empress Sisi,Sacher cake,skiing or the Vienna Opera Ball first in connection with Austria is not wrong at all,but this individual does overlook one important factor:Austria is actually an extremely innovative and profitable business location.In addition to highly qualified and motivated employees,Austria always boasts the highest density of world market leaders in relation to the number of inhabitants.

Effects of Reduced Glutathione to Centrifuged and Non-centrifuged Fresh Chilled Stallion Semen on Progressive Motility of Spermatozoa over 72 h

The aim of the current study was to evaluate the effects of supplementation of an inexpensive stallion semen extender(Next Generation■ Dr.Kenny’s with Amikacin and K-Penn)with 1 mM of the antioxidant reduced glutathione(GSH)on the progressive motility of cooled stallion semen over a period of 72 h.Both centrifuged and non-centrifuged semen samples were evaluated from six Standardbred stallions collected three times each,with one week between collections for each stallion.For centrifuged samples,non-cushioned centrifugation was done at 750 g for 10 min.All semen samples were extended to a final concentration of 50 million total cells per milliliter and stored in Equine Express II stallion semen shipping containers.Non-centrifuged samples without GSH declined from an initial mean progressive motility of 70.3%at 0 h to 9.1%at 72 h.Non-centrifuged samples with added GSH declined from an initial mean progressive motility of 70.3%at 0 h to 7.1%at 72 h.Centrifuged samples without added GSH declined from an initial mean progressive motility of 70.3%at 0 h to 46.1%at 72 h.Centrifuged samples with added GSH declined from an initial mean progressive motility of 70.3%at 0 h to 40.3%at 72 h.The results of this study did not find significant improvement in the progressive motility over time for spermatozoa prepared in a traditional skim-milk based extender with antibiotics as a result of addition of GSH to either centrifuged or non-centrifuged semen.These findings suggest that centrifugation of fresh chilled extended stallion semen may be a good idea for any semen that may be used at time points greater than 24 h after collection.

Preliminary Study of Effects of Centrifugation of Stallion Semen on Motility and Pro-AKAP4 Concentration over 72 Hours Post-collection

The study aimed to investigate the effects of centrifugation of stallion semen on progressive sperm motility over a 72-hour period;and determine if the protein marker,precursor of A-kinase anchor protein 4(pro-AKAP4),may be maintained at a higher level over time when compared to non-centrifuged samples.Pro-AKAP4 has been studied for its function in stabilizing the structure of spermatozoa and its use as a marker for fertilizing capacity of spermatozoa.Semen collections were obtained from four fertile,commercially used Standardbred stallions collected three times each.Semen samples were diluted to a final concentration of 50 million total cells per milliliter.One extended aliquot of semen from each collection was used for the non-centrifuged treatment,and one extended aliquot of semen was centrifuged at 750×g for 10 min.The supernatant from the centrifuged sample was then removed with a 10 mL plastic transfer pipette,and the spermatozoa cell pellet was suspended in fresh extender to a final concentration of 50 million total cells per milliliter.Both centrifuged and non-centrifuged samples from each collection were stored in Equine Express II stallion semen shipping containers for 72 h and fresh ice packs were added to each container every 24 h.Both progressive sperm motility and levels of pro-AKAP4 were determined at times 0,12,24,48 and 72 h after collection.Differences were found between stallions,times and treatments with the main finding being that pro-AKAP4 concentration in centrifuged samples was maintained at a much higher level over the 72-hour period studied.

Single Layer Centrifugation with Androcoll-E^(TM) improved progressive motility and percentage of live spermatozoa with intact acrosome of chilled stallion semen but did not have an effect on DNA integrity

A significant number of stallions produce low quality ejaculates with high sensibility to chilling. Single Layer Centrifugation (SLC) with Andro-coll-ETM has been presented as an efficient method of selecting good quality spermatozoa. In the current study, changes in sperm quality (motility, viability, acrosome integrity and DNA damage) occurring during storage at 5?C for a maximum of 72 h, were investigated. For that, one ejaculate from 12 stallions was split in two aliquots: control and SLC-selected. Both aliquots were chilled and stored at 5?C and spermatozoa were evaluated for motility, viability and acrosome integrity at 24, 48 and 72 h post collection. DNA damage was evaluated at 48 h post collection using the comet assay. In the SLC-selected aliquots, there was a significant improvement in terms of progressive motility (0 h: P = 0.005;24 h: P 0.05). SLC with Androcoll-ETM improved semen quality prolonging sperm longevity of chilled semen (P = 0.012). This positive effect was more evident in ejaculates most sensitive to chilling that had a sharp decrease in motility in the first 24 h of refrigeration and for all ejaculates at 72 h post-chilling. Therefore, this method reveals to be a useful technique for selecting spermatozoa and maintain sperm quality during storage.