Article ID | Journal | Published Year | Pages | File Type |
---|---|---|---|---|
8403875 | Animal Reproduction Science | 2018 | 22 Pages |
Abstract
Data regarding 33 ejaculates, including viability, subjective motility and acrosome reaction, were collected. Two hundred and thirty-five sows were inseminated with an outcome of 167 deliveries and 1734 newborn piglets. In order to evaluate the relationships among the parameters measured and fertility, mixed effects regression statistical models were used. Once the covariates to be included in the final models were identified, non-parametric bootstrapping was used. The results showed that the farrowing rate was highly associated with the total number of spermatozoa and subjective motility, while litter size was associated with percentage of acrosome reaction. In conclusion, the proposed statistical approach seemed to be suitable for studies regarding reproduction and fertility, even for relatively small sample sizes. Nonetheless, larger data sets are still preferable and required in order to achieve higher reliability.
Keywords
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Animal Science and Zoology
Authors
Alberto Elmi, Federico Banchelli, Francesca Barone, Paolo Fantinati, Domenico Ventrella, Monica Forni, Maria Laura Bacci,