Soon Hon Cheong

Abstract Vitrification protocols are widely used for mammalian embryo cryopreservation. Post-warming outcomes are impaired by cryodamage from crystalline intracellular ice, whose formation depends on both the cooling and warming rates. Here, time-resolved X-ray diffraction measurements on bovine embryos indicated that current standard tools and protocols achieved ice-free cooling, but that intracellular ice always formed during warming.

Abstract During migration through the female reproductive tract, sperm undergo physiological changes known as capacitation, including a motility transition termed hyperactivation. Hyperactivation is essential for various aspects of fertilization, particularly effective migration within the tract. However, how hyperactivation facilitates this migration remains elusive.

1 Introduction Hypocalcemia in relation to postpartum diseases is well researched in bovine medicine; however, there is substantially less information on this topic in the canine. Clinical hypocalcemia in dairy cows is a common problem affecting 4.9% of animals (Reinhardt et al. 2011) and is associated with an increased risk for retained fetal membranes, mastitis, metritis, ketosis and displaced abomasum (Curtis et al. 1985; Martinez et al. 2012).