Impact of charge collection efficiency and electronic noise on the performance of solid-state 3D microdetectors.

Microdosimetry has been traditionally performed through gaseous proportional counters, although in recent years different solid-state microdosimeters have been proposed and constructed for this task. In this paper, we analyze the response of solid-state devices of micrometric size with no intrinsic gain developed by CNM-CSIC (Spain). There are two major aspects of the operation of these devices that affect the reconstruction of the probability distributions and momenta of stochastic quantities related to microdosimetry. For micrometric volumes, the drift and diffusion of the charge carriers gives rise to a partial charge collection efficiency in the peripheral region of the depleted volume. This effect produces a perturbation of the reconstructed pulse height (i.e. imparted energy) distributions with respect to the actual microdosimetric distributions. The relevance of this deviation depends on the size, geometry and operating conditions of the device. On the other hand, the electronic noise from the single-event readout set-up poses a limit on the minimum detectable lineal energy when the microdosimeter size is reduced. This article addresses these issues to provide a framework on the physical constraints for the design and operation of solid-state microdosimeters.

Genetic variability of functional longevity in five rabbit lines.

The objectives of this study were to analyse the differences in the genetic determination of functional longevity in five Spanish lines of rabbits and to check how different systematic factors might affect this genetic determination. Four of the lines were maternal (lines A, V, H and LP), these lines were established selecting base generation animals according to different criteria, but in the subsequent generations all of them were selected for litter size at weaning. The other is the paternal line R, this line was constituted by selecting animals with an outstanding daily growth rate. The trait analysed, length of productive life, was the time in days between the date of the first positive pregnancy test and the date of culling or death of a doe. Four models extended from the Cox proportional hazard model were used to analyse data of each line separately and jointly. The complete model (Model 1) included the fixed effect of year-season (YS) combination, positive palpation order (OPP), that is, reproductive cycle, physiological status of the doe (PS) at service and number of kits born alive (NBA) in each kindling as time-dependent factors. The inbreeding coefficient was fitted as a continuous covariate and the animal's additive genetic effect was also fitted to the model (Model 1). The other models were identical to Model 1 but excluding OPP (Model 2) or PS (Model 3) or NBA (Model 4), which were explored to assess the consequence on additive variance estimates of not correcting for these animal-dependent factors. Estimated effective heritabilities of longevity were 0.07 ± 0.03, 0.03 ± 0.02, 0.14 ± 0.09, 0.05 ± 0.04, 0.02 ± 0.01 and 0.04 ± 0.01 for lines A, V, H, LP, R and for the merged data set, respectively. Removing the PS from the model led to an increase in the estimated additive genetic variance in all lines (0.17 ± 0.05, 0.05 ± 0.03, 0.29 ± 0.19, 0.29 ± 0.20, 0.07 ± 0.04 and 0.05 ± 0.02 for lines A, V, H, LP, R and the merged data set, respectively). The highest hazard of death and/or culling was observed during the first two parities and decreased as the order of parity progressed. Does non-pregnant-non-lactating had the highest risk of death or culling. The does that had zero kits born alive incurred the highest risk, and this risk decreased as the NBA increased. In conclusion, the consideration of longevity as selection criterion for the studied rabbit lines is not recommended.

Freezability genetics in rabbit semen.

The aim of this study was to estimate the heritability of semen freezability and to estimate the genetic correlation between frozen-thawed sperm traits and the growth rate in a paternal rabbit line. Estimated heritabilities showed that frozen-thawed semen traits are heritable (ranged between 0.08 and 0.15). In the case of Live-FT (percentage of viable sperm after freezing), the estimated heritability is the highest one, and suggests the possibility of effective selection. After the study of genetic correlations it seems that daily weight gain (DG) was negatively correlated with sperm freezability, but no further conclusions could be drawn due to the high HPD95%. More data should be included in order to obtain better accuracy for the estimates of these genetic correlations. If the results obtained at present study were confirmed, it would imply that selection for DG could alter sperm cell membranes or seminal plasma composition, both components related to sperm cryoresistance.

Role of inbreeding depression, non-inbred dominance deviations and random year-season effect in genetic trends for prolificacy in closed rabbit lines.

In closed rabbit lines selected for prolificacy at the Polytechnic University of Valencia, genetic responses are predicted using BLUP. With a standard additive BLUP model and year-season (YS) effects fitted as fixed, genetic trends were overestimated compared to responses estimated using control populations obtained from frozen embryos. In these lines, there is a confounding between genetic trend, YS effects and inbreeding, and the role of dominance is uncertain. This is a common situation in data from reproductively closed selection lines. This paper fits different genetic evaluation models to data of these lines, aiming to identify the source of these biases: dominance, inbreeding depression and/or an ill-conditioned model due to the strong collinearity between YS, inbreeding and genetic trend. The study involved three maternal lines (A, V and H) and analysed two traits, total born (TB) and the number of kits at weaning (NW). Models fitting YS effect as fixed or random were implemented, in addition to additive genetic, permanent environment effects and non-inbred dominance deviations effects. When YS was fitted as a fixed effect, the genetic trends were overestimated compared to control populations, inbreeding had an apparent positive effect on litter size and the environmental trends were negative. When YS was fitted as random, the genetic trends were compatible with control populations results, inbreeding had a negative effect (lower prolificacy) and environmental trends were flat. The model fitting random YS, inbreeding and non-inbred dominance deviations yielded the following ratios of additive and dominance variances to total variance for NW: 0.06 and 0.01 for line A, 0.06 and 0.00 for line V and 0.01 and 0.08 for line H. Except for line H, dominance deviations seem to be of low relevance. When it is confounded with inbreeding as in these lines, fitting YS effect as random allows correct estimation of genetic trends.

Pedigree-based estimation of covariance between dominance deviations and additive genetic effects in closed rabbit lines considering inbreeding and using a computationally simpler equivalent model.

Inbreeding generates covariances between additive and dominance effects (breeding values and dominance deviations). In this work, we developed and applied models for estimation of dominance and additive genetic variances and their covariance, a model that we call "full dominance," from pedigree and phenotypic data. Estimates with this model such as presented here are very scarce both in livestock and in wild genetics. First, we estimated pedigree-based condensed probabilities of identity using recursion. Second, we developed an equivalent linear model in which variance components can be estimated using closed-form algorithms such as REML or Gibbs sampling and existing software. Third, we present a new method to refer the estimated variance components to meaningful parameters in a particular population, i.e., final partially inbred generations as opposed to outbred base populations. We applied these developments to three closed rabbit lines (A, V and H) selected for number of weaned at the Polytechnic University of Valencia. Pedigree and phenotypes are complete and span 43, 39 and 14 generations, respectively. Estimates of broad-sense heritability are 0.07, 0.07 and 0.05 at the base versus 0.07, 0.07 and 0.09 in the final generations. Narrow-sense heritability estimates are 0.06, 0.06 and 0.02 at the base versus 0.04, 0.04 and 0.01 at the final generations. There is also a reduction in the genotypic variance due to the negative additive-dominance correlation. Thus, the contribution of dominance variation is fairly large and increases with inbreeding and (over)compensates for the loss in additive variation. In addition, estimates of the additive-dominance correlation are -0.37, -0.31 and 0.00, in agreement with the few published estimates and theoretical considerations.

Genetic analysis of meat quality traits in maternal lines of rabbit and their diallel cross.

Young rabbits, the dams of which came from a full diallel cross among four maternal lines (A, V, H and LP) and the sires from a single paternal line (R), that produce sixteen genetic groups, was carried out to evaluate the genetic groups and to estimate the crossbreeding genetic parameters of meat quality. The meat quality traits were recorded by NIRS from a sample of 285 longissimus lumborum muscles. Crossbreeding parameters were estimated according to Dickerson model. No differences in protein were found. The line A had significant differences with V line for intramuscular fat, and fatty acids groups. Significant differences for these traits appeared between the crossbred AH and VV (in favor of AH). As conclusion, the significant contrasts between genetic types for chemical composition of the meat are mainly consequence of direct-maternal genetic effects, having grandmaternal and maternal heterosis effects a less relevant role.

Crossbreeding effects on rabbit reproduction from four maternal lines of rabbits.

Litter size is essential for an efficient production of rabbit meat. A diallel cross between four maternal lines was carried out and the analysis of the components of litter size has been already done. This paper presents the analysis of litter size traits themselves (total born (TB), number born alive (NBA), number weaned (NW)) and kindling interval (KI), that complete the analysis of the reproductive performance. The 16 genetic groups were distributed in four Spanish farms. The V line was present in all farms in order to be used as reference group. A total of 34 546 parities from 7111 does, were analysed. The crossbreeding parameters were estimated according to Dickerson model. The differences between lines performance were of low magnitude and not significant for litter size traits. The LP line showed the shortest KI followed by H respect to lines A and V. These differences reflected the differences between direct and maternal genetic effects. The differences between the average of all crosses and line V were found to be significant and seemed to be important, being 0.46 for TB, 0.56 for NBA, 0.75 for NW and -2.21 days for KI. The differences between reciprocal crosses for litter size were of low magnitude and non-significant, which indicate that the maternal effects are not important between these lines. In general, the lines did not show significant differences in direct and maternal genetic effects for TB, NBA and NW but there were some significant differences for KI, which ranged from 1.54 to 6.85 days in direct effects and from 0.63 to 3.38 days for maternal effects. A positive and, in some cases, relevant heterosis was found. The largest heterosis was for TB in the HV cross (1.05 rabbits), followed by the AH (0.74 rabbits), AV (0.57 rabbits) and LH (0.55 rabbits) crosses. For NBA, significant heterosis was found in HV (1.11 rabbits) and AV (0.49 rabbits) and for NW in AV (0.90 rabbits), LH (0.70 rabbits) and LV (0.58 rabbits). Favourable and significant heterosis for KI was found in AV and LV crosses, whereas it was unfavourable in AL and in LH. The more recommended crosses were AV and LH, showing the greatest performances on NW, while the cross HV, which shows the greatest performances an NBA, could be highly recommended when cross-fostering is practised to equalise litter sizes after birth, in this situation the lower NW performance observed could be improved.

Growth traits of four maternal lines of rabbits founded on different criteria: comparisons at foundation and at last periods after selection.

The objective was to compare growth traits in four maternal lines of rabbits (A, V, H and LP), with the aim of understanding the consequence of the different foundation and selection processes on the growth performance of the lines. The lines are currently in the 43th, 38th, 22th and 8th generations, respectively. Two comparisons were performed. One compared the values of the lines at their foundation, using the complete data set, the full pedigree and a two-trait analysis, including data on the selection criteria, litter size. The other comparisons were done during the last period when all the lines were housed together with the same feeding and management. The numbers of records were 323 208 for weaning weight, and 300 553 for slaughter weight and average daily Gain (from 46 708 l). The pedigree file included 346 638 animals. The second analysis used only the data corresponding to each period, and the analysis was conducted using a one-trait model. The model was the same as that defined for the comparisons at the foundation, but the additive effects were excluded. The H and LP lines showed highest values for all the traits compared. In the last periods, a good agreement was observed between the estimated differences, computed with the complete model and data set, or computed with an incomplete model and only data from the comparison period. At last periods, the differences were smaller than at foundation. The importance of the correlated response in growth after selection for litter size at weaning or the importance of a non-programmed intramating selection for the growth traits can explain the changes since foundation.

Embryo vitrification in rabbits: Consequences for progeny growth.

The objective of this research is to examine if there are any effects of the rederivation procedures on rabbit growth pattern and on weight of different organ in adults. For this purpose, three experiments were conducted on two different groups of animals (control group and vitrified-transferred group) to evaluate the possible effect of embryo manipulation (vitrification and transfer procedures) on future growth traits. The first experiment studies body weight from 1 to 9 weeks of age from the two groups. The second experiment describes the growth curve of progeny from experimental groups and analyzes their Gompertz curve parameters, including the estimation of adult body weight. The third experiment has been developed to study if there are any differences in different organ weight in adult males from the two experimental groups. In general, the results indicate that rederivation procedures had effect on the phenotypic expression of growth traits. The results showed that rabbit produced by vitrification and embryo transfer had higher body weight in the first four weeks of age than control progeny. Results from body weight (a parameter) and b parameter estimated by fitting the Gompertz growth curve did not show any difference between experimental groups. However, differences related with growth velocity (k parameter of the Gompertz curve) were observed among them, showing that the control group had higher growth velocity than the vitrified-transferred group. In addition, we found that liver weight at 40th week of age exhibits significant differences between the experimental groups. The liver weight was higher in the control males than in the VF males. Although the present results indicate that vitrification and transfer procedures might affect some traits related with growth in rabbits, further research is needed to assess the mechanisms involved in the appearance of these phenotypes and if these phenotypes could be transferred to the future progeny.

Effective population size and inbreeding depression on litter size in rabbits. A case study.

The purpose of this study is to use demographic and litter size data on four Spanish maternal lines of rabbits (A, V, H and LP), as a case study, in order to: (i) estimate the effective population size of the lines, as a measure of the rate of increase of inbreeding, and (ii) study whether the inbreeding effect on litter size traits depends on the pattern of its accumulation over time. The lines are being selected for litter size at weaning and are kept closed at the same selection nucleus under the same selection and management programme. The study considered 47,794 l and a pedigree of 14,622 animals. Some practices in mating and selection management allow an increase of the inbreeding coefficient lower than 0.01 per generation in these lines of around 25 males and 125 females. Their effective population size (Ne) was around 57.3, showing that the effect of selection, increasing the inbreeding, was counterbalanced by the management practices, intended to reduce the rate of inbreeding increase. The inbreeding of each individual was broken down into three components: old, intermediate and new inbreeding. The coefficients of regression of the old, intermediate and new inbreeding on total born (TB), number born alive (NBA) and number weaned (NW) per litter showed a decreasing trend from positive to negative values. Regression coefficients significantly different from zero were those for the old inbreeding on TB (6.79 ± 2.37) and NBA (5.92 ± 2.37). The contrast between the coefficients of regression between the old and new inbreeding were significant for the three litter size traits: 7.57 ± 1.72 for TB; 6.66 ± 1.73 for NBA and 5.13 ± 1.67 for NW. These results have been interpreted as the combined action of purging unfavourable genes and artificial selection favoured by the inbreeding throughout the generations of selection.

Expected responses to different strategies of selection to increase heat tolerance assessed by changes in litter size in rabbit.

Response on litter size (LS) to selection based on EBV of the own trait and several indexes including EBV of 1 or more parameters of a reaction norm model (RNM) was evaluated by simulation. The RNM described animal's performance under different environmental temperatures assuming that this has an animal-specific effect on LS beyond an animal-specific temperature threshold (i.e., it had 3 parameters: intercept [Int], slope [Slp], and threshold [Thr]). Litter size data were generated assuming this model under 2 environmental conditions (comfort [CC] and comfort-to-heat [CtHC]). Variance components for Int, Slp, Thr, and LS were taken from literature. The initial base population consisted of 125 females and 25 males. Ten generations of selection were conducted keeping constant the population size. Eight different selection criteria were considered, depending on both the evaluation model and the index combining EBV for 1 or more parameters of the RNM. In 1 case selection was based on EBV of the own trait predicted by using a repeatability animal model. In the other 7 cases the genetic evaluation was conducted using the same model as that used in the simulation. For each scenario 25 replicates were conducted and response to selection was assessed within replicate as the difference between generations in the average of trait. Results indicate that, under the studied conditions and for the used genetic parameters, selection based on the observed trait seems to have the same effect as selection based on some index, including EBV of the RNM parameters. In addition, response to selection could be greater under CtHC rather than CC. Animals selected exclusively for EBV of the Slp and Thr are not expected to have good performance under CC. Under CtHC, selection for LS has a major response on those parameters, whereas response on Int was very small. Under CC, response to selection on LS is mainly determined by a change in Int, whereas Slp does not change and Thr slightly increases. Selection based on EBV of Slp, Thr, or on an index including both seems to have the same effect on the trait and it was doubly effective in modifying the shape of the RNM under CtHC than under CC. Selection based on EBV of Thr and Slp does not seem to lead to any response in LS. Selection based on EBV of Int seems to have no effect on the trait or on animal's tolerance to heat under CtHC, but it would lead to a positive response in LS under CC.

Litter size components in a full diallel cross of four maternal lines of rabbits.

A crossbreeding experiment between 4 Spanish maternal lines of rabbits was performed to estimate crossbreeding effects on litter size components. The experiment was designed as a complete diallel cross involving 4 lines selected for litter size at weaning (A, V, H, and LP [L]) and their 12 simple crosses. Does from these 16 genetic groups were distributed among 4 Spanish farms, but only V line was present in all farms, allowing connectivity of the data. A total of 2,015 does in the third, fourth, or fifth gestations were subjected to laparoscopy. The recorded traits were ovulation rate (OR), number of implanted embryos (IE), total born (TB), embryo survival (ES), foetal survival (FS), and prenatal survival (PS). The differences in direct genetic effects, maternal genetic effects, and individual heterosis between the lines were estimated according to Dickerson's model. Line A was significantly inferior to lines V and H, whereas line LP was similar to A line, but for FS and PS, line A showed the best values, followed by line LP. Comparing crossbred groups to line V, significant differences were shown favoring crossbred groups for OR and IE. The crossbred groups presented high implantation rate, but the foetal survival was lower than in V line. Important values for commercial production were presented by some crosses for OR (HV, 1.26 ova), IE (AH, 1.50 embryos; HV, 1.41 embryos), and TB (AH, 0.82 rabbits; HV, 0.78 rabbits). Relevant and significant reciprocal effects were found, especially for OR in all cases except the LV and VL crosses. These differences become nonsignificant in most of the other traits. Regarding direct genetic effects, line A presented lower estimates than the other lines with important values for OR, but the opposite was observed for FS. The maternal effects were significant only for some contrasts in OR and revealed that the LP line was inferior to the others (1.08 ova compared to the A line, 1.23 compared to the H line, and 0.38 compared to the V line). In general, high positive values for heterosis were found in crossbred does for OR and IE. The crosses, where lines A and H were involved, showed significant heterosis. The highest values were obtained by crossing lines A and H (1.18 ova for OR, 1.87 embryos for IE) followed by the cross between lines H and V. Crosses between line LP and the other lines had a negative heterosis for FS and PS.

Long-term and transgenerational effects of cryopreservation on rabbit embryos.

The short-term effects of cryopreservation and embryo transfer are well documented (reduced embryo viability, changes in pattern expression), but little is known about their long-term effects. We examined the possibility that embryo vitrification and transfer in rabbit could have an impact on the long-term reproductive physiology of the offspring and whether these phenotypes could be transferred to the progeny. Vitrified rabbit embryos were warmed and transferred to recipient females (F0). The offspring of the F0 generation were the F1 generation (cryopreserved animals). Females from F1 generation offspring were bred to F1 males to generate an F2 generation. In addition, two counterpart groups of noncryopreserved animals were bred and housed simultaneously to F1 and F2 generations (CF1 and CF2, respectively). The reproductive traits studied in all studied groups were litter size (LS), number born alive at birth (BA), and postnatal survival at Day 28 (number of weaned/number born alive expressed as percentage). The reproductive traits were analyzed using Bayesian methodology. Features of the estimated marginal posterior distributions of the differences between F1 and their counterparts (F1 - CF1) and between F2 and their counterparts (F2 - CF2) in reproductive characters found that vitrification and transfer procedures cause a consistent increase in LS and BA between F1 and CF1 females (more than 1.4 kits in LS and more than 1.3 BA) and also between F2 and CF2 females (0.96 kits in LS and 0.94 BA). We concluded that embryo cryopreservation and transfer procedures have long-term effects on derived female reproduction (F1 females) and transgenerational effects on female F1 offspring (F2 females).

Effects of remifentanil on the cardiac conduction system. Our experience in the study of remifentanil electrophysiological properties.

Remifentanil is a selective mu-opioid receptor agonist characterized by a rapid onset and ultrashort predictable duration of action providing intense analgesia without prolonged respiratory depression. Remifentanil has been implicated in the causation of intraoperative bradyarrhythmias and asystole both in adults and in pediatric patients. Electrophysiological studies in humans and animals show that remifentanil provokes a dose-dependent depressor effect on sinus and AV node function, manifested by a significant prolongation of sinus node recovery time, sino-atrial conduction time and Wenckebach cycle length. These electrophysiologic effects of remifentanil suggest that it should be used with attention in vulnerable patients with predisposition to bradiarritmias during anesthesia.

Different resource allocation strategies result from selection for litter size at weaning in rabbit does.

This study examined the effect of long-term selection of a maternal rabbit line, solely for a reproductive criterion, on the ability of female rabbits to deal with constrained environmental conditions. Female rabbits from generations 16 and 36 (n=72 and 79, respectively) of a line founded and selected to increase litter size at weaning were compared simultaneously. Female rabbits were subjected to normal (NC), nutritional (NF) or heat (HC) challenging conditions from 1st to 3rd parturition. Animals in NC and NF were housed at normal room temperatures (18°C to 25°C) and respectively fed with control (11.6 MJ digestible energy (DE)/kg dry matter (DM), 126 g digestible protein (DP)/kg DM, and 168 g of ADF/kg DM) or low-energy fibrous diets (9.1 MJ DE/kg DM, 104 g DP/kg DM and 266 g ADF/kg DM), whereas those housed in HC were subjected to high room temperatures (25°C to 35°C) and the control diet. The litter size was lower for female rabbits housed in both NF and HC environments, but the extent and timing where this reduction took place differed between generations. In challenging conditions (NF and HC), the average reduction in the reproductive performance of female rabbits from generation 16, compared with NC, was -2.26 (P<0.05) and -0.51 kits born alive at 2nd and 3rd parturition, respectively. However, under these challenging conditions, the reproductive performance of female rabbits from generation 36 was less affected at 2nd parturition (-1.25 kits born alive), but showed a greater reduction at the 3rd parturition (-3.53 kits born alive; P<0.05) compared with NC. The results also showed differences between generations in digestible energy intake, milk yield and accretion, and use of body reserves throughout lactation in NC, HC and NF, which together indicate that there were different resource allocation strategies in the animals from the different generations. Selection to increase litter size at weaning led to increased reproductive robustness at the onset of an environmental constraint, but failure to sustain the reproductive liability when the challenge was maintained in the long term. This response could be directly related to the short-term environmental fluctuations (less severe) that frequently occur in the environment where this line has been selected.

Environmental sensitivity differs between rabbit lines selected for reproductive intensity and longevity.

To better understand the mechanisms that allow some animals to sustain their productive effort in harsh environmental conditions, rabbit does from two selection lines (LP and V) were housed in normal (NC), nutritional (NF) or heat (HC) challenging environmental conditions from first to third partum. The LP line (n=85) was founded on reproductive longevity criteria by selecting does from commercial farms that had a minimum of 25 partum with more than 7.5 kits born alive per parity. Line V (n=79) was constituted from four specialised maternal lines into a composite synthetic line and then selected by litter size at weaning for 36 generations. Female rabbits in NC and NF environments were housed at normal room temperature (18°C to 24°C) and fed with control [11.6 MJ digestible energy (DE)/kg dry matter (DM)] or low-energy diets (9.1 MJ DE/kg DM). HC does were housed at high room temperatures (25°C to 35°C) and fed the control diet. Female rabbits in the HC and NF environments ingested 11.5% and 6% less DE than NC does, respectively (P<0.05). These differences between environments occurred in both lines, with the differences being higher for LP than for V does (+6%; P<0.05). Milk yield responses followed those of energy intake also being higher for LP does (+21.3 g/day; P<0.05). The environmental conditions did not affect the perirenal fat thickness (PFT), but a genotype by environment interaction was observed. In NC and HC, the PFT was higher for line V (+0.23 and +0.35 mm, respectively; P<0.05) than for LP does, but this was not the case at NF (-0.01 mm). Moreover, the PFT evolution was different between them. In the NC environment, LP does used the accreted PFT in late lactation (-0.29 mm), whereas V does did not (-0.08 mm). Conversely, in the HC environment, LP does showed a flat PFT evolution in late lactation, whereas V does accumulated PFT. In the NF environment, LP and V does had a similar PFT evolution. There was also a litter size reduction for V does of -2.59 kits total born in HC and -1.78 kits total born in NF environments, whereas this was not observed for LP does. The results for LP does indicate a direct use of DE ingested for reproduction with little PFT change, whereas V does actively use the PFT reserves for reproduction.

Genetic variation in head morphometry of rabbit sperm.

The aim of this study was to determine the repeatability and heritability of sperm head characteristics: width (W, µm), area (A, µm2), length (L, µm), and perimeter (P, µm), and to explore the relationships between them and with the selection objective in a rabbit paternal line selected for daily weight gain (DG, g/day) between 28 and 63 days of age. Six sets of three-trait analyses were performed involving 12,908 DG records, with 1795 ejaculates corresponding to 283 males and 14,700 animals in pedigree file. The results obtained showed that sperm head dimensions are heritable (ranged between 0.2 and 0.29). The genetic correlations between sperm traits were always high and positive (between 0.72 and 0.90), with the exception of L-W genetic correlation, which was moderate. Regarding the genetic correlations between DG and sperm head characteristics, the resulting means ranged from -0.09 for L-DG to -0.43 for W-DG, showing a consistent evidence of the negativity of the genetic correlations. Further studies should be focused on the relationship between sperm head morphometry and different semen or ejaculate characteristics and also between sperm head morphometry and field fertility and prolificacy.

Comparison of immune response to lipopolysaccharide of rabbit does selected for litter size at weaning or founded for reproductive longevity.

To evaluate differences in maternal lines to the immune response of reproductive rabbit does, a total of 64 animals of two different lines: (1) founded for hyper-longevity and litter size criteria (LP) and (2) selected for litter size at weaning (V) were used. Females were subjected to three different reproductive efforts: post-partum (PP) mating at first lactation and 9 kits during the second; post-weaning (PW) mating at first lactation and 9 kits during the second; and PW mating at first lactation and 5 kits during the second. At second weaning (30 days PP), an acute response was induced by intravenous infusion of lipopolysaccharide (LPS). LP females seemed to be lower affected during the hyper-acute phase than V females, showing lower plasma glucose content at 1.5 h post infusion (pi) and rectal temperature at 6 h pi; and showed higher ulterior immune response, with higher levels of C-reactive protein at 48 h pi and haptoglobin in plasma from 24 h pi. Survival test conferred a higher risk of culling for V than for LP females during the first hours after challenge. These results may suggest that, regarding immune response to LPS challenge, foundation by hyper-longevity productive criteria lead to obtain a more robust population of rabbit does, characterized by improved response ability.

Environmental and male variation factors of freezability in rabbit semen.

The aim of this study was to analyze the environmental and male effects that could have an influence on sperm freezability using a recursive model. A total of 853 ejaculates from 217 males belonged to a paternal rabbit line were collected and frozen. Six different traits were evaluated: the sperm concentration (10(6) spermatozoa per mL), the acrosome integrity on fresh (%) and frozen-thawed semen (%), the sperm motility on fresh (%) and frozen-thawed semen (%), and the percentage of viable sperm on frozen-thawed semen (%). In addition, two synthetic traits were computed, the relative reduction of acrosome integrity (%) and relative reduction of motility (%) after the freezing-thawing process. A multiple-trait recursive model was used to analyze the relationships between the semen traits considered. For the fixed effects studied, the season had the highest effect on postthaw semen characteristics. Results of the analysis of recursive coefficients showed that fresh semen concentration and motility influence the future freezability of the semen. All traits studied presented moderate repeatabilities ranging from 0.11 to 0.38. These results provide conclusive evidence that sperm freezability in rabbits could be heritable. Regarding male correlations, there were large positive male correlations between fresh traits (r(m) = 0.77 to 0.57), and between direct frozen-thawed traits (r(m) = 0.72 to 1). Male effects on fresh and direct frozen-thawed traits were generally positively correlated. This correlation was moderate to high for fresh semen motility with all frozen-thawed traits (r(m) = 0.41 to 0.74) and for frozen-thawed semen and all fresh traits (r(m) = 0.5 to 0.74), these results suggest that these traits could be genetically related. Further studies involving more males and ejaculates should be conducted in the future to estimate the heritabilities and genetic correlations of postthaw semen traits in rabbits.

Estimation of genetic parameters for semen quality traits and growth rate in a paternal rabbit line.

Variance components of sperm quality traits were estimated in a paternal line of rabbits selected on the basis of daily weight gain (DG, g/day) between 28 and 63 days of age. Features of the marginal posterior distributions for the genetic variance ratios, variance due to non-additive plus environmental permanent male effects, and variance due to litter of birth effects with respect to phenotypic variance are reported. The correlation between sperm quality traits and the selection criteria were also estimated. Nine sets of two-trait analyses were performed involving 12 908 DG records, 2231 ejaculates corresponding to 412 males, and 14 700 animals in the pedigree file. Heritability values (h(2)) of sperm quality traits commonly evaluated in a classic spermiogram were 0.18, 0.19, and 0.12 for normal acrosome status (NAR) (%, percentage of sperm with intact acrosome), sperm abnormalities (ANR) (%, percentage of sperm abnormalities), and sperm motility (MOT) (%, percentage of total motile sperm cells), respectively. The h(2) of some motion computer-assisted sperm analysis (CASA) Parameters 0.09, 0.11, 0.10, 0.11, 0.11 and 0.11 for average path velocity (VAP) (µm/sec; average path velocity), straight-line velocity (VSL) (µm/sec; straight-line velocity), curvilinear velocity (VCL) (µm/sec; curvilinear velocity), linearity index (LIN) (%, linearity index), amplitude of lateral head displacement (ALH) (µm; amplitude of the lateral head displacement) and straightness (STR) (%, straightness) were also estimated. Permanent environmental effects were lower than the corresponding values of h(2) and varied between 0.04 and 0.14. Genetic correlations between DG and sperm traits showed a high interval of highest density of 95% (HPD)(95%) (interval of highest density of 95%). However, there is some consistent evidence of the negativity of the genetic correlations of DG with NAR and MOT (-0.40 and -0.53, respectively). Permanent correlations were low, including the zero in the HPD(95%). Litter birth correlations between DG with LIN and STR showed that a favorable effect for growth could be detrimental for them (-0.47 and -0.53). Therefore, as the magnitude of the genetic correlations does not seem very high, it may be possible to define a selection index, including some sperm quality traits that allow improvement of DG without diminishing the semen quality.