A total number of 1092 artificial inseminations (AIs) performed from March to May were documented over four consecutive years on 10 Payoya goat farms (36° N) and 19,392 AIs on 102 Rasa Aragonesa sheep farms (41° N) over 10 years. Mean, maximum, and minimum ambient temperatures, mean relative humidity, mean solar radiation, and total rainfall on each insemination day were recorded. Overall, fertility rates were 58 % in goats and 45 % in sheep. The fertility rates of the highest and lowest deciles of each of the meteorological variables indicated that temperature and rainfall had a significant effect on fertility in goats. Specifically, inseminations that were performed when mean (68 %), maximum (68 %), and minimum (66 %) temperatures were in the highest decile, and rainfall was in the lowest decile (59 %), had a significantly (P < 0.0001) higher proportion of does that became pregnant than did the ewes in the lowest decile (56, 54, 58, and 49 %, respectively). In sheep, the fertility rates of the highest decile of mean (62 %), maximum (62 %), and minimum (52 %) temperature, RH (52 %), THI (53 %), and rainfall (45 %) were significantly higher (P < 0.0001) than were the fertility rates among ewes in the lowest decile (46, 45, 45, 45, 46, and 43 %, respectively). In conclusion, weather was related to fertility in small ruminants after AI in spring. It remains to be determined whether scheduling the dates of insemination based on forecasted temperatures can improve the success of AI in goats and sheep.

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Abbreviations: HRQoL, health related quality of life; ADL, activities of daily living; QoL, quality of life; IOR, institute of oncology and radiobiology; ACCI, adjusted charlson comorbidity index; ASA, american society of anaesthesiology; APCHE, acute physiology and chronic health evaluation; VAS, visual analogue scale; IQR, interquartile range; PS, performance status IntroductionCancer is one of first cause of death around the world and Cuba.1 Surgery is one of most important therapeutic tool for its control, either for curative or palliative purpose. Although surgical intervention can be a life-saviour strategy for these patients, several complications could be present in postoperative period, 2 as well as limitations for activities of daily living (ADL) and derangement in quality of life (QoL).3 Postoperative recovery is a dynamic process where biological, physiological, functional and psychological components play a pivotal role. A rise in physical independence and gradual return to ADL are global indicator of functional recovery after surgery. For most patients, the evaluation of ADL is only performed during their hospital stay. Traditionally, patients should probe their capacity to walking, eating, bathing and dressing without help. 4Elderly patients are a special increasing subgroup.5 Because of the ageing-related characteristics, this population has a decreased functional capacity even before hospital admission.6 According to literature reports, more than 10% of elderly patients develop a severe postoperative disability.7 Postoperative evaluations of functional capacity and health-related QoL (HRQoL) have been become as an important component of long-term surgical outcomes, particularly in the elderly population. 8-11The problem is more serious in the case of cancer patients because a higher prevalence of malignancies among the elderly subgroup. 12,13Frequently, surgical indication for elderly patients with comorbidities is based on subjective judgement according to the personal experience of surgeon. In addition, a negative attitude regarding elderly patients can be see among some physicians, which lead to patients with acceptable functional status could be not surgically treated as usually is indicated for younger patients. Furthermore, radical surgical interventions are neither performed in elderly population. This is significant because currently the primary tumour and regional lymphatic node can only be removed by radical intervention with surgical margin, which guarantees a higher probability of cure. 14,15This study was aimed to assess the prevalence of disability and healthrelated quality of life, as well as related risk factors among patients operated for gastrointestinal or thoracic cancer. Methods Design and settingThis retrospective study was conducted in the oncological ICU (OICU) of the Institute of Oncology and Radiobiology (IOR). This is a 220-bed, university-affiliated, tertiary care referral centre for cancer patients in Havana, Cuba. The OICU has 12 beds and provides care for about 400...

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