The effectiveness of rabbit-sperm cryopreservation is still below average compared to other domestic species. After the sperm cryopreservation process, post-thawing parameters like motility and membrane integrity are significantly compromised. The use of new extender constituents is an approach that can be used to improve the effectiveness of cryopreservation. Accordingly, we used honey (1.25, 2.5, 5, and 10%), coenzyme Q10 (100 and 200 μM), and β-carotene/α-tocopherol (500 μM/620 μM and 250 μM/310 μM) as candidate components for rabbit-sperm extenders during cryopreservation. Ejaculates from commercial adult rabbit bucks (n = 5) were cryopreserved using conventional freezing. Several post-thawing sperm parameters were assessed, including total motility, membrane integrity, viability, nuclear membrane integrity, acrosome reaction, and mitochondrial membrane potential and activation. Additionally, we performed hormonal analyses of the seminal plasma. Moreover, we analyzed the post-thawing levels of a molecular marker of sperm quality, proAKAP4, which was used in rabbits for the first time. Our findings showed that the 2.5% honey supplementation increased the post-thawing sperm motility (13.75 ± 3.75%) compared to the greater concentrations employed. However, the post-thawing motility was negatively affected by the coenzyme Q10 (0%, in both groups) but was not affected by the β-carotene/α-tocopherol supplementation (22 ± 18.15%, and 11.67 ± 10.17%). In conclusion, the cryopreservation protocols of this study did not help to maintain the sperm parameters after thawing. Further studies are required to identify novel protocols to mitigate the damage caused to rabbit sperm during cryopreservation.

Introduction The aim of this study was to test the hypothesis that transperineal ultrasound can be used to decide whether to admit a pregnant woman due to labor. Material and methods In this analytical cross‐sectional observational study, transperineal ultrasound was performed on pregnant women with intact membranes who came to the hospital due to contractions. A decision was made to admit women due to labor based on the ultrasound measurements. The ultrasound measurements were used to determine cervical dilation, the angle of progression, and fetal head position. The managing midwives were blinded to the results and made the final decision to admit the women based on digital vaginal examination. Results It was possible to decide whether a woman had to be admitted for delivery or discharged due to the latent phase of labor according to the ultrasound examination in 55 of the 57 cases (96.5%). In four of the 55 cases, the decision based on ultrasound differed from the midwife's decision (7.3%). There was strong agreement between the decision to admit the pregnant women based on ultrasound measurements and the digital vaginal examination (Cohen's kappa: 0.844). It was possible to measure cervical dilation with ultrasound in 52 of the 57 cases (91.2%). The intraclass correlation coefficient for the cervical dilation measurements was 0.736 (95% confidence interval 0.539‐0.848). Conclusions There was strong agreement between the ultrasound and digital vaginal examination results in the decision to admit singleton pregnant women at term due to labor. A large number of vaginal examinations could be avoided by using intrapartum ultrasound.

El plasmocitoma mamario es una neoplasia de células plasmáticas extremadamente infrecuente, con menos de cincuenta casos descritos en el último siglo. Por este motivo, apenas se dispone de datos acerca del abordaje, tratamiento y seguimiento más convenientes. Presentamos el caso de una paciente de 70 años que debutó con un plasmocitoma mamario y que un año después fue diagnosticada de un carcinoma mamario lobulillar ipsilateral. La asociación entre plasmocitoma y cáncer de mama no está descrita en la literatura, por lo que es muy complicado establecer un vínculo entre ambas entidades. Sin embargo, el abordaje terapéutico del plasmocitoma podría comprometer el tratamiento ulterior de un cáncer de mama, por lo que el tratamiento idóneo en estos casos sea probablemente la cirugía.