Determination of trace elements in bovine semen samples by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry and data mining techniques for identification of bovine class

Abstract

The reproductive performance of cattle may be influenced by several factors, but mineral imbalances are crucial in terms of direct effects on reproduction. Several studies have shown that elements such as calcium, copper, iron, magnesium, selenium, and zinc are essential for reproduction and can prevent oxidative stress. However, toxic elements such as lead, nickel, and arsenic can have adverse effects on reproduction. In this paper, we applied a simple and fast method of multi-element analysis to bovine semen samples from Zebu and European classes used in reproduction programs and artificial insemination. Samples were analyzed by inductively coupled plasma spectrometry (ICP-MS) using aqueous medium calibration and the samples were diluted in a proportion of 1:50 in a solution containing 0.01% (vol/vol) Triton X-100 and 0.5% (vol/vol) nitric acid. Rhodium, iridium, and yttrium were used as the internal standards for ICP-MS analysis. To develop a reliable method of tracing the class of bovine semen, we used data mining techniques that make it possible to classify unknown samples after checking the differentiation of known-class samples. Based on the determination of 15 elements in 41 samples of bovine semen, 3 machine-learning tools for classification were applied to determine cattle class. Our results demonstrate the potential of support vector machine (SVM), multilayer perceptron (MLP), and random forest (RF) chemometric tools to identify cattle class. Moreover, the selection tools made it possible to reduce the number of chemical elements needed from 15 to just 8.

The influence of macro- and microelements in seminal plasma on diluted boar sperm quality

“…The supernatant was removed and centrifuged again at 13,000 g for 15 min at 4 °C to separate seminal plasma, which was then aliquoted and frozen at −80 °C until assayed for Na, Mg, Ca, K, Fe, Cu, Zn and Se. Analysis of the elements was performed as described previously [ 18 ] with a slight modification. Microwave digestion of the samples was performed using an MARS 5 Microwave Acceleration Reaction System (CEM, Matthews, NC).…”

Macro- and microelements in serum and seminal plasma as biomarkers for bull sperm cryotolerance

“…Attention is now turning to the evaluation of other components of semen, such as fertility-associated proteins [ 5 , 6 ] and macro- and microelements [ 7 – 9 ]. Elements are known to play an important role in bovine health and reproduction [ 10 ], and several studies have shown that element imbalance affects the reproductive performance of bulls and that elements such as calcium (Ca), copper (Cu), iron (Fe), magnesium (Mg), selenium (Se) and zinc (Zn) are essential for reproduction and that their deficiency can lead to degenerative changes in spermatogenesis [ 7 , 11 – 13 ]. In humans, routine seminal plasma assessment includes the analysis of some microelements, such as Zn and Se, which are associated with sperm quality because of their antioxidant properties [ 14 , 15 ].…”

Prediction of course completion by students of a university in Brazil

“…Learning algorithms for classification have been successfully deployed in a variety of applications, such as: food (Maione et al, 2016) and animal science (Aguiar et al, 2012), among others. The learning stages of our prediction problem are as follows.…”