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A significant effect of year on maize nutritive value has been reported in many studies; however, the direct effect of year on both nutritive values and fermentation traits of maize silage has not been directly investigated. During a 7-year period (2006-2012), we investigated the following variables of 597 maize silages commercially produced in bunker silos on farms in the Czech Republic: dry-matter content (DM), crude protein (CP), starch, amylase-treated neutral detergent fibre ( aNDF), acid detergent fibre (ADF) and net energy lactation (NEL), as well as fermentation traits such as pH, contents of lactic acid (LA), acetic acid (AA), butyric acid (BA) and the ratio between LA and volatile fatty acids. The effect of year and DM explained 16 and 30% of the variability in nutritive and fermentation traits respectively. Although a common silage DM content was used for each year, the climatic effect of year significantly changed almost all tested variables, but particularly aNDF, ADF, starch, AA and BA. The year contribution to trait variability effect was as much as two times higher for fermentation traits (12·6%) as for nutritive value (6·1%). Temperature-precipitation relationships associated with achieved maize yield were considered as factors explaining the year effect. Temperature and precipitation averaged over the full vegetation period had low relevance to nutritive and fermentation traits. This study reveals the importance of year-to-year variation in silage nutritive value and fermentation, which could be useful for understanding the contribution of year to these changes in both field experiments and national assessments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A study was carried out in Central Bohemia to understand the effect of row spacing and stand density on plant morphology, productivity and quality of silage maize in two row spacing treatments (0.70 m and 0.35 m) at two stand densities (92,000 plants/ha and 110,000 plants/ha). The results of the study showed that row spacing and stand density had no effect on plant height or weight; however, significantly higher ear ratio and dry matter content was found in narrow rows at 110,000 plants/ha. It was observed that plant morphology was affected more by the interaction between row spacing and stand density than by a single effect of tested factors. Significantly higher dry matter yield was recorded at higher stand density, but there was no row spacing × stand density interaction. Row spacing had no impact on the whole plant neutral detergent fiber (NDF) content, crude protein of stover and starch content of ear, while narrow rows resulted in almost significantly higher stover NDF content. Our results suggest that narrow rows could be advantageous for maize morphology and quality in cases where higher stand density is applied.

Objective: In the Czech Republic in the treatment of male infertility the most up-to-date technologies of assisted reproduction have also become the methods of choice: MESA--microsurgical epididymal sperm aspiration, TESE--testicular sperm extraction and ICSI--intracytoplasmic sperm injection. The objective of the present study was an attempt to find a reliable predictor of results of planned TESE as prediction of possible successful sperm extraction can prevent unnecessary ovarian stimulation., Design: Retrospective analysis of a group of 202 men operated in the authors centre on account of azoospermia--65 patients with obstructive azoospermia and 137 patients with testicular azoospermia., Setting: Andromeda, Biolab, Iscare IVF, Prague., Method: The following parameters were evaluated: testicular volume, FSH serum level and histological finding and their values were compared with results of TESE., Results: Elevated FSH levels and low testicular volume do not rule out a positive result of TESE. The most accurate predictor is histological examination. Elongated spermatids were found in the histological material in 59.3% of the examined cases which correlates significantly with the 60.2% TESE yield in the evaluated group., Conclusion: The material assembled on operation was divided into three parts. One serves preparation of the perIerative native preparation, the second one is dispatched for histological examination and the largest part is frozen. Simultaneous collection of oocytes and sperm cells is done only in selected cases. The histological finding of elongated spermatids indicates a positive finding of sperm during TESE with an accuracy of 91%. Assessment of the causes of azoospermia, evaluation of the state of spermatogenesis and treatment are thus implemented by a single operation.