The invention relates to methods of increasing the genetic progress of a line, breed or herd of swine through the use of sex-selected sperm cells in artificial insemination techniques. The invention also encompasses methods of artificially inseminating a swine via deep intrauterine catheter or via a laparoscopic procedure, which allow the use of reduced doses of sex-selected sperm cells.

The present invention relates to a method for calculating the body condition scoreBCS, the weight of an animal and its state of fertility by means of the mathematical processing of some characteristic morphological traits of the observed subject, which makes use of at least one contact or no-contact detection device of the profile 109 of the animal, at least a data processing unit and a program that implements a specific mathematical method of interpretation. By such a method, the determination of the body condition and its synthetic index or fattening index or FI, is independent of species, race, gender, age and absolute size of the examined animal. This method is also robust to possible errors of positioning of the apparatus by an operator.

A lateral flow testing device (1) comprises a main body (3) adapted to support an element (5) for collecting a sample (100), said sample collection element (5) being supported at a distal end (1d) of the testing device (1) and being in fluid communication with one or more testing components (7), the testing components comprising an analyte detection zone for detecting one or more analytes present in said sample. The testing components produce visual information (200) related to said sample (100), thereby informing the user of the outcome of a test. The device incorporates a handle (9) reconfigurable with respect to said main body (3) such that in one or more first handle configurations (11) the handle (9) hinders sight of the visual information (200), and in one or more second handle configurations (13) the handle (9) facilitates the collection of said sample (100) by increasing a distance between a proximal end (1p) of the testing device (1) and the sample collection element (5). The testing device (1) is adapted such that the handle (9) is reconfigurable from at least one of said second handle configurations (13) to at least one of said first handle configurations (11) to hinder sight of the visual information (200) after that said testing has been carried out, therefore improving the privacy of the test.

A sleep assist system to monitor and assist the user's sleep, comprising a bedside device positioned near the user's bed, the bedside device comprising a loudspeaker and a light source and optionally a microphone, a light sensor, a temperature sensor, a control unit, an air quality sensor, a display unit, a user interface. The sleep assist system further comprises a first sensing unit positioned in the user's bed and comprising one or more sensors adapted to sense at least pressure and/or changes in pressure exerted by the user lying in the bed. The system monitors the user's sleep, assesses the user's sleep cycles and the phase of sleep cycle, and provides the user with at least one light and sound program, the light and sound program being based on the assessment of the user's sleep cycles and the phase of sleep cycle.

A testing device for body fluid analysis includes: a sheet unit having a sheet of which a first surface receives body fluid of a user to be deposited thereon; a contact unit having a magnifying lens group for magnifying the body fluid deposited on the sheet, the contact unit being provided with a first side at which the magnifying lens group is placed to face the first surface of the sheet and being provided with a second side at which a guide adhering to a photographing means obtaining an image of the body fluid magnified by the magnifying lens group or coming into contact with around an eye of the user is placed; and a light source unit placed to face a second surface of the sheet of the sheet unit in a direction facing the contact unit with the sheet unit in between.

A testing device for body fluid analysis includes: a sheet unit having a sheet of which a first surface receives body fluid of a user to be deposited thereon; a contact unit having a magnifying lens group for magnifying the body fluid deposited on the sheet, the contact unit being provided with a first side at which the magnifying lens group is placed to face the first surface of the sheet and being provided with a second side at which a guide adhering to a photographing means obtaining an image of the body fluid magnified by the magnifying lens group or coming into contact with around an eye of the user is placed; and a light source unit placed to face a second surface of the sheet of the sheet unit in a direction facing the contact unit with the sheet unit in between.

The disclosed invention provides a sensing device capable of concentrating a fluid sample with respect to a target analyte and a reference analyte, and measuring the target analyte and reference analyte in the concentrated sample. The invention includes a concentrator that may include a selectively permeable membrane, or a gel having an increasing density gradient. In another embodiment, the invention includes an air or gas gap between a fluid transport channel and the concentrator. In another embodiment, the sensing device includes a driver for electronically moving a fluid sample through the channel and membrane to cause concentration. In some embodiments, the invention may also determine the change in molarity of the fluid sample with respect to the target analyte, as the sample is concentrated by the device.

The present invention solves a conventional problem that it is not possible to predict menstruation-related information related to menstruation using abdominal sounds. A menstruation-related information output apparatus includes: a learning information storage unit in which learning information configured using two or more pieces of training data having sound information acquired from abdominal sounds of a user and menstruation-related information related to menstruation is stored; a sound information acquiring unit that acquires sound information from abdominal sounds of the user; a predicting unit that applies the learning information to the sound information acquired by the sound information acquiring unit, thereby acquiring menstruation-related information; and an output unit that outputs the menstruation-related information acquired by the predicting unit. Accordingly, it is possible to predict menstruation-related information using abdominal sounds from the abdomen.

Apparatus and methods are described for monitoring a female subject. A sensor is configured to monitor the subject without contacting the subject or clothes the subject is wearing, and without viewing the subject or clothes the subject is wearing, and to generate a sensor signal in response to the monitoring. A computer processor is configured to receive the sensor signal, and to analyze the sensor signal. In response to the analyzing, the computer processor is configured to automatically identify a menstrual state of the subject, and to generate an output in response thereto. Other applications are also described.

The present invention discloses software programs, systems and methods for increasing the chances of users conception by maximizing the user's fertility potential by providing a software program that combines identifying the underlying causes of infertility and using best practices as described by current medical literature for fertility changes along with herbal recommendations to provide personalized wellness recommendations that give the individual user the power to improve their natural fertility.