Reproductive management in pigs: emphasis on the different roles of the boar and on optimal insemination management

Boars have different roles in the reproductive management in pigs. Boar contact can stimulate follicle development and thereby induce oestrus, both in gilts and sows. Boar contact during oestrus is essential for good oestrus expression, which is essential for the correct timing of insemination and the proper use of boar contact during insemination can stimulate sperm transport and thereby fertilisation. Stimulation by boars clearly has an olfactory component (the boar smell), but can also have an auditory, visual and evn tactile component. The background of the different roles and some of these different components of the boar are discussed. To enable a good farrowing rate and litter size, sows should be inseminated between 0 and 24h before ovulation. However, it is not possible to accurately predict the time of ovulation in sows. Although ovulation takes place at a relatively fixed 60-75% of the duration of oestrus, the duration of oestrus varies considerably between sows and between farms, resulting in a variable ovulation time from onset of oestrus. Therefore, most farmers inseminate their sows every day of oestrus to ensure insemination within the optimal period. Since post-ovulation inseminations should be avoided, it is adviced to only inseminate sows while they still show an optimal standing respons

Assessing and improving quality of life in patients with head and neck cancer

Health-related quality of life (QoL) indicates the patients' perception of their health. It depends not only on disease- and treatment-related factors but also on complex inter-relationships of expectations, values and norms, psychologic distress, and comparison with other patients. This article introduces methods and challenges of QoL assessment in patients with head and neck cancer, as well as ways to overcome measurement problems and ways to improve their QoL. </p

Intermittent suckling with or without co-mingling of non-littermate piglets before weaning improves piglet performance in the immediate post-weaning period when compared with conventional weaning

Background: In this experiment, intermittent suckling (IS) with or without the co-mingling (CoM) of piglets was studied as a method to stimulate solid feed intake and reduce post-weaning stress. Methods: Three weaning regimes using 30 multiparous sows were compared: (1) conventional weaning (CW) (n = 10 litters), where piglets had continuous access to the sow until weaning (d 0, farrowing = d −25 relative to weaning); (2) intermittent suckling (IS) (n = 10 litters), where piglets were separated from the sow for 8 h/d starting at d −7 (relative to weaning); and (3) intermittent suckling with co-mingling (ISCo) (n = 10 litters) where IS started at d −7 and two litters were housed together during separation and then returned to their original sow. Ad libitum creep feed was available from d −17. At weaning pigs were housed in pens of 11 pigs, 27 pens in total. The ISCo treatment was divided in half to examine effects of different mixing strategies after weaning. Half of the ISCo litters were kept in familiar groups (ISCoF, familiar, n = 4) and the other half were mixed within treatment resulting in groups of unfamiliar pigs (ISCoNF, not familiar, n = 5), the same as IS (n = 9) and CW (n = 9) treatments. Results: The ISCo piglets ate more creep feed in the week before weaning (P < 0.01), but also showed more aggressive and manipulative behaviour on first day of CoM compared with CW piglets (P < 0.05). IS with or without CoM increased exploratory and play behaviour on the first day of treatment intervention (P < 0.001) and increased sleeping behaviour on the last day of treatment intervention compared with CW (P < 0.001). Mixing strategy at weaning had an effect on performance data with the highest growth and feed intake seen in ISCoF pigs 2 to 8 d after weaning (P <0.001). IS and ISCoNF pigs also grew faster and ate more than CW pigs 2 to 8 d after weaning (P < 0.001). Post-weaning injury scores suggested reduced aggression in ISCo as evidenced by reduced redness (skin irritation) (P < 0.05), and a tendency for ISCo to have less scratches than CW (P < 0.1). The IS pigs slept the most and displayed less manipulative behaviours on the day of weaning and plasma haptoglobin levels remained low in IS pigs after weaning (P ≤ 0.01). Conclusions: Both intermittent suckling techniques improved production indices in the immediate post-weaning period. However, the addition of co-mingling before weaning in combination with grouping familiar pigs together after weaning improved performance in an additive manner

Improving welfare and production in the peri-weaning period: Effects of co-mingling and intermittent suckling on the stress response, performance, behaviour, and gastrointestinal tract carbohydrate absorption in young pigs

We investigated the effect of different pre-weaning interventions on performance, aspects of behaviour, and selected neuroendocrine, inflammatory and immune indices in 593 weanling pigs (59 litters, weaning age 22 ± 1.7). Measurements were taken at various time points two weeks before and after weaning. Sugar absorption tests (20% mannitol and 20% galactose solutions) were used to assess gastrointestinal tract (GIT) absorptive capacity. One week before weaning, litters were either co-mingled (CoM) for 8 h daily with another litter or not co-mingled (NoCoM). Half of the litters were also subjected to intermittent suckling (IS) involving separation from their sow for 8 h daily and the other half remained with their sow (NoIS). Hence, four treatments were produced in a 2×2 factorial design; (1) CoM IS (n = 16 litters), (2) CoM NoIS (n = 14 litters), (3) NoCoM IS (n = 16 litters), (4) NoCoM NoIS (n = 13 litters). Measurements are compared within each of the main effects (CoM or IS) unless otherwise stated. Acute weaning stress was evidenced by increases in cortisol, haptoglobin and N: L ratios when data were combined (P < 0.001). However, there were tendencies (P < 0.1) for lower cortisol in IS pigs and higher N: L ratios in CoM pigs at weaning. While CoM did not affect performance before weaning, growth (P < 0.05), feed intake (P < 0.05) and body weight (P < 0.05) were reduced in CoM pigs 7-14 days after weaning. One week of IS before weaning improved feed intake before weaning (P < 0.01), resulting in better growth (P = 0.01) and a tendency (P < 0.1) for a higher feed intake 2-7 days after weaning. Co-mingled piglets had more scratches 4 days before weaning (P < 0.001), but tended to have fewer scratches 2 days after weaning (P < 0.1). Pigs exposed to either IS or CoM displayed more sleeping behaviour the day after weaning (P < 0.01 and P < 0.001). A higher mannitol absorption was evident in CoM NoIS pigs 3 days after weaning (P < 0.01), and galactose absorption was reduced in IS pigs 3 days before weaning (P < 0.05) and tended to be reduced 3 days after weaning (P < 0.1), likely reflecting a GIT adaptive response. Overall, despite improvements in mannitol absorption and behaviour, there was no beneficial effect of CoM on performance after weaning. Alternatively, IS improved behaviour and performance during the first week after weaning

Modelling for Radiation Treatment Outcome

Modelling of tumour control probability (TCP) and normal tissue complication probability (NTCP) has been continuously used to estimate the therapeutic window of radiotherapy. In recent years, available data on tumour and normal tissue biology and from multimodal imaging have increased substantially, in particular, due to image-guided radiotherapy (see previous chapters of this book) and novel high-throughput sequencing technologies. Accordingly, more complex modelling algorithms are applied and issues of data quality, structured modelling procedures, and model validation need to be addressed. This chapter outlines general modelling principles in the era of big data, provides definitions of classical TCP and NTCP models, and presents two applications of outcome modelling in radiotherapy: the model-based approach for assigning patients to photon or proton-beam therapy and radiomics analyses based on clinical imaging data.</p

Modelling for Radiation Treatment Outcome

Modelling of tumour control probability (TCP) and normal tissue complication probability (NTCP) has been continuously used to estimate the therapeutic window of radiotherapy. In recent years, available data on tumour and normal tissue biology and from multimodal imaging have increased substantially, in particular, due to image-guided radiotherapy (see previous chapters of this book) and novel high-throughput sequencing technologies. Accordingly, more complex modelling algorithms are applied and issues of data quality, structured modelling procedures, and model validation need to be addressed. This chapter outlines general modelling principles in the era of big data, provides definitions of classical TCP and NTCP models, and presents two applications of outcome modelling in radiotherapy: the model-based approach for assigning patients to photon or proton-beam therapy and radiomics analyses based on clinical imaging data.</p