Learning how to eat like a pig: facilitating vertical information transfer to reduce weaning problems in piglets

cum laude graduation (with distinction

Big wil hetzelfde brokje als zijn moeder

In de praktijk wordt veel geëxperimenteerd met geurige en lichtverteerbare biggenvoeders, aantrekkelijke voerbakjes en de inrichting van het kraamhok. Alles om de jonge big maar vlot aan het vreten te krijgen, zodat het dier het spenen straks goed doorstaat. Recent onderzoek van de Leerstoelgroep Adaptatiefysiologie van Wageningen UR toont aan dat de jonge big niet zit te wachten op een leuk bakje met een uitgekiende 'jongelingenmix'. De big wil gewoon hetzelfde brokje als zijn moeder. Hier kan handig gebruik van worden gemaakt om biggen te leren eten

Vertrouwde geur geeft minder stress bij spenen

Varkens hechten zeer aan geur: de aroma’s die de ongeboren biggen al in de baarmoeder ‘opsnuiven’, hebben lange tijd een gunstig e…ffect op het dier. Bijvoorbeeld na het spenen. Biggen die dan de vertrouwde aroma’s kunnen ruiken, hebben daardoor minder stress. Dit blijkt uit onderzoek van Marije Oostindjer en Liesbeth Bolhuis, onderzoekers van de Leerstoelgroep Adaptatiefysiologie van Wageningen UR

Consumer-Related Food Waste: Causes and Potential for Action

In the past decade, food waste has received increased attention on both academic and societal levels. As a cause of negative economic, environmental and social effects, food waste is considered to be one of the sustainability issues that needs to be addressed. In developed countries, consumers are one of the biggest sources of food waste. To successfully reduce consumer-related food waste, it is necessary to have a clear understanding of the factors influencing food waste-related consumer perceptions and behaviors. The present paper presents the results of a literature review and expert interviews on factors causing consumer-related food waste in households and supply chains. Results show that consumers’ motivation to avoid food waste, their management skills of food provisioning and food handling and their trade-offs between priorities have an extensive influence on their food waste behaviors. We identify actions that governments, societal stakeholders and retailers can undertake to reduce consumer-related food waste, highlighting that synergistic actions between all parties are most promising. Further research should focus on exploring specific food waste contexts and interactions more in-depth. Experiments and interventions in particular can contribute to a shift from analysis to solutions

The role of red and processed meat in colorectal cancer development : a perspective

Peer reviewe

Quantifying resilience of humans and other animals

All life requires the capacity to recover from challenges that are as inevitable as they are unpredictable. Understanding this resilience is essential for managing the health of humans and their livestock. It has long been difficult to quantify resilience directly, forcing practitioners to rely on indirect static indicators of health. However, measurements from wearable electronics and other sources now allow us to analyze the dynamics of physiology and behavior with unsurpassed resolution. The resulting flood of data coincides with the emergence of novel analytical tools for estimating resilience from the pattern of micro-recoveries observed in natural time series. Such dynamic indicators of resilience (DIORs) may be used to monitor the risk of systemic failure across systems ranging from organs to entire organisms. These tools invite a fundamental rethink of our approach to the adaptive management of health and resilience