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The etiology of Postpartum dysgalactia syndrome (PDS) includes stress οn preparturition and constipation associated with low water intake or low fiber intake. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of a raw crude fibre concentrate (Arbocel®) on sow’s metabolism and performance. 100 sows from a farm suffering from PDS, were divided into two groups, with equal distribution of their parity (1 to 5 parity): a) T1 group (control group): 50 sows were fed with regular gestation feed (GF), pre-farrowing feed (PFF), and lactation feed (LF), b) T2 group: 50 sows were fed with regular GF, PFF and LF supplemented with topdress Arbocel® from 104th day of gestation until 7th day of lactation). Health parameters [faeces score (FS), PDS score (PDSS), body condition score (BCS)], performance parameters and liter characteristics were recorded. Blood samples were collected from 25 sows / group (5 sows per parity) 24 h after birth of last piglet and on 14th day of lactation for the evaluation of insulin, leptin and ghrelin levels in the serum, using commercial ELISA kits. In T2 group, BCS at farrowing (p

Ο προσδιορισμός της στάθμης της κορτιζόλης είναι η φυσιολογική παράμετρος που χρησιμοποιείται συχνότερα στην εκτίμηση της ευζωίας των χοίρων. Για την αξιολόγηση της καταπόνησης (stress) των χοίρων που σταβλίζονται ομαδικά, η συλλογή δειγμάτων ούρων κατά την ούρηση των ζώων είναι εύκολη και πρακτική. Σκοπός της εργασίας αυτής ήταν η εφαρμογή υγρής χρωματογραφίας σε συνδυασμό με φασματογραφία μάζας υψηλής ανάλυσης για την περιγραφή της καμπύλης απέκκρισης κορτιζόλης στη διάρκεια της ημέρας σε ούρα ομαδικά σταβλισμένων χοιρομητέρων. Ο προσδιορισμός της κορτιζόλης έγινε σε δείγματα ούρων που συλλέχθηκαν κατά τη διούρηση από 30 χοιρομητέρες τριών ελληνικών εκτροφών. Από κάθε ζώο συλλέχθηκαν επαναλαμβανόμενα δείγματα την ίδια ημέρα. Βρήκαμε ότι η στάθμη της κορτιζόλης στα ούρα ήταν υψηλότερη πριν το πρωινό τάισμα των ζώων [ο γεωμετρικός μέσος όρος του λόγου της στάθμης της κορτιζόλης προς τη στάθμη της κρεατινίνης ήταν 2.72 (95% εμπιστοσύνης: 1,17, 6,30), 5,65 (3,15, 10,14) και 2,60 (1,50, 4,50) στις χοιρομητέρες των εκτροφών A, B, και Γ, αντιστοίχως] και χαμηλότερη στις 7:00 μ.μ. [0,56 (0,27, 1,18), 1,24 (0,74, 2,07), 0,88 (0,55, 1,44)]. Οι καμπύλες ημερήσιας απέκκρισης της κορτιζόλης στα ούρα των χοιρομητέρων διέφεραν σημαντικά μεταξύ των τριών εκτροφών., Cortisol is the most common physiological parameter used to measure welfare in pigs. In field studies evaluating stress in individual pigs which are group housed, the collection of spontaneously voided urine is practical. The purpose of the study was to apply a liquid chromatography coupled to high-resolution mass spectrometry approach to observe the patterns of diurnal urinary cortisol excretion among loose sows of three herds. We applied the analytical method in spontaneously voided urine of thirty, repeatedly sampled within a day, multiparous sows of three Greek herds. We found the level of urinary cortisol being highest before morning feeding [geometric mean of urinary cortisol to creatinine ratio being 2.72 (95% confidence interval: 1.17, 6.30), 5.65 (3.15, 10.14) and 2.60 (1.50, 4.50) in sows of herds A, B, and C, respectively] and lowest at 19:00 h [0.56 (0.27, 1.18), 1.24 (0.74, 2.07), 0.88 (0.55, 1.44)]. However, the patterns of diurnal urinary cortisol excretion appeared different among herds.

Research showed a positive association between back fat (BF) change the week before farrowing and colostrum yield (CY). This study tested the causality of this association, hence to optimize CY by altering the sows' peripartal feeding strategy. Sows were randomly divided into 2 treatment groups at d 108 of gestation. The first group (L, n = 28) received 1.5 kg feed.d(-1), the second group (H, n = 22) received 3 times 1.5 kg feed.d(-1) until farrowing. Daily feed intake and CY were measured. Colostrum was analyzed for nutrient composition, AA and fatty acids, IgG and IgA. Sow serum was obtained at d 108 of gestation and d 1 of lactation after overnight fasting and analyzed for NEFA, (iso) butyrylcarnitine (C4), creatinine, urea, 3-OH-butyrylcarnitine (3-OH-C4), IgG, and IgA. Based on BF at d 108, sows were divided into body condition (BC) groups: skinny (23 mm, n = 14). We performed ANOVA with treatment and BC as fixed factors and Scheffe post-hoc test. The week before farrowing, the L group had the lowest daily feed intake (DFI; 1.5 kg), and within the H group, fat sows (3.8 kg) had a lower DFI than skinny sows (4.3 kg; p = 0.006). The H group tended to have a greater total CY (P = 0.074) and had a greater CY/kg liveborn piglet (P = 0.018) than the L group. Compared with sows in moderate BC, fat sows had a lower total CY (P = 0.044) and a lower CY/kg liveborn piglet (P = 0.005). The H group had a greater concentration of lactose (p = 0.009) and n-3 PUFA (p < 0.001) but a lower concentration of protein (p = 0.040) in colostrum than the L group. The concentration of IgG and IgA did not differ between treatment and BC groups. Serum parameters at d 108 were similar between the treatment groups and BC groups. At d 1, the H group mobilized less body fat (NEFA: p = 0.002) and protein (creatinine: p < 0.001, C4: p = 0.016) reserves but had a greater ratio urea: NEFA (p < 0.001) and less ketone bodies (3-OH-C4: p < 0.001) compared with the L group. This indicates a more balanced entry of metabolites in the citric acid cycle and thus a better support of the maternal peripartal metabolism in the H group. Serum parameters did not differ between BC groups. Both CY and composition can be influenced by the peripartal feeding strategy and BC. The highest CY and most beneficial colostrum composition were obtained when sows entered the farrowing unit in a moderate BC and were provided a high peripartal feeding strategy.

De kleine stad Zoutleeuw in het oosten van de provincie Vlaams-Brabant, op de grens van het Hageland, Vochtig-Haspengouw en Haspengouw, kent een lange en bewogen geschiedenis en heeft een grote erfgoedwaarde. In opdracht van het agentschap Onroerend Erfgoed voerde Antea Group in het voorjaar en de zomer van 2013 een evaluerende en waarderende studie uit naar de Spaanse Citadel te Zoutleeuw. Naast een gedetailleerd onderzoek, bestaande uit zowel een bureau- als veldonderzoek, van het kernstudiegebied werd eveneens een bureauonderzoek uitgevoerd naar de ruimere stad en met name de verdedigingselementen. De resultaten daarvan vindt u in dit rapport. Doelstelling van de gevoerde studie was eveneens om na te gaan of deze site beschermingswaardig is. Op de meeste criteria scoort de site matig tot goed. Op basis van deze analyse adviseren de auteurs om de site in aanmerking te nemen voor een bescherming als archeologisch monument. Er worden eveneens suggesties geformuleerd naar ontsluiting en beheer.

Transthoracic echocardiography and continuous wave Doppler were prospectively performed in 132 out-patients with suspicion of pulmonary embolism, and who had no previous history of severe cardiac or pulmonary disease. Bedside echocardiography determined diagnosis other than pulmonary embolism in 55 patients. Further study was completed in 70 patients; pulmonary embolism was found in 31 and excluded in 39. Significant differences were found as regards right ventricular diameter (27 +/- 8 vs 22 +/- 5 mm, P < 0.001), left ventricular diameter (41 +/- 9 vs 49 +/- 7 mm, P < 0.001), right over left ventricular diameter ratio (0.67 +/- 0.23 vs 0.43 +/- 0.15, P < 0.0001), tricuspid regurgitant flow peak velocity (2.9 +/- 0.4 vs 2.4 +/- 0.7 m.s-1, P < 0.0001), and abnormal septum motion (12 vs 4, P < 0.01). Multivariate analysis of echocardiographic data included a tricuspid regurgitant flow peak velocity greater than 2.5 m.s-1 and a right over left ventricular diameter ratio greater than 0.5 in a logistic model (sensitivity 93%, specificity 81%). The combination of echocardiographic and non-echocardiographic data included the two previous echocardiographic variables, together with signs of deep vein thrombosis, a deep S wave in lead D1, and a Q wave in lead D3 on the electrocardiogram in a logistic model (sensitivity 96%, specificity 83%). It can be concluded that emergency echocardiography, alone or combined with clinical examination and electrocardiogram, satisfactorily predicts acute pulmonary embolism.

This document is a General Synthesis Report of the Different ADS Design Status being designed within the EUROTRANS Integrated Project; an FP6 European commission partially funded programme. This project had the goal to demonstrate the possibility of nuclear waste transmutation/burning in Accelerator Driven Systems (ADS) at industrial scale.The focus is on a Pb-cooled ADS for the European Facility on Industrial scale Transmuter (ETD/EFIT) with a back-up solution based on an He cooled ADS.As an intermediate step towards this industrial-scale prototype, an eXperimental Transmuter based on ADS concept (ETD/XT-ADS) able to demonstrate both the feasibility of the ADS concept and to accumulate experience when using dedicated fuel sub-assemblies or dedicated pins within a MOX fuel core has been also studied.The two machines (XT-ADS and Pb cooled EFIT) have been designed in a consistent way bringing more credibility to the potential licensing of these plants and with sufficient details to allow definition of the critical issues as regards design, safety and associated technological and basic R&D needs. The different designs fit rather well with the technical objectives fixed at the beginning of the project in consistency with the European Roadmap on ADS development.For what concerns the accelerator, the superconducting LINAC has been clearly assessed as the most suitable concept for the three reactors in particular with respect to the stringent requirements on reliability. Associated R&D needs have been identified and will be focused on critical components (injector, cryomodule) long term testing.The design of the different ADS has been performed in view of what is reasonably achievable pending the completion of R&D programmes. The way the EUROTRANS Integrated Project has been organised with other domains than the DM1 Design being specifically devoted to R&D tasks in support to the overall ETD/EFIT and ETD/XT-ADS design tasks has been helpful. The other domains were centred on the assessment of reactivity measurement techniques (DM2 ECATS), on the development of U-free dedicated fuels (DM3 AFTRA), on materials behaviour and heavy liquid metal technology (DM4 DEMETRA) and on nuclear data assessment (DM5 NUDATRA). Pending questions associated to technology gaps have been identified through the different appropriate R&D work programmes and a Catalogue of the R&D needs has been established.Finally, the work within the EUROTRANS integrated project has provided an overall assessment of the feasibility at a reasonable cost for an ADS based transmutation so that a decision can be taken to launch a detailed design and construction of the intermediate step Experimental ADS now already launched within the 7th FP programme under the name of Common Design Team (CDT).

Porcine influenza A viruses currently circulating in Belgium belong to the subtypes H1N1, H3N2 and H1N2. These zoonotic viruses can be transmitted between swine and humans by direct contact or by aerosol. The pandemic influenza A/H1N1 (2009) virus is a new strain of the human H1N1 influenza A virus resulting from a reassortment between two porcine viruses. Its transmission occurs mainly inter-human, although several independent and isolated cases have been identified in swine herds in different parts of the world. The virus has not yet been isolated in Belgian swine. If the virus is introduced in the Belgian pig population, the risk of further spread becomes eminent, because of its ability of airborne transmission and of the high density of the pig population in Belgium, particularly in the North of the country. Nevertheless, due to the weak pathogenicity of this strain, the economic impact is expected to be low for the porcine industry. However, infection of pigs with the pandemic influenza A/H1N1 strain might increase the risk of viral reassortment with other influenza A virus strains with possible negative public health consequences. To enable an early detection and reduce the risk of dissemination of the pandemic influenza A/H1N1 (2009) virus in the swine population, the establishment of a virological surveillance targeted on the presence of acute respiratory signs in pigs is recommended. Under the current conditions, vaccination of the pigs against the influenza A/H1N1 virus (2009) does not seem to be necessary. Such a vaccination of pigs might be recommended in case of high viral circulation in swine and in humans, to limit the risk of reassortment and protect public health.

Contents The effect of a diet supplemented with organic selenium (Se) on sperm production and quality of boars was investigated. Sixty mature boars from a commercial artificial insemination centre were randomly allocated at Day (D) 0 into Group A and B. Group A received the regular ration supplemented with inorganic Se (0.4 mg/kg feed as Na(2)SeO(3)) whereas Group B was switched to the same diet but with organic Se (0.4 mg/kg fed as Se-yeast). The sperm was investigated during 4 months (D0, D30, D60, D75, D90, D105 and D120). Sperm concentration and motility were objectively measured using a photometer and Computer Assisted Semen Analysis (CASA) respectively. Morphology of the sperm was assessed using eosin-nigrosin staining and the resistance to induction of oxidative stress (production of malonaldehyde, MDA) through thiobarbituric acid reagent species analysis. Additionally, the Se concentration in sperm and blood plasma were measured. Repeated measures analysis of variance (anova) from D60 to 120 (spermatogenesis of approximately 2 months) or anova at D120 (Se concentrations) were used for statistical analysis. The total number of ejaculated sperm was not significantly different between both groups, but boars of Group B had a significantly higher sperm concentration (434.6 vs 514.1 x 106 sperm/ml; p < 0.05). Small differences (p < 0.05) were observed between both groups for some CASA parameters, namely straight line velocity (mu m/s) (Group A: 48.3, Group B: 45.1), straightness (%) (Group A: 65.6, Group B: 62.2) and linearity (%) (Group A: 32.2, Group B: 29.3). The sperm of Group B showed more oxidative stress (4.1 vs 4.9 mu mol MDA/l; p < 0.05) compared with those of Group A. No significant differences (p > 0.05) were observed for the other parameters. Under the present study conditions, changing from inorganic Se to organic Se in the diet of boars increased sperm concentration but reduced some motility parameters and resistance to oxidative stress.

Contains fulltext : 83436.pdf (Publisher’s version ) (Closed access) 7 p.

Hoofdlijnen: De ontwikkelde Vlaamse klimaatscenario’s wijzen eenduidig op een stijging van de gemiddelde omgevingstemperatuur tegen 2100 met 1,5°C tot 4,4°C in de winter en met 2,4°C tot 7,2°C in de zomer en op meer neerslag tijdens de winter. De meeste klimaatscenario’s tonen een daling van de gemiddelde zomerneerslag voor Vlaanderen. Achttien soorten broedvogels en zestien soorten dagvlinders, waaronder een aantal algemene soorten, lopen een verhoogd risico om tegen 2100 uit Vlaanderen te verdwijnen door de temperatuurstijging. Mogelijk kunnen nieuwe broedvogel- en dagvlindersoorten zich in Vlaanderen vestigen dankzij de temperatuurstijging. ispartof: Natuurverkenning 2030 (Natuurrapport Vlaanderen) pages:55-66 ispartof: pages:55-66 status: published

BioScore offers a European biodiversity impact assessment tool. The tool contains indicator values on the ecological preferences of more than 1000 species of birds, mammals, amphibians, reptiles, fish, butterflies, dragonflies, aquatic macro-invertebrates and vascular plants. These values are linked to policy-related pressures and environmental variables.

The Protein Crystallization Diagnostics Facility (PCDF) is an instrument developed by Astrium under an ESA contract to observe and study with advanced diagnostics nucleation and crystallisation processes of molecules from solutions in long duration microgravity on board the International Space Station. The first experiment PROTEIN flown on PCDF aimed at unraveling physical processes and relating the forma-tion of defects in crystals to their growth conditions. This PCDF experiment was flown on the ISS integrated in the European Drawer Rack and was followed and teleoperated by the supporting science teams from User Sup-port Operation Centers on ground. Future experiments will utilize the existing infrastructure to support advanced light scattering capabilities to en-able investigations of various solutions including proteins, zeolites and colloids. The paper recalls the PCDF design. The aim of the PROTEIN experiment is summarized and first results are presented. The future evolution of PCDF is addressed at the end.

Contains fulltext : 76169.pdf (Publisher’s version ) (Open Access) 17 p.

Animal welfare science is a relatively young scientific discipline. It is a formidable challenge for this scientific field to meet expectations from policy-makers, funding agencies, and society. They often ask scientists to provide clear-cut, unambiguous, and indisputable conclusions about specific and relevant welfare issues, for example, whether or not animal welfare is better in one type of housing/management system than in another one. People that expect scientists to provide such evidence often do not realise the complexity of this type of research question. Frequently, answers to these questions are urgently needed and solutions ought to be delivered within relatively short time-frames. Research grant applications in which it is promised that these expectations will be fulfilled quickly and cheaply, are often more likely to attract funding. Given the limited budget and time allocated to these research projects, the animal welfare problems are often investigated using a limited set of ‘standard’ welfare indicators known to be reliable for the species involved. There is rarely opportunity for developing and validating new measures that perhaps are better suited for addressing the research question concerned, nor for developing complex methodologies for integrating these different measurements into an overall assessment of animal welfare - let alone for checking that these measures and integration methods truly reflect the public's understanding. The latter, though, has been convincingly advocated to be essential for socially-constructed concepts such as ‘animal welfare’ (Fraser 2003).

Proc. on CD Rom log315; International audience; The GUINEVERE project is an international project in the framework of IP-EUROTRANS, the FP6 program which aims at addressing the main issues for ADS development in the framework of partitioning and transmutation for nuclear waste volume and radiotoxicity reduction. The GUINEVERE project is carried out in the context of domain 2 of IP-EUROTRANS, ECATS, devoted to specific experiments for the coupling of an accelerator, a target and a subcritical core. These experiments should provide an answer to the questions of online reactivity monitoring, sub-criticality determination and operational procedures (loading, start-up, shutdown, …) in an ADS by 2009-2010. The project has the objective to couple a fast lead core, within the VENUS building operated by the SCK•CEN, with a neutron generator able to work in three different modes: pulsed, continuous and continuous with beam interruptions at the millisecond scale. In order to achieve this goal, the VENUS facility has to be adapted and a modified GENEPI-3C accelerator has to be designed and constructed. The paper describes the main modifications to the reactor core and facility and to the accelerator, which will be executed during the years 2008 and 2009, and the experimental programme which will start in 2009.

A complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) multi-parameter biochemical microsensor used for conductometric measurements and continuous monitoring of concentrations of blood gases, ions and biomolecules is described. Temperature control of the measured fluids and a one-time-use security check were provided for proper operation of the biochemical sensors. The ion sensitive field effect transistors (ISFET) were used to measure voltages between the conductometric electrodes such that two parallel processors shared one electrode. The results of the amperometric oxygen measurements and potassium concentration measurements proved the functionality of the system and the feasibility of the integration process. ispartof: IEEE International Solid-State Circuits Conference vol:452 pages:244-245 ispartof: location:San Francisco, USA status: published

A field study was conducted in 20 Belgian pig herds suffering from chronic intestinal disease to provide information on the epidemiology and pathology of porcine proliferative enteropathy (PPE), an infectious disease caused by Lawsonia intracellularis. From each herd, a representative number of fattening pigs were examined in the slaughterhouse for the presence of heal thickening. Transverse sections of five thickened pea per herd were investigated for the histopathological lesions suggestive for PPE and for presence of L. intracellularis using Warthin-Starry silver staining. The mean percentage of slaughter pigs per herd with thickened ilea was 24%; the minimum and maximum percentages were 10% and 49%, respectively. The following histopathological lesions were found: crypt-abscesses (20% of pigs), decreased number of goblet cells (90%), hypertrophy and hyperplasia of crypt epithelial cells (3%), hypertrophy of both outer muscle coats (78%), increased number of eosinophils (34%) and lymphoid hyperplasia in the lamina propria (90%). L. intracellularis was demonstrated in five out of 100 thickened ilea (5%). These ilea originated from three different herds. This study is the first to report on infections with L. intracellularis in Belgian pig herds with enteric disease. Thickening of the ileum was very common in slaughter pigs from these herds.

The intertidal benthic macrofauna of the Schelde estuary (The Netherlands and Belgium) was sampled in late autumn of 1990 at 50 stations along the whole salinity gradient (between Vlissingen and Dendermonde), including the freshwater tidal part. All stations were situated in sheltered areas with a relatively muddy sediment. Species richness, diversity and total biomass of the benthic macrofauna decreased along the salinity gradient from Vlissingen to Dendermonde, while total density showed no clear trend. Especially the oligoha- line and freshwater tidal part of the Schelde estuary was characterized by a very impoverished benthic community, composed only of Oligochaeta. No other species (freshwater, marine or brackish) was observed in this part of the estuary. The marine part had a more diverse macrozoobenthos structure than that of the brackish part. Species found only in the marine zone are Cerastoderma edule, Tharyx marioni, Eteone longa, Nephtys hombergii and Capitella capitata. In the brackish part of the estuary, Corophium volutator was a typical, dominant species. However, a lot of the dominant species were common in both the marine and brackish part of the Schelde estuary (e.g. Heteromastus filiformis, Pygospio elegans, Nereis diversicolor, Macoma balthica). The observed radient in species composition and dominance is compared with some other European estuaries. The marine and brackish part of the Schelde estuary is quite similar to other european estuaries. The freshwater tidal part, however, was more impoverished.

Monitoring the Effect of Heparin Bolus during Percutaneous Coronary Angioplasty (PTCA): Assessment of Three Bedside Coagulation monitors

We compared the history of 100 consecutive women complaining of incontinence with their urodynamic findings. The real urodynamic situation proved unpredictable on the basis of the medical history. A good correlation between history and urodynamics was found in 80% of the women complaining of stress incontinence. The importance of a uroflowmetry to screen voiding difficulties in all patients is demonstrated. To get to a proper diagnosis in most women complaining of incontinence, technical urodynamic investigation seems mandatory.

This paper describes the goals, (partial) results and lessons learned of the ECoVaDeVa project, a Flemish project that groups academic and industrial partners around the ecient, model-based development of software controller variants for Cyber-Physical Systems (CPSs). ECoVaDeVa's high-level goal is to apply Product Line Engineering (PLE) techniques to CPS controller design in all phases of the development lifecycle (design, simulation, testing, deployment) as an extension of existing software product line techniques. While PLE is well researched in software development, it is not clear whether these results apply to CPS controller design. The added complexity stems from the heterogeneity of models representing the system, involving plant, controller and environment, software and hardware, and virtual test benches (model-in-theloop, hardware-in-the-loop, etc.). The envisioned result of the project is a set of tools, techniques, and guidelines for the ecient management of CPS controller product variants. The techniques developed during the project are demonstrated on a common use case: a windshield wiper.

Although pigs contaminated with Salmonella rarely show clinical symptoms, control is important because of the public health concern. Both producers and consumers are interested in procedures for minimizing the risk of Salmonella infections. This study outlines the entire production path for fresh pork in Belgium, from farm to fork. Additionally, it describes the different critical points for Salmonella contamination, with emphasis on those steps that need extra attention and/or improvement. The data was collected by means of questionnaires at the different steps of the process. In total, 3658 questionnaires were collected, which made it possible to draw up a nationwide image of the pork production process. In the primary production phase, there are several points relating to biosecurity that can be improved in order to minimize the risk for Salmonella in fattening pigs that are sent to slaughter. In the slaughterhouse, there has been an increase in the number of pigs or carcasses that become infected with Salmonella. Attention should be paid to avoiding contact of the feces and tonsils of contaminated pigs with the carcass, and strict hygienic measures should be taken to avoid cross-contamination. During the transformation and distribution of the carcasses, there is a low risk of further spreading of Salmonella spp. Finally, during the consumer phase, the risk for Salmonella contamination increases because of inappropriate temperature conditions during storage, manipulation of the meat and possible cross-contamination with other food products, and the consumption of insufficiently heated and/or raw meat. The present study illustrates that the risk of Salmonella infection by consumption of fresh pork is relatively low under Belgian conditions. Nevertheless, it can be further decreased by implementing additional control measures, mainly in the slaughterhouse and in the domestic kitchen.

We investigated porcine circovirus type 2 (PCV2) virological profiles in herds affected (PCVAD-AH, n = 5) or non-affected (PCVAD-NAH, n = 4) by PCV2-associated diseases (PCVAD), before and after 1 y of PCV2 gilt and sow vaccination. Fresh feces from the floor (5 pens/age/farm) and 5 blood samples (1/pen) were collected at 3, 9, 15, 21 wk. Individual feces and blood samples were collected from 5 gilts and 15 sows. Sampling was repeated 1 y after vaccination. Quantitative PCR on feces, PCV2 antibodies in blood serum and cell-mediated immunity were investigated. Before vaccination, pigs of PCVAD-AH had higher viral load in feces (9 and 15 wk), lower IgG and higher IgM (3 wk) and lower lymphocyte counts (9 and 15 wk) suggesting immunosuppression. Vaccination reduced viral load in growers, increased IgG (3 wk) suggesting improved maternal immunity, reduced IgM (3 wk), increased total antibody titers in sows and increased CD79a cells in the pigs.

Major losses of body weight and fat reserves during the first lactation are a cause of unsatisfying reproductive performances in primiparous sows. This study, conducted in three commercial sow herds, investigated whether weaning the sows three days earlier together with administering altrenogest was effective for improving reproductive performance (weaning-to-estrus interval, pregnancy rate after first insemination, total litter size and number of live born piglets in the second litter) and body condition. In the herds suffering from the second litter syndrome, a non-significant improvement of the second litter size was found with on average 1.9 extra piglets born. During the treatment period, the treated sows gained on average 1.4 mm back fat, while the control sows lost 0.4 rum back fat. In conclusion, the treatment is useful for putting the sows in better condition at the moment of insemination and it may possibly improve reproductive performance in farms with the second litter syndrome.