Publicaties

The aim of this study was to examine whether the provision of small amounts of peat to piglets would influence behaviour and production. At approximately 5 days of age, nine litters received a tray of peat as enrichment, while nine others did not. All piglets had access to solid feed, which was used to compare substrate-directed behaviour. Piglets were weaned at week 4, and half of the pens in the nursery again received peat. The other half did ...

During this work, it was investigated whether spectral measurements can be used to monitor embryonic growth. An experiment was conducted in which both the transmission spectra and embryonic weight were determined on 240 eggs (Cobb, 37 weeks) between Day 5 and Day 10 of incubation. The spectral data were linked to embryonic weight by means of a partial least squares analysis. Different preprocessing procedures were compared during this work, that ...

There is now overwhelming evidence that the avian ovary is a site of production and action of several growth factors that have also been implicated in the functioning of the mammalian ovary. Several members of the Insulin-like growth factor family (IGF), the Epidermal growth factor family (EGF), the Transforming growth factor-beta family (TGF-beta), Fibroblast growth factors (FGF), the Tumour necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha), and others, have ...

Diseases are among the greatest threats affecting the sustainability of shrimp aquaculture. In Ecuador, diseases of cultured shrimp have been quickly transmitted from one region to another. Therefore, an early detection system of impending epidemics could serve as an important management tool for the aquaculture sector. We developed a system for the early detection of shrimp epidemics for the largest shrimp zone of Ecuador based on production ...