Increased vitamin supplement to sows, piglets and finishers and the effect in productivity.

With still limited information on vitamin requirements and considering that many commercial practices adopt dietary vitamin levels above the values suggested by nutritional tables, this study aimed to assess the effect of administering vitamin supplementation to sows in gestation and lactation and to their litters on the reproductive performance and body condition of the sows and on the performance and immune profile of the litters until slaughter. The trial was split into two phases. The first phase used 104 sows, assigned to be randomized to blocks according to parity, submitted until 21 days of lactation to two treatments: control-standard (standard levels of vitamins) and test-elevated (elevated levels of vitamins). Each sow and its respective farrow were considered an experimental unit. The sows underwent evaluations of body condition score, back fat thickness and reproductive performance. In the second phase, 60 barrows and 60 gilts at 21 days of age and mean initial weight of 5.33 ± 1.5 kg until slaughter at 164 days of age. The piglets were assigned to randomized blocks according to the weight and sex of the animals in a 2 × 2 factorial model, with 10 replicates per treatment, where a pen with three animals represented the experimental unit. Following the same treatments of the first phase, the piglets were evaluated for daily weight gain, daily feed intake, feed conversion, mortality rate and humoral immune response. Vitamin supplementation had no positive effects on the reproductive parameters or body composition of sows. However, it positively impacted the performance of the litters in the early nursery stage, but did not lead to superior effects on the immune responses to vaccination against circovirus or mycoplasma.

Caracterização dos fatores de produção e uso de modelos matemáticos para estimar sua influência sobre o consumo diário de ração e a conversão alimentar de suínos nas fases de crescimento e terminação / Characterization of production factors and use of mathematical models to estimate their influence on daily feed intake and feed conversion ratio of grow-finishing pigs

O objetivo deste estudo foi identificar e quantificar os fatores de produção presentes em granjas de crescimento e terminação (CT) de suínos, em um sistema cooperativo do estado do Paraná, Brasil, e determinar a influência desses fatores no consumo diário de ração (CDR) e na conversão alimentar (CA). Foram avaliados, entre os anos de 2010 e 2013, os históricos produtivos de 538 lotes de engorda, alojados em 175 granjas comerciais, totalizando aproximadamente 404.000 animais. Foram considerados 40 fatores de produção, relacionados ao manejo, à sanidade, às instalações e aos equipamentos, à nutrição, à genética e ao ambiente. Em baias com menos de 20 suínos, o CDR diminuiu (P<0,05) e a CA melhorou (P<0,01). Nas baias com comedouros basculantes (lineares), o CDR reduziu (P<0,01) e a CA melhorou (P=0,001). Em baias com lâmina d'água, o CDR aumentou (P<0,01) e a CA piorou (P<0,01). Lotes formados apenas por fêmeas apresentaram menor CDR (P<0,001) e melhor CA (P<0,001), quando comparados aos lotes mistos. As variáveis selecionadas para os modelos finais explicaram cerca de 25% e 46% da variância total para CDR e para a CA, respectivamente. Os modelos constituem um instrumento de auxílio efetivo para tomadas de decisões técnicas dentro do setor suinícola.(AU)

The aim of this study was to identify and quantify the production factors present in growing and finishing (GF) pig farms partners of a cooperative in Paraná State, Brazil, and to determine the influence of these factors on daily feed intake (DFI) and the feed conversion ratio (FCR). From 2010 to 2013, the historical production of 538 batches of fattening pigs in 175 commercial farms were analyzed, in an amount approximately 404,000 animals. A total of 40 production factors regarding the management, sanity, plant and equipment, nutrition, genetics and environment were taken into consideration. Pens with less than 20 pigs resulted in a reduction in DFI (P<0.05) and an improved FCR (P<0.01). In pens that used linear dump feeders, the DFI was less (P<0.01) and the FCR was better (P=0.001). Pens with shallow pools had higher DFI (P<0.01) and worse FCR (P<0.01). Batches of females had lower DFI (P<0.001) and better FCR (P<0.001) compared to mixed-sex batches. The factors used for the final models explained the 25% and 46% of the total variance for the DFI and FCR, respectively. The models consist in effective aid instruments for technical decision making in the swine industry.(AU)

Oral fish oil positively influences nutritional-inflammatory risk in patients with haematological malignancies during chemotherapy with an impact on long-term survival: a randomised clinical trial.

BACKGROUND: Studies suggest that the ingestion of fish oil (FO), a source of the omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) and eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), can reduce the deleterious side-effects of chemotherapy. The aim of this randomised clinical trial was to evaluate the effect of supplementation with oral FO for 9 weeks on nutritional parameters and inflammatory nutritional risk in patients with haematological malignancies during the beginning of chemotherapy. METHODS: Twenty-two patients with leukaemia or lymphoma were randomised to the unsupplemented group (UG) (n = 13) or supplemented group (SG) (n = 9). SG received 2 g/day of fish oil for 9 weeks. Nutritional status, serum acute-phase proteins and plasma fatty acids were evaluated before (T0) and after (T1) the intervention period. Data were analysed using two models; model 1, comprising data from all patients included in the study, and model 2, comprising data from UG patients with no increase in the proportions of EPA and DHA in plasma and data from SG patients showing an at least 100% increase in plasma EPA and DHA. RESULTS: SG showed an increased plasma proportion of EPA and DHA in both models. In model 2, C-reactive protein (CRP) and CRP/albumin ratio showed larger reductions in the SG. Overall long-term survival in both models (465 days after the start of the chemotherapy) was higher in the group ingesting fish oil (P < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: These findings indicate an improved nutritional-inflammatory risk and potential effects on long-term survival in patients with haematological malignancies supplemented with FO during the beginning of chemotherapy.

Structural phase transition and dynamical properties of PbTiO3 simulated by molecular dynamics.

The temperature- and pressure-induced structural phase transition in PbTiO3 is studied with the isoenthalpic-isobaric molecular-dynamics method, using an effective two-body interaction potential. The tetragonal to cubic transformation is successfully reproduced with both temperature and pressure. The behaviour of lattice parameters, vibrational density of states, and phonon anharmonicity with temperature and pressure are in very good agreement with experimental data. Two- and three-body correlations were analysed through pair distribution functions, coordination numbers and bond-angle distributions.

Avaliacao, apos 5 anos de uso, de programa de controle de qualidade de contadores hematologicos de miltiplos canais. / Evaluation, after five years, of the Quality Control of Multichannel Hematologyc Counters Program

Os autores relatam sua experiencia com o uso de programa de controle de qualidade para contadores hematologicos de multiplos canais assim como o metodo utilizado para a calibracao destes instrumentos. O programa baseia-se fundamentalmente na analise diaria das medias dos indices eritrocitarios (VCM, HCM e CHCM) obtidas das amostras analisadas. O programa, introduzido sem sobrecarga, de trabalho tecnico e sem custos adicionais, permite detectar variacoes da calibracao dos contadores antes que estas atinjam niveis clinicamente significativos