Less avian influenza risk birds in poultry free range areas covered with trees

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Introducing trees in Dutch dairy and poultry farms

The potential of free range areas and grassland on organic farms for performing natural behaviour and offering natural feed is not fully utilized yet. Moreover, there are also chances to be picked up for enhancing biodiversity, carbon fixation and mineral cycling. For example, Dutch organic and free range poultry farms together have 2300 ha range area available. In dairy farms this area is much larger. Challenges on goat and cow farms are a natural enrichment of the ration of the animals and making larger areas of the meadows attractive by providing natural shelter against bad weather. We try to ‘solve’ these problems by introducing forestry in animal production and designing silvopastoral systems. Silvopastoral systems, which are the combination of trees and livestock, are applied traditionally already long times in ‘low input systems’ in Africa and in Mediterranean countries. Trees introduced on purpose in more intense livestock production systems in northwestern Europe is rather new

Children\u27s implicit recall of junk food, alcohol and gambling sponsorship in Australian sport

BACKGROUND: In Australia, sport is saturated by the promotion of junk food, alcohol and gambling products. This is particularly evident on player jerseys. The effect of this advertising on children, who are exposed to these messages while watching sport, has not been thoroughly investigated. The aim of this research study was to investigate: (1) the extent to which children implicitly recalled shirt sponsors with the correct sporting team; (2) whether children associated some types of sponsors with certain sporting codes more than others; and (3) whether age of the children influenced the correct recall of sponsoring brands and teams. METHOD: This experimental study conducted in New South Wales, Australia used projective techniques to measure the implicit recall of team sponsorship relationships of 85 children aged 5-12 years. Participants were asked to arrange two sets of magnets - one which contained sporting teams and one which contained brand logos - in the manner deemed most appropriate by them. Children were not given any prompts relating to sporting sponsorship relationships. RESULTS: Three quarters (77 %) of the children were able to identify at least one correct shirt sponsor. Children associated alcohol and gambling brands more highly with the more popular sporting code, the National Rugby League compared to the Australian Football League sporting code. Results showed that age had an effect on number of shirt sponsors correctly recalled with 9-12 year olds being significantly more likely than 5-8 year olds to correctly identify team sponsors. CONCLUSIONS: Given children\u27s ability to implicitly recall shirt sponsors in a sporting context, Australian sporting codes should examine their current sponsorship relationships to reduce the number of unhealthy commodity shirt sponsors. While there is some regulation that protects children from the marketing of unhealthy commodity products, these findings suggest that children are still exposed to and recall these sponsorship relationships. Results suggest that the promotion of unhealthy commodity products during sporting matches is contributing to increased awareness amongst children of unhealthy commodity brands. Further investigation is required to examine the extent and impact of marketing initiatives during televised sporting matches on children

Walnoten in de uitloop

Bomen voor Buitenkippen is op excursie geweest naar enkele beplantingen waar al veel ervaring is opgedaan met walnotenbomen

Biologisch Ondernemen Legpluimvee

Eenmalige uitgave met diverse thema's uit de nederlandse biologische legpluimveehouderij, met bedrijfsvoorbeelden. Onderwerpen: - Werken aan toekomst van hen en bedrijf - Een goed imago én rendement - Goede huisvesting - Mobiele huisvesting - Op zoek naar de ideale hen - De ideale uitloop - Eiwitrijk voer uit eigen regio... kan dat? - Samenwerken aan gezonde koppels in het bedrijfsnetwerk - Kruiden als medicijn - Mest als grondstof - Biologische Pluimveehouders Vereniging: "kijkt over grenzen heen" - Bionext: verbindende schakel - Skal: bio-control

Attitudes towards community gambling venues and support for regulatory reform: An online panel study of residents in New South Wales, Australia

Background: Harmful gambling has been identified as an important public health issue that affects individuals, families and the broader community. One gambling product, electronic gambling machines (EGMs), has been associated with significant gambling harm in Australia. There has been limited research that has explored community perceptions of EGMs and attitudes towards reform. This study, conducted in NSW, Australia, aimed to explore community use of EGM venues (clubs and hotels containing EGMs), attitudes towards EGMs and whether the use of these venues influenced attitudes towards EGM reform. Methods: An online survey was conducted with 500 adults aged 16 years and over, representative of the population for age and gender. Discrete choice and open-ended questions were used to gather data on gambling behaviours, use of and attitudes towards EGMs and EGM venues and support for gambling harm reduction measures. Results: Three quarters of participants had visited an EGM venue in the previous year. Participants who had attended such venues were significantly more likely to use EGMs at least once per month. Participants attended EGM venues for a range of reasons including use of non-gambling facilities such as restaurants, the social aspects of the venue and ease of access to the venue. Some participants also attended EGM venues specifically for the gambling facilities. Most participants identified some negative impacts of EGMs for local communities and were supportive of measures to reduce the number of EGMs and prevent children's exposure to EGMs in such venues. Conclusions: This study shows a high level of support for EGM reform amongst both individuals who attend EGM venues and also those who do not. There is potential for government to further regulate EGMs and the environments where they are located

The effects of harvest date and frequency on the yield, nutritional value and mineral content of the paludiculture crop cattail (Typha latifolia L.) in the first year after planting

The use of drained peatlands as dairy grasslands leads to long-term organic matter losses, CO2 emissions and soil subsidence. It also yields grass with increased N and P contents compared to grass grown on mineral soils due to peat mineralisation, which often leads to greater farm surpluses of these elements. Growing Typha latifolia as a forage crop on rewetted peatlands (paludiculture) could reduce these issues. Therefore, the effects of harvest date and frequency on yield and nutritional value were studied in three experiments during the first growing season after establishment of two different T. latifolia plantations. T. latifolia produced 40–68 shoots m-2 and maximum dry matter (DM) yields of 9.81–10.89 Mg ha-1. Harvesting before flowering resulted in the highest nutritional value per kg DM, of 563–575 g in vitro digestible organic matter (IVDOM), 120–128 g crude protein (CP), 287–300 g crude fibre (CF) and 1.5 g P. Surprisingly, harvesting at intervals of three or six weeks resulted in similar cumulative DM yields (p = 0.190). Also, average nutritional values per kg DM, especially of biomass harvested at 3-week intervals, remained similar to a May yield of 466–591 g IVDOM, 103–134 g CP and 286–303 g CF. Growing T. latifolia fodder for inclusion in grass-based diets could reduce the environmental impacts of dairy farming on peat

Difficulties faced by older Rohingya (forcibly displaced Myanmar nationals) adults in accessing medical services amid the COVID-19 pandemic in Bangladesh

Background COVID-19 has seriously disrupted health services in many countries including Bangladesh. This research aimed to explore whether Rohingya (forcefully displaced Myanmar nationals) older adults in Bangladesh faced difficulties accessing medicines and routine medical care services amid this pandemic. Methods This cross-sectional study was conducted among 416 Rohingya older adults aged 60 years and above residing in Rohingya refugee camps situated in the Cox's Bazar district of Bangladesh and was conducted in October 2020. A purposive sampling technique was followed, and participants' perceived difficulties in accessing medicines and routine medical care were noted through face-to-face interviews. Binary logistic regression models determined the association between outcome and explanatory variables. Results Overall, one-third of the participants reported difficulties in accessing medicines and routine medical care. Significant factors associated with facing difficulties accessing medicine included feelings of loneliness (adjusted OR (AOR) 3.54, 95% CI 1.93 to 6.48), perceptions that older adults were at the highest risk of COVID-19 (AOR 3.35, 95% CI 1.61 to 6.97) and required additional care during COVID-19 (AOR 6.89, 95% CI 3.62 to 13.13). Also, the notable factors associated with difficulties in receiving routine medical care included living more than 30 min walking distance from the health centre (AOR 3.57, 95% CI 1.95 to 6.56), feelings of loneliness (AOR 2.20, 95% CI 1.25 to 3.87), perception that older adults were at the highest risk of COVID-19 (AOR 2.85, 95% CI 1.36 to 5.99) and perception that they required additional care during the pandemic (AOR 4.55, 95% CI 2.48 to 8.35). Conclusion Many Rohingya older adults faced difficulties in accessing medicines and routine medical care during this pandemic. This call for policy-makers and relevant stakeholders to re-assess emergency preparedness plans including strategies to provide continuing care

Metalloprotease OMA1 Fine-tunes Mitochondrial Bioenergetic Function and Respiratory Supercomplex Stability

Mitochondria are involved in key cellular functions including energy production, metabolic homeostasis, and apoptosis. Normal mitochondrial function is preserved by several interrelated mechanisms. One mechanism – intramitochondrial quality control (IMQC) – is represented by conserved proteases distributed across mitochondrial compartments. Many aspects and physiological roles of IMQC components remain unclear. Here, we show that the IMQC protease Oma1 is required for the stability of the respiratory supercomplexes and thus balanced and tunable bioenergetic function. Loss of Oma1 activity leads to a specific destabilization of respiratory supercomplexes and consequently to unbalanced respiration and progressive respiratory decline in yeast. Similarly, experiments in cultured Oma1-deficient mouse embryonic fibroblasts link together impeded supercomplex stability and inability to maintain proper respiration under conditions that require maximal bioenergetic output. Finally, transient knockdown of OMA1 in zebrafish leads to impeded bioenergetics and morphological defects of the heart and eyes. Together, our biochemical and genetic studies in yeast, zebrafish and mammalian cells identify a novel and conserved physiological role for Oma1 protease in fine-tuning of respiratory function. We suggest that this unexpected physiological role is important for cellular bioenergetic plasticity and may contribute to Oma1- associated disease phenotypes in humans