Forage feeding for pigs could be beneficial

A trial is conducted at FAI Farms, as part of the Core Organic II ICOPP study, to assess the use of alternative protein sources (peas and beans) as part of a lucerne-silage based ration for pigs

Silage feed advice for pig farmers: Farmers Weekly report on ICOPP feeding trial at FAI Farms

A trial is conducted at FAI Farms, as part of the Core Organic II ICOPP project, to assess the use of alternative sources of protein (peas and beans) as part of a lucerne-silage based ration for pigs

100% local and organic: closing the protein gap for poultry in the ICOPP Project

A key challenge in improving the sustainability of organic poultry production is meeting the required levels of nutrients from locally sourced organic feeds. 100% organic diets for monogastrics will become compulsory in the EU from 1st January 2015. The ICOPP project brings together knowledge, from 10 EU countries, of local feeds for monogastrics and their wider impact on growth, health and welfare and the environment to identify feeding strategies which comply with organic principles. This poster will report on feeding trials carried out with broilers in the UK by FAI and ORC to investigate the impact of algae, peas and lupins on broiler performance and welfare

Farmer Engagement Through Mental Modeling: Opportunities for Climate Change Outreach

Climate change poses a challenge to farming systems worldwide. Effective adaptation and mitigation may be facilitated by outreach that is locally tailored and framed in terms of farmers’ perceptions and values. However, existing research suggests that farmers and those providing outreach may have different climate change perspectives, and there is little understanding of how farmers consider and prioritize climate change in relation to other aspects of their farming system. Furthermore, the diverse agricultural, economic, social, and environmental challenges farmers face require agricultural research and engagement efforts that can identify and adapt to farmers’ dynamic priorities and perceptions. Mental modeling is one tool that can capture how stakeholders perceive such interconnecting factors and relationships within a given system. This thesis presents two studies aimed at addressing the question of how mental modeling may be utilized to identify farmer perceptions of their whole-farming systems in order to inform farmer engagement efforts, particularly in the context of climate change resilience. First, to compare how farmers and outreach professionals in northern New England considered climate change within the context of whole-farming systems, mental modeling interviews with 33 farmers and 16 outreach professionals were conducted in 2019. Mental models were elicited in real-time with individual interview participants, and aggregated for analysis between farmer and outreach professional groups. Second, an online survey of northern New England farmers was conducted in 2020 to elicit whole-farming system mental models indirectly. The objectives of this survey were to analyze similarities and differences with the directly elicited interview-based mental models, identify whole-farming system priorities across a diverse group of farmers, and to understand whether the COVID-19 pandemic impacted how farmers perceived the functional components and processes of their farming systems. Both studies reveal opportunities for farmer engagement and future mental modeling research. Namely, only one-quarter of participants in the farmer and outreach professional interviews included a concept related to climate or climate change in their mental models, suggesting that climate change concerns are not at the forefront of either group’s farming system decision-making. Further, the directly elicited mental models indicated that farmers perceived human and social dimensions, such as quality of life and community well-being, as significantly more important to their farming systems than outreach professionals perceived. However, different farmer priorities were found through the survey-based mental models, which also revealed differences in model structure between the two elicitation methods. Overall, this work identifies opportunities for improving farmer engagement efforts through embedding climate change outreach within its broader relationship to other farming system aspects, addressing gaps in farmer and outreach professional perceptions of farming systems, and understanding how mental model elicitation effects model outcomes in order to inform outreach efforts that can identify and adapt to farmers’ dynamic priorities and perceptions

Mast cell recruitment and activation as measures of cyathostomin burden

Cyathostomins are potentially life threatening parasitic nematodes of adult horses and are highly prevalent worldwide. Infected animals may be asymptomatic or show clinical signs of weight loss, diarrhoea and colic. Third and fourth stage larvae spend a large proportion of their lifecycle encysted in the large intestinal wall where they cannot currently be detected ante mortem. Mast cells are commonly found at interfaces to the external environment, such as the rectum, and these cells and the proteinases they produce have been implicated in protective host immune responses against nematode infection in animals. Previous studies have demonstrated an increase in caecal mast cell proteinase expression during cyathostomin infection. Prior to this study, there were two known equine mast cell proteinases, which had been purified and characterised from a mastocytoma (equine tryptase [eqTRYP] and equine mast cell proteinase-1 [eqMCP-1]). However, as many mammalian species express multiple closely-related chymases it was hypothesised that other equine mast cell proteinases exist that have not yet been characterised and which may be more closely associated with the level of worm burden. The primary objective of this study was to investigate the recruitment of mast cells to the large intestine in cyathostomin infected horses and the expression of mast cell proteinases in response to infection. A further aim was to evaluate the potential of associated mast cell proteinase assays or rectal biopsy mast cell enumeration for utility in diagnostic tests to estimate cyathostomin mucosal burden. A secondary objective was to explore the existence of further mast cell proteinases and the relationship of these enzymes to cyathostomin mucosal burden. Optimised sampling protocols, parasitological, histological and immunohistochemistry techniques were performed to enumerate cyathostomin mucosal burden and to characterise the mast cell populations in the caecum, right ventral colon (RVC) and rectum of naturally infected horses (n=28). Mast cell populations correlated throughout the intestine, providing further evidence of the common mucosal system. EqMCP-1 and eqTRYP labelled mast cells were identified throughout the large intestine. Significant positive linear relationship existed between rectal proteinase-labelled mucosal mast cell populations and both the combined total cyathostomin mucosal burden (CTMB; eqMCP-1, p=0.018; eqTRYP, p=0.048) and the combined total luminal burden (CTLB; eqMCP-1, p=0.009; eqTRYP, p=0.007). Concentrations of eqMCP-1 and eqTRYP in (i) serum, (ii) local serum from venous blood draining the large intestine, and (iii) large intestinal tissue homogenates were assessed using ELISA. There was no significant correlation identified between local and peripheral serum proteinase concentrations suggesting that peripheral serum proteinase levels are not representative of the local proteinase response. There was however a significant negative relationship between peripheral serum eqMCP-1 concentrations and the CTMB, which could relate to the activation and sequestering of proteinases within the gut lumen. Concentrations of eqMCP-1 and eqTRYP measured in local serum did not significantly positively correlate with cyathostomin mucosal burden. There was a significant association observed between intestinal tissue levels of eqMCP-1 and eqTRYP and the CTMB in the RVC (p<0.023), providing support for their role in the immune response. Four proteinase sequences, equine tryptase (TLP1), Granzyme B-like (GZMBL), putative equine Mast Cell Proteinase-1 (CLP1) and Granzyme(BGH)-like (GZM(BGH)L), were sequenced and the local transcription levels of each of these enzymes assessed using quantitative reverse-transcription PCR. The expression of TLP1 was closely correlated with GZMBL expression, and there was a significant positive relationship observed between TLP1 and GZMBL transcript levels and combined total mucosal burden in the RVC. Both GZM(BGH)L and CLP1 transcript levels were also positively correlated with each other, but the levels of these transcripts were not statistically correlated to any of the cyathostomin parasitological measures assessed here. This work has provided the basis for further rectal biopsy studies to examine the important dynamics of the mast cell response to cyathostomin infection. The results from this thesis, with the demonstration of novel proteinases, are encouraging for further investigation into equine mast cell proteinases and their role in cyathostomin infections

Feminism, citizenship and social activity: the role and importance of local women's organisations, Nottingham 1918-1969

This local study of single-sex organisations in Nottingham and Nottinghamshire is an attempt to redress some of the imbalanced coverage given to this area of history thus far. A chronological study, it examines the role, importance and, to some extent, impact of a wide range of women's organisations in the local context. Some were local branches of national organisations, others were specifically concerned with local issues. The local focus allows a challenge to be made to much current thought as to the strength of a "women's movement" in the years between the suffrage movement and the emergence of a more radical form of feminism in the 1970s. The strength of feminist issues and campaigning is studied in three periods -- the inter-war period, the Second World War and its immediate aftermath, and the 1950s and 1960s. The first two periods have previously been studied on a national level but, until recently, the post-Second World war era has been written off as overwhelmingly domestic and therefore unconstructive to the achievement of any feminist aims. This study suggests that, at a local level, this is not the case and that other conclusions reached about twentieth century feminism at a national level are not always applicable to the local context. The study also goes further than attempting to track interest in equality feminism in the mid years of the century by discussing the importance of citizenship campaigns and the social dimension of membership of women's organisations. The former has been introduced into the academic arena by Caitriona Beaumont and her ideas are assessed and expanded upon. As a result the thesis makes strong claims that citizenship activity was of vital importance to the empowerment of British women in the twentieth century. The importance of a single-sex social sphere in allowing women to develop as individuals, is also recognised in each of the three periods

100% Organic Feed for Poultry – Results of Feed Trials in the UK

Current regulations for organic monogastric production systems permit feed ingredients of non-organic origin, primarily due to concerns about meeting the demand for the essential amino acids methionine and lysine. However, 100 % organic diets will become compulsory in the EU from 1st January 2015, so there is a need to develop feeds which will supply the required level of nutrients and support high animal health and welfare. This paper reports on feeding trials carried out with broilers in the UK to investigate the impact of three 100 % organic diets: a control diet with globally sourced ingredients, a diet based on locally sourced (i.e. within Europe) organic ingredients, and a diet based on locally sourced organic ingredients and algae. The results of the summer and winter trials showed that there was no significant difference in bird weights between the three diets, indicating that using locally sourced and locally sourced with algae feeds do not impact on broiler productivity

Construction of the secondary care administrative records frailty (SCARF) index and validation on older women with operable invasive breast cancer in England and Wales:a cohort study

OBJECTIVES: Studies that use national datasets to evaluate the management of older women with breast cancer are often constrained by a lack of information on patient fitness. This study constructed a frailty index for use with secondary care administrative records and evaluated its ability to improve models of treatment patterns and overall survival in women with breast cancer. DESIGN: Retrospective cohort study. PARTICIPANTS: Women aged ≥50 years with oestrogen receptor (ER) positive early invasive breast cancer diagnosed between 2014 and 2017 in England. METHODS: The secondary care administrative records frailty (SCARF) index was based on the cumulative deficit model of frailty, using International Statistical Classification of Diseases, Injuries and Causes of Death, 10th revision codes to define a set of deficits. The index was applied to administrative records that were linked to national cancer registry datasets. The ability of the SCARF index to improve the performance of regression models to explain observed variation in the rate of surgery and overall survival was evaluated using Harrell's c-statistic and decision curve analysis. External validation was performed on a dataset of similar women diagnosed in Wales. RESULTS: The SCARF index captured 32 deficits that cover functional impairment, geriatric syndromes, problems with nutrition, cognition and mood, and medical comorbidities. In the English dataset (n=67 925), the prevalence of frailty in women aged 50-69, 70-79 and ≥80 years was 15%, 28% and 47%, respectively. Adding a frailty measure to regression models containing age, tumour characteristics and comorbidity improved their ability to: (1) discriminate between whether a woman was likely to have surgery and (2) predict overall survival. Similar results were obtained when the models were applied to the Welsh cohort (n=4 230). CONCLUSION: The SCARF index provides a simple and consistent method to identify frailty in population level data and could help describe differences in breast cancer treatments and outcomes