Dry Forages: Process and techniques (OK-Net EcoFeed Practice Abstract)

To obtain the best forage quality, cutting at the correct time is important, when cellulose and lignin content is not too high. During spring, cutting early is the best option to preserve forage quality; for grasses, the correct time is beginning of heading; for leguminous plants, it is beginning of blooming. However delaying cutting increases dry matter (DM) content, which speeds up the drying process. Favourable weather conditions can reduce drying costs. Making hay decreases the moisture content to 15 % and increases dry matter (DM) to 85 %. Cutting height (Figure 2) is important for a perennial crop, affecting speed and quantity of regrowth. Generally is not recommended cutting too close to the ground, because basal buds are the slowest to refill and have low vigour. • Spreading the grass at cutting helps to decrease drying time and minimise forage quality and quantity losses. On field crushing of stems using a conditioner, increases water loss by up to 30 % and increases DM. The drying process can be completed on the field or in drying rooms, where forage quality is highest. At the end of the drying process, the hay can be baled and stored

Short term efficacy of nebulized beclomethasone in mild-to-moderate wheezing episodes in pre-school children

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Few data are available on the usefulness of short term treatment with low-medium dose of inhaled corticosteroids (ICS) in pre-school children with wheezing exacerbations.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>To compare the efficacy of one week treatment with 400 μg b.i.d. nebulized beclomethasone dipropionate (BDP), plus nebulized 2500 μg prn salbutamol (BDP group), versus nebulized b.i.d. placebo, plus nebulized prn 2500 μg salbutamol (placebo group), a post-hoc analysis was performed on data obtained in 166 pre-school children with multiple-trigger wheezing, recruited during an acute wheezing episode.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The percentage of symptom-free days (SFDs) was significantly higher in the BDP group (54.7%) than in the placebo group (40.5%; p = 0.012), with a 35% relative difference. Day-by-day analysis showed that the percentage of SFDs was already higher in the BDP group after 2 days (7.4%), the difference reaching statistical significance at day 6 (12.3%; p = 0.035). Cough score was also reduced in the BDP group (0.11) as compared with the placebo group (0.39; p = 0.048), the difference reaching statistical significance after 5 days of treatment (0.18 and 0.47 respectively; p = 0.047). The mean number of nebulizations per day of prn salbutamol was lower in the BDP group as compared to the placebo group (0.26 and 0.34, respectively), but the difference was not significant (p = 0.366). There were no differences in positive effects of BDP treatment between children with and without risk factors for asthma.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>A 1-week treatment with nebulized BDP and prn salbutamol is effective in increasing SFDs and improving cough in children with wheezing, providing a clinical rationale for the short term use of ICS in episodic wheeze exacerbations in pre-school children.</p> <p>Trial Registration</p> <p>ClinicalTrials.gov (<a href="http://www.clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT00497523">NCT00497523</a>)</p

Feeding monogastrics 100% organic and regionally produced feed

The transition to 100% organic feed ingredients for organic livestock is expected to take effect from January 1st 2020 in Europe. In order to contribute to the goal of 100% use of organic and regional feed for monogastrics, this knowledge synthesis “Feeding monogastrics 100% organic and regionally produced feed“ aims to describe: • the protein need for organic monogastric animals (pigs, layers and broilers), including different breeds and rearing conditions • different protein feed resources, mostly new or not commonly used protein sources, their nutrient content, production prerequisites, and their potential feeding value • small-scale, on-farm equipment for feed processing • different feeding strategies. The knowledge synthesis should enable participants in Innovation groups (IG) and Thematic groups (TG) to choose feed materials, feeding strategies, breeds and perhaps even small-scale on-farm equipment for testing when aiming at 100% organic and regionally produced feed for monogastrics. In the knowledge synthesis it is concluded: When feeding pigs and poultry 100% organic and regionally produced feed, getting enough protein and specific amino acids is a challenge. There are two ways to go and they can be combined. One is to utilize by-products, for example waste from various productions, and explore new protein sources e.g. marine products or to refine already known products such as grass. The other way is to feed the animals less intensively and for this feeding strategy slow-growing breeds fit better. Some slow-growing breeds are already known, some are rediscovered old breeds. The challenge with the slow-growing and less-yielding breeds is that the production is getting smaller and either the farmer will earn less or the prices of eggs and meat will increase. However, the possibilities for combinations of regionally grown feed, low-yielding breeds with different feeding strategies are many and they need to be explored. Finally, the knowledge synthesis identify needs for new knowledge on: • nutritional requirements of alternative breeds. Precise nutrient recommendations for organically produced pigs and poultry do not exist. • nutritional value of new protein sources for monogastric animals • various combinations of breeds, grazing and supplemental feed. Small-scale on-farm equipment to refine locally produced raw materials needs to be developed

Okara: Including a soya by-product into the poultry diet (OK-Net Ecofeed Practice Abstract)

• Due to its chemical and amino acid composition (Table 1 and 2), Okara can be used in different ways in the poultry diet. A possible use is to include okara in the starting and growing phases (from the 1st to 21st day). Another possibility is to feed okara from week 1 to slaughtering time. Okara inclusion replacing soyameal quantity from 25 to 75 % in the diet, will not affect feed intake or mortality, and it will reduce ration cost and achieve comparable daily body weight gains, to 100 % soya diets. However, due to the high fibre content, overfeeding Okara, could decrease feed intake and performance (Motawe et al., 2012). • The composition of Okara ranges between 20 % and 47.3 % protein and 9.3 % and 22.3 % fats. It contains high amounts of isoflavones and the polyunsaturated fatty acids, linolenic acid, and linoleic acid (O’Toole 1999; Bowles and Demiate 2006). The energy content is also important to ensure weight gain from day 1 to 21 (Table 3). • According to Rostagno et al. (2011), the okara digestibility of crude protein (CP), amino acids (AA) and lipids is higher than that of soya. In particular, okara CP has a higher digestibility of around 99.6% instead of 91%. Protein content, protein efficiency coefficient, and essential AAs of okara are usually higher than those of other soybean-based products, due to the heat process that soybean undergoes during processing of the soybean aqueous extract. This makes certain AAs better available, which in turn increases the digestibility of proteins and fats (O’Toole 1999) • It should be noted that according to Diaz-Vargas (2016), okara CP content was 21 % lower than that of soy (45%). However, the biggest difference between okara and soybean meal was in regard to tryptophan, with 55.5 % less found in okara. The contents of lysine, methionine, and threonine varied by 7.5 %, 13.3 %, and 16.5 %, respectively (Table 3). • The economic viability of including okara in the diets was determined according to the equation described by Bellaver et al. (1985), which calculates the average cost of feed per kilogram of body weight

Is bronchopulmonary dysplasia in adult age a novel COPD endotype?

No abstract availabl

Report of testing activities (Deliverable 3.2 OK-Net EcoFeed Project)

This deliverable is part of the Horizon 2020 project – OK-Net EcoFeed. The overall aim of OK-Net EcoFeed is to help farmers, breeders and the organic feed processing industry in achieving the goal of 100% use of organic and regional feed for monogastrics, in particular pigs, broilers, laying hens and parents of broilers and laying hens. The aim of WP3 – “Coordination of Innovation and Thematic Groups”- is to adopt a multi-actor approach to reach the goal of 100% organic and regional feed in the monogastric ration, also by reducing the soya portion. In particular, the objectives of Task 3.3 “Testing of innovative tools and practices” is to help all the Innovation Groups (IGs) in testing selected practices or approaches in terms of innovation, applicability, and user-friendliness. This deliverable D3.2 “Report of testing activities” by AIAB presents and compiles the reports, practice abstracts and videos relative to the testing activities carried out by the Innovation groups (IGs)

Regular vs prn nebulized treatment in wheeze preschool children

BACKGROUND: International guidelines recommend regular treatment with inhaled glucocorticoids for children with frequent wheezing; however, prn inhaled bronchodilator alone or in combination with glucocorticoid is also often used in practice. We aimed to evaluate whether regular nebulized glucocorticoid plus a prn bronchodilator or a prn nebulized bronchodilator/glucocorticoid combination is more effective than prn bronchodilator alone in preschool children with frequent wheeze. METHODS: Double-blind, double-dummy, randomized, parallel-group trial. After a 2-week run-in period, 276 symptomatic children with frequent wheeze, aged 1-4 years, were randomly assigned to three groups for a 3-month nebulized treatment: (1) 400 microg beclomethasone bid plus 2500 microg salbutamol prn; (2) placebo bid plus 800 microg beclomethasone/1600 microg salbutamol combination prn; (3) placebo bid plus 2500 microg salbutamol prn. The percentage of symptom-free days was the primary outcome measure. Secondary outcomes included symptom scores, use of relief medication and exacerbation frequency. RESULTS: As compared with prn salbutamol (61.0 +/- 24.83 [SD]), the percentage of symptom-free days was higher with regular beclomethasone (69.6%, SD 20.89; P = 0.034) but not with prn combination (64.9%, SD 24.74). Results were no different in children with or without risk factors for developing persistent asthma. The effect of prn combination was no different from that of regular beclomethasone on the primary and on several important secondary outcomes. CONCLUSIONS: Regular inhaled glucocorticoid is the most effective treatment for frequent wheezing in preschool children. However, prn bronchodilator/glucocorticoid combination might be an alternative option, but it requires further study

Spirometry: A practical lifespan predictor of global health and chronic respiratory and non-respiratory diseases

Objectives: 1. To review and discuss available evidence supporting that spirometry is an overlooked global health marker, that could be used regularly through the lifespan to monitor human health and predict risk of chronic respiratory and other chronic non-communicable diseases (NCDs). 2. To discuss the challenges and opportunities that this proposal faces.Summary of key data. First, spirometry is essential to assess and monitor respiratory health. Second, spirometry adds prognostic value to other well-accepted health markers used in clinical practice, such as blood pressure, body mass index, glucose and blood lipids, by identifying individuals at risk, not only of respiratory diseases, but also of other NCDs, particularly cardiovascular and metabolic disorders. Conclusion: Although we acknowledge that research gaps still exist, we propose that spirometry assessed during childhood, adolescence and early and late adulthood can be a reproducible, non-invasive, safe and affordable global health marker to identify individuals in the general population at risk of respiratory and non-respiratory NCDs. In this context, spirometry may act as the caged canaries that miners used to carry into mines to alert them of dangerous accumulations of gases, thus providing an early warning and save lives

Epidemiological features and disease-related concerns of a large cohort of Italian patients with active Crohn\u2019s disease

Background-Aims: The SOLE study was conducted on a large cohort of Italian patients with moderatesevere Crohn\u2019s disease (CD) to assess epidemiological and disease characteristics and their correlation with disease-related worries, treatment satisfaction and adherence, workability. Methods: The following tools were used over 12 months to assess: \u2022 disease-related worries: Rating Form of Inflammatory Bowel Disease Patient Concerns, \u2022 impact on workability: Work Productivity and Activity Impairment-CD, \u2022 satisfaction: Treatment Satisfaction Questionnaire for Medication, \u2022 adherence: Medication Adherence Rating Scale. Results were correlated with demographic and clinical variables with linear regression models. Results: 552 patients with active CD (51% men) were recruited. Higher worries were having an ostomy bag and undergoing surgery. Variables associated with a higher RFIPC score included female sex, higher disease activity, lower treatment adherence (p &lt; 0.001), previous surgical treatments (p = 0.003). 60% of patients claimed difficulties with activities of daily living. Lower VAS scores were reported by patients with disease duration &gt;6years; treatment satisfaction/adherence was higher with anti-TNF- treatment. Decreased hospitalizations during follow-up and improved workability/daily activities occurred with adalimumab, infliximab, azathioprine (p &lt; 0.001). Conclusion: Worries included having an ostomy bag, undergoing surgery, developing cancer: conditions significantly associated with worsened disease activity and low treatment adherence. Higher treatment adherence scores/greater workability improvements were observed in patients treated with anti-TNF- agents