BACKGROUND: In experiment 1, 30 boars were assigned to one of five treatments (n = 6): T1, 0 g kg −1 seaweed extract (SWE); T2, 0.7 g kg −1 SWE; T3, 1.4 g kg −1 SWE; T4, 2.8 g kg −1 SWE and T5, 5.6 g kg −1 SWE. The extract contained laminarin and fucoidan only and was extracted from Laminaria spp. In experiment 2, 28 boars were assigned, in a 2 × 2 factorial to one of four treatments (n = 7): T1, control; T2, control plus 300 mg laminarin; T3, control plus 240 mg fucoidan; T4, control plus 300 mg laminarin and 240 mg fucoidan kg −1 diet.

Reducing stigma, promoting respectful care and investigating stillbirth have a positive impact after stillbirth for women and families in LMICs.

An experiment (3 3 4 factorial arrangement) was conducted to investigate the interaction between different levels of lactose (60 v. 150 v. 250 g/kg) and seaweed extract (0 v. 1 v. 2 v. 4 g/kg) containing both laminarin and fucoidan derived from Laminaria spp. on growth performance and nutrient digestibility of weanling pigs. In all, 384 piglets (24 days of age, 7.5 kg (s.d. 1 kg) live weight) were blocked on the basis of live weight and were assigned to one of 12 dietary treatments (eight replicates per treatment). Piglets were offered diets containing either low (60 g/kg), medium (150 g/kg) or high (250 g/kg) lactose levels with one of the following levels of seaweed extract additive: (1) 0 g/kg, (2) 1 g/kg, (3) 2 g/kg or (4) 4 g/kg seaweed extract. The pigs were offered the diets ad libitum for 21 days post weaning. There was a significant lactose 3 seaweed extract interaction (P , 0.05) in average daily gain (ADG) during the experimental period (days 0 to 21). At the low and medium levels of lactose, there was an increase in ADG as the level of seaweed extract increased to 2 g/kg (P , 0.05). However, at the high level of lactose there was no further response in ADG as the level of seaweed extract increased above 1 g/kg. There was a significant lactose 3 seaweed extract interaction during the experimental period (days 0 to 21) (P , 0.05) on the food conversion ratio (FCR). At the low level of lactose, there was a significant improvement in FCR as the levels of seaweed extract increased to 4 g/kg (P , 0.01). At the medium level of lactose, there was a significant improvement in FCR as seaweed extract increased to 2 g/kg. However, there was no significant effect of seaweed extract on FCR at the high levels of lactose (P . 0.05). There was a linear increase in average daily feed intake (ADFI) during the experimental period (days 0 to 21) (P , 0.05) as levels of seaweed extract increased. There was a linear increase in ash digestibility (P , 0.01) during the experimental period (days 0 to 21) as the level of lactose increased. There was a quadratic decrease (P , 0.01) in nitrogen (N) and neutral detergent fibre digestibility as the levels of lactose increased. In conclusion, pigs responded differently to the inclusion levels of seaweed extract at each level of lactose supplementation. The inclusion of a laminarin-fucoidan extract in piglet diets may alleviate the use for high-lactose diets (.60 g/kg) and would also alleviate some of the common problems that occur post weaning.

A complete randomized design was used to investigate the effect of increasing pasture species on herbage production, chemical composition and utilization under intensive sheep grazing. Four experimental farmlets were established, namely perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne) only, receiving 163 kg N ha−1 year−1 (PRG); a perennial ryegrass and white clover (Trifolium repens) sward (PRGWC); a six species sward containing two grasses, two legumes and two herbs (6S); and a nine species sward containing three grasses, three legumes and three herbs (9S), each receiving 90 kg N ha−1 year−1. Ewes (12.5 ewes ha−1) and lambs rotationally grazed each farmlet from turnout post‐lambing until housing. Target pre‐grazing herbage mass (above 4 cm) was 1,200 kg dry‐matter (DM) ha−1, Target post‐grazing sward height was 4 cm for all rotations. Herbage samples were collected for DM yield, botanical and chemical composition determination at each grazing. Annual DM production of the 6S, 9S and PRG swards was similar (10.3, 9.9 and 9.9 ± 0.5 t DM ha−1, respectively) despite differences in N application. The 6S sward, however, had greater annual DM production compared to the PRGWC sward (9.1 t DM ha−1, p < 0.05). Herb proportions decreased in the 6S and 9S swards from 2015 to 2016 (p < 0.05) resulting in increased proportions of grass in these swards (p < 0.05). In conclusion, the PRGWC, 6S and 9S swards produced similar annual herbage DM from lower N inputs to PRG swards; however, maintaining the proportions of herbs is a challenge under intensive sheep grazing.

ObjectiveEngaging bereaved parents in the review process that examines their care before and after a perinatal death might help parents deal with their grief more effectively and drive improvements in patient safety. The objective of this study is to explore whether healthcare professionals would accept or support parent engagement in the perinatal mortality review process.DesignQualitative focus group interviews. Transcripts were analysed with an inductive thematic approach.SettingTwo geographically distinct tertiary maternity hospitals in the UK.ParticipantsFive focus groups were conducted with clinical staff including midwives, obstetricians, neonatologists, nursing staff and chaplaincy services.ResultsTwenty-seven healthcare professionals unanimously agreed that parents’ involvement in the perinatal mortality review process is useful and necessary. Six key themes emerged including: parental engagement; need for formal follow-up; critical structure of perinatal mortality review meeting; coordination and streamlining of care; advocacy for parents including role of the bereavement care lead; and requirement for training and support for staff to enable parental engagement.ConclusionsHealthcare professionals strongly advocated engaging bereaved parents in the perinatal mortality review: empowering parents to ask questions, providing feedback on care, helping generate lessons and providing them with the opportunity to discuss a summary of the review conclusions with their primary healthcare professional contact. The participants agreed it is time to move on from ‘a group of doctors reviewing notes’ to active learning and improvement together with parents, to enable better care and prevention of perinatal death.

An experiment (complete randomised design) was conducted to investigate the linear and quadratic effects of barley b-glucan inclusion level on total tract nutrient apparent digestibility, nitrogen excretion, intestinal microflora, volatile fatty acid (VFA) profile and manure ammonia emissions in pigs. Twenty-four boars (66 kg) were assigned to one of four treatments: (T1) 0 g/kg barley (control diet) (5.6 g/kg b-glucan), (T2) 222 g/kg barley (12.1 g/kg b-glucan), (T3) 444 g/kg barley (18.9 g/kg b-glucan) and (T4) 666 g/kg barley (25 g/kg b-glucan). Barley was substituted for wheat in the diet. The diets were formulated to contain similar concentrations of digestible energy and digestible lysine. There was a linear decrease (P , 0.001) in the total tract apparent digestibility of dry matter, organic matter, gross energy and neutral-detergent fibre with increasing b-glucan concentration. Faecal nitrogen excretion was affected by dietary b-glucan concentration (quadratic P , 0.05). There was a linear decrease in Enterobacteria concentrations (P , 0.05) with increasing dietary b-glucan concentration. Increasing dietary barley levels caused a linear decrease in colonic (P , 0.01) and caecal pH (P , 0.001). Total caecal VFA and propionic acid were affected by dietary b-glucan concentration (quadratic, P , 0.05). There was a linear decrease in the proportion of acetic acid (P , 0.001), isobutyric acid (P , 0.01) and isovaleric acid (P , 0.05) with increasing levels of dietary barley in both the caecum and colon. There was a linear increase in the proportion of propionic acid (P , 0.001) and butyric acid (P , 0.05) with increasing barley in the colon. In conclusion, high level of dietary b-glucan (25 g/kg) is required to reduce offensive odour forming branched-chain VFAs; however, diet digestibility is compromised at such levels.

SUMMARYThe current experiment was undertaken to investigate the effect of including white clover (Trifolium repens L.; WC) into perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne L.; PRG) swards (PRG/WC) receiving 250 kg nitrogen (N) per hectare (ha) per year compared with PRG only swards receiving 250 kg N/ha/year, in an intensive grass-based spring calving dairy production scenario. Forty spring-calving cows were allocated to graze either a PRG/WC or PRG sward (n = 20) from 6 February to 31 October 2012. Fresh herbage was offered daily (17 kg dry matter (DM)/cow) supplemented with concentrate in times of herbage deficit (total supplementation 507 kg/cow). Pre-grazing herbage mass (HM), sward WC content and milk production were measured for the duration of the experiment. Herbage DM intake was estimated in May, July and September. Pre-grazing HM (±s.e.) was similar (1467 ± 173·1 kg DM/ha) for both treatments, as was cumulative herbage production (14 158 ± 769 kg DM/ha). Average WC content of the PRG/WC swards was 236 ± 30 g/kg DM. The PRG/WC cows had greater average daily milk yield and milk solids yield from June onwards. Cumulative milk yield and milk solids yield were greater for the PRG/WC cows compared with the PRG cows (5048 and 4789 ± 34·3 kg milk yield/cow, and 400 and 388 ± 1·87 kg milk solids/cow, respectively). Cows had similar DM intake in all measurements periods (15·1 ± 0·42 kg DM/cow/day). In conclusion, including WC in N-fertilized PRG swards increased milk production from cows grazing the PRG/WC swards compared with PRG, particularly in the second half of the lactation.

A 2 3 2 factorial experiment was conducted to investigate the interaction between high and low dietary crude protein (CP) (200 v. 150 g/kg) and sugar-beet pulp (SBP) (200 v. 0 g/kg) on nutrient digestibility, nitrogen (N) excretion, intestinal fermentation and manure ammonia and odour emissions from 24 boars (n 5 6, 74.0 kg live weight). The diets were formulated to contain similar concentrations of digestible energy (13.6 MJ/kg) and lysine (10.0 g/kg). Pigs offered SBP-containing diets had a reduced (P , 0.05) digestibility of dry matter, ash, N, gross energy and an increased ( P , 0.001) digestibility of neutraldetergent fibre compared with pigs offered diets containing no SBP. There was an interaction between CP and SBP on urinary N excretion and the urine : faeces N ratio. Pigs offered the 200 g/kg CP SBP-based diet had reduced urine : faeces N ratio (P , 0.05) and urinary N excretion ( P , 0.05) compared with those offered the 200 g/kg CP diet without SBP. However, there was no effect of SBP in pigs offered 150 g/kg CP diets. Manure ammonia emissions were reduced by 33% from 0 to 240 h (P , 0.01); however, odour emissions were increased by 41% (P , 0.05) when pigs were offered SBP diets. Decreasing dietary CP to 150 g/kg reduced total N excretion ( P , 0.001) and ammonia emissions from 0 to 240 h ( P , 0.05). There was an interaction between dietary CP and SBP on branched-chain fatty acids ( P , 0.001) in caecal digesta. Pigs offered the 200 g/kg CP SBP-containing diet reduced branched-chain fatty acids in the caecum compared with pigs offered the 200 g/kg CP diet containing no SBP. However, there was no effect of SBP in the 150 g/kg CP diet. In conclusion, pigs offered SBP-containing diets had a reduced manure ammonia emissions and increased odour emissions compared with diets containing no SBP. Pigs offered the 200 g/kg CP SBP-containing diet had a reduced urine : faeces N ratio and urinary N excretion compared with those offered the 200 g/kg CP diet containing no SBP.