Management of native warm-season grasses for beef cattle and biomass production in the Mid-South USA.

Native grasses, such as switchgrass (SG; L.), big bluestem (BB; Vitman), indiangrass (IG; Nash), and eastern gamagrass (EG; [L.] L.) may be capable of providing desirable summer forage for cattle as well as a source of biomass for renewable energy. To evaluate that potential, experiments were conducted at 2 locations in Tennessee comparing weaned beef () steers (268 ± 25 kg initial BW) during early-season grazing (Early; 30 d, typically corresponding to May, followed by postdormancy biomass harvest) and full-season grazing (Full, mean duration = 98 d). For Exp. 1, which compared SG, a blend of BB and IG (BBIG), and EG, ADG was greater ( < 0.05) for BBIG (1.02 kg/d) than SG (0.85 kg/d), and both were greater ( < 0.05) than EG (0.66 kg/d). Grazing days for SG and EG were similar (389 and 423 animal unit days [AUD]/ha, respectively) and exceeded ( < 0.05) that of BBIG (233 AUD/ha) during Full. In Exp. 2 (SG and BBIG only), rates of gain were comparable to that of Exp. 1, but AUD were 425 (SG) and 299 (BBIG) AUD/ha. Such rates of gain and grazing days indicate that these grasses can provide desirable summer forage for growing cattle. Early produced 211 to 324 kg BW gain/ha, depending on experiment and forage, followed by dormant-season harvests of 7.5 to 10.5 Mg/ha of biomass, indicating a potential for beef cattle forage and biomass production on the same land resource. Native grasses provided productive summer pasture and good rates of gain on growing cattle and could contribute to forage programs, especially where cool-season grasses currently predominate.

The cost of feeding bred dairy heifers on native warm-season grasses and harvested feedstuffs.

Heifer rearing is one of the largest production expenses for dairy cattle operations, which is one reason milking operations outsource heifer rearing to custom developers. The cost of harvested feedstuffs is a major expense in heifer rearing. A possible way to lower feed costs is to graze dairy heifers, but little research exists on this topic in the mid-south United States. The objectives of this research were to determine the cost of feeding bred dairy heifers grazing native warm-season grasses (NWSG), with and without legumes, and compare the cost of grazing with the cost of rearing heifers using 3 traditional rations. The 3 rations were corn silage with soybean meal, corn silage with dry distillers grain, and a wet distillers grain-based ration. Bred Holstein heifers between 15- and 20-mo-old continuously grazed switchgrass (SG), SG with red clover (SG+RC), a big bluestem and Indiangrass mixture (BBIG), and BBIG with red clover (BBIG+RC) in Tennessee during the summer months. Total grazing days were calculated for each NWSG to determine the average cost/animal per grazing day. The average daily gain (ADG) was calculated for each NWSG to develop 3 harvested feed rations that would result in the same ADG over the same number of grazing day as each NWSG treatment. The average cost/animal per grazing day was lowest for SG ($0.48/animal/grazing d) and highest for BBIG+RC ($1.10/animal/grazing d). For both BBIG and SG, legumes increased the average cost/animal per grazing day because grazing days did not increase enough to account for the additional cost of the legumes. No difference was observed in ADG for heifers grazing BBIG (0.85 kg/d) and BBIG+RC (0.94 kg/d), and no difference was observed in ADG for heifers grazing SG (0.71 kg/d) and SG+RC (0.70 kg/d). However, the ADG for heifers grazing SG and SG+RC was lower than the ADG for heifers grazing either BBIG or BBIG+RC. The average cost/animal per grazing day was lower for all NWSG treatments than the average cost/animal per day for all comparable feed rations at a low, average, and high yardage fee. Results of this study suggest that SG was the most cost-effective NWSG alternative to harvested feeds for bred dairy heifer rearing.

Endoscopic orbital decompression for thyroid eye disease.

BACKGROUND: Thyroid eye disease is a disorder of immune function resulting in extraocular myopathy and an increase in retrobulbar fat. These changes lead to the clinical features found in thyroid eye disease including proptosis, eyelid retraction, restrictive myopathy and sometimes compressive optic neuropathy. Orbital decompression is undertaken for optic nerve compression, exposure keratopathy or cosmesis. Previously this involved an external approach with the removal of the medial orbital wall along with the floor. An intranasal endoscopic approach with the removal of the medial orbital wall and part of the floor has recently been advocated as an alternative procedure. METHODS: We present the results of 7 patients who underwent endoscopic orbital decompression. The effects on optic nerve function, proptosis and ocular motility were assessed. Symptoms before and after surgery were monitored. RESULTS: The surgery was found to be successful in all cases with a reduction in proptosis and minimal effect on ocular motility. The surgery was also associated with a low post-operative morbidity. CONCLUSION: We suggest endoscopic orbital decompression is an effective and safe treatment for dysthyroid eye disease.

An applied master's degree curriculum for health services administrators in the 1990's.

Central Michigan University offers a Master of Science in Administration (MSA) degree with a concentration in Health Services Administration (HSA) to on-campus students and a large number of non-traditional students at about fifty off-campus locations throughout the continental United States and Hawaii. The degree and concentration emphasize a practical, applied course of study. The University recently undertook a curriculum review of the MSA degree and the HSA concentration with the goal of building on existing strengths and altering the curriculum to accommodate changing educational needs of future health services administrators. The review sought broadly-based input from alumni, employers, faculty/advisors, and a consultant. This ensured both that academicians' and practitioners' perspectives would guide discussions and that decisions would preserve the program's academic quality and applied nature. Generally the review did not create the sort of radical curricular change which some advisors and staff had first thought might happen. Instead it developed a consensus on curriculum content which reemphasized basic managerial skills; provided students additional preparation in cognitive skills of data gathering, analysis, synthesis, and communication; and strengthened strategic planning competencies.