Biological and socio-economic effects of statewide limitation of deer licenses in Colorado

We evaluated the biological and socio-economic effects of statewide limitation of mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus) hunting licenses, which began in Colorado in 1999. We implemented a before-after-control-impact (BACI) analysis of annual helicopter sex and age class surveys, collected as part of the Colorado Division of Wildlife's routine monitoring, to assess changes in adult male/adult female ratios and fawn/adult female ratios in response to this change in harvest management. Following statewide limitation and reduction of license sales (1999–2006), we observed increases in adult male/adult female ratios of 7.39 (SE = 2.36) to 15.23 (SE = 1.22) adult males per 100 adult females in moderately limited areas and of 17.55 (SE = 3.27) to 21.86 (SE = 2.31) adult males per 100 adult females in highly limited areas. We simultaneously observed reductions in fawn/adult female ratios in newly limited areas by as much as 6.96 (SE = 2.19) fawns per 100 females, whereas in areas that had previously been limited we observed stabilization of fawn/adult female ratios at levels lower than levels observed under the unlimited harvest management structure. An immediate decline of $7.86 million in annual revenue stemmed from the change in harvest management, but revenue subsequently rebounded. This study provides preliminary evidence of potential effects that other state and provincial wildlife management agencies may face as they consider shifting mule deer harvest management towards limited license scenarios. © 2011 The Wildlife Society.     

新发缺血性脑卒中患者实施单病种质量管理的预后评价

目的 调查分析上海市某三甲医院缺血性脑卒中单病种质量管理实施情况并评价其效果。方法 采用回顾性调查的方法,以NIHSS评分为疗效评价依据,对新发缺血性脑卒中单病种质量管理实施组和未实施组的预后情况进行分析评估。结果 在2组基线资料均衡的情况下,缺血性脑卒中单病种质量管理实施组的疗效显著优于未实施组,尤其是发病初始疾病严重程度一般者的疗效最好。结论 缺血性脑卒中单病种质量管理通过对诊疗过程的质量控制,规范了诊疗行为,改善了新发缺血性脑卒中患者的预后。     

老年性白内障患者住院费用及相关因素的现况调查

目的 探讨老年性白内障住院患者住院费用的年龄、性别和不同医院的分布特点,为提供科学收费标准提供参考依据。方法 采用整群抽样的方法对2009年不同医院9 464例老年性白内障患者的住院费用及相关因素进行横断面调查并进行初步分析。结果 将老年白内障患者按<60岁、60~80岁、>80岁分为3组,床位费、西药费、检验费、放射费、特检费、治疗费、手术费和护理费均随年龄增加而增加且存在统计学差异。以上费用,男性患者均高于女性且存在统计学差异。海军医院患者最高（P<0.05）,其他由高至低依次为全军陆军医院、全军空军医院和全军二炮医院患者。结论 卫生决策部门应针对其不同特点制定适宜收费标准,有必要跟进研究不同病种费用区别的制度或管理层面的原因。

     

徐州市社区卫生服务中心健康管理现状

目的:研究徐州市社区卫生服务中心(community health service centers,CHSC)居民素养认识情况以及健康管理工作存在的问题。方法:采用文献资料检索、定量调查相结合的方法。对徐州市CHSC居民健康素养以及对健康管理满意度进行分析,了解其存在的问题。结果:青年组在健康知识、健康行为的正确率均显著高于老年组,差异均具有统计学意义(均P0.05)。居民对计划免疫接种工作、传染病防治工作以及妇幼卫生保健工作满意度较高。但在健康教育宣传以及医护人员服务态度满意度较差。在健康管理机制上仍存在诸多问题。结论:徐州市居民健康素养存在较大年龄差异,居民对健康管理满意度有待提高,要加强借鉴与创新的结合,尽快建立符合中国特色的运作机制。     

Identifying potential areas for biofuel production and evaluating the environmental effects: a case study of the James River Basin in the Midwestern United States

Biofuels are now an important resource in the United States because of the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007. Both increased corn growth for ethanol production and perennial dedicated energy crop growth for cellulosic feedstocks are potential sources to meet the rising demand for biofuels. However, these measures may cause adverse environmental consequences that are not yet fully understood. This study 1) evaluates the long‐term impacts of increased frequency of corn in the crop rotation system on water quantity and quality as well as soil fertility in the James River Basin and 2) identifies potential grasslands for cultivating bioenergy crops (e.g. switchgrass), estimating the water quality impacts. We selected the soil and water assessment tool, a physically based multidisciplinary model, as the modeling approach to simulate a series of biofuel production scenarios involving crop rotation and land cover changes. The model simulations with different crop rotation scenarios indicate that decreases in water yield and soil nitrate nitrogen (NO₃‐N) concentration along with an increase in NO₃‐N load to stream water could justify serious concerns regarding increased corn rotations in this basin. Simulations with land cover change scenarios helped us spatially classify the grasslands in terms of biomass productivity and nitrogen loads, and we further derived the relationship of biomass production targets and the resulting nitrogen loads against switchgrass planting acreages. The suggested economically efficient (planting acreage) and environmentally friendly (water quality) planting locations and acreages can be a valuable guide for cultivating switchgrass in this basin. This information, along with the projected environmental costs (i.e. reduced water yield and increased nitrogen load), can contribute to decision support tools for land managers to seek the sustainability of biofuel development in this region.     

Vegetation responses to landscape structure at multiple scales across a Northern Wisconsin,USA, pine barrens landscape

Increasing awareness of the importance of scale and landscape structure to landscape processes and concern about loss of biodiversity has resulted in efforts to understand patterns of biodiversity across multiple scales. We examined plant species distributions and their relationships to landscape structure at varying spatial scales across a pine barrens landscape in northern Wisconsin, U.S.A. We recorded plant species cover in 1×1 m plots every 5 m along a 3575 m transect, along with variables describing macro- and micro-landscape structure. A total of 139 understory plant species were recorded. The distributions of many species appeared to be strongly associated with landscape structural features, such as distinct management patches and roads. TWINSPAN and detrended correspondence analysis (DCA) identified three groups of species that overlapped extensively in the ordination, possibly reflecting the relatively homogeneous nature of disturbance in the pine barrens landscape. Distribution of understory plants did not reflect all of the patch types we identified along the transect; plot ordination and classification resulted in three to five plot groups that differed in niche breadth. Wavelet transforms showed varying relationships between landscape features and plant diversity indices (Shannon–Weiner, Simpson's Dominance) at different resolutions. Wavelet variances indicated that patterns of Shannon diversity were dominated by coarse resolutions ranging from 900–1500 m, which may have been related to topography. Patterns of Simpson's Dominance were dominated by 700 m resolution, possibly associated with canopy cover. However, a strong correspondence between overstory patch type and diversity was found for several patch types at ranges of scales that varied by patch type. Effects of linear features such as roads were apparent in the wavelet transforms at resolutions of about 5–1000 m, suggesting roads may have an important impact on plant diversity at landscape scales. At broad scales, landscape context appeared more important to diversity than individual patches, suggesting that changes in structure at fine resolutions could alter overall diversity characteristics of the landscape. Therefore, a hierarchical perspective is necessary to recognize potential large-scale change resulting from small-scale activities.     

晚稻中后期二化螟为害特点及严重发生原因剖析

近年来 ,浙江省仙居县晚稻中后期二化螟ChilosuppressalisWalker为害日趋严重。分析原因 ,一是单季稻等桥梁田面积的不断扩大 ,使 8月底至 9月上旬田间出现了全年发生量最大的 2代主蛾峰 ,卵孵化盛期与连作晚稻抽穗期吻合 ;二是冬春气温升高 ,发生期提早 ,2代虫源寄主、水稻移栽期等的多样化 ,使 3,4代发生期拉长 ;三是因 3代主峰和 4代的螟害发生具有“隐性”的特点 ,其测报和防治工作被忽视 ;四是二化螟对常用药剂的抗药性提高。据此提出了相应的治理对策     

Implementation of hypocalcaemia prevention programmes in commercial dairy herds: From theory to practice

Hypocalcaemia prevention programmes have been widely studied in experimental settings, but their feasibility has not been assessed under field conditions. The main objective of this study was to evaluate, in the context of small dairy farms in western France, whether and how dairy farmers implement prevention programmes and manage the feeding of dry cows to prevent hypocalcaemia. Seventy-nine commercial Holstein dairy farms in Brittany (France) were enrolled in a qualitative study in 2019. We conducted in-person interviews with the farmers to 1) understand the rationale behind the type and seasonality of prevention programmes they implemented and 2) assess how closely they followed common recommendations when implementing them. Most farmers (80 %) used at least one prevention programme, especially supplying a mineral mix formulated to meet the needs of dry cows in late gestation (53 %), acidifying the diet in late gestation (37 %), and supplying calcium at calving (oral or injectable form, 37 %). The use of programmes depended on whether the diet composition varied throughout the year. Among farmers who provided an acidified diet, 25 % did not supply a specific mineral mix to dry cows to ensure an adequate amount of P, Ca, and Mg, which could decrease the effectiveness of the acidification programme. A lack of reliability in feeding practices, such as not weighing feed or not delivering feed frequently enough, was identified for 61 % of contributing farms. Management practices could result in supplying an unsuitable amount of P, Ca, or Mg immediately before calving; for example, inappropriate batching practices around calving were identified for 22 % (cows) to 32 % (heifers) of farms. In addition, nearly all contributing farmers had no processes in place to monitor the effectiveness of the programmes implemented. Reasons for this overall lack of compliance should be explored.     

Performance and financial consequences of stillbirth in Holstein dairy cattle

Stillbirth is an economically important trait on dairy farms. Knowledge of the consequences of, and the economic losses associated with stillbirth can help the producer when making management decisions. The objectives of this study were to determine the effects of stillbirth on productive and reproductive performance as well as financial losses due to stillbirth incidence in Iranian Holstein dairy farms. Economic and performance data were collected from nine Holstein dairy farms in Isfahan and Khorasan provinces of Iran from March 2008 to December 2013. The final data set included 160 410 calving records from 53 265 cows. A linear mixed model was developed to evaluate the effects of stillbirth on performance of primiparous and multiparous cows separately and overall. An economic model was used to estimate the economic losses due to stillbirth. The incidence of stillbirth cases per cow per year was 4.2% on average (3.4% to 6.8% at herd level). The least square means results showed that a case of stillbirth significantly (P<0.05) reduced 305-day milk production in multiparous cows and overall, but had no significant effects on primiparous cows production performance (P>0.05). Overall, a case of stillbirth reduced 305-day milk yield by 544.0±76.5 kg/cow per lactation. Stillbirth had no significant effects on 305-day fat and protein percentages in either primiparous or multiparous cows. Overall, cows that gave birth to stillborn calves had significantly increased days open by 14.6±2.6 days and the number of inseminations per conception by 0.2 compared with cows that gave birth to live calves (P<0.01). In general, the negative productive and reproductive effects associated with stillbirth were smaller and non-significant for primiparous cows compared with multiparous cows. The financial losses associated with stillbirth incidence averaged US$ 938 per case (range from $US 767 to $US 1189 in the nine investigated farms). The loss of a calf was not the only cost associated with stillbirth, as it accounted for 71.0% of the total cost. The costs of dystocia (7.6%) and culling and replacement expenses (6.3%) were the next most important costs associated with stillbirth. These results can be used to assess the potential return from management strategies to reduce the occurrence of stillbirths.