Accounting for productive time lost in dairy cattle: disease adjusted lactation

Includes bibliographical references.2016 Summer.Dairy cow mortality, morbidity, and poor welfare have been of increased concern over the past several decades. Traditionally, dairy farm management has focused on singular costs associated with pathologies without thoroughly quantifying losses tied to disease and consequent death or culling. Within human epidemiology, the economic burden of time lost due to ill-health or early death is measured through the World Health Organization's disability adjusted life years (DALY). This project utilized the DALY concept to estimate time lost during a lactation due to disease and subsequent early removal of dairy cows. This was accomplished through the development of the disease adjusted lactation (DALact) metric. The DALact is calculated by combining days lost due to illness or injury (DLI) and days lost due to early death or removal (DLRD). The DLI reflects the number of cases during a certain period, multiplied by a disability weight and specific disease duration. The DLRD is comprised of two components: days lost due to death, and days lost due to culling from a given disease. Disability weights for 13 common dairy cow diseases were derived from an international expert opinion survey of dairy producers, managers and veterinarians. The selected disease states included: calving trauma, diarrhea, ketosis, lameness, left displaced abomasum, mastitis, metritis, milk fever, musculoskeletal injury, pneumonia, right displaced abomasum, and retained placenta. Survey participants were asked to estimate the impact of each disease on overall health and milk production. Diseases were classified from 0 (no adverse effects) to 10 (terminal). Validity and scope of participants' responses were assessed using a modified beta-Pert distribution and median points were used to provide disability weights for the DALact calculation. To support development of the DALact, collection of disease and removal data from three Kansas dairy farms representing 9,000 Holstein cows began January 1, 2014 and ended on May 26, 2015. A total of 7,233 cows were enrolled in the study across the three dairies. DALact measures were calculated using disease, culling and death data for each disease state while combining the disability weights, duration, and average days in milk at time of removal. Mastitis accounted for the largest category on all three dairies representing 29,779, 23,917, and 36,183 days lost for Dairies 1, 2, and 3, respectively. Conversely, prevalence of mastitis was largest on only Dairy 1 (33%). Lameness was the second largest DALact category for Dairies 2 (9,934) and 3 (29,912) but not for Dairy 1 (pneumonia, 13,571). Prevalence for lameness was largest (35%) for Dairies 2 and 3. The DALact method confirmed that mastitis and lameness are areas of focus, but also highlighted that pneumonia is a primary concern on Dairy 1. The DALact aims to provide an assessment of the complete impact of mortality and morbidity on time lost in dairy cattle. The end result will be to validate the effectiveness of dairy health oversight and to determine where to focus management to reduce the number and economic impact of preventable removals and diseases while increasing animal welfare

Historical Perspectives on Elizabeth Seton and Education: School is My Chief Business

Elizabeth Ann Seton”the first native-born U.S. citizen to be canonized”and her passion for education are the subjects of this historical essay. Implications for contemporary educational leaders are also discussed

Revisiting The Vincentian Family Tree

Betty Ann McNeil presents an update to the findings of The Family Tree Project, which were published as The Vincentian Family Tree in 1996. The project was to trace the Vincentian Family’s development and worldwide expansion. In 2006, the total of “institutes of consecrated life, societies of apostolic life, lay associations, and non-Catholic religious institutes” with a Vincentian connection had risen to 305 from the 268 that had originally been identified. The project’s criteria were revised in some cases. Corrections, additions, exclusions, and other kinds of updates to The Vincentian Family Tree are explained. The project’s uses are discussed. Areas for future research are highlighted

The Journal of Mother Rose White: The Earliest History of the Sisters of Charity of Saint Joseph\u27s, Emittsburg, Maryland

Rosetta Landry White was the assistant to Elizabeth Seton and succeeded her as superioress of the Sisters of Charity for two nonconsecutive terms. Her journal, which covers the period from June 1809 until sometime around 1817, is given here. It records the community’s beginning in Baltimore, the hardships of the sisters’ first winter in Emmitsburg, and their adoption of the rules of the Daughters of Charity (with modifications). It also includes the sisters’ first novitiate and vows, and the first missions outside of Maryland, which were orphanages in Philadelphia and New York. Betty Ann McNeil’s introduction to the journal gives background on White, her career, and the early history of the Sisters of Charity

Last Will and Testament of Saint Louise de Marillac

Louise de Marillac’s will and two codicils are provided, along with a commentary explaining them. The commentary gives an overview of important events in Louise’s life and describes her chief interests, especially her concern for her son’s welfare. According to the commentary, the will “gives us insight into her own most pressing concerns, significant relationships, spiritual activities, and evolving priorities.” Louise’s relationship with God is often mentioned in these texts, along with her family, the two Vincentian communities, Vincent de Paul, and the poor

The Daughters of Charity as Civil War Nurses, Caring without Boundaries

Betty Ann McNeil uses the words and experiences of five Daughters of Charity to illustrate the service of the 270 sisters who nursed wounded soldiers on both sides of the Civil War in Union and Confederate territory. According to McNeil, the sisters “crossed boundaries of locale, politics, and religion . . . for the sake of the Vincentian mission.” This included crossing army lines. They faced great personal danger and hardship and adapted their organization to meet ever changing wartime conditions in a variety of settings, including major battlefields. They also had to acclimate themselves to regional cultures. Despite the upheaval of the times—their motherhouse at Emmitsburg, Maryland was even subject to martial law—the sisters persevered in their service and opened many new missions

Daughters of Charity Recall the 1871 Chicago Fire: \u27It traveled like lightning.\u27

Accounts of the Chicago Fire are presented here from two Daughters of Charity who witnessed it, Sister Angeline Carrigan and Sister Walburga Gehring. At the time of the fire, the Daughters had three schools, a mission for social services, an existing hospital, and another hospital under construction in the city. They lost a school and the social services mission (of which Sister Carrigan was sister servant) in the disaster. After the fire, they cared for poor persons of the burned districts in their hospital and in the hospital established by the city’s Relief Committee. Sister Gehring was in charge of the latter and of the Daughters’ hospital that was underway, St. Joseph’s. She gives an extensive history of St. Joseph’s origins and construction

Overview of The Vincentian Family Tree

The Vincentian Family Tree Project traced the Vincentian Family’s development worldwide and throughout time. It revealed potential for collaboration and for the foundation of a common mission. Questions for reflection on these topics are included. Examples of collaboration are discussed. The Project used an international survey to identify institutes and lay associations that descended from Vincent de Paul. Some were founded by Vincentians, Daughters of Charity, or Vincentian laity. Others were founded using the Common Rules of the Daughters of Charity. Important family groups include the Sisters of Charity Federation and the Trinitarian family in the United States, the German-based Foderation Vincentinischer Gemeinschaften, and the Sisters of Charity of Saint Vincent de Paul of Kerala in India. Many other international groups are recognized in this overview. The laity’s role is also described. The Project’s methodology and criteria are explained and its findings are summarized

The Extended Vincentian Family—A Genealogical Perspective: An Overview of the VSI Family Tree Project

The Vincentian Studies Institute’s Family Tree Project was intended to trace the development of the Vincentian Family and its worldwide expansion. Some groups follow “the mission, spirit, and rule of Vincent de Paul” exactly or in an adapted form; others follow the Rules of the Daughters of Charity. The project was to identify Catholic and non-Catholic groups that shared in the Vincentian tradition. The article explains the criteria used to describe their relationship to Vincent de Paul as well as the project’s methodology and procedures for organizing data. Preliminary findings are given. The project was intended to facilitate further research. Among other helpful information, the final form was to have “a concise summary of each community describing its foundation . . . its mission, and current location of generalate.