Medical phycology 2017.

In 2014, ISHAM formed a new working group: "Medical Phycology: Protothecosis and Chlorellosis." The purpose of this working group is to help facilitate collaboration and communication among people interested in the pathogenic algae, to share ideas and work together. Here we present reports on recent work we have done in five areas. 1. The history of medical phycology as a branch of science. 2. Aspects of the genetics of Prototheca. 3. Aspects of the proteins of Prototheca. 4. Human infections caused by Prototheca. 5. Dairy cow mastitis caused by Prototheca.

Effect of a multi-sided concave liner barrel design on thickness and roughness of teat-end hyperkeratosis.

In a round liner barrel, the force of the closing liner is transferred by the two opposite sides of the liner wall to the teat apex. Liners with a multi-sided barrel shape close at three or more planes and distribute their force to a larger area of the teat apex. The objective of the study was to investigate effects of a liner with a multi-sided concave barrel design on the degree of teat-end hyperkeratosis, thickness and roughness, and on the time delay until thickness or roughness of teat-end hyperkeratosis responded to the experimental liner. The investigations were done on two dairy farms, one in USA and one in Germany. A split-udder arrangement of liners was used, and control treatment was a liner with round barrel shape. The test period comprised 14 weeks in the first study and 16 weeks in the second study. Thickness of teat-end hyperkeratosis was influenced by farm and test week. Roughness was influenced by farm, test week and treatment. In the first study, the incidence of rough teat-end hyperkeratosis was about 28 and 42% lower in teats milked with the experimental liner than in teats milked with the control liner by test weeks 11 and 14, respectively. In the second study, incidence of rough teat-end hyperkeratosis was rare in general, and in addition hardly occurred in teats milked with the experimental liner. The results indicate that the barrel design of the experimental liner causes similar effects on different farms but magnitude of the effect depends on initial incidence of teat end hyperkeratosis in the herd.

The role of diagnostic microbiology in mastitis control programs.

There are a number of important issues for the dairy practitioner to consider in designing the most appropriate mastitis microbiological service for his or her clients. These include the decision to use enhancement tools or selective agars to optimize sensitivity and specificity. The service should include a monthly BTC service that monitors for the important contagious mastitis organisms: S aureus, S agalactia, and Mycoplasma. At the cow level, a zero tolerance program to protect healthy cows from exposure to contagious mastitis will require a routine culture service to monitor for these pathogens in new herd additions, clinical cases, and all fresh cows and heifers. A wide variety of additional benefits for maintaining good udder health and the production of quality milk can come from a more comprehensive diagnostic service that looks at both individual cow and bulk tank milk. Finally, more practitioners can help their clients economically by implementation of an on-farm TNT culture service and significantly reducing the use of intramammary therapy.

EANM-EORTC general recommendations for sentinel node diagnostics in melanoma.

The accurate diagnosis of a sentinel node in melanoma includes a sequence of procedures from different medical specialities (nuclear medicine, surgery, oncology, and pathology). The items covered are presented in 11 sections and a reference list: (1) definition of a sentinel node, (2) clinical indications, (3) radiopharmaceuticals and activity injected, (4) dosimetry, (5) injection technique, (6) image acquisition and interpretation, (7) report and display, (8) use of dye, (9) gamma probe detection, (10) surgical techniques in sentinel node biopsy, and (11) pathological evaluation of melanoma-draining sentinel lymph nodes. If specific recommendations given cannot be based on evidence from original, scientific studies, referral is given to "general consensus" and similar expressions. The recommendations are designed to assist in the practice of referral to, performance, interpretation and reporting of all steps of the sentinel node procedure in the hope of setting state-of-the-art standards for good-quality evaluation of possible spread to the lymphatic system in intermediate-to-high risk melanoma without clinical signs of dissemination.