Open Access

Staphylococcus aureus is recognized worldwide as one of the major agents of dairy cow intra-mammary infections. This microorganism can express a wide spectrum of pathogenic factors used to attach, colonize, invade and infect the host. The present study evaluated 120 isolates from eight different countries that were genotyped by RS-PCR and investigated for 26 different virulence factors to increase the knowledge on the circulating genetic lineages among the cow population with mastitis. New genotypes were observed for South African strains while for all the other countries new variants of existing genotypes were detected. For each country, a specific genotypic pattern was found. Among the virulence factors, fmtB, cna, clfA and leucocidins genes were the most frequent. The sea and sei genes were present in seven out of eight countries; seh showed high frequency in South American countries (Brazil, Colombia, Argentina), while sel was harboured especially in one Mediterranean country (Tunisia). The etb, seb and see genes were not detected in any of the isolates, while only two isolates were MRSA (Germany and Italy) confirming the low diffusion of methicillin resistance microorganism among bovine mastitis isolates. This work demonstrated the wide variety of S. aureus genotypes found in dairy cattle worldwide. This condition suggests that considering the region of interest might help to formulate strategies for reducing the infection spreading.

In diesem Artikel wird die strategische Vorausschau als eine Methode der Zukunftsforschung vorgestellt. Die entwickelten Szenarien können Entscheidern helfen, besser auf zukünftige Entwicklungen vorbereitet zu sein. Die GIL könnte eine Plattform sein, um Trends in der Landwirtschaft und Agrarinformatik zu identifizieren.

Der zukünftig steigende Bedarf an Bereitstellung von Regelenergie aus regenerativen Kraftwerken sowie sinkende EEG-Tarifstrukturen im Bereich Biogas führen zur Notwendigkeit einer Entwicklung alternativer Betriebs- und Vergütungsmodelle. Der vorliegende Beitrag skizziert ein wirtschaftliches Ausgleichssystem für virtuelle Biogas-Verbundkraftwerke. Es beschreibt, welche Kosten und Erlöse in virtuellen Biogas-Verbünden generiert werden, sofern diese teilautomatisiert und auf die regionale Netzstabilität fokussiert betrieben werden. Das wirtschaftliche Ausgleichssystem ist ein Teil des im Forschungsvorhaben VKV Netz zu entwickelnden Steuerungssystems für virtuelle Biogas-Verbundkraftwerke (http://vkvnetz.de).

A nonblinded, positively controlled, noninferiority trial was conducted to evaluate the efficacy of an alternative, nonantibiotic therapy with Masti Veyxym® to reduce ineffective antibiotic usage in the treatment of nonsevere clinical mastitis (CM) in cows with longer lasting udder diseases. The solely intramammary treatment with Masti Veyxym® (three applications, 12 hr apart) and the combined treatment with Masti Veyxym® and antibiotics as usual on the farm according to label of the respective product were compared with the reference treatment of solely antibiotic therapy. The matched field study was conducted on eight free-stall dairy farms located in Eastern Germany. Cases of mild-to-moderate CM in cows with longer lasting high somatic cell counts in preceding dairy herd improvement test days and with previous CM cases in current lactation were randomly allocated to one of the three treatment groups. A foremilk sample of the affected quarter was taken before treatment and again approximately 14 days and 21 days after the end of therapy for cyto-bacteriological examination. Primary outcomes were clinical cure (CC) and no CM recurrence within 60 days after the end of treatment (no R60). Bacteriological cure (BC) and quarter somatic cell count (QSCC) cure were chosen as secondary outcomes although low probabilities of BC and QSCC cure for selected cows were expected. The study resulted in the following findings: the pathogens mostly cultured from pretreatment samples were Streptococcus uberis, followed by Staphylococcus aureus and coagulase-negative staphylococci. There were no significant differences between the two test treatments in comparison with the reference treatment regarding all outcome variables. The sole therapy with Masti Veyxym® resulted in a numerically lower likelihood of BC without significant differences to the reference treatment. The combined therapy group showed a numerically higher nonrecurrence rate than the two other treatment groups and noninferiority compared to the reference treatment was proven. Having regard to the selection criteria of cows in this study, the findings indicated that sole treatment with Masti Veyxym® in nonsevere CM cases may constitute an alternative therapy to reduce antibiotics. However, noninferiority evaluations were mostly inconclusive. Further investigations with a larger sample size are required to confirm the results and to make a clear statement on noninferiority.

Background: Given both the increase of nursing home residents forecast and challenges of current interprofessional interactions, we developed and tested measures to improve collaboration and communication between nurses and general practitioners (GPs) in this setting. Our multicentre study has been funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (FK 01GY1124).<br> Methods: The measures were developed iteratively in a continuous process, which is the focus of this article. In part 1 “exploration of the situation”, interviews were conducted with GPs, nurses, nursing home residents and their relatives focusing on interprofessional interactions and medical care. They were analysed qualitatively. Based on these results, in part 2 “development of measures to improve collaboration”, ideas for improvement were developed in nine focus groups with GPs and nurses. These ideas were revisited in a final expert workshop. We analysed the focus groups and expert workshop using mind mapping methods, and finally drew up the compilation of measures. In an exploratory pilot study "study part 3" four nursing homes chose the measures they wanted to adopt. These were tested for three months. Feasibility and acceptance of the measures were evaluated via guideline interviews with the stakeholders which were analysed by content analyses.<br> Results: Six measures were generated: meetings to establish common goals, main contact person, standardised pro re nata medication, introduction of name badges, improved availability of nurse/GP and standardised scheduling/ procedure for nursing home visits. In the pilot study, the measures were implemented in four nursing homes. GPs and nurses reviewed five measures as feasible and acceptable, only the designation of a “main contact person” was not considered as an improvement.<br> Conclusions: Six measures to improve collaboration and communication could be compiled in a multistep qualitative process respecting the perspectives of involved stakeholders. Five of the six measures were positively assessed in an exploratory pilot study. They could easily be transferred into the daily routine of other nursing homes, as no special models have to exist in advance. Impact of the measures on patient oriented outcomes should be examined in further research.<br> Trial registration: Not applicable.