Colleen Conway-Welch (1944-2018) Was An American Nurse, Known For Her Public Health Advocacy And Numerous

I read case files on dogs with serology positive for Ehrlichia co-infections all day today. Sooo many CBCs, blood chem panels, and cytology reports from clin path. All the things. And at the end of the day, I was like

(Image: U. Müeller)

New neurons (in green) are guided to the neocortex  - responsible for controlling language and movement - not by glial cells, but by a protein called reelin.

Journal reference: Neuron, DOI: 10.1016/j.neuron.2011.01.003

For decades, scientists have been capitalizing off discoveries made from Henrietta Lacks’ family’s cells. That may change.

Henrietta Lacks' family finally gets say in genetic destiny. Can we control our own?

Aspirate of a mammary mass from a 8 year-old, female-intact, Yorkshire Terrier.  The patient was found wondering in a field by a good Samaritan-turned-owner over the 4th of July weekend.  Although she was acting normally, the owner brought the little dog in for a ‘look over.’  On physical examination a 2cm mass was felt in the left mammary chain.  No obvious spay scar was present.

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On cytology there were copious clusters of epithelial cells.  These epithelial cells (top picture) were very non-descript, making for large, jumbled piles of cells.  Notice how you cannot see any well-defined cell borders between them?? Just a ton of nuclei (and nucleoli) blending in together!  That’s a sign of cell craziness!  Many clusters were surrounded by this gorgeous, pink-magenta material.  Likely secretory product or matrix.

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Cytologic diagnosis:  Mammary tumor!  Although the cells look quite malignant on cytology, many studies have shown you cannot reliably determine malignancy with cytology alone.  Thus, you NEED a biopsy to determine if a mammary tumor is malignant or benign in a dog.  And flip a coin on that - about 50% are malignant and 50% are benign.  Intact female dogs have an almost 35% lifetime chance of developing one of these beasts!

Sofia Ionescu (1920-2008) was a Romanian neurosurgeon, thought to be one of the first female neurosurgeons in the world.

She studied medicine in Bucharest, and in 1943 became part of the first team of Romanian neurosurgeons. She continued practicing the profession for almost five decades and received numerous awards for her lifesaving work.

underappreciated form of humor: using incorrect long forms of proper names i.e. Craigory, Bobert, Barold, etc.

Hitchhiking bacteria might help their host navigate via magnetic fields

Deep in the mud of the Mediterranean Sea, scientists have caught microscopic protists dancing to a strange beat—the beat of Earth’s magnetic fields. Now, a new study reveals how these tiny clusters of cells orient themselves along those fields: by letting magneto-sensing bacteria hitch a ride on their outer membranes.

Researchers used microscopes to examine protist-packed sediment taken from the bottom of the Mediterranean Sea near Carry-le-Rouet, France. When they placed a magnet with its north pole facing a water droplet from the sediment, the hundreds of protists inside immediately began to swim toward the droplet’s edge. When the researchers reversed the magnet so its south pole was facing the droplet, the protists fled in the other direction (above).

Impression smears of brain tissue are rarely rewarding on cytology as most neuronal cells rupture with the slightest amount of pressure.  What results is a Vast Pink Wasteland of Myelin…