Hepatozoon canis in three imported dogs: a new tickborne disease reaching the United Kingdom

An increasing number of non-endemic vectorborne pathogens have been described in dogs imported to the UK in the past two decades. Recently, an outbreak of canine babesiosis in south-east England has raised veterinary awareness with regard to the impact of such diseases on the UK canine population. Canine hepatozoonosis, caused by Hepatozoon canis and transmitted by the ingestion of Rhipicephalus sanguineus ticks, is widespread in the Mediterranean basin. Herein we describe the first three molecularly confirmed clinical cases of canine hepatozoonosis in dogs imported into the UK. Veterinarians in the UK should be aware of H canis as a potential infection in imported dogs, especially in the face of the expanding distribution of R sanguineus ticks in Europe

Deciding to Parent or Remain Childfree: Comparing Sexual Minority and Heterosexual Childless Adults from Israel, Portugal and the UK

This study compared Israeli, Portuguese, and British childless lesbian, gay, bisexual (LGB) and heterosexual adults on parenthood aspirations as indicated by their desire and intent to become a parent and their concern about childlessness. For this purpose, 168 childless adults (57 self-reported as LGB) in Portugal were matched on socio-demographic variables with 168 participants from the UK and 168 participants from Israel, resulting in a sample of n=504 (Mage = 28.26, SD = 6.17). Participants were recruited through convenience sampling and completed online questionnaires assessing parenthood desire, intent, and concern about childlessness. Results indicated that participants from Israel and Portugal reported higher levels of parenthood desire, intent, and concern about childlessness than participants from the UK. Parallel patterns also appeared separately for LGB and heterosexual participants between the countries. Heterosexual participants from Israel scored higher than counterparts from Portugal on parenthood intention and concern about childlessness. Additionally, LGB participants in general reported lower levels of parenthood desire, intentions, and concern about childlessness than did heterosexual participants. The findings are interpreted in light of the different socio-cultural contexts of the countries, i.e., the individualistic values characterizing the UK versus the familistic values characterizing the Israeli and Portuguese contexts, alongside a strongly pronatalist stance evident in Israel and economic context in Portugal. The study contributes to the scant comparative literature on parenthood aspirations among LGB individuals as a function of cultural context by providing a multicontextual viewpoint on parenthood aspirations, sexual orientation, and diverse socio-cultural contexts. Implications for clinicians are discussed

From Gas Phase Observations to Solid State Reality: The Identification and Isolation of Trinuclear Salicylaldoximato Copper Complexes

Conditions have been identified in which phenolic aldoximes and ketoximes of the types used in commercial solvent extraction processes can be doubly deprotonated and generate polynuclear Cu complexes with lower extractant:Cu molar ratios than those found in commercial operations. Electrospray mass spectrometry has provided an insight into the solution speciation in extraction experiments and has identified conditions to allow isolation and characterization of polynuclear Cu-complexes. Elevation of pH is effective in enhancing the formation of trinuclear complexes containing planar {Cu3-μ3-O}4+ or {Cu3-μ3-OH}5+ units. DFT calculations suggest that such trinuclear complexes are more stable than other polynuclear species. Solid structures of complexes formed by a salicylaldoxime with a piperidino substituent ortho to the phenolic OH group (L9H2) contain two trinuclear units in a supramolecular assembly, {[Cu3OH(L9H)3(ClO4)](ClO4)} 2, formed by H-bonding between the central {Cu3-μ3-OH}5+ units and oxygen atoms in the ligands of an adjacent complex. Whilst the lower ligand:Cu molar ratios provide more efficient Cu-loading in solvent extraction processes, the requirement to raise the pH of the aqueous phase to achieve this will make it impractical in most commercial operations because extraction will be accompanied by the precipitation (as oxyhydroxides) of Fe(III) which is present in significant quantities in feed solutions generated by acid leaching of most Cu ores

Association between canine leishmaniosis and Ehrlichia canis co-infection: a prospective case-control study

Abstract Background In the Mediterranean basin, Leishmania infantum is a major cause of disease in dogs, which are frequently co-infected with other vector-borne pathogens (VBP). However, the associations between dogs with clinical leishmaniosis (ClinL) and VBP co-infections have not been studied. We assessed the risk of VBP infections in dogs with ClinL and healthy controls. Methods We conducted a prospective case-control study of dogs with ClinL (positive qPCR and ELISA antibody for L. infantum on peripheral blood) and clinically healthy, ideally breed-, sex- and age-matched, control dogs (negative qPCR and ELISA antibody for L. infantum on peripheral blood) from Paphos, Cyprus. We obtained demographic data and all dogs underwent PCR on EDTA-blood extracted DNA for haemoplasma species, Ehrlichia/Anaplasma spp., Babesia spp., and Hepatozoon spp., with DNA sequencing to identify infecting species. We used logistic regression analysis and structural equation modelling (SEM) to evaluate the risk of VBP infections between ClinL cases and controls. Results From the 50 enrolled dogs with ClinL, DNA was detected in 24 (48%) for Hepatozoon spp., 14 (28%) for Mycoplasma haemocanis, 6 (12%) for Ehrlichia canis and 2 (4%) for Anaplasma platys. In the 92 enrolled control dogs, DNA was detected in 41 (45%) for Hepatozoon spp., 18 (20%) for M. haemocanis, 1 (1%) for E. canis and 3 (3%) for A. platys. No Babesia spp. or “Candidatus Mycoplasma haematoparvum” DNA was detected in any dog. No statistical differences were found between the ClinL and controls regarding age, sex, breed, lifestyle and use of ectoparasitic prevention. A significant association between ClinL and E. canis infection (OR = 12.4, 95% CI: 1.5–106.0, P = 0.022) was found compared to controls by multivariate logistic regression. This association was confirmed using SEM, which further identified that younger dogs were more likely to be infected with each of Hepatozoon spp. and M. haemocanis, and dogs with Hepatozoon spp. were more likely to be co-infected with M. haemocanis. Conclusions Dogs with ClinL are at a higher risk of co-infection with E. canis than clinically healthy dogs. We recommend that dogs diagnosed with ClinL should be tested for E. canis co-infection using PCR

‘Not a big deal’? exploring the accounts of adult children of lesbian, gay and trans parents

© 2016 Taylor & Francis. Most literature on lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans families has focused on the psychological and social well-being of school aged children with lesbian, gay and trans (LGT) parents. The aim of the present study was to explore how the adult children of LGT parents make sense of their families. The study focused both on recollections of childhood and on current feelings and experiences. Thirteen women and 1 man completed either an email interview or an online qualitative survey; the data were analysed using thematic analysis. The participants’ accounts were protective of their parents and often drew on the normalizing discourses evident in pro-gay rhetoric about LGT parenting to minimize the significance of their parents’ sexuality/gender identity and the ‘taint of difference’ associated with LGT families. At the same time, the participants strongly challenged heterosexist and homophobic/transphobic assumptions about LGT families and viewed the source of any difficulties they and their parents experienced as resulting from a hetero/cisnormative social context that prevented LGT people and their families from living openly and authentically without fear of discrimination. The results highlight the continuing micro impacts of hetero/cisnormativity in the lives of LGT people and their families

Composition, structure and stability of RuO_2(110) as a function of oxygen pressure

Using density-functional theory (DFT) we calculate the Gibbs free energy to determine the lowest-energy structure of a RuO_2(110) surface in thermodynamic equilibrium with an oxygen-rich environment. The traditionally assumed stoichiometric termination is only found to be favorable at low oxygen chemical potentials, i.e. low pressures and/or high temperatures. At realistic O pressure, the surface is predicted to contain additional terminal O atoms. Although this O excess defines a so-called polar surface, we show that the prevalent ionic model, that dismisses such terminations on electrostatic grounds, is of little validity for RuO_2(110). Together with analogous results obtained previously at the (0001) surface of corundum-structured oxides, these findings on (110) rutile indicate that the stability of non-stoichiometric terminations is a more general phenomenon on transition metal oxide surfaces.Comment: 12 pages including 5 figures. Submitted to Phys. Rev. B. Related publications can be found at http://www.fhi-berlin.mpg.de/th/paper.htm

Surface electronic structure of the Fe3O4(100): Evidence of a half-metal to metal transition

In situ prepared Fe3O4(100) thin films were studied by means of scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) and spin-polarized photoelectron spectroscopy (SP-PES). The atomically resolved (2×2)R45°wavelike surface atomic structure observed by STM is explained based on density functional theory (DFT) and ab initio atomistic thermodynamics calculations as a laterally distorted surface layer containing octahedral iron and oxygen, referred to as a modified B layer. The work-function value of the Fe3O4(100) surface extracted from the cutoff of the photoelectron spectra is in good agreement with that predicted from DFT. On the Fe3O4(100) surface both the SP-PES measurements and the DFT results show a strong reduction of the spin polarization at the Fermi level (EF) compared to the bulk density of states. The nature of the states in the majority band gap of the Fe3O4 surface layer is analyzed

Influenza virus infections in cats

In the past, cats were considered resistant to influenza. Today, we know that they are susceptible to some influenza A viruses (IAVs) originating in other species. Usually, the outcome is only subclinical infection or a mild fever. However, outbreaks of feline disease caused by canine H3N2 IAV with fever, tachypnoea, sneezing, coughing, dyspnoea and lethargy are occasionally noted in shelters. In one such outbreak, the morbidity rate was 100% and the mortality rate was 40%. Recently, avian H7N2 IAV infection occurred in cats in some shelters in the USA, inducing mostly mild respiratory disease. Furthermore, cats are susceptible to experimental infection with the human H3N2 IAV that caused the pandemic in 1968. Several studies indicated that cats worldwide could be infected by H1N1 IAV during the subsequent human pandemic in 2009. In one shelter, severe cases with fatalities were noted. Finally, the highly pathogenic avian H5N1 IAV can induce a severe, fatal disease in cats, and can spread via cat-to-cat contact. In this review, the Advisory Board on Cat Diseases (ABCD), a scientifically independent board of experts in feline medicine from 11 European countries, summarises current data regarding the aetiology, epidemiology, pathogenesis, clinical picture, diagnostics, and control of feline IAV infections, as well as the zoonotic risks

Anthropogenic infection of cats during the 2020 covid-19 pandemic

COVID-19 is a severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) caused by a new coronavirus (CoV), SARS-CoV-2, which is closely related to SARS-CoV that jumped the animal–human species bar-rier and caused a disease outbreak in 2003. SARS-CoV-2 is a betacoronavirus that was first described in 2019, unrelated to the commonly occurring feline coronavirus (FCoV) that is an alphacoronavirus associated with feline infectious peritonitis (FIP). SARS-CoV-2 is highly contagious and has spread globally within a few months, resulting in the current pandemic. Felids have been shown to be susceptible to SARS-CoV-2 infection. Particularly in the Western world, many people live in very close contact with their pet cats, and natural infections of cats in COVID-19-positive households have been described in several countries. In this review, the European Advisory Board on Cat Diseases (ABCD), a scientifically independent board of experts in feline medicine from 11 European Countries, discusses the current status of SARS-CoV infections in cats. The review examines the host range of SARS-CoV-2 and human-to-animal transmissions, including infections in domestic and non-domestic felids, as well as mink-to-human/-cat transmission. It summarises current data on SARS-CoV-2 prevalence in domestic cats and the results of experimental infections of cats and provides expert opinions on the clinical relevance and prevention of SARS-CoV-2 infection in cats

First-principles study of the polar O-terminated ZnO surface in thermodynamic equilibrium with oxygen and hydrogen

Using density-functional theory in combination with a thermodynamic formalism we calculate the relative stability of various structural models of the polar O-terminated (000-1)-O surface of ZnO. Model surfaces with different concentrations of oxygen vacancies and hydrogen adatoms are considered. Assuming that the surfaces are in thermodynamic equilibrium with an O2 and H2 gas phase we determine a phase diagram of the lowest-energy surface structures. For a wide range of temperatures and pressures we find that hydrogen will be adsorbed at the surface, preferentially with a coverage of 1/2 monolayer. At high temperatures and low pressures the hydrogen can be removed and a structure with 1/4 of the surface oxygen atoms missing becomes the most stable one. The clean, defect-free surface can only exist in an oxygen-rich environment with a very low hydrogen partial pressure. However, since we find that the dissociative adsorption of molecular hydrogen and water (if also the Zn-terminated surface is present) is energetically very preferable, it is very unlikely that a clean, defect-free (000-1)-O surface can be observed in experiment.Comment: 10 pages, 4 postscript figures. Uses REVTEX and epsf macro