Molecular and antigenic analyses of three influenza viruses isolated from outbreaks of severe respiratory disease in racing greyhounds revealed that they are closely related to H3N8 equine influenza virus. Phylogenetic analysis indicated that the canine influenza virus genomes form a monophyletic group, consistent with a single interspecies virus transfer. Molecular changes in the hemagglutinin suggested adaptive evolution in the new host. The etiologic role of this virus in respiratory disease was supported by the temporal association of rising antibody titers with disease and by experimental inoculation studies. The geographic expansion of the infection and its persistence for several years indicate efficient transmission of canine influenza virus among greyhounds. Evidence of infection in pet dogs suggests that this infection may also become enzootic in this population.

Medical records and histologic sections of 40 cats with acute pancreatitis were reviewed. Two distinct groups of cats with pancreatitis were established by histologic analysis of tissue. Group 1 (32 cats) had acute pancreatic necrosis (APN). Group 2 (8 cats) had suppurative pancreatitis. Ages of affected cats ranged from 3 weeks to 16 years. The majority consisted of indoor cats of the Domestic Short-Haired breed but Siamese cats were over-represented relative to the general population (P < 0.05). Twenty-two percent of cats were obese and 57% were underweight. Thirty-eight percent of cats had acute disease. In the other cats, two stages in the progression of the disease were evident: (1) anorexia, weight loss, and lethargy, followed by (2) acute deterioration, development of shock, and a moribund state, despite fluid therapy. The most common clinical signs were severe lethargy (100%), reduced appetite (97%), dehydration (92%), and hypothermia (68%). The initial hemogram occasionally showed a neutrophilia (30%) and anemia (26%) but packed cell volume (PCV) decreased markedly to the extent that 55% of cats were anemic terminally. Serum biochemical abnormalities included increased activities of ALT (68%) and ALP (50%), and increased concentrations of bilirubin (64%) and cholesterol (64%). Cats with APN were hyperglycemic (64%), glycosuric (60%) and ketonuric (20%), whereas cats with suppurative pancreatitis tended to be hypoglycemic (75%). Renal failure and electrolyte abnormalities were mild or infrequent except for hypokalemia (56%). This study characterizes a severe necrotizing pancreatitis in the cat similar to that reported in other species, and a histologically distinct suppurative pancreatitis.

The administration of more vials of antivenin is potentially associated with negative outcome; however, a causal relationship has not been established. Controlled, prospective studies are needed to optimize antivenin administration.

The political incorporation and municipal segregation of classes and status groups in the metropolis tend to divorce fiscal resources from public needs and to create and perpetuate inequality among urban residents in the United States. An investigation of data collected for a large number of metropolitan areas in 1960 reveals a number of variables associated with inequality in the distribution of fiscal resources among municipalities in metropolitan areas. The level of income inequality among municipal governments in metropolitan areas varies directly with: location in the South; age, size and density of the metropolis; nonwhite concentration; family income inequality; residential segregation among social classes; housing segregation by quality; and governmental fragmentation. The data provide support for the argument that governmental inequality occupies a central position in the urban stratification system.

Abstract:We present the main messages of a European Expert Round Table (ERT) on the unintended side effects (unseens) of the digital transition. Seventeen experts provided 42 propositions from ten different perspectives as input for the ERT. A full-day ERT deliberated communalities and relationships among these unseens and provided suggestions on (i) what the major unseens are; (ii) how rebound effects of digital transitioning may become the subject of overarching research; and (iii) what unseens should become subjects of transdisciplinary theory and practice processes for developing socially robust orientations. With respect to the latter, the experts suggested that the "ownership, economic value, use and access of data" and, related to this, algorithmic decision-making call for transdisciplinary processes that may provide guidelines for key stakeholder groups on how the responsible use of digital data can be developed. A cluster-based content analysis of the propositions, the discussion and inputs of the ERT, and a theoretical analysis of major changes to levels of human systems and the human-environment relationship resulted in the following greater picture: The digital transition calls for redefining economy, labor, democracy, and humanity. Artificial Intelligence (AI)-based machines may take over major domains of human labor, reorganize supply chains, induce platform economics, and reshape the participation of economic actors in the value chain. (Digital) Knowledge and data supplement capital, labor, and natural resources as major economic variables. Digital data and technologies lead to a post-fuel industry (post-) capitalism. Traditional democratic processes can be (intentionally or unintentionally) altered by digital technologies. The unseens in this field call for special attention, research and management. Related to the conditions of ontogenetic and phylogenetic development (humanity), the ubiquitous, global, increasingly AI-shaped interlinkage of almost every human personal, social, and economic activity and the exposure to indirect, digital, artificial, fragmented, electronically mediated data affect behavioral, cognitive, psycho-neuro-endocrinological processes on the level of the individual and thus social relations (of groups and families) and culture, and thereby, the essential quality and character of the human being (i.e., humanity). The findings suggest a need for a new field of research, i.e., focusing on sustainable digital societies and environments, in which the identification, analysis, and management of vulnerabilities and unseens emerging in the sociotechnical digital transition play an important role.Keywords: digital transformation; digital curtain; digital vaulting; unintended side effects (unseens), proposition-based expert round tables Scope and Goals Digitalization as a Main Driver of Human Socio-Cultural EvolutionThe digital revolution comprises one of the major transitions of human development. We may consider it to be as critical as the mastery of fire, the development of lang...

The nutrient requirements of canine athletes are unique. Dogs have a greater capacity for fat oxidation than humans both at rest and during exercise. In dogs undertaking endurance exercise, such as sled dogs, high fat (>50% of energy) diets increase stamina and maximize energy production, and high protein (>30% of energy) diets prevent training-induced anemia. Nutrient requirements differ, however, for sprint racing dogs, such as greyhounds. Greyhounds run faster when fed moderately increased dietary fat but run more slowly when dietary protein is increased. Sled dogs have similar energy requirements to other breeds at rest in a thermoneutral environment ( approximately 550W0.75 kJ/d where W is body weight in kg) but may require as much as 4200W0.75 kJ/d during a race. The energy requirement of greyhounds in training, however, is only approximately 600W0.75 kJ/d. There is little information, however, concerning the vitamin, mineral or other nutrient requirements of athletic dogs; most sled dogs and greyhounds are fed "homemade" recipes. These recipes usually include raw meat and represent a health risk. More studies are required to improve the health and performance of working and racing dogs.

No abstract

Texturized vegetable protein from soy (TVP) is widely used in canned dog foods, but its nutritional value remains in doubt. This study compared apparent prececal and total intestinal digestibility when four canned diets containing reciprocal proportions of protein from TVP (0 to 57%) and from beef (100 to 43%) were fed to eight cannulated dogs. As dietary TVP increased, the following linear changes were observed (P < 0.05): prececal and total intestinal protein digestibility decreased slightly from 77 to 71% and 86 to 80%, respectively; prececal amino acid digestibility decreased in parallel with protein; prececal carbohydrate digestibility decreased markedly from 80% to 62% and carbohydrate disappearance in the large intestine increased from 8 to 22%; prececal sodium digestibility decreased markedly (from 37 to 4%); and prececal potassium digestibility decreased (from 93 to 85%). Total intestinal digestibility of sodium and potassium decreased little (from 97 to 95% and from 98 to 97%, respectively); fecal mass and water content increased markedly (from 98 to 174 g/d and from 61 to 72%, respectively); and fat digestibility was unaffected. Prececal phosphorus digestibility from two diets containing TVP was lower than that from the all-beef diet (13 and 17%, vs 26%, P < 0.05). In conclusion, TVP is a useful source of protein in canine canned diets because amino acids from TVP are almost as digestible as those from beef in the canine intestine. Nevertheless, soy carbohydrate is poorly digested and large amounts of TVP inhibit small intestinal electrolyte digestibility and increase fecal water content.