Deadline to enter is May 12, 2016 Grand Prize: $3000 Canadian
The competition's goal is to showcase the best in mountain-themed
photo essays – to recognize the best stories told through a series of
still images. The jury is seeking a sequence of images that conveys a
compelling story or message – with each image strong enough to stand on
its own while conveying a greater narrative when viewed in the
photographer’s desired sequence.
We invite photographers to submit photo essays to
illustrate their mountain related stories whether culture, adventure,
wildlife, sport, environment, or natural history
- See more at: https://www.banffcentre.ca/banff-mountain-photo-essay-competition#sthash.6pj18mvj.dpufThe 2016 Banff Mountain Photo Essay Competition is now open
Deadline to enter is May 12, 2016 Grand Prize: $3000 Canadian
The competition's goal is to showcase the best in mountain-themed
photo essays – to recognize the best stories told through a series of
still images. The jury is seeking a sequence of images that conveys a
compelling story or message – with each image strong enough to stand on
its own while conveying a greater narrative when viewed in the
photographer’s desired sequence.
We invite photographers to submit photo essays to
illustrate their mountain related stories whether culture, adventure,
wildlife, sport, environment, or natural history
- See more at: https://www.banffcentre.ca/banff-mountain-photo-essay-competition#sthash.6pj18mvj.dpufThe 2016 Banff Mountain Photo Essay Competition is now open
Deadline to enter is May 12, 2016 Grand Prize: $3000 Canadian
The competition's goal is to showcase the best in mountain-themed
photo essays – to recognize the best stories told through a series of
still images. The jury is seeking a sequence of images that conveys a
compelling story or message – with each image strong enough to stand on
its own while conveying a greater narrative when viewed in the
photographer’s desired sequence.
We invite photographers to submit photo essays to
illustrate their mountain related stories whether culture, adventure,
wildlife, sport, environment, or natural history
- See more at: https://www.banffcentre.ca/banff-mountain-photo-essay-competition#sthash.6pj18mvj.dpuf
The Royal Institute of Philosophy and Cambridge University Press are pleased to announce the 2016 Philosophy Essay Prize. The winner of the Prize will receive £2,500 with his or her essay being published in Philosophy and identified as the essay prize winner.
The topic for the 2016 essay competition is: Can there be a credible philosophy of history? Many thinkers from classical times onwards have seen history
as having a predetermined direction. Some have seen it in terms of
inevitable decline, others in terms of progress to a utopian future. The
idea that history has a predetermined direction has been criticised by
many, who stress the unpredictability of the future in general or the
effects of human freedom, creativity and ingenuity, or other ways in
which the course of events may change radically. Are these or other
criticisms conclusive, or is it still possible to hold a deterministic
or evolutionary view, either despite the criticisms or by refuting them
directly? Even given historical unpredictability in detail, are there
still trends in history which can be discerned? If history has no
direction, is there anything left to be said about the philosophy of
history? Authors may address the question by considering some of the
issues raised above or by attempting other approaches of their own.
In assessing entries priority will be given to originality, clarity
of expression, breadth of interest, and potential for advancing
discussion. All entries will be deemed to be submissions to Philosophy and
more than one may be published. In exceptional circumstances the prize
may be awarded jointly in which case the financial component will be
divided, but the aim is to select a single prize-winner.
Entries should be prepared in line with standard Philosophy guidelines for submission (see http://royalinstitutephilosophy.org/publications/philosophy-information-for-authors/). They should be submitted electronically in Word, with PRIZE ESSAY in the subject heading, to assistant@royalinstitutephilosophy.org. The closing date for receipt of entries is 3rd October 2016.
Entries will be considered by a committee of the Royal Institute of
Philosophy, and the winner announced by the end 2016. The winning entry
will be published in Philosophy in April 2017.
Reviewed current EIA procedures in Thailand, Japan and China
•
The EIA database is getting improved so as to generate profile of EIAs in the past.
•
Thailand needs to empower the local EIA authority within the EIA system.
•
The potential impacts should be more concerned than their scale in Japanese EIA.
•
Time limits and transparency should be reconsidered in China's EIA system.
Abstract
This
paper aims to find ways to streamline the Environmental Impact
Assessment (EIA) system in Thailand to increase its effectiveness by
comparative analysis with China and Japan. This study is mainly focused
on review, update and comparison of EIA systems between these three
countries. It is intended to clarify fundamental information of the EIA
systems and characteristics of the key elements of EIA processes
(screening, consideration of alternatives, prediction or evaluation of
impact, and public participation). Moreover, the number of the EIA
projects that have been implemented in all the provinces in Thailand are
presented. The results identified the similarities and differences of
the EIA processes among the three aforementioned countries. The type of
EIA report used in Thailand, unlike those in China and Japan, is an
Environmental and Health Impact Assessment (EHIA), which is concerned
with the health and environmental impacts that could occur from the
project. In addition, EIA reports in Thailand are made available to the
public online and the shortcomings of the process have details of
barriers resulting from the projects to help future projects with
reconsideration and improvements. In this study, it is pointed out that
Thai's EIA system still lacks local EIA authority which needs to be
empowered by implementing a set of laws or ordinance.
Kultip Suwanteep,
M.A. After graduating from Master's course of Chulalongkorn University
in Thailand, She entered Ph.D. course of Tokyo Institute of Technology
in October of 2013. Her research topic is focused on EIA as well as SEA
systems in her country comparing with other Asian countries.
Takehiko Murayama,
Ph.D. After graduating from Ph.D. course of Tokyo Institute of
Technology, he moved to Fukushima university as an associate professor,
and Waseda University as a professor. In 2012, he is in the current
position. He has been conducting researches on environmental impact
assessment as well as risk management. In addition to a member of
International Advisory Board of this journal, he is active as a member
of IAIA, and vice president of Japan Society for Impact Assessment.
Also, he is an international member of editorial board of the journal
for Korean Society for Environmental Impact Assessment.
Shigeo Nishikizawa,
Ph.D. After graduating from Ph.D. course of Tokyo Institute of
Technology, he moved to Shiga Prefectural University as a lecturer, and
went back to his current university as an associate professor in 2009.
His research topics include environmental impact assessment, public
participation and consensus building. He is a member of editorial board
of the journal for Japan Society for Impact Assessment. he is active as a
member of IAIA.
PFASs were assessed in 96 drinking waters from Brazil, France and Spain.
•
The highest levels in tap and bottled waters were of 140 and 116 ng/l, respectively.
•
The tolerable daily intake has been estimated for 16 PFASs.
•
Drinking water did not pose imminent risk associated to PFASs.
Abstract
Human
exposure to perfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) occurs primarily via
dietary intake and drinking water. In this study, 16 PFASs have been
assessed in 96 drinking waters (38 bottled waters and 58 samples of tap
water) from Brazil, France and Spain. The total daily intake and the
risk index (RI) of 16 PFASs through drinking water in Brazil, France and
Spain have been estimated.
This study was carried out
using an analytical method based on an online sample enrichment
followed by liquid chromatography coupled to tandem mass spectrometry
(LC–MS/MS). The quality parameters of the analytical method were
satisfactory for the analysis of the 16 selected compounds in drinking
waters. Notably, the method limits of detection (MLOD) and method limits
of quantification (MLOQ) were in the range of 0.15 to 8.76 ng/l and
0.47 to 26.54 ng/l, respectively.
The results showed
that the highest PFASs concentrations were found in tap water samples
and the more frequently found compound was perfluorooctanesulfonic acid
(PFOS), with mean concentrations of 7.73, 15.33 and 15.83 ng/l in
French, Spanish and Brazilian samples, respectively. In addition, PFOS
was detected in all tap water samples from Brazil. The highest level of
PFASs contamination in a single sample was 140.48 ng/l in a sample of
Spanish tap water. In turn, in bottled waters the highest levels were
detected in a French sample with 116 ng/l as the sum of PFASs.
Furthermore, the most frequent compounds and those at higher
concentrations were perfluoroheptanoic acid (PFHpA) with a mean of
frequencies in the three countries of 51.3%, followed by
perfluorobutanesulfonic acid (PFBS) (27.2%) and perfluorooctanoic acid
(PFOA) (23.0%).
Considering that bottled water is
approximately 38% of the total intake, the total PFASs exposure through
drinking water intake for an adult man was estimated to be 54.8, 58.0
and 75.6 ng/person per day in Spain, France and Brazil, respectively.
However, assuming that the water content in other beverages has at least
the same levels of contamination as in bottled drinking water, these
amounts were increased to 72.2, 91.4 and 121.0 ng/person per day for an
adult man in Spain, France and Brazil, respectively. The results of
total daily intake in different gender/age groups showed that children
are the most exposed population group through hydration with maximum
values in Brazil of 2.35 and 2.01 ng/kg body weight (BW)/day for male
and female, respectively. Finally, the RI was calculated. In spite of
the highest values being found in Brazil, it was demonstrated that, in
none of the investigated countries, drinking water pose imminent risk
associated with PFASs contamination
An innovative approach to measuring cosmopolitanism in Europe that focuses on supermarket product offerings.
•
Evidence for both the depth and the limitations of cultural diversity in contemporary Europe.
•
We
find that some of the most stigmatized immigrant-origin groups in
France and the UK have become part of mainstream supermarket culture.
•
The
range of foreign gastronomic influences is limited and stratified,
which reflects standardizing logics of globalizing consumer markets.
Abstract
In
this article, we explore whether contemporary European cosmopolitanism
is a deep or superficial trend. We do so by examining prepared meals in
mainstream French and United Kingdom (UK) supermarket chains. First, we
ask to what extent are foreign cultural influences present in these grocery outlets? Then, we explore which foreign cultural influences are present and, finally, how
they are presented in this mainstream market setting. Our results are
mixed. We find evidence of significant cultural diversity in the
offerings of both French and UK supermarket chains. Supermarkets in both
countries offer sizeable percentages of products from foreign countries
in and outside of Europe. In addition, most of these products are
presented without exoticization, suggesting a level of comfort and
familiarity with the foreign gastronomic products among consumers, and a
promising indicator of robust cosmopolitanism. However, the range of
foreign gastronomic influences, in both countries, is both limited and
stratified. We argue that this partially reflects standardizing logics
and trends of globalizing consumer markets. This suggests that everyday
cosmopolitanism may continue to develop in Western Europe, but will
likely involve an uneven set of cultural influences.
Rahsaan Maxwell
is an Associate Professor in the Department of Political Science at the
University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. He received his PhD in 2008
from the Department of Political Science at the University of
California, Berkeley. His research explores the politics of racial,
ethnic, religious, and immigrant-origin minorities, often focusing on
Western Europe. He has examined numerous issues including minority
cultural integration, political attitudes, identity, representation, and
acceptance in mainstream society.
Michaela DeSoucey
is Assistant Professor in the Department of Sociology and Anthropology
at North Carolina State University. She received her PhD in 2010 from
the Department of Sociology at Northwestern University. Her research and
teaching centers on how varied relationships among markets, social
movements, and state systems shape the cultural and moral politics of
food.
The extirpation of spotted hyaena, Crocuta crocuta,
in northern Eurasia can be seen as part of the late Quaternary
megafaunal extinction event. The radiocarbon record for this species is
less substantial than for other megafaunal species, but with the
addition of new dates we have significantly increased the tally to
approximately 100 reliable direct dates. These suggest extirpation at
ca 40 ka (calendar years) in Central Europe and Russia, and ca 31 ka in
north-west and southern Europe, so that the species was probably
restricted to the Mediterranean and the Atlantic seaboard after 40 ka.
Previous records suggesting Lateglacial or even Holocene survival
(especially in eastern Asia) are not substantiated. The current estimate
of 31 ka for extirpation of the spotted hyaena in northern Eurasia is
close to the estimated extinction date of cave bear (Ursus spelaeus),
suggesting a possible common cause. Factors likely to have impacted the
spotted hyaena include, in particular, physiological cold intolerance
in the face of deteriorating climate, as well as reduction of prey
abundance driven by depressed vegetational productivity, and increased
competition for food or space with lions, bears and people, possibly
exacerbated by the arrival of modern humans.
Four factors control Ca-normalized TE distribution in freshwater shells.
•
Element concentration and biochemical affinity are the first two factors.
•
Landscape and the proximity to hydrothermal/volcanic sources are the two other factors.
•
All species are significantly enriched by Mn relative to the river water.
•
TE distribution coefficients between the shells and water are similar for five species.
Abstract
To
reveal the geographical and inter-species variability of the major and
trace element (TE) compositions of freshwater mussel shells across
Eurasia, we used ICP MS after acid digestion to analyze 50 samples of
shells from five species of the genus Margaritifera spp.
(Bivalvia: Margaritiferidae) collected in 20 minor rivers located in NW
Russia, Sakhalin, Amur basin, Kuril Islands, Kamchatka and Laos. The
variations between replicates from the same site were smaller than the
variations between samples from different localities or between
different mollusk species. Using normed PCA, we observed significant
biological and geographical controls of the trace element composition in
freshwater shells, with five main species exhibiting distinct features
of TE concentration corresponding to four major geographical locations.
Four PCA factors explain 81% of the TE variability, which is closely
linked to specific geographical location and weakly linked to the
identity of the species. The first two factors (F1 × F2) are the element
concentration and its biological affinity. The other two factors
(F3 × F4) likely are the nutrient status of the river, corresponding to
its proximity to wetlands or mountains, and the degree of the influence
of volcanic/hydrothermal activity. The analysis of water samples
collected during the active growth period in summer baseflow was used to
quantify the distribution coefficients (Kd) of
trace elements between the aragonite shells and the river water. All
species are significantly enriched in Mn relative to the river water,
with distribution coefficients of up to 5. The other elements exhibit Kd
values that were similar for the five species. This suggests that the
obtained distribution coefficients may be universal constants reflecting
uptake of each element by the organism from the river water and its
intracellular transport and biocalcification processes. Taken together,
the chemical composition data for pearl mussel shells may not only
reflect the geographical locality and species identity but also provide
insights into biochemical processes of element uptake in the form of
biominerals.
Graphical abstract
Keywords
Bivalve mussels;
Margaritifera;
Trace element;
Eurasia;
Distribution coefficient
Corresponding
author at: Georesources and Environment Toulouse UMR 5563 CNRS, IRD,
University of Toulouse, 14 Avenue Edouard Belin, 31400 Toulouse, France.
Tel.: + 33 5 61 33 26 25; fax: + 33 5 61 33 25 60.
Visit to the witch from the Main Church of Rila Monastery, 1844. Photograph by Stavri Tserovski
This intriguing fresco was painted on the walls of the Rila
Monastery, Bulgaria, in 1844. If you look closely at the bottom
left-hand corner of this fresco, you might spot a demon urinating in a
woman’s potion as she hands it to a sick man. Here, viewers of this
fresco are encouraged to connect the activities of female healers with
demons and evil spirits. This negative depiction of female healers was a
common sight on the walls of nineteenth-century Bulgarian religious
institutions, and continued a centuries-long struggle between the Church
and local healers. The Church demonised female healers, but regularly
concerned itself with the health issues of one group that was more
likely to rely upon the powers of these practitioners –women. Indeed,
religious texts of various periods deal with health and sickness.
Religious healing has been discussed on The Recipes Project before.
Medieval South Slavic religious manuscripts commonly contain a range of
texts relating to health: curative prayers; medical recipes; healing
practices; short medical treatises; prognostications for an illness; and
prophylactic instructions (such as dietary texts). In this post, we
would like to share some common recipes, incantations and prayers
addressing women’s health issues. Detail from Fresco Photograph by Adelina Angusheva-Tihanov
The Hodoş Miscellany (Hodoshki Sbornik), so called because of its
association with the Hodoş monastery now in Romania, is one of the
richest sources for fifteenth century South Slavic remedies. This
collection contains a range of recipes, including several concerning
women. One such recipe is for conception. For this, it recommends
administering morning baths from a dried rabbit’s womb or placenta (lozhe)
filled with water during the woman’s menstruation. Interestingly, this
recipe bears close resemblance to another remedy for conception
presented by Dioscorides. According to Dioscorides, rabbit’s rennet
mixed with butter should be used for purging baths during menstruation
to cause pregnancy. In the remedy from Hodoş the replacement of the
‘rennet’ (stored in the stomach) with a ‘womb’, perhaps stems from a
belief in the sympathetic magical influence of the rabbit’s fecundity.
Interestingly, versions of this remedy continued to circulate in South
Slavic folk tradition well into the twentieth century. For instance, in
the 1980s, Margaret Dimitrova interviewed an old woman from the village
of Brestnitsa in the Lovech region who continued to use pessaries made
with rabbit fat as a fertility remedy. Map of the Balkans, c. 1340 from Wiki Commons
Aside from providing fertility aids, the Hodoş miscellany also offers
readers medicines to ease the pains of childbirth. We would like to
bring three of these to your attention. The first remedy advises users
to place a wreath of Euforbia officinarum on the head of the
woman in labour. The other two offer brief magical rituals accompanied
by powerful Biblical formulae. One instructs the user to write the short
biblical quote “Open you, Gate of heaven” on a piece of paper
and place it on the woman’s back. The second advises the reader to have a
well-watered sponge in his or her left hand, and with their right hand
inscribe on the top of the door: ‘Tear it down to its foundations!’ [Psalms 136:7]. The use of the door here as a locus in
performing the conjuration might be a symbolic gesture associated with
transition. The biblical quotation here took on multiple functions. ‘Tear it down to its foundations!’
is also used in prayers against swelling and water retention in men and
horses. The meaning of the Biblical text was quite literally
understood. The implication was of liberation, rather than destruction.
In all cases it was applied because of the similarity in the expected
results, regardless of the nature of the pains. Evidence suggests the
use of this kind of remedies was widespread in the Balkans. A Medieval Bulgarian Bible from Wiki Commons
The sources presented here from South Slavic literate culture
inevitably show the role of medieval monasteries and parish churches in
the transmission of healing practices. Indeed, the role of the –
male-dominated – Church might help explain the spread of some of these
recipes across South Eastern Europe: religious institutions formed a
network of literate centres, exchanging texts and ideas. Those
institutions preserved and employed ancient medical knowledge, healing
practices and biblical texts to support women in the moment of pain and
need. Unlike them, however, the female practitioners (as the one in the
fresco), who helped medieval women throughout the lifecycle—be they
midwives, local witches, or wise and older members of the family—have
left behind no sources of their own. Adelina Angusheva-Tihanov is
a Research Fellow at the University of Manchester, working on magic,
medicine, and religion in Medieval South Slavic Manuscripts. To find out
more about women’s health in the Medieval South Slavic context, see
Angusheva-Tihanov, A. “Ancient Medical Knowledge of the Woman’s Body in
the Medieval Slavic Context: The Case of the Prague Manuscript IXF10.” Wiener Slavistisches Jahrbuch Vol. 51,(2005) : 139-152. Margaret Dimitrova is a Professor at Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski”, working on Medieval and Early Modern South Slavonic manuscripts. Margaret has published on medieval Slavonic translations of biblical texts and prayers.
Urban gardens provide manifold ecosystem services.
•
Cultural ecosystem services are most important in urban gardens.
•
Urban gardens enhance social cohesion, integration and healthy lifestyles.
•
Urban gardens provide nature-based solutions for urban policy challenges.
•
Urban planning can enhance ecosystem services by offering vacant land for gardening.
Abstract
In
many European cities, urban gardens are seen as increasingly important
components of urban green space networks. We adopt an ecosystem services
framework to assess contributions of urban gardens to the quality of of
their users. First, we identify and characterize ecosystem services
provided by urban gardens. Secondly, we assess the demographic and
socioeconomic profile of its beneficiaries and the relative importance
they attribute to different ecosystem services. Next we discuss the
relevance of our results in relation to critical policy challenges, such
as the promotion of societal cohesion and healthy lifestyles. Data were
collected through 44 semi-structured interviews and a survey among 201
users of 27 urban gardens in Barcelona, Spain, as well as from
consultation meetings with local planners. We identified 20 ecosystem
services, ranging from food production over pollination to social
cohesion and environmental learning. Among them, cultural ecosystem
services (non-material benefits people derive from their interaction
with nature) stand out as the most widely perceived and as the most
highly valued. The main beneficiaries of ecosystem services from urban
gardens are elder, low-middle income, and migrant people. Our results
about the societal importance of urban gardens were deemed highly
relevant by the interviewed green space planners in Barcelona, who noted
that our data can provide basis to support or expand existing gardening
programs in the city. Our research further suggests that ecosystem
services from urban gardens can play an important role in addressing
several urban policy challenges in cities, such as promoting stewardship
of urban ecosystems, providing opportunities for recreation and healthy
lifestyles, and promoting social cohesion. We conclude that urban
gardens and associated ecosystem services can play an important in
urban policies aimed at enhancing quality of life in cities,
particularly if access to their benefits is expanded to larger segments
of the population.
Keywords
Barcelona;
Ecosystem services;
Green infrastructure;
Nature-based solutions;
Urbanism;
Urban agriculture
Corresponding
author at: Institute for Environmental Science and Technology,
ICTA-ICP, Edifici Z, Carrer de les columnes, Universitat Autònoma de
Barcelona, 08193 Bellaterra-Cerdanyola del Vallés, Spain. Fax: +34
935863331.
Co-edited by Dr. Rachel Berger (Associate Professor, History, Concordia) and Dr. Jessica Riddell (Associate Professor, English, Bishop’s University).
Description: This edited collection takes a multi-disciplinary approach to conception, pregnancy, childbirth, and parenthood within the academy. Contributors from diverse disciplines will contribute essays on their process of negotiating parenthood and professorship within the Canadian landscape of higher education.
Context: While there have been a series of scholarly books on academia and motherhood from professional perspectives, there is still lots of work to be done to explore parenthood through disciplinary lenses. We would like to investigate what happens when ontological transformations from childlessness to parenthood – in its many forms – are framed in terms of sacrifice or dilution in our roles as academics, and explore alternate perspectives of parenthood that opens up and possibly even enhances our relationships to our disciplines, our institutions, and our academic communities more generally. This series of essays will explore ways to deploy disciplinary lenses to read maternal bodies/parental identities in the contexts of discipline, research, teaching, service, and our understanding of who we are and what we do as scholars. Furthermore, the particular conditions that dictate parental leaves in Canada – labour protection around employment, supplemented income, a culture of leave – create a particular set of conditions that should work (but sometimes fails to) give parents in academia options around their parenting that run counter to a career set by time limits and pre-determined milestones.
We are currently in discussions with academic presses to secure a publishing contract.
Please submit the following documents by May 15, 2016 a) Abstract (500 words) that outlines the subject, topic, themes and broad contours of an essay (completed papers should be approximately 3000 – 5000 words) b) Cover letter c) Curriculum Vitae
All submissions should be in MS Word format. The submission of images where appropriate, is also welcome.
We will accept personal narratives as well as academic essays
Some questions we may address: • How do we view parenthood via disciplinary lenses? • How is pregnancy treated and disciplined and regulated within the institutional culture of a university? • What forms of maternity/parental leave are available and how do we negotiate/navigate these leaves? • How are forms of new motherhood regulated, reified, constructed? How are these relatively new identity categories? • How are alternate models of parenthood made visible/remain invisible?
Proposed Timeline:
April 15 Call For Papers disseminated May 15 Abstracts due June 1 Contributors notified September 1 First draft due October 1 Family friendly writing retreat December 15 Essays due January – March Editing Process May 1 Final version submitted for publication
Possible academic presses: NYU Press Rutgers University Press Columbia University Press Oxford University Press Canada McGill-Queen’s University Press University of Toronto Press University of Alberta Press Wilfred Laurier University Press
The
present work aimed to investigate the main quality attributes that
influence the purchase decisions of fresh berries. To this regard, an
empirical survey has been conducted by interviewing 200 consumers of
fresh berries at the exit of the main centers of the large scale retail
trade in the city of Munich (Germany). An econometric model has been
adopted to examine the relationship that single attributes has on the
purchase frequency of fresh berries. Results showed that nutraceutical
properties and health benefits of berries have a strong appeal to the
consumers and confirmed that intrinsic attributes are determinants of
consumer purchase decision
Disseminated Chrysosporium
spp. infection was diagnosed in a German shepherd dog based on a
positive fungal culture and cytological findings of intralesional fungi
associated with granulomatous splenitis and neutrophilic lymphadenitis.
The clinical presentation that could mimic a multicentric lymphoma,
including markedly enlarged lymph nodes and a very abnormal splenic
appearance on ultrasound makes this case even more atypical. The patient
showed rapid clinical improvement on oral posaconazole and remains
clinically stable ten months after diagnosis.
Keywords
Canine;
Chrysosporium;
Disseminated fungal infection;
German shepherd dog
1. Introduction
German shepherd dogs (GSD), particularly young to middle-aged females, are well-known for their predisposition to disseminated Aspergillus spp. infection [1] and [2].
The familial tendency is further supported in this breed with the
development of disseminated fungal disease in close relatives [3].
A genetic predisposition leading to a deficient immune response to
fungi, possibly related to immunoglobulin A (IgA) deficiency and/or
dysfunction has been reported in this breed [4] and [5]. However, the aetiology is likely multifactorial, involving dysfunction of both humoral and cell mediated immunity against Aspergillus spp. infection [3], [5] and [6]. Literature tends to suggest that GSD are also prone to other disseminated fungal infections caused by species such as Penicillium spp., Paecilomyces spp., Pseudallescheria boydii, Scytalidium spp., Scedosporium prolificans, and Chrysosporium spp., most of which would be classified as opportunistic [1], [7] and [8].
Infection with Chrysosporium
spp. is uncommon in both human and veterinary literature, being mostly
described in reptiles. Information on clinical management is then quite
variable and depends on the species involved, the extent of the disease
(focal vs systemic involvement), and drug availability. Infection of a
dog by Chrysosporium spp. has only be reported three times to date.
The
difference in clinical presentation, ultrasound findings and long term
treatment with posaconazole in the case described herein adds valuable
information about the diversity of signs that Chrysosporium
spp. infection can cause in dog and brings a new light on possible
treatment. Indeed, to the author's knowledge, the successful use of
posaconazole for Chrysosporium spp. infection has not yet been reported in humans or animals, making the description of this case unique.
