The catastrophic declines of three species of ‘Critically Endangered’ Gyps vultures in South Asia were caused by unintentional poisoning by the non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) diclofenac. Despite a ban on its veterinary use in 2006 (India, Nepal, Pakistan) and 2010 (Bangladesh), residues of diclofenac have continued to be found in cattle carcasses and in dead wild vultures. Another NSAID, meloxicam, has been shown to be safe to vultures. From 2012 to 2018, we undertook covert surveys of pharmacies in India, Nepal and Bangladesh to investigate the availability and prevalence of NSAIDs for the treatment of livestock. The purpose of the study was to establish whether diclofenac continued to be sold for veterinary use, whether the availability of meloxicam had increased and to determine which other veterinary NSAIDs were available. The availability of diclofenac declined in all three countries, virtually disappearing from pharmacies in Nepal and Bangladesh, highlighting the advances made in these two countries to reduce this threat to vultures. In India, diclofenac still accounted for 10–46% of all NSAIDs offered for sale for livestock treatment in 2017, suggesting weak enforcement of existing regulations and a continued high risk to vultures. Availability of meloxicam increased in all countries and was the most common veterinary NSAID in Nepal (89.9% in 2017). Although the most widely available NSAID in India in 2017, meloxicam accounted for only 32% of products offered for sale. In Bangladesh, meloxicam was less commonly available than the vulture-toxic NSAID ketoprofen (28% and 66%, respectively, in 2018), despite the partial government ban on ketoprofen in 2016. Eleven different NSAIDs were recorded, several of which are known or suspected to be toxic to vultures. Conservation priorities should include awareness raising, stricter implementation of current bans, bans on other vulture-toxic veterinary NSAIDs, especially aceclofenac and nimesulide, and safety-testing of other NSAIDs on Gyps vultures to identify safe and toxic drugs.

Complex oxides and semiconductors exhibit distinct yet complementary properties owing to their respective ionic and covalent natures. By electrically coupling complex oxides to traditional semiconductors within epitaxial heterostructures, enhanced or novel functionalities beyond those of the constituent materials can potentially be realized. Essential to electrically coupling complex oxides to semiconductors is control of the physical structure of the epitaxially grown oxide, as well as the electronic structure of the interface. Here we discuss how composition of the perovskite A- and B-site cations can be manipulated to control the physical and electronic structure of semiconductor—complex oxide heterostructures. Two prototypical heterostructures, Ba1−x Sr x TiO3/Ge and SrZr x Ti1−x O3/Ge, will be discussed. In the case of Ba1−x Sr x TiO3/Ge, we discuss how strain can be engineered through A-site composition to enable the re-orientable ferroelectric polarization of the former to be coupled to carriers in the semiconductor. In the case of SrZr x Ti1−x O3/Ge we discuss how B-site composition can be exploited to control the band offset at the interface. Analogous to heterojunctions between compound semiconducting materials, control of band offsets, i.e., band-gap engineering, provides a pathway to electrically couple complex oxides to semiconductors to realize a host of functionalities.

Although high hepatitis C virus (HCV) prevalence has been observed in people who inject drugs (PWID) for decades, research suggests incidence is falling. We examined whether PWIDs’ use of opioid substitution therapy (OST) and their needle-and-syringe sharing behaviour explained HCV incidence. We assessed HCV incidence in 235 PWID in Melbourne, Australia, and performed discrete-time survival with needle-sharing and OST status as independent variables. HCV infection, reinfection and combined infection/reinfection incidences were 7·6 [95% confidence interval (CI) 4·8–11·9], 12·4 (95% CI 9·1–17·0) and 9·7 (95% CI 7·4–12·6) per 100 person-years, respectively. Needle-sharing was significantly associated with higher incidence of naive HCV infection [hazard ratio (HR) 4·9, 95% CI 1·3–17·7] but not reinfection (HR 1·85, 95% CI 0·79–4·32); however, a cross-model test suggested this difference was sample specific. Past month use of OST had non-significant protective effects against naive HCV infection and reinfection. Our data confirm previous evidence of greatly reduced HCV incidence in PWID, but not the significant protective effect of OST on HCV incidence detected in recent studies. Our findings reinforce the need for greater access to HCV testing and prevention services to accelerate the decline in incidence, and HCV treatment, management and support to limit reinfection.

Complex oxides and semiconductors exhibit distinct yet complementary properties owing to their respective ionic and covalent natures. By electrically coupling oxides to semiconductors within epitaxial heterostructures, enhanced or novel functionalities beyond those of the constituent materials can potentially be realized. Key to electrically coupling oxides to semiconductors is controlling the physical and electronic structure of semiconductor – crystalline oxide heterostructures. Here we discuss how composition of the oxide can be manipulated to control physical and electronic structure in Ba1-xSrxTiO3/ Ge and SrZrxTi1-xO3/Ge heterostructures. In the case of the former we discuss how strain can be engineered through composition to enable the re-orientable ferroelectric polarization to be coupled to carriers in the semiconductor. In the case of the latter we discuss how composition can be exploited to control the band offset at the semiconductor - oxide interface. The ability to control the band offset, i.e. band-gap engineering, provides a pathway to electrically couple crystalline oxides to semiconductors to realize a host of functionalities.

The poor survival rate of immature northern bald ibises Geronticus eremita during their first years spent outside the natal site is driving the last known wild colony of the migratory eastern population to extinction. To inform emergency conservation action for this Critically Endangered species we investigated the distribution range and behaviour of immature birds in passage and wintering areas, and the threats to which they are subject. We integrated recent satellite telemetry data with visual observations spanning 130 years. We assessed threats across the range, using satellite tracking and field surveys. Our results show that during the years before they return to the natal site in Syria, immature northern bald ibises reside away from the recently identified adult wintering site in the central Ethiopian highlands. They occur mainly across the northernmost 70–80% of the adult migratory range. Historical records suggest that immature birds spend more time along the western Arabian Peninsula now than in the past. This range shift exposes them for longer periods to threats, such as hunting and electrocution on power lines, which are absent from the wintering site used by adult birds. We suggest that other threatened and declining bird species sharing the same flyway probably face the same threats during migration.

In the USA, DSM-5 is scheduled for publication in 2013. It is likely to include some substantial changes to the diagnosis of substance use disorders and pathological gambling. This paper reviews the proposed changes to these diagnoses and their potential impact on diagnosis, treatment and research of these disorders in the UK.

The structures of orthorhombic (a=5.5686(2)Å, b=9.8946 (2)Å, c=3.19369(12Å) and cubic (a=9.177(3)Å) Cd2SnO4were refined by Rietveld analysis of X-ray powder diffraction patterns. Both of these polymorphs were chemically treated with hydrogen gas mixtures at 400°C, resulting in a colour change from yellow to green. Small structural changes were observed for the orthorhombic material, which underwent a uniform contraction (≈0.02%) of cell size and movement of some oxygen atoms towards the tin atoms. Evidence for loss of structural oxygen was sought, but could not be found above the detection limit of 0.3%. Cubic Cd2SnO4possesses the spinel structure with a large (at least 65%) degree of inversion. Samples prepared with a smaller cell have so far proved unsuitable for Reitveld analysis.

Improved powder XRD patterns for the titanium suboxides, TinO2n−1 (4≤n≤9), have been calculated from published single-crystal structures. To provide the best match with experimental data, the entire diffraction traces were simulated, and d-spacings and intensities extracted in the same manner as from experimental traces. The accuracy of the new patterns has been verified by comparison with measured powder patterns, particularly in the case of the n=4 and n=5 compounds where single-phase powders can be prepared relatively easily. Difficulties experienced preparing higher homologues have been related to the thermodynamic properties of this system.

Staphylococcus aureus is a leading cause of infections in deployed service members. Based on a molecular epidemiological study of 182 MRSA isolates from patients in three U.S. Army combat support hospitals in separate regions in Iraq, USA300 clone was the most predominant (80%) pulsotype. This finding suggested that strain carriage from the home country by military personnel is epidemiologically more important than local acquisition.