Small differences in mom’s behavior may show up in child’s epigenome

Peer-Reviewed Publication

WASHINGTON STATE UNIVERSITY

PULLMAN, Wash. – Adding evidence to the importance of early development, a new study links neutral maternal behavior toward infants with an epigenetic change in children related to stress response. 

Epigenetics are molecular processes independent of DNA that influence gene behavior. In this study, researchers found that neutral or awkward behavior of mothers with their babies at 12 months correlated with an epigenetic change called methylation, or the addition of methane and carbon molecules, on a gene called NR3C1 when the children were 7 years old. This gene has been associated with regulating the body’s response to stress. 

“There is evidence of a relationship between the quality of maternal-infant interaction and methylation of this gene though these are small effects in response to a relatively small variation in interaction,” said Elizabeth Holdsworth, a Washington State University biological anthropologist and lead author of the study published in the American Journal of Human Biology. 

Other studies have connected extreme stress in early life, like neglect and abuse, to more dramatic methylation on this particular gene in adults. However, Holdsworth emphasized that the small difference indicated by this study may be an indication of normal human variation and it’s hard to determine if there are any long-term effects. 

For this study, Holdsworth and her co-authors analyzed a subsample of 114 mother-infant pairs from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children, a project that tracks a cohort of children born in 1991 and 1992 in Avon, UK. 

The researchers first analyzed data from an observational study of the mothers sharing a picture book with their children at 12 months, in which their interactions were coded on warmth. The study focused on mothers because they are often infants’ primary caregivers. The vast majority of the women in this sample were white, college-educated and from middle-income households. The range of warmth they displayed only varied slightly with the “coldest” behavior classified as awkward or neutral, but this is exactly what the researchers hoped to test: that if even small differences in social interaction could be linked to an epigenetic change.  

The observed behavior was then compared against data from an epigenetic analysis of the children’s blood samples taken at age seven. The researchers found that the mothers showing awkward or neutral behavior toward their infant correlated with a small increase of methylation on the NR3C1 gene. This gene encodes a receptor involved in the regulation of the HPA axis -- the interaction between the body’s hypothalamus, pituitary and adrenal glands. This axis plays a role in stress response, including production of the body’s primary “stress” hormone, cortisol.

The HPA axis can be activated by almost anything that requires a quick release of energy from reacting to a real threat to watching a scary movie to simply exercising. The NR3C1 gene is known to be involved in activating this axis, but more research is needed to understand how methylation of that gene is associated with stress response, Holdsworth said, as some studies have shown increased methylation linked to hypo-reactivity, or blunted response while others have shown hyper-reactivity.

Researchers are working to uncover how these changes happen, particularly during infancy when the body is developing rapidly – as well as what they might mean. 

“Within developmental biology, we know humans grow to fit the environment that they’re in, which contributes to normal human biological variation. It’s not necessarily good or bad,” she said. 

In addition to Holdsworth, co-authors on this study include Lawrence Schell and Allison Appleton from University at Albany, State University of New York. This research received support from the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council, the National Institutes of Health, the National Science Foundation and the Wellcome Trust.

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JOURNAL

American Journal of Human Biology

DOI

10.1002/ajhb.23876 

ARTICLE TITLE

Maternal–infant interaction quality is associated with child NR3C1 CpG site methylation at 7 years of age

Biopesticides should be preferred over chemical pesticides for fall armyworm control, study suggests

Safer-to-use and more environmentally-friendly biopesticides should be preferred to fight the fall armyworm (Spodoptera frugiperda) pest instead of more harmful chemical pesticides, a new CABI-led study published in the Journal of Pest Science suggests.

Peer-Reviewed Publication

CABI

 

IMAGE: THE OUTBREAK OF THE FALL ARMYWORM HAS LED TO SEVERAL RECOMMENDATIONS ON INSECTICIDES, INCLUDING BIOPESTICIDES, BUT THE EFFECTS OF THESE PRODUCTS ON THE ENVIRONMENT – ESPECIALLY PARASITOIDS – HAS NOT PREVIOUSLY BEEN ASSESSED UNDER FIELD CONDITIONS view more 

CREDIT: CABI

Safer-to-use and more environmentally-friendly biopesticides should be preferred to fight the fall armyworm (Spodoptera frugiperda) pest instead of more harmful chemical pesticides, a new CABI-led study published in the Journal of Pest Science suggests.

CABI scientists teamed up with colleagues from Ghana’s CSIR-Savanna Agricultural Research Institute (SARI), the University for Development Studies (UDS) and the Plant Protection and Regulatory Services Directorate (PPRSD) to investigate the effects of insecticides – including biopesticides – on the environment.

Specifically, the researchers conducted experiments both on-station in Wa and Nyankpala and on-farm in Wa during the 2020 rainy season to test the effect of commonly used biopesticides on fall armyworm in northern Ghana.

The fall armyworm is a highly destructive pest of cereals and has invaded Africa, parts of Asia and Australia over the past six years – threatening the food security and income of millions of smallholder farmers many of whom rely on maize as their staple crop.

While the outbreak of the pest in Africa has led to several recommendations of insecticides, including biopesticides, the effects of these products on the environment – especially parasitoids – have not been assessed under field conditions.

Active ingredients tested included neem oil (3% Azadirachtin), maltodextrin (282g/l), 55% Bacillus thuringienis (Bt) combined with 45% Monosultap, and a Pieris rapae granulosis virus combined with 5% Bt.

A chemical insecticide based on emamectin benzoate and acetamiprid was used as positive control while non-treated maize plots were considered as untreated control.

The two most abundant parasitoids in Wa were Coccygidium luteum and Chelonus bifoveolatus, while in Nyankpala they were C. luteum and Meteorus sp. Total larval parasitism rates on-station were 18.7% and 17.6% in Wa and Nyankpala, respectively, and 8.8% in Wa on-farm.

Dr Lakpo Koku Agboyi, Project Manager – Invasive Species Management at CABI and lead author on the paper, said, “Untreated maize plots showed the highest larval density and plant damage, the highest cob damage, and generated the lowest yields. The other treatments showed hardly any difference in cob damage and yields, suggesting that biopesticides should be preferred over chemical pesticides for fall armyworm control.”

The researchers found that, in general, parasitism was lower in the maize fields treated with Ema Star and Bypel 1 as compared to untreated plots and those treated with other biopesticides, although the tendency was not consistently significant throughout the sites and dates.

This may be due the fact, the scientists suggest, that parasitoid complex varied with sites and dates and it is well known that different parasitoid species may react differently to pesticide and biopesticide treatments.

Another possible reason for the relatively low impact of pesticides and biopesticides on parasitism is the size of the plots and the ability of parasitoids to quickly move from adjacent, untreated fields or vegetation to the previously treated plots, they believe.

Dr Jerry Nboyine, of the CSIR-SARI, said, “There was no consistent difference in cob damage and yields among the chemical pesticide and the biopesticides. In such situations, biopesticides should be preferred to minimize negative effects on human health, natural control and the environment in general.”

 

Additional information

Main image: The outbreak of the fall armyworm has led to several recommendations on insecticides, including biopesticides, but the effects of these products on the environment – especially parasitoids – has not previously been assessed under field conditions (Credit: CABI).

Full paper reference

Agboyi, L.K., Nboyine, J.A., Asamani, E. et al. ‘Comparative effects of biopesticides on fall armyworm management and larval parasitism rates in northern Ghana,’ Journal of Pest Science (2023) DOI: 10.1007/s10340-023-01590-z

You can read the paper in full open access here: https://rdcu.be/c5ZJO

Funding acknowledgement

The research was financially supported by the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), UK, the Directorate-General for International Cooperation (DGIS), the Netherlands, the European Commission Directorate-General for International Cooperation and Development (DEVCO) and the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) through CABI’s Action on Invasives and Plantwise Plus Programmes. CABI is an international intergovernmental organisation and we gratefully acknowledge the core financial support from our member countries and lead agencies. See https://www.cabi.org/aboutcabi/who-we-work-with/key-donors/ for details.

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JOURNAL

Journal of Pest Science

DOI

10.1007/s10340-023-01590-z 

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Experimental study

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

Not applicable

ARTICLE TITLE

Comparative effects of biopesticides on fall armyworm management and larval parasitism rates in northern Ghana

Coastal water pollution transfers to the air in sea spray aerosol and reaches people on land

Scientists find bacteria, chemical compounds from coastal water pollution in sea spray aerosol along Imperial Beach

Peer-Reviewed Publication

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA - SAN DIEGO

 

IMAGE: AEROSOL FILTER SAMPLING DOWNWIND OF POLLUTED COASTAL WATERS IN IMPERIAL BEACH. PHOTO: MATTHEW PENDERGRAFT view more 

CREDIT: MATTHEW PENDERGRAFT

New research led by Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego has confirmed that coastal water pollution transfers to the atmosphere in sea spray aerosol, which can reach people beyond just beachgoers, surfers, and swimmers.

Rainfall in the US-Mexico border region causes complications for wastewater treatment and results in untreated sewage being diverted into the Tijuana River and flowing into the ocean in south Imperial Beach. This input of contaminated water has caused chronic coastal water pollution in Imperial Beach for decades. New research shows that  sewage-polluted coastal waters transfer to the atmosphere in sea spray aerosol formed by breaking waves and bursting bubbles. Sea spray aerosol contains bacteria, viruses, and chemical compounds from the seawater. 

The researchers report their findings March 2 in the journal Environmental Science & Technology. The study appears in the midst of a winter in which an estimated 13 billion gallons of sewage-polluted waters have entered the ocean via the Tijuana River, according to lead researcher Kim Prather, a Distinguished Chair in Atmospheric Chemistry, and Distinguished Professor at Scripps Oceanography and UC San Diego’s Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry. She also serves as the founding director of the NSF Center for Aerosol Impacts on Chemistry of the Environment (CAICE).

“We’ve shown that up to three-quarters of the bacteria that you breathe in at Imperial Beach are coming from aerosolization of raw sewage in the surf zone,” said Prather. “Coastal water pollution has been traditionally considered just a waterborne problem. People worry about swimming and surfing in it but not about breathing it in, even though the aerosols can travel long distances and expose many more people than those just at the beach or in the water.”

The team sampled coastal aerosols at Imperial Beach and water from the Tijuana River between January and May 2019. Then they used DNA sequencing and mass spectrometry to link bacteria and chemical compounds in coastal aerosol back to the sewage-polluted Tijuana River flowing into coastal waters. Aerosols from the ocean were found to contain bacteria and chemicals originating from the Tijuana River. Now the team is conducting follow-up research attempting to detect viruses and other airborne pathogens.

Prather and colleagues caution that the work does not mean people are getting sick from sewage in sea spray aerosol. Most bacteria and viruses are harmless and the presence of bacteria in sea spray aerosol does not automatically mean that microbes – pathogenic or otherwise – become airborne. Infectivity, exposure levels, and other factors that determine risk need further investigation, the authors said. 

This study involved a collaboration among three different research groups - led by Prather in collaboration with UC San Diego School of Medicine and Jacobs School of Engineering researcher Rob Knight, and Pieter Dorrestein of the UC San Diego Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Science, both affiliated with the Department of Pediatrics - to study the potential links between bacteria and chemicals in sea spray aerosol with sewage in the Tijuana River.

“This research demonstrates that coastal communities are exposed to coastal water pollution even without entering polluted waters,” said lead author Matthew Pendergraft, a recent graduate from Scripps Oceanography who obtained his PhD under the guidance of Prather. “More research is necessary to determine the level of risk posed to the public by aerosolized coastal water pollution. These findings provide further justification for prioritizing cleaning up coastal waters.”

Additional funding to further investigate the conditions that lead to aerosolization of pollutants and pathogens, how far they travel, and potential public health ramifications has been secured by Congressman Scott Peters (CA-50) in the Fiscal Year (FY) 2023 Omnibus spending bill.  

Besides Prather, Pendergraft, Knight and Dorrestein, the research team included Daniel Petras and Clare Morris from Scripps Oceanography; Pedro Beldá-Ferre, MacKenzie Bryant, Tara Schwartz, Gail Ackermann, and Greg Humphrey from the UC San Diego School of Medicine; Brock Mitts from UC San Diego’s Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry; Allegra Aron from the UC San Diego Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Science; and independent researcher Ethan Kaandorp. The study was funded by UC San Diego’s Understanding and Protecting the Planet (UPP) initiative and the German Research Foundation.

Study co-author Allegra Aron collects water from Tijuana River. Photo: Matthew Pendergraft

CREDIT

Matthew Pendergraft

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JOURNAL

Environmental Science & Technology

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Experimental study

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

Not applicable

ARTICLE TITLE

Bacterial and Chemical Evidence of Coastal Water Pollution from the 2 Tijuana River in Sea Spray Aerosol

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

2-Mar-2023

Academic freedom deteriorates in 22 countries

Researchers at the University of Gothenburg and FAU Erlangen-Nürnberg publish the Academic Freedom Index 2023 Update

Reports and Proceedings

FRIEDRICH-ALEXANDER-UNIVERSITÄT ERLANGEN-NÜRNBERG

Today, the Academic Freedom Index (AFI) project presents its Update 2023, providing an overview of the state of academic freedom in 179 countries. The decline in academic freedom affects over 50% of the world's population, approximately 4 billion people. The Index identifies 22 countries where universities and scholars experience significantly less academic freedom today than they did ten years ago. This includes democratic systems as well as autocratic countries. During the same period, academic freedom levels have only improved in five small countries, benefiting a mere 0.7% of the world's population. In most countries (152), academic freedom stagnates, often at a far too low level. For the average global citizen, academic freedom is back to a level last registered four decades ago.

The AFI is the result of an international collaboration involving 2,197 country experts worldwide, coordinated by researchers at the University of Gothenburg’s V-Dem Institute and the Institute of Political Science at Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU). The German Volkswagen Foundation funds the project for a total of five years.

Autocratic and democratic countries among the decliners

This year’s update indicates that the decline in academic freedom is not limited to autocratic countries but also includes democratic ones. Different patterns of backsliding can be observed exemplarily in populous countries such as India, China, the United States, and Mexico.

India's decline in academic freedom started from a comparatively high level during India's democratic period and is now under pressure due to an autocratization process under Modi’s Hindu-nationalist government. In contrast, the China case shows variation in a closed autocracy with increasingly repressive policies. In terms of population, the declines in India and China are particularly consequential, as these two countries are home to 2.8 billion people.

The report’s spotlights on Mexico and the US demonstrate academia’s differing vulnerability related to changes in the central government. In both countries, politicians have attempted to use fiscal policy and appointment decisions to further political control of universities, however with varying success. The US case highlights that subnational politics can matter more for academic freedom than federal politics.

The complete list of all countries’ Academic Freedom Index scores is available in Figures 2 and 3 of the report.

International data collection for five indicators

The AFI provides data on academic freedom worldwide for the period from 1900 to 2022. The index rests on assessments by more than 2,197 country experts from around the world (academics who either usually live in the country that they assess or have specific knowledge about the case). These experts’ assessments are aggregated using a statistical model developed by the international V-Dem project team for its larger democracy dataset.

The AFI itself is composed of five indicators, namely the freedom to research and teach; the freedom of academic exchange and dissemination; the institutional autonomy of universities; campus integrity; and the freedom of academic and cultural expression.

Open access and interactive visualization of world map

The detailed data that make up the AFI 1900-2022 are available open access to facilitate further studies. Please also visit the new website: https://academic-freedom-index.net where you will find an interactive visualization of the data, country profiles, and information on the index project. Easy-to-use graphing tools are also available for anyone interested; they can be consulted by researchers, students, university administrators, research funders, and policy-makers.

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DOI

10.25593/opus4-fau-21630  

Ocean surface tipping point could accelerate climate change

Peer-Reviewed Publication

UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN

 

IMAGE: CHOPPY SEAS OVER THE GULF OF MEXICO, 2017. RESEARCH LED BY THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS INSTITUTE FOR GEOPHYSICS FOUND THAT FUTURE WARMING COULD TRIGGER CHEMICAL CHANGES IN THE OCEAN SURFACE THAT ACCELERATE GLOBAL WARMING. view more 

CREDIT: JACKSON SCHOOL OF GEOSCIENCES/TIANNONG “SKYLER” DONG

The oceans help to limit global warming by soaking up carbon dioxide emissions. But scientists have discovered that intense warming in the future could lessen that ability, leading to even more severe warming.

The discovery comes from a study led by The University of Texas at Austin in which researchers analyzed a climate simulation configured to a worst-case emissions scenario and found that the oceans’ ability to soak up carbon dioxide (CO2) would peak by 2100, becoming only half as efficient at absorbing the greenhouse gas by 2300. 

The decline happens because of the emergence of a surface layer of low-alkalinity water that hinders the ability of the oceans to absorb CO2. Alkalinity is a chemical property that affects how much CO2 can dissolve in seawater.

Although the emissions scenario used in the study is unlikely because of global efforts to limit greenhouse gas emissions, the findings reveal a previously unknown tipping point that if activated would release an important brake on global warming, the authors said.

“We need to think about these worst-case scenarios to understand how our CO2 emissions might affect the oceans not just this century, but next century and the following century,” said Megumi Chikamoto, who led the research as a research fellow at the University of Texas Institute for Geophysics. 

The study was published in the journal Geophysical Research Letters.

Today, the oceans soak up about a third of the CO2 emissions generated by humans. Climate simulations had previously shown that the oceans slow their absorption of CO2 over time, but none had considered alkalinity as explanation. To reach their conclusion, the researchers recalculated pieces of a 450-year simulation until they hit on alkalinity as a key cause of the slowing.

According to the findings, the effect begins with extreme climate change, which supercharges rainfall and slows ocean currents. This leaves the surface of the oceans covered in a warm layer of fresh water that won’t mix easily with the cooler, more alkaline waters below it. As this surface layer becomes more saturated with CO2, its alkalinity falls and with it, its ability to absorb CO2. The end result is a surface layer that acts like a barrier for CO2 absorption. That means less of the greenhouse gas goes into the ocean and more of it is left behind in the atmosphere. This in turn produces faster warming, which sustains and strengthens the low-alkalinity surface layer. 

Co-author, Pedro DiNezio, an affiliate researcher at the University of Texas Institute for Geophysics and associate professor at University of Colorado, said that the discovery was a powerful reminder that the world needs to reduce its CO2 emissions to avoid crossing this and other tipping points. 

“Whether it’s this or the collapse of the ice sheets, there’s potentially a series of connected crises lurking in our future that we need to avoid at all costs,” he said. The next step, he said, is to figure out whether the alkalinity mechanism is triggered under more moderate emissions scenarios.

Coauthor Nikki Lovenduski, a professor at the University of Colorado who contributed to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change 2021 climate report, said that the study’s findings would help scientists make better projections about future climate change.

“This paper demonstrates that the climate change problem may be exacerbated by things that are as yet unknown,” she said. “But the ocean climate feedback mechanism this particular study revealed will open up new avenues of research that will help us better understand the carbon cycle, past climate change and perhaps come up with solutions for future problems.” 

The study was funded by the National Science Foundation. UTIG is a research unit of UT Jackson School of Geosciences. 

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JOURNAL

Geophysical Research Letters

DOI

10.1029/2022GL101954 

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Computational simulation/modeling

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

Not applicable

ARTICLE TITLE

Long-Term Slowdown of Ocean Carbon Uptake by Alkalinity Dynamics

Thailand: Forest fire hotspots set daily record

A total of 3,768 potential wildfire hotspots were detected across Thailand in a day, making a new record for 2023, according to the Geo-Informatics and Space Technology Development Agency (Gistda).

VNA Thursday, March 02, 2023 17:13

Soldiers and volunteers douse a fire in a community forest in Uttaradit province,

 photo by Third Army. (Photo: thethaiger.com)

Bangkok (VNA) – A total of 3,768 potential wildfire hotspots were detected across Thailand in a day, making a new record for 2023, according to the Geo-Informatics and Space Technology Development Agency (Gistda).

Images from the US's Suomi National Polar Orbiter Management Partnership (Suomi NPP) satellite on February 28 showed that Thailand had the most hotpots in the region. It was followed by Laos (3,370), Myanmar (2,809), Cambodia (2,758) and Vietnam (732).

Most of the hotspots in Thailand were in conservation forest (1,937), national forest reserves (1,043), agricultural areas (271), community areas (271), agricultural land reform areas (219) and along highways (18), according to Gistda.

Provinces with the highest number of hotspots were Kanchanaburi (577), Tak (495), Uttaradit (237), Nan 212) and Phrae (190).

A total of 52,000 hotspots have been detected in Thailand by February 28, Gistda said. The agency warned that forest fires and hotspots might bring with them high level of fine particulate matter (PM2.5), particularly in border areas, which are most affected by fires and haze pollution from neighbouring countries.

A report from the Centre for Air Pollution Mitigation (CAPM) on March 1 revealed that the air quality index (AQI) in Thailand varied from healthy to very unhealthy while the level of PM2.5 ranged from 14 μg/m³ đến 200 μg/m³, surpassing the permitted level.

Over 130 locations in 39 provinces were found to have an unhealthy AQI level, or above 50 μg/m³, while 23 others were detected to have AQI of over 150 μg/m, which can have serious adverse health effect on sensitive groups./.

CRIMINAL CAPITALI$M

'Truth will prevail': Adani welcomes SC order on Hindenburg case

'Truth will prevail': Adani welcomes SC order on Hindenburg case

Written byAyushi Goswami

Mar 02, 2023,

"The Adani Group welcomes the order of the Hon'ble Supreme Court," tweeted Gautam Adani

Billionaire Gautam Adani welcomed the Supreme Court's order on the Adani Group-Hindenburg Research case on Thursday.Notably, the apex court has ordered the setting up of a committee to examine whether the conglomerate violated market norms or the stock prices were manipulated.Asserting the top court's decision "will bring finality in a time-bound manner," Adani tweeted, "Truth will prevail."

Here's the Twitter post of Gautam Adani

The Adani Group welcomes the order of the Hon'ble Supreme Court. It will bring finality in a time bound manner. Truth will prevail.— Gautam Adani (@gautam_adani) March 2, 2023

SC directed SEBI to complete investigation in 2 months

Meanwhile, earlier on Thursday, Chief Justice of India (CJI) DY Chandrachud also directed the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) to complete the investigation launched by it following the Hindenburg report in two months and submit a status report.Meanwhile, the six-member probe panel, headed by retired judge Abhay Manohar Sapre, will investigate the row and suggest measures to strengthen the legal framework.

We must help the animals affected by war in Ukraine — otherwise, we're risking a catastrophe

 
02/03/2023 - 
By Daniel Fine, Co-Founder and Managing Director, Ukraine War Animals Relief Fund

Two small dogs peer out the gym bag of a refugee fleeing the war from neighbouring Ukraine, at the Romanian-Ukrainian border, in Siret, Romania, March 2022 - Copyright AP Photo/Euronews

The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not represent in any way the editorial position of Euronews.

Today should have been a day of playing in the backyard, chasing a ball and digging in the dirt for Paulo.

Instead, he has been recovering from eight gunshot wounds.

He was rescued from Ukraine and brought to Poland for treatment. He spends his days healing here at ADA Foundation in Przemsyl.

He is one of the very few, one of the fortunate. You can see the pain on the poor dog's face when I take him for a walk.

He’s still excited to get back to his undersized cage for his breakfast.

Over 12 million people have fled Ukraine, and approximately 47% of Ukrainians have at least one pet, research tells us. That’s well over 5.6 million cats and dogs.

 
Between one and two million pets unwillingly left behind

Because you can’t fly out of Ukraine, and many of the bridges are blown up, the railway remains the main form of transportation out of the country.

 
And the trains are standing room only and don’t accept animals. So many had to leave their pets behind. The estimate is somewhere between one and two million.

Ukraine’s biggest zoo is caught in the crossfire, how are the animals coping?

‘I'm staying here for my animals’: The Italian man rescuing stray dogs in Ukraine

How can Ukrainians do this, some might ask.

Well, imagine bombs dropping and getting to the train station. You are told that you have to leave your luggage to make more room for people. No pets.

Ukrainians have a strong bond with their pets. It must be incredibly painful and stressful to leave their loved animal behind.

Ukrainian Iryna caresses dogs as she asks for money to support a centre for abandoned dogs next to a poster that reads in Ukrainian: "Heroes don't die", in Kyiv, 25 April 202

2AP Photo/Francisco Seco

So, you let them loose at the station and pray for the best or try to find a nearby shelter that is open, or just throw them over the fence.

From what I’ve observed, Ukrainians have a strong bond with their pets. It must be incredibly painful and stressful to leave their loved animal behind.

Russia's act of aggression also came with other challenges for both pets and humans. Before the war, Ukraine had a low sterilisation rate of around 35%. The government had set up clinics for free sterilisation and vaccination to rectify this.

But then Russian President Vladimir Putin invaded.
Ukraine war: Kyiv zookeepers are lighting fires to keep their animals warm

‘Hundreds died, suffering’: Cats and dogs left without food and water in Ukraine, says charity

An animal explosion is coming

The clinics, along with most things, were shut down while Ukraine focused on protecting its people and territory.

Those million-plus animals left behind, mostly unsterilised, are growing at a terrifying rate. It’s estimated that in five years, there will be hundreds of millions of new puppies and over two billion kittens.

They’ll be fighting for survival. They will also head into the woods looking for food and be met by wolves and foxes carrying rabies.

We humans stripped away their survival skills. Now they deal with land mines, being shot, missiles, or just finding something to eat.

Stray dogs wander around animal food left by Ukrainian volunteers at a street in Liubomyrivka, 13 November 2022

AP Photo/Bernat Armangue

If you visit the refugee centre in Przemysl, you’ll see an amazing network of nonprofits.

They help Ukrainians process through the system. And the EU has granted them three-year visas. That safety net does not exist for animals trying to make it through a war they had nothing to do with.

During war, survival is often more difficult for domesticated animals. Stress is one thing, but we humans stripped away their survival skills.

Now they deal with land mines, being shot, missiles, or just finding something to eat.
Wartime treaties don't apply to cats and dogs

We know from past wars, like Iraq and Afghanistan, that domesticated animals in low-income countries like Ukraine are overlooked and left behind.

According to research by Jerome de Hemptinne, an expert on international humanitarian law, animals are largely excluded from wartime treaties like the Geneva and Hague conventions.

So, the killing of innocent animals by Russians continues without consequence.

With the archaic laws and the lack of regard for these animals, it’s nearly impossible to bring them out of Ukraine and find safety for them in a warm, loving home.

A Ukrainian soldier holds dogs rescued from the streets at a checkpoint in Brovary, on the outskirts of Kyiv, 26 March 2022

AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd

For three months, I’ve been volunteering in Ukraine and Poland. I also started a non-profit focused on sterilising, vaccinating, and microchipping these lost pets.

There are a lot of volunteers here working seven days a week, sixteen-hour days.

But with the archaic laws and the lack of regard for these animals, it’s nearly impossible to bring them out of Ukraine and find safety for them in a warm, loving home.
Don't forget that these animals depend on us

Three things need to happen: First, these animals need to be sterilised, vaccinated and microchipped.

If enough animals are helped, it will stop the rampant population growth that will swamp Ukraine and Eastern Europe with billions of unwanted animals. Yes, billions.

Second, animals need to be rescued and provided with food, warmth, and physical and emotional care.

Third, a system needs to be set up to get these animals adopted into loving, caring families.
The international community must tackle the ripple effects of the war in Ukraine
View Q&A: The war will be Ukraine’s modern creation myth, says Ukrainian historian

We have a realistic plan and have already started to provide a solution.

Ukraine War Animals Relief Fund has partnered up with hundreds of Ukrainian veterinarians and volunteers to spay/neuter, vaccinate, and microchip half a million dogs and cats.

A cat sits on a car in a public park in Bakhmut, 24 May 2022

AP Photo/Francisco Seco

To date, we have piloted this on 4,000 animals and currently doing another 1,500 in recently liberated villages where conditions are horrific. We are trying to raise an additional $14 million (€13,1m) to complete the job.

I believe that the EU, Canada, and the US, along with charities around the globe, must prioritise animals in their response.

This will take people, processes, resources and some incredibly brave folks driving into very dangerous places so animals won’t starve.

A large, coordinated response is needed to work together to solve this challenge created unnecessarily by Putin.

Let’s take strong action to keep innocent animals healthy and safe — after all, they depend on us.

Daniel Fine is the co-founder and managing director of Ukraine War Animals Relief Fund, based in Seattle.

Invest in Europe’s workforce to boost competitiveness

March 2, 2023
PES


Working conditions, wages and sustainability – these can be pillars for the long-term competitiveness and productivity of Europe’s economy, European socialist ministers said today.

Meeting ahead of today’s EU Competitiveness Council, progressives convened in hybrid format to discuss the EU’s response to the US Inflation Reduction Act (IRA).

Meeting Chair, Romanian Minister of Economy, Florin Spătaru said:

“High quality jobs, in high quality and sustainable industries: this is how we make Europe competitive for the future.

“We must not miss the opportunity to introduce social conditionality into the framework for public subsidies. It will be important to make sure that any public support for companies is also a support for its workers, linked to improved working conditions, wages and environmental targets. That is how we build the competitive Europe we a striving for.

“The Single Market is a precious asset when it comes to the EU’s global competitiveness. It will be important to ward against moves which risk undermining its level-playing field. Social and territorial cohesion across the Union must not be undermined.”

At its last meeting in February, the PES Presidency adopted a declaration – Supporting Green Deal Industries for Quality European Jobs – setting out six principles that should define the EU’s response to the IRA: sustainability, fairness, flexibility, sovereignty, solidarity, and conditionality.

Europe’s social democrat family is working to protect jobs, progress an ambitious climate agenda which invests more in green technologies, and boost Europe’s resilience and strategic independence amidst heightened geopolitical fragmentations.

The meeting also took stock of European Commission proposals for a Regulation on short-term rentals. The PES wants to see the right balance struck between tourism – a vital sector for social cohesion, employment and economic growth – and communities – many of which continue to experience significant shortage of affordable housing.

COMPET ministers meeting in hybrid format
The meeting was attended by:Florin Spătaru, Meeting Chair, Minister of Economy, Romania
Ville Kopra, State Secretary to the Minister of Employment, Finland
Matevž Frangež, State Secretary at the Ministry of Economy, Tourism and Sport, Slovenia
Rosa Ana Morillo, Secretary of State for Tourism, Spain
Mohammed Chahim, Vice-President for a Green New Deal, S&D Group in the European Parliament
Yonnec Polet, Deputy Secretary General, Party of European Socialists

Romanian PM introduces world’s first AI government adviser
Romanian Prime Minister Nicolae Ciuca (left) converses with Ion (right).

 / Nicolae Ciuca via Facebook

By bne IntelliNews March 2, 2023

Romanian Prime Minister Nicolae Ciuca introduced his new "honorary adviser”, an AI assistant called Ion, on March 1.

Ciuca said in a video presentation that Ion is the first assistant of its kind. Ion’s primary function is to scan social media platforms to provide the government with real-time information on what the population want.

"Hi, you gave me life and my role is now to represent you, like a mirror,” Ion said as he was presented, a video from the presentation showed.

“What should I know about Romania?” the AI assistant added.

According to the prime minister, Ion will "use technology and artificial intelligence to capture the opinions and desires” of the Romanian population by gathering data publicly available on social media platforms.

“At today's government meeting I scored a world first: the Romanian government is the first in the world to have an honorary advisor based on artificial intelligence,” Ciuca wrote on Facebook.

"It is called ION and it will collect, from the public space, the opinions of Romanians on different topics of general interest. This way, the government will be able to consult the public opinion at any time on matters that are discussed at the executive level. The project is 100% Romanian, from the design, to the software conception and the construction of the hardware support.”

More information is available via the project website, which claims it will the information in an “automated, natural, balanced and unbiased way”. It says Ion represents "the missing link in real-time communication between citizens and governments”. Publicly available data will be collected anonymously, the site said.

Romanians will also be able to use the site to engage with Ion.

Romania has a strong tech and IT sector and has also produced a growing number of successful tech startups.