Potential causal role of human papilloma viruses (HPVs) in prostate cancers

BMC (BIOMED CENTRAL) NEWS RELEASE 13-JUL-2020

 

Human papilloma viruses (HPVs) - a common group of viruses known to cause cervical cancers - may also have a causal role in prostate cancer, according to a literature review published in the open access journal Infectious Agents and Cancer, supporting the case for universal HPV vaccination.

James Lawson and Wendy Glenn, at the University of New South Wales, Australia reviewed results from 26 previous studies on HPVs and their links to prostate cancer. They assessed the existing evidence using a common set of nine causal criteria, including the strength and consistency with which HPVs were associated with prostate cancers and whether HPVs were detected in prostate tissues that later went on to develop cancer.

James Lawson said: "Although HPVs are only one of many pathogens that have been identified in prostate cancer, they are the only infectious pathogen we can vaccinate against, which makes it important to assess the evidence of a possible causal role of HPVs in prostate cancer."

The authors found that the high risk HPV types 16 and 18, which cause the majority of cervical cancers, have been identified in normal, benign and malignant prostate tissues. In several case control studies, the prevalence of high risk HPV DNA, which indicates the presence of cancer-causing types, was significantly higher in prostate cancers compared to normal and benign prostate controls. More specifically, recent studies found that 231 of 1071 prostate cancers (21.6%) were HPV positive, whereas only 74 of 1103 benign prostate controls (6.7%) were HPV positive.

Wendy Glenn said: "Across several studies conducted in a wide range of countries and using different methods to identify HPVs, we found reasonably consistent evidence that high risk HPVs are significantly more prevalent in prostate cancers than in normal prostate tissues and benign prostate tissues. Previous studies have also shown that high risk HPVs were present in benign prostate tissues that up to ten years later developed HPV positive prostate cancer of the same HPV type."

The authors also found that in countries where mortality from cervical cancer was high, mortality from prostate cancer was also high, whereas in countries where mortality from cervical cancer was low, mortality from prostate cancer was also low.

James Lawson said: "As high risk HPV infections are associated with the majority of cervical cancers and the most frequent means of HPV transmission is probably by sexual activity, the data may indicate that HPV infection may be transmitted during sexual activity and play causal role in prostate cancer, as well as cervical cancer."

The authors suggest that the evidence for a causal role of HPVs in prostate cancer is sufficiently sound to encourage universal vaccination against HPV infections.

James Lawson said: "Many people assume that HPV infections mainly lead to cancers in women. This is not the case. HPVs are a common cause of cancers in men. These are mainly genital cancers of the anus and penis but also include cancers of the mouth, tongue and throat. It is therefore plausible that HPVs may also play a role in prostate cancer and that HPV vaccination may help prevent prostate cancer development."

The authors caution that the exact mechanisms for how HPV infection may lead to prostate cancer formation are not clear and studies exposing normal prostate cells to HPVs are needed to investigate these mechanisms. The evidence reviewed by the authors suggests that possible mechanisms may include an indirect role of HPVs in cancer formation by inhibiting the protective function of specific enzymes against virus infections. HPVs may also collaborate with other pathogens in prostate oncogenesis or play a role in inflammation of the prostate, which may lead to benign prostate enlargement and later prostate cancer.

###

 

Human papilloma viruses (HPVs) - a common group of viruses known to cause cervical cancers - may also have a causal role in prostate cancer, according to a literature review published in the open access journal Infectious Agents and Cancer, supporting the case for universal HPV vaccination.

James Lawson and Wendy Glenn, at the University of New South Wales, Australia reviewed results from 26 previous studies on HPVs and their links to prostate cancer. They assessed the existing evidence using a common set of nine causal criteria, including the strength and consistency with which HPVs were associated with prostate cancers and whether HPVs were detected in prostate tissues that later went on to develop cancer.

James Lawson said: "Although HPVs are only one of many pathogens that have been identified in prostate cancer, they are the only infectious pathogen we can vaccinate against, which makes it important to assess the evidence of a possible causal role of HPVs in prostate cancer."

The authors found that the high risk HPV types 16 and 18, which cause the majority of cervical cancers, have been identified in normal, benign and malignant prostate tissues. In several case control studies, the prevalence of high risk HPV DNA, which indicates the presence of cancer-causing types, was significantly higher in prostate cancers compared to normal and benign prostate controls. More specifically, recent studies found that 231 of 1071 prostate cancers (21.6%) were HPV positive, whereas only 74 of 1103 benign prostate controls (6.7%) were HPV positive.

Wendy Glenn said: "Across several studies conducted in a wide range of countries and using different methods to identify HPVs, we found reasonably consistent evidence that high risk HPVs are significantly more prevalent in prostate cancers than in normal prostate tissues and benign prostate tissues. Previous studies have also shown that high risk HPVs were present in benign prostate tissues that up to ten years later developed HPV positive prostate cancer of the same HPV type."

The authors also found that in countries where mortality from cervical cancer was high, mortality from prostate cancer was also high, whereas in countries where mortality from cervical cancer was low, mortality from prostate cancer was also low.

James Lawson said: "As high risk HPV infections are associated with the majority of cervical cancers and the most frequent means of HPV transmission is probably by sexual activity, the data may indicate that HPV infection may be transmitted during sexual activity and play causal role in prostate cancer, as well as cervical cancer."

The authors suggest that the evidence for a causal role of HPVs in prostate cancer is sufficiently sound to encourage universal vaccination against HPV infections.

James Lawson said: "Many people assume that HPV infections mainly lead to cancers in women. This is not the case. HPVs are a common cause of cancers in men. These are mainly genital cancers of the anus and penis but also include cancers of the mouth, tongue and throat. It is therefore plausible that HPVs may also play a role in prostate cancer and that HPV vaccination may help prevent prostate cancer development."

The authors caution that the exact mechanisms for how HPV infection may lead to prostate cancer formation are not clear and studies exposing normal prostate cells to HPVs are needed to investigate these mechanisms. The evidence reviewed by the authors suggests that possible mechanisms may include an indirect role of HPVs in cancer formation by inhibiting the protective function of specific enzymes against virus infections. HPVs may also collaborate with other pathogens in prostate oncogenesis or play a role in inflammation of the prostate, which may lead to benign prostate enlargement and later prostate cancer.

###

Chemical offers new hope of finding treatments for neglected tropical diseases

UNIVERSITY OF YORK

 

IMAGE: TARGETING THE TRYPANOSOMA BRUCEI CELL CYCLE: THE TARGET REPRESENTS THE COMPOUND AB1, AND (THE DART) ITS PHENOTYPE SHOWED AS A PARASITE WITH CELL CYCLE DEFECTS. view more 

CREDIT: MANUEL SALDIVIA AND ANDRÉS SÁNCHEZ

Scientists say they are a step closer to developing a drug to kill the trypanosome parasite that causes human African trypanosomiasis, otherwise known as sleeping sickness, paving the way for a potential cure.

The University of York researchers deciphered the mechanism by which the compound, known as AB1 works. AB1 was identified by researchers at the Novartis Institute for Tropical Diseases and similar compounds have been developed as an anti-cancer drug by the company.

The researchers found that AB1 blocks the division of the parasite by interfering with the function of an essential enzyme in a structure called the kinetochore. The way in which the compound kills the parasite is different from the way it kills cancer cells, such that the breakthrough could potentially lead to a cure being found for the neglected tropical disease and others including Chagas disease.

Professor Jeremy Mottram, team leader and Director of the York Biomedical Research Institute said: "Our goal is to identify unique biology in the parasite; that is the first step in the development of safe and effective new drugs to treat devastating neglected tropical diseases.

"This academic and industrial partnership has allowed us to achieve that goal and to start on the road to developing a new drug."

The work is part of an ongoing research project which in 2016 identified another chemical compound that had the potential to kill three parasites that cause Leishmaniasis, African trypanosomiasis and Chagas disease. As a result, a drug is now in clinical trials as a treatment for visceral leishmaniasis. The teams at York and Novartis then began the search for a new chemical that could have better prospects of being developed into an effective treatment for African trypanosomes. This latest study is the result of that work.

Dr Manuel Saldivia, lead scientist on the project from the Department of Biology, and who is now a staff scientist at Novartis said: "Some of the most exciting discoveries in science came from using trypanosomes as a model organism. Their divergent biology is also an attractive open door for drug hunters. Because of its therapeutic potential, our work provides a chemical tool to shed light onto one of the most fascinating events during life: cell division."

Human African Trypanosomiasis is a devastating neglected tropical disease caused by the Trypanosoma brucei parasite transmitted by infected tsetse flies. It threatens millions of people in sub-Saharan Africa.

Chagas disease - or America trypanosomiasis - is caused by the Trypanosoma cruzi parasite. It can cause the heart and digestive system to become enlarged, which can be deadly. Chagas mostly affects people in Latin America, but has now spread to other continents.

Leishmaniasis is caused by infection with Leishmania parasites and is spread by the bite of sandflies and is found in the Americas, Africa and Asia.

###

The research is in collaboration with scientists from the Novartis Institute for Tropical Diseases in California, the University of Glasgow and the Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute. The research was funded by the Wellcome Trust.

The paper called, "Targeting the trypanosome kinetochore with CLK1 protein kinase inhibitors" is published in Nature Microbiology.

Bizarre video resurfaces featuring Trump leering over Giuliani in drag

A truly strange video featuring Donald Trump attempting to flirt with and eventually sexually harassing Rudy Giuliani dressed in drag has resurfaced on social media.

The video, which was shared by the online news outlet Meidas Touch, sees Trump in a department store when Giuliani, dressed in a long purple dress and a blonde wig, approaches him.

Trump tells Giuliani that he looks beautiful and offers to buy him a scent. Giuliani first applies the perfume to his neck which Trump smells but things go awry when Giuliani sprays another perfume onto his fake breasts causing Trump to rub his face in Giuliani's chest resulting in the president being slapped and the former mayor of New York exclaiming:

Donald, I thought you were a gentleman!

The video has been viewed more than 500,000 times on Twitter and people couldn't quite believe what they were seeing.

It appears that clip can be traced back to 2000 and was part of the Mayor’s Inner Circle Press Roast when Giuliani was still the mayor of New York City and Trump was nothing more than a property magnate and businessman.

If you want to put yourself through it again then you can watch the full clip below.

To be clear: it's neither funny nor clever to ridicule the drag community. Neither is it so to promote sexual harassment, regardless of the person's gender identity or outfit.
Quite how they interpreted this as being a joke is a little beyond us but this is Trump we are talking about...

I HAVE POSTED THIS ON FACEBOOK AND HERE SINCE 2016 ELECTION. 

AS GIF'S AND JPG'S 

AND THIS WAS NOT THE ONLY TIME RUDY (RUDI? THE QUEEN) WAS IN DRAG

AOC dismantles the concept of 'cancel culture' in just 15 words


Picture: Spencer Platt/Getty Images

Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has hit out at the concept of "cancel culture.

The move comes after Trump equated "cancel culture" with "totalitarianism" during his 4 July speech. This week a group of 10 authors and artists also penned an open letter calling for an end to so-called "cancel culture."

The letter, published in Harpers Magazine, was signed by the likes of JK Rowling, Salman Rushdie and Noam Chomsky. It called for a "free exchange of information and ideas" which is "daily becoming more constricted."

Another part of the letter adds:

As writers, we need a culture that leaves us room for experimentation, risk-taking, and even mistakes.

We need to preserve the possibility of good-faith disagreement without dire professional consequences.

However, Ocasio-Cortez has noticed something that doesn't quite ring true about this letter. Taking to Twitter she summed up the problem with it in just 15 words.

People who are actually “cancelled” don’t get their thoughts published and amplified in major outlets.

The 30-year-old Democrat went on to add that many who are claiming to have been cancelled are more likely being challenged and held accountable for their views, going on to point out that she is regularly criticised in the US right-wing media and listing many groups who have actually been cancelled and denied a right to have a say.

As always with Ocasio-Cortez, her opinions divide people but there were those that agreed.

However, Hollywood actor and outspoken conservative, James Woods claimed that Ocasio-Cortez and members of the left were the ones responsible for starting cancel culture.

Ocasio-Cortez is currently campaigning to be re-elected as the U.S. Representative for New York's 14th congressional district a position that she has held since she caused a major upset in 2018 and defeated her fellow Democrat Joe Crowley who had not been challenged since 2004.

WHEN THE TIMES GET TOUGH 

TRUMP DECLARES INFRASTRUCTURE WEEK (AGAIN)

TikTok teens try to trick Trump campaign, again

Shelly Banjo and Misyrlena Egkolfopoulou, Bloomberg News

The TikTok-tivists are at it again.

Thousands of users of the popular video app flocked to the Apple App Store in the last few days to flood U.S. President Donald Trump’s 2020 campaign app with negative reviews. On Wednesday alone 700 negative reviews were left on the Official Trump 2020 app and 26 positive ones, according to tracking firm Sensor Tower.

TikTok fans are retaliating for Trump’s threats of banning the app, which is owned by China’s Bytedance Ltd. and is hugely popular in the U.S., especially among teens. The thought of taking away a key social and entertainment hub in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic has led to outrage.

“For Gen Z and Millennials, TikTok is our clubhouse and Trump threatened it,” said Yori Blacc, a 19-year-old TikTok user in California who joined in the app protest. “If you’re going to mess with us, we will mess with you.”

Blacc said the movement gained steam Wednesday when a popular TikTok user, DeJuan Booker, called on his 750,000 followers to seek revenge. He posted a step-by-step primer on how to degrade the app’s rating, notching 5.6 million views. “Gen Z don’t go down without a fight,” said Booker, who goes by @unusualbeing on TikTok. “Let’s go to war.”

The efforts to push the app low enough so that Apple will remove it from the app store may be misguided. Apple doesn’t delete apps based on their popularity. The App Store may review those that violate its guidelines or are outdated, but not if their ratings sink. A similar tactic was tried in April to protest Google Classroom by kids frustrated with quarantine home-schooling.

But young people are looking for ways to make their voices heard, even if some of them can’t yet vote. Last month, many young people organized through TikTok to sign up to attend Trump’s first post-shutdown campaign rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma, but then didn’t show up. The Trump campaign denied the online organizing effort contributed to lower-than-expected attendance.

The Trump campaign and Apple didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. TikTok was experiencing connectivity issues on Thursday, according to Downdector, which measures web traffic.

Trump’s re-election smartphone app is a big part of the president’s unrivaled digital operation and was meant to circumvent tech companies like Facebook Inc. and Twitter Inc. and give the campaign a direct line to supporters. The app has helped the campaign engage Trump’s die-hard supporters, especially in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, by feeding them his latest tweets and promoting virtual events. Supporters can donate to the president’s campaign or earn rewards for recruiting friends like VIP seats to rallies or photos with the president.

The Official Trump 2020 app has been downloaded more than 500,000 times on Google’s Android store as of June 15. Apple doesn’t publish information on downloads.

Reviews with titles such as “Terrible App” or “Do Not Download!” have been flooding the App Store since late June. Official Trump 2020 now has more than 103,000 one-star reviews for an overall rating of 1.2.

But the uptick of activity has also caused the app to rise in rankings. Users have to download the app to review it, vaulting it to second place on the Apple store from No. 486 on Tuesday, according to Sensor Tower.

“Do I think that this is going to fundamentally change the election? No,” said Tim Lim, a veteran Democratic digital strategist. “But it goes to show that they are just as susceptible to these mass actions as anyone else. Trump is starting to see what it feels like to have a massive online army committed to defeating him.”

Trump earlier this week said his administration is considering banning TikTok as one way to retaliate against China over its handling of the coronavirus. Trump’s comments came after Secretary of State Michael Pompeo told Americans not to download the app unless they want to see their private information fall into “the hands of the Chinese Communist Party.” Bytedance is also facing a U.S. national security review for its acquisition of startup Musical.ly. It has denied allegations that it poses a threat to U.S. national security.

Trump didn’t offer specifics about a potential decision and Pompeo seemed to walk back the idea of a ban in a later statement, saying that the U.S. efforts to protect American consumers’ data don’t relate to any one particular company.

Many TikTok users say they care less about potential Chinese snooping and more about Trump taking away their digital hangout. In the U.S., TikTok has been downloaded more than 165 million times, according to Sensor Tower.

“I don’t believe Trump is trying to take TikTok away because of national security, but more to retaliate against activism on the app and all the videos about him that drag him through the mud,” said Darius Jackson, an 18-year-old TikTok user in Champagne, Illinois, who asked his followers Wednesday to give Trump’s app a one-star rating.

“This is the first year I’ll be able to vote and I think activism on TikTok is going to make a big difference,” Jackson said.
\
Teenagers are now leaving Trump's campaign app negative reviews in the hope that it will be removed

 by Greg Evans 

Picture: Evan Vucci/AP/ The App Store


In recent weeks we've seen teenagers on TikTok deal Donald Trump several significant blows by magnificently trolling him.


Teenagers on the app have reportedly mobilised each other to obtain tickets to his rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma with no intention of actually attending, pretending to buy his merchandise without spending any money and purposefully leaving bad reviews of his many hotels and restaurants.

Now their antics could be put into jeopardy as Trump wants to get the app banned as an act of spite against China over coronavirus. TikTok was developed in China by the company ByteDance Ltd and, according to the secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, US officials are looking at getting the app barred from the United States.

During an interview from earlier this week with Gray Television’s Greta Van Susteren, Trump added to this, saying that it is 'one of many ways' that the US is looking at getting back at China for allowing the virus to spread globally:

It’s something we’re looking at, yes. It’s a big business. Look, what happened with China with this virus, what they’ve done to this country and to the entire world is disgraceful.

If Trump were to succeed in getting TikTok banned in the United States then it would severally damage these teenagers attempts to embarrass the president, so without any hesitation they've have found yet another way to troll Trump. This time they are encouraging their followers to download Trump's re-election campaign app and leave the worst review possible in the hope that Apple will remove it from the app store due to unpopularity.

This now looks like it is working. The app now has an average score of just 1.2 which is pretty awful and some of the reviews that are being submitted are hilarious and yes, there are K-Pop references.

Speaking to Bloomberg, Darius Jackson, an 18-year-old TikTok user for Champaign, Illinois said:

I don’t believe Trump is trying to take TikTok away because of national security, but more to retaliate against activism on the app and all the videos about him that drag him through the mud. This is the first year I’ll be able to vote and I think activism on TikTok is going to make a big difference.

However, Tim Murtaugh, who is director of communications for the Trump Campaign, denied that the teenagers on the app are having a significant effect on the president's attempt to win a second election, claiming that the administration's efforts to ban the app is based on China spying on people:

TikTok users don’t affect anything we do. What we do know is that the Chinese use TikTok to spy on its users.

While the negative reviews of the app, which Trump is using as a way to connect with his most devoted supporters and obtain donations, is having an effect on its overall score the belief that it could be removed is unfortunately not true. The App Store will only remove apps if they are reported to have violated guidelines but not because of a deluge of bad reviews.

That being said, it's still very amusing to see the president consistently owned by a group of teenagers and we honestly cannot wait to see what new prank they come up with next.

Banksy’s new face mask-themed artwork removed from London Underground carriage by Transport for London

TfL says piece violates ‘strict anti-graffiti policy’ but invites artist to recreate message ‘in a suitable location’

Andy Gregory

Transport for London (TfL) has removed Banksy’s new coronavirus-themed artwork from a London Underground carriage.

The Bristol artist uploaded footage captioned ”If you don’t mask – you don’t get” to social media on Tuesday afternoon, showing him spray-painting a Circle line train with stencilled depictions of rats.

One creature appeared to be sneezing pale blue droplets of virus across a carriage window, while one struggled under a face mask and another used the protective gear as a parachute.

Hours later, TfL confirmed that the artwork was removed “some days ago due to our strict anti-graffiti policy”, but said it would welcome Banksy to recreate his message “in a suitable location”.

“We appreciate the sentiment of encouraging people to wear face coverings, which the vast majority of customers on our transport network are doing,” a TfL spokesperson said.

Inside Banksy's Dismaland

Show all 13  

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/banksy-artwork-coronavirus-london-underground-tfl-removed-a9619406.html





“In this particular case, the work was removed some days ago due to our strict anti-graffiti policy.

“We’d like to offer Banksy the chance to do a new version of his message for our customers in a suitable location

The anonymous street artist posted the footage to Instagram as health secretary Matt Hancock announced a long-awaited change to the government’s rules on face coverings, making them mandatory in English shops from 24 July. Their usage has been decreed on public transport since 15 June.

The video begins with a laptop playing footage showing the London Underground being deep cleaned in May.

Banksy – clad in a white boiler suit, mask, goggles, blue gloves and an orange hi-viz jacket with the message “stay safe” printed on it – climbs on board a train posing as a TfL worker.

The video shows him ushering a masked passenger to move back, before stencilling various rats across the carriage.

It closes with a message sprayed on the wall of a Tube station reading “I get lockdown” with the doors of the Tube carriage closing to reveal the message, “but I get up again”, as Chumbawamba’s “Tubthumping” plays in the background.

His work was well-received on social media, with acclaimed Portuguese street artist, Vhils, writing: “Back to Basics”, with three fire emojis, and British artist Paul Jackson replying: “Awesome as always.”

It is one of a number of artworks he has created during the coronavirus lockdown.

In April, he created a series of rats causing mayhem in his bathroom and posted the caption: “My wife hates it when I work from home.”

Later that month, a large face mask was placed on his world-famous piece The Girl With The Pierced Eardrum on Bristol harbourside. In May, an artwork entitled Game Changer, showing an NHS nurse as a superhero toy, went on display at Southampton General Hospital.

In June, Banksy posted a piece inspired by Black Lives Matter with a caption, part of which read: “People of colour are being failed by the system.”

The following day, a statue of slave trader Edward Colston was toppled by protesters in Bristol and thrown into the harbour during a Black Lives Matter march.

Banksy posted a sketch showing his idea for the empty plinth – retrieving the statue from the water, putting it back on the plinth with cables around its neck and life-size bronze statues of protesters pulling it down, ending the caption by by stating: “A famous day commemorated.”

Additional reporting by PA

Banksy's latest artwork destroyed for 'vandalism' even though it could be worth millions

Posted 9 hours ago by Joanna Taylor in news

Screengrab: Twitter

Banksy has once again stirred up controversy with a daring piece of street art, this time spray-painting the inside of a London tube carriage.

The Bristol artist shared a video of himself disguised as a cleaner creating the artwork which depicts his signature rats wearing face masks.



The paintings have already been removed from the Circle Line train for violating the Transport for London's vandalism policy.

A TFL spokesperson said that the artwork was removed because of their "strict anti-graffiti policy", but invited Banksy to recreate it at a "suitable location".

The artwork, which depicts a rat sneezing across a window, also draws on lyrics from Chumbawamba's 'Tubthumping' with "I get locked down but I get up again" painted across the carriage doors.

Predictably, Banksy's decision to use a tube carriage as his canvas sparked anger online and accusations of criminal damage.

But other people praised the mask-themed mural as a work of "genius".

Some even questioned why Transport for London would destroy the artwork which could be worth "millions".

Banksy's most expensive piece of art, 'Devolved Parliament', sold for $12 million at auction last year.

But his smaller artworks routinely make hundreds of thousands of pounds if sold.

His painting 'Girl with Balloon' sold for over one million pounds at Sotheby's in 2018, and only increased in value when it promptly shredded itself.

Banksy's latest paintings aren't the first to sport face masks.

In April, a mask was added to his artwork 'Girl with a Pierced Eardrum' in Bristol.

It is unclear who added the mask to the painting, which Banksy completed in 2014.

Whether you love or hate Banksy, and whether you consider his paintings the work of an artistic genius or vandalism, his work is certainly extremely lucrative.

But perhaps having it scrubbed away (something the graffiti artist is certainly no stranger to) is more in line with his anti-establishment art style than having it sold for millions in an auction house, anyway.

SUPERNOVA SEEN HURTLING THROUGH OUR GALAXY AFTER THERMONUCLEAR EXPLOSION

Many more stars could be travelling through the Milky Way than we realised
Scientists have spotted a white dwarf star hurtling across our galaxy after a thermonuclear explosion.

The star shot itself out of orbit with its own explosion, and is now travelling through the Milky Way, according to researchers.

It could be one of many such supernovas currently speeding through our galaxy without us knowing, researchers say.

It also suggests that there may be other types of supernovae in other galaxies that astronomers have not yet seen.


When the white dwarf was originally spotted, researchers noticed that it seemed to have an unusual atmosphere, leading to further research to understand where it had come from.

Read more

Astronomers discover brightest supernova ever seen

Now astronomers at the University of Warwick have revealed that the star was probably once part of a binary star that exploded in a supernova, sending it and its partner flying out through the galaxy in different directions.

The star is travelling at 900,000 kilometres per hour, the researchers who spotted it say. It also appears to be particularly low in mass, which scientists say is probably the result of the supernova explosion.

Since researchers spotted the star known as SDSS J1240+6710 in 2015, they noted that unlike other white dwarfs – which tend to be almost entirely composed of hydrogen or helium – it was instead made up of a strange mix of oxygen, neon, magnesium and silicon. Further examination by the Hubble Space Telescope showed that it also had carbon, sodium, and aluminium in its atmosphere, which happen to be created in the early reactions that make up a supernova.

It is also lacking some of the heavier elements that would normally be made up from the lighter ones during the key parts of the supernova explosion. Researchers suggest that indicates that the star only went through a partial supernova process, with the nuclear reaction dying out before it could finish.

"This star is unique because it has all the key features of a white dwarf but it has this very high velocity and unusual abundances that make no sense when combined with its low mass," said lead author Boris Gaensicke from the Department of Physics at the University of Warwick in a statement.

"It has a chemical composition which is the fingerprint of nuclear burning, a low mass and a very high velocity: all of these facts imply that it must have come from some kind of close binary system and it must have undergone thermonuclear ignition. It would have been a type of supernova, but of a kind that that we haven't seen before."

The supernova did however develop enough to disrupt the star's orbit with its partner in the binary system from which it came. That probably led to a very fast ejection of much of its mass, sending both stars off in different directions, and explaining the star's strange speed.

"If it was a tight binary and it underwent thermonuclear ignition, ejecting quite a lot of its mass, you have the conditions to produce a low mass white dwarf and have it fly away with its orbital velocity," said Professor Gaensicke.

CERB re-ignites debate over need for a basic income in Canada

Progressive Conservative Senator Hugh Segal, former advisor to Ontario's basic income project and author of "Bootstraps Need Boots: One Tory’s Lonely Fight to End Poverty in Canada" gives the case for a basic income plan in Canada.

HE IS A RED TORY

Canada adds almost 1 million jobs, but earns only muted cheerCanada reclaimed almost 1 million jobs of those lost to the coronavirus pandemic, a promising start to what’s expected to be an arduous recovery.

Shelly Hagan, Bloomberg News Jul 10, 2020

June jobs report highlights divide between mothers and fathers during pandemic
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June jobs report highlights divide between mothers and fathers du...
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Canada tops June jobs estimates, but don't expect as much job cre...

Employment rose by 952,900 in June as lockdown restrictions began to ease, Statistics Canada reported on Friday, adding to the 290,000 jobs created in May. The two-month total represents just over 40 per cent of the 3 million lost in March and April, when mandatory business closures were imposed.

June’s better-than-expected reading will ease concern about how long-lasting the damage from the pandemic will be. But economists warn it could still take years before things return to normal. The Bank of Canada will give new estimates for the outlook when it releases its quarterly Monetary Policy Report on Wednesday.

“While today’s numbers are encouraging, there are almost 1.8 million lost jobs yet to be recovered,” Brian DePratto, senior economist at Toronto-Dominion Bank, wrote in a note. “It is still a long way to the finish line.”


Services-related sectors were responsible for 794,400 of the increase in June, led by retailers and food businesses. The natural resources sector led losses, with about 5,500 new positions eliminated. Gains were about evenly split between full time and part time, with 488,100 and 464,800 added jobs, respectively.

The numbers also reflect gradual reopenings in Ontario and Quebec. Canada’s two most-populous provinces made up two thirds of the June job gains. Ontario, the only province not to post an increase in May, saw an increase of 378,000 positions.

“An unambiguously strong print, with good breadth across sectors and regions,” Brett House, deputy chief economist at Bank of Nova Scotia in Toronto, said by email. “Almost all of the gains were in payroll jobs and in the private sector, so the quality of the numbers is high.”

Canada’s currency was little changed on the report, trading at $1.3589 against its U.S. counterpart at 11:09 a.m. Toronto time. Two-year government bond yields were also little changed.





Bounce Back?

As impressive as the the employment jump is, the Canadian economy is still digging itself out of a deep hole. While the unemployment rate fell to 12.3 per cent in June, that’s still near historically elevated levels. The 13.7 per cent jobless rate in May was the highest since the Great Depression.

Hours worked rose 9.8 per cent in June, but were still 16 per cent below February levels.

What Bloomberg’s Economists Say

“Canada reported another month of stronger-than-expected job gains in June, underscoring the potential for a quick return to work as the nation shows relative success in taming Covid-19.”

--Andrew Husby, Bloomberg Economics

The number of Canadians still employed but whose hours have been significantly cut fell by 823,000 in June. That brings the number of Canadians who either lost their job or worked substantially fewer hours to 3.1 million in June, from about 5.5 million in April.

“While we expect further ground to be recovered in the months ahead, the speed is likely to slow and it could turn out to be a bumpy ride along the way,” Royce Mendes, an economist at CIBC World Markets, said in a report to investors.

--With assistance from Erik Hertzberg.