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Tuesday, July 26, 2022

Study links insulin resistance, advanced cell aging with childhood poverty

Research with Black youths in one of the poorest regions in the U.S.

UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS AT URBANA-CHAMPAIGN, NEWS BUREAU

barton-allen-220715-fz-001-m — IMAGE: BLACK ADOLESCENTS WHO LIVED IN POVERTY AS CHILDREN AND WERE PESSIMISTIC ABOUT THEIR FUTURE HAD ACCELERATED IMMUNE CELL AGING AND GREATER LEVELS OF INSULIN RESISTANCE IN THEIR MID- TO LATE TWENTIES, ACCORDING TO A STUDY BY ALLEN W. BARTON, A PROFESSOR OF HUMAN DEVELOPMENT AND FAMILY STUDIES AT THE UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS URBANA-CHAMPAIGN. view more
CREDIT: PHOTO BY FRED ZWICKY

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Black adolescents who lived in poverty and were less optimistic about the future showed accelerated aging in their immune cells and were more likely to have elevated insulin resistance at ages 25-29, researchers found.

Allen W. Barton, a professor of human development and family studies at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign is the first author of the study, which tracked the health of 342 African Americans for 20 years, from adolescence to their mid- to late twenties. The researchers’ goal was to explore links between the individuals’ childhood social environment and insulin resistance, a precursor to diabetes where cells don’t respond well to insulin or use blood glucose for energy.

The participants lived in rural Georgia, a region with one of the highest poverty rates and shortest life expectancies in the U.S.

“Once we found some compelling evidence that family poverty during childhood was associated with participants’ insulin resistance in their late 20s, we looked at immune cell aging as a possible mediator, something that transmits the effect,” Barton said. “And we found support for that. Immune cell aging was a pathway, a mechanism through which poverty was associated with insulin resistance.”

Published in the journal Child Development, the findings support the hypothesis that chronic diseases such as diabetes and metabolic syndrome that occur at significantly higher rates among Black adults and low-income populations may partially originate with experiences much earlier in life – even during childhood – and that such disadvantages can influence individuals’ cognition and physiology.

“Understanding these health disparities associated with race and socioeconomic status really requires a developmental perspective, but prospective research with these populations is sparse,” Barton said.

“In addition to focusing on contemporaneous stressors – such as their socioeconomic status in adulthood, where they currently live and their access to health care – prospective studies like this that follow participants into adulthood are important to explore developmental pathways originating in childhood to see associations between individuals’ early social environment and their subsequent health outcomes as adults,” he said.

Recent research cited in the current study also indicates that Type 2 diabetes and other diseases are affecting certain populations – especially Blacks – at much younger ages.

Data used in the new study were drawn from the Strong African American Families Healthy Adult Project, also called SHAPE, that enrolled 667 Black fifth-grade students and their caregivers. SHAPE began collecting data in 2001.

Young adults in the sample provided at least one blood sample at age 20 and again between the ages of 25-29. From these samples, researchers assessed participants’ biological age using DNA methylation and compared this age with their chronological age. Participants’ blood samples also were used to quantify their levels of insulin resistance at ages 25, 27 and 29.

At six time points, beginning when the children were 11 and continuing through age 18, the caregivers completed questionnaires about their family’s need-to-income ratios, which were used to calculate their poverty status and the number of years they lived below the federal poverty level.

Three times from the ages of 16-18, the youths completed the Perceived Life Chances Scale, a 10-item inventory that asked them whether they believed they would go to college or obtain a job that paid well, and how likely that was.

In their initial analyses, the researchers found that living in poverty between ages 11-18 was associated with insulin resistance at ages 25-29. The longer participants lived in poverty during adolescence, the higher their risk of insulin resistance and diabetes in adulthood, the researchers found. This risk was calculated using a Homeostatic Model of Insulin Resistance, or HOMA, score. Each additional year of poverty was associated with a greater than one-point higher HOMA score.

When the children reached age 19-20, the researchers examined DNA methylation in a subset of participants. DNA methylation is a natural process associated with aging that can affect gene function.

When the researchers also considered whether the teens believed they could reach their goals as adults, they found that more years spent living in poverty was associated with fewer perceived life chances. The team found associations between youths’ perceived life chances and premature immune cell aging at 20 years old, which was then linked to insulin resistance, Barton said.

“We don’t know what may have happened to them prior to age 11, so perhaps there were things put in place that we just can’t assess yet,” Barton said about the study’s limitations.

The researchers continue to follow the sample individuals and are exploring the role of resilience in participants’ health outcomes as they age, he said.

“It’s a tremendous data set and can begin to answer some important public health questions, shed light on some of these racial disparities and help find ways to mitigate them,” Barton said.

Co-authors of the study include research scientist Tianyi Yu and Gene H. Brody, the founder and co-director of the Center for Family Research, both at the University of Georgia; psychology professors Edith Chen and Gregory E. Miller, who co-direct the Foundations of Health Research Center at Northwestern University; and Qiujie Gong, a predoctoral fellow at the U. of I.

JOURNAL

Child Development

DOI

10.1111/cdev.13795

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Survey

ARTICLE TITLE

Childhood poverty, immune cell aging and African Americans’ insulin resistance: A prospective study

Rice improves catalyst that destroys ‘forever chemicals’ with sunlight

Chemical engineers fine-tune design of PFOA-destroying nanoparticles

Peer-Reviewed Publication

RICE UNIVERSITY

BN-TiO2 photocatalytic destruction of PFOA — IMAGE: ILLUSTRATION SHOWING HOW A COMPOSITE MATERIAL CONTAINING SHEETS OF BORON NITRIDE (LATTICE OF BLUE AND SILVER BALLS) AND NANOPARTICLES OF TITANIUM DIOXIDE (GRAY SPHERES) USES LONG-WAVE ULTRAVIOLET ENERGY IN SUNLIGHT TO PHOTOCATALYSE THE BREAKDOWN OF PFOA INTO CARBON DIOXIDE, FLUORINE AND MINERALS. view more
CREDIT: IMAGE COURTESY OF M.S. WONG/RICE UNIVERSITY

HOUSTON – (July 25, 2022) – Rice University chemical engineers have improved their design for a light-powered catalyst that rapidly breaks down PFOA, one of the world’s most problematic “forever chemical” pollutants.

Michael Wong and his students made the surprising discovery in 2020 that boron nitride, a commercially available powder that’s commonly used in cosmetics, could destroy 99% of PFOA, or perfluorooctanoic acid, in water samples within just a few hours when it was exposed to ultraviolet light with a wavelength of 254 nanometers.

“That was great because PFOA is an increasingly problematic pollutant that’s really hard to destroy,” said Wong, corresponding author of a study about the redesigned catalyst in Chemical Engineering Journal. “But it was also less than ideal because the boron nitride was activated by short-wave UV, and the atmosphere filters out almost all of the short-wave UV from sunlight. We wanted to push as much as possible boron nitride’s ability to access energy from other wavelengths of sunlight.”

Long-wave UV, or UV-A, has wavelengths ranging from about 315-400 nanometers. It’s what causes suntans and sunburns, and it’s plentiful in sunlight that reaches Earth. Boron nitride is a semiconductor, and it isn’t activated by UV-A. Titanium dioxide, a common ingredient in sunscreen, is a semiconductor that is activated by UV-A, and it had even been shown to catalyze the breakdown of PFOA, albeit very slowly, when exposed to UV-A.

So Wong and study co-lead authors Bo Wang, Lijie Duan and Kimberly Heck decided to create a composite of boron nitride and titanium dioxide that married the best features of the individual catalysts. In their new study, they showed the UV-A powered composites destroyed PFOA about 15 times faster than plain titanium dioxide photocatalysts.

By analyzing photocurrent response measurements and other data, Wong’s team learned how its semiconductor composite harvested UV-A energy to break apart PFOA molecules in water. In outdoor experiments using plastic water bottles under natural sunlight, they found the boron nitride-titanium dioxide composites could degrade about 99% of PFOA in deionized water in less than three hours. In salty water, that process took about nine hours.

Mounting evidence suggests PFOA is harmful to human health. Some U.S. states have set limits on PFOA contamination in drinking water, and in March 2021 the Environmental Protection Agency announced plans to develop federal standards.

Growing regulatory pressure to set PFOA standards has water treatment plants looking for new and cost-efficient ways of removing PFOA from water, Wong said.

PFOA is one of the most prevalent PFAS (perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances), a family of compounds developed in the 20th century to make coatings for waterproof clothing, food packaging and other products. PFAS have been dubbed forever chemicals because they aren’t easily degraded and tend to linger in the environment. Wong said his team is assessing how well its composite photocatalyst works for breaking down other PFAS.

He said the boron nitride and composite catalyst technologies have already attracted attention from several industrial partners in the Rice-based Nanosystems Engineering Research Center for Nanotechnology-Enabled Water Treatment (NEWT), which is funded by the National Science Foundation to develop off-grid water treatment systems.

The research was supported by the National Science Foundation (EEC-1449500), the National Major Science and Technology Program for Water Pollution Control and Treatment of China (2017ZX07401004), the Scientific Research Institutes of China (2019-YSKY-009) and the China Scholarship Council.

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Peer-reviewed paper:

“Titanium oxide improves boron nitride photocatalytic degradation of perfluorooctanoic acid” | Chemical Engineering Journal | DOI: 10.1016/j.cej.2022.137735

Lijie Duan, Bo Wang, Kimberly Heck, Chelsea Clark, Jinshan Wei, Minghao Wang, Jordin Metz, Gang Wu, Ah-Lim Tsai, Sujin Guo, Jacob Arredondo, Aditya Mohite, Thomas Senftle, Paul Westerhoff, Pedro Alvarez, Xianghua Wen, Yonghui Song and Michael Wong

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cej.2022.137735

Image download:

https://news-network.rice.edu/news/files/2022/07/0725_PFOA-fig-lg.jpg
CAPTION: Illustration showing how a composite material containing sheets of boron nitride (lattice of blue and silver balls) and nanoparticles of titanium dioxide (gray spheres) uses long-wave ultraviolet energy in sunlight to photocatalyse the breakdown of PFOA into carbon dioxide, fluorine and minerals. (Image courtesy of M.S. Wong/Rice University)

https://news-network.rice.edu/news/files/2022/07/0725_PFOA-mw-lg.jpg
CAPTION: Michael Wong (Photo by Jeff Fitlow/Rice University)

https://news-network.rice.edu/news/files/2022/07/0725_PFOA_molecule-lg.jpg
CAPTION: Molecular structure of perfluorooctanoic acid, or PFOA, one of the world’s most prevalent “forever chemical” pollutants. (Image courtesy of Rice University)

JOURNAL

Chemical Engineering Journal

DOI

10.1016/j.cej.2022.137735

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Experimental study

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

Not applicable

ARTICLE TITLE

Titanium oxide improves boron nitride photocatalytic degradation of perfluorooctanoic acid

Researchers look to find why the Dutch are still holding to the traditional image of Black Pete despite the criticism

Peer-Reviewed Publication

THE POLISH ASSOCIATION OF SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY

Sinterklaas & Black Pete — IMAGE: SINTERKLAAS & BLACK PETE view more
CREDIT: WERNER WILLEMSEN

Analogous to Santa Klaus in the West, every December, the saint Sinterklaas brings gifts to the good children in the Netherlands. However, the latter is not assisted by a Christmas elf, but by what appears as a ‘devilish’ helper, called Black Pete.

Even though Pete’s face is said to be black due to the soot he picks as he jumps down the chimneys, in the Netherlands, there has been growing concern that the figure is largely racist. Black people in the Netherlands - mainly of Caribbean descent - have often reported being insulted by being called ‘Black Pete’.

Apart from the character’s stereotypical looks (e.g., black or brown face paint, red lips, golden hoop earrings, and afro wigs), he also plays a subservient role as Sinterklaas’ helper, whose task is to make sure that the presents are in order and delivered.

As Black people in the country are continuously calling for Black Pete to have his image changed, the ethnic Dutch population remains convinced that the character is an innocent part of the culture and the lore.

Now, researchers at the Leiden University: Daudi van Veen, Rosanneke A. G. Emmen and Judi Mesman, report on their study on whether it is a tradition or social hierarchy that the ethnic Dutch wish to preserve. Their scientific paper was published in the peer-reviewed, open-access scholarly journal Social Psychological Bulletin.

In their study, the researchers used data from an earlier Dutch survey meant to assess various items, including national identification, self-esteem, preference for social hierarchy, self-stereotypes referring to the Dutch, and feelings for Dutch caricatures.

Interestingly, the research concluded that national identification, but not preference for social dominance, was what could significantly be associated with positive attitudes towards the Sinterklaas festivities. In the meantime, it was both national identification and preference for social hierarchy that could be correlated with positive attitudes towards Black Pete.

“These findings suggest that among ethnic Dutch people, acceptance of the unequal treatment of minority groups is related to resistance to changing the appearance of Black Pete,” conclude the authors of the present study.

CAPTION

Black lives matter and Black Pete demonstration (Leeuwarden, Netherlands)

CREDIT

Arnold Bartels

Research article:

van Veen, D., Emmen, R. A. G., & Mesman, J. (2022). National Identification, Social Dominance Orientation, and Attitudes Towards Black Pete in the Netherlands: Person- and Variable-Centered Analyses. Social Psychological Bulletin, 17, 1-19. https://doi.org/10.32872/spb.7853

JOURNAL

Social Psychological Bulletin

DOI

10.32872/spb.7853

ARTICLE TITLE

National Identification, Social Dominance Orientation, and Attitudes Towards Black Pete in the Netherlands: Person- and Variable-Centered Analyses

Changes in Tokyo’s power usage after nuclear power plant closures

Peer-Reviewed Publication

HIROSHIMA UNIVERSITY

Tokyo landscape — IMAGE: TOKYO’S LANDSCAPE FROM THE SKY TREE TOWER view more
CREDIT: AYYOOB SHARIFI/HIROSHIMA UNIVERSITY

Since 2003, three of the nuclear power plants that supplied Tokyo, Japan with its electricity shut down. Researchers suspected that this would have implications for the city’s consumption-based CO2 emissions as electricity was supplied through other means. To understand the long-term implications of this change to Tokyo’s power grid, researchers from Hiroshima University studied how CO2 emissions in Tokyo have changed since the power plant closures.

The findings were published in Urban Climate on June 28.

“In this study, we analyzed the changes in the carbon mitigation responsibility of Tokyo after the electricity supply shock caused by nuclear power plant accidents to examine how dependence on electricity supply affects CO2 emissions. In other words, we examined if the suspension of the nuclear power plant has impacted Tokyo’s carbon dioxide emissions,” said corresponding author Ayyoob Sharifi, a professor at the IDEC Institute at Hiroshima University.

The three nuclear power plants that supplied Tokyo with its power were shut down due to inspection in 2003, the Niigata Chuetsu-Oki Earthquake in 2007, and the Great East Japan Earthquake in 2011. Since the power plant closures, electricity generated by nuclear power has been reduced by one-third. Understanding the difference in CO2 emissions before and after the nuclear power plant closures could help researchers understand Tokyo’s carbon mitigation responsibility going forward and meet the targets of the Paris climate agreement.

Tokyo is an important city to study when it comes to global carbon mitigation efforts. Like many large cities, the city has shifted from an industrial city to a service city. In a service city, many of the goods and services that the city consumes are produced outside of the city instead of within. Every year, the population of Tokyo increases and, along with it, the demand for goods and services increases.

“We found out that there was no significant change in Tokyo’s consumption-based emissions. Also, due to the shift from nuclear to thermal power plants, the CO2 emissions embodied in electricity imported from outside the city has increased. We argue that since local governments in Japan report their emission data based on the electricity imported from outside the city boundaries, their reported data (on their climate change mitigation responsibility) are underestimated,” said co-author Masaru Ichihashi, a professor at the IDEC Institute at Hiroshima University. This increase in CO2 emissions from the creation, storage, and transportation of electricity from outside the city was directly related to the change from nuclear power to thermal power.

“Proper emission accounting should also consider other emissions, including those associated with other services and imported goods and products. Since Tokyo’s consumption structure has remained steady over the past few decades, we assume that Tokyo’s emission responsibility will not change unless there is a major switch to more low-carbon and sustainable consumption and production patterns in the city,” said co-author Shinji Kaneko, a professor at the IDEC Institute at Hiroshima University. This would include finding a more sustainable way to produce electricity for the city

Looking ahead, researchers will continue to monitor how Tokyo’s CO2 emissions change over time.

“We would also like to examine how local initiatives such as waste recycling and renewable energy generation are developed and implemented in the city and how successful they are in facilitating the transition towards the low-carbon economy and meeting the ambitious climate change mitigation targets of the city (aligned with the targets of the Paris Climate Agreement),” said lead author Kae Murakami of the City of Hiroshima.

###

About Hiroshima University

Since its foundation in 1949, Hiroshima University has striven to become one of the most prominent and comprehensive universities in Japan for the promotion and development of scholarship and education. Consisting of 12 schools for undergraduate level and 4 graduate schools, ranging from natural sciences to humanities and social sciences, the university has grown into one of the most distinguished comprehensive research universities in Japan. English website: https://www.hiroshima-u.ac.jp/en

JOURNAL

Urban Climate

DOI

10.1016/j.uclim.2022.101221

ARTICLE TITLE

Changes in the carbon mitigation responsibility of Japan's capital city, Tokyo – analysis of power supply shocks due to nuclear power plant accidents

In fine print: Study sheds light on mechanisms driving 1,2-dichloropropane-induced cancer in the printing industry

Study finds that when exposed to 1,2-dichloropropane, cells show altered gene expression that induces cellular cascades promoting cancer

Peer-Reviewed Publication

TOKYO UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE

Study Sheds Light on Mechanisms Driving 1,2-Dichloropropane-Induced Cancer in the Printing Industry — IMAGE: STUDY FINDS THAT WHEN EXPOSED TO 1,2-DICHLOROPROPANE, CELLS SHOW ALTERED GENE EXPRESSION THAT INDUCES CELLULAR CASCADES PROMOTING CANCER. view more
CREDIT: TOKYO UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE, JAPAN

1,2-Dichloropropane (1,2-DCP) is a solvent widely used in the printing industry. It rose to prominence when it was linked to the development of cholangiocarcinoma, or bile duct cancer, in the employees of an offset printing firm in Osaka in 2013. Thereafter, the International Agency for the Research on Cancer reclassified 1,2-DCP as being carcinogenic to humans, and many studies have since focused on occupational cholangiocarcinoma on exposure to 1,2-DCP.

Common cholangiocarcinoma develops in the cholangiocytes (or epithelial cells) of the bile duct and liver. On the other hand, occupational cholangiocarcinoma has markedly different features, such as the presence of non-characteristic precancerous lesions and inflammatory changes in the surrounding non-cancerous tissue. Research suggests that while 1,2-DCP primarily targets cholangiocytes, it indirectly damages their DNA in the presence of inflammatory cells called macrophages. However, the exact mechanism of 1,2-DCP-induced cholangiocarcinoma remains a mystery.

To solve this problem, in a new study, a group of researchers led by Professor Gaku Ichihara from Tokyo University of Science (TUS), identified the gene expression profiles of cholangiocytes co-cultured with macrophages and exposed to 1,2-DCP. Prof. Ichihara says, “Our findings identified the upregulation of genes tied to DNA repair and the cell cycle in cholangiocytes and macrophages, respectively. This suggests that the DNA damage, cell proliferation, and ultimately neoplasia occurring in the bile ducts is likely driven by the altered cell function induced by the abnormal gene expression.”

In the study, published in the journal Scientific Reports (published online on 02 July 2022), Prof. Ichihara, together with his colleagues Shigeyuki Shichino and Kouji Matsushimia at TUS, Kazuo Kinoshita from Shizuoka Graduate University of Public Health, and Sahoko Ichihara from Jichi Medical University School of Medicine, co-cultured cholangiocytes and macrophages that were exposed to varying concentrations of 1,2-DCP for 24 hours. The concentrations selected mirrored the occupational exposure of workers in a poorly ventilated environment.

Prof. Ichihara’s previous work had shown that in the presence of macrophages, 1,2-DCP induced the expression of activation-induced cytidine deaminase, which is a DNA-mutating enzyme, along with excess DNA damage and reactive oxygen species production in cholangiocytes. To delve deeper, the team used transcriptomics to study the gene expression patterns in the cells and identify the intracellular mechanisms driving carcinoma formation.

The data revealed that in the presence of 1,2-DCP, co-cultured cholangiocytes showed higher expression of base excision repair genes, whereas macrophages revealed upregulation of cell cycle genes. “The upregulation of DNA repair genes suggests an increase in DNA damage as 1,2-DCP concentration increases. Furthermore, macrophages could proliferate at a given site following 1,2-DCP exposure. Since they play an important role in the regulation of inflammatory responses by releasing cytokines and signaling molecules, their overstimulation could result in the persistent production of these compounds which ultimately influence various pathological states and cancer,” explains Prof. Ichihara.

The implications of the study are far-reaching in the fields of environmental toxicology and occupational cancer prevention. The team’s findings show that it is possible to pinpoint how potential carcinogens promote cancer without directly damaging DNA. Prof. Ichihara and his team are confident they can build on their findings and design further studies to fully understand the cross talk between cholangiocytes and macrophages and elucidate the mechanisms behind the erroneous DNA damage repair in cholangiocytes.

***

Reference

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-15295-3

About The Tokyo University of Science

Tokyo University of Science (TUS) is a well-known and respected university, and the largest science-specialized private research university in Japan, with four campuses in central Tokyo and its suburbs and in Hokkaido. Established in 1881, the university has continually contributed to Japan's development in science through inculcating the love for science in researchers, technicians, and educators.

With a mission of “Creating science and technology for the harmonious development of nature, human beings, and society", TUS has undertaken a wide range of research from basic to applied science. TUS has embraced a multidisciplinary approach to research and undertaken intensive study in some of today's most vital fields. TUS is a meritocracy where the best in science is recognized and nurtured. It is the only private university in Japan that has produced a Nobel Prize winner and the only private university in Asia to produce Nobel Prize winners within the natural sciences field.

Website: https://www.tus.ac.jp/en/mediarelations/

About Professor Gaku Ichihara from Tokyo University of Science

Dr. Gaku Ichihara is a Professor in the Department of Occupational and Environmental Health, Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences at the Tokyo University of Science. He completed his doctoral studies in 1993 at Nagoya University. He joined Tokyo University of Science in 2014 where his research focuses on preventing environment-induced disorders in humans. The Ichihara lab investigates the mechanisms of toxicity using human studies, experimental studies, and in vitro systems. Prof. Ichihara is a member of the committee overseeing occupational exposure limits at the Japan Society for Occupational Health, and has worked with the WHO International Agency for Research on Cancer.

Funding information

Funding for this study was provided through a Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research from the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (17H06396).

JOURNAL

Scientific Reports

DOI

10.1038/s41598-022-15295-3

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Experimental study

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

Cells

ARTICLE TITLE

Transcriptome analysis of human cholangiocytes exposed to carcinogenic 1,2 dichloropropane in the presence of macrophages in vitro

Effect of environmental contaminants on the health of pet cats

Exposure to persistent organic pollutants in pet cats lowers blood thyroid hormone levels and causes chronic oxidative stress.

Peer-Reviewed Publication

EHIME UNIVERSITY

Outline in this study — IMAGE: OUTLINE IN THIS STUDY view more
CREDIT: EHIME UNIVERCITY

Companion animals are in close contact with human surroundings, and there is growing concern about the effects of harmful substances on the health of pet cats. This study investigated the potential health effects of organohalogen compounds (OHCs) on thyroid hormone (TH) homeostasis and metabolomics in pet cats in Japan. There was a significant negative correlation between concentrations of several contaminants, such as polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs), hydroxylated PCBs (OH-PCBs), hydroxylated PBDEs (OH-PBDEs), and total THs (L-thyroxine, 3,5,3'-triiodo-L-thyronine, and 3,3',5'-triiodo-L-thyronine) in cat serum samples. These results suggested that exposure to OHCs causes a decrease in serum TH levels in pet cats.

In this metabolomics study, each exposure level of parent compounds (PCBs and PBDEs) and their hydroxylated compounds (OH-PCBs and OH-PBDEs) were associated with their unique primary metabolic pathways, suggesting that parent and phenolic compounds exhibit different mechanisms of action and biological effects. The OPLS-DA revealed that concentrations of 13 metabolites had 4 negative or 9 positive correlations with PCB concentrations in pet cat serum samples. The concentrations of 16 metabolites exhibited 5 negative or 11 positive correlations with total OH-PCBs concentrations. In contrast, of the 16 metabolite concentrations, 2 had negative and 14 had positive correlations with PBDEs concentrations in pet cat serum samples. Of the concentrations of 12 metabolites, 2 exhibited negative and 10 exhibited positive correlations with OH-PBDEs concentrations. PCBs were associated with many metabolic pathways, including glutathione and purine metabolism. These results demonstrated that OHC exposure causes chronic oxidative stress in pet cats. PBDEs were positively associated with alanine, aspartate, and glutamate metabolism. Due to the chronic exposure of cats to mixtures of these contaminants, the combination of their respective metabolic pathways may have a synergistic effect.

These results indicate it is necessary to pay specific attention to the onset of lifestyle-related diseases due to abnormal lipid metabolism in pet cats. Pet cats have faced lifestyle challenges in recent years, due to the increase in type 2 diabetes and cardiogenic arterial thromboembolism. Providing companion animals with adequate care and an environment with low exposure to OHCs is an important consideration in maintaining the health and well-being of pets. Therefore, it is necessary to reduce the OHC contained in the indoor environment and pet food. In addition, it is essential to clarify the toxic effects of various pollutants on pet cats.

JOURNAL

Science of The Total Environment

DOI

10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.156490

ARTICLE TITLE

Health impact assessment of pet cats caused by organohalogen contaminants by serum metabolomics and thyroid hormone analysis

Thousands in Bosnia protest possible changes to election law

Solutions based on ethnic discrimination contrary to all democratic, legal standards, say protesters

Talha Ozturk |26.07.2022

BELGRADE, Serbia

Thousands of people gathered in Bosnia and Herzegovina's capital Sarajevo on Monday to protest possible amendments to the nation’s election law and constitution by the Office of the High Representative (OHR), an international institution that is responsible for implementing the country’s peace agreement.

Several thousand people gathered in front of the OHR’s office to convey the message that solutions based on ethnic discrimination and which are contrary to all democratic and legal standards are completely unacceptable.

Dervo Sejdic, a Bosnian Roma who had in the past appealed to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, France after he was blocked from running in elections because he was not Bosniak, Croat or Serb, called for protests over the planned changes to the election law.

Many political parties joined the call, including the Social Democratic Party of Bosnia and Herzegovina (SDP), the Democratic Front (DF), the Democratic Action Movement (PDA), Our Party, the Democratic Action Party (SDA) and the People and Justice (NiP) party.

The protestors carried the national flag of Bosnia and Herzegovina. No incidents were recorded and the gathering was secured by a large number of police officers.

Earlier in the day, SDA leader Bakir Izetbegovic said Bosnia needs the authority of a high representative who would protect the constitution and the 1995 Dayton Peace Agreement.

Izetbegovic's remarks came at a press conference following an extraordinary meeting held at the SDA’s headquarters ahead of the protest in front of the OHR.

According to local media, by Aug. 1, Christian Schmidt, a German politician and the High Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina, will impose measures for the re-functioning of Bosnia’s Federation (FBiH) entity.

"The high representative in Bosnia Herzegovina is to protect the Constitution and the Dayton Peace Agreement and by no means to impose solutions that we failed to reach through a series of negotiations that stretched throughout the last year, especially changes in the very sensitive sphere of inter-ethnic and party balances and the balance of party influence among the ethnocentric and civic parties,” said Izetbegovic.

Visiting Bosnia Herzegovina, Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic said it is in Croatia's interest to have a stable and democratic Bosnia Herzegovina in which Croats will be equal.

"The key is inclusion, so isn't it most natural that Croats who voted and fought for the independence of Bosnia and Herzegovina will be able to participate in the government? These reactions are exaggerated. We need to calm down so that the elections can be conducted in the best way," said Plenkovic

Plenkovic's remarks came after meeting with Dragan Covic, the head of the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ), the main Bosnian Croat party.

For his part, Covic said Bosniaks in the country want to maintain the status quo.

"During the last two years, we tried to implement the agreement in Mostar. We failed. The wish of the Bosniak parties was to maintain the status quo, but they only partially succeeded in that because all the problems surfaced when it came to the majority of the minority people. I am convinced from the talks with the high representative that those decisions will go in the direction of a democratic atmosphere in the campaign phase as well as that immediately after the election, the results will be able to be implemented," he said.

According to local media, Schmidt, who oversees the peace agreement’s implementation in Bosnia Herzegovina and has special powers to impose laws and dismiss officials, would impose a new law regarding how delegates are chosen from the House of Peoples of the Bosniak-Croat Federation entity’s parliament.

Many say the OHR would give the Croat nationalist party HDZ and the Alliance of Independent Social Democrats (SNSD) party a disproportionate degree of political influence and further deepen discriminatory ethnic divisions.

Bosniaks, Croats and Serbs will lose representatives in the House of Peoples if their ethnic population in any federation canton amounts to less than 3% of the same ethnic population in the federation entity.

This would allow HDZ to get more delegates, at least 14 out of 17 seats in the Croat group, as HDZ rules in cantons with larger Croat populations.

With complete control over the Croat groups, a member from the HDZ will now be guaranteed a seat as either the president or as one of the two vice presidents of the federation in a team with a Bosniak and a Serb selected from their respective groups.

Regardless of whether the HDZ has a president or a vice president for the federation, all three ethnic constituencies are required to form the government, making the HDZ indispensable.

Under the current election law, at least one Bosniak, one Croat and one Serb delegate are elected from each canton.

This would be the third time Schmidt uses the so-called “Bonn powers” after assuming office in August 2021.

The first time he did so to annul a law on immovable property in Republika Srpska, a Serb-dominated entity.

The second time, Schmidt used his "Bonn powers" to finance the country’s general elections on Oct. 2, allocating €6.5 million (approximately $6.97 million) for the Central Election Commission.

Greenland Minerals to object govt's draft decision on rare earth license

(Reuters) - Greenland Minerals Ltd said on Tuesday it will object to the Greenland government's draft decision to not grant it a license for the Kvanefjeld rare-earths project citing a legislation that effectively bans uranium exploration.

The Australia-listed miner said it will lodge an objection against the draft decision as it relies on a rule — which bans mining of ore bodies with uranium content of 100 parts per million (ppm) or greater — that is being contested separately in the court. https://bit.ly/3J3xMj9

"The draft decision rejecting our application for a mining licence is at odds with Greenland's stated policy to be a significant player in the energy transition," Greenland Minerals' Managing Director Daniel Mamadou said.

In March, Greenland Minerals took the governments of Greenland and Denmark to court for the legislation passed last year that banned uranium exploration and risked the development of the miner's Kvanefjeld project. https://bit.ly/3oxXcMl

So far, more than 1 billion tonnes of mineral resources and ore estimates of 108 million tonnes have been outlined in the Kvanefjeld project area across three different zones. It also contains radioactive uranium, which some residents fear will harm the environment. https://bit.ly/3J52HeG

The development comes amid rising interest for rights to exploit rare earth deposits in Greenland, which as per the U.S. Geological Survey has the world's biggest undeveloped deposits of the metals needed in electric-vehicle batteries.

The Greenland government will make a final decision after a consultation process on the draft decision, the miner said on Tuesday. However, it expects relief from the arbitration process to obtain the exploration license.

"Despite the current situation, we hope the legal process will allow for a fully informed assessment of the project," Mamadou said.

Shares of Greenland Minerals finished about 7% lower, their worst session in two weeks.

(Reporting by Sameer Manekar in Bengaluru; editing by Uttaresh.V)

Thousands attend funeral of YPJ commanders Jiyan Tolhildan, Roj Xabûr and Barîn Botan

YPJ commanders Jiyan Tolhildan, Roj Xabûr and Barîn Botan, who were killed in a Turkish drone attack, were bid farewell in Hesekê by thousands with military honours.

ANF
HESEKÊ
Monday, 25 Jul 2022,

Thousands of people gathered in Hesekê on Sunday for the emotional funeral of YPJ commanders Jiyan Tolhildan, Roj Xabûr and Barîn Botan.

The women who were commanders of the anti-terrorist unit YAT were killed a few days ago in a targeted drone attack by the Turkish state in Northern and Eastern Syria. On Sunday evening, a ceremony was held in the presence of their comrades, families and members of military and political structures at the Şehîd Dijwar Cemetery in the village of Dawudiyê. After the ceremony, the women were sent to their native towns.

The funeral service for Jiyan Tolhildan, Roj Xabûr and Barîn Botan began with a minute's silence followed by the slogan "Şehîd namirin" (Martyrs are immortal). PYD chairwoman Asya Abdullah praised the three commanders as "pioneers of freedom" and described it as a partisan duty to offer resistance to defend the revolution. "We will fight for the YPJ, all defense forces and our patriotic families."

Abdullah accused the international community of complicity in the deadly drone attack on the three women and said: "For every crime committed by the Turkish occupiers against our people, the global public bears equal responsibility. Because it persists in its silence against injustice in our regions."

MORE PHOTOS HERE ANF | Thousands attend funeral of YPJ commanders Jiyan Tolhildan, Roj Xabûr and Barîn Botan (anfenglish.com)

Rockets target Khor Mor gas field in Iraqi Kurdistan for the 4rth time

Posted on July 26, 2022 by Editorial Staff

Khor Mor gas field in Chamchamal district, Sulaimani province, Iraqi Kurdistan.

Photo: Arabian Oil and Gas

SULAIMANI, Iraqi Kurdistan region,— Three Katyusha rockets hit a Emirati-owned gas complex in Chamchamal district of Sulaimani province in Iraq’s Kurdistan region on Saturday for the fourth time in two months, according to Iraqi Kurdish officials.

The site owned by UAE energy company Dana Gas was targeted three times by rockets in June, with no casualties or damage.

No group has claimed responsibility for either attack, but Shiite armed groups backed by Iran, according to Iraqi officials, have claimed similar strikes in Kurdistan region in the past.

Dana Gas said on Tuesday that “two small rockets landed within” the field, but that “there were no injuries and production operations continue as normal.”

The company announced on June 27, that it has temporarily halted its the KM 250 expansion project in the Khor Mor gas field in Iraqi Kurdistan after it was attacked three time by rockets.

The gas field is located between Kirkuk and Sulaimani in an area governed by the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG).

Several unclaimed attacks have targeted energy infrastructure in Iraqi Kurdistan in recent months.

On June 26, 2022, six rockets had hit the Khor Mor gas field in Chamchamal district.

On June 24, 2022, a Katyusha rocket targeted Khor Mor gas field in Chamchamal district in Sulaimani governorate.

On June 22, 2022, Two Katyusha rockets targeted Khor Mor gas field in Chamchamal district.

In May 2022, sources said there was “minor material damage” at the Kawergosk refinery northwest of Erbil following a rocket attack. The refinery is owned by Iraqi Kurdish businessman Baz Karim Barzanji, CEO of major domestic energy company the KAR Group, who has close ties with ruling Barzani clan.

On April 6, 2022, three rockets landed near Kawergosk oil refiner, no casualties or material damage reported.

On March 13, Iranian forces launched 12 ballistic missiles at Erbil, claiming the attack was in response for an Israeli military attack in Syria that killed Iranian military personnel. But most of the missiles hit a villa owned by Sheikh Baz.

The assaults have come amid a simmering oil dispute between Kurdistan and the federal government in Baghdad.

On February 22, 2022, Iraq’s Supreme court deemed an oil and gas law regulating the oil industry in Iraqi Kurdistan unconstitutional and demanded that Kurdish authorities hand over their crude supplies.

According to a court ruling, the Kurdish authorities in Erbil must hand over all crude from the KRG and nearby territories to Iraq’s federal government, which is represented by the oil ministry in Baghdad.

Oil contracts between the KRG and oil firms, foreign parties, and states were declared null and void by the court verdict. Exploration, extraction, export, and sale agreements are all included, according to the court.

The KRG has repeatedly rejected the federal court ruling. In 2007, the Kurdistan region adopted an oil and gas law, allowing it to manage and develop its own natural resources.

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