Governor General Under Review Amid Workplace Harassment Allegations

Julie Payette says she welcomes the review after mistreatment claims were made against her.

The Canadian Press
OTTAWA — The Privy Council Office says it is launching an independent review of allegations that Gov. Gen. Julie Payette mistreated past and current employees at Rideau Hall.

The CBC reported Tuesday that Payette had yelled at, belittled and publicly humiliated employees, reducing some to tears or prompting them to quit.


On Thursday evening, Payette issued a statement saying she is “deeply concerned” with the media reports and welcomes the review.

“I am completely committed to ensuring that every employee who works at Rideau Hall enjoys a secure and healthy work environment at all times and under all circumstances,” Payette said in the statement.

“I take harassment and workplace issues very seriously and I am in full agreement and welcome an independent review.”
Harassment has no place in any professional workplace.Privy Council Office


The Privy Council Office, a bureaucratic operation that supports the prime minister and cabinet, says the Treasury Board policy on workplace harassment applies to employees of the Office of the Secretary to the Governor General, who are part of the public service.

It says it is working with that office to establish the terms of reference for a “thorough, independent and impartial review” and will quickly hire a third party to lead it.

“Harassment has no place in any professional workplace,” the Privy Council Office said in the statement issued Thursday evening. “It is a public service priority to advance efforts to more effectively prevent and resolve issues of harassment.

New Democrat Leader Jagmeet Singh had previously called on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to investigate the matter.

“There is no question there is an obligation, a responsibility of the prime minister in this case, with the Governor General and the complaints that we’ve seen, to do something, to follow up with those complaints,” he said Wednesday in Ottawa.

“People should be able to feel safe to come forward. I think that’s always a struggle for people,” Singh added. “There needs to be some manner for someone independently to assess the complaints.”

JUSTIN TANG/THE CANADIAN PRESS

Gov. Gen. Julie Payette is seen here in Ottawa on March 16, 2018. The Governor General says she welcomes the review of complaints against her.

Trudeau did not specifically address the matter when asked about it in the House of Commons.

“Every Canadian has the right to a safe, secure workspace, free from harassment and that is extremely important,” Trudeau said Wednesday when pressed by Singh.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 23, 2020.

Singh Says Trudeau Must Review Harassment Allegations Against Governor General Julie Payette

“People should be able to feel safe to come forward. I think that’s always a struggle for people,” the NDP leader said.

Canadian Press


OTTAWA — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has an obligation to look into allegations that Gov. Gen. Julie Payette mistreated staff members, NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh says.

Workplaces need to be safe, and employees must feel they are heard when they raise concerns, said Singh.

“I’m not being prescriptive about what the prime minister must do exactly. But there is no question there is an obligation, a responsibility of the prime minister in this case, with the Governor General and the complaints that we’ve seen, to do something, to follow up with those complaints,” he said Wednesday in Ottawa.

Singh was responding to questions about a CBC News report that quoted anonymous sources as saying Payette has created a toxic environment at Rideau Hall.
SEAN KILPATRICK/THE CANADIAN PRESS

NDP leader Jagmeet Singh holds a press conference on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Wednesday.


The CBC reported Tuesday that Payette had yelled at, belittled and publicly humiliated employees, reducing some to tears or prompting them to quit.

“People should be able to feel safe to come forward. I think that’s always a struggle for people,” said Singh.

“There needs to be some manner for someone independently to assess the complaints.”

In a statement Tuesday, the Governor General’s press secretary said Rideau Hall strongly believes in the importance of a healthy workplace, adding the CBC story stands in stark contrast to the reality of working at the Office of the Secretary to the Governor General.

“We deeply regret this reporting, which is in stark contrast to the reality of working at the OSGG, and obscures the important work done by our dedicated staff in honouring, representing, and showcasing Canadians,” said the Rideau Hall statement.
SEAN KILPATRICK/THE CANADIAN PRESS

Governor General Julie Payette delivers the Throne Speech in the Senate chamber on Dec. 5, 2019 in Ottawa.


Rideau Hall said it has “stringent internal processes for our employees to voice concerns” through its human resources department, an independent ombudsman, and its “excellent relationships” with the unions that represent employees.

“Since the beginning of the mandate, no formal complaint regarding harassment has been made through any of these channels,” the statement said.

Rideau Hall said it has a lower turnover compared with other departments, and that one of the benefits of being in the public service is the ability to move to different departments to get new career experience.

The statement said that is “something that is personally encouraged by the Governor General, who believes that career growth and opportunity are vitally important.”

The Prime Minister’s Office declined Tuesday to answer questions about the report but said every Canadian has the right to work in a healthy, respectful and safe environment.

Trudeau did not take questions on Wednesday as he entered the House of Commons.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 22, 2020.

B.C. Mayor Shreds Confederate Flags Following Racist Attack In Summerland

She took matters into her own hands

 

By Samantha Beattie

TONI BOOT/SUPPLIED

Mayor of Summerland, B.C. Toni Boot took a stand against racism by cutting up Confederate flag bandanas from a local dollar store.

The mayor of a small British Columbia town is making headlines across the country after she entered a local dollar store, cut up dozens of Confederate flag bandanas and threw them in garbage.

Summerland Mayor Toni Boot, who is Black, said she took a stand against racism after someone attacked the home of a local South Asian family, the Lekhis, by spray painting a swastika and other offensive images, and breaking windows.

That incident and the “uncomfortable” days since then, as the town confronts racism, is the real story, Boot told HuffPost Canada.

“Last week a family in our community was traumatized by overt, racist vandalism,” Boot said. “We, as a community, need to come to terms with the fact that, while we are not a racist town, there is an undercurrent of racism here against all people of colour.

“The attack on the Lekhi family brought this ugly monster to the attention of the community and we need to do better.”

Ramesh Lekhi and his wife were inside when they heard a big bang from the windows breaking.

He showed me the swastika at the front of the house and said he knew what it meant, but had to explain to his wife, who cried the whole night. pic.twitter.com/ifF3PUHOHF— Joanna Chiu 趙淇欣 (@joannachiu) July 14, 2020

Following the attack, hundreds of residents came out to a rally in support of the family, but a young man in a pickup truck was seen waving a Confederate flag bandana out of his window. Boot said she met with him afterwards and he apologized. He told her he’d bought the bandana at the local Your Dollar Store.

Boot, a couple of supporters and a reporter went to the store last Saturday and offered to pay for the bandanas. The owner Allan Carter gave them to her and she was filmed cutting them into pieces outside the store.

“I needed to make a broader statement that this is not going to happen in our community,” Boot said, adding she told Carter the history of the flag and “how it’s been taken over by white supremacist groups as a symbol of white supremacy, oppression, and hatred of people of colour.”

B.C. Premier John Horgan praised Boot on social media for her leadership and strong stance against racist symbols and for Summerland’s support for the Lekhi family.

“Racism is a virus. I admire Mayor Boot’s leadership in helping stomp it out and build a more inclusive B.C.,” Horgan wrote.

Watch: Thousands gather in Vancouver for anti-racism rally. Story continues below.

Carter wrote a letter to the mayor and council in response to the incident, demanding an apology from Boot whose actions he called “unprofessional.” He said that before he arrived at the store, Boot bullied his staff and left one employee in tears.
Obviously I will not apologize for standing up against racism.Mayor Toni Boot


Carter said he had not specifically ordered the Confederate bandanas, but rather they came in a large shipment of dozens of patterns he’d bought to keep up with a demand for face coverings during the COVID-19 pandemic. He had pulled the Confederate bandanas from the store’s shelves the day before, following the rally.

“It was a mistake because it caused controversy in our town,” Carter told CBC Radio’s Chris Walker. “Some people do consider it as a racist flag, I’m not going to get into it. I don’t know enough about it.”

Carter said his store carried a similar product a few years ago that had resulted in a complaint and he stopped selling them. “I am not a racist,” he said.

Boot said the only thing she regrets is Carter’s response to the incident and said he’s “trying to deflect his business decision and move the conversation away from the racism we have in this town.

“Obviously I will not apologize for standing up against racism.”

She’s received some hateful emails, but also a lot of support and encouragement from people in the community and starting with the town council meeting on Monday, she’s looking for ways to continue the conversation about combating racism.

“I think the town is ready to listen and learn and perhaps do some self-examination,” Boot said.

'F**king Bitch' And The Everyday Terror Men Feel About Powerful Women

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) eviscerated Rep. Ted Yoho (R-Fla.) on the House floor after he lobbed the insult at her. Here's a closer, uncensored look why that matters.

By Emma Gray, HuffPost US

Two words placed side by side with great frequency are what linguists call “a collocation.” The pairing’s existence indicates that the words pack a greater punch when used in tandem.

When Rep. Ted Yoho (R-Fla.) called Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) a “fucking bitch” on the steps of the U.S. Capitol this week, he used one such collocation. “Fucking” and “bitch” form a neatly packaged jab, giving the user the ability to spit venom without creativity or context — what I like to refer to as “the lazy man’s insult.”

Most often, these words come out of the mouth of a man and are directed at a woman. It doesn’t matter what she’s done (if anything) to provoke the insult. Regardless of context, the words indicate that a woman has taken up space the speaker would prefer she did not. He alone is entitled to opinions, to power, to the eyes and ears of those whom he has decided matter. She’s just a “fucking bitch.”

It seems likely that this is how Yoho deployed the collocation against Ocasio-Cortez. Yoho accosted Ocasio-Cortez, according to The Hill, calling her “disgusting” because of her recent remarks tying increased crime to increased poverty. The congresswoman then reportedly told her colleague that he was being “rude.” After they parted ways, Yoho said aloud, “Fucking bitch.” The entire exchange was witnessed by a reporter.
The words indicate that a woman has taken up space the speaker would prefer she did not. He alone is entitled to opinions, to power, to the eyes and ears of those whom he has decided matter. She’s just a 'fucking bitch.'


On Wednesday, Yoho stood on the House floor and delivered a classic faux-pology, using all the greatest hits of men who don’t really want to take responsibility for their actions. He denied that he had even said the “offensive name-calling words attributed” to him, invoked his wife and daughters as proof of his innate goodness, and added an I’m-sorry-if-you-were-offended clause for good measure. “If [my words] were construed that way I apologize for their misunderstanding,” he said.

This morning, Ocasio-Cortez, along with a group of her colleagues, including fellow women of color Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) and Rep. Nydia Velasquez (D-N.Y.), eviscerated Yoho and his casual misogyny on that same floor. Ocasio-Cortez made it clear that Yoho’s own speech had prompted hers.

“I could not allow my nieces, I could not allow the little girls I go home to, I could not allow victims of verbal abuse and worse to see that, to see that excuse [from Rep. Yoho] and to see our Congress accept it as legitimate. And to accept it as an apology. And to accept silence as a form of acceptance,” she said. “I could not allow that to stand.”

She also made clear that having a wife and daughters — something that is often used by men who are trying to deflect from their own gender-based abusive behavior — does not tender you automatic entry into the club of Truly Decent Men.

“I am someone’s daughter, too,” she said. “My father, thankfully, is not alive to see how Mr. Yoho treated his daughter. My mother got to see Mr. Yoho’s disrespect on the floor of this House toward me on television, and I am here because I have to show my parents that I am their daughter and that they did not raise me to accept abuse from men.”

I’ve been covering gender and politics for nearly a decade and I can’t remember a moment on C-SPAN that left me feeling more exhilarated.

“Bitch” has been invoked by men since the 15th century to cut down women who step outside of their appointed roles. “It taps into and reinforces misogyny: contempt for and anger at women simply for being women,” said Georgetown University professor Deborah Tannen. “Simply for being.”

Originally meant to connote lewdness and immorality ― like a mating female dog ― by the 1700s, the purview of “bitch” had expanded to include “stubborn” or “headstrong” women; women who could not be controlled, said Kory Stamper, lexicographer and author of “Word by Word: The Secret Life of Dictionaries.” “Calling a woman a bitch tells her that she’s too loud, too forward, too obnoxious, too independent, too-too,” Stamper told HuffPost. “Calling her a bitch reminds her that she should, like a hunting dog, be controllable.”

And as Rep. Jayapal pointed out on the House floor after Ocasio-Cortez spoke, between 1915 and 1930, the use of “bitch” in books more than doubled. This occurred in tandem with the popularization of the women’s suffrage movement and the subsequent ratification of the 19th amendment, which gave white women the right to vote. Hell hath no fury like a man who has to share the ballot box.

A century later, the insult is still being deployed against American women who hold or seek power. During the 2016 election, Donald Trump rallies were littered with swag that encouraged voters to “Trump That Bitch.” Today you can order a T-shirt on Amazon that asks the president to “Ditch the bitch” and impeach Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.).



Back and front of Hillary-Monica t-shirt outside Trump rally. Vendor told me they sell it in size "sexy" too pic.twitter.com/tBgQIzDwXf— Amanda Terkel (@aterkel) April 18, 2016


And it’s not just women in politics that have to endure being called a “fucking bitch.” When journalist Liz Plank put out a call on Twitter asking women for the most mundane thing they had done to elicit the insult being thrown at them, I had to pause and think about it. Not because I haven’t heard the words said to me, but because it’s happened so often and with so little provocation that it hardly makes an impression. Was the most mundane thing walking down the street and not smiling? Tweeting a news article? Not engaging with a stranger who decided that he wanted to engage with me?

The everyday-ness and casual degradation of the slur is something that Ocasio-Cortez got at in her speech when she said that she had “tossed men out of bars that have used language like Mr. Yoho’s”; that all women “have had to deal with this in some form, some way, some shape at some point in our lives.”

Language shapes our understanding of the world and then allows us to express beliefs about the world that in turn continue to reinforce those initial impressions. But language can also be revolutionary; a living record of change, and a way to push back against widespread beliefs that have more than run their course. And that’s why it matters that Ocasio-Cortez and her female colleagues used their words — powerful, loud, piercing words; words that echoed far beyond the chambers of Congress — to force their fellow elected officials and the American public to take a beat.

In 2020, we are still collectively terrified of women, and especially of women of color, who dare to wield power. But unlike 1920, there are now a critical mass of women in our government who can stare that terror down and say, like Rep. Jayapal did, “We are not going away. There are going to be more of us here.”

If You Think Abortion's Bad, Try Childbirth, Jen Gunter Tells U.S. Politician

Many of the side effects of abortion cited by its opponents are actually more true of labour and childbirth.

By Maija Kappler
07/22/2020


LEFT: GETTY. RIGHT: THE CANADIAN PRESS.Jen Gunter, right, shot back at Debbie Lesko about her comments on the abortion pill.

Note to the many people out there spreading misinformation about reproductive rights: you do not want to get into a Twitter fight with Dr. Jen Gunter.

On Wednesday, Republican congresswoman Debbie Lesko took to Twitter to discourage the use of Mifegymiso, the two-pill combo that terminates a pregnancy.

“Chemical abortion pills,” as she called them, can cause “intense pain, excessive bleeding, infection, death,” she wrote.

Women who take chemical abortion pills face:

❌intense pain
❌excessive bleeding
❌infection
❌death

This isn’t health care, and it’s not pro-woman. #prolife— Congresswoman Debbie Lesko (@RepDLesko) July 20, 2020


In a follow-up tweet, she added that the abortion pill is “cost-effective for the abortion industry, costly for the lives of women and children.”


Lesko, who represents a district in Arizona, has made her anti-abortion beliefs clear. She’s attempted to introduce legislation that limits access to abortion services.

Several doctors immediately replied to challenge her claims — and one of them, naturally, was Canadian gynecologist and vaginal mythbuster extraordinaire Dr. Jen Gunter.
“You are incredibl[y] [uninformed] or a liar. Which one is it?” Gunter wrote before launching into a Twitter thread.

Well, actually. No.
You are incredible uniformed or a liar. Which one is it?
Neither here nor there really, because I am about to take you to school. https://t.co/Oih594j15s— Jennifer Gunter (@DrJenGunter) July 20, 2020



She pointed out that all of the side effects Lesko mentioned are in fact much more true of labour and childbirth than about abortion.

Taking the abortion pill can cause you to feel tired and crampy, and in rare causes, it can cause nausea, chills, or fever. But generally people are able to go back to work or school the next day.

The pain of labour, on the other hand, is comparable to the amputation of a finger, which Gunter pointed out by citing an excerpt from a joint statement of the American Congress of OB/GYNs and The American Society of Anesthesiologists. Not exactly a picnic.

The next charge, excessive bleeding, is true in part. The abortion pill expels the contents of the uterus — so yes, people who take it can expect to bleed

But again, bleeding is also a big part of having a baby. “Pregnancy isn’t coming out of a uterus without blood, be it abortion, miscarriage, vaginal delivery or C-section,” Gunter said.

During childbirth, blood vessels open when the placenta detaches from the uterus. The average person loses about a pint of blood during vaginal childbirth, and about double that during a C-section.

Infection rates and death are where Lesko really starts exaggerating, Gunter explained.

The rate of endometritis infection from a medical abortion pill happens in about 0.24 out of every 1000, she said, citing numbers that line up with similar research. That same infection happens in between 10 and 20 out of 1000 vaginal births, and 50 out of 1000 C-sections.

Maternal health is a significant problem, particularly in the U.S. In 2018, there were 17.4 maternal deaths for every 100,000 live births — and more than half of them were preventable.

In Canada, the rate per 100,000 live births that year was 8.3 maternal deaths. And as Gunter pointed out, the mortality rate is much worse for Black women.

RELATED
Why Black Women Fear For Their Lives In The Delivery Room


One of the reasons maternal health in the U.S. is so bad is that it’s not seen as a priority, vice president for health policy and advocacy at the American Congress of OB/GYNs Barbara Levy told NPR.

“We worry a lot about vulnerable little babies,” she said. Fetal and infant health has improved dramatically, but “we don’t pay enough attention to those things that can be catastrophic for women.”

Of the millions of doses of the abortion pill that have been prescribed, 24 users have died, although there’s some controversy about whether or not the deaths can be attributed to the abortion pill.

According to the Guttmacher Institute, unsafe abortion kills at least 22,800 women a year, mostly in areas where the procedure is illegal. Some of the methods desperate people resort to when they have no safe way of ending a pregnancy include drinking toxic fluids, causing injury to the vagina or cervix, inflicting trauma on the abdomen, or being operated on by an unskilled provider.
Gunter ended her Twitter thread by inviting Lesko to “a public discussion” about abortion. So far, no answer.

RELATED
Dr. Jen Gunter Is Taking On 'Big Wellness,' One Vagina Myth At A Time
Twitter's Favourite Gynecologist Blocked From Promoting Book About Vaginas
Canada Just Eliminated A Major Barrier To Abortion Access

AOC Gave The Most Important Feminist Speech In A Generation
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's remarks were an eloquent dismantling of the playbook men have used to keep women in their place for centuries.

By Emily Peck, HuffPost US

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) took to the floor of Congress on Thursday and gave one of the most bracing, empowering and feminist political speeches in a generation.

Her words came in response to the rage-filled mutterings of Rep. Ted Yoho (R-Fla.). But it would be a mistake to view what happened as simply the next stage in some typical political squabble or beef. Or, as some have attempted to argue, political opportunism.

The Democratic congresswoman from New York did so much more than deliver the proverbial “clapback.” This wasn’t simply a viral moment. Ocasio-Cortez offered an eloquent and expert dismantling of the playbook that men have used to keep women in their place for centuries. 

Her speech was a clear signifier of the rising power of women in politics, which helped hasten her into office in 2018, along with a historic number of other female candidates.

“I think it is the most important feminist speech in a generation,” said Jennifer Lawless, a politics professor at the University of Virginia. She compared it to then-first lady Hillary Clinton’s groundbreaking “women’s rights are human rights” speech before the United Nations in 1995.

Yoho harassed Ocasio-Cortez in the halls of Congress on Monday, calling her “disgusting” because of her (fairly commonplace) views on poverty. Then, he walked away and called her a “fucking bitch” as a reporter from The Hill looked on.

A couple of days later, Yoho made a bad situation worse, delivering a classic nonapology before Congress. The short version: He didn’t do it but if he did, he was sorry if someone was offended and he is the father of daughters.

That probably would have satisfied his colleagues in the days before Me Too, and before women had amassed as much real power in Congress. Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-Md.), the second most powerful Democrat in the House, at first said he believed Ocasio-Cortez would “appreciate the apology.”

She did not.

“Rep. Yoho decided to come to the floor of the House of Representatives and make excuses for his behavior, and that I could not let go,” Ocasio-Cortez said in her speech Thursday. “I could not allow my nieces, I could not allow the little girls that I go home to, I could not allow victims of verbal abuse and worse to see that — to see that excuse and to see our Congress accept it as legitimate and accept it as an apology and to accept silence as a form of acceptance.”

The way these situations typically go: Women who are viewed as powerful, and therefore scary, are demonized as “crazy bitches” or some other misogynistic slur. Female politicians of color, in particular, have been on the receiving end of horrific disrespect, hateful comments and abuse. The men levying the accusations are usually the ones acting with unhinged fury — and their anger is typically viewed as perfectly fine.

Recall Judge Brett Kavanaugh’s wild angry speech before the Senate at his confirmation hearings versus the calm, respectful manner of his accuser Christine Blasey Ford. President Donald Trump has returned to the “crazy bitch” well many times over the years.

In politics, women typically don’t confront the situation head-on. As Lisa Lerer pointed out in The New York Times, Hillary Clinton has been called a “bitch” approximately 100 bajillion times but has never directly addressed it.

Some women take a more sideways approach, reclaiming an insult like “Nevertheless, she persisted” and turning it into something empowering.

Well, Ocasio-Cortez went right for it. On the floor of Congress, she slowly and carefully repeated the words that Yoho muttered to himself: “fucking bitch.” And then she proceeded to tear it all down, shining light on a dehumanizing process that has long been in the shadows and mostly accepted as a woman’s burden.

“This is not new, and that is the problem,” she said. “It is cultural. It is a culture of lack of impunity, of accepting violence and violent language against women and an entire structure of power that supports that.”

She then listed other politicians who have similarly insulted her, including the president. 

“Dehumanizing language is not new, and what we are seeing is that incidents like these are happening in a pattern, Ocasio-Cortez said. “This is a pattern of an attitude towards women and dehumanization of others.”

It was a perfect balm for our times, exposing a system that for so long was taken for granted, the patriarchal air we breathe. The speech came a few days after a wall of “moms” confronted federal officers in Portland, and it came on the same day that Trump tried to play into the supposed fears of suburban women ― whom he actually tagged with the dated moniker, housewife. 

Ocasio-Cortez was also carrying on the work of Me Too and the protests rocking this country to demand humanity for people of color.

We’ve arrived at a time when calling out men for sexism in politics is finally considered acceptable, Lawless said. “Societal views have changed for the better and, as a result, there is no reason whatsoever to worry that fighting back against harassment could be detrimental to a woman’s electoral viability, approval ratings or political future.”

Ocasio-Cortez’s words made it clear that equality is not simply about electing women.

“It’s about treating women with dignity, respect and civility,” she said.

And, just for good measure, the congresswoman flipped a classic excuse for misogyny on its head: Men in politics have gotten away with their bad behavior toward women — or their misguided policies — by explaining that they actually know women, personally, and therefore are good guys. “As the father of daughters” is a popular refrain.

“Mr. Yoho mentioned that he has a wife and two daughters. I am two years younger than Mr. Yoho’s youngest daughter. I am someone’s daughter, too,” she said. “My father, thankfully, is not alive to see how Mr. Yoho treated his daughter. My mother got to see Mr. Yoho’s disrespect on the floor of this House towards me on television, and I am here because I have to show my parents that I am their daughter and that they did not raise me to accept abuse from men.”

Then, just so everyone was clear:

“What I believe is that having a daughter does not make a man decent,” she said. “Having a wife does not make a decent man. Treating people with dignity and respect makes a decent man, and when a decent man messes up, as we all are bound to do, he tries his best and does apologize.”

Cannabidiol may reduce behavioral problems in children with intellectual disabilities
Download PDF Copy

Reviewed by James Ives, M.Psych. (Editor)

Jun 24 2020

Cannabidiol, a type of medicinal cannabis, may reduce severe behavioral problems in children and adolescents with an intellectual disability a new study has found.

The pilot study, led by the Murdoch Children's Research Institute (MCRI) and published in the British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology, recorded a clinically significant change in participants' irritability, aggression, self-injury, and yelling. The intervention was also found to be safe and well-tolerated by most study participants.

The randomized controlled trial involved eight participants, aged 8-16, years who took either cannabidiol or a placebo over eight weeks. Participants were recruited from pediatric clinics from both hospital and private pediatric practices.

Although the pilot study was not large enough to make definitive statements, the early findings strongly support a larger follow-up trial. Only a large scale randomized controlled trial can produce the definitive results necessary to drive changes in prescribing and clinical care guidelines. The researchers are planning a large study to definitively test the findings.

The researchers are also seeking funding for further research into the effectiveness of medicinal cannabis in children with developmental disorders such as autism and Tourette syndrome.

Associate Professor Daryl Efron, a clinician-scientist at MCRI who led the study, said this was the first investigation of cannabidiol to manage severe behavioral problems in children and adolescents with an intellectual disability. Most of the participants also had autism.

The study found the medication was generally well-tolerated and there were no serious side effects reported. All parents reported they would recommend the study to families with children with similar problems.

Associate Professor Efron said severe behavioral problems such as irritability, aggression and self-injury in children and adolescents with an intellectual disability were a major contributor to functional impairments, missed learning opportunities and reduced quality of life.

He said conventional psychotropic medications, including anti-psychotics and anti-depressants, were prescribed by Australian pediatricians for almost half of young people with an intellectual disability, despite limited evidence of their effectiveness. Given how extremely difficult behavioral problems were to treat in these patients, new, safer interventions were needed to treat this highly vulnerable patient group, he said.


Current medications carry a high risk of side-effects, with vulnerable people with intellectual disability being less able to report side-effects. Common side-effects of antipsychotics, such as weight gain and metabolic syndrome, have huge health effects for a patient group already at increased risk of chronic illness."

Associate Professor Daryl Efron, Clinician-Scientist at MCRI

Related Stories

Majority of people in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside use cannabis for therapeutic reasonsStudy may help develop better treatment strategies for cannabis dependenceResearchers receive $1.5 million grant to study impact of cannabis use on Indigenous oral health

Cannabidiol is already being used increasingly to manage a range of medical and psychiatric conditions in adults and epilepsy in children.

Associate Professor Efron said there was intense interest from parents and physicians in medicinal cannabis as a treatment for severe behavioral problems in youth with an intellectual disability.

"Parents of children with an intellectual disability and severe behavioral problems are increasingly asking pediatricians whether they can access medicinal cannabis for their child and some parents have reported giving unregulated cannabis products to their children," he said.

"We are also finding many physicians feel unprepared to have these conversations with their patients." Researchers from The Royal Children's Hospital, the University of Melbourne and Monash University also contributed to the study.
Source:


Murdoch Childrens Research Institute
Journal reference:
Efron, D., et al. (2020) A pilot randomised placebo‐controlled trial of cannabidiol to reduce severe behavioural problems in children and adolescents with intellectual disability. British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology. doi.org/10.1111/bcp.14399.

Synthesizing Cannabis from Yeast

Download PDF Copy

By Hidaya Aliouche, B.Sc.

A team from the University of California have developed a means of biosynthesizing the major cannabinoids of Cannabis sativa L. in Saccharomyces cerevisiae using a galactose substrate. Their work presents a platform form the production of both natural and unnatural cannabinoids for study in the development of treatments for several health problems.

Image Credits: Mitch M / Shutterstock.com

This was achieved by introducing cannabis pathway enzymes into yeast and manipulating the flux of native pathways central to cannabinoid synthesis.

A core component of their biosynthetic approach was exploiting the promiscuity of several pathways and their fatty acid substrates to produce cannabis analogs exhibiting different affinity and potency for receptor binding.
The limitations of the cannabis plant

Cannabis sativa has been cultivated worldwide for thousands of years. Research has investigated the constituents of cannabis and their analogs, demonstrating their potential medicinal properties.

Consequently, certain cannabinoid formulations have been legally approved for use in the treatment of several medical problems. However, the study and clinical use of cannabinoids are limited by legal limitations – as has the nature of cannabinoids whose structural complexity makes them unamenable to bulk synthesis.

To overcome this, synthesis in yeast represents an inexpensive means of producing cannabinoids as the repertoire of cannabinoids can be expanded and produced in greater quantities.

Co-opting yeast metabolism

To achieve the production of cannabinoids in yeast, the group engineered the biosynthetic pathway. This began with establishing a pathway for the initial intermediate, olivetolic acid.

Olivetolic acid, together with the mevalonate pathway intermediate geranyl pyrophosphate (GPP) are the precursors to Cannabigerolic acid (CBGA). CBGA is the core cannabinoid from which others are derived. This conversion is performed by geranylpyrophosphate:olivetolate geranyltransferase (GOT).

Related Stories
Cannabis offences in schools across England rise, data reveals
Cannabis could be a potentially effective treatment for sickle cell disease pain
Advance your analysis of cannabis with Restek’s new Cannabidivarinic Acid standard

Namely, CBGA is the precursor to tetrahydrocannabinolic acid (THCA) and cannabidiolic acid (CBDA) in addition to several of their cannabinoids. GPP was produced by introducing an expression cassette encoding the Enterococcus faecalis genes and overexpression of the native mevalonate pathway gene.

Hexanoyl-CoA, the precursor to olivetolic acid, was produced by an additional heterologous biosynthetic pathway using genes from several bacteria and the cannabis plant itself. Alternatively, hexanoic acid was used as a substrate for the enzyme endogenous acyl activating enzyme (AAE), which converts hexanoic acid into hexanoyl-CoA.
Overcoming a roadblock: compensating for absent GOT activity in cannabis

Keasling et al. were unable to detect GOT activity in the cassette taken from cannabis. To overcome this, the group identified a candidate prenyltransferase from Cannabis that displayed GOT activity.

Expression of genes encoding enzymes to produce olivetolic acid were also introduced. Resulting CBGA was subsequently transformed into the cannabinoid's THCA & CBDA through the action of the cannabinoid synthetases. Following exposure to heat, THC and CBDA were decarboxylated to produce THC and CBD - the primary cannabinoids of interest.

Expanding the chemical space of cannabinoids

Once the intrinsic cannabinoid pathways were expanded, Keasling et al. exploited their capacity to produce unnatural cannabinoids. These encompass cannabinoids that do not result from intrinsic pathways – and can be further derivatized with chemical groups, expanding the range of cannabinoid analogs possible.

Unnatural analogs all an area of active investigation as they demonstrate potentially greater medicinal properties. One of the major pharmacophores, the region of the compound responsible for the biological/ pharmacological interaction, of interest is the sidechain of THC as it can modulate the cannabinoid receptor.

A biosynthetic approach to produce this form of cannabinoid analog was devised by the team; this exploited the promiscuity of yeast metabolic pathways and the nature of the fatty acid precursors.

The team identified a function of the pharmacophore was further altered by post-fermentation modifications, yielding side chains that are difficult to produce by direct incorporation. Proof-of-concept PTMs was performed which yielded a range of products that demonstrated the chemical space accessible to modification can be expanded.

The combined effect was the skew of pathways towards precursors, and eventually, analogs of THCA.

This demonstrated the flexibility of the pathways, producing a greater variety of novel cannabinoids which can be further modified by chemical derivatization post-production – increasing the candidate pool of cannabinoids for potentially clinically useful formulations.
New cannabinoids promise unexpected medical uses

The work published presents the basis for future large-scale fermentation of cannabinoids that does not depend on Cannabis cultivation. The ability to control the flux through these engineered pathways and expand the repertoire of cannabinoids yielded promises a means to produce newer and better-optimized medicines.

Source

Xiaozhou et al. (2019) Complete biosynthesis of cannabinoids and their unnatural analogues in yeast. Nature doi: 10.1038/s41586-019-0978-9

Further Reading
All Cannabis Content
CBD Oil: Health Benefits and Risks
Cannabis and Psychosis
Hemp Seed Oil Health Benefits
Cannabinoid Analysis Techniques
More...

Last Updated: Jun 19, 2020



Written by Hidaya Aliouche
Hidaya is a science communications enthusiast who has recently graduated and is embarking on a career in the science and medical copywriting. She has a B.Sc. in Biochemistry from The University of Manchester. She is passionate about writing and is particularly interested in microbiology, immunology, and biochemistry.

Pets Show Antibodies to SARS-CoV-2 in Italian Study

By Dr. Liji Thomas, MD

Jul 24 2020

Reviewed by Emily Henderson, B.Sc.
Download PDF Copy

The current COVID-19 pandemic is caused by the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus, which is thought to have originated in animals. This jumped species barriers to infect humans and is now showing rapid and easy transmission between them.



A new study* shows that reverse transmission is probable, with 3-4% of a large number of domestic pets showing antibodies to the infection, though no virus was recovered from any animal.

Almost from the beginning, there have been reports that the virus can infect pet cats and dogs, with some animals showing symptoms of infection. Though these fears were initially decried, sporadic cases continue to be reported.

In these pets, the respiratory or fecal specimens, or both, have tested positive for the virus by reverse transcriptase polymerase chain testing (RT-PCR). Specific antibodies against the virus have also been detected in pet sera.

Targeted experiments also show that dogs are not easily infected and mostly develop an asymptomatic infection, with low viral titers being shed. On the other hand, cats show respiratory infection and shed high titers of the virus, and spread it to other animals as well.
The study: testing pets for SARS-CoV-2

The current study aimed at a more wide-scale testing of animal infection in their natural farm or home conditions. The researchers carried out a comprehensive survey of dogs and cats in Italy, from March to May 2020, in families with cases of COVID-19 or families living in severely affected areas.

Their own vets tested all the animals in the study during routine visits, including over 900 dogs and over 500 cats.

The samples were from nasopharyngeal, oropharyngeal or other severely affected areas in humans, or from other convenient sites. This yielded approximately 300 and 180 oropharyngeal swabs, 180 and 80 nasal samples, and 55 and 30 rectal swabs from dogs and cats, respectively.

Altogether, there were 1420 swabs, including around 40 dogs and cats each that were symptomatic at the time of sampling, and about 60 dogs and cats each from families that had one or more positive cases.

However, all were negative on PCR, including those living in households with confirmed cases of COVID-19 and those with and without respiratory symptoms. This suggests the animals were not actively infected at that time.
Serologic testing

Serum samples from around 190 and 60 dogs and cats were available along with the full history and location, and 200 and 90 cats approximately, lacking history but with known locations.

The virus was tested for by RT-PCR targeting the viral nucleoprotein and envelope protein antigens. Plaque neutralization assays for neutralizing antibodies were also carried out to find the highest dilution at which the plaque number was reduced by 80%.

This revealed the presence of specific neutralizing antibodies in 13 dogs and 6 cats, amounting to about 3% and 4% each. The titers detected ranged from 1:20 to 1:160 and from 1:40 to 1:1280 in dogs and cats, respectively. None of these animals were symptomatic at the time of testing.

COVID-19-positive household distribution

The break up among the dogs was as follows: 6/47 dogs and 1/22 cats from COVID-19 positive households, 1/7 dogs from households suspected to be positive, and 2/133 dogs, and 1/38 cats, from households negative for COVID-19.

This means that in households confirmed or suspected to have at least one case, 13% to 14% of dogs were antibody positive, as compared to 5% of cats in only confirmed positive households. In negative households, this dropped to approximately 2% of animals, whether dogs or cats.
Age- and sex-stratified distribution

When stratified by age, they found that of 423 animals of known age, none were infected among the animals below one year. About 7%, 3% and 3% of animals aged 1-3 years, 4-7 years and 8 years or more were positive.

Related Stories
Scientists isolate potent SARS-CoV-2 neutralizing antibodies from COVID-19 patients
Prednisone, Hydroxychloroquine Best Among COVID-19 Treatments, Claims Large Spanish Study
Life saving drug found for COVID-19 patients on ventilators

Some important associations were made. When there were 10 or more samples available, the human case count was strongly and positively correlated with the positive tests in dogs, and also with cats, but to a smaller and less significant extent. Community sampling in humans yielded a comparable seropositivity percentage at a similar period in Europe.

The evidence supports the ability of dogs and cats to seroconvert when living as pets in a COVID-19 positive household and in regions with high burden of human disease. The greater tendency of dogs to develop neutralizing antibodies may reflect the greater susceptibility of dogs to the infection.

More male than female dogs were infected, which may be due to the physiological differences in the sexes. This is different from humans, where infection rates are similar in both even though the disease severity is greater in males.
Implications and importance

The researchers point out, “This is the largest study to investigate SARS-CoV-2 in companion animals to date. We found that companion animals living in areas of high human infection can become infected.”

As often seen in humans, none of the animals below one year of age developed infection as assessed by PCR. This agrees with earlier research findings, and also indicates that older animals should be used in experimental studies, since otherwise the true susceptibility of the animal model may not be detected.

All animals tested positive by PCR, despite the significant percentage of seroconversion. This may mean that viral shedding is very short-lived in pet animals.

This has been observed in studies showing that shedding in cats ceases by 10 days following experimental infection, and neutralizing antibodies are detected by 13 days. In dogs, fecal samples showed the presence of the virus at up to 6 days post infection, but oropharyngeal swabs were negative.

The study notes that a natural infection in a Pomeranian, among the earliest reported, was associated with positive viral RNA in nasal swabs for 13 days, albeit at low levels, but not in fecal or rectal specimens. This may indicate variation in shedding pattern between animals.

Moreover, in another experimental animal study, half the dogs who were infected had demonstrable antibodies by 14 days. This indicates the difficulty in SARS-CoV-2 detection whether in humans or animals.

In the current study, the period that elapsed from infection to seroconversion is unknown. Even if the time of sampling was known, there could well have been delays in sampling due to the difficulty of visiting the vet during the period of lockdown. Therefore, the researchers advise that pets also be sampled to understand the true incidence of infection and viral shedding in the household and the community.

The researchers say that pets are unlikely to be an important route of viral spread, but when animals are present at high density, as on mink breeding farms, the virus may spread from animals to humans more readily.

Once the human-to-human spread is terminated, contact tracing will become more important. At that point, serologic surveys of pets may help provide a broad picture of the changing disease conditions within the community and an early warning of any transmission route left open.

*Important Notice

bioRxiv publishes preliminary scientific reports that are not peer-reviewed and, therefore, should not be regarded as conclusive, guide clinical practice/health-related behavior, or treated as established information.

Journal reference:
Patterson, E. I. et al. (2020). Evidence of Exposure To SARS-Cov-2 In Cats and Dogs from Households in Italy. bioRxiv preprint. doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.07.21.214346. 

https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.07.21.214346v1

Posted in: Disease/Infection News

Written by
Dr. Liji Thomas

Dr. Liji Thomas is an OB-GYN, who graduated from the Government Medical College, University of Calicut, Kerala, in 2001. Liji practiced as a full-time consultant in obstetrics/gynecology in a private hospital for a few years following her graduation. She has counseled hundreds of patients facing issues from pregnancy-related problems and infertility, and has been in charge of over 2,000 deliveries, striving always to achieve a normal delivery rather than operative.

UPDATED
First active Methane Seep discovered in Antarctica

Discovery provides a new understanding of the methane cycle.

BY ASHWINI SAKHARKAR

JULY 23, 2020

The white microbial mats seen here are telltale signs of areas where methane may be released from underground methane deposits. Credit: Andrew Thurber Oregon State University.

Methane seeps a location where methane gas escapes from an underground reservoir and into the ocean. Methane seeps have been found all through the world’s oceans.

A recently discovered methane seep in the Ross Sea is the first active seep found in Antarctica. This discovery offers a new understanding of the methane cycle and the role methane found in this region may play in warming the planet.

Andrew Thurber, a marine ecologist at Oregon State University, said, “Methane is the second-most effective gas at warming our atmosphere and the Antarctic has vast reservoirs that are likely to open up as ice sheets retreat due to climate change. This is a significant discovery that can help fill a large hole in our understanding of the methane cycle.”

Sea stars gather around a microbial mat that can indicate presence of a methane seep. Credit: Andrew Thurber, Oregon State University.

Scientists discovered that microbes around the Antarctic seep are slightly different than those found elsewhere. This helps scientists in understanding methane cycles as well as the factors that determine whether methane will reach the atmosphere and contribute to further warming.

Thurber said, “An expansive microbial mat, about 70 meters long by a meter across, seafloor the sea floor about 10 meters below the frozen ocean surface. These mats, which are produced by bacteria that exist in a symbiotic relationship with methane consumers, are a telltale indication of the presence of a seep.”

“The microbial mat is the road sign that there’s a methane seep here. We don’t know what caused these seeps to turn on. We needed some dumb luck to find an active one, and we got it.”

A scientist explores the shallow areas of Antarctica looking for microbial mats, which are telltale signs of areas where methane may be released from underground methane deposits. Credit: Andrew Thurber, Oregon State University

Scientists studied the site for five years to see how microbes respond to the formation of a seep. The interesting fact was the microbial community did not develop as previously predicted based on other methane seeps we have studied around the globe.

It was assumed that microbes should respond quickly to changes in the environment, but that wasn’t reflected in what OSU’s team saw in Antarctica.

Thurber said, “To add to the mystery of the Antarctic seeps, the microbes we found were the ones we least expected to see at this location. There may be a succession pattern for microbes, with certain groups arriving first and those that are most effective at eating methane arriving later.”
\

“We’ve never had the opportunity to study a seep as its forming or one in Antarctica, because of this discovery we can now uncover whether seeps just function differently in Antarctica or whether it may take years for the microbial communities to become adapted.”

“It is important to understand how methane seeps behave in this environment so researchers can begin factoring those differences into climate change models.”

Journal Reference:

Andrew R. Thurber et al. Riddles in the cold: Antarctic endemism and microbial succession impact methane cycling in the Southern Ocean. DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2020.1134

NOISE POLLUTION 

COVID-19 lockdowns halve human-related seismic vibrations across globe
By Nick Lavars July 23, 2020


A reduction in human activity has resulted in a pronounced "quiet period" for seismic noise
dusan964/Depositphotos

As much of the world has ground to a halt in 2020 due to the spread of the novel coronavirus, it has provided scientists with a unique opportunity to observe some of the impacts we humans have on the planet. Researchers from Imperial College London have delved into what these lockdowns have meant for human-caused Earth vibrations, leading to the discovery of what they say is the longest and most pronounced quiet period of seismic noise in recorded history.

With less humans on the move, we have seen significant dips in carbon emissions and air pollution at different points of 2020, with the latter even being shown to boost the output of solar panels in certain cities.

The new study centers on seismic noise generated by vibrations in the Earth. While these can come from natural phenomena like earthquakes and volcanoes, they can also be generated by human activity such as travel and industry.

These vibrations are measured by seismometers, and by looking at data taken from stations around the world scientists can track declines in human-generated seismic noise. These have previously been observed during lulls like the Christmas and New Year period, but the new analysis shows that the COVID-19 lockdowns have taken things to a whole new level.

The data was sourced from 268 seismic stations in 117 different countries, and significant reductions in noise were observed at 185 of those following the lockdowns in many areas. In all, this amounted to an average drop in human-generated vibrations of 50 percent between March and May this year, with the largest drops seen in dense urban areas such as New York City and Singapore.

They study drew on data from 268 seismic stations in 117 countries
Lecocq et al.

“This quiet period is the longest and largest dampening of human-caused seismic noise since we started monitoring the Earth in detail using vast monitoring networks of seismometers,” says study co-author Dr Stephen Hicks.

Beyond offering another interesting insight into the effects of the pandemic, the research also opens up new pathways of study relating to human-generated noise and natural seismic vibrations. The quiet time has enabled the scientists to tune into more subtle earthquake signals that would otherwise be drowned out, which might be indicative of impending disasters and could lead to new and improved techniques to detect the warning signs.

“The lockdowns caused by the coronavirus pandemic may have given us a glimmer of insight into how human and natural noise interacts with the Earth,” says Hicks. “We hope this insight will spawn new studies that help us listen better to the Earth and understand natural signals we would otherwise have missed.”

The research was published in the journal Science, while the video below offers a visualization of the shift in seismic noice as the lockdowns took effect.

COVID-19 lockdown caused 50% global reduction in human-linked Earth vibrations

Source: Imperial College London