Author Archives: bahn

Wood Preservation: Quantification of Active Copper in Treated Wood

Dr. Kennepohl, the Chemistry Professor at the University of British Columbia

Pierre Kennepohl from the department of chemistry in University of British Columbia, and his team, John N.R. Ruddick and Wei Xue, have conducted a research; quantification of copper (II) in micronized basic copper carbonated (BCC) treated wood using Electron Paramagnetic Resonance (EPR) spectroscopy. Basically, the research was started to identify the formation of mobile copper in BCC treated wood, to quantify the amount of mobile copper formed, and to identify how this mobile copper component is affected by external environments.  The mobilization of the copper is dependent on the acid groups present in wood, and provided sufficient micronized copper is present. This was confirmed in the commercial material.

Wood preservatives were suspected to have violated pesticides law

A recent article noted that some companies using wood preservatives were suspected to have violated pesticides law because the preservatives consisted of biocidal properties from reacted copper (Environmental Protection, 2013). Because these companies did not fully understand the environmental implications of using micronized BCC treated wood, this caused the mislabeling of the preservatives. We think outdated labels from reacted copper may lead to neurological damage, including Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s disease and use of biocides may  increase susceptibility to attack by new forms of pests and disease.

However, preserving wood with copper has been commercially used and micronized basic copper carbonate (BCC) is the new main active ingredient in the U.S. An advantage of this new preservative is that it avoids the higher copper leaching into the environment and it also avoids enhanced potential for corrosion observed in alkaline copper treated wood. Therefore, understanding the quantity of the reacted copper (II) in micronized copper treated wood measures the effectiveness of this new wood preservation method, while considering the effect of biocidal activities and potential environmental hazards. Also, it is important to consider different testings and experiments to measure the effectiveness of new wood preservation methods as they are developed.

In addition, Dr. Kennepohl and his graduate students are working on their next research, building upon the results from the study of quantifying copper contents in woods. What they are looking at is different types of wood, and to investigate if copper is well-distributed into all of the wood structure. Dr.Kennepohl will also apply the new method of quantifying copper to determine if the amount of total copper has changed after the attack from the fungi. For the first time, professor Kennephol and his team have developed a method of quantitatively looking at wood samples in order to fully understand how these systems work; this research may lead to further, more effective criteria for use of wood preservatives around the world and will also have a large impact on the food industry in the next millennium.

The following podcast focuses on how this new wood preservation method by using BCC is compared to other common forms of preservatives, highlighting its potential advantages and disadvantages.

Play Pod-Cast

For the video, we focused on how professor Kennepohl and his research team technically quantified copper in micronized BCC treated wood.

YouTube Preview Image

By: Brian Ahn, Jonathan Lui, Derek Song

Pod-Cast Credits:

Narrated by Derek Song

Video Credits:

Narrated by Jonathan Lui

Special thanks to Dr. Kennepohl for the interview.

 

Left-handed people are genius? Really?

 
Left-handed people have an advantage in which their brains are structured differently from right-handed people in ways that can allow them to process language, spatial relations and emotions in more diverse and potentially creative ways. Also, a slightly greater number of left-handers than right-handers are especially gifted  in music and math. A study of musicians in professional orchestras found a significantly greater proportion of talented left-handers, even among those who played instruments that seem designed for right handers.

Let’s look at people whom we know that are left-handed. For example, Leonardo Da Vinci, Michelangelo,Napoleon Bonaparte,Julius Caesar, Beethoven, and Isaac Newton are left-handed who people call them “genius.” Presently, the world’s richest man, Bill Gates, 42nd president of the Unites States, Bill Clinton and 44th and current president of the United States,Barack Obama are also left-handed.
YouTube Preview Image

On Oprah show, Dr. Oz claims that left-handed people can deal with more incoming information that does not come in an organized way because the brain develops when a baby is in its mother’s womb and interestingly left brain normally controls the right side to equalize both side of the brain. Additionally, because left-handed people can use both sides of their brain more readily, the brain can process information well.

 

There are many studies that have proven left-handlers are smarter than right -handler. According to researcher Alan Searleman, of St. Lawrence University in New York, left-handed people showed higher IQs, were able to solve problems better and enjoy more extensive vocabularies than right-handed people. Also in the book, “Right-Hand, Left-Hand” by Chris McManus of University College London, proposed that left-handers’ brains are structured differently in a way that increases their range of abilities, and the genes that determine left-handedness also govern development of the language centres of the brain. Thus, many researches argue that left-handed people manipulate creativity and intelligence because they are able to balance the usage of  both side of brain equally.

Brian Ahn

 

Excess Sugar link to cancer

What are sugars?
Sugars are carbohydrates that are composed of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen. There are numerous types of sugar: glucose, fructose,galactose, sucrose, maltose and lactose. Everyone loves sweets; we cannot resist ourselves when we see candies, ice cream or any types of sweet foods. Sugars are needed to provide us with energy and contribute to our wellness. They sweet-favored substances used in our food but we have never thought of sugar as “bad nutrient” that link to the causation of cancer in our body.On science news, it proposed that high levels of sugar is found in diabetics; it damages our cells to increase our chance of getting cancer. The key point is that obesity can cause diabetes; a disease where body fails to control blood sugar levels, and it can increase the risk of cancer development. Thus, the diabetic population has doubled the chances to suffer pancreatic or colon cancer according to the epidemiological studies. With obesity in British and Spanish children reaching about 16 percents, the highest in Europe, this epidemic has major health implications. Obesity and diabetes increase cancer risk has been a major health issue.

High sugar level in the body leads to obesity which causes diabetes

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Discovery:

A picture of diabetes in body

Dr. Jimenez at the University Rey Juan Carlos linked obesity and diabetes with cancer due to high sugar levels which increase activity of  a gene widely implicated in cancer progression. He conducted a laboratory study on how cells in the intestine respond to sugars and signal to the pancreas to release insulin, the key hormone that controls blood sugar levels. Sugars in the intestine trigger cells to release a hormone called gastric inhibitory polypeptide (GIP) in which it enhances insulin release by the pancreas. In molecular cell study, Dr. Jimenez’s team presented that the ability of the intestinal cells to secrete gastric inhibitory polypeptide (GIP) is manipulated by β-catenin which its activity is strictly dependent on sugar levels. Therefore,  They have explained their discovery that increased activity of β-catenin increase the development of many cancers. Thus, the high sugar levels induce nuclear accumulation of β-catenin and leads to cell proliferation. The changes induced on β-catenin, the molecules involved and the diversity of cancer cells susceptible to these changes have been found.

There is a short clip about how sugar leads to initiation of cancer.
YouTube Preview Image

The World Health Organization (WHO) published that obesity are the fifth leading risk for global death and approximately 2.8 million adults die each year; addition, 44 % of the diabetes burden, 41% of cancer were attributed to obesity. The changes in our metabolism caused by dietary sugar impact on our cancer risk is a serious health issue in the world. Before the initiation of cancer in our body and suffer cancer, reducing the sugar level we intake must be limited.

Brian Ahn