It’s possible that I shall make an ass of myself. But in that case one can always get out of it with a little dialectic. I have, of course, so worded my proposition as to be right either way (K.Marx, Letter to F.Engels on the Indian Mutiny)
Sunday, January 19, 2020
Hydrogen is blowing up: From science experiment to export industry
Remember those science experiment cars powered by water? That technology could help Australia decarbonize its economy and become a major player in a zero-emissions world.
Did you ever do the science experiment at school where you fueled little plastic cars with water?
Those neat little guys were a cool way to learn about electrolysis, the process of using electricity to split water into two gases: hydrogen and oxygen. These gases became the fuel, and zip! The car would move.
A fun science demonstration, sure. But what if this technology could be used to decarbonize the economy and establish a valuable export industry for Australia?
Key to unlocking the energy industry potential of liquid hydrogen is Steph Munro. She's a chemical engineering whiz and Visiting Student Researcher at UWA's Australian Centre for LNG Futures. Steph is part of a team working towards making hydrogen a viable energy source.
"In recent years, we've seen growing pressure to decarbonize the economy, and government is encouraging this," Steph says.
"Future energy use will come from greener sources, and hydrogen will potentially be a major player in this area."
So how does hydrogen work as a fuel?
Burn, baby!
When burned, hydrogen produces water and releases a lot of heat as energy. That makes it a great fuel with no carbon emissions. But how does the process work?
Until now, hydrogen has mainly been used for various industrial processes. But there's a significant opportunity for hydrogen to be used for electricity, transport, heat and more.
"Hydrogen has become a major player in this area. And that's because it's perfect for decarbonizing parts of the economy that are difficult to electrify," Steph says.
Take long-haul trucks, for example. Because they travel such vast distances, electric batteries aren't suitable. No battery can cover the distance required, and they take too long to recharge. But a hydrogen-fueled truck can be quickly refueled, just like a diesel-fueled truck.
So that little toy fuel cell car from science class? Imagine that, but a long-haul truck.
Going global
As the global demand for hydrogen grows, exporting hydrogen could be big for Australia.
Hydrogen and fuel cells explained. Credit: FuseSchool – Global Education
In 2030, the annual liquid hydrogen demand from China, Japan, South Korea and Singapore is likely to be 3.8 million tonnes, according to CSIRO. That could represent almost $10 billion a year for the Australian economy.
"There is an opportunity for Australia to export hydrogen to nations that don't have the renewable energy infrastructure to decarbonize their economy," Steph says.
So what are we waiting for?
The challenges
Like anything requiring new infrastructure, there are significant challenges to overcome.
"The main challenge with hydrogen is that it exists at atmospheric conditions as a gas, which takes up a large volume," Steph says. "That can be a problem if you want to import 900,000 tonnes as a fuel."
"This is why natural gas is exported as LNG or liquefied natural gas."
But that doesn't mean it's easy to liquefy hydrogen. In order to liquefy gases, you need to cool them to very cold temperatures.
"Natural gas liquefies at -161°C, but hydrogen gas liquefies at -253°C. That requires a lot of energy," Steph says.
It's so hard to cool things down that, in a tank of liquid hydrogen, more than one-third of the energy goes towards liquefying it.
"We're currently working on leveraging our knowledge in LNG to make liquefaction more energy efficient," Steph says.
"There are a number of conceptual models of liquefaction plants that are much more efficient. The next step is developing those conceptual plants into reality."
And lastly, liquid hydrogen is just a bit weird. "Because liquid hydrogen exists at such cold temperatures, we don't yet totally understand it. That makes ironing out inefficiencies quite difficult," Steph says.
"Due to these challenges, we're likely to see a hydrogen industry that embraces multiple technologies, not just liquid hydrogen."
The next steps
While there are challenges, bright minds are working on meeting them.
In the meantime, we'll be playing with our fuel-cell toys.
Illustration highlighting the association of hydrogen (red) with dislocations in the crystal structure of steel. Credit: University of Sydney
In a world first, University of Sydney researchers have found evidence of how hydrogen causes embrittlement of steels. When hydrogen moves into steel, it makes the metal become brittle, leading to catastrophic failures. This has been one of the major challenges in moving towards a greener, hydrogen-fuelled future, where steel tanks and pipelines are essential components that must be able to survive in pure hydrogen environments.
Published in Science, the researchers found hydrogen accumulates at microstructures called dislocations and at the boundaries between the individual crystals that make up the steel.
This accumulation weakens the steel along these features, leading to embrittlement.
The researchers also found the first direct evidence that clusters of niobium carbide within the steel trap hydrogen in such a way that it cannot readily move to the dislocations and crystal boundaries to cause embrittlement. This effect has the potential to be used to design steels that can resist embrittlement.
Lead researcher Dr. Yi-Sheng Chen from the Australian Centre for Microscopy and Microanalysis and Faculty of Engineering at the University of Sydney said these findings were an important step to finding a safe solution to produce, store and transport hydrogen.
"These findings are vital for designing embrittlement-resistant steel; the carbides offer a solution to ensuring high-strength steels are not prone to early fracture and reduced toughness in the presence of hydrogen," Dr. Chen said.
Atom probe Image showing accumulations of hydrogen (red) at carbon-rich (blue) dislocations in steel. This evidence underpins the theoretical prediction of the origin of hydrogen embrittlement that limits the progress of hydrogen economy. Credit: University of Sydney
Senior author Professor Julie Cairney from the Australian Centre for Microscopy and Microanalysis and Faculty of Engineering at the University of Sydney said these findings were a positive step towards implementing clean fuels.
"Hydrogen is a low carbon fuel source that could potentially replace fossil fuels. But there are challenges with the use of steel, the world's most important engineering material, to safely store and transport it. This research gives us key insights into how we might be able to improve this situation," Professor Cairney said.
Illustration highlighting the concentration of hydrogen atoms (red balls) at the crystal boundaries and dislocations in steel. Credit: University of Sydney
Working in partnership with CITIC Metal, the researchers were able to directly observe hydrogen at microstructures in steels thanks to Microscopy Australia's state-of-the-art custom-designed cryogenic atom probe microscope.
Britain's green energy sector brightens: survey data
JANUARY 16, 2020A wind turbine looms over Blyth, northeast England on December 13, 2019; Turnover in Britain's low carbon and renewable energy sector expanded 15.5 percent to £46.7 billion ($60.8 billion, 54.6 billion euros) in 2018 compared with 2015
Green energy has boomed in Britain over the last three years, according to survey data published Thursday which also highlighted accelerating investment in wind power.
Turnover in Britain's low carbon and renewable energy sector expanded 15.5 percent to £46.7 billion ($60.8 billion, 54.6 billion euros) in 2018 compared with 2015, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said in a report.
That rapid growth helped create and sustain a total of 224,800 full-time jobs, compared with 200,800 three years earlier.
The expansion was achieved against the backdrop of Britain's long-standing vow to become carbon neutral by 2050, when it hopes to achieve net zero for UK greenhouse gas emissions.
The sector's biggest component was the energy efficient products—which includes the design, manufacture or installation of energy efficient doors, windows and insulation.
Sales of energy efficient products, excluding lighting, comprised about one third of the total at £16.7 billion in 2018, according to the ONS.
The next biggest component was low emission vehicles, whose turnover stood at £4.4 billion in the same year.
Turning to wind power, the ONS said acquisitions of capital assets in this area accelerated to £4.2 billion in 2018, up from just £700 million in 2015.
The annual ONS survey was based on a sample of 24,000 businesses in low-carbon sectors, collecting data on turnover, imports, exports, employment, aquisitions and asset disposals
Hundreds of small traders staged protests during his visit to the giant South Asian market this week, which came as anti-trust authorities launched a probe into Amazon and its main rival Walmart-owned Flipkart
Amazon boss Jeff Bezos on Friday promised to create a million new jobs in India in a farewell love letter to the country, after ending a tough visit that reportedly included a snub by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Hundreds of small traders staged protests during his visit to the giant South Asian market this week, which came as anti-trust authorities launched a probe into the e-commerce behemoth and its main rival Walmart-owned Flipkart.
A government minister dismissed Bezos's announcement that Amazon would invest $1 billion, and a leading ruling party member hit out at his ownership of the critical Washington Post.
"I fall more in love with India every time I return here. The boundless energy, innovation, and grit of the Indian people always inspire me," Bezos said in a farewell love letter to the country posted on Amazon's local website on Friday.
The $1-billion investment will "digitize micro and small businesses in cities, towns, and villages across India", he said, vowing Amazon would export $10 billion of Indian-made products annually and create one million new jobs by 2025.
Amazon has invested heavily in India offering goods and entertainment to its 1.3 billion consumers, with monthly subscription to Amazon Prime costing just 999 rupees (around $14) a year.
The Indian government has also been angered by the editorial stance of the Washington Post, particularly over New Delhi's actions in disputed Kashmir, as well as other foreign media
But it and Walmart—which bought Flipkart for $16 billion in 2018—have been accused of driving small firms out of business by selling heavily discounted goods at a loss to win market share.
Small traders are seen as important trading bloc for Modi's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which won a second term in a landslide election victory last year.
Bezos reportedly wanted a meeting with Prime Minister Modi during his visit—which also saw him hobnob with Bollywood stars in Mumbai—but it was unclear whether he met any leading government member.
"They may have put in a billion dollars but then if they make a loss of a billion dollars every year then they jolly well have to finance that bill," Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal said Thursday.
"Where did the loss come from? How can a market place make such a loss unless they are engaging in predatory pricing or some unfair trade practices," Goyal said at a New Delhi conference.
The Indian government has also been angered by the editorial stance of the Washington Post, which is owned by Bezos, the world's richest man, particularly over New Delhi's actions in disputed Kashmir.
Vijay Chauthaiwale, the head of the BJP's foreign affairs department, was quoted by local media as saying that he was "definitely against what the Washington Post is writing
Green cars and green energy are not new. Very few conversations go by without someone mentioning green variations of energy.
However, there's a new kid on the block, one that new research has proven could drastically limit the CO2 emissions from our cars, while saving you cash in terms of fuel consumption: green tyres.
In November, two trucks did lap after lap around a track at the Gerotek Test Facilities in Pretoria. One of these trucks was driving on conventional tyres, the other was fitted with a brand-new set of "green" low rolling resistance tyres.
(Low) Rolling in the green
As each vehicle was kept to a steady speed of 80km/h, researchers carefully monitored several datasets—including fuel efficiency—coming from the vehicles. Every two hours, the drivers would take a 10-20-minute break.
"The problem that tyre companies have is that they have found it difficult to get the green truck tyre accepted in the industry because fuel consumption is dependent on so many variables," says Professor Frank Kienhöfer in the Wits School of Mechanical, Industrial and Aeronautical Engineering. "You look at the driver, the wind speed, and the vehicle. All of this means that tyre companies are struggling to pinpoint that tyres can make a fuel saving difference."
Working under the umbrella of the Centre for Sustainable Road Freight South Africa, the research team, which included members from Michelin, Iveco, Afrit, Lafarge, and Total, with research institutions Wits, Cambridge University, and the Centre for Scientific and Industrial Research, set out to establish whether green tyres actually make a difference, by setting up a highly controlled test environment.
Tyres on trial
The trials, over a year in the making, were set up by Wits researchers, who oversaw everything from booking the test track, to setting up the test protocols.
"What makes the low rolling resistance tyres different is the materials are slightly different, they have silica instead of carbon black and the tread is different," says Kienhöfer.
"There is less energy being wasted in terms of turning the tyre and that manifests in low temperature." They are considered as safe as conventional tyres.
Once the team started looking at the results, they were pleasantly surprised. They found that, at 80 km/h, the long-haul truck burnt eight percent less fuel on green tyres than on ordinary tyres. This means eight percent less CO2 was emitted into the atmosphere from a single truck. Multiply that by all the trucks on our roads, it could make a significant difference.
"We were thinking the difference would be more in the ballpark of 5 to 6 percent," says Rehaan Abdulla, a Wits MSc student involved in the study. "So, there appears to be massive advantages of using the rolling low resistance tyres."
Even though green tyres have a 25 percent shorter lifespan than their traditional counterparts, they still hold the edge when it comes to financial benefits to transport companies. Kienhöfer points out that such savings on fuel could increase profits by 40 percent, even when calculating in the tyres' shorter lifespan.
Toyota shifts Tacoma pickup assembly from US to Mexico
JANUARY 18, 2020
The company said no US jobs would be lost because of the move
Toyota on Friday said it was moving assembly operations for its popular Tacoma pickups from the United States to Mexico but pledged that no US jobs would be affected.
The announcement came a day after the US Senate approved the new US-Mexico Canada Agreement on trade, which importantly revamps the rules for manufacturing and cross-border trade in autos.
Since 2010, the Tacoma has been produced at a plant in San Antonio, Texas that employs 3,200 workers with an annual capacity of 208,000 vehicles.
But this will come to an end in 2021, the company said in a statement, and all production will then take place at a factory in Baja California, Mexico.
Beginning in 2022, the San Antonio plant will switch to producing the Toyota Sequoia SUV, which had previously rolled off the assembly line in Princeton, Indiana.
It was unclear how US President Donald Trump would take the news. In an angry tweet, Trump in 2017 had blasted Toyota's decision to send production of the Corolla sedan to Mexico and the company ultimately continued production in the United States.
Trump had long blasted USMCA's predecessor, the 1994 North American Free Trade Agreement, saying it promoted offshoring of jobs.
US officials say the USMCA, which has yet to take effect, will promote investment in the domestic auto sector.
Toyota said Friday that moving the Tacoma to Mexico was part of a restructuring effort that involves $13 billion in US investments through 2021.
The company has already invested $7.1 billion, including $1.6 billion at an Alabama auto plant it shares with fellow Japanese automaker Mazda.
Children and adolescents detained in the youth justice system experience poor health across a range of physical and mental health domains, according to new research.
In the first global review, researchers from the University of Melbourne, Murdoch Children's Research Institute (MCRI) and University of Sheffield in the UK have examined the health of detained adolescents from 245 peer-reviewed journal articles and review publications.
Researchers found that detained adolescents have a significantly higher prevalence of mental health disorders and suicidal behaviours than their peers in the community, along with substance use disorders, neurodevelopment disabilities, and sexually transmitted infections.
In a concurrent paper also published today, researchers examined the ways poor health and poverty drive children into youth justice systems.
Researchers found that learning disabilities, poor mental health, and experiences of trauma and adversity in childhood can increase the risk that a young person will be exposed to the criminal justice system. This risk is further amplified by societal factors including inequality and disadvantage.
University of Sheffield Professor of Adolescent Health and Justice, Nathan Hughes said the research highlights the need for a whole-of-system approach to addressing health and social inequalities in childhood and adolescence.
"Research shows that it is our most disadvantaged and unwell young people who end up in the youth justice system," Professor Hughes said.
"Their health and welfare needs are complex, and many detained adolescents have multiple, co-occurring health issues that are compounded by communication difficulties, risky substance use and trauma."
Head of the Justice Health Unit at the University of Melbourne and MCRI, Professor Stuart Kinner said that to reduce the rates of reoffending and improve health outcomes for vulnerable adolescents and the community, appropriate evidence-based treatment during and after detention must also be provided.
"Investment in coordinated health, education, family, and welfare services for our most disadvantaged young people must be a priority, both to keep them out of the youth justice system, and to ensure that their health and social needs are met if they do end up in detention," Professor Kinner said.
"We need to recognise that these vulnerable young people typically spend only a short time in detention, before returning to the disadvantaged communities from which they have come.
"If we can screen for health and developmental difficulties while adolescents are in the justice system, we can identify unmet needs—often for the first time—and tailor evidence-based support to improve health outcomes and reduce reoffending once they return to the community. However, to make these improvements a reality we need greater investment in transitional programs and public health services."
This research was published today in The Lancet Child & Adolescent Health and The Lancet Public Health.
Black kids and suicide: Why are rates so high, and so ignored?
Black youth may be less likely to share their thoughts of loneliness or depression than other youth, which could be a reason for higher rates of death by suicide among black youth. Credit: Motortion Films/Shutterstock.com
Also, the 2015 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's biennial Youth Risk Behavior Survey reported that, compared to non-Hispanic white boys, black high-school age boys are more likely to have made serious suicide attempts that require medical attention.
Suicide has become a leading cause of death in the U.S. among all age groups, but particularly in youth and young adults. It is the second leading cause of death among 10- to 34-year-olds. Parents, teachers and professionals must be able to both talk about it and understand the risks for vulnerable children of any race. But those of us who work with black youth may also need to address some myths about suicide in the African American community.
For example, one such myth has its start almost three decades ago, Kevin Early and Ronald Akers' interviews with African American pastors concluded that suicide is a "white thing" and that black people are accustomed to struggling through life challenges without succumbing to suicide. those authors concluded that black people see suicide as a "white thing" but it is a myth that black people do not die by suicide.
Based on anecdotal conversations that many others and I have heard in day-to-day conversations and that sometimes emerge in popular media, this opinion about suicide in the black community has shifted relatively little.
More importantly, black youth at risk may even be more difficult to identify than non-black youth. One study referred to college age racial/ethnic minority people, including African Americans, as "hidden ideators" who are less likely than other youth to disclose thoughts of suicide. Because suicide is occurring and at shockingly young ages, comprehensive efforts are needed to address this public health problem.
Simply put, a one-size-fits-all approach does not work for identifying suicide risk. And little or no action has been taken to address the increasing crisis. As an African American psychologist, I find this frustrating when children's lives are lost—lives that could be saved.
Unique needs in African American mental health
Most mental health services are not designed with cultural and social nuances in mind. My research team has found consistently that the challenges that black kids face in navigating dual cultural contexts may increase their risk of suicidal thoughts.
In research on adults, we found that black men and women who used more Eurocentric or individualist approaches that was more self-focused rather than managing stress via the belief in a Higher Power were more likely to consider suicide. This was not true for those who used more culturally meaningful, spiritual coping.
When there are cultural differences, therapists must be willing to "think outside of the box" to fully evaluate risk for suicide. As an example, the racism that black Americans encounter increases stress for many. Thus, their stressors and mental health issues will need different solutions and approaches than treatments that work for white people.
In another study published in Comprehensive Psychiatry, we observed different patterns of risk for black adults compared to white adults who were admitted for psychiatric care. We examined sleep-related problems, which are elevated among black Americans, and suicide because sleep issues are a serious but understudied risk factor for suicide crisis. It turns out that inadequate sleep can escalate an emotional crisis. Our research found that problems staying awake for activities such as driving or engaging in social activities, which reveal inadequate sleep, were associated with a four-fold greater risk for suicide crisis compared to non-suicide crisis in black adults who were admitted for psychiatric treatment.
Caring adults are a child's first line of defense. If a child discloses that he is thinking about dying, it is important to ask him to share more about his ideas and if he knows he might die. If a child has a suicide plan, it is time to get professional help. The Crisis Text Line at 741741 could be an option for teens who need help to cool down in a crisis.
When it comes to finding a mental health professional, parents need an expansive list of referral options, including university-affiliated mental health clinics that offer evidence-based services on a sliding scale and federally qualified health centers for the uninsured. Regardless of the setting, a well-trained therapist may be of a different race.
Parents and caregivers must be willing to sit, listen and try to fully understand what is most upsetting for a child who is experiencing a difficult situation and a lot of emotions.
For those who believe that the alarming statistics will eventually reverse course without any action, this may be true. In the meantime, saving one life is worth the effort.
Thoughts of suicide do not mean that a child or teen needs to be hospitalized. It means they are in emotional pain and want the pain to end. Adults can investigate the problem and remove it or help the child deal with it. Online resources such as Stopbullying.gov include interactive videos that are useful to parents, educators and youth. Suggesting to a child that she "get over it" is less than helpful. A child who is already in a vulnerable state cannot problem-solve without meaningful support from the caring adults in charge.
No clear evidence of increase in adolescent suicide after '13 Reasons Why'
by Annenberg Public Policy Center of the University of Pennsylvania
Suicide rates per 100,000 in youth ages 15-19 in the United States, 1981-2017. Credit: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Contrary to the findings of a 2019 study that associated the release of the Netflix series "13 Reasons Why" with an increase in monthly suicide rates among adolescent boys, a reanalysis of the data by the Annenberg Public Policy Center finds no evidence of contagion. The reanalysis, published today in PLOS ONE, found that after controlling for the dramatic increase in adolescent suicide in recent years, the show's release had no clear effect.
The reanalysis found that the increase in the suicide rate for boys observed in the original study by Bridge and colleagues for three months after the series' release was no longer evident after controlling for the ongoing trend in adolescent suicide. In addition, the increase seen during the first month of the release began the month prior to the release, making it difficult to attribute the rise to the show. The reanalysis found no effects in the subsequent months of that year.
"Our reanalysis casts considerable doubt on the show having an effect on boys," said author Dan Romer, Ph.D., research director of the Annenberg Public Policy Center (APPC) of the University of Pennsylvania. The paper, "Reanalysis of the Bridge et al. study of suicide following release of 13 Reasons Why," was published January 15, 2020, in PLOS ONE.
The original time-series analysis of suicide rates by Bridge et al. found an additional 195 suicide deaths among boys ages 10 to 17 during the nine months following the series' release, on March 31, 2017, but did not find a similar result among adolescent girls. Romer said he questioned that finding for two reasons: "First, contagion would be expected to be stronger for girls than boys because this show focuses on the suicide of a high school girl. Second, the prior analysis didn't take into account strong secular trends in suicide, especially in boys from 2016-2017."
APPC's reanalysis did find a modest rise in the suicide rate among adolescent girls during the first month following the release of "13 Reasons Why," but it was not statistically reliable.
Rising suicide rates for adolescents
Suicide rates for both adolescent males and females have been rising since 2008 and the rise in 2017 was particularly strong. The rate for young males ages 15 to 19 increased by 21 percent between 2016 and 2017. Suicide among female adolescents ages 15 to 19 increased by 7 percent.
There has been disagreement about the causes of the recent rise in adolescent and young adult suicide. Some researchers have suggested that the rise is due to increased use of social media. But a recently published analysis by Romer suggested that the trend may be attributable in part to lingering economic stress from the 2008 financial crisis in combination with increased pressure on teens from their parents to succeed academically.
'13 Reasons Why' and suicide contagion
When the first season of the Netflix show appeared in 2017, it created widespread concern that its graphic portrayal of a teenage girl's suicide would lead to imitation among vulnerable young people, especially adolescent girls. This concern prompted researchers to see whether there was evidence of contagion in U.S. suicide rates following the show's release.
The first such study, by Bridge et al., found evidence of a jump in suicides among boys ages 10 to 17 in the three months following the show's release, but no effect for girls. Romer said that analysis relied on a forecasting method to project the likely trend in suicide for 2017. But that forecast failed to anticipate the actual trend.
A second study by different researchers (Niederkrotenthaler et al.) in JAMA Psychiatry had a similar problem, Romer said. That study found an effect in boys and girls 10 to 19 years old in the three months following the series' release. But it similarly failed to control for the secular trend in suicide, again making it difficult to separate the effects of the show from the trend.
Potential for harm
APPC's analysis does not rule out the possibility that the show had an adverse effect, especially on girls. A previous study by Romer and colleagues that examined the effects of the second season of "13 Reasons Why" found that viewing the show had both beneficial and detrimental effects on young adult viewers. The small increase observed in girls in this current reanalysis of the first season data may have been the net result of these opposing effects, Romer said.
In mid-2019, over two years after the release, Netflix edited a graphic suicide scene from the Season 1 finale and asserted that the show encouraged young people "to start conversations about difficult issues such as depression and suicide and get help—often for the first time."
"Despite that, it does not appear that the show reversed or slowed the ongoing increase in adolescent suicide," Romer noted. "Even if the series also had a positive effect for some viewers, the producers should recognize the potential for harm to vulnerable audience members. It should be possible to produce a show that highlights the challenges that young people face without also producing suicide contagion."
Romer thanked Jeffrey Bridge for providing the data that were not available in his paper, which is in press in the Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry.
A positive psychology program created by researchers at Queen Mary University of London focuses on promoting wellbeing in refugee children. It is unusual in that it focuses on promoting positive outcomes, rather than addressing war trauma exposure.
This is the first positive psychology-based intervention to be systematically evaluated for use with refugee children.
The purpose of the intervention, known as Strengths for the Journey, is to build positive psychological resources in young refugees—such as positive emotions, character strengths, optimistic thinking, community and nature connectedness, hope, and mindfulness—in order to promote their wellbeing and resilience.
In a study, published in the journal Development and Psychopathology, the researchers show that the intervention improved the children's positive outcomes (wellbeing, optimism, and self-esteem) and reduced their depressive symptoms.
Specifically, it more than doubled participants' ratings of their wellbeing and optimism and led to dramatic reductions in depressive symptoms.
Dr. Sevasti Foka, lead author of the study from the Department of Biological and Experimental Psychology at Queen Mary University of London, said: "The key finding of the study is that the Strengths for the Journey intervention seems to be quite effective. Our results suggest that short, inexpensive positive psychology interventions such as Strengths for the Journey can lead to real improvements in refugee children's mental health and wellbeing, even when those children are experiencing the many challenges of living in a refugee camp."
The program is delivered over a seven-day period and was evaluated in refugee camps in Lesvos, Greece, with 72 children ranging from 7 to 14 years-old. The children were predominantly displaced from Syria and Afghanistan.
Over a million refugees have arrived by sea in Greece in the last four years, almost half of whom are under 18 years old. Upon arrival in Greece, many are placed in camps with limited access to school and mental health services, and report high rates of attempted suicide, panic attacks, anxiety, and aggressive outbursts.
The intervention is one of very few programs to be developed specifically for use with kids living in refugee camps. Refugee camps are quite a different context from resettlement or settlement in communities and are very challenging places for children to live.
The researchers suggest that the intervention should be expanded to a larger group of refugee children in Greece—and potentially those living in refugee camps elsewhere—because it has real potential to improve their mental health and wellbeing.
Isabelle Mareschal, an author of the study from Queen Mary University of London, said: "It seems like child refugees living in low-resource settings like refugee camps would benefit from Strengths for the Journey or other short positive psychology interventions that promote resilience."
In the study, the researchers ran a pilot evaluation using a wait-list controlled trial design to see whether the intervention improved children's mental health and wellbeing. This involved providing the program to one group of children and then providing it to the next group a little later in order to compare outcomes while still providing treatment for all participants.
The researchers were improving on most previous work in three ways: by doing a controlled trial, focusing on children living in refugee camps, and by looking at positive outcomes rather than just psychopathology.
Dr. Kristin Hadfield, the corresponding author of the study from Queen Mary University of London, added: "In addition to the intervention being different, our evaluation of it is also different. Very few interventions for use with refugees are rigorously evaluated. NGOs and governments spend a lot of money attempting to improve refugee children's outcomes through various programmes, but many do not actually check whether these are effective. We have compared changes in the kids who took part in Strengths for the Journey with changes in kids living in the camps who did not take part to see whether those who took part in Strengths for the Journey did better."
More information: 'Promoting wellbeing in refugee children: An exploratory controlled trial of a positive psychology intervention delivered in Greek refugee camps'. Sevasti Foka, Kristin Hadfield, Michael Pluess, Isabelle Mareschal. Development and Psychopathology.
UNSW researchers are calling for a new whooping cough vaccine to combat the emergence of smarter strains able to evade vaccine-generated immunity as well as the body's own defences. Credit: Shutterstock
Whooping cough bacteria are becoming smarter at colonizing and feeding off unwitting hosts, strengthening calls for a new vaccine, according to UNSW researchers.
Australia needs a new whooping cough vaccine to ensure our most vulnerable are protected from the emergence of superbug strains, new UNSW research has shown.
The current vaccine, widely used since 2000, targets three antigens in the bacteria of the highly contagious respiratory disease which can be fatal to infants.
All babies under six months old—in particular, newborns not protected by maternal immunization—are at risk of catching the vaccine-preventable disease because they are either too young to be vaccinated or have not yet completed the three-dose primary vaccine course.
Australia's whooping cough epidemic from 2008 to 2012 saw more than 140,000 cases—with a peak of almost 40,000 in 2011—and revealed the rise of evolving strains able to evade vaccine-generated immunity.
In a series of UNSW studies, with the latest published today in Vaccine, UNSW researchers took this knowledge further and showed, in a world-first discovery, that the evolving strains made additional changes to better survive in their host, regardless of that person's vaccination status. They also identified new antigens as potential vaccine targets.
First author and microbiologist Dr. Laurence Luu, who led the team of researchers with Professor Ruiting Lan, said whooping cough's ability to adapt to vaccines and survival in humans might be the answer to its surprise resurgence despite Australia's high vaccination rates.
"We found the whooping cough strains were evolving to improve their survival, regardless of whether a person was vaccinated or not, by producing more nutrient-binding and transport proteins, and fewer immunogenic proteins which are not targeted by the vaccine," Dr. Luu said.
"This allows whooping cough bacteria to more efficiently scavenge nutrients from the host during infection, as well as to evade the body's natural immune system because the bacteria are making fewer proteins that our body recognizes.
"Put simply, the bacteria that cause whooping cough are becoming better at hiding and better at feeding—they're morphing into a superbug."
Dr. Luu said it was therefore possible for a vaccinated person to contract whooping cough bacteria without symptoms materializing.
"So, the bacteria might still colonize you and survive without causing the disease—you probably wouldn't know you've been infected with the whooping cough bacteria because you don't get the symptoms," he said.
"Another issue with the vaccine is that immunity wanes quickly—so, we do need a new vaccine that can better protect against the evolving strains, stop the transmission of the disease and provide longer lasting immunity."
Vaccination still key but new vaccine needed
Prof Lan said while he would like to see a new vaccine developed and introduced in the next five to 10 years, the research team's important discovery did not render Australia's whooping cough vaccine redundant.
"It is critical that people are vaccinated to prevent the spread of whooping cough—the current vaccine is still effective for protecting against the disease—but new vaccines need to be developed in the long-term," Prof Lan said.
"We need more research to better understand the biology of the whooping cough bacteria, how they cause disease and what proteins are essential for the bacteria to cause infection, so that we can target these proteins in a new and improved vaccine.
"This will all help to future-proof new vaccines against the evolving whooping cough strains."
Dr. Luu agreed it was crucial that Australia maintained its high vaccination coverage for whooping cough.
"Although the number of whooping cough cases has increased during the past decade, it's still nowhere near as high as what it was before the introduction of whooping cough vaccines," Dr. Luu said.
"Therefore, we emphasize that Australia must maintain its high vaccination coverage to protect vulnerable newborns who are not protected by maternal immunity and cannot complete the three-dose primary vaccine course until they are six months old.
"So, vaccination is especially important for children, people who are in contact with children and pregnant women who need the vaccine to produce antibodies to protect their newborns from developing whooping cough in the first few weeks of life."
In addition to babies under six months having a high risk of catching the disease, the elderly, people living with someone who has whooping cough and people who have not had a booster in the past 10 years, are also most at risk.
Whooping cough is characterized by a "whooping" sound and sufferers find it difficult to breathe.
The disease is more common during spring and spreads when an infected person coughs or sneezes and other people breathe in the bacteria.
More information: Laurence Don Wai Luu et al. Surfaceome analysis of Australian epidemic Bordetella pertussis reveals potential vaccine antigens, Vaccine (2019). DOI: 10.1016/j.vaccine.2019.10.062
Laurence Don Wai Luu et al. Proteomic Adaptation of Australian EpidemicBordetella pertussis, PROTEOMICS (2018). DOI: 10.1002/pmic.201700237
Laurence Don Wai Luu et al. Comparison of the Whole Cell Proteome and Secretome of Epidemic Bordetella pertussis Strains From the 2008–2012 Australian Epidemic Under Sulfate-Modulating Conditions, Frontiers in Microbiology (2018). DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2018.02851
