Charging the future with modern aqueous batteries

University of Houston researchers on mission to create better, safer and less expensive batteries

Peer-Reviewed Publication

UNIVERSITY OF HOUSTON

 

IMAGE: UNIVERSITY OF HOUSTON RESEARCHERS YAN YAO AND YANLIANG “LEONARD” LIANG view more 

CREDIT: UNIVERSITY OF HOUSTON

Lithium-ion batteries, which today power everything from the smartphones we carry in our pockets to the electric vehicles we drive, are projected to capture 80% of the rechargeable battery market in the coming years.

There’s good reason for their popularity – lithium-ion batteries offer better battery capacity, efficiency and longevity than others in the current marketplace. However, they are still quite expensive and can catch fire or explode in extreme conditions.

Two top battery experts at the University of Houston contend that the gold-standard lithium-ion battery is about to get some competition. They are betting on humble aqueous batteries – with water-based electrolytes – generally regarded as safe, reliable and affordable.

“The idea is to develop advanced aqueous batteries that can combine better safety and higher voltage,” said Yan Yao, Hugh Roy and Lillie Cranz Cullen Distinguished Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering and principal investigator at the Texas Center for Superconductivity at the University of Houston. Yao has been leading research on energy storage materials and devices for about a decade now. His team is on a mission to create better, safer and less expensive batteries.

Yao, and Yanliang “Leonard” Liang, research assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering, were recently invited by Nature Reviews Materials, a high-impact academic journal, to review the evolution of rechargeable aqueous batteries. “Designing modern aqueous batteries” highlights key breakthroughs over the last decade and provides guidance and direction for new research.

“Our review is extensive in scope because we wanted to paint a big picture on the landscape of aqueous batteries,” Liang said. “If we don’t understand the overall picture, we can’t know where the next opportunity will be.”

Where are aqueous batteries now and where do they need to be?

The big push toward electrification in almost every aspect of life, the growing demand for consumer electronics and electric vehicles and the need for adequate storage for renewable energy are driving the demand for batteries higher and higher.

Commercial aqueous batteries that exist today lack the energy density and lasting power needed to be seriously considered for large-scale application such as transportation and grid storage.

However, Liang and Yao stress that innovations involving materials and chemistries, coupled with other research advances have created new opportunities for a modern, more advanced form of aqueous batteries.

Rechargeable aqueous batteries offer many advantages - abundant and low-cost raw materials; minimal requirements for manufacturing environments; non-inflammable; simple fabrication and high power, which determines how long it takes to fully charge and accelerate from 0 to 60 mph.

They have their drawbacks, too – narrow thermodynamic electrochemical stability window, faulty operations that could lead to explosions and, of course, low energy density.

According to the authors, there are modern versions made with innovative materials that are in the early stages of commercialization which are key developments in the transition to the next big battery research breakthrough.

The goal is to create an advanced aqueous battery that can deliver the best of both worlds. “This new water-based battery will deliver better safety and higher voltage,” Yao said.

Designing the breakthrough aqueous battery

Designing the new and improved version of the aqueous battery that will revolutionize the battery market is no easy task. It requires knowledge of the most basic intricacies and new technologies to create the ideal version – from mixing and matching ion selective membranes and coatings to lean water electrolytes, to new types of electrode reactions and modular cell design.

According to the researchers, the goal is to widen the window of electrochemical stability, allowing battery chemistry to work across wider voltage ranges and produce more energy, leading to new opportunities.

“How we integrate the different components will have a profound impact in this field,” Liang said. “We must mix and match and try new combinations. Sometimes it will result in improvement in one area but compromises in another. We have to be realistic and keep trying to make it better and better.”

It’s all about coming up with smart combinations that will deliver the twin targets of high energy and high safety.

Liang, whose research interest spans everything from solid state and aqueous batteries to multivalent metal batteries, as well as lithium and sodium batteries, is hopeful that the ideal is achievable thanks to modern tools and new discoveries. “One day, you will have an aqueous battery that has the same voltage as the lithium-ion battery, but it will be safer because it is water-based,” he said.

However, researchers will have to continue pursuing improvements to turn the hope into the reality of an advanced commercially viable aqueous battery. There is excellent incentive to spur researchers on – not only will the aqueous batteries of the future offer more energy and safety, but they will also make battery disposal easier on the environment because of the materials used.

Yao and Liang recently launched a startup called LiBeyond to scale up and further develop innovative battery technologies originally developed at UH. They envision possible applications in electric vehicles and other areas of transportation to help power entire fleets and grid-scale storage.

“This will be especially important when grid reliability is key, such as during situations like hurricanes, winter storms and other emergencies,” Yao said. He added that wearable technologies would also benefit from this development.

“One of the key features of aqueous batteries is safety, which is vital in wearable technologies because you ‘wear’ them directly on the body,” he said. “The possibilities these modern aqueous batteries will offer [once developed] are endless.”

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JOURNAL

Nature Reviews Materials

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

Not applicable

ARTICLE TITLE

Designing Modern Aqueous Batteries

NTU Singapore doctors find mental health chatbots are effective in helping treat symptoms in people with depression

Peer-Reviewed Publication

NANYANG TECHNOLOGICAL UNIVERSITY

 

IMAGE: (L-R) PROFESSOR JOSIP CAR, DIRECTOR OF THE CENTRE FOR POPULATION HEALTH SCIENCES AT NTU’S LKCMEDICINE AND DR LAURA MARTINENGO, A RESEARCH FELLOW FROM LKCMEDICINE. view more 

CREDIT: NTU SINGAPORE

Clinician scientists from Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (NTU Singapore) have found that mental health chatbots are able to effectively engage people with depression in empathetic conversations and assist in the treatment of their symptoms.

 

Chatbots or conversational agents are computer programmes that simulate human conversations.  They are increasingly used in healthcare, for example, to help manage mental health conditions such as depression and anxiety and for general well-being.

 

A 2021 survey[1] by Woebot Health, one of the leading therapeutic chatbot companies in the US, found that 22 per cent of adults have used a mental health chatbot, with nearly half (47 per cent) saying they would be interested in using one if needed.

 

This study by doctors from NTU’s Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine (LKCMedicine) is among the first to analyse user-Chatbot dialogues to evaluate their effectiveness.

 

The researchers analysed nine mental health chatbots from leading app stores, of which five had at least 500,000 downloads, to see whether they offered self-help for people with depression.

 

Nine mental health chatbots were included in the study, four of which, Marvin, Serenity, Woebot, 7 Cups, are free-to-use, while Happify, InnerHour, Wooper, Wysa and Tomo, required a subscription or one-time purchase to be used.  

 

The chatbots were evaluated by the NTU research team through scripted user personas that were created to reflect different cultures, ages, and genders. The personas also presented behaviours that reflect varying degrees of depressive symptoms. 

 

This study published in December in the peer-reviewed Journal of Affective Disorders found that all the chatbots engaged in empathetic and non-judgmental conversations with users and offered support and guidance through psychotherapeutic exercises commonly used by psychologists and counsellors.

 

Through examination of the app interfaces and their privacy policy legal statements, the researchers observed that all the chatbots kept the confidentiality of the user's personal information and did not transfer or store any of it. This information includes chat history, names, or addresses, which they might divulge during chat sessions.

 

Depression affects 264 million people globally and is undiagnosed and untreated in half of all cases, according to the World Health Organisation.[2]  In Singapore, the COVID-19 pandemic has led to an increase in mental health concerns, which include depression.[3]

 

Professor Josip Car, Director of the Centre for Population Health Sciences at NTU’s LKCMedicine, who led the study, said, “There are still a lot of stigmas surrounding mental health disorders and the COVID-19 pandemic has significantly increased the number of people affected by mental health issues. Worldwide, healthcare systems are struggling to cope with the increased demand for mental health services. Digital health tools, including chatbots, could assist in providing timely care to individuals who may be unwilling or unable to consult a healthcare provider. Through this study, we have shown how chatbots are being used and how they engage in therapeutic conversations.”

 

 

Chatting up chatbots to test their effectiveness

 

Although international research has shown that chatbots could help people, previous studies have not evaluated the dialogues between chatbots and users.

 

The NTU team’s content analysis evaluated the quality and effectiveness of the chatbots’ responses and looked at the level of personalisation, appropriateness in supporting self-management in users with depression, and how they conveyed empathy to users.

 

The study also monitored how the chatbots guided users to engage in or complete mood-boosting activities, how they monitored moods and managed suicide risks. 

 

The researchers said that all the chatbots displayed a “coach-like” personality that is encouraging, nurturing, and motivating. However, their analysis showed that while chatbots could engage in empathetic conversations with users they were not able to deliver personalised advice. This in-depth analysis of the conversational flow may be useful to help app developers design future chatbots.

 

First author Dr Laura Martinengo, a research fellow from LKCMedicine said: “Chatbots are not yet able to provide personalised advice and do not ask enough personal questions – possibly to avoid breaching user anonymity.  However, these chatbots could still be a useful alternative for individuals in need especially those who are not able to access medical help. For some people, it’s easier to talk to a machine than a human being.”

 

While chatbots may support the self-management of depression and other mental health disorders, the researchers said that further research is needed to improve chatbots for individuals at risk of suicide and to evaluate the long-term effectiveness of chatbot-led interventions for mental health.

 

The researchers will be conducting further studies to advance the scope, quality and safety of their research looking into the effectiveness of other digital methods for mental well-being.

 

***

Notes to Editor:

 

The research paper titled “Evaluation of chatbot-delivered interventions for self-management of depression: Content analysis” was published in Journal of Affective Disorders in Dec 2022. DOI 10.1016/j.jad.2022.09.028

 

*** END ***

 

Media contact:

Mr Joseph Gan

Manager, Media Relations

Corporate Communications Office

Nanyang Technological University, Singapore

Email: joseph.gan@ntu.edu.sg

 

About Nanyang Technological University, Singapore

 

A research-intensive public university, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (NTU Singapore) has 33,000 undergraduate and postgraduate students in the Engineering, Business, Science, Medicine, Humanities, Arts, & Social Sciences, and Graduate colleges.

NTU is also home to world-renowned autonomous institutes – the National Institute of Education, S Rajaratnam School of International Studies, Earth Observatory of Singapore, and Singapore Centre for Environmental Life Sciences Engineering – and various leading research centres such as the Nanyang Environment & Water Research Institute (NEWRI) and Energy Research Institute @ NTU (ERI@N).

Under the NTU Smart Campus vision, the University harnesses the power of digital technology and tech-enabled solutions to support better learning and living experiences, the discovery of new knowledge, and the sustainability of resources.

Ranked amongst the world’s top universities, the University’s main campus is also frequently listed among the world’s most beautiful. Known for its sustainability, over 95% of its building projects are certified Green Mark Platinum. Apart from its main campus, NTU also has a medical campus in Novena, Singapore’s healthcare district.

For more information, visit www.ntu.edu.sg

 

 

 

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[1] Woebot Health. Large-Scale Study Finds Mental Health App Forms Bond with Users (2021).

[2] World Health Organisation.  Depression, a fact sheet (2021)

 

[3] Institute of Mental Health, Singapore. Novel Coronavirus, Population Well-being and Resilience Cross-Sectional Study (2021)

 

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JOURNAL

Journal of Affective Disorders

DOI

10.1016/j.jad.2022.09.028 

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Meta-analysis

ARTICLE TITLE

Evaluation of chatbot-delivered interventions for self-management of depression: Content analysis

SOUTH EAST ASIANS

Indian American youth share their experiences with discrimination

Study reveals second-generation Indian American adolescents experience discrimination as early as preschool

Peer-Reviewed Publication

TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY

Racial and ethnic discrimination is a regular occurrence for many of the more than 3.5 million South Asians living in the United States. A new study from the Texas A&M University School of Public Health reveals that for young Asian Indian Americans, this discrimination can start as early as preschool and influences development of their identities.

Studies have found increasing rates of hate crimes directed at South Asian Americans, including many Indian Americans. Despite facing similar levels of discrimination as Hispanic and Native American people, there have been fewer studies of discrimination and its effects on South Asian Americans. And most previous studies have focused on adult populations, excluding adolescents who are especially vulnerable to discrimination as they explore and form their identities.

A new study published in the journal Frontiers in Public Health takes a new look at ethnic and racial discrimination that a subgroup of South Asian Americans—Indian Americans—face in the United States, focusing on a younger population than in previous studies. The research team led by Jamilia Blake, Ph.D., School of Public Health professor and director of the Center for Health Equity and Evaluation Research (CHEER), surveyed second-generation Indian American adolescents to find out about their experiences with racial and ethnic discrimination and how these experiences affected their identities.

The study relied on data from open-ended surveys of nine Indian American adolescents between the ages of 12 and 17. These adolescents were all classified as second-generation, in this case meaning they were born in the United States and had parents who emigrated from India after the age of 18. The researchers collected data through individual interviews with participants lasting between 30 minutes and one hour. The interviews covered five hypothetical situations involving discrimination and included follow-up questions as needed to gain an understanding of how each participant viewed the scenarios.

The interviews highlighted the ways Indian American adolescents experience discrimination and how those experiences influence their identities. The interviewees reported about hate crimes and their experiences with peers at school who made discriminatory comments about Indian culture, language or religion.

These adolescents also discussed the difficulties they faced balancing their Indian identity with their desire to be seen as American. This balancing act often relies on code switching, where the interviewees spoke and acted differently when with family and at school. In some cases, these adolescents felt they were seen as fitting into neither group. The interviews also showed that Indian American youth begin facing discrimination as early as preschool or elementary school.

These findings highlight some of the challenges that young South Asian Americans may face. However, the researchers caution that the study sample was small, from a single geographical area, and with only one ethnic group among South Asian Americans. Thus, the findings may not reflect the experiences of South Asian American adolescents everywhere in the country. Future research that includes more people from a wider range of locations would provide more knowledge on the experiences of South Asian American youth as a whole.

Despite these limitations, this study gives insight into the experiences of young Indian Americans and how those experiences affect their development. The findings of this work can be used to guide future research into discrimination and its mental health and social effects in this population.

The research team also included recent doctoral graduate Asha K. Unni and colleagues from Texas A&M University and Davidson College.

Racial and ethnic discrimination is a regular occurrence for many of the more than 3.5 million South Asians living in the United States. A new study from the Texas A&M University School of Public Health reveals that for young Asian Indian Americans, this discrimination can start as early as preschool and influences development of their identities.

Studies have found increasing rates of hate crimes directed at South Asian Americans, including many Indian Americans. Despite facing similar levels of discrimination as Hispanic and Native American people, there have been fewer studies of discrimination and its effects on South Asian Americans. And most previous studies have focused on adult populations, excluding adolescents who are especially vulnerable to discrimination as they explore and form their identities.

A new study published in the journal Frontiers in Public Health takes a new look at ethnic and racial discrimination that a subgroup of South Asian Americans—Indian Americans—face in the United States, focusing on a younger population than in previous studies. The research team led by Jamilia Blake, Ph.D., School of Public Health professor and director of the Center for Health Equity and Evaluation Research (CHEER), surveyed second-generation Indian American adolescents to find out about their experiences with racial and ethnic discrimination and how these experiences affected their identities.

The study relied on data from open-ended surveys of nine Indian American adolescents between the ages of 12 and 17. These adolescents were all classified as second-generation, in this case meaning they were born in the United States and had parents who emigrated from India after the age of 18. The researchers collected data through individual interviews with participants lasting between 30 minutes and one hour. The interviews covered five hypothetical situations involving discrimination and included follow-up questions as needed to gain an understanding of how each participant viewed the scenarios.

The interviews highlighted the ways Indian American adolescents experience discrimination and how those experiences influence their identities. The interviewees reported about hate crimes and their experiences with peers at school who made discriminatory comments about Indian culture, language or religion.

These adolescents also discussed the difficulties they faced balancing their Indian identity with their desire to be seen as American. This balancing act often relies on code switching, where the interviewees spoke and acted differently when with family and at school. In some cases, these adolescents felt they were seen as fitting into neither group. The interviews also showed that Indian American youth begin facing discrimination as early as preschool or elementary school.

These findings highlight some of the challenges that young South Asian Americans may face. However, the researchers caution that the study sample was small, from a single geographical area, and with only one ethnic group among South Asian Americans. Thus, the findings may not reflect the experiences of South Asian American adolescents everywhere in the country. Future research that includes more people from a wider range of locations would provide more knowledge on the experiences of South Asian American youth as a whole.

Despite these limitations, this study gives insight into the experiences of young Indian Americans and how those experiences affect their development. The findings of this work can be used to guide future research into discrimination and its mental health and social effects in this population.

The research team also included recent doctoral graduate Asha K. Unni and colleagues from Texas A&M University and Davidson College.

---

JOURNAL

Frontiers in Public Health

DOI

10.3389/fpubh.2022.955011 

ARTICLE TITLE

“No, but where are you really from?” Experiences of perceived discrimination and identity development among Asian Indian adolescents

Zoonotic disease in dogs rises in Southern Chile after deworming program cancelled

Reestablishing program could help protect people and animals from hydatid disease

Peer-Reviewed Publication

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA - DAVIS

 

IMAGE: DOGS AT A SHEEP RANCH LOUNGE BESIDE A VEHICLE IN TIERRA DEL FUEGO IN SOUTHERN CHILE. CANINE ECHINOCOCCOSIS, A PARASITIC DISEASE, HAS INCREASED IN THE PROVINCE AFTER A DEWORMING PROGRAM WAS CANCELLED. view more 

CREDIT: ERIC EISENMAN, UC DAVIS

A parasitic disease, canine echinococcosis, has increased in Chile’s Tierra del Fuego province after a governmental dog deworming program was cancelled in 2004, according to a study from the University of California, Davis’ One Health Institute and School of Veterinary Medicine.

(Lea este artículo en español.)

The study, published in the journal Zoonoses and Public Health, was conducted in collaboration with the Universidad de Chile and the Wildlife Conservation Society-Chile. It notes that this zoonotic disease can significantly impact people. Cystic echinococcosis — also known as hydatid disease — affects more than 1 million people worldwide and is the second most common cause of human deaths from parasitic disease in Chile.

It is caused by the tapeworm Echinococcus granulosus, which is shed by dogs and can infect people. Dogs acquire the disease by consuming viscera of infected animals, such as sheep, making it prevalent in sheep farms and rural communities. 

The deworming program had reduced the prevalence of the disease in dogs in sheep farms from Chile’s Tierra del Fuego province from 68.4 percent in 1978 to 1.2 percent in 2002. The study found that without the intensive program, canine echinococcosis has increased to 6.9 percent, as of 2016.

“This study points to a persistent risk of echinococcosis in domestic dogs at ranches in Tierra del Fuego, where sheep farming is the main economic activity,” said corresponding author Marcela Uhart, director of the Latin America Program within the UC Davis One Health Institute. “It highlights the need to reestablish Chile’s program to prevent this disease’s reemergence as a significant public health concern.”

Sheep, foxes and other factors

For the study, researchers sampled 356 domestic dogs and interviewed owners and workers at 45 sheep ranches across Tierra del Fuego. They conducted dog fecal sample testing to detect the disease at Universidad de Chile’s School of Veterinary Medicine in Santiago.

They found that the prevalence of canine echinococcus was higher on ranches where interviewees reported infrequent deworming. The number of sheep, frequency of sheep slaughter and feeding dogs with sheep viscera and other ranch operational characteristics also influenced the prevalence of tapeworm eggs.

Infection prevalence was also associated with reports of presence of culpeo foxes. All canids present on the island, including the native culpeo and the introduced chilla foxes, are known to be hosts of the disease.

“Considering the increasing presence of feral dogs in Tierra del Fuego, it is important to develop an ethical program to manage them and reduce the potential spread of echinococcus and other pathogens that can affect both human and wildlife health on the island,” said Alejandro Vila, a coauthor of this study and regional program manager for the Southern Cone at Wildlife Conservation Society.

“This study was undertaken through an international collaboration and could not have been possible without the participation of the ranchers of Tierra del Fuego,” said senior author Cristobal Briceño of Universidad de Chile. “The findings highlight the relevance of addressing health threats from a One Health perspective, including human, animal and environmental health.”

The study’s additional authors include Eric Eisenman, Ralph Vanstreels and Jonna Mazet of the UC Davis One Health Institute and School of Veterinary Medicine; and Alejandro Kusch of the Wildlife Conservation Society-Chile.

The study was funded by the Fogarty International Center of the National Institutes of Health and the UC Global Health Institute.

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JOURNAL

Zoonoses and Public Health

DOI

10.1111/zph.13017 

ARTICLE TITLE

Increased prevalence of canine echinococcosis a decade after the discontinuation of a governmental deworming program in Tierra del Fuego, Southern Chile

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

13-Dec-2022

Implicit bias prevents women from obtaining prompt treatment for health problems

Many struggle for years to obtain validation from providers, family members

Peer-Reviewed Publication

UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS AT URBANA-CHAMPAIGN, NEWS BUREAU

 

IMAGE: COMMUNICATION PROFESSOR CHAREE THOMPSON, RIGHT, AND GRADUATE STUDENT SARA BABU CO-WROTE A STUDY ABOUT WOMEN’S STRUGGLES TO OBTAIN MEDICAL TREATMENT AND EMOTIONAL SUPPORT FOR CHRONIC HEALTH CONDITIONS, WHICH THEY SAY REPRESENTS A FORM OF IMPLICIT BIAS AND DISEMPOWERMENT THAT DENIES WOMEN’S KNOWLEDGE OF THEIR BODIES AND HEALTH. view more 

CREDIT: PHOTO BY FRED ZWICKY

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — For some women who experience serious and chronic physical or mental health conditions, one of their most daunting challenges is obtaining the belief and validation of health care providers, family members and friends, researchers found in a recent study.

Those in the study described prolonged struggles to obtain emotional support, diagnosis and treatment for a variety of serious, often-painful health conditions – including cancer, endometriosis, multiple sclerosis and Crohn’s disease, as well as mental illnesses such as depression and anxiety that were exacerbated by others’ negative reactions, said Charee Thompson, the first author of the study and a professor of communication at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.

“Most women we talked to had lived with their health issues and pain for years,” said Thompson. She and her co-authors – U. of I. graduate students Sara Babu and Shana Makos – interviewed 36 women from across the U.S. about their experiences with providers not taking their health concerns seriously and regarding the mental and physical toll it took.

“Most of them were in their 20s, 30s or older, and oftentimes their mental or reproductive health issues started when they were adolescents. We’re talking decades of neglect or undertreatment,” Thompson said. “One thing that was surprising and frankly heartbreaking was the personal rejection and sometimes the abuse that women experienced because of their health problems.”

Although the study population of 36 was small, the researchers said the women’s experiences reflect a form of implicit bias, discrimination and disempowerment that women have faced for centuries.

The team called these negative responses to participants’ health disclosures “communicative disenfranchisement” – a process that denies individuals’ knowledge of their health and bodies, and treats their symptoms, experiences and intersecting identities such as race and sexual orientation as nonexistent, imaginary or worthless.

Also known as medical gaslighting, communicative disenfranchisement “is an isolating, painful and humiliating experience that is sustained by talk from physicians and others that’s often intertwined with economic factors such as insurance status and transportation,” Thompson said.

University of Connecticut communication professor Elizabeth Hintz developed the theory of communicative disenfranchisement while studying the experiences of patients with multiple pain syndromes.

Ranging in age from 21-70, the majority of the participants in the current study were white. Six of the women were Black and the remaining three were Filipina, Hispanic or Middle Eastern. However, eight of the participants said they were multiracial.

When these women’s concerns were invalidated by their health care providers, they attributed their clinicians’ discrediting them to their race and economic or insurance status, according to the study.

Those whose mental health or reproductive health problems began during childhood or adolescence said their parents’ skepticism about their health problems, their family’s conservative values or lack of economic resources prevented them from obtaining the health care they needed until they became adults or entered college.

Study participants recounted experiences with clinicians who shamed or scolded them for their physical and mental health issues, made humiliating remarks about their bodies and weight, and attributed their health issues to “poor self-management and a personal failure to be doctorable – to present problems in ways that are worthy of medical care and attention,” the team wrote.

Many patients’ stories resembled “chaos narratives” where their well-being was negatively affected rather than improved by their interactions with providers. Each patient in the study told the team she saw several physicians before locating someone who listened to her concerns, engaged in mutual decision-making and helped her search for answers.

“Reeling from dismissal, women often disengaged from health care while simultaneously questioning themselves and trying to self-manage their symptoms,” the researchers wrote. “Isolated, women wondered if their symptoms were real, worthy of attention and care, and whether receiving this kind of treatment from providers was normal.”

Feeling dehumanized and traumatized, these patients grieved for the years and life experiences such as motherhood and careers lost to poor health, the team found. However, as they developed confidence in their self-knowledge and found their voices, many women were motivated by these injustices to advocate for others in their families or their community.

“I really admired these women for their strength and resilience,” Thompson said.

During the 18th and 19th centuries, women’s health complaints were often diagnosed as “hysteria” – a controversial mental health disorder and catchall diagnosis that physicians attributed to females’ supposed fragile, highly emotional nature, according to various researchers who explored the topic.

While hysteria was removed from the American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual for Mental Disorders in 1980, Thompson said “we now have coded, gendered language such as psychosomatic and somatoform disorders – where emotional distress triggers physical issues – that’s used when there’s no medical explanation for patients’ symptoms.”

Mitigating these biases requires that providers have cultural knowledge – including an understanding of patients’ intersectional gender and sexual identities as well as race – along with an awareness of their values and beliefs, Thompson said.

“The automatic response should be to believe women – before landing on a diagnosis or having confirmation bias, where you make a diagnosis and there’s nothing that moves you from it,” Thompson said. “To really listen to women means you do more listening than talking.”

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JOURNAL

Health Communication

DOI

10.1080/10410236.2022.2137772 

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Survey

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

People

ARTICLE TITLE

Women’s experiences of health-related communicative disenfranchisement

 SUCCESS IN ADVERTISING

Later brand reveal in advertisements leads to better sales

Peer-Reviewed Publication

UNIVERSITY OF OTAGO

 

IMAGE: DR JOHN WILLIAMS view more 

CREDIT: UNIVERSITY OF OTAGO

When it comes to product advertisements, consumers like a bit of mystery.

A University of Otago-led study, in partnership with researchers from the Ehrenberg-Bass Institute for Marketing Science, in Australia, has found television advertisements are more successful if they show the product first and the brand later.

Lead author Dr John Williams, of the Department of Marketing, says researchers examined creative variables in television advertisements and monitored consumers’ supermarket purchases after they viewed the ads.

The results contradict standard marketing theory and practice, but retrospectively make sense, Dr Williams says.

Part of the reason for this novel finding is that most advertising research evaluates “effectiveness” by asking consumers whether they would buy the product or even if they merely like the ad.

In contrast, researchers used a commercially-relevant and industry-validated measure of sales success, eliminating the so-called “intention-behaviour gap” that plagues much marketing research.

“Usually, television advertisements will start by showing the brand and then repeating it throughout,” Dr Williams says.

“But we discovered marketers should consider showing the product first and revealing the brand later.”

Research into consumer psychology suggests there are a few reasons for this.

“If you see an ad that’s relevant to you but you’re not sure what brand it’s for, that creates unresolved tension and attention – the critical first step in advertising effectiveness – which is then resolved, giving a little trickle of dopamine,” he says.

“This makes an ad memorable due to the prolonged attention and processing, and also creates positive associations.”

Secondly, people usually already have opinions on brands before seeing their advertisements.

“If the brand is shown first, people either already buy it or buy some other brand that does the same job.

“In each case, they are more likely to direct their attention elsewhere because they’ve already made up their mind – there is no unresolved mystery that is then resolved.”

The study, published in the International Journal of Market Research, also highlights the importance of using multiple methods to analyse data.

“All statistical methods of analysing data have strengths, weaknesses and caveats, and therefore if you only use one method, you can never be sure whether your results are due to patterns in the data, or some aspect of the method you applied.

“This risk can be mitigated if you use multiple methods and see if they all tell the same story.”

The results have practical implications for brand marketers and people who work in brand agencies, as consumers are not as concerned about brands as they might think.

“Most people want products and services that satisfy their wants and needs, rather than particular brands. Although, there are a lot of exceptions to this general rule.”

 

For more information please contact:

Dr John Williams

Department of Marketing

University of Otago

Email: john.williams@otago.ac.nz

 

Jessica Wilson

Adviser Media Engagement

University of Otago

Mobile: 021 279 5016

Email: jessica.wilson@otago.ac.nz

 

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JOURNAL

International Journal of Market Research

DOI

10.1177/14707853221134258 

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Observational study

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

People

ARTICLE TITLE

Finding creative drivers of advertising effectiveness with modern data analysis

New study finds animals play key role in restoring forests

The world’s wildlife populations have declined by almost 70% in the last 50 years as their habitats have been polluted and cleared by humans. Yet, animals play a crucial role in reforestation, a new study has found.

Peer-Reviewed Publication

YALE UNIVERSITY

As nations meet this week in Montreal on efforts to address an unprecedented loss of biodiversity — more than a million species are threatened with extinction — a new study published in The Royal Society journal Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B points to the unique and vital role animals play in reforestation.

An aerial view of regenerating secondary tropical forest in the Barro Colorado Nature Monument, Panama. Credit: Christian Ziegler, Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior. 

Efforts to restore forests have often focused on trees, but the study found that animals play a key role in the recovery of tree species by carrying a wide variety of seeds into previously deforested areas.

The study was conducted by an international team led by Sergio Estrada-Villegas, a postdoctoral associate at the Yale School of the Environment, working with Professor of Tropical Forest Ecology Liza Comita. The project, which examined a series of regenerating forests in central Panama spanning 20 to 100 years post-abandonment, was completed by Estrada-Villegas during his time as a Cullman Fellow in the joint program between YSE and the New York Botanical Garden. The study was published in a special theme issue of the journal that focused on forest landscape restoration as part of the U.N. Decade of Ecosystem Restoration.

“When we talk about forest restoration, people typically think about going out and digging holes and planting seedlings,” Comita says. “That's actually not a very cost-effective or efficient way to restore natural forests. If you have a nearby preserved intact forest, plus you have your animal seed dispersers around, you can get natural regeneration, which is a less costly and labor-intensive approach.”

The research team analyzed a unique, long-term data set from the forest in Barro Colorado Nature Monument in Panama, which is overseen by the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, to compare what proportion of tree species in forests were dispersed by animals or other methods, like wind or gravity, and how that changes over time as the forest ages. The team focused on the proportion of plants dispersed by four groups of animals: flightless mammals, large birds, small birds, and bats.

Because the area has been intensely studied by biologists at the Smithsonian for about a century, the research team was able to delve into data stemming back decades, including aerial photographs taken in the 1940s-1950s. The area also presents a unique view into forests where there is very little hunting or logging. The results offer the most detailed data of animal seed dispersal across the longest time frame of natural restoration, according to the study.

The role of flightless animals in seed dispersal across all forest ages, from 20 years to old growth, and the variety of animal species involved were among the most important findings of the study and point to the importance of natural regeneration of forests, Comita and Estrada-Villegas say. In tropical forests, more than 80% of tree species can be dispersed by animals.

The researchers say the findings can serve as a road map for natural regeneration of forests that preserve biodiversity and capture and store carbon at a time when the U.N. Decade of Restoration is highlighting the need for land conservation, and world leaders are working to mitigate climate change stemming from fossil fuel emissions. Forests soak up carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and store it in biomass and soils. Tropical forests, in particular, play an important role in regulating global climate and supporting high plant and animal diversity, the researchers note.

Estrada-Villegas, an ecologist who studies both bats and plants, says the study highlights how crucial animals are to healthy forests.

“In these tropical environments, animals are paramount to a speedy recovery of forests,” says Estrada-Villegas, who has recently joined the faculty of Universidad del Rosario in Bogotá, Colombia.

The study was co-authored by Daisy H. Dent, a tropical ecologist from the Max Planck Institute for Animal Behavior; Pablo Stevenson, of the Universidad de los Andes in Bogota, Columbia; Omar López, of the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute in Balboa, Panama; and Saara J. DeWalt, chair of the Department of Biological Sciences at Clemson University.

 

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JOURNAL

Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B Biological Sciences

DOI

10.1098/rstb.2021.0076 

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

Animals

ARTICLE TITLE

Animal seed dispersal recovery during passive restoration in a forested landscape