PRE WWII

An 87-year-old deal is keeping a lid on the naval war in Ukraine — for now

Constantine Atlamazoglou
Updated Thu, October 19, 2023 


Fighting between Russia and Ukraine in the Black Sea has picked up in recent months.


The fighting is taking a toll on Russia's Black Sea Fleet, which Moscow can't reinforce.


Turkey's enforcement of the Montreux Convention limits what Russia and NATO can send into the sea.

While Ukrainian and Russian forces are locked in a grinding battle for territory in eastern and southern Ukraine, fighting in the Black Sea has picked up.

Ukraine has conducted several high-profile attacks against Russian targets in recent weeks, including missile strikes on occupied Crimea that hit Russia's Black Sea Fleet headquarters and Russian navy dry docks. Its strike on the dry docks took out a landing ship and a Kilo-class submarine and is set to further hamstring Russian naval logistics.

Those attacks were not Kyiv's first successes against Russia's navy, but Ukraine lacks a fleet — it scuttled its flagship in March 2022 to prevent its capture by Russia — and has relied on asymmetrical warfare, including naval drones, to counter Russia in the Black Sea.

Russia's Black Sea Fleet hasn't been defeated, but its losses, including the sinking of its flagship, the Moskva, weigh more heavily on Russia's war effort because of a deal signed nearly a century ago that's preventing Moscow from bringing more ships into the Black Sea.

Ships bottled up

Russian warships at the Black Sea Fleet base in Sevastopol in July 2010.AP Photo/Sergey Ponomarev

Signed in 1936, the Montreux Convention governs the transit of merchant vessels and warships through the Dardanelles and the Bosporus Strait and the presence of warships in the Black Sea.

The convention distinguishes between Black Sea powers — those with a Black Sea coastline — and non-Black Sea powers. In peacetime, warships belonging to non-Black Sea powers cannot stay in the sea for more than 21 days.

The convention also has limits for the combined tonnage of vessels from non-Black Sea powers that can be in the sea at one time, capping it at a maximum of 45,000 tons with no more than 30,000 tons belonging to one country. A US Navy Arleigh Burke-class destroyer, several of which have sailed into the sea in recent years, is about 9,000 tons.

While the convention doesn't specifically rule out aircraft carriers, a 15,000-ton limit for vessels of non-Black Sea powers transiting the straits effectively prohibits them. Submarines from non-Black Sea powers are also not allowed.

Russian Navy submarine Rostov-on-Don sailing through the Bosphorus to the Black Sea in February 2022.OZAN KOSE/AFP via Getty Images

Turkey controls the straits connecting the sea to the Mediterranean, and all foreign warships have to notify Turkey prior to passage — 15 days ahead of time for non-Black Sea powers and eight days for Black Sea countries.

During war, the convention permits Turkey to limit the passage of warships to the Black Sea — even if Turkey is not at war — unless these ships are returning to their base. On February 28, 2022, four days after Russia attacked Ukraine, Turkey invoked that power.

"When Turkey is not a belligerent in the conflict, it has the authority to restrict the passage of the warring states' warships across the straits. If the warship is returning to its base in the Black Sea, the passage is not closed," Turkey's foreign minister said at the time. "All governments, riparian and non-riparian, were warned not to send warships across the straits."

Ankara's invocation of the convention is seen as significant because it has prevented Russia from bolstering its Black Sea Fleet. If Turkey were to open the straits, "the first thing you would see is a significant naval reinforcement from other parts of the Russian fleet, and that isn't in Ukraine's interest or ours," Ben Wallace, Britain's defense minister at the time, said at the Shangri-La Dialogue in June.

Smoke rising from a fuel tank after an attack in Sevastopol in April.REUTERS/Stringer

While Turkey's move has limited Russian naval movements, experts differ on its overall impact on the war.

"Initially, it was thought that it was a big deal that some of the Russian warships were prevented from entering the Black Sea. But Russia had a massive naval presence there anyway," including six ships from its Baltic and Northern fleets that entered the sea before Turkey invoked the convention, Volodymyr Dubovyk, a professor at Odessa's I. Mechnikov National University, told Insider.

Dubovyk added that Russia's ships in the Black Sea didn't give it a "decisive edge over Ukraine," and because of the effectiveness of Ukraine's attacks, those ships had become "sitting ducks" that had "to hide away from the Ukrainian coast."

Russian warships still appear to be stationed at Sevastopol, the main Russian naval base in Crimea, but Ukraine's success in targeting that base and Russian forces nearby will probably have a lasting impact.

"I think that these developments are going to contribute to a change in thinking about the role of naval power," Dubovyk told Insider.

Allied help

A Turkish navy frigate alongside a Romanian frigate in the Black Sea in February 2018.NATO

Iulia-Sabina Joja, the director of the Black Sea program at the Middle East Institute, a think tank in Washington, DC, said the convention also allowed Turkey to shape the international response to the war.

"The Montreux Convention is confusing," Joja told Insider. "It actually states that when Turkey is not a belligerent but feels threatened, then it can act as if it were a belligerent."

In such a case, as Joja noted, the decision about which warships can enter the Black Sea is entirely up to the Turkish government, according to the convention. (Merchant ships can pass through the straits freely, even during wartime, and satellite imagery suggests Russia is using them to move military hardware through the sea.)

This provision could allow Turkey to let warships from NATO navies into the Black Sea, and some experts have advocated that the alliance seek access to the sea to escort merchant vessels carrying Ukrainian grain, thus helping circumvent Russia's blockade.

A cargo ship passes a beach on the Danube River, which is being used for Ukrainian grain shipments, in Izmail in August.Getty Images

While the convention may allow such an action, going through with it would be politically difficult for NATO and for Ankara.

"We have two unknowns here: whether the Turkish government is willing to let NATO maritime defense capabilities in and whether NATO allies have the political will to build a credible deterrence and defense in the Black Sea region," Joja told Insider.

Turkey is a NATO member but maintains a good relationship with Russia. That has, at times, frustrated other NATO members, but Ankara used it to help broker the 2022 deal allowing Ukraine to ship grain through the Black Sea. (Russia withdrew from the deal in July and imposed its blockade.)

Allowing NATO warships into the Black Sea now would test Turkey's relations with Russia, but, Joja said, it would also benefit the alliance, "contribute to security in the Black Sea region, and would indirectly even help Ukraine ship grain out of the Black Sea."

Constantine Atlamazoglou works on transatlantic and European security. He holds a master's degree in security studies and European affairs from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy. You can contact him on LinkedIn and follow him on X.

EV NEWS

Toyota and Lexus are adopting Tesla's EV charging standard

They will have access to 12,000 Tesla Superchargers starting in 2025.

Mariella Moon
·Contributing Reporter
Thu, October 19, 2023 

John Keeble via Getty Images

One by one, automakers have started adopting the North American Charging Standard (NACS) used by Tesla's Superchargers as they move towards their goal of replacing their fleet with electric vehicles. Toyota is the latest company to join the growing list. The automaker has announced that it has reached an agreement with Tesla to incorporate NACS ports into certain Toyota-branded vehicles starting in 2025. Some EVs under its luxury brand, Lexus, will come with the standard's charging ports, as well.

By using NACS ports on its electric vehicles, Toyota is effectively giving its customers the power to access more than 12,000 Tesla Superchargers across North America. While the company won't be implementing the standard over the next year, its timeline matches its rival automakers'. To note, customers who already have Toyota and Lexus vehicles equipped with the Combined Charging System (CCS) will be offered access to NACS adapters starting in 2025, as well.

BMW also recently announced that it was adopting the standard for all its EVs in the United States and Canada. A few months ago, GM and Ford revealed they were making the switch starting in 2025, but owners will already be able to access Tesla Superchargers next year with an adopter. Hyundai will adopt the port for its EVs in the US in 2024, with EVs in Canada to follow in 2025. Honda, Toyota's fellow Japanese automaker, announced its transition to NACS in September and its plans to sell vehicles with the port in two years' time. It also said, however, that it's developing an adapter to allow pre-2025 Hondas to charge using Tesla's system.

Suzuki eyes exporting India-made EVs to Japan as early as 2025 -Nikkei

Reuters
Wed, October 18, 2023 

The logo of Suzuki Motor Corp. is pictured at the 45th Tokyo Motor Show in Tokyo

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan's Suzuki Motor will start producing electric vehicles in India and export them from there to Japan as early as 2025, the Nikkei newspaper reported on Wednesday.

In a step to make India its global electric car manufacturing hub, Suzuki will also consider supplying India-made EVs to partner Toyota Motor for European markets that would be sold under the Toyota brand, the Nikkei said.

Suzuki declined to comment on the report. Toyota, which owns a 4.9% in Suzuki, was not immediately able to comment.

Nikkei said Suzuki will set up a new production line at a plant in India's western state of Gujarat, where its subsidiary Maruti Suzuki would start producing next autumn.

The battery-powered cars that Suzuki plans to export to Japan would be small sports utility vehicles and would have a price tag of around 3 million yen ($20,043) to 4 million yen, Nikkei said.

The production line would also make gasoline-powered cars and would reach an expected capacity of 250,000 units a year, the newspaper added.

($1 = 149.6800 yen)

Lordstown Motors ex-CEO approved to buy company assets for $10 million

Wed, October 18, 2023


By Dietrich Knauth

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Electric vehicle company Lordstown Motors received U.S. bankruptcy court approval Wednesday to sell its manufacturing assets to a new company affiliated with its founder and former CEO Stephen Burns for $10.2 million.

LAS Capital, majority-owned by Burns, will acquire Lordstown's intellectual property, business records, and machinery including assembly lines for electric vehicle motors and batteries.

U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Mary Walrath approved the sale at a court hearing in Wilmington, Delaware, saying it was the best available offer.

The sale does not include any rights to pursue legal claims against Lordstown's directors, officers or equity owners, which will remain with the bankrupt company, Lordstown Motors' attorney David Turetsky said at the court hearing. Several investor groups have already brought claims against Lordstown and its directors, alleging that the electric truck startup misled consumers and investors about its ability to ramp up electric vehicle production.

Lordstown Motors filed for bankruptcy in Delaware in June, seeking to wind down its business after failing to resolve a dispute over a promised investment from Taiwan's Foxconn, which had agreed to collaborate on the development of Lordstown's electric pickup truck after its purchase of Lordstown's manufacturing center.

Foxconn, formally called Hon Hai Precision Industry (2317.TW) and best known for assembling Apple's iPhones, has argued that it was not required to make further investments in Lordstown after the automaker's stock fell below $1 per share.

LAS Capital's attorney Jennifer Madden said that it was not purchasing any Endurance trucks for resale to the public and not acquiring any vehicles that had already been sold to customers and are subject to recalls from the U.S. Department of Transportation.

Most of the purchased equipment is located at an Ohio manufacturing facility now owned by Foxconn, and Madden said LAS Capital will work with Foxconn to remove the machinery.

Burns resigned from the role of CEO in 2021, following an internal investigation into a short seller's claim that Lordstown had overstated the viability of its technology and misled investors about production plans. Burns later sold his remaining equity in the company before it went bankrupt.

Lordstown's ex-CFO Julio Rodriguez, who resigned at the same time as Burns, is also involved with LAS Capital as a minority owner and manager.

Most Americans still don't want an electric car — and many EV buyers end up going back to gas

Tim Levin
Wed, October 18, 2023

• Most Americans don't intend to buy an electric car in the near future, according to a new study.

• People who do spring for an EV often buy a gas car as their next purchase, per another study.

• Still, EV sales are climbing fast and are on track to surpass 1 million units in the US this year.

Even as electric vehicles dominate headlines and hot new models hit the market, most Americans aren't interested in giving up gasoline.

In a recent poll conducted by Yahoo Finance and Ipsos, 57% of respondents said they were not likely to choose an EV when they buy their next car. (For the purposes of the study, EVs included fully electric cars and plug-in hybrids, which have a larger battery and more electric range than traditional hybrids.)

Of that majority, 36% said they were "not at all likely" to go electric, while 21% said they were "not too likely." Thirty-one percent of those surveyed said they were likely to buy an EV.

The biggest factors turning potential buyers off from EVs are the same worries that consistently pop up in these kinds of surveys: High vehicle cost, limited driving range, and insufficient charging infrastructure. The study also highlights a striking political divide among the EV-curious; 41% of Democrats said they'd buy an EV, compared to only 17% of Republicans.

Once a person takes the electric plunge, they're not always instant converts.

A recent analysis from S&P Global Mobility found that many EV-owning households buy a gas-fueled car next. In the mainstream market, 52.1% of EV households (excluding Tesla's industry-leading loyalty numbers) buy an EV as their next vehicle, meaning almost half do not.

That next vehicle could be either a replacement or an additional car. Owning both an EV and an internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicle makes sense if consumers want an EV for short daily trips and another car that's better for long-haul journeys.

Automakers "are spending huge amounts of money to develop EVs," Tom Libby, associate director for loyalty solutions and industry analysis at S&P Global Mobility, said in a statement. "So the last thing they want is for an EV owner to go back to ICE."

Tesla households, which most EV households are, buy another EV a whopping 76.7% of the time, lifting the average for the luxury EV segment as a whole to 72.6%. Some other brands don't fare as well; Porsche and BMW had EV loyalty rates of 36.8% and 45.9%, respectively.

Despite the headwinds, EVs continue to take off. US EV sales have increased for 13 straight quarters, according to Cox Automotive. And the US is on pace to notch its first year with more than 1 million EVs sold.

NYAH, NYAH

Russia says it need no longer obey UN restriction on missile technology for Iran

Reuters
Tue, October 17, 2023


(Reuters) - Russia said it need no longer obey U.N. Security Council restrictions on giving missile technology to its ally Iran once they expire on Wednesday, without saying whether it now planned to support Tehran's missile development.

"Supplies to and from Iran of products falling under the Missile Technology Control Regime no longer require prior approval by the U.N. Security Council," Russia's foreign ministry said in a statement on Tuesday.

The restrictions were defined in Resolution 2231 of 2015 endorsing a deal by which Britain, China, the European Union, France, Germany, Russia and the U.S. removed sanctions against Iran in return for Tehran curbing its nuclear programme.


In 2018, then-President Donald Trump withdrew the U.S. from the deal, known as the JCPOA, leaving unilateral U.S. sanctions in place, and Iran subsequently accelerated its nuclear programme, which it says is purely peaceful.

With the deal in shreds, U.N. sanctions intended to prevent the theocratic state developing long-range nuclear-capable ballistic missiles came back into force. But these will finally expire on Wednesday.

Russia has grown close to Iran since invading Ukraine in February 2022 and itself being shunned by the West. Many of the hundreds of one-way attack drones it has used to bomb Ukraine in the last year are believed to have been made in Iran.

The EU said on Tuesday that it planned to join the U.S. in retaining sanctions on Iran's ballistic missile programme after the U.N. sanctions expire.

Sources had earlier told Reuters there were three reasons for this: Russia's use of Iranian drones against Ukraine; the possibility that Iran might transfer ballistic missiles to Russia; and the need to deprive Iran of the benefits of the nuclear deal, which it violated after the U.S. withdrew.

Russia urged both the EU and the U.S. to drop their sanctions, which it said were "an effort to settle political scores with Tehran" and had no implications for "other countries that treat international law and their obligations with due respect".

(Reporting by Reuters; Writing by Kevin Liffey; Editing by Howard Goller)

British navy chief says AUKUS submarine project needs 'rat-catchers' not regulators

David Brunnstrom
Tue, October 17, 2023 


: U.S. President Biden meets with Australian PM Albanese and British PM Sunak at Naval Base Point Loma in San Diego

By David Brunnstrom

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The head of Britain's Royal Navy joined Australia on Tuesday in questioning U.S. bureaucratic hurdles facing the three-country AUKUS project to supply Australia with nuclear-powered submarines.

Admiral Sir Ben Key, Britain's First Sea Lord, said U.S. regulations should not be used to maintain a competitive edge at a time when Western powers find themselves in "as contested an environment as we have been in for many decades, in terms ... of the global order."

"We have to be very careful as to what it is that you want your rules environment to achieve," he told Washington's Center for Strategic and International Studies think tank, referring to International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) governing U.S. technology transfer, something the AUKUS project requires.

"If your rules environment is to prevent your adversaries from getting it and seeing what it is, that's probably realistic," Key said. "If your rules environment is to allow you a competitive edge in a different way, then I would question whether that's really enabling what matters to us all, which is to try and ensure a security framework."

Key cited as a cautionary tale a 1996 critique of bureaucratic obstacles to the effective exercise of British naval power that developed between the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805 and the Battle of Jutland in 1916.

"The analysis in 'The Rules of the Game' is very clear: that one of the reasons that we were not as successful in the Battle of Jutland as many thought we should have been, is because we'd become hide-bound by rules," he said.

"What the author postulates is that in long periods of peace, the regulators predominate, and in war, rat-catchers predominate," he said, referring to people unafraid to bend rules to achieve the desired outcome.

In the current environment of global uncertainty, Key said, "we want rat-catchers to start predominating, and the regulators to be taking a back step ... we just need to be really careful that we've got that balance right."

The Biden administration has said it is working with the Congress to ease rules on technology sharing with Britain and Australia, but progress so far has been limited, with analysts pointing to resistance within the State Department.

Key's comment came after Australia's Washington ambassador Kevin Rudd was quoted in Australian media last week criticizing "ridiculous" U.S. bureaucracy holding back faster progress on AUKUS, which brings together the U.S. and Britain with Australia amid shared concern about China's growing might.

"We don't have any time to wait. The times are urgent," the Australian Financial Review quoted Rudd as saying.

Rudd spoke ahead of a visit to Washington next week by Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese at which AUKUS will be high on the agenda.

(Reporting by David Brunnstrom; Editing by Lincoln Feast.)

 

Safely removing nanoplastics from water using 'Prussian blue', a pigment used to dye jeans

Microplastics can be removed by 99% with flocculants alone, without any additional equipment, by irradiating them with sunlight

Peer-Reviewed Publication

NATIONAL RESEARCH COUNCIL OF SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

 

IMAGE: 

NANOPLASTIC TREATMENT USING FEHCF NANOBOTS UNDER VISIBLE-LIGHT IRRADIATION

view more 

CREDIT: KOREA INSTITUTE OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

Plastic waste breaks down over time into microplastics (<0.1 μm). Microplastics smaller than 20 μm cannot be removed in currently operating water treatment plants and must be agglomerated to a larger size and then removed. Iron (Fe) or aluminum (Al) based flocculants are used for this purpose, but they are not the ultimate solution as they remain in the water and cause severe toxicity to humans, requiring a separate treatment process.

Dr. Jae-Woo Choi of the Center for Water Cycle Research at the Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST) has developed an eco-friendly metal-organic skeleton-based solid flocculant that can effectively aggregate nanoplastics under visible light irradiation.

Prussian blue, a metal-organic frameworks-based substance made by adding iron (III) chloride to a potassium ferrocyanide solution, is the first synthetic pigment used to dye jeans a deep blue color and has recently been used to adsorb cesium, a radioactive element, from Japanese nuclear plant wastewater. While conducting experiments on the removal of radioactive materials from water using Prussian blue, the KIST research team discovered that Prussian blue effectively aggregates microplastics under visible light irradiation.

The research team developed a material that can effectively remove microplastics by adjusting the crystal structure to maximize the aggregation efficiency of Prussian blue. When the developed material is irradiated with visible light, microplastics with a diameter of about 0.15 μm (150 nm), which are difficult to remove using conventional filtration technology, can be agglomerated to a size about 4,100 times larger, making them easier to remove. In experiments, the researchers found that they were able to remove up to 99% of microplastics from water. The developed material is also capable of flocculating microplastics more than three times its own weight, outperforming the flocculation efficiency of conventional flocculants using iron or aluminum by about 250 times.

The material not only uses Prussian blue, which is harmless to the human body, but is also a solid flocculant, making it easy to recover residues in water. It also uses natural light as an energy source, enabling a low-energy process.

"This technology has a high potential for commercialization as a candidate material that can be applied to general rivers, wastewater treatment facilities, and water purification plants," said Dr. Choi of KIST. "The developed material can be utilized not only for nanoplastics in water, but also to clean up radioactive cesium, thus providing safe water." Meanwhile, Dr. Youngkyun Jung, the first author of the paper, said, "The principle of this material can be utilized to remove not only microplastics, but also a variety of contaminants in water systems."

Schematics of the preparation of the FeHCH nanobots and process for NP removal

CREDIT

Korea Institute of Science and Technology

Supplementary Video [VIDEO] |

Formation of the FeHCF@NP complex under visible-light irradiation

KIST was established in 1The sources of photos and research results from KIST must be specified.Formation of the FeHCF@NP complex under visible-light irradiation966 as the first government-funded research institute in Korea. KIST now strives to solve national and social challenges and secure growth engines through leading and innovative research. For more information, please visit KIST’s website at https://eng.kist.re.kr/

The research, which was supported by the Ministry of Science and ICT (Minister Lee Jong-ho) through the Material Innovation Leading Project (2020M3H4A3106366) and the KIST Institutional Project (2E32442), was published on October 1 in the international journal Water Research.

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JOURNAL

Water Research

DOI

10.1016/j.watres.2023.120543 

ARTICLE TITLE

Visible-light-induced Self-propelled Nanobots Against Nanoplastics

 

American Academy of Pediatrics reviews toddler ‘formulas,’ questions marketing of drinks

A growing array of drinks advertised as a nutritious next step following human milk or infant formula lack standard composition and nutrition requirements

Peer-Reviewed Publication

AMERICAN ACADEMY OF PEDIATRICS

 

Toddler “formulas” that are promoted as nutritious drinks for the older infant or preschooler are generally unnecessary and nutritionally incomplete, and the marketing practices that promote them are questionable, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics. 

The AAP has published a new clinical report, “Older Infant-Young Child ‘Formulas,’ ” that reviews the growing array of drinks aimed at children ages 6-36 months and observes that they lack standardization or regulatory oversight. The clinical report, developed by the AAP Committee on Nutrition, will be released on Friday, Oct. 20, during the 2023 AAP Conference & Exhibition in Washington, D.C. The authors will discuss the clinical report during a session, “Toddler Formula, Growing Up Milk, Transition Formula: What’s in a Name?” from 2:30-3:30 p.m. Friday at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center, 146C. 

The session will be repeated from 7:30 a.m.-8:30 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 21, at the convention center, Room 207A. 

The authors will be available for interviews. Contact AAP Public Affairs to request an interview. 

“Products that are advertised as ‘follow-up formulas,’ ‘weaning formulas,’ or ‘toddler milks and formulas,’ are misleadingly promoted as a necessary part of a healthy child’s diet or, for those directed at young infants, equivalent to infant formula,”  said lead author George J. Fuchs, III, MD, FAAP, a member of the Committee on Nutrition, which produced the clinical report.   

“These drinks should not replace a balanced diet and are inferior to standard infant formula in children less than 12 months of age and offer no benefit over much less expensive cow’s milk in most children older than age 12 months. Some children may have special nutritional needs, as well, and so as with any child, it is always best to check with your pediatrician.” 

The clinical report will be published in the November 2023 Pediatrics (published online Oct. 20). Clinical reports created by AAP are written by medical experts, reflect the latest evidence in the field, and go through several rounds of peer review before being approved by the AAP Board of Directors and published in Pediatrics. 

The AAP supports continued breastfeeding along with appropriate complementary foods introduced at about 6 months, as long as mutually desired by mother and child for 2 years or beyond. If the infant is not breastfed, the AAP and others recommend whole cow milk as suitable for infants beginning at 12 months of age as part of a nutritionally complete, balanced diet. 

Although medical or therapeutic formulas are indicated for a variety of conditions, such as chronic gastrointestinal diseases, metabolic disorders, food allergy, and others, such prescribed formulas are different from older infant-young child “formulas”.  

“It’s understandable that families and caregivers may be confused by the different names, compositions, and purported benefits of these so-called ‘formulas,’ ” said Steven A. Abrams, MD, FAAP, co-author of the report. “Some of the toddler drinks are high in sugar.  And to top it off, they are typically more expensive than cow’s milk.” 

As of now, the U.S. has no regulatory oversight to ensure that formulas for this age group adhere to any set of uniform standards. 

The AAP recommends: 

• For infants younger than 12 months, the liquid portion of the diet should be provided by human milk or standard infant formula, which in the U.S. have been reviewed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration based on the Infant Formula Act. 

• For toddlers (children 12 months and older), caregivers should provide a varied diet with fortified foods to optimize nutritional intake. Older infant-young child “formulas” can safely be used as part of a varied diet for children but do not provide a nutritional advantage in most children over a well-balanced diet that includes human milk or cow milk.  

• Marketing of these drinks should make a clear and unambiguous distinction from standard infant formula in promotional materials, logos, product names, and packaging. They should not be placed alongside infant formula on store shelves. 

• Pediatricians should complete a focused nutritional assessment of children and offer adjustment of solid food intake or vitamin supplementation as needed.  

 

“We are all familiar with picky eaters. And there may be reasons why some families avoid cow’s milk and dairy products,” Dr. Fuchs said. “That’s why it’s important to ask your pediatrician to evaluate if children are getting all the nutrients they need. Together, you can discuss a plan to address any potential deficiencies.” 

To request an embargoed copy of the clinical report or an interview with an author, contact AAP Public Affairs. 

## 

The American Academy of Pediatrics is an organization of 67,000 primary care pediatricians, pediatric medical subspecialists and pediatric surgical specialists whose mission is to attain optimal physical, mental, and social health and well-being for all infants, children, adolescents, and young adults.  

For frequent updates on AAP recommendations, Pediatrics studies, AAP in the news, public awareness campaigns, information for parents and more, follow us on social media @AmerAcadPeds.  

 

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METHOD OF RESEARCH

Systematic review

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

People

ARTICLE TITLE

American Academy of Pediatrics Reviews Toddler ‘Formulas,’ Questions Marketing of Drinks

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

20-Oct-2023

 

Electric hair styling products common cause of burn injuries in children

Roughly 31,000 hairstyling product-related injuries in children between 2013-22; curling irons and curlers most likely hair styling products to require hospital visit for children

Reports and Proceedings

AMERICAN ACADEMY OF PEDIATRICS

Washington, D.C.— Electronic hair styling products like curling irons are a common cause of burn injuries around the home, particularly among young children, resulting in almost 31,000 burns in children and young people between 2013-22, according to research presented during the 2023 AAP National Conference & Exhibition at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center.  

Researchers who wrote the abstract, “Burn Injuries in Children from Hair Styling Tools Presenting to United States Emergency Departments, 2013-2022: Beauty is More Than Skin Deep,” studied data on emergency department visits involving hair styling equipment for patients ages 24 and younger from the National Electronic Injury Surveillance System database. Research showed that from 2013 to 2022 there were an estimated 30,839 burn injuries from hair styling tools and 1,050 emergency department visits. Hair curlers and curling irons accounted for 97.4% of the burn injuries reported. 

“Hair styling tools are a timeless piece of our everyday routine, helping to create the picture-perfect look. Yet they have the greatest propensity to create a not so picture-perfect accident when not handled with care,” said CPT Brandon L. Rozanski, MD, lead author and pediatric resident at Tripler Army Medical Center. “Electric hair styling tools can reach temperatures as high as 450ºF in a matter of minutes, creating potential situations of unintentional burn injury for both the device user and surrounding bystanders.” 

Of those hospital emergency department encounters studied, 68% of the injured subjects were age 10 or younger and 65.1% were female. Almost three quarters of these injuries occurred within the home (72.3%), and 98.6% did not require hospital stays or require any other escalation of care. 

“This study demonstrated that children have the greatest propensity to present to the emergency department with burn injuries sustained from hair styling tools,” CPT Rozanski said. “Using this information, clinicians have a unique opportunity to provide targeted anticipatory guidance to educate families on the hazard surrounding everyday use of electric hair styling tools in addition to stressing age-appropriate use with and without parental supervision.” 

The research authors did not receive financial support for this research. 

CPT Rozanski is scheduled to present his research, which is below, from 4:45-5:45 PM Sunday, Oct. 22, in Exhibit Hall A at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center. To request an interview with the authors, contact CPT CPT Rozanski, MD, at rozanskib97@gmail.com. 

Please note: only the abstract is being presented at the meeting. In some cases, the researcher may have more data available to share with media, or may be preparing a longer article for submission to a journal.   

 

# # #

 

The American Academy of Pediatrics is an organization of 67,000 primary care pediatricians, pediatric medical subspecialists and pediatric surgical specialists dedicated to the health, safety and well-being of infants, children, adolescents and young adults. For more information, visit www.aap.org. Reporters can access the meeting program and other relevant meeting information through the AAP meeting website at http://www.aapexperience.org/

 

ABSTRACT

Program Name: AAP National Conference & Exhibition

Submission Type: Section on Uniformed Services

Abstract Title: Burn Injuries in Children from Hair Styling Tools Presenting to United States Emergency Departments, 2013-2022: Beauty is More Than Skin Deep

Brandon Rozanski 

Severn, MD, United States 

Electric hair styling tools are common household items, often employed for daily use by people of varying ages and gender. With temperatures reaching as high as 450ºF in a matter of minutes, hair styling tools have the potential to result in an unintentional burn injury for both the device user and surrounding bystanders. Prior studies investigating hair styling tool-related injuries have focused primarily on one electronic device – the curling iron – and have limited analyses on the mechanism of injury. The frequency of burn injuries from hair styling tools across the product spectrum is not well-defined. The purpose of our study is to address the literature gap and better characterize the epidemiology of burn injuries from hair styling tools that present to emergency departments (ED) in the United States from 2013-2022. 

The National Electronic Injury Surveillance System (NEISS) database was queried using the hair styling tool-related product codes (1682-hair curlers and curling irons, 1602-hair dryers, 1662-hair grooming equipment and accessories, 1651- combs not specified, and 1637- electric combs) for ED visits in the United States. We evaluated the frequency of injuries in subjects ages 0-24 years from 2013-2022 whose injuries involved the aforementioned products, and the subject was diagnosed with a burn (diagnosis codes= 46-49 and 51). All reported values are population national estimates generated from actual hair styling tool-related injury encounters. These were calculated using the NEISS-supplied weights and variance variables. Rao-Scott Chi-square was used for all categorical comparisons. 

From 2013 to 2022, there were an estimated 30,839 (95% confidence interval (CI) 24,761 – 36,918) burn injuries from hair styling tools generated from 1,050 actual emergency department encounters captured (Table 1).

Approximately 68% of the injured subjects were younger than 10 years of age (median age 4.3 years, interquartile range (IQR) 2.0-15.2 years). Persons were more likely to be female (65.1%). The majority of these injuries occurred within the home (72.3%). Of the burn injuries from hair styling tools, 98.6% had no escalation of care required. For the hair styling tool consumer products analyzed, the product code 1682—Hair Curlers, Curling Irons—accounted for 97.4% of the burn injuries reported (Table 2). 

This study demonstrated that children have the greatest propensity to present to the emergency department with burn injuries sustained from hair styling tools, particularly from hair curlers and curling irons. The characteristics of the injury pattern described provides an opportunity for targeted anticipatory guidance to educate families regarding the hazard of electric hair styling tools. Specifically, parents should be counseled with regards to the appropriate ages for children to be able to use these tools independently and without supervision. 

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METHOD OF RESEARCH

Data/statistical analysis

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

People

ARTICLE TITLE

Electric Hair Styling Products Common Cause of Burn Injuries in Children

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

20-Oct-2023

 WHY SCHOOLS NEED NURSES NOT COPS

Adolescents and young adults of all identities open to discussing sexual identity and gender identity with doctors

Survey shows that most teenagers are open to frank conversations with doctors or nurses about sex and gender

Reports and Proceedings

AMERICAN ACADEMY OF PEDIATRICS

Washington, D.C.— Teenagers and young adults are fairly open to the idea of talking with their doctors and nurses about their sexual orientation and gender identity and are okay being asked through various methods, whether on paper, electronically, or in person, according to research presented during the 2023 AAP National Conference & Exhibition at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center. 

This is one of the first studies to establish how adolescents would prefer to broach this sensitive subject while visiting their health care provider. Gender-diverse and lesbian, gay, and bisexual youth are far more open to having these personal conversations with health care providers than their straight and cisgender peers, according to the research abstract.

Researchers who wrote the abstract, “Asking Adolescents and Young Adults about their Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity: Lessons for Clinic Staff and EHR Documentation,” surveyed 260 youth, ages 10 to 26, and found that nearly 70% were comfortable with being asked about their sexual orientation and gender identity during medical visits.  

“Our study showed that teenagers are remarkably open to discussing their sexual orientation and gender identity through various methods when visiting their doctor’s office. This finding emphasizes the importance of creating diverse avenues for communication, whether in-person or through virtual or paper registration forms,” said Jessica Pourian, MD, who conducted her research as a pediatric resident at Hasbro Children’s Hospital in Providence, Rhode Island and is now a clinical informatics fellow at the University of California, San Francisco. “By facilitating these discussions, we can foster an inclusive healthcare environment that ultimately leads to more effective and tailored care for our young patients.”  

While 64% of all youth agreed that it is important for health care providers to ask about their gender identity, chosen name, and pronouns, gender diverse youth were far more comfortable with that conversation (83%) compared with their cisgender peers (45%). Lesbian, gay, and bisexual youth were also more open to conversations about sexual orientation—56% compared to 38% of heterosexual youth. Over 96% of gender-diverse youth expressed a desire to have their chosen name and pronouns displayed in electronic health records, available to all medical staff. 

“When health care providers make assumptions about patients’ sexual orientation or gender identity, they miss opportunities for screening, risk causing distress, and can damage patient-provider relationships,” Dr. Pourian said. “This research shows that clinics should focus on integrating conversations about sexual orientation or gender identity into their practice to provide better and more comprehensive care to teenagers and young adults.” 

Dr. Pourian is scheduled to present her research, which is below, from 12 to 12:45 PM Monday, Oct. 23, during session H4051. To request an interview with the authors, contact Dr. Pourian at jessica.pourian@gmail.com. 

In addition, Dr. Pourian is among highlighted abstract authors who will give a brief presentation and be available for interviews during a press conference on Sunday, Oct. 22, from 8-9 a.m. ET in the National Conference Press Room 102 AB. During the meeting, you may reach AAP media relations staff in the press room. 

 

Please note: only the abstract is being presented at the meeting. In some cases, the researcher may have more data available to share with media, or may be preparing a longer article for submission to a journal. 

 

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The American Academy of Pediatrics is an organization of 67,000 primary care pediatricians, pediatric medical subspecialists and pediatric surgical specialists dedicated to the health, safety and well-being of infants, children, adolescents and young adults. For more information, visit www.aap.org. Reporters can access the meeting program and other relevant meeting information through the AAP meeting website at http://www.aapexperience.org/

 

ABSTRACT

Submission Type: Section on LGBT Health and Wellness

Abstract Title: Asking Adolescents and Young Adults about their Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity: Lessons for Clinic Staff and EHR Documentation

Jhanavi Kapadia

North Attleboro, MA, United States

When healthcare providers make assumptions about patients’ sexual orientation or gender identity (SOGI), they miss opportunities for screening, risk causing distress, and can damage patient-provider relationships. Previous studies of gender diverse (GD) and lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) adults have reported high levels of acceptance with their SOGI data being assessed and documented in the electronic health record (EHR), but less is known about adolescent and young adult (AYA) perspectives. Our study aimed to identify preferred approaches to collecting and documenting SOGI data from AYA.

This study was conducted at an academic adolescent medicine clinic in the northeastern United States between November 2022 to February 2023. Patients presenting to the clinic, which included four programs (primary care, gender, eating disorder, gynecology/menstrual health), were recruited. Participation was anonymous and voluntary. Paper questionnaires were administered by a medical assistant upon check-in during in-person visits. Demographics included SOGI and age. Likert scales were used to assess perceived importance of provider or staff assessing their SOGI and preferred method of assessment (via tablet, physician, etc.). Responses were entered into a REDCap database. All comparisons were performed using Pearson’s chi-squared or Fisher’s exact test where appropriate. All tests were two-sided; p-values < 0.05 were considered statistically significant. Patients were classified as GD and/or LGB based on responses.

Two hundred and sixty patients completed the survey, ages 10 to 26 (most common age category 18-20, 32%). Fifteen percent of respondents were from the eating disorder program, 43% from gender, 34% from primary care, and 7% from gynecology/menstrual health. Overall, 129 (50%) were GD and 136 (52%) were LGB. Ninety-nine patients (38%) identified as both GD and LGB. Sixty four percent agreed it was important for providers to ask about gender identity, chosen name, and pronouns. More GD youth compared to cisgender youth agreed that asking about this data was important (83% v 45%, p< 0.001). Asking about sexual orientation was perceived as less important compared to gender identity. More LGB youth agreed with the importance of asking about sexual orientation compared to heterosexual youth (56% v 38%, p< 0.02). Seventy percent of AYA were comfortable being asked about their SOGI, and no single method was preferred over another. Over 96% of GD youth wanted their chosen name and pronouns displayed in EHRs.

Most AYA are comfortable being asked for their SOGI data in a healthcare setting. GD and LGB youth expressed higher rates of comfort than their cisgender and heterosexual peers for SOGI questions respectively. AYA did not have a preference on the SOGI collection method. Clinics should focus on integrating SOGI collection into their practice to provide more comprehensive care to AYA.

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METHOD OF RESEARCH

Survey

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

People

ARTICLE TITLE

Adolescents and Young Adults of all Identities Open to Discussing Sexual Identity and Gender Identity with Doctors

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

20-Oct-2023