Most unmarried, low-income couples show positive co-parenting

Study shows how parenting teamwork helps child development

Peer-Reviewed Publication

OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Despite the many challenges they face, slightly more than half of unmarried low-income couples with children have positive co-parenting relationships, a new study found.

 

And those supportive relationships were linked to their children showing more empathy, less emotional insecurity and fewer behavior problems.

 

Parents who are good co-parents work together as a team, provide support to each other and back up each other’s parenting decisions, said Susan Yoon, lead author of the study and associate professor of social work at The Ohio State University.

 

Those types of relationships may be particularly hard for the parents in this study, who may be more likely than others to be stressed by finances, racism, and lack of support.

 

“Our study specifically focused on racially and ethnically diverse unmarried couples with low incomes who are more likely to face a lot of parenting challenges,” Yoon said.

 

“But we found that 56% of these families had good co-parenting relationships which was linked to positive outcomes for their children.  Our findings really highlight the strengths these families exhibit.”

 

The study was published online recently in the Journal of Marriage and Family.

 

Participants in the study were 4,266 unmarried couples and their preschool-aged children from eight cities across the country who participated in the Building Strong Families study.

 

Parents in the study completed measures of how much they worked with their partner as a team to raise their child, and their perception of the other parent as a supportive co-parent.

 

Children’s socioemotional development was measured by asking mothers a variety of questions about their child’s empathy toward other children, their emotional insecurity and their internalizing problems (such as how fearful they were) and externalizing problems (such as being overly active).

 

The results of the study showed couples fell into four categories based on the quality of co-parenting and how each member of the couple thought the other did as a co-parent.

 

The largest category, Profile 4 – 56% of the sample - included couples with high-quality co-parenting in which both the mothers and fathers thought the other parent was supportive.

 

“This is the category where the children had the best outcomes, and it is encouraging that this was the largest group in our study,” Yoon said.

 

Parents in the other categories showed that it wasn’t just the quality of co-parenting that was related to how well the children fared – it also mattered quite a bit how much parents agreed that their partner was supportive, according to Yoon.

 

Children fared the worst in Profile 2 - (25% of the sample) – in which co-parenting was of moderate-high quality, but fathers had more negative views of how the mother co-parented.

 

“These findings suggest that fathers’ dissatisfaction might be an important warning sign for children’s poor functioning, even though co-parenting seemed relatively good,” Yoon said.

 

Children didn’t do much better in Profile 3 (12%), where co-parenting was rated moderate, but mothers were much less happy than fathers were with the co-parenting relationship.

 

Parents in Profile 1 (7%) had low-quality co-parenting and mothers had more negative perceptions of the co-parenting relationship.  Here children also did not fare well.

 

“Overall, we found that it isn’t just the quality of co-parenting that matters for children, it is also important to look at whether both the mother and father are satisfied with how things are going,” Yoon said.

 

“It is not good if there is a discrepancy between how mothers and fathers feel about the co-parenting relationship.”

 

These results show how important it is to include fathers in studies like this, given how their agreement or disagreement with mothers on co-parenting played a key role in child development.

 

Results also showed that when both parents had higher income and education, they were more likely to demonstrate high levels of supportive co-parenting.

 

“In order to strengthen families, we need to ensure that these low-income, unmarried parents have access to financial and material resources,” Yoon said.  “That can help support the development of mutually satisfying, high-quality co-parenting relationships.”

 

Other co-authors, all from Ohio State, were Joyce Y. Lee, Junyeong Yang, Jingyi Wang, Yiran Zhang, Minjung Kim and Sarah Schoppe-Sullivan.

 

The study was funded by the Department of Health and Human Services Administration for Children and Families and the National Institute on Drug Abuse.

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JOURNAL

Journal of Marriage and Family

DOI

10.1111/jomf.12952 

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Data/statistical analysis

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

People

ARTICLE TITLE

Coparenting profiles and children's socioemotional outcomes in unmarried parents with low-income

 

Mount Sinai researchers find testosterone hormone therapy for transmasculine individuals is safer than previously thought

This represents the largest report on red blood cell changes with gender-affirming testosterone treatment

Peer-Reviewed Publication

THE MOUNT SINAI HOSPITAL / MOUNT SINAI SCHOOL OF MEDICINE

A common concern about gender-affirming hormone therapy for transmasculine people is the risk of red blood cell volume changes and erythrocytosis, a high concentration of red blood cells, with the use of prescribed testosterone. However, Mount Sinai researchers have found that testosterone treatment may be safer than previously reported, with results published today in The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism.

Mount Sinai researchers from the Division of Endocrinology and Center for Transgender Medicine and Surgery examined the relationship between the use of testosterone as part of gender-affirming hormone therapy (GAHT) for transmasculine individuals and changes in hematocrit, a test that measures how much of a person's blood is made up of red blood cells. The study of a large North American cohort is the largest on this subject to date.

“A major concern of patients, providers, and parents is the safety of hormone therapy for transgender and gender-diverse people. The findings from this study represent very important reassurance regarding the safety of testosterone as masculinizing treatment,” said Joshua Safer, MD, FACP, FACE, Executive Director of the Mount Sinai Center for Transgender Medicine and Surgery, Professor of Medicine at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, and senior author of the report. “Providers should feel more comfortable prescribing testosterone when it is indicated. Patients and the families of patients should feel reassured regarding at least this one source of anxiety about treatment.”

The researchers conducted a cross-sectional analysis of serum-based testosterone and hematocrit levels in 6,670 transmasculine patients who were prescribed testosterone for GAHT through Plume, a virtual provider of gender-affirming care across 45 states. Patients were included if they had an active prescription from Plume for a testosterone product as part of their GAHT regimen, and recent hematocrit and testosterone laboratory values available for analysis. The total testosterone was measured using liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry, and hematocrit was calculated as part of a complete blood count. The hematocrit and testosterone laboratory values were collected as part of the same blood sample, typically mid-week after a weekly injection, for all patients using injectable forms of testosterone. 

Researchers found that higher testosterone levels were associated with higher hematocrit levels, however, the magnitude of change in hematocrit was small and unlikely to be clinically meaningful. Only 8.4 percent of transmasculine individuals in the study had a hematocrit greater than 50 percent, and less than 1 percent had a hematocrit greater than 54 percent, the level at which treatment for erythrocytosis is recommended, often through the use of phlebotomy (bloodletting). These numbers are lower than those previously reported in smaller studies, and the finding of such a small degree of change in hematocrit and a lower risk of erythrocytosis should provide more assurance to those prescribing and using testosterone as GAHT. 

“Our study found that the numbers of patients on testosterone therapy with abnormal red blood cell elevations were lower than previously reported in smaller studies. It’s noteworthy that in the largest North American cohort reported to date, less than 1 percent of transmasculine individuals  had a hematocrit level where medical interventions might be required. These results should help providers feel more comfortable prescribing testosterone as part of GAHT,” said the first and corresponding author, Nithya Krishnamurthy, a second-year medical student at Icahn Mount Sinai. “This work suggests a need to assess the influence of other factors that can lead to secondary erythrocytosis; such as being overweight, smoking tobacco, or using alcohol.”

About the Mount Sinai Health System

Mount Sinai Health System is one of the largest academic medical systems in the New York metro area, with more than 43,000 employees working across eight hospitals, more than 400 outpatient practices, more than 300 labs, a school of nursing, and a leading school of medicine and graduate education. Mount Sinai advances health for all people, everywhere, by taking on the most complex health care challenges of our time—discovering and applying new scientific learning and knowledge; developing safer, more effective treatments; educating the next generation of medical leaders and innovators; and supporting local communities by delivering high-quality care to all who need it. Through the integration of its hospitals, labs, and schools, Mount Sinai offers comprehensive health care solutions from birth through geriatrics, leveraging innovative approaches such as artificial intelligence and informatics while keeping patients’ medical and emotional needs at the center of all treatment. The Health System includes approximately 7,400 primary and specialty care physicians; 13 joint-venture outpatient surgery centers throughout the five boroughs of New York City, Westchester, Long Island, and Florida; and more than 30 affiliated community health centers. Hospitals within the System are consistently ranked by Newsweek’s® “The World’s Best Smart Hospitals, Best in State Hospitals, World Best Hospitals and Best Specialty Hospitals” and by U.S. News & World Report's® “Best Hospitals” and “Best Children’s Hospitals.” The Mount Sinai Hospital is on the U.S. News & World Report® “Best Hospitals” Honor Roll for 2023-2024.

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JOURNAL

The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

People

ARTICLE TITLE

Erythrocytosis is rare with exogenous testosterone in gender-affirming hormone therapy

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

27-Nov-2023

 

Durable, inexpensive electrocatalyst generates clean hydrogen and oxygen from water

Peer-Reviewed Publication

TSINGHUA UNIVERSITY PRESS

 

IMAGE: 

NATURAL CLAY MAGADIITE CONTAINING SILICON (SI) WAS HEATED IN A SEALED VESSEL IN A WATER-BASED SOLUTION CONTAINING IRON CHLORIDE (FECL3) AND NICKEL CHLORIDE (NICL2) TO CREATE A METALLIC SILICATE MADE UP OF NICKEL (NI), IRON (FE) AND SI.  THE METALLIC SILICATE WAS THEN REDUCED BY ADDING ELECTRONS TO METALLIC SILICATE ATOMS WITH MAGNESIUM, SALT AND HEAT TO CREATE THE MORE ORGANIZED INTERMETALLIC SILICIDE (FERRIC-NICKEL SILICIDE) STRUCTURE.  THE GRAPH ILLUSTRATES THE LOWER VOLTAGE REQUIRED FOR THE FERRIC-NICKEL SILICIDE (FENISI) ALLOY ELECTROCATALYST TO PRODUCE HYDROGEN AND OXYGEN GAS COMPARED TO NISI AND FESI ALLOYS.

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CREDIT: NANO RESEARCH ENERGY, TSINGHUA UNIVERSITY PRESS

Hydrogen is a highly combustible gas that can help the world achieve its clean energy goals if manufactured in an environmentally responsible way.  The primary hurdle to creating hydrogen gas from water is the large amount of energy required for the electrolysis of water, or splitting water molecules into hydrogen gas (H2) and oxygen (O2).  A new electrocatalyst made of nickel (Ni), iron (Fe) and silicon (Si) that decreases the amount of energy required to synthesize H2 from water has been manufactured in a simple and cost-effective way, increasing the practicality of H2 as a clean and renewable energy of the future.

 

Most H2 produced today is derived from fossil fuels, which contributes to global warming.  Manufacturing H2 from water through the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) requires the use of a catalyst, or agent that lowers the amount of energy required for a chemical reaction.  Until recently, these catalysts were made up of rare earth metals, like platinum, reducing the cost-efficiency and practicality of clean hydrogen production. A group of material scientists from Dalian University of Technology in Dalian, China manufactured an electrocatalyst, or a catalyst that uses electricity, using inexpensive materials and methods to effectively decrease the energy required to generate clean H2 from water.  Importantly, the ferric-nickel silicide (FeNiSi) alloy, or mixture, also reduces the energy required to generate O2 from water, making the catalyst bifunctional.

 

The researchers published their study in Nano Research Energy on November 3, 2023.

 

“What really limits the development and practical application of water electrolysis technology is electrocatalytic materials. At present, common catalysts, such as precious metals…, are mostly single-function catalysts, which limits the practical application of water electrolysis for hydrogen production. Therefore, the research and development of efficient, stable, cheap and environmentally friendly bifunctional electrocatalytic materials is a primary goal in the field of electrocatalysis,” said Yifu Zhang, senior author of the study and researcher in the School of Chemistry at Dalian University of Technology.

 

Transition metal silicide alloys are unique compounds that are commonly used in energy-related fields, are cheaply produced and show promise as potential water hydrolysis electrocatalysts.  These alloys are made from transition metals, which are excellent catalysts that freely donate and accept electrons in chemical reactions, and Si atoms, which enhance the stability, heat resistance and accessibility of alloy transition metal atoms when electricity is applied.

 

Fe and Ni, two transition metals, are well-suited for use in a transition metal silicide for water splitting.  “Nickel silicide has been… deeply studied for its low resistance and high metal activity, especially… in electrochemical fields. In addition, many recent studies have shown that Fe-Ni based materials have considerable potential in the field of electrochemical water splitting. The aim of this work was to develop a low-cost, environmentally friendly route to prepare iron nickel silicide as a bifunctional electrolytic water catalyst (EWS),” said Zhang.

 

The research team manufactured FeNiSi in two steps.  First, natural clay magadiite, a source of silicon, iron chloride and nickel chloride were heated under pressure to create a ferric-nickel silicate.  The ferric-nickel silicate was then combined and heated with magnesium and sodium chloride (table salt) to develop the ordered structure of the FeNiSi alloy.  Importantly, this was the first time a metallic silicide alloy had been manufactured using this type of chemical reaction using metallic silicates as a reaction material.

 

Electron microscopy and X-ray characterization techniques revealed that the manufacturing process created many pore structures in the final FeNiSi alloy, increasing its surface area and overall electrocatalytic performance. The FeNiSi alloy lowers the potential required to split oxygen and hydrogen from water by 308 mV for the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) and 386 mV for the HER, respectively, at a current of 10 mA·cm−2.  The electrocatalyst also demonstrated sufficient durability after 15 hours of use.

 

The research team looks forward to FeNiSi and other transition metal silicates contributing to the synthesis of clean hydrogen gas for future energy needs.  “This work not only provides an easy method for the synthesis of intermetallic silicide with considerable porous structures but also allows the intermetallic silicide to be considered as a bifunctional electrocatalyst for EWS.  Low-cost and efficient intermetallic silicide electrocatalysts will provide new opportunities for… renewable energy conversion,” said Zhang.

 

 

Other contributors include Xuyang Jing, Yang Mu, Zhanming Gao and Xueying Dong from the School of Chemistry at Dalian University of Technology in Dalian, China; Changgong Meng from the School of Chemistry and the College of Environmental and Chemical Engineering at Dalian University of Technology; and Chi Huang from the College of Chemistry and Molecular Sciences at Wuhan University in Wuhan, China.

 

This research was supported by the Natural Science Foundation of Liaoning Province (2023-MS-115) and the Large Instrument and Equipment Open Foundation of Dalian University of Technology.

 

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About Nano Research Energy 

Nano Research Energy is launched by Tsinghua University Press, aiming at being an international, open-access and interdisciplinary journal. We will publish research on cutting-edge advanced nanomaterials and nanotechnology for energy. It is dedicated to exploring various aspects of energy-related research that utilizes nanomaterials and nanotechnology, including but not limited to energy generation, conversion, storage, conservation, clean energy, etc. Nano Research Energy will publish four types of manuscripts, that is, Communications, Research Articles, Reviews, and Perspectives in an open-access form.

About SciOpen 

SciOpen is a professional open access resource for discovery of scientific and technical content published by the Tsinghua University Press and its publishing partners, providing the scholarly publishing community with innovative technology and market-leading capabilities. SciOpen provides end-to-end services across manuscript submission, peer review, content hosting, analytics, and identity management and expert advice to ensure each journal’s development by offering a range of options across all functions as Journal Layout, Production Services, Editorial Services, Marketing and Promotions, Online Functionality, etc. By digitalizing the publishing process, SciOpen widens the reach, deepens the impact, and accelerates the exchange of ideas.

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JOURNAL

Nano Research Energy

DOI

10.26599/NRE.2023.9120104 

ARTICLE TITLE

Intermetallic ferric nickel silicide alloy derived from magadiite by magnesiothermic reaction as bifunctional electrocatalyst for overall water splitting

 

Future floods: Global warming intensifies heavy rain – even more than expected

Peer-Reviewed Publication

POTSDAM INSTITUTE FOR CLIMATE IMPACT RESEARCH (PIK)

“Our study confirms that the intensity and frequency of heavy rainfall extremes are increasing exponentially with every increment of global warming,” explains Max Kotz, lead-author of the study published in the Journal of Climate. These changes follow the physical theory of the classic Clausius-Clapeyron relation of 1834, which established that warmer air can hold more water vapour. ”State-of-the-art climate models vary on how strongly extreme rainfall scales with global warming and that they underestimate it compared to historical observations.”

“Climate impacts on society have been calculated using climate models. Now our findings suggest that these impacts could be much worse than we thought. Extreme rainfall will be heavier and more frequent. Society needs to be prepared for this,” says PIK department head and author of the study Anders Levermann. Changes in the frequency and intensity of daily rainfall extremes over land can impact social welfare, the economy and social stability, given their link to flooding but also ground-water availability, which can cause considerable loss of life and financial losses.

Stronger increases of extremes across tropical regions

The researchers at PIK analysed the intensity and frequency of daily precipitation extremes over land in 21 state-of-the-art climate simulations (CMIP-6) and compared the changes projected by CMIP-6 models to those observed historically. The method they applied draws on pattern-filtering techniques, allowing them to separate which changes in the climate system are forced by human emissions, and which are not.

While most land-areas exhibit increases in both the intensity and frequency of extremes, stronger increases are typically found across tropical regions, according to the study. Significant changes most often occur across the tropics and high-latitudes, like in Southeast Asia or Northern Canada. The fact that these changes follow the Clausius-Clapeyron relation underpins the fact that thermodynamics, i.e. temperature and not dynamics, i.e. winds, dominate the global change of extreme rainfall events. “The good news is that this makes it easier to predict the future of extreme rainfall. The bad news is: It will get worse, if we keep pushing up global temperatures by emitting greenhouse gases,” Anders Levermann adds.

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JOURNAL

Journal of Climate

DOI

10.1175/JCLI-D-23-0492.1 

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Computational simulation/modeling

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

Not applicable

ARTICLE TITLE

Constraining the pattern and magnitude of projected extreme precipitation change in a multi-model ensemble

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

27-Nov-2023

 

European parrots have dialects

Study is the first to document dialect differences in a parrot across its European range

Peer-Reviewed Publication

MAX-PLANCK-GESELLSCHAFT

“Just like humans, monk parakeets in Europe have unique ways of communicating based on where they live,” says lead author Stephen Tyndel, a doctoral student at the Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior.

Europe doesn’t have any native parrot species. However, several species, including the monk parakeet, have established populations after individuals escaped from the pet trade. Originally from South America, monk parakeets now exist in huge numbers in several countries in Europe. Like all parrots, monk parakeets have an exceptionally flexible vocal repertoire and can imitate and learn new sounds throughout their lives. Because the invasive parrot spread through Europe only recently, says Tyndel, “monk parakeets are the perfect test tube for studying how complex communication evolves in a species other than our own.”

To find out if monk parakeets in Europe developed dialects – that is, calls that differ based on where individuals live – researchers recorded monk parakeets in eight cities across Spain, Belgium, Italy, and Greece. A novel statistical method allowed them to test if parrot calls were different from city to city, and also if calls were different among parks within the same city. “We wanted to find out not only if there are different dialects, but at what geographical scale they occur,” says Tyndel.

City-specific dialects

They discovered that parrots did have different dialects in each city. Parakeets in Brussels, for example, had contact calls that were particularly different from those of other cities, says co-lead author Simeon Smeele, an affiliate scientist at the Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior and the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology. For the most part, dialects differed in the frequency modulation structure within each call, “which is super difficult for humans to hear,” adds Smeele.

But when scientists looked for dialects within parks in each city, they found no differences. Parrots did not have unique calls from one park to the next. “Taken together, this suggests that parrot dialects separated early when birds invaded European cities, but then didn’t significantly change further over this time period,” says Tyndel.

The results were surprising, says Tyndel. “This suggests that dialects came about through a passive process – birds copying birds make small errors and therefore cities slowly become different from each other – or that they were different to begin with, and that these differences were maintained over time.”

But the team haven’t ruled out that dialects might also be formed by an active process that could help birds with social communication, such as recognizing group mates. In parks, monk parakeets live in nests that are highly clustered. The researchers think there might be vocal differences, like slang, at these smaller social units.

“We think that dialects could be used to communicate who is part of what nest cluster, like a password,” says Smeele. In the future, the team plans to find out how individuals learn from each other and if smaller groups show dialects within parks.

“This will add to our understanding of parrot communication,” says Tyndel, “and provide insights into the ways in which complex communication is linked to the complex social lives of humans and animals.”

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JOURNAL

Behavioral Ecology

DOI

10.1093/beheco/arad093 

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Data/statistical analysis

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

Animals

ARTICLE TITLE

Multilevel Bayesian analysis of monk parakeet contact calls shows dialects between European cities

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

23-Nov-2023

Vampire bats make northward flight seeking stable climates

Peer-Reviewed Publication

VIRGINIA TECH

 

IMAGE: 

PAIGE VAN DE VUURST, A PH.D. STUDENT IN TRANSLATIONAL BIOLOGY, MEDICINE, AND HEALTH, CONDUCTS FIELD RESEARCH ON VAMPIRE BATS IN COLOMBIA THIS SUMMER.

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CREDIT: PHOTO COURTESY OF PAIGE VAN DE VUURST.

Vampire bats may soon take up residence in the United States and bring with them an ancient pathogen.

“What we found was that the distribution of vampire bats has moved northward across time due to past climate change, which has corresponded with an increase in rabies cases in many Latin American countries,” said Paige Van de Vuurst, a Ph.D. student in Virginia Tech’s Translational Biology, Medicine, and Health Graduate Program. 

Van de Vuurst is the lead author of research recently published in the Ecography journal that predicts that vampire bats — currently only found in Mexico and Central and South America — are on the move with the United States being a viable home in 27 years. The findings concluded that with shifting seasonality — the differences in temperature between the coldest and warmest seasons — vampire bats have expanded their locations in search of more stable, temperate climates.

The research team, which included both undergraduate and graduate students, also found this expanded reach could be linked to a spillover of rabies. Vampire bats are known carriers of rabies, a disease known for its high mortality rates and often considered the oldest pathogen known by humans, dating back 3,000 years. 

Latin America is currently feeling the bite of the rabies spread through the loss of livestock, which has generated fear as the bats’ migration patterns expand. The Virginia Tech team aims to vigorously identify and track the bats by traveling to Colombia to help contain the spread to other countries, including the United States and its vital cattle industry. 

Why Colombia?

"Colombia is a mega-diverse country, making it a perfect natural laboratory," said Luis Escobar, assistant professor in the Department of Fish and Wildlife Conservation in the College of Natural Resources and Environment. The country boasts having the highest number of hummingbirds and bats, attributed to its tropic climate and proximity to the equator. 

Collaborating with three local universities – University of La Salle, Universidad Distrital, and Universidad del Tolima  –  the collective team traveled all across Colombia to collect more than 70 samples of bat species. This included a range of geographic and climate changes, starting in the hot and humid jungles to cold and cloudy parts of the Andes Mountains that are only accessible by cable car. This allowed the team to secure a variety of samples and observe how changes in climate can change the emergence of diseases in bats. 

The team also explored places in Colombia that were previously closed to scientists, including Chaparral, a municipality in the Tolima region  that was allowed to start welcoming tourists after the 2016 peace agreement.

The team’s research sought to address a knowledge gap that limits the understanding of the spread of rabies and its spillover from wildlife to humans. Their work had three primary aims:

• Determine the role of habitat and virus mutation on rabies spillover to humans and livestock across Latin America
• Identify the effect of changes in biodiversity in rabies virus spillover
• Investigate geographic and environmental factors influencing the spread of bat-borne

Sinking teeth into the experience

This field experience allowed four undergraduate and two graduate students to travel to Colombia.

“There is a sad reality in wildlife research at the moment that often mandates a ‘pay to play’ mentality, where students must pay for the experience of doing field work, especially international field work,” Van de Vuurst said.

All of the students' expenses, including travel, accommodations, and food, were supported through a National Science Foundation grant, Examining the Geography of Pathogen Spillover, awarded to Escobar, an affiliated faculty member in the Center for Emerging, Zoonotic, and Anthropod-borne Pathogens and the Global Change Center. Van de Vuurst led the team’s campuswide recruitment efforts, yielding 30 interested students from across disciplines.

In advance of the trip to Colombia to study vampire bats, Escobar and his team met near the Duck Pond to review critical safety information and field sampling protocols.

“We selected a truly stellar group of students, and I could not be prouder of them,” said Van de Vuurst.

She was provided an opportunity as an undergraduate to go on an international excursion to Peru. “That trip changed my life, and really opened up the world of ecology for me. I am so glad that we were able to offer that same kind of once in a lifetime research experience to so many students through Luis' hard work and generosity.”

For undergraduate Julia Alexander, it was a series of firsts, including first field experience, first time on a plane, and first time out of the country. 

As part of the Escobar Lab’s research staff, Alexander was able to study disease transmission in vampire bats and other local bat species, working with local communities in the Tolima region. It was critically important for Escobar and Van de Vuurst to be able to offer the international research opportunity, knowing that undergraduate students are not usually able to participate in such an experience.

“I not only learned valuable field skills for my career, but also important life lessons from every challenge faced,” Alexander said. “Although this journey was not easy, I wouldn’t exchange the experience for anything else.”

Crossing borders to collaborate

The value of building a network of international collaboration cannot be understated, especially in terms of the commonalities  of technology, facilities, and students between Virginia Tech and their international partners.

In fact, Escobar is hosting Diego Soler-Tovar, assistant professor from Universidad La Salle, who will be working in the Escobar lab through late January 2024, to study the drivers of rabies spread in Latin America.

"We all have one goal: generating samples, new data, and new knowledge," Escobar said.

 

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JOURNAL

Ecography

DOI

10.1111/ecog.06714 

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

Animals

ARTICLE TITLE

Climate change linked to vampire bat expansion and rabies virus spillover

  

New research documents the rising economic burden of US firearm injuries and deaths

An in-depth analysis of costs associated with US fatal and nonfatal firearm injuries conducted by investigators at CDC and reported in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine revealed a 16% increase in 2020 compared with 2019

Peer-Reviewed Publication

ELSEVIER

 

IMAGE: 

FROM 2029 TO 2020, THE COST OF FIREARM DEATHS INCREASED 16% WITH NON-HISPANIC BLACK PERSONS, MALES, YOUNG AND MIDDLE-AGED ADULTS EXPERIENCING THE LARGEST INCREASE.

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CREDIT: CENTERS FOR DISEASE CONTROL AND PREVENTION

Ann Arbor, November 27, 2023 – The economic impact of fatal and nonfatal firearm injuries in the United States increased by 16% in 2020 compared with 2019, according to new research reported in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, published by Elsevier. The study also provides evidence of significant disparities in costs associated with firearm deaths in 2019−2020, with non-Hispanic Black individuals, males, and young and middle-aged groups being most affected, along with those who reside in urban areas and the South.

Firearm-related injuries are among the five leading causes of death for people one to 44 years of age in the United States. These fatal and nonfatal injuries take a human toll on individuals, families, and communities—and come at a high economic cost to the nation.

Investigators at the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) analyzed data from the following data sources to provide estimates of the economic burden of fatal and nonfatal firearm injuries in the United States in 2020: 2019−2020 Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project (HCUP) Nationwide Emergency Department Sample (NEDS) database, the most recent data available; and the 2019−2020 multiple cause-of-death mortality data from the restricted-use National Vital Statistics System (NVSS). The majority of nonfatal costs are attributed to hospitalization, while fatal costs are largely attributable to value of lives lost. Previous estimates have not included person-specific measures like lost quality of life and lives lost, which heavily impact the economic burden.

Lead investigator, Gabrielle F. Miller, Health Scientist, National Center for Injury Prevention and Control at CDC, Atlanta, elaborated, “The bulk of the costs associated with firearm injuries across all demographic and geographic categories does not come from the medical costs, but rather from lost quality of life and lives lost.”

Key findings from this analysis include:

• The total cost of firearm-related injuries and deaths in the United States for 2020 was $493.2 billion, a 16% increase compared with 2019.

• The cost of fatal firearm injuries vastly outweighs the cost of nonfatal firearm injuries.

• Nonfatal firearm injuries costs increased from $7.58 billion in 2019 to $9.30 billion in 2020.
• Fatal firearm injuries costs increased from $418.88 billion in 2019 to $483.90 billion in 2020.

• There were significant disparities in the cost of firearm related injuries and deaths in 2019−2020 by race/ethnicity, sex, age, and geographic location, including:

• Non-Hispanic Black people, males, young and middle-aged adults experienced the largest increases in costs related to firearm deaths.
• Urban areas and the South had higher costs than rural areas and the Northeast, Midwest, and West regions.
• For firearm homicide, the highest costs were borne by non-Hispanic Black people in 2019−2020, whereas for firearm suicide the highest costs were borne by non-Hispanic White people.

• Suicide accounted for about half of the total cost of fatal firearm injuries while assaults accounted for close to 1005 of the total cost of nonfatal firearm injuries.

James A. Mercy, PhD, Director, Division of Violence Prevention, CDC, Atlanta, added, “The human toll of firearm injuries and deaths in our nation is vast and cannot be fully captured by these economic costs. Nevertheless, these costs are a valuable tool for measuring the economic benefit of the many strategies available that work to prevent firearm deaths and injuries.”

Interventions and preventive measures include reducing access to lethal means among individuals at risk of harming themselves or others, strengthening economic supports and access to health and mental health care, education, and social services, and addressing systemic and structural inequities.

Dr. Miller noted, “Continued prevention efforts can reduce the costs to our society and ease the risks and inequities of the costs associated with firearm injuries and deaths.” 

CDC investigates injuries and violence to find the best ways to prevent firearm violence and suicide, applying science and creating real-world solutions to keep people safe, healthy, and productive. Understanding the economic burden that the immediate and long-term harms of firearm injuries pose on society tells us about the impact of injury prevention.

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JOURNAL

American Journal of Preventive Medicine

DOI

10.1016/j.amepre.2023.09.026 

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Data/statistical analysis

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

People

ARTICLE TITLE

Costs of Fatal and Nonfatal Firearm Injuries in the U.S., 2019 and 2020

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

27-Nov-2023

Characteristics and obtainment methods of firearms used in adolescent school shootings

JAMA Pediatrics

Peer-Reviewed Publication

JAMA NETWORK

About The Study: School shooting incidents in the U.S. were typically executed using low- and moderate-powered firearms, according to this analysis of data from 262 adolescents who discharged firearms in 253 school shootings spanning 26 years. These weapons were most frequently stolen from family members or relatives of the perpetrators. These findings may significantly influence discussions around gun control policy, particularly in advocating for secure firearm storage to reduce adolescents’ access to weapons. 

Authors: Brent R. Klein, Ph.D., of the University of South Carolina in Columbia, is the corresponding author.

To access the embargoed study: 

 https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamapediatrics/fullarticle/10.1001/jamapediatrics.2023.5093?guestAccessKey=8eea46f0-4c80-408d-9e19-4def3e4a7ec0&utm_source=For_The_Media&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=ftm_links&utm_content=tfl&utm_term=112723

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JOURNAL

JAMA Pediatrics