It’s possible that I shall make an ass of myself. But in that case one can always get out of it with a little dialectic. I have, of course, so worded my proposition as to be right either way (K.Marx, Letter to F.Engels on the Indian Mutiny)
Friday, February 17, 2023
ETRI develops the world's first fluorosulfate-based flame retardant additive for lithium ion batteries
Realization of highly safe lithium-ion battery, overcoming electric vehicle fire risk, 2.3 times more flame retardant and 160% battery performance than conventional phosphorous flame retardant additive
IMAGE: ETRI RESEARCHER IS OBSERVING A FLUOROSULFATE-BASED FLAME RETARDANT ADDITIVE(RIGHT) AND A LITHIUM-ION BATTERIES TO WHICH THE ADDITIVE IS APPLIED(LEFT).view more
CREDIT: ELECTRONICS AND TELECOMMUNICATIONS RESEARCH INSTITUTE(ETRI)
In lithium-ion batteries commonly used in electric vehicles, incombustible additives are added to the electrolyte in preparation for the possibility of ignition. ETRI researchers succeeded in developing a fluorosulfate-based flame retardant additive for the first time in the world. This is expected to be of great help in realizing high-safety lithium-ion batteries and overcoming the fire risk of electric vehicles.
Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute(ETRI) announced that it has developed a fluorosulfate-based flame retardant additive with significantly improved flame retardant properties, electrochemical stability, and cell performance compared to triphenyl phosphate(TPP), a phosphorous flame retardant widely known as a conventional flame retardant (not yet commercialized).
The lithium-ion battery is composed of four components: a cathode material, an anode material, an electrolyte, and a separator. Lithium ions from the cathode move to the anode to be charged with input energy and then move from the anode to the cathode to release energy. The electrolyte is a medium that helps the lithium ions in the battery to move smoothly, and the separator serves to pass only the lithium ions and prevents contact between the cathode and anode. This is because a fire may occur due to a strong chemical reaction when the cathode and anode come into direct contact.
Electrolyte additive is a substance that is added in a small amount to electrolytes. It is a key substance that improves the electrochemical stability and performance of secondary batteries. Existing conventioanl phosphorous flame retardant additives had flame retardant properties, but a large amount was required. In addition, interfacial resistance, a chemical reaction that occurs at the interface where two materials with different properties come into contact, also occured between the electrode and the electrolyte. When this resistance increases, problems such as deterioration in performance of the battery and reduction in lifespan occur due to a decrease in ionic conductivity. A wider uses of additives had many limitations in their practical fields.
Accordingly, the ETRI research team analyzed more than 10 types of commercially available phosphorous flame retardants through electrochemical experiments, synthesized a fluorosulfate-based flame retardant additive for the first time, and improved the shortcomings of convetional phosphorous flame retardants. The research team implemented the developed flame retardant additive to the cell with a lithium nickel, manganese, and cobalt transition metal oxide cathode(Nickel content > 90 %) and a lithium metal anode. Through these tests, the performance of fluorosulfate-based additive was verified with improved battery performance at the same time as improving flame retardant properties.
As a result, it was confirmed that the flame retardant properties were improved by 2.3 times and the performance of the battery by 160%, compared to the electrolyte to which the conventional flame retardant additive was applied. The research team explained that when the fluorosulfate-based flame retardant was applied, the interfacial reaction between the electrode and the electrolyte was minimized, resulting in a significant decrease in interfacial resistance.
In addition, this fluorosulfate-based flame retardant additive has the advantage of being easy to commercialize as it can be used even with a small amount of additive developed without an additional process change in the existing lithium-ion battery production process.
The research team identified the characteristics of fluorosulfate-based additives through various electrochemical experiments and verified why these operation mechanism is possible.
This achievement was published in the latest issue of 'Journal of Materials Chemistry A (IF=14.511, within 10% of JCR, as of 2022)' published by the Royal Society of Chemistry, a world-class academic journal in the field of materials and chemistry, proving its excellence.
Jimin Oh, a senior researcher at the Intelligent Sensor Lab, said, “We wanted to overcome the limitations of exiting flame retardant additives and realize highly safe lithium-ion batteries through these research on new type of flame retardant additive. In the future, we will make efforts to contribute to the commercialization of fluorosulfate-based flame retardant additive to the practical electric vehicle cells.”
The research team at the ETRI has devised a plan to carry out further studies on the application of a flame-retardant additive material in lithium metal oxide anodes and lithium metal cathodes in black oxide electrodes and silicon electrode cathodes.
This study was supported by the "Development of High-Performance Multi-functional Electrolyte and Additive Characteristics Improvement Technology for Lithium-ion Batteries" project of the Ministry of Science and ICT and the National Core Material Research Center of the Korea Research Foundation.
ETRI researcher is measuring the performance of a lithium-ion batteries to which fluorosulfate-based flame retardant additives are applied
About Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute (ETRI)
ETRI is a non-profit government-funded research institute. Since its foundation in 1976, ETRI, a global ICT research institute, has been making its immense effort to provide Korea a remarkable growth in the field of ICT industry. ETRI delivers Korea as one of the top ICT nations in the World, by unceasingly developing world’s first and best technologies.
This technology was developed with the assistance of the Ministry of Science and ICT.
Flu vaccination rate holds steady but misinformation about flu and Covid-19 persists
Public rejects unsupported link between vaccine and Damar Hamlin’s collapse, survey finds
ANNENBERG PUBLIC POLICY CENTER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA
IMAGE: ANNENBERG PUBLIC POLICY CENTER'S ASK (ANNENBERG SCIENCE KNOWLEDGE) SURVEY OF 1,657 U.S. ADULTS CONDUCTED JAN. 10-16, 2023.view more
CREDIT: ANNENBERG PUBLIC POLICY CENTER
PHILADELPHIA – Although the public had been alerted that this winter could be a potentially bad flu season, barely half of Americans said in January that they had received a flu shot, a vaccination level unchanged in a representative national panel from the comparable period last year, according to a new Annenberg Science Knowledge (ASK) survey by the Annenberg Public Policy Center of the University of Pennsylvania.
The panel survey, fielded with over 1,600 U.S. adults, finds that many have a base of knowledge about the flu but there is a reservoir of uncertainty about other consequential information about the flu, Covid-19, and vaccination. Among the findings of the ASK survey, which also inquired more broadly about attitudes toward vaccine mandates and the continuing “return to normal”:
Nearly half of Americans (49%) do not know it is safe to get a flu shot during pregnancy.
Over half of Americans (53%) say the Army should be able to require Covid-19 vaccination for soldiers who do not have a medical or religious exemption – and a plurality (45%) say public schools should be able to require Covid-19 vaccination of all children who do not have a medical or religious exemption.
Only 10% of those who had heard of NFL player Damar Hamlin’s on-field collapse think that vaccination was connected to his cardiac arrest – but many more are not sure whether the rate of heart-related deaths has increased among young athletes over the past three years.
More than half of Americans (52%) now say their lives have returned to a pre-pandemic normal, up significantly from 47% in October 2022.
“Although the CDC indicated that seasonal flu activity is now low nationally, the fact that the level of reported flu vaccination in our panel was roughly the same in January of this year as a year before is concerning,” said Kathleen Hall Jamieson, director of the Annenberg Public Policy Center. “Because this has been a more severe flu season than the one a year ago, we expected an increase in the reported vaccination rate.”
The nationally representative panel of 1,657 U.S. adults surveyed by SSRS for the Annenberg Public Policy Center (APPC) of the University of Pennsylvania from January 10-16, 2023, was the tenth wave of an Annenberg Science Knowledge survey whose respondents were first empaneled in April 2021. The margin of sampling error (MOE) is ± 3.2 percentage points at the 95% confidence level. See the Appendix and Methodology for question wording and additional information.
Annenberg Public Policy Center's ASK (Annenberg Science Knowledge) survey of 1,657 U.S. adults conducted Jan. 10-16, 2023.
What the public knows: The flu and flu shot
The latest wave of the ASK survey finds that many people know the basics about the flu:
Handwashing: 93% of respondents know that washing your hands helps you avoid getting sick from or spreading the seasonal flu.
Getting the flu again: 83% know it’s possible to get the flu more than once in a flu season.
Vaccine effectiveness: 77% know that the effectiveness of the seasonal flu shot in the United States can vary from year to year.
However, 19% of respondents also think, incorrectly, that the effectiveness of the measles vaccine can vary from year to year and 40% are not sure.
Nearly three-quarters of those surveyed (73%) think the seasonal flu shot is effective at reducing the risk of getting the flu this year.
Mask-wearing: 77% know that wearing a high-quality, well-fitting mask helps limit the spread of flu.
Contagion: 76% know it’s possible to spread the seasonal flu to others even if you have no symptoms.
14% of our respondents say they have had the flu this season. Of this group, 8% had no symptoms; 29% had mild symptoms; 43% had moderate symptoms; and 19% had severe symptoms.
A majority of the public knows that the following claims are false:
Flu vaccine and Covid-19: Three-quarters (77%) know it’s false to say that the seasonal flu shot increases your risk of getting Covid-19 – though 6% incorrectly think this is true and 17% are not sure whether it is true or false. (See APPC’s project FactCheck.org to learn more about the false claim linking the flu shot and Covid-19.)
Better late than never: 71% know it’s false to say that if you haven’t gotten your flu shot by November, there’s no value in getting it – though 11% incorrectly think this is true and 18% are not sure. (The CDC recommends vaccination even after November because significant flu activity can continue into May.)
Cold weather: Nearly two-thirds (65%) know it’s false to say that cold weather causes the flu – but a third either incorrectly think this is true (22%) or are not sure (13%).
The flu can be treated: 64% of respondents know it’s false to say there is no treatment for the flu – but 23% incorrectly think this is true and 13% are not sure if it is true.
Areas of uncertainty
But there are important claims about the flu that substantial parts of the public are confused about:
Pregnancy: Almost half (49%) do not know that it is safe to get a flu shot during pregnancy, including the 10% who think it is not safe and 39% who are unsure. Just 51% know it is safe.
Get flu from the shot? 46% do not know you cannot get the flu from the flu shot, including 29% who think you can get the flu from the shot and 16% who are not sure.
Antibiotics and the flu: 45% do not know that the flu cannot be treated with antibiotics, including 25% who think it can be treated with antibiotics and 20% who are unsure.
Antibiotics and viruses: 40% do not know that antibiotics do not work on viruses such as those that cause colds, the flu, and Covid-19 – including 20% who think it is false to say antibiotics don’t work on viruses, and 20% who are unsure.
Annenberg Public Policy Center's ASK (Annenberg Science Knowledge) survey of 1,657 U.S. adults conducted Jan. 10-16, 2023. Mandate questions were asked of a half-sample of 826 respondents.
Attitudes toward flu vaccination
Tamiflu: Nearly two-thirds of those surveyed (65%) disagree with the statement that there’s no need for a flu shot because they can always use Tamiflu to treat flu symptoms.
Breakthrough infections: 58% disagree with the statement that breakthrough seasonal flu infections are evidence that flu shots don’t work – though 15% agree and 26% neither agree nor disagree.
Danger to children: 57% disagree with the statement that children do not need the seasonal flu shot because they are at a low risk of death from the flu – though 18% agree and 25% neither agree nor disagree.
Flu shots for all: Just 41% agree that every person older than six months should get a flu shot every year – 33% disagree and 26% neither agree nor disagree. The CDC recommends a flu shot every season for nearly everyone six months and older.
How many have had a flu shot and why
The ASK survey in January 2023 finds that 49% of respondents say they have had a seasonal flu shot, statistically unchanged from 47% in our January 2022 survey and 50% in April 2021. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), nearly 46% of U.S. adults 18 and older had a flu shot as of December 31, 2022.
The CDC actively promoted flu vaccination amid concerns that the 2022-23 season would be severe.
When the 49% of survey respondents who said they got the flu vaccine were asked in January why they got the shot (multiple responses were permitted):
69% said I get it every year (down from 78% in January 2022)
64% said to protect myself against catching the flu (up from 44% in January 2022)
8% said to protect myself against Covid-19 (unchanged from 9% in January 2022)
25% said because it is recommended by the CDC (this response was not previously offered)
Concerns: The flu, Covid-19, RSV, polio, myocarditis
Worries about family members contracting flu, Covid, or RSV: About a third of those surveyed say they are somewhat or very worried about family members contracting Covid-19 (36%), the seasonal flu (35%), or RSV, respiratory syncytial virus (33%). Only 11% say they are somewhat/very worried about a family member contracting polio, which reemerged as a public health threat in July 2022 after a case was reported in New York State. (FactCheck.org has more about poliovirus being found in New York City sewage.)
Myocarditis: Rare cases of myocarditis, an inflammation of the heart muscle, have been reported among those who have had mRNA Covid-19 vaccines, particularly young males following a second vaccine dose. (FactCheck.org has more on the Covid-19 vaccine and myocarditis.) The connection between myocarditis and the vaccine has drawn attention on social media and in news media.
The survey found that over a third of respondents (37%) think that Covid-19 poses a higher risk for myocarditis than the vaccine against Covid-19. But 17% think that is false and nearly half of those surveyed (47%) are not sure which poses a higher risk.
Annenberg Public Policy Center's ASK (Annenberg Science Knowledge) survey of 1,657 U.S. adults conducted Jan. 10-16, 2023.
Damar Hamlin and young athletes dying of heart problems
Much of the public rejects the notion that Damar Hamlin’s collapse during an NFL game had anything to do with the vaccine against Covid-19. But the survey finds that many people are uncertain about the broader unsupported claim that more young athletes are dying of heart problems these days.
Hamlin, a safety on the Buffalo Bills, suffered a cardiac arrest during the Jan. 2, 2023, game against the Cincinnati Bengals, triggering a spate of unfounded, anti-vaccine conspiracy theories on social media about the cause. The overwhelming majority of those in our survey (87%) said they had heard, read, or seen reports of his collapse.
But those respondents overwhelmingly reject the idea that a Covid-19 vaccine caused Hamlin’s injury. Only 10% of those who had heard of the incident attribute it to factors connected with the vaccine. Nearly half (49%) say that based on what they had heard of it, Hamlin’s cardiac arrest was most likely caused by being hit hard in the chest; 17% say an underlying heart condition; and 21% say they are not sure. (FactCheck.org writes about what was known about Hamlin’s injury.)
However, 26% of those surveyed say they think that the number of young athletes dying of heart problems increased over the past three years, and nearly half (49%) are not sure whether the number has increased or decreased. Only 23% say that the numbers of deaths have remained virtually unchanged. (See FactCheck.org’s article No Surge in Athlete Deaths, Contrary to Widespread Anti-Vaccine Claims on why this claim is unfounded.)
Covid-19 and MMR vaccine mandates
Schools and military: The ASK survey finds stronger support for a Covid-19 vaccine mandate in the military than in public schools, with over half supporting a military mandate:
53% of those surveyed strongly or somewhat agree that the U.S. Army should be able to require Covid-19 vaccination of all soldiers who do not have a medical or religious exemption and 30% strongly or somewhat disagree (asked of a survey half-sample).
45% strongly or somewhat agree that public schools should be able to require Covid-19 vaccination of all children who do not have a medical or religious exemption and 38% strongly or somewhat disagree (asked of a half-sample).
MMR vaccine: Asked their views on the childhood vaccines for measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR), 63% agree that healthy children should be required to get the MMR vaccine in order to attend public schools, while 22% say parents should be able to decide whether to vaccinate their children who attend public schools and 15% are not sure.
Getting back to ‘normal’
The return to normal: Asked when they expect to be able to return to “your normal, pre-Covid-19 life,” more than half of Americans (52%) say they already have – up from 47% in October 2022. More than 1 in 5 Americans (22%) continue to say “never,” which is statistically unchanged since July 2022.
Mask-wearing: Six in 10 people (61%) say they never or rarely wear masks, statistically unchanged from the 60% who said this in October 2022. And 18% say they always or often wear a mask, also statistically unchanged from the 17% who said so in October.
The Annenberg Public Policy Center was established in 1993 to educate the public and policy makers about communication’s role in advancing public understanding of political, science, and health issues at the local, state, and federal levels. APPC is the home of FactCheck.org and its SciCheck program, whose Covid-19/Vaccination Project seeks to debunk misinformation about Covid-19 and vaccines, and increase exposure to accurate information.
METHOD OF RESEARCH
Survey
Electronic metadevices break barriers to ultra-fast communications
EPFL researchers have come up with a new approach to electronics that could launch the next generation of ultra-fast devices for exchanging massive amounts of data, with applications in 6G communications and beyond.
Until now, the ability to make electronic devices faster has come down to a simple principle: scaling down transistors and other components. But this approach is reaching its limit, as the benefits of shrinking are counterbalanced by detrimental effects like resistance and decreased output power.
Elison Matioli of the Power and Wide-band-gap Electronics Research Lab (POWERlab) in EPFL’s School of Engineering explains that further miniaturization is therefore not a viable solution to better electronics performance. “New papers come out describing smaller and smaller devices, but in the case of materials made from gallium nitride, the best devices in terms of frequency were already published a few years back,” he says. “After that, there is really nothing better, because as device size is reduced, we face fundamental limitations. This is true regardless of the material used.”
In response to this challenge, Matioli and PhD student Mohammad Samizadeh Nikoo came up with a new approach to electronics that could overcome these limitations and enable a new class of terahertz devices. Instead of shrinking their device, they rearranged it, notably by etching patterned contacts called metastructures at sub-wavelength distances onto a semiconductor made of gallium nitride and indium gallium nitride. These metastructures allow the electrical fields inside the device to be controlled, yielding extraordinary properties that do not occur in nature.
Crucially, the device can operate at electromagnetic frequencies in the terahertz range (between 0.3-30 THz) – significantly faster than the gigahertz waves used in today’s electronics. They can therefore carry much greater quantities of information for a given signal or period, giving them great potential for applications in 6G communications and beyond.
“We found that manipulating radiofrequency fields at microscopic scales can significantly boost the performance of electronic devices, without relying on aggressive downscaling,” explains Samizadeh Nikoo, who is the first author of an article on the breakthrough recently published in the journal Nature.
Record high frequencies, record low resistance
Because terahertz frequencies are too fast for current electronics to manage, and too slow for optics applications, this range is often referred to as the ‘terahertz gap’. Using sub-wavelength metastructures to modulate terahertz waves is a technique that comes from the world of optics. But the POWERlab’s method allows for an unprecedented degree of electronic control, unlike the optics approach of shining an external beam of light onto an existing pattern.
“In our electronics-based approach, the ability to control induced radiofrequencies comes from the combination of the sub-wavelength patterned contacts, plus the control of the electronic channel with applied voltage. This means that we can change the collective effect inside the metadevice by inducing electrons (or not),” says Matioli.
While the most advanced devices on the market today can achieve frequencies of up to 2 THz, the POWERlab’s metadevices can reach 20 THz. Similarly, today’s devices operating near the terahertz range tend to break down at voltages below 2 volts, while the metadevices can support over 20 volts. This enables the transmission and modulation of terahertz signals with much greater power and frequency than is currently possible.
Integrated solutions
As Samizadeh Nikoo explains, modulating terahertz waves is crucial for the future of telecommunications, as the increasing data requirements of technologies like autonomous vehicles and 6G mobile communications are fast reaching the limits of today’s devices. The electronic metadevices developed in the POWERlab could form the basis for integrated terahertz electronics by producing compact, high-frequency chips that can already be used with smartphones, for example.
“This new technology could change the future of ultra-high-speed communications, as it is compatible with existing processes in semiconductor manufacturing. We have demonstrated data transmission of up to 100 gigabits per second at terahertz frequencies, which is already 10 times higher than what we have today with 5G,” Samizadeh Nikoo says.
To fully realize the potential of the approach, Matioli says the next step is to develop other electronics components ready for integration into terahertz circuits.
“Integrated terahertz electronics are the next frontier for a connected future. But our electronic metadevices are just one component. We need to develop other integrated terahertz components to fully realize the potential of this technology. That is our vision and goal.”
UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS HEALTH SCIENCE CENTER AT HOUSTON
The evidence does not support the common belief that indwelling catheters cause more urinary tract infections (UTIs) than intermittent catheterization, according to a systematic review of bladder management and infection risk from UTHealth Houston.
The review – written by Matthew Davis, MD, associate professor in the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation with McGovern Medical School at UTHealth Houston – was published today in Topics in SCI Rehabilitation, the official journal of the American Spinal Injury Association.
“A lot of people who are severely disabled aren’t able to catheterize themselves. It’s a pretty significant burden on caregivers, and a barrier to the independence of patients, to put somebody in that box,” said Davis, lead author of the paper. “For these patients, the evidence of benefit is weak, but the propensity for harm is high.”
The belief that intermittent catheterization results in fewer infections than indwelling catheters is commonly expressed in spinal cord injury literature, with many practice guidelines strongly recommending intermittent over indwelling catheterization due to concerns about infections and other implications.
However, studies on this topic are of low quality, Davis said. Guidelines from the Consortium for Spinal Cord Medicine suggest the data regarding infection risk are mixed, and they do not recommend one bladder management method over the other.
Davis sought to compare risk of bias in studies reporting higher rates of UTI with indwelling catheters to studies that found equal rates of UTI between indwelling and intermittent catheterization, and to determine the implications of that bias in clinical decision-making. He conducted a systematic search of PubMed, CINAHL, Embase, and SCOPUS databases from Jan. 1, 1980, to Sept. 15, 2020, using a risk of bias assessment tool to evaluate each study.
Of the 24 studies identified, only three reported significantly higher UTI risk with indwelling catheters, and all three demonstrated a critical risk of bias.
More than half the studies reported differences in UTI risk of less than 20% between the two methods. Furthermore, studies with larger, nonsignificant differences favoring intermittent catheterization were more susceptible to bias from confounding – an unmeasured third variable that influenced, or confounded, the relationship between catheterization and UTI risk.
In light of these findings, Davis said a patient’s perceived risk of infection should not influence their choice of catheter type.
“I would like to see fewer places pushing patients into this form of bladder management,” Davis said. “It’s great for a lot of patients with spinal cord injuries, but there’s another huge category of patients who it creates more problems for. Hopefully, this article encourages providers to stop browbeating people into a form of bladder management that doesn’t fit their lifestyle.”
Co-authors with the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at McGovern Medical School included Lavina Jethani, MD; Emily Robbins, DO; and Mahmut Kaner, MD.
About The Study: The findings of this study provide genetic evidence supporting an association between hypertensive disorders of pregnancy and higher risk of coronary artery disease and stroke, which is only partially mediated by cardiometabolic factors. This supports classification of hypertensive disorders of pregnancy as risk factors for cardiovascular disease.
Authors: Fu Siong Ng, M.B.B.S., Ph.D., of Imperial College London, is the corresponding author.
About JAMA Network Open: JAMA Network Open is an online-only open access general medical journal from the JAMA Network. On weekdays, the journal publishes peer-reviewed clinical research and commentary in more than 40 medical and health subject areas. Every article is free online from the day of publication.
JOURNAL
JAMA Network Open
Mothers with depression take longer to respond to their child, MU study finds
Findings can spark future evaluation of language development outcomes for at-risk children of depressed mothers.
COLUMBIA, Mo. – A recent study at the University of Missouri found mothers who are struggling with depression tend to take longer to respond to their child during back-and-forth dialogue. The findings provide the basis for further research to determine if the slower response time has any long-term impacts on the children’s language development, vocabulary or academic outcomes.
Nicholas Smith, an assistant professor in the MU School of Health Professions, and his team listened to audio recordings of more than 100 families who were involved in the Early Head Start program, a federal child development program for children whose family’s income is at or below the federal poverty line. Some of the moms involved were struggling with depression, and Smith’s team documented how much time passed in between responses for a mother and her child during back-and-forth dialogue.
“We found that the time gap in between responses, in general, gets shorter between mother and child as the child ages, and we also found the mom’s timing tended to predict the child’s timing and vice versa,” Smith said. “Mothers and children are in sync. Children who were slower to respond to their mom often had moms who were slower to respond to the child, and children who were faster to respond to their mom had moms who were faster to respond to the child. The significant new finding was that the moms who were more depressed took longer to respond to their child compared to moms who were less depressed.”
In the longitudinal study, using audio recordings, they compared the response time of back-and-forth dialogue between mothers and their children when the children were 14 months old and 36 months old. Going forward, Smith plans to further study the dialogue response timing for the same individuals that were recorded in this study when the children were in pre-kindergarten and also when they were in fifth grade to examine how these effects play out later on in the children’s development.
“The overall objective we are hoping to accomplish is to better understand how mother-child interaction works as well as the underlying mechanisms and potential factors at play,” Smith said. “Once we identify what factors drive successful development outcomes and what factors potentially impair development, we can better identify at-risk children and then tailor potential interventions toward those that can benefit from them the most.”
“Maternal depression and the timing of mother-child dialogue” was recently published in Infant and Child Development.Funding was provided by the Mizzou Alumni Association.
IMAGE: PATIENTS WITH KLEPTOMANIA EXHIBIT DISTINCT PATTERNS OF GAZING AND BRAIN ACTIVITY WHEN SHOWN IMAGES WITH ENVIRONMENTAL CUES RELEVANT TO THEIR SYMPTOMS.view more
CREDIT: KYOTOU/JAKE TOBIYAMA
Kyoto, Japan -- Don't call a kleptomaniac a crook. Not only are the underlying motives for stealing different, brain activity also shows contrasting images.
A team of researchers at Kyoto University has recently found that patients with kleptomania exhibit distinct patterns of gazing and brain activity when shown images with environmental cues relevant to their symptoms. Such characteristics were not observed in healthy subjects, including those who may have occasionally nabbed from the cookie jar.
"Studies such as ours could help deter impulsively committed crimes like shoplifting and contribute to realizing a better society," says lead author Yukiori Goto.
Investigations of patients with alcohol addiction also revealed environmental cues leading to cravings, a phenomenon known as cue-induced craving.
"Although the sample size was small and still preliminary, our study reports for the first time that kleptomania may also involve the mechanisms that could be similar, if not identical, to those related to drug addiction," notes Goto.
Other behavioral addictions observed in gambling, gaming, and Internet use share these mechanisms, clinically termed substance use disorder.
Kleptomania is characterized by pathological, compulsive, and repetitive stealing for the sake of the act itself and not motivated by any sense of material gain. Therapeutic treatments are becoming more important in preventing repeated convictions than conventional criminal penalties, which have been shown to be ineffective in curbing this maladaptive behavior.
While kleptomania meets the criteria of addiction and is classified as a "Disruptive, Impulse-Control, and Conduct Disorder" by the American Psychiatry Society, few studies of the condition have been published to date.
Goto's research examined 11 patients with behavioral addiction and 27 healthy adult subjects. Each was shown still and video images, some containing symptom-relevant environmental cues -- such as shops and their merchandise -- with others depicting irrelevant ones such as natural scenery.
Using eye-tracking technology, all subjects' gaze patterns were monitored while they viewed the test materials. Their brain activity was simultaneously measured with functional near-infrared spectroscopy, a non-invasive method that detects hemoglobin changes in the prefrontal cortex.
The team's fNIRS recordings revealed compromised activity in the right prefrontal cortex of kleptomania patients during task performance. These results correlated with other behavioral addicts exhibiting an inability to estimate probability of risk and finding themselves in a reward system trap.
"Our study may lead to the development of therapeutic treatments targeting maladaptive learning, not only for drug addiction, but also impulse control disorders such as kleptomania," reflects Goto
The paper "Distinct Situational Cue Processing in Individuals with Kleptomania: A Preliminary Study" was published on 2 February 2023 in the International Journal of Neuropsychopharmacology with doi: 10.1093/ijnp/pyad005
Kleptomania seems to fulfill criteria of behavioral addiction.
Cause and effect relationship between stimuli and response through incentive sensitization and habit
Functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIS) revealed compromised activity in prefrontal cortex of patients with behavioral addiction.
About Kyoto University
Kyoto University is one of Japan and Asia's premier research institutions, founded in 1897 and responsible for producing numerous Nobel laureates and winners of other prestigious international prizes. A broad curriculum across the arts and sciences at both undergraduate and graduate levels is complemented by numerous research centers, as well as facilities and offices around Japan and the world. For more information please see: http://www.kyoto-u.ac.jp/en
