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)
As summer draws to a close, the long vines and tendrils of most melons and gourds in the Cucurbitaceae family snake their way along the ground. And they’re dotted with fruits, such as cucumbers or pumpkins. Below are some recent papers published in ACS journals that report insights into melons’ potential health impacts, pathogens and contaminants.Reporters can request free access to these papers by emailing newsroom@acs.org.
“Nanoparticles Loaded with a Carotenoid-Rich Extract from Cantaloupe Melon Improved Hepatic Retinol Levels in a Diet-Induced Obesity Preclinical Model” ACS Omega July 26, 2023 Cantaloupe melons are rich in beta-carotene and other carotenoids, which break down into vitamin A, also called retinol, in the human body. However, people with obesity tend to consume less of this micronutrient than those of average weight. So, these scientists created carotenoid nanocapsules by extracting the molecules from cantaloupes and coating them with gelatin. When obese rats ingested the capsules, they ate less food, and their livers contained more retinol. The team says that the technique should be evaluated as a treatment for diseases associated with vitamin A deficiency and obesity.
“Highly Efficient and Simultaneous Analysis of Three Common Fluorotelomer Alcohols in Vegetables and Soils” Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry July 21, 2023 As a step toward routine analyses of fluorinated compounds in foods, researchers have optimized a method to measure levels of three fluorotelomer alcohols. The team developed their technique using fruits and vegetables, including cucumbers. Then they measured the contaminants in calabash gourd, bitter gourd, towel gourd, pumpkins and 16 other edible vegetables grown near a fluorochemical facility. Many samples had detectable levels of one or more of the contaminants.
“Pumpkin and Pumpkin Byproducts: Phytochemical Constitutes, Food Application and Health Benefits” ACS Omega June 23, 2023 Pumpkin pulp is a tasty addition to autumnal pies, soups and drinks. But what are its health benefits? In this review, the authors assessed the edible parts of pumpkin and pumpkin waste byproducts for their nutritional qualities. They report that the flesh, seeds, leaves and skin of pumpkins contain important trace elements, vitamins and nutrients. Phytochemicals, in particular, can provide antidiabetic, antioxidant and antidepressant effects. And the waste products of pumpkins can serve as functional ingredients for baked goods, drinks, and meat and dairy products.
The American Chemical Society (ACS) is a nonprofit organization chartered by the U.S. Congress. ACS’ mission is to advance the broader chemistry enterprise and its practitioners for the benefit of Earth and all its people. The Society is a global leader in promoting excellence in science education and providing access to chemistry-related information and research through its multiple research solutions, peer-reviewed journals, scientific conferences, eBooks and weekly news periodical Chemical & Engineering News. ACS journals are among the most cited, most trusted and most read within the scientific literature; however, ACS itself does not conduct chemical research. As a leader in scientific information solutions, its CAS division partners with global innovators to accelerate breakthroughs by curating, connecting and analyzing the world’s scientific knowledge. ACS’ main offices are in Washington, D.C., and Columbus, Ohi
New method enables efficient isolation of raccoon-borne food poisoning pathogen
IMAGE: THE NOVEL CULTURE MEDIUM BOOSTS THE ISOLATION RATE OF E. ALBERTII FROM RACCOON FECAL SAMPLESview more
CREDIT: SHINJI YAMASAKI, OSAKA METROPOLITAN UNIVERSITY
Osaka, Japan – As cute as raccoons may look, their behaviors are troublesome, and so are their droppings. Known to contain Escherichia albertii—a harmful enteropathogen—raccoon feces challenge zoonotic researchers who grapple to isolate this bacterium for further study. Fortunately, Osaka Metropolitan University scientists have come up with a novel culture medium for efficient isolation of E. albertii, making progress toward alleviating this particular raccoon-conveyed threat.
Due to global warming, wildlife habitats are overlapping with human residential areas, raising concerns about the transmission and spread of zoonotic diseases. In recent years, an emerging zoonotic pathogen called E. albertii—transmitted by wild animals such as raccoons—has garnered attention due to its remarkable similarities to several strains of Escherichia coli (E. coli), including O157, and its potential for causing severe illness, particularly in children. However, characteristics of this bacterium, including its infection routes and antibiotic resistance status, remain unclear.
To identify the route of infection, it is essential to isolate and then investigate E. albertii from specimens of wild animals acting as vectors. However, the quantity of E. albertii in samples sourced from raccoons is often minuscule, making its extraction an ongoing challenge.
Addressing this issue, a research group led by Professor Shinji Yamasaki of the Graduate School of Veterinary Science at Osaka Metropolitan University has developed a novel culture medium that selectively promotes the growth of E. albertii from raccoon fecal samples. They succeeded in isolating E. albertii at a rate as high as 48%, even from samples with very low quantities of this bacterium.
Professor Yamasaki explained, “The selective enrichment medium developed in this study is expected to provide better insights into the epidemiology of E. albertii, facilitating improved control of food poisoning.”
Osaka Metropolitan University is a new public university established in April 2022, formed by merger between Osaka City University and Osaka Prefecture University. For more research news, visit https://www.omu.ac.jp/en/ or follow @OsakaMetUniv_en and #OMUScience.
Cefixime–tellurite-deoxycholate tryptic soy broth (CTD-TSB), a selective enrichment medium, for enhancing isolation of Escherichia albertii from wild raccoon fecal samples
The discovery of a new kind of cell shakes up neuroscience
Neuroscience is in great upheaval. The two major families of cells that make up the brain, neurons and glial cells, secretly hid a hybrid cell, halfway between these two categories. For as long as Neuroscience has existed, it has been recognized that the brain works primarily thanks to the neurons and their ability to rapidly elaborate and transmit information through their networks. To support them in this task, glial cells perform a series of structural, energetic and immune functions, as well as stabilize physiological constants. Some of these glial cells, known as astrocytes, intimately surround synapses, the points of contact where neurotransmitters are released to transmit information between neurons. This is why neuroscientists have long suggested that astrocytes may have an active role in synaptic transmission and participate in information processing. However, the studies conducted to date to demonstrate this have suffered from conflicting results and have not reached a definitive scientific consensus yet. By identifying a new cell type with the characteristics of an astrocyte and expressing the molecular machinery necessary for synaptic transmission, neuroscientists from the Department of Basic Neurosciences of the Faculty of Biology and Medicine of the University of Lausanne (UNIL) and the Wyss Center for Bio and Neuroengineering in Geneva put an end to years of controversy.
The Key to the Puzzle
To confirm or refute the hypothesis that astrocytes, like neurons, are able to release neurotransmitters, researchers first scrutinized the molecular content of astrocytes using modern molecular biology approaches. Their goal was to find traces of the machinery necessary for the rapid secretion of glutamate, the main neurotransmitter used by neurons. "The precision allowed by single-cell transcriptomics approaches enabled us to demonstrate the presence in cells with astrocytic profile of transcripts of the vesicular proteins, VGLUT, in charge of filling neuronal vesicles specific for glutamate release. These transcripts were found in cells from mice, and are apparently preserved in human cells. We also identified other specialized proteins in these cells, which are essential for the function of glutamatergic vesicles and their capacity to communicate rapidly with other cells," says Ludovic Telley, Assistant professor at UNIL, co-director of the study.
New Functional Cells
Next, neuroscientists tried to find out if these hybrid cells were functional, that is, able to actually release glutamate with a speed comparable to that of synaptic transmission. To do this, the research team used an advanced imaging technique that could visualize glutamate released by vesicles in brain tissues and in living mice. "We have identified a subgroup of astrocytes responding to selective stimulations with rapid glutamate release, which occurred in spatially delimited areas of these cells reminiscent of synapses," says Andrea Volterra, honorary professor at UNIL and visiting faculty at the Wyss Center, co-director of the study.
In addition, this glutamate release exerts an influence on synaptic transmission and regulates neuronal circuits. The research team was able to demonstrate this by suppressing the expression of VGLUT by the hybrid cells. "They are cells that modulate neuronal activity, they control the level of communication and excitation of the neurons," says Roberta de Ceglia, first author of the study and senior researcher at UNIL. And without this functional machinery, the study shows that long-term potentiation, a neural process involved in the mechanisms of memorization, is impaired and that the memory of mice is impacted.
Links With Brain Pathologies
The implications of this discovery extend to brain disorders. By specifically disrupting glutamatergic astrocytes, the research team demonstrated effects on memory consolidation, but also observed links with pathologies such as epilepsy, whose seizures were exacerbated. Finally, the study shows that glutamatergic astrocytes also have a role in the regulation of brain circuits involved in movement control and could offer therapeutic targets for Parkinson's disease.
"In between neurons and astrocytes, we now have a new kind of cell at hand. Its discovery opens up immense research prospects. Our next studies will explore the potential protective role of this type of cell against memory impairment in Alzheimer's disease, as well as its role in other regions and pathologies than those explored here," projects Andrea Volterra.
Limestone spheroids, enigmatic lithic artifacts from the ancient past, have perplexed archaeologists for years. While they span from the Oldowan to the Middle Palaeolithic, the purpose behind their creation remains a subject of intense debate. Now, a study conducted by a team from the Computational Archaeology Laboratory of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, in collaboration with researchers from Tel Hai College and Rovira i Virgili University seeks to shed light on these mysterious objects, offering insights into the intentions and skills of early hominins.
Spheroids are among the most enduring yet least understood archaeological artifacts, often considered as by-products of percussive tasks. However, the team’s research challenges this conventional wisdom. The central question at the heart of this study is whether these spheroids were unintentional by-products or intentionally crafted tools designed for specific purposes.
To answer this question, cutting-edge 3D analysis methods, including spherical harmonics and surface curvature, were applied to a collection of 150 limestone spheroids from the 'Ubeidiya archaeological site, dating back to approximately 1.4 million years ago. These methods were developed at the Computational Archaeology Laboratory of the Hebrew University, directed by Professor Leore Grosman. 'Ubeidiya is presently recognized as the earliest known Acheulean occurrence outside of Africa, making it a crucial location for investigating the evolution of early hominin technology.
The research team meticulously reconstructed the spheroid reduction sequence based on the trends observed in scar facets and geometry. Their findings revealed a remarkable pattern: the spheroids at 'Ubeidiya were crafted with a premeditated reduction strategy. Contrary to the notion that they were accidental by-products, the spheroids did not become smoother during their manufacture; instead, they became markedly more spherical. This transformation towards an ideal sphere required exceptional knapping skills and a clear preconceived goal.
This discovery challenges existing beliefs about the capabilities of early hominins and their relationship with technology. While Acheulean bifaces are traditionally thought to represent the earliest evidence of hominins imposing intentional, symmetrical shapes on stone, the intentional production of sphere-like objects at 'Ubeidiya similarly suggests that these early hominins had a desire for and achieved intentional geometry and symmetry in stone. Slightly older spheroids exist at sites in Africa. If this same intentionality can be demonstrated there, this would represent the oldest evidence of hominins desiring and achieving symmetrical shapes in stone.
The team’s research opens new avenues for understanding the cognitive abilities and technological achievements of our distant ancestors. It also raises questions about the purpose and significance of these spheroids in the daily lives of early hominins.
Research Team: Antoine Muller-1, Deborah Barsky-2,3, Robert Sala-Ramos-2,3, Gonen Sharon-4, Stefania Titton-3, Josep-Maria Vergès-2,3 and Leore Grosman-1
Institutions: 1-Computational Archaeology Laboratory, Institute of Archaeology, Hebrew University of Jerusalem
2- Institut Català de Paleoecologia Humana i Evolució Social (IPHES-CERCA), Zona Educacional Campus Sescelades URV (Edifici W3), 43007 Tarragona, Spain
3-Departament d’Història i Història de l’Art, Universitat Rovira i Virgili, Avinguda de Catalunya, Spain
4-Multidisciplinary Studies, East Campus, Tel-Hai College, Israel
The Hebrew University of Jerusalem is Israel’s premier academic and research institution. With over 25,000 students from 90 countries, it is a hub for advancing scientific knowledge and holds a significant role in Israel’s civilian scientific research output, accounting for nearly 40% of it and has registered over 11,000 patents. The university’s faculty and alumni have earned eight Nobel Prizes and a Fields Medal, underscoring their contributions to ground-breaking discoveries. In the global arena, the Hebrew University ranks 86th according to the Shanghai Ranking. To learn more about the university’s academic programs, research initiatives, and achievements, visit the official website at http://new.huji.ac.il/en
IMAGE: DARTMOUTH RESEARCHERS REPORT THAT APES AND EARLY HUMANS EVOLVED MORE FLEXIBLE SHOULDERS AND ELBOWS THAN MONKEYS (ABOVE) TO SAFELY GET OUT OF TREES. FOR EARLY HUMANS, THESE VERSATILE APPENDAGES WOULD HAVE BEEN ESSENTIAL FOR GATHERING FOOD AND DEPLOYING TOOLS FOR HUNTING AND DEFENSE.view more
CREDIT: LUKE FANNIN, DARTMOUTH
The rotating shoulders and extending elbows that allow humans to reach for a high shelf or toss a ball with friends may have first evolved as a natural braking system for our primate ancestors who simply needed to get out of trees without dying.
Dartmouth researchers report in the journal Royal Society Open Science that apes and early humans likely evolved free-moving shoulders and flexible elbows to slow their descent from trees as gravity pulled on their heavier bodies. When early humans left forests for the grassy savanna, the researchers say, their versatile appendages were essential for gathering food and deploying tools for hunting and defense.
The researchers used sports-analysis and statistical software to compare videos and still-frames they took of chimpanzees and small monkeys called mangabeys climbing in the wild. They found that chimps and mangabeys scaled trees similarly, with shoulders and elbows mostly bent close to the body. When climbing down, however, chimpanzees extended their arms above their heads to hold onto branches like a person going down a ladder as their greater weight pulled them downward rump-first.
Luke Fannin, first author of the study and a graduate student in Dartmouth's Ecology, Evolution, Environment and Society program, said the findings are among the first to identify the significance of "downclimbing" in the evolution of apes and early humans, which are more genetically related to each other than to monkeys. Existing research has observed chimps ascending and navigating trees—usually in experimental setups—but the researchers' extensive video from the wild allowed them to examine how the animals' bodies adapted to climbing down, Fannin said.
"Our study broaches the idea of downclimbing as an undervalued, yet incredibly important factor in the diverging anatomical differences between monkeys and apes that would eventually manifest in humans," Fannin said. "Downclimbing represented such a significant physical challenge given the size of apes and early humans that their morphology would have responded through natural selection because of the risk of falls."
"Our field has thought about apes climbing up trees for a long time—what was essentially absent from the literature was any focus on them getting out of a tree. We've been ignoring the second half of this behavior," said study co-author Jeremy DeSilva, professor and chair of anthropology at Dartmouth.
"The first apes evolved 20 million years ago in the kind of dispersed forests where they would go up a tree to get their food, then come back down to move on to the next tree," DeSilva said.
"Getting out of a tree presents all kinds of new challenges. Big apes can't afford to fall because it could kill or badly injure them. Natural selection would have favored those anatomies that allowed them to descend safely."
Flexible shoulders and elbows passed on from ancestral apes would have allowed early humans such as Australopithecus to climb trees at night for safety and come down in the daylight unscathed, DeSilva said. Once Homo erectus could use fire to protect itself from nocturnal predators, the human form took on broader shoulders capable of a 90-degree angle that—combined with free-moving shoulders and elbows—made our ancestors excellent shots with a spear (apes cannot throw accurately).
"It’s that same early-ape anatomy with a couple of tweaks. Now you have something that can throw a spear or rocks to protect itself from being eaten or to kill things to eat for itself. That's what evolution does—it's a great tinkerer," DeSilva said.
"Climbing down out of a tree set the anatomical stage for something that evolved millions of years later," he said. "When an NFL quarterback throws a football, that movement is all thanks to our ape ancestors."
Despite chimps' lack of grace, Fannin said, their arms have adapted to ensure the animals reach the ground safely—and their limbs are remarkably similar to those of modern humans.
"It's the template that we came from—going down was probably far more of a challenge for our early ancestors, too," Fannin said. "Even once humans became upright, the ability to ascend, then descend, a tree would've been incredibly useful for safety and nourishment, which is the name of the game when it comes to survival.We're modified, but the hallmarks of our ape ancestry remain in our modern skeletons."
The researchers also studied the anatomical structure of chimp and mangabey arms using skeletal collections at Harvard University and The Ohio State University, respectively. Like people, chimps have a shallow ball-and-socket shoulder that—while more easily dislocated—allows for a greater range of movement, Fannin said. And like humans, chimps can fully extend their arms thanks to the reduced length of the bone just behind the elbow known as the olecranon process.
Mangabeys and other monkeys are built more like quadrupedal animals such as cats and dogs, with deep pear-shaped shoulder sockets and elbows with a protruding olecranon process that make the joint resemble the letter L. While these joints are more stable, they have a much more limited flexibility and range of movement.
The researchers' analysis showed that the angle of a chimp's shoulders was 14 degrees greater during descent than when climbing up. And their arm extended outward at the elbow 34 degrees more when coming down from a tree than going up. The angles at which mangabeys positioned their shoulders and elbows were only marginally different—4 degrees or less—when they were ascending a tree versus downclimbing.
"If cats could talk, they would tell you that climbing down is trickier than climbing up and many human rock climbers would agree. But the question is why is it so hard," said study co-author Nathaniel Dominy, the Charles Hansen Professor of Anthropology and Fannin's adviser.
"The reason is that you're not only resisting the pull of gravity, but you also have to decelerate," Dominy said. "Our study is important for tackling a theoretical problem with formal measurements of how wild primates climb up and down. We found important differences between monkeys and chimpanzees that may explain why the shoulders and elbows of apes evolved greater flexibility."
Co-author Mary Joy, who led the study with Fannin for her undergraduate thesis and graduated from Dartmouth in 2021, was reviewing videos of chimps that DeSilva had filmed when she noticed the difference in how the animals descended trees than how they went up them.
"It was very erratic, just crashing down, everything's flying. It's very much a controlled fall," Joy said. "In the end, we concluded that the way chimps descend a tree is likely related to weight. Greater momentum potentially expends less energy and they're much more likely to reach the ground safely than by making small, restricted movements."
But as a trail runner, Joy knew the pained feeling of inching down an incline in short clips instead of just hurtling down the path with the pull of gravity, her legs extended forward to catch her at the end of each stride.
"When I'm moving downhill, the slower I'm going and restricting my movement, the more I'm fatiguing. It catches up to me very quickly. No one would think the speed and abandon with which chimps climb down from trees would be the preferred method for a heavier primate, but my experience tells me it's more energy efficient," she said.
"Movement in humans is a masterpiece of evolutionary compromises," Joy said. "This increased range of motion that began in apes ended up being pretty good for us. What would the advantage of losing that be? If evolution selected for people with less range of motion, what advantages would that confer? I can't see any advantage to losing that."
The paper, "Downclimbing and the evolution of ape forelimb morphologies," was published Sept. 6 by Royal Society Open Science. This work was supported by the National Science Foundation (BCS 0840110, 0921770, 0922429, GRFP 1840344), the Clare Garber Goodman Fund and the James O. Freedman Presidential Scholars Research Fund at Dartmouth, a Mamont Scholars Grant from The Explorers Club, the Leakey Foundation, and the Primate Society of Great Britain.
The researchers used sports-analysis software to compare the climbing movements of chimpanzees and mangabeys (pictured). They found that chimps support their greater weight when climbing down by fully extending their arms above their heads thanks to shallow, rounded shoulder joints and shortened elbow bones that are similar to those in humans. Mangabeys, which are built more like cats or dogs, have less flexibility and position their shoulders and elbows roughly the same when climbing up or down.
Downclimbing and the evolution of ape forelimb morphologies
ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE
6-Sep-2023
Study finds increase in travelers to Massachusetts seeking abortion care post-Dobbs
Analysis led by Brigham researchers showed an increase in out-of-state abortion travelers to Massachusetts from other states including Texas, Louisiana, Florida, and Georgia after Dobbs.
Analysis led by Brigham researchers showed an increase in out-of-state abortion travelers to Massachusetts from other states including Texas, Louisiana, Florida, and Georgia after Dobbs.
Use of non-profit funding by charitable organizations for abortion care more than doubled among out-of-state travelers
A rigorous analysis by researchers confirms a rise in out-of-state travelers coming to Massachusetts to seek abortion care. In a new study by investigators from Brigham and Women’s Hospital, a founding member of the Mass General Brigham healthcare system, researchers report an estimated increase of 37 percent in the number of out-of-state residents seeking abortion care in Massachusetts, as well as an increase in non-profit funding covering costs for out-of-state residents. Results are published in JAMA Network Open.
“Before Dobbs, there was conjecture that certain states would get all the interstate traveling patients based on geographic proximity to states with complete abortion bans,” said corresponding author Elizabeth Janiak, ScD, of the Division of Family Planning at the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology. “After Dobbs, we set out to understand how many out-of-state travelers come to Massachusetts for abortion care, and how they cover the cost of care.”
The federal right to provide abortion care was overturned by Dobbs v Jackson’s Women Health Organization in June 2022, resulting in rapid changes to state laws, including 15 complete bans. Since then, there has been a documented increase in interstate travel to access abortion care in permissive states neighboring those with bans. Even before Dobbs, abortions were expensive and 60 percent of patients paid out-of-pocket for their care, in part due to bans on abortion coverage in Medicaid and Medicare programs, a lack of coverage by private insurance, or fear of a confidentiality breach if insurance was used.
“Interstate travelers face elevated financial stress from additional travel expenses and the stigma of abortion, which prompts many people to be secretive about their abortion experiences,” Janiak said. “We wanted to understand how the allocation of funding for abortion care and travel by various non-profits and charities changed after Dobbs, since abortion can cost hundreds or thousands of dollars.”
The researchers conducted a retrospective review of 45,797 abortion care records from January 2018 to October 2022 at the Planned Parenthood League of Massachusetts. Then, they used time series analysis, a statistical tool commonly used to understand trends in health service utilization, to estimate the expected number of abortions after Dobbs, based on the observed number before.
“A major strength of our study is the large dataset of pre-Dobbs abortions,” Janiak said. “We used rigorous statistical modeling to understand how the number of abortions in the four months after Dobbs compared to the expected counts we predicted. Because of the large historical dataset, we know that these are real changes and not chance fluctuations.”
When observed counts were compared to expected counts, there was a 6.2 percent increase in the total number of abortions. Notably, when data were stratified by state of residence, there was a 37.5 percent increase in the number of out-of-state residents, which is about 45 additional abortions.
“We’ve always had abortion travelers from New England, but now we see that we have people coming from much farther away like Texas, Louisiana, Florida, or Georgia,” Janiak said.
Notably, the proportion of out-of-state residents receiving abortion funding increased by nearly ten percent post-Dobbs, from approximately 8 percent to 18 percent,while in-state residents’ use of funding increased by only one percent, from 2 percent to 3 percent, over the same period.
“Abortion costs are already well above the average out-of-pocket medical expenditures for reproductive age females in the United States,” Janiak said. “In the post-Dobbs context, interstate travel costs are even higher.”
Thus, although Massachusetts does not border any states with an abortion ban, the number of patients traveling and accessing charitable funding increased after Dobbs.
“In states like Massachusetts, we know the state government as well as advocates and healthcare providers are very invested in ensuring abortion access,” Janiak said. “We hope the data from this study serves as an example of how states across the country that share this commitment can monitor the trends in and needs of interstate travelers.”
Limitations of the study include using data from a single clinical source that might not be representative of the entire state. Still, the rapid and disproportionate increase in out-of-state residents seeking care at the largest abortion care provider in Massachusetts reflects a crucial need to assess and strengthen abortion service infrastructure in non-ban states.
“To my knowledge, this is the first analysis of state-level abortion volume changes post-Dobbs using medical record data, and definitely the first in a non-surge state,” Janiak said. “Next, we want to get a more nuanced picture of the barriers people are encountering and how they're overcoming those barriers to travel for abortion.”
Specifically, her team is surveying interstate travelers and in-state residents seeking abortion care in Massachusetts and beyond. They are tracking gestational age, pregnancy outcomes, underlying healthcare characteristics and the psychosocial stress associated with travel for abortion, with the goal of using study results to promote greater equity in abortion care.
Disclosures: Dr. Fulcher reports being employed as the vice president of data science at Delfina Care.
Funding: None.
Paper cited: Keefe-Oates, B et al. “Use of Abortion Services in Massachusetts After the Dobbs Decision Among In-State vs Out-of-State Residents” JAMA Network Open DOI: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2023.32400
WASHINGTON (September 6, 2023) – An annual survey of physical and sexual violence suffered by Californians documents for the first time the higher incidence of violence among non-binary and transgender people. One in 20 California adults has experienced physical violence (5%) in the past year, a decrease from 8% in 2022, according to The California Violence Experiences Study (CalVEX); but the reported rates for non-binary and transgender individuals were notably higher, 14% and 27%, respectively.
“The new data we have in this year’s report show that rates of violence have declined since levels seen during the pandemic, but these experiences remain too common, especially for our gender diverse and sexually diverse communities,” said Anita Raj, PhD, MS, Affiliate Professor at University of California San Diego and executive director of the Newcomb Institute at Tulane University. “These data have historically lacked information on non-binary and transgender individuals, so we have not had a clear picture of their experiences with violence until now.”
The fourth annual CalVEX survey, covering more than 3,500 adults, also found that one in 11 adults (9%) said that they have been a victim of sexual harassment or assault in the past year, a decrease from 11% in 2022. Past year sexual harassment and assault reported by non-binary and transgender adults was egregiously higher, at 56% and 40%, respectively.
Overall, more than half of all adults in California reported physical or sexual partner violence (54%) against them in their lifetime. Women (54%), non-binary individuals (76%), and transgender individuals (83%) are more likely than men (38%) to have experienced this.
The CalVEX survey also collected data on the rates and occurrences of violence and mental health and found significant effects associations.
Those who experienced physical violence in the past year were:
More than twice as likely to report severe depression and/or anxiety symptoms (14% vs 6%)
Four times more likely to report serious consideration of suicide (25% vs 6%)
More than twice as likely to report recent substance misuse (67% vs 28%)
Those who experienced sexual harassment or assault in the past year were:
More than twice as likely to report severe depression and/or anxiety symptoms (14% vs 6%)
Four times more likely to report serious consideration of suicide (22% vs 5%)
Nearly twice as likely to report recent substance misuse (51% vs 28%)
The study also examined racial/ethnic disparities and economic disparities among those affected by violence and found higher rates of violence among minority and economically distressed people.
“Experiences of violence are affected by gender, and we need to consider the unique vulnerabilities to violence that people face due to their gender as we build our violence prevention efforts,” said Raj. “Our goal with these data is to guide violence-prevention programming and policy development, recognizing the gendered risk attached to it and the socio-economic and health disparities.”
Overwhelmingly, most people who experienced violence did not report it to authorities: 80% of those who experienced physical violence and 95% of those experiencing sexual violence. This suggests that people may feel that there is no benefit to seeking support or recourse. Some may even be concerned that help-seeking could yield further problems for them.
The survey asked Californians about their most recent experience of being approached or stopped by the police. One in eight (12%) said they were treated somewhat or very badly, as reported by 11% of women and 13% of men. The survey also found that one factor discouraging the reporting of violence to the police was that 1 in 25 respondents (4%) said they were victims of police violence.
“This suggests that criminal justice responses may not be useful in addressing violence,” said Raj.
“Health and social welfare services such as conflict-resolution training and support services for families and youth may be a better means of serving victims and preventing perpetration, given the vulnerabilities faced by victims and that most perpetrators are victims as well.”
The survey was conducted online by NORC at the University of Chicago on behalf of University of California San Diego’s Center on Gender Equity and Health (GEH) from March to May 2023. More information about the study is available at https://geh.ucsd.edu/cal-vex/.
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About the California Violence Experiences Study (CalVEX)
The California Violence Experiences Study (CalVEX) provides insight into the current state of violence and discrimination for adult California residents. The survey provides timely population-level estimates on physical violence, inclusive of knife and gun violence, as well as a range of sexual violence experiences, inclusive of harassment, coercion, and forced sex.
NORC at the University of Chicago conducted the online CalVEX survey on behalf of the University of California San Diego’s Center on Gender Equity and Health (GEH). 3,560 California adult residents ages 18+ were surveyed from March 2023 to May 2023. For complete research methods, including recruitment, weighting variables, and subgroup sample sizes, please contact Nicole Johns at nejohns@health.ucsd.edu.
