Economic abuse between intimate partners in Australia: Prevalence, health status, disability and financial stress

Objective: Economic abuse is a form of domestic violence that has a significant impact on the health and financial wellbeing of victims, but is understudied. This study determined the lifetime prevalence of economic abuse in Australia by age and gender, and the associated risk factors. Methods: The 2012 ABS Personal Safety Survey was used, involving a cross-sectional population survey of 17,050 randomly selected adults using face-to-face interviews. The survey-weighted prevalence of economic abuse was calculated and analysed by age and gender. Logistic regression was used to adjust odds ratios for possible confounding between variables. Results: The lifetime prevalence of economic abuse in the whole sample was 11.5%. Women in all age groups were more likely to experience economic abuse (15.7%) compared to men (7.1%). Disability, health and financial stress status were significant markers of economic abuse. Conclusions: For women, financial stress and disability were important markers of economic abuse. However, prevalence rates were influenced by the measures used and victims' awareness of the abuse, which presents a challenge for screening and monitoring. Implications for public health: Social, health and financial services need to be aware of and screen for the warning signs of this largely hidden form of domestic violence

Exploring how economic abuse manifests in young adult relationships

Purpose -  Money is an inescapable part of everyone's life, but violence and abuse should not be. Economic abuse is about financial control, financial exploitation and work and/or study sabotage. This research focuses on young adults aged 18-29 years in their relationship-formation phase, to gain greater insights that inform prevention-based social marketing campaigns. Research questions - The main research question was: How does economic abuse manifest in young adult relationships? There were three sub-questions: What is the prevalence of economic abuse among young adults? What is the lived experience of economic abuse in young adult relationships? And what factors are associated with economic abuse among young adults in relationships? Design/methodology - This thesis used mixed methods. Importantly, the research adopted a social-ecological framework that allowed for the complexity of the problem to be explored at the individual, relationship, community and societal levels. I conducted three studies to address the research questions: an analysis of a large cross-sectional survey; interviews with 24 practitioners; and interviews with 24 young men and women. Findings - Nationally, 1 in 6 women and 1 in 14 men were victims of economic abuse. Financial stress, emotional abuse, physical abuse, low education level and living with a disability were all significant factors. One in 10 young women and 1 in 20 young men have been victims of economic abuse. The young adults interviewed described being victims of economic control, exploitation, and work and study sabotage. They were denied basic necessities. Their possessions and homes were destroyed or damaged, rendering them at risk of homelessness. Their mobile phones were often the target of this property destruction. Their attempts to commence or participate in education were sabotaged by their partners either directly or indirectly. They became adversely economically entangled with the perpetrator through rental leases, hire purchase or loan arrangements. A common tactic was the control of access to financial information (asymmetric information). The experiences of young adults were analysed to reveal the underlying factors associated with economic abuse. Consistent with the practitioners¿ views, the young adult participants did not recognise economic abuse and were not aware that it was `a thing'. They believed that if they were not the victims of physical violence (which needed to be `bad enough'), then their relationships were not abusive (enough) to warrant seeking assistance from family violence services. The young women interviewed commonly blamed themselves for being victims of abuse: they thought themselves too generous, too trusting and too loving. The young adult women interviewed did not evidence a lack of financial capability when it came to the day-to-day management of their finances; rather, their financial capabilities were sabotaged by their abusive partners. They either had no or limited access to their own funds or were being used as an unending source of cash. The evidence from this study shows that young adults do experience economic abuse in their relationships and in ways that are different from those impacting other age cohorts. Reflecting on their relationships, the young adults interviewed felt they were too young and inexperienced when it came to relationships and that they had rushed into living together. Most were prepared to be generous or tolerant of money management differences because they were in love and committed to the relationship. Love was thus more important than money. Fear was also ever present - they feared violent retaliation or conflict, and losing the relationship. The young adults were struggling to manage the disconnect between their own and their partner's romantic and financial expectations in their relationships. Yet their primary focus was on love and trust. If someone loves and trusts you, why would they exploit or control you? How can you be supported without being controlled, and how can you support your partner without being exploited? The factors that increased dependence, vulnerability and premature economic entanglement (such as moving in together, having a baby and unemployment) placed young adults at greater risk of economic abuse. The practitioners noted that young adults do not recognise economic abuse as a form of partner violence, they value their relationships more than their bank accounts, and they are still very much influenced by gender-based stereotypes when it comes to money management in relationships. The practitioners were of the opinion that young adults would benefit from financial education, having access to financial role models and mentors, and more education about relationships. Not only would awareness-raising about economic abuse assist young adults, but it would also have a positive impact on those who are connected with young adults. The practitioners stated that it is also important that the finance and other sectors protect young adults from economic abuse by not having systems that facilitate the perpetration of economic abuse. Gender inequality underlies the behaviours and attitudes associated with economic abuse. It was indeed clear that the young people interviewed were largely influenced by gender-based stereotypes which continue to perpetuate economic abuse. Research implications - This research has contributed new knowledge about the experiences of young adult victims of economic abuse. There is scope to develop or improve existing scales that measure economic abuse so that they are more relevant for young adults. Further research could explore in more detail how young adults manage their financial and relationship transitions in order to better understand the development of economic abuse. Policy and practice implications - The prevention of economic abuse must include awareness-raising, not just in the community but through government sectors and services - and herein social marketing can play a significant role. An economic abuse and a young adult lens is needed in documenting, discussing, and developing family violence interventions and policy. Strategies should also enhance the capabilities of young adults in navigating their finances as individuals and also within relationships. In doing so, they need to acknowledge the interplay between love, trust and money. Ignoring this holistic contextual approach will only serve to perpetuate (the hidden nature of) economic abuse. Young adult focused services should be considered in the suite of family violence interventions

Gender differences in psychosocial complexity for a cohort of adolescents attending youth-specific substance abuse services

Little research has examined gender differences in the characteristics of young people attending alcohol and other drug (AOD) services. Several studies have found differences suggesting that young women sometimes present with greater severity of substance use and with greater psychosocial complexity, but there is inconsistency in these findings. Research is needed with larger samples to better understand the circumstances in which the experiences and needs of young women may differ from those of young men. This study reports results of a census of clients (N = 1,000)attending youth-specific alcohol and other drug (AOD)services in the state of Victoria, Australia

Simulating chemistry efficiently on fault-tolerant quantum computers

Quantum computers can in principle simulate quantum physics exponentially faster than their classical counterparts, but some technical hurdles remain. Here we consider methods to make proposed chemical simulation algorithms computationally fast on fault-tolerant quantum computers in the circuit model. Fault tolerance constrains the choice of available gates, so that arbitrary gates required for a simulation algorithm must be constructed from sequences of fundamental operations. We examine techniques for constructing arbitrary gates which perform substantially faster than circuits based on the conventional Solovay-Kitaev algorithm [C.M. Dawson and M.A. Nielsen, \emph{Quantum Inf. Comput.}, \textbf{6}:81, 2006]. For a given approximation error $\epsilon$, arbitrary single-qubit gates can be produced fault-tolerantly and using a limited set of gates in time which is $O(\log \epsilon)$ or $O(\log \log \epsilon)$; with sufficient parallel preparation of ancillas, constant average depth is possible using a method we call programmable ancilla rotations. Moreover, we construct and analyze efficient implementations of first- and second-quantized simulation algorithms using the fault-tolerant arbitrary gates and other techniques, such as implementing various subroutines in constant time. A specific example we analyze is the ground-state energy calculation for Lithium hydride.Comment: 33 pages, 18 figure

Chemical flexibility of heterobimetallic Mn/Fe cofactors: R2lox and R2c proteins

A heterobimetallic Mn/Fe cofactor is present in the R2 sub-unit of class Ic ribonucleotide reductases (R2c) and in R2-like ligand-binding oxidases (R2lox). Although the protein-derived metal ligands are the same in both groups of proteins, the connectivity of the two metal ions and the chemistry each cofactor performs are different: in R2c, a one-electron oxidant, the Mn/Fe dimer is linked by two oxygen bridges (u-oxo/u-hydroxo), whereas in R2lox, a two-electron oxidant, it is linked by a single oxygen bridge (u-hydroxo) and a fatty acid ligand. Here, we identified a second coordination sphere residue that directs the divergent reactivity of the protein scaffold. We found that the residue that directly precedes the N-terminal carboxylate metal ligand is conserved as a glycine within the R2lox group but not in R2c. Substitution of the glycine with leucine converted the resting-state R2lox cofactor to an R2c-like cofactor, a u-oxo/u-hydroxo–bridged MnIII/FeIII dimer. This species has recently been observed as an intermediate of the oxygen activation reac- tion in WT R2lox, indicating that it is physiologically relevant. Cofactor maturation in R2c and R2lox therefore follows the same pathway, with structural and functional divergence of the two cofactor forms following oxygen activation. We also show that the leucine-substituted variant no longer functions as a two-electron oxidant. Our results reveal that the residue preceding the N-terminal metal ligand directs the cofactor’s reactivity toward one- or two-electron redox chemistry, presumably by setting the protonation state of the bridging oxygens and thereby perturbing the redox potential of the Mn ion.This work was supported by Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft Grant Ha3265/6–1 and a Heisenberg Fellowship, German Bundesministerium fu ̈ r Bildung und Forschung Grant 05K14KE1 within the Rontgen-Angstrom Cluster (to M. Haumann), Swedish Research Council Grants 2016-03770 (to J. J. G.) and 2017-04018 (to M. Hogbom), European Research Council Grant HIGH-GEAR 724394, Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation Grant 2017.0275, the European Community’s Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007–2013) under Grant Agreement 283570 (for BioStruct-X) (to M. Hogbom), and Australian Research Council Future Fellowship FT140100834 (to N. C.)

Wolbachia endobacteria depletion by doxycycline as antifilarial therapy has macrofilaricidal activity in onchocerciasis: a randomized placebo-controlled study

In a randomized, placebo-controlled trial in Ghana, 67 onchocerciasis patients received 200-mg/day doxycycline for 4–6 weeks, followed by ivermectin (IVM) after 6 months. After 6–27 months, efficacy was evaluated by onchocercoma histology, PCR and microfilariae determination. Administration of doxycycline resulted in endobacteria depletion and female worm sterilization. The 6-week treatment was macrofilaricidal, with >60% of the female worms found dead, despite the presence of new, Wolbachia-containing worms acquired after the administration of doxycycline. Doxycycline may be developed as second-line drug for onchocerciasis, to be administered in areas without transmission, in foci with IVM resistance and in areas with Loa co-infections

Rapid and Sensitive Detection of Yersinia pestis Using Amplification of Plague Diagnostic Bacteriophages Monitored by Real-Time PCR

BACKGROUND: Yersinia pestis, the agent of plague, has caused many millions of human deaths and still poses a serious threat to global public health. Timely and reliable detection of such a dangerous pathogen is of critical importance. Lysis by specific bacteriophages remains an essential method of Y. pestis detection and plague diagnostics. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: The objective of this work was to develop an alternative to conventional phage lysis tests--a rapid and highly sensitive method of indirect detection of live Y. pestis cells based on quantitative real-time PCR (qPCR) monitoring of amplification of reporter Y. pestis-specific bacteriophages. Plague diagnostic phages phiA1122 and L-413C were shown to be highly effective diagnostic tools for the detection and identification of Y. pestis by using qPCR with primers specific for phage DNA. The template DNA extraction step that usually precedes qPCR was omitted. phiA1122-specific qPCR enabled the detection of an initial bacterial concentration of 10(3) CFU/ml (equivalent to as few as one Y. pestis cell per 1-microl sample) in four hours. L-413C-mediated detection of Y. pestis was less sensitive (up to 100 bacteria per sample) but more specific, and thus we propose parallel qPCR for the two phages as a rapid and reliable method of Y. pestis identification. Importantly, phiA1122 propagated in simulated clinical blood specimens containing EDTA and its titer rise was detected by both a standard plating test and qPCR. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: Thus, we developed a novel assay for detection and identification of Y. pestis using amplification of specific phages monitored by qPCR. The method is simple, rapid, highly sensitive, and specific and allows the detection of only live bacteria

YSAS Snapshot: Young women in youth alcohol and other drug services

In the past two years, two studies have been undertaken in the youth alcohol and other drug (AOD) sector1,2. These have found significant differences in the needs and characteristics of young men and women accessing youth AOD services. Uncovering these differences encouraged the researchers to analyse their data regarding gender more systematically. A brief account of the findings are presented in this snapshot. At the broadest level, the prevalence and severity of all psychosocial problems measured in both studies were considerably greater for young women. The only exception was criminal justice involvement