Structure and dynamics in polystyrene/single-walled carbon nanotube nanocomposites via neutron scattering techniques

Small angle and quasielastic neutron scattering (SANS and QENS) were used to investigate the cause of the minimum in the diffusion coefficient for polystyrene (PS)/single walled carbon nanotube (SWCNT) nancomposites (M. Mu, N. Clarke, R. J. Composto and K. I. Winey, Macromolecules, 2009, 42, 7091–7097). Radius of gyration (Rg) values for PS/SWCNT nanocomposites were obtained by fitting SANS data with the Debye equation, and were found to increase by ~450% (110 kg mol–1) and ~500% (230 kg mol–1), indicating agglomeration or incomplete contrast-matching of the matrix and the nanotubes. Elastic scans recorded via QENS on ring and chain-labelled samples indicated that the PS rings were more mobile in both the polymer and the nanocomposite, and that adding SWCNTs increased the mobility of the chain at SWCNT concentrations above 1 wt%, especially around the glass transition temperature (Tg). Slower motions of the ring also increased, but only at 4 wt% loading. The stiffness values for the chain and ring were isolated for the first time, indicating reduced chain stiffness on addition of increasing levels of SWCNTs. QENS peaks were Fourier transformed and the decay curves fitted with the KWW function. Only the data recorded at 177 °C returned relaxation times that could be resolved, suggesting that the motions at lower temperatures are slower than could be detected. Tg values were extracted calorimetrically and from neutron data. The calorimetric Tg had a minimum at ~1 wt%. The neutron Tg was recorded from data on two spectrometers, IRIS (2-200 ps) and HFBS (100 ps–10 ns); the ring data recorded on IRIS increased relative to the bulk on loading, while the chain data recorded on HFBS decreased, indicating that the chain and rings are affected by SWCNTs on different timescales. The neutron static structure factor was affected at loading levels of 0.1–3 wt%, and the effect was more pronounced for the chain than the ring. This work clearly indicates that adding nanoparticles influences the local structure and fast local dynamics of PS/SWCNTs, and while it does not identify the origin of the minimum in the diffusion coefficient, it does narrow the time window where the origin must lie

A systematic scoping review of Photovoice within mental health research involving adolescents

Photovoice is a research method that changes perceptions of mental health. However, there is a lack of evidence exploring how Photovoice is used in mental health research involving adolescents. Our review aimed to understand the nature and key themes across findings of Photovoice studies exploring mental health among adolescents. We used pre-existing data and updated a search strategy. Popay and colleagues’ guidance was used to analyse the studies and the quality of each study was appraised. Our review found that Photovoice studies exploring mental health among adolescents are limited in quality and that Photovoice is a flexible, adaptable, inclusive, and emerging method. Coping; resilience; beliefs about oneself; family; friends; safety; living in a lower socioeconomic area and treatment emerged as key themes across study findings. Our review is the first of its kind and highlights ways Photovoice studies in the future can be developed and is helpful to multiple stakeholders

A national survey of recovery practice in community mental health teams

Background There is a policy and professional consensus about the importance of ‘recovery’ in mental health services, but the link between recovery-orientation of mental health teams and personal recovery of service users has been under-researched. Aims To investigate differences in team leader, clinician and service user perspectives of recovery orientation of community adult mental health teams in England. Objectives: (1) To compare variations between NHS Trust, team type and participant ratings of recovery-orientation of mental health teams; (2) To explore the relationship between service user ratings of recovery orientation and personal recovery; (3) To test the hypothesis that clinician-rated recovery orientation differs between clinicians with and without personal experience of mental illness or supporting a family member or friend with mental illness. Method In six English Mental Health NHS Trusts (purposively sampled to maximise geographic and demographic spread), randomly-chosen community adult mental health teams were surveyed. A random sample of ten service users, one team leader and a convenience sample of five clinicians were surveyed from each team. All respondents rated the recovery orientation of their team using parallel versions of the Recovery Self Assessment (RSA). In addition, service users also rated their own personal recovery using Questionnaire about Processes of Recovery (QPR). Results Team leaders (n=22) rated recovery orientation higher than clinicians (n=109) or service users (n=120) (Wald(7)=7.0, p=0.03), and both NHS Trust and team type influenced RSA ratings. Service user-rated recovery orientation was a predictor of personal recovery (b=0.52, p <.001; 95%CI: .31 to .74). Team leaders and clinicians with experience of mental illness (39%) or supporting a family member or friend with mental illness (76%) did not differ in their RSA ratings from other team leaders or clinicians. Conclusions Compared with team leaders, frontline clinicians and service users have less positive views on recovery orientation. Increasing recovery orientation may support personal recovery

Assessing the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of a solution-focused resource-orientated approach (DIALOG+) to improving the quality of life for people with psychosis in India and Pakistan—a cluster RCT

Background: Severe mental illness (SMI) presents a major challenge worldwide, affecting approximately 5–8% of the world’s population. It causes significant distress to affected people, families and wider communities, generating high costs through loss of productivity and ongoing healthcare use. Over 75% of patients with psychosis receive inadequate care and experience a negative financial impact and reduced quality of life (QoL). It is therefore a priority to reduce the treatment gap by providing low-cost, effective interventions for people with psychosis. Our research project, PIECEs, is designed to explore, adapt and test a low-cost, approach (DIALOG+) that makes use of existing resources to improve community-based care for patients with psychosis. The research will be conducted in two urban sites: Karachi, Pakistan and Chennai, India. DIALOG+ is a novel, technology-assisted and resource-oriented intervention, based on QoL research, concepts of patient-centred communication, IT developments and solution-focused therapy. However, the approach has not been rigorously tested within India and Pakistan. Our randomised controlled trial (RCT) aims to test the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of DIALOG+ in improving the QoL and clinical outcomes for individuals with long-term psychosis being treated in the community in India and Pakistan. Methods: To assess the acceptability, feasibility, and cost effectiveness of DIALOG+, we will conduct a cluster RCT with 210 patients and 14 clinicians in each country. The intervention will be used during a routine interaction between a clinician and a patient. It consists of a patient-centred assessment (the DIALOG scale) whereby the clinician invites the patient to rate their satisfaction with different life domains and treatment aspects, which forms the active control group. The intervention group will follow this up with a four-step solution-focused approach to identify the patient’s resources and develop solutions to deal with the patient's concerns (DIALOG+). Discussion: If shown to be effective DIALOG+ has the potential to improve community-based care and the QoL for millions of people within India and Pakistan who experience psychosis. Trial registration: The trial was registered prospectively on the ISRCTN Registry: ISRCTN13022816 on 9 February 2022

One-year recovery rates for young people with depression and/or anxiety not receiving treatment: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Objectives: To systematically review 1-year recovery rates for young people experiencing depression and/or anxiety who are not receiving any specific mental health treatment. Design: Systematic review and meta-analysis. Data sources: MEDLINE, Embase, PsycINFO, Web of Science and Global Health were searched for articles published from 1980 through to August 2022. Eligibility criteria: Articles were peer-reviewed, published in English and had baseline and 1-year follow-up depression and/or anxiety outcomes for young people aged 10–24 years without specific treatment. Data extraction and synthesis: Three reviewers extracted relevant data. Meta-analysis was conducted to calculate the proportion of individuals classified as recovered after 1 year. The quality of evidence was assessed by the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale. Results: Of the 17 250 references screened for inclusion, five articles with 1011 participants in total were included. Studies reported a 1-year recovery rate of between 47% and 64%. In the meta-analysis, the overall pooled proportion of recovered young people is 0.54 (0.45 to 0.63). Conclusions: The findings suggest that after 1 year about 54% of young people with symptoms of anxiety and/or depression recover without any specific mental health treatment. Future research should identify individual characteristics predicting recovery and explore resources and activities which may help young people recover from depression and/or anxiety

Role of the arts in the life and mental health of young people that participate in artistic organizations in Colombia: a qualitative study

Q2Q1Background: Adolescents and young adults are vulnerable to developing mental distress. However, evidence suggests that more than half of the young people with symptoms of depression and anxiety overcome their distress within a year. However, there is little research on the exact resources that young people use and help them to recover. The aim of this study was to explore how arts activities can support the recovery of young people engaged with arts organizations in Bogota. Methods: We recruited 38 participants from two arts organizations in Bogotá and conducted six focus groups embedded within artistic workshops. The type of activities in the workshops varied reflecting the different teaching methods of the two organizations. The focus group discussions were recorded and analyzed using thematic analysis. Results: Five themes explained how arts activities can help young people participating in artistic organizations to overcome mental distress: i) allowing the expression of emotions; ii) helping to manage and transform emotions; iii) distracting from problems; iv) facilitating social support and relationships; and v) contributing to the identity of young people. Conclusions: For young people who participate in artistic organizations, the arts are a resource for overcoming negative emotions such as anxiety, depression, and sadness. The beneficial role of arts activities includes different process of managing, expressing, and distracting from distress, and it differs depending on whether arts are perceived as a professional vocation or a hobby.https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9013-5384https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9682-2759https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4284-7886Revista Internacional - IndexadaA1N

Non-randomised feasibility study testing a primary care intervention to promote engagement in an online health community for adults with troublesome asthma: protocol

Introduction: In the UK, approximately 4.3 million adults have asthma, with one-third experiencing poor asthma control, affecting their quality of life, and increasing their healthcare use. Interventions promoting emotional/behavioural self-management can improve asthma control and reduce comorbidities and mortality. Integration of online peer support into primary care services to foster self-management is a novel strategy. We aim to co-design and evaluate an intervention for primary care clinicians to promote engagement with an asthma online health community (OHC). Our protocol describes a ‘survey leading to a trial’ design as part of a mixed-methods, non-randomised feasibility study to test the feasibility and acceptability of the intervention. Methods and analysis: Adults on the asthma registers of six London general practices (~3000 patients) will be invited to an online survey, via text messages. The survey will collect data on attitudes towards seeking online peer support, asthma control, anxiety, depression, quality of life, information on the network of people providing support with asthma and demographics. Regression analyses of the survey data will identify correlates/predictors of attitudes/receptiveness towards online peer support. Patients with troublesome asthma, who (in the survey) expressed interest in online peer support, will be invited to receive the intervention, aiming to reach a recruitment target of 50 patients. Intervention will involve a one-off, face-to-face consultation with a practice clinician to introduce online peer support, sign patients up to an established asthma OHC, and encourage OHC engagement. Outcome measures will be collected at baseline and 3 months post intervention and analysed with primary care and OHC engagement data. Recruitment, intervention uptake, retention, collection of outcomes, and OHC engagement will be assessed. Interviews with clinicians and patients will explore experiences of the intervention. Ethics and dissemination: Ethical approval was obtained from a National Health Service Research Ethics Committee (reference: 22/NE/0182). Written consent will be obtained before intervention receipt and interview participation. Findings will be shared via dissemination to general practices, conference presentations and peer-reviewed publications. Trial registration number: NCT05829265

Resource-oriented interventions for patients with severe mental illnesses in low- and middle-income countries: trials in Bosnia-Herzegovina, Colombia and Uganda

Background Severe mental illness (SMI) presents a major burden to societies worldwide. Low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) often do not have sufficient financial resources and qualified staff to provide extensive specialised services for outpatients with SMI. Our research therefore aims to explore and test low-cost interventions that use existing resources in routine patient-clinician meetings, families and communities. Methods In Bosnia-Herzegovina, Colombia and Uganda, three psychosocial interventions will be tested, i.e. making patient-clinician meetings therapeutically effective through DIALOG+, family involvement in multi-family group meetings, and support for patients in befriending schemes with volunteers. All interventions will be provided to patients with SMI, delivered over a six-month period and evaluated with assessments at baseline and after six and 12 months. We will conduct nine trials including non-controlled trials, non-randomised controlled trials and randomised controlled trials (RCTs). Core outcome criteria will be used across all studies. However, details of study delivery and additional outcome criteria vary to accommodate local contexts, interests and priorities. The studies will be analysed separately, but with the option to compare and combine findings. Discussion The approach provides the opportunity to learn from commonalities and differences in the results and experiences across the three resource-oriented approaches and the three countries. If successfully implemented the studies can lead to more extensive research and are expected to inform health policies and clinical practice of community care for patients with SMI in the three participating countries and other LMICs

International genome-wide meta-analysis identifies new primary biliary cirrhosis risk loci and targetable pathogenic pathways.

Primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC) is a classical autoimmune liver disease for which effective immunomodulatory therapy is lacking. Here we perform meta-analyses of discovery data sets from genome-wide association studies of European subjects (n=2,764 cases and 10,475 controls) followed by validation genotyping in an independent cohort (n=3,716 cases and 4,261 controls). We discover and validate six previously unknown risk loci for PBC (Pcombined<5 × 10(-8)) and used pathway analysis to identify JAK-STAT/IL12/IL27 signalling and cytokine-cytokine pathways, for which relevant therapies exist