Newspaper portrayal of mental illness in England, Canada, Portugal, Spain and Japan = Representación de las enfermedades mentales en periódicos de Inglaterra, Canadá, Portugal, España y Japón

Abstract: Research concerning media portrayals of mental illnesses and the effects such portrayals might have on the public has usually been carried out within one country as a geographical limit. Herein, we analy­se the results of the research carried out through the analysis of newspapers in 5 different disperse countries around the world in the last decade; England, Canada, Portugal, Spain and Japan. Some of these countries have started national campaigns to reduce the stigmatisation of these conditions, including a focused awareness on Mental Health communication in media. Despite the heterogenicity of the societies studied and the different measures adopted, there is still a negative portrayal of mental illnesses in newspapers, which contributes to the ongoing mental illness stigmatisation. Other media also showed similar results. Moreover, this review intends to give a general vision on how research in this area is carried out and propose a reflection on how it should be pursued.Keywords: media; newspaper; stigma; western countries; mental health.Resumen: La investigación relacionada con la imagen que los medios de comunicación proporcionan de las enfermedades mentales y los efectos que esta imagen tiene en el público se suelen realizar dentro de un país como frontera geográfica. En esta revisión se analizan los resultados obte­nidos en diferentes estudios que analizan la cobertura de la salud mental en periódicos de 5 países diferentes, Inglaterra, Canadá, Portugal, España y Japón. Algunos de estos países han lanzado campañas a nivel nacional para reducir el estigma relacionado con estas enfermedades y presentan una parte focalizada en la comunicación de la salud mental por parte de los medios de comunicación. A pesar de la diversidad de las sociedades estudiadas y de las diferentes medidas tomadas en cada uno de estos países, sigue habiendo una representación negativa de las enfermedades mentales en los periódicos, lo que contribuye a la perpetuación del estigma. Además, se han obtenido resultados semejantes en otros medios. Finalmente, esta revisión intenta dar una perspectiva general de cómo se llevan a cabo este tipo de investigaciones y propone una reflexión de cómo debería de ser.Palabras clave: medios de comunicación; periódicos; salud mental; estigma; enfermedad mental

La dimensión social de la investigación en ciencias experimentales a través del codiseño de un kit de detección de droga de sumisión química

NoSUM es un proyecto multidisciplinar que une la investigación química con las ciencias sociales con el objetivo de desarrollar un kit de detección de la droga de sumisión química GHB en bebidas y en el que participaron numerosas personas aportando sus puntos de vista e ideas. El proyecto parte de trabajos previos del grupo de investigación en Materiales Orgánicos para Detección y Liberación Controlada (MODeLiC), en los que se desarrollaron sensores cromogénicos y fluorogénicos (que cambian de color o emiten fluorescencia, respectivamente) para la detección de la droga GHB en bebidas (Rodríguez-Nuévalos et al., 2020, 2021a, 2021b). Conscientes del gran impacto que este tipo de sensores podía tener a nivel social unieron sus esfuerzos con el grupo sobre percepción social de la ciencia, Scienceflows, para dotar al proyecto de una vertiente más social en la que los potencialesPlan Nacional de Drogas (2020I040)NoSUM is a multidisciplinary project that links chemical research with the social sciences intending to develop a detection kit for the chemical submission drug GHB in beverages, in which numerous people participated, contributing their points of view and ideas. The project is based on previous work by the research group on Organic Materials for Detection and Controlled Release (MODeLiC), in which chromogenic and fluorogenic sensors (that change color or emit fluorescence, respectively) were developed for the detection of the GHB drug in beverages (Rodríguez-Nuévalos et al., 2020, 2021a, 2021b). Aware of the great impact that this type of sensor could have at a social level, they joined their efforts with the group on the social perception of science, Scienceflows, to give the project a more social aspect in which potentia

El papel que desempeña la comunicación de la ciencia en la opinión de la ciudadanía en España

Este documento presenta un conjunto de recomendaciones basadas en el conocimiento de la consulta ciudadana del proyecto CONCISE, llevada a cabo en Valencia, España. Los puntos se enumeran según los diferentes destinatarios: comunicadores científicos, responsables políticos, científicos y público en general. El principal objetivo de CONCISE es determinar el papel que desempeña la comunicación científica en la formación de creencias, percepciones y conocimientos sobre cuestiones científicas. Para lograr este objetivo, CONCISE llevó a cabo cinco consultas públicas en Lisboa (Portugal), Valencia (España), Vicenza (Italia), Trnava (Eslovaquia) y Lodz (Polonia) con la participación de cerca de 500 ciudadanos. Esta Policy Brief de la consulta ciudadana española permitió al consorcio europeo recopilar testimonios de diferentes personas pertenecientes a diversas comunidades autónomas, proporcionando así a CONCISE información comparable y fiable sobre las percepciones generales de los ciudadanos de la UE sobre los cuatro temas científicos candentes en estudio, a saber, las vacunas, la medicina complementaria y alternativa, el cambio climático y los organismos modificados genéticamente.H2020 CONCISE G.A. No 824537This document presents a set of recommendations based on the knowledge of the CONCISE project's citizen consultation, carried out in Valencia, Spain. The points are listed according to the different audiences: science communicators, policymakers, scientists, and the general audience. CONCISE's main objective is to determine the role that science communication plays in forming beliefs, perceptions, and knowledge on science issues. To achieve this objective, CONCISE carried out five public consultations in Lisbon (Portugal), Valencia (Spain), Vicenza (Italy), Trnava (Slovakia) and Lodz (Poland) with the participation of nearly 500 citizens. This Policy Brief of the Spanish citizen consultation allowed the European consortium to collect testimonies from different people belonging to different autonomous communities, thus providing CONCISE with comparable and reliable information on the general perceptions of EU citizens on the four burning science topics under study; namely vaccines, complementary and alternative medicine, climate change and genetically modified organisms

Citizen consultations on science communication: A citizen science approach

Citizen science is part of a wider trend in science and society of promoting two-way dialogue and engagement between scientists and the public, by involving citizens in the research process. This paper examines how CONCISE, an international research project involving Spain, Italy, Portugal, Poland, and Slovakia, seeks to understand how citizens acquire and use scientific information, by engaging citizens through public consultations. The consultations gathered close to 500 citizens in 2019. Asking them for suggestions on how to improve science communication and involving them in the dissemination efforts, CONCISE aims to put citizens at the core of the research process.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Uptake and Fate of Fluorescently Labeled DNA Nanostructures in Cellular Environments: A Cautionary Tale

Fluorescent dye labeling of DNA oligonucleotides and nanostructures is one of the most used techniques to track their fate and cellular localization inside cells. Here, we report that intracellular fluorescence, and even FRET signals, cannot be correlated with the cellular uptake of intact DNA structures. Live cell imaging revealed high colocalization of cyanine-labeled DNA oligos and nanostructures with phosphorylated small-molecule cyanine dyes, one of the degradation products from these DNA compounds. Nuclease degradation of the strands outside and inside the cell results in a misleading intracellular fluorescent signal. The signal is saturated by the fluorescence of the degradation product (phosphorylated dye). To test our hypothesis, we synthesized a range of DNA structures, including Cy3-and Cy5-labeled DNA cubes and DNA tetrahedra, and oligonucleotides with different stabilities toward nucleases. All give fluorescence signals within the mitochondria after cellular uptake and strongly colocalize with a free phosphorylated dye control. Kinetics experiments revealed that uptake of stable DNA structures is delayed. We also studied several parameters influencing fluorescent data: stability of the DNA strand, fixation methods that can wash away the signal, position of the dye on the DNA strand, and design of FRET experiments. DNA nanostructures hold tremendous potential for biomedical applications and biotechnology because of their biocompatibility, programmability, and easy synthesis. However, few examples of successful DNA machines in vivo have been reported. We believe this contribution can be used as a guide to design better cellular uptake experiments when using fluorescent dyes, in order to further propel the biological development, and application of DNA nanostructures

Carbohydrate-DNA interactions at G-quadruplexes: Folding and stability changes by attaching sugars at the 5′-End

Quadruplex DNA structures are attracting an enormous interest in many areas of chemistry, ranging from chemical biology, supramolecular chemistry to nanoscience. We have prepared carbohydrate-DNA conjugates containing the oligonucleotide sequences of G-quadruplexes (thrombin binding aptamer (TBA) and human telomere (TEL)), measured their thermal stability and studied their structure in solution by using NMR and molecular dynamics. The solution structure of a fucose-TBA conjugate shows stacking interactions between the carbohydrate and the DNA G-tetrad in addition to hydrogen bonding and hydrophobic contacts. We have also shown that attaching carbohydrates at the 5′-end of a quadruplex telomeric sequence can alter its folding topology. These results suggest the possibility of modulating the folding of the G-quadruplex by linking carbohydrates and have clear implications in molecular recognition and the design of new G-quadruplex ligands. Copyright © 2013 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.We thank the MICINN (grants CTQ2009–13705, CTQ2010–20451, CTQ2010–21567-C02–02), EU COST project MP0802, Generalitat de Catalunya (2009/SGR/208), and Instituto de Salud Carlos III (CIBERBNN, CB06 01 0019) for financial support. IGP and RL thank CSIC for a JAE contract. EVC thanks the Ministry of Education for an FPU doctoral fellowship.Peer reviewe