A "Visible" Woman: Learning with a Student who is Deaf-blind at University

This article presents a case study of an undergraduate student with Deaf-blindness working with an interpreter and an academic skills adviser to develop her writing for the disciplines. It highlights the mutual learning this involves: about strategies for communication, issues of inclusion, and perspectives on disability

Marketing to Youth in the Digital Age: The Promotion of Unhealthy Products and Health Promoting Behaviours on Social Media

The near-ubiquitous use of social media among adolescents and young adults creates opportunities for both corporate brands and health promotion agencies to target and engage with young audiences in unprecedented ways. Traditional media is known to have both a positive and negative influence on youth health behaviours, but the impact of social media is less well understood. This paper first summarises current evidence around adolescents’ exposure to the pro-motion and marketing of unhealthy products such as energy dense and nutrient poor food and beverages, alcohol, and tobacco on social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube. We explore emerging evidence about the extent of exposure to marketing of these harmful products through social media platforms and potential impacts of exposure on adolescent health. Secondly, we present examples of health-promoting social media campaigns aimed at youth, with the purpose of describing innovative campaigns and highlighting lessons learned for creating effective social media interventions. Finally, we suggest implications for policy and practice, and identify knowledge gaps and opportunities for future research

Inhibiting the NLRP3 Inflammasome

Inflammasomes are protein complexes which are important in several inflammatory diseases. Inflammasomes form part of the innate immune system that triggers the activation of inflammatory cytokines interleukin (IL)-1β and IL-18. The inflammasome most studied in sterile inflammation and non-communicable disease is the NLRP3 inflammasome. Upon activation by diverse pathogen or disease associated signals, NLRP3 nucleates the oligomerization of an adaptor protein ASC forming a platform (the inflammasome) for the recruitment and activation of the protease caspase-1. Active caspase-1 catalyzes the processing and release of IL-1β and IL-18, and via cleavage of the pore forming protein gasdermin D can drive pyroptotic cell death. This review focuses on the structural basis and mechanism for NLRP3 inflammasome signaling in the context of drug design, providing chemical structures, activities, and clinical potential of direct inflammasome inhibitors. A cryo-EM structure of NLRP3 bound to NEK7 protein provides structural insight and aids in the discovery of novel NLRP3 inhibitors utilizing ligand-based or structure-based approaches

Synthesis and antibacterial activities of enamine derivatives of dehydroacetic acid

Dehydroacetic acid is a common pyrone derivative used commercially as an antibacterial and antifungal agent. Based on the synthesis of dehydroacetic acid (1) from N-hydroxysuccinimdyl acetoacetate, a novel series of enamine-based derivatives were synthesised in order to improve the antibacterial activity of dehydroacetic acid. The antibacterial activities of the synthesised analogues were evaluated against Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus. Derivative 4d (N-Ph) was identified as the most potent inhibitor of S. aureus growth. Overall, derivative 4b (N-Me) showed the best broad-spectrum activity with five-fold greater minimum inhibitory concentration and 11-fold greater minimum biocidal concentration against E. coli when compared to dehydroacetic acid, in addition to improved antibacterial activity against S. aureus

Tobacco advertising, promotion, and sponsorship ban adoption:A pilot study of the reporting challenges faced by low- and middle-income nations.

INTRODUCTION: The WHO Framework Convention for Tobacco Control (FCTC) Secretariat has identified issues with Article 13 (Tobacco Advertising, Promotion and Sponsorship) Party policy progress reporting, whilst some researchers remain skeptical of the completeness and accuracy of the data collected as part of the required reporting questionnaire. Gaining a deeper understanding of the challenges encountered when completing these questionnaires could provide insights to improve WHO FCTC progress reporting. METHODS: Qualitative semi-structured interviews were conducted between January and June 2021, with nine national tobacco control focal point (NFP) individuals (designates who report on WHO FCTC implementation on the Party’s behalf) from low- and middle-income countries. The study analysis used a thematic framework approach involving data familiarization, thematic framework construction, indexing and refining, mapping and interpretation of the results. RESULTS: The analysis generated four themes: 1) use of different resources, 2) presence of compounding complexities, 3) use of supporting mechanisms employed for tackling the challenges, and 4) recommendations for refinements within the questionnaire and for those completing it. CONCLUSIONS: The WHO FCTC reporting questionnaire needs improvements that could be piloted and discussed between the Convention Secretariat and the Parties prior to wide scale implementation

Effectiveness of mental health warnings on tobacco packaging in people with and without common mental health conditions:an online randomised experiment

BACKGROUND: Health warning labels on tobacco packaging are a cost-effective means of health risk communication. However, while an extensive range of physical health risks are well-portrayed via current tobacco health warnings in the UK, there are none that currently portray the negative impact of smoking on mental health. AIMS: (i) develop novel mental health warning labels for tobacco packaging and (ii) test perceptions of these warnings in smokers and non-smokers, with and without mental health problems. METHODS: Six mental health warning labels were developed with a consultancy focus group. These warning labels were tested in an online randomised experiment, where respondents (N = 687) rated six Mental Health Warning Labels (MHWLs) and six Physical Health Warning Labels (PHWLs) on measures of perceived effectiveness, believability, arousal, valence, acceptability, reactance and novelty of information. RESULTS: MHWLs were perceived as low to moderately effective (mean = 4.02, SD = 2.40), but less effective than PHWLs (mean = 5.78, SD = 2.55, p < 0.001, η(p)(2) = 0.63). MHWLs were perceived as less believable, arousing, unpleasant, and acceptable than PHWLs. MHWLs evoked more reactance and were rated as more novel. Perceptions of MHWLs did not differ in people with and without mental health problems except for reactance and acceptability, but consistent with the PHWL literature, perceptions of MHWLs differed between non-smokers and smokers. CONCLUSION: MHWLs could be an effective means to communicate novel information about the effects of smoking on mental health. MHWLs are perceived as less effective, believable, arousing, unpleasant, and acceptable than PHWLs, but MHWLs evoke more reactance and are rated as more novel

The Importance of Self-Management in the Context of Personalized Care in COPD

Despite current guidelines and decades of evidence on the benefits of a self-management approach, self-management of COPD remains relatively under-utilized in clinical care compared with other chronic diseases. However, self-management interventions can play a valuable role in supporting people with COPD to respond to changing symptoms, and thereby make appropriate decisions regarding the management of their own chronic condition. In this review, we discuss the history and evolution of the concept of self-management, assess current multidisciplinary support programs and clinical interactions designed to optimize self-management, and reflect on how effective these are in terms of clinical and humanistic outcomes. We also evaluate the mechanisms for encouraging change from protocol-based care towards a more personalized care approach, and discuss the role of digital self-management interventions and the importance of addressing health inequalities in COPD treatment, which have been accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Reflecting on the importance of self-management in the context of symptom monitoring and provision of educational support, including information from patient organizations and charities, we discuss the ideal components of a self-management plan for COPD and provide six key recommendations for its implementation: 1) better education for healthcare professionals on disease management and consultation skills; 2) new targets and priorities for patient-focused outcomes; 3) skills gap audits to identify barriers to self-management; 4) best practice sharing within primary care networks and ongoing professional development; 5) enhanced initial consultations to establish optimal self-management from the outset; and 6) negotiation and sharing of self-management plans at the point of diagnosis