An introduction to the co-creation of policy briefs with youth and academic teams

Drawing on insights from a four-day online workshop, which explored geo-engineering and policy making with 13 youth participants, an academic and youth authorial team provide a guide to the co-creation of policy briefs. Drawing on excerpts from the policy brief at different stages of development and commentary provided by the authors during the workshops, we set out four stages including (1) Identifying the key message and audience, (2) Reading and critically engaging with examples of policy briefs during the drafting process, (3) Developing the policy brief text, and (4) Reviewing and revising the policy brief. We have developed this guidance with a co-creative, group work approach in mind and suggest that this has relevance for those working in and beyond the discipline of geography

Validation of the parental knowledge and attitude towards antibiotic usage and resistance among children in Tetovo, the Republic of Macedonia

Objective: This study sought to explore the knowledge and attitudes of parents on the use of antibiotics among children that could serve as baseline data and provide further insight in planning and developing strategies for local health education purposes. Methods: A cross-sectional survey involving 500 parents who attended community pharmacies in Tetovo, Republic of Macedonia, was conducted using a self-administered questionnaire from October 2013 to January 2014. The questionnaire included demographics, knowledge and attitude statements of parents towards antibiotics. The data collected were analyzed using SPSS program, version 19.0. Descriptive statistics was used to summarize the data. In all statistical analyses, a p-value of <0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: Nearly 40% of the parents demonstrated a moderate level of knowledge. The highest correct response in the knowledge part was the awareness of parents in using antibiotics to treat a bacterial infection (61.2%). However, most of the parents did not know that antibiotics cannot cure viral infections (59.6%). About 48.2% of the parents were aware of the antibiotic resistance as s result of the overuse. Concerning attitudes, 60.8% reported keeping any leftover antibiotics, 77.0% agreed that taking antibiotics when having cold symptoms could help their children recover faster, while, 74.6% wrongly agreed with the statement of appropriate use of antibiotics for prophylaxis’ measure. Conclusions: This study has documented the main areas that merit attention when parental knowledge on antibiotic use for their children is the concern, reflecting in some inappropriate attitudes as well. The findings highlight the need to devise effective interventions to decrease misconceptions regarding antibiotic use and to increase parents’ awareness for the risks of inappropriate use of antibiotics in children specifically and in the community at large

Open conversion for recurrent endograft occlusion after endovascular treatment of blunt traumatic aortic injury. A peculiar case report

Background: We report a rare case of delayed, symptomatic thoracic endograft thrombosis after the initial thoracic endovascular aortic repair (TEVAR) for blunt thoracic aortic injury which was successfully retreated with a redo TEVAR, followed by open conversion due to recurrent partial occlusion of the distal edge of the endografts. Methods: Two years ago, a 22-year-old man had undergone an emergency TEVAR for blunt thoracic aortic injury. A Zenith Cook 22 × 100 mm (Cook Incorporated, Bloomington, IN) endograft was used. Six months later, he underwent an emergency endovascular relining of the endograft using the same type of device. The multiorgan perfusion was completely restored except for the spinal cord injury. After 8 months, a recurrent partial occlusion of the distal edge of the second graft was documented. The thoracic aorta was replaced with a 22-mm silver-coated graft (Maquet Spain, SLU). Results: Histology examination showed a neointimal formation and thickening and fibrosis of the inner 1/3 of the media with loss of smooth muscle cells and increase of the elastic fibers. Conclusions: The need for secondary interventions or open conversion because of potential complications after TEVAR for traumatic aortic injury is an additional consideration when weighing the risks and benefits of endovascular repair and subsequent surveillance strategies

Influence of relative humidity on the interaction between different aryl proprionic acid derivatives and poly(vinylpyrrolidone) K30. Evaluation of the effect on drug bioavailavbility.

The present work assessed the physical interactions between several aryl propionic acid derivatives and polyvinyl(pyrrolidone) K30 (PVP), stored together at 298 +/- 0.5 K at different relative humidities (RH 55, 75 and 86%). Results were compared to those obtained at low RH (22%), published in a previous paper. The water uptake percentage of binary mixtures were intermediate between that of pure PVP and pure drugs. By X-ray powder diffraction, for all the drugs, it was possible to note a marked decrease in crystallinity degree, in particular at highest RH%. The loss in crystallinity degree may be considered an evidence of the physicochemical interaction between the polymer and the drug, supporting the formation of a solid dispersion. By high-resolution (1)H solid-state NMR spectrometry, it was possible to observe an increase of drug-polymer interaction with aging, with the only exception of ibuprofen. Molecular docking proved the establishment of Van der Waals and electrostatic interactions for all the mixtures, and for mixtures with fenbufen and naproxen, also hydrogen bonds. The application of Gordon-Taylor rule to the thermal analysis revealed that the requirement of volume additivity of this rule was not fulfilled for any mixture, and a negative deviation from theoretical behaviour was always observed. The hydration of drug-PVP mixtures had important repercussion on drug solubility and intrinsic dissolution rate (IDR). In general, an increase in water solubility and consequently an increase in IDR were observed, with few exceptions, at highest RH