Public behaviour in response to the Covid-19 pandemic: Understanding the role of group processes

Background In the absence of a vaccine, behaviour by the public is key to the response to the Covid-19 pandemic. Yet, as with other types of crises and emergencies, there have been doubts about the extent to which the public are able to engage effectively with the required behaviour. These doubts are based on outdated models of group psychology. Aims and argument We analyse the role of group processes in the Covid-19 pandemic in three domains: recognition of threat; adherence by the public to the required public health behaviours (and the factors that increase such adherence); and actions of the many community mutual aid groups that arose during lockdown. In each case, we draw upon the accumulated research on behaviour in emergencies and disasters as well as the latest findings in relation to the Covid-19 pandemic to show that explanations in terms of social identity processes make better sense of the patterns of evidence than alternative explanations. Conclusion If behaviour in the pandemic is a function of mutable group processes rather than fixed tendencies, then behavioural change is possible. There was evidence of significant change in behaviour from the public, particularly in the early days of the pandemic. Understanding the role of group processes means we can help design more effective interventions to support collective resilience in the public in the face of the pandemic and other threats. We draw out from the evidence a set of recommendations on facilitating the public response to Covid-19 by harnessing group processes

A social psychological perspective on post-disaster campaigns for justice: strategies in the aftermath of the Grenfell Tower fire

Previous research has shown that people help each other with different types of needs when there is a disaster or emergency. Moreover, it was also evidenced that rebuilding and restoring the community become successful and sustainable when there is an active participation of community members during the recovery process. However, research on previous disasters also reported that the support doesn’t only come from the community members. Sometimes, allies from different communities come together with the survivors and bereaved families to meet various types of needs. This thesis examined the justice seeking processes of campaigners who supported survivors and bereaved families in the aftermath of the Grenfell Tower fire. The overall aim of the research was to understand how justice campaigns arise after the disaster and why the people who are not primarily affected by the disaster also support those campaigns. Specifically, I intend to achieve a better understanding about how post-disaster campaigns succeed or fail. I asked: 1) How do local and wider community members share a social identity and engage in post-disaster justice campaigns in order to empower the disaster community and their actions? 2) How is street mobilisation used as a strategy to seek justice in the aftermath? 3) How does racism and victim blaming delegitimize the identities of victims and their justice seeking actions? In my first study, thematic analysis of interviews with 15 campaigners helped me to understand that reaching out to allies and building shared social identity among supporters were two main ways to achieve campaign goals. In the second study, using ethnography as a framework and thematic analysis of 15 more interviews helped me to understand that people don’t just become groups; they also strategically take collective actions to constitute themselves as a group and try to overcome injustice. In my third study, using a critical discursive psychological approach to analyse 416 hostile tweets which attacked victims of the Grenfell Tower Fire delegitimize them and their demands for justice. Throughout the thesis I argue that achieving campaign goals and empowerment of actions are possible when the support is mobilized from beyond the immediate community. Therefore, organizing campaign events strategically in an inclusive way can contribute to this empowerment. Lastly, even though support from other (wider) communities can be more salient, victim blaming might also happen by individuals from other communities. Moreover, this victim blaming often takes the form of racist attacks. Therefore, even though working class and ethnic minority groups experience disasters disproportionately, they might also face with racist way of victim blaming in the aftermath of a disaster

How do those affected by a disaster organize to meet their needs for justice? Campaign strategies and partial victories following the Grenfell Tower fire

Previous research has shown that disasters often involve a sense of injustice among affected communities. But the empowerment process through which ‘disaster communities’ organise strategically to confront such injustices have not been investigated by social psychology. This study addresses this gap by examining how community members impacted by the Grenfell Tower fire self-organized to demand justice in response to government neglect. Thematic analysis of interviews with fifteen campaigners helped us to understand the strategies of those involved in support campaigns following the fire. Campaigners aimed to: overcome injustice against the government inactions in the aftermath of the fire; empower their community against government neglect; create a sense of community for people who experienced injustice. Community members created a petition calling on the government to build trust in the public inquiry; they achieved their goals with the participation of people from wider communities. We found that reaching out to allies from different communities and building shared social identity among supporters were two main ways to achieve campaign goals. The study suggests ways that empowerment and hence organizing for justice can be achieved after a disaster if campaigners adopt strategies for empowering collective action

Serum Paraoxonase, Arylesterase, and GlutathioneS-Transferase Activities and Oxidative Stress Levels in Patients with Mushroom Poisoning

OBJECTIVES: Consumption of toxic species of mushrooms may have detrimental effects and increase oxidative stress. Paraoxonase, arylesterase and glutathione-S-transferase are antioxidants that resist oxidative stress. In this study, we analyzed the changes in these enzymes during intoxication due to mushrooms. METHODS: The study enrolled 49 adult patients with a diagnosis of mushroom poisoning according to clinical findings and 49 healthy volunteers as the control group. The patients with mild clinical findings were hospitalized due to the possibility that the patient had also eaten the mushrooms and due to clinical findings in the late period, which could be fatal. Paraoxonase, arylesterase, and glutathione-S-transferase concentrations, as well as total antioxidant and oxidant status, were determined in the 49 patients and 49 healthy volunteers by taking blood samples in the emergency department. RESULTS: While paraoxonase, arylesterase, and total antioxidant status were significantly decreased in the patient group (po0.05), glutathione-S-transferase, total oxidant status and the oxidative stress index were significantly higher (po0.05). There was a positive correlation between the hospitalization time and the oxidative stress index (r=0.752, po0.001), whereas a negative correlation was found with glutathione-S-transferase (r=-0.420, p=0.003). CONCLUSION: We observed a significant decrease in paraoxonase and arylesterase and an increase in glutathione-S-transferase and oxidative stress indexes in patients with mushroom poisoning, indicating that these patients had an oxidative status. In particular, a low total antioxidant status and high oxidative stress index may gain importance in terms of the assessment of hospitalization duration

Impact of antimicrobial drug restrictions on doctors' behaviors

Background/aim: Broad-spectrum antibiotics have become available for use only with the approval of infectious disease specialists (IDSs) since 2003 in Turkey. This study aimed to analyze the tendencies of doctors who are not disease specialists (non-IDSs) towards the restriction of antibiotics.Materials and methods: A questionnaire form was prepared, which included a total of 22 questions about the impact of antibiotic restriction (AR) policy, the role of IDSs in the restriction, and the perception of this change in antibiotic consumption. The questionnaire was completed by each participating physician.Results: A total of 1906 specialists from 20 cities in Turkey participated in the study. Of those who participated, 1271 (67.5%) had 5 years of occupational experience in their branch expressed that they followed the antibiotic guidelines more strictly than the JSs (P < 0.05) and 755 of physicians (88%) and 720 of surgeons (84.6%) thought that the AR policy was necessary and useful (P < 0.05).Conclusion: This study indicated that the AR policy was supported by most of the specialists. Physicians supported this restriction policy more so than surgeons did

Facilitating Collective Psychosocial Resilience in the Public in Emergencies: Twelve Recommendations Based on the Social Identity Approach

Accumulated evidence demonstrates the centrality of social psychology to the behavior of members of the public as immediate responders in emergencies. Such public behavior is a function of social psychological processes—in particular identities and norms. In addition, what the authorities and relevant professional groups assume about the social psychology of people in emergencies shapes policy and practice in preparedness, response, and recovery. These assumptions therefore have consequences for the public's ability to act as immediate responders. In this Policy and Practice Review, we will do three things. First, we will overview research on the behavior of survivors of emergencies and disasters, drawing out key factors known to explain the extent to which survivors cooperate in these events and contribute to safe collective outcomes. We will demonstrate the utility of the social identity approach as an overarching framework for explaining the major mechanisms of collective supportive behavior among survivors in emergencies. Second, we will critically review recent and current UK government agency guidance on emergency response, focusing particularly on what is stated about the role of survivors in emergencies and disasters. This review will suggest that the “community resilience” agenda has only been partly realized in practice, but that the social identity approach is progressing this. Third, we will derive from the research literature and from dialogue with groups involved in emergencies a set of 12 recommendations for both emergency managers and members of the public affected by emergencies and disasters. These focus on the crucial need to build shared identity and to communicate, and the connection between these two aims. Including our recommendations within emergency guidance and training will facilitate collective psychosocial resilience, which refers to the way a shared identity allows groups of survivors to express and expect solidarity and cohesion, and thereby to coordinate and draw upon collective sources of support. In sum, this evidence-base and the recommendations we derive from it will help professionals involved in emergency management to support public resilient behaviors and will help the public to develop and maintain their own capacity for such resilience

Surgical and Prosthodontic Rehabilitation in a Patient With Freeman-Sheldon Syndrome

WOS: 000282003300057PubMed: 20856050Dental and prosthetic rehabilitation possess significant challenges in patients who have Freeman-Sheldon syndrome. Microsomia is one of the main diagnostic criteria for Freeman-Sheldon syndrome, and it creates difficulty in working in the intraoral cavity. Most patients with small orifice often have difficulties in oral hygiene maintenance, and it gives rise to loss of some of the teeth. It incurs the need for dental and oral treatment. In the presented study, the patient with limited mouth opening that disabled the dentists to perform dental treatment was given prosthodontic therapy after having commissuroplasty and implant placement simultaneously

Tubal Pregnancy Associated with Endometrial Carcinoma after In Vitro Fertilization Attempts

Endometrial carcinoma is rarely seen during reproductive ages and commonly related to infertility, polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS), and obesity. Pregnancy associated endometrial carcinoma is even rarer and this is the second case reported in the literature concerning tubal pregnancy associated endometrial carcinoma. We present a case of a 36-year-old woman with a history of PCOS, infertility, and several attempts of ovulation induction and in vitro fertilization, who was diagnosed with tubal pregnancy and a well differentiated endometrial carcinoma. We also review the literature about pregnancy associated endometrial carcinoma in the first trimester

Research data for paper: Racist way of victim blaming in the aftermath of the Grenfell Tower fire

This dataset for a forthcoming publication involves racist tweets against Grenfell Tower fire victims. We aimed to understand how tweeters used racist language to delegitimise the victims and their supporters.Data was collected in January 2021, using the Advanced Search option within Twitter and by downloading tweets using tweepy.org, developer.twitter.com, and kaggle.com. The data was processed using Pandas Package (pandas.pydata.org).The dataset consists of four files of tweet ID numbers of racist Twitter posts against Grenfell Tower victims, survivors and bereaved families. In total we collected 26,653 tweets that involved #Grenfell #GrenfellTower #GrenfellTowerfire hashtags in four different time periods (see below for more information), and separated the ones that used hostile and racist language against Grenfell Tower fire victims and bereaved families. Tweets were also analysed which were in themselves not using racist language, but where replies included racist language.This dataset represents 267 of the 416 tweets that were analysed, in the following documents:1. ‘2017_Tweets_Grenfelll Public Inquiry began’ represents data that were collected between September 7 and 21 in 2017. This centred on the formal opening of the Grenfell Tower Inquiry on 14th September 2017. We collected 93 racist tweets out of 6,348 Grenfell Tower fire-related tweets from this period. 2. ‘2018_Tweets_Petition’ represents tweets from the second data collection time period that was during the time of the petition that Grenfell supporters created to demand a debate in Parliament to include survivors and bereaved families in the inquiry process. The petition began on 14th May 2018 and it ended on 30th May 2018. We collected 112 racist tweets out of 7,578 Grenfell Tower fire-related tweets between those dates. 3. 2019_Tweets_Inquiry Report’ has tweets that were collected between 23rd October and 7th November in 2019. This included the date of the first inquiry report on 30th October. We collected 47 racist tweets out of 11,718 Grenfell Tower fire-related tweets during this period.4. ‘2020_Tweets_COVID cancelled SW’ involves the last data collection time period that happened between 7th and 31st March 2020. This included the first Silent Walk that was cancelled because of the COVID-19 outbreak. We collected 33 (13 tweets with hashtags) racist tweets out of 1,010 Grenfell Tower fire-related tweets.The Readme file includes further details.The files include TweetIDs as captured in January 2021. These can be rehydrated using resources such as Twarc (https://github.com/DocNow/twarc) or Hydrator (https://github.com/DocNow/hydrator) in order to retrieve the Tweets as they currently appear on Twitter. Tweets which have been deleted since data capture will not be retrieved.</div

Malondialdehyde Levels in Dental Follicles of Asymptomatic Impacted Third Molars

KISA, Ucler/0000-0002-8131-6810; Kurku, Huseyin/0000-0002-1083-4151WOS: 000290242300017PubMed: 21256650Purpose: Increased levels of reactive oxygen species lead to oxidative stress and tissue damage. Malondialdehyde (MDA) is one of many low-molecular-weight endproducts of lipid peroxidation that increases with oxidative stress. The aim of this study was to determine oxidative stress in dental follicles (DFs) of radiologically asymptomatic impacted third molars (ITMs) using MDA. Materials and Methods: This study involved 40 DFs of 40 patients referred for clinically and radiographically asymptomatic ITMs. Forty healthy gingival tissues in the same patients were obtained during surgical removal of teeth as a control group. DF widths on periapical radiographs narrower than 2.5 mm were included in the study. All tissues samples were analyzed for MDA as an indicator of oxidative stress. Results: Levels of MDA were significantly higher in DFs from ITMs than those from healthy gingival tissues of the same patients (P < .01). Conclusion: The results suggest that significant oxidative stress may occur in DFs of asymptomatic ITMs. The findings suggest that increased MDA may play an important role in oxidative stress in DFs. In light of these preliminary findings of the present study, further investigations and comprehensive studies are required to determine the role of antioxidants that scavenge free radicals in DFs. (C) 2011 American Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons J Oral Maxillofac Surg 69:1291-1294, 201