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Combating the zoonotic trio of Ebola virus disease, Lassa fever, and COVID-19 in Nigeria: a retrospection of the challenges and lessons
Get PDFVarious infectious disease outbreaks linked to zoonotic sources have been recorded over the years, some of which have resulted in epidemics on a national, regional, or global scale. In Africa, a number of such outbreaks occur intermittently, especially in countries like Nigeria with a high-risk of epidemiological transmission. Three viral outbreaks with zoonotic links have hit the Nigerian healthcare system hardest, which are the Ebola virus disease, Lassa fever and Coronavirus disease 2019. Due to the fragile nature of the Nigerian health system, several challenges were encountered in the process of responding to these viral outbreaks, some of which included inadequate healthcare infrastructure, limited diagnostic capacity, unfledged nature of emergency response, unsatisfactory remuneration of health workers, misinformation trends, amongst others. By reminiscing on the challenges and lessons learnt from these viral disease outbreaks, the Nigerian government and policymakers will be able to adopt more effective approaches towards emergency preparedness for future outbreaks of infectious diseases
Development of new thiazolidine-2,4-dione hybrids as aldose reductase inhibitors endowed with antihyperglycaemic activity: design, synthesis, biological investigations, and in silico insights
Get PDFThis research study describes the development of new small molecules based on 2,4-thiazolidinedione (2,4-TZD) and their aldose reductase (AR) inhibitory activities. The synthesis of 17 new derivatives of 2,4-TZDs hybrids was feasible by incorporating two known bioactive scaffolds, benzothiazole heterocycle, and nitro phenacyl moiety. The most active hybrid (8b) was found to inhibit AR in a non-competitive manner (0.16 µM), as confirmed by kinetic studies and molecular docking simulations. Furthermore, the in vivo experiments demonstrated that compound 8b had a significant hypoglycaemic effect in mice with hyperglycaemia induced by streptozotocin. Fifty milligrams per kilogram dose of 8b produced a marked decrease in blood glucose concentration, and a lower dose of 5 mg/kg demonstrated a noticeable antihyperglycaemic effect. These outcomes suggested that compound 8b may be used as a promising therapeutic agent for the treatment of diabetic complications
Adapting Strauss and Corbin's grounded theory in clinical case study research in the field of counselling
Get PDFThis is the peer reviewed version of the following article: Fleet, D., & Reeves, A. (2023). Adapting Strauss and Corbin's grounded theory in clinical case study research in the field of counselling. Counselling and Psychotherapy Research, vol(issue), 1–8., which has been published in final form at https://doi.org/10.1002/capr.12642. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions for Use of Self-Archived Versions. This article may not be enhanced, enriched or otherwise transformed into a derivative work, without express permission from Wiley or by statutory rights under applicable legislation. Copyright notices must not be removed, obscured or modified. The article must be linked to Wiley’s version of record on Wiley Online Library and any embedding, framing or otherwise making available the article or pages thereof by third parties from platforms, services and websites other than Wiley Online Library must be prohibited.Case study can be adopted when aiming to understand an individual's lived experience. Such experience produces rich and complex qualitative data for analysis, conducive to counselling and psychotherapy research. Furthermore, grounded theory (GT) can be adopted to produce a theory from qualitative data, fitting well with case study research that explores complex experiences regarding social, psychological and phenomenological processes. This paper aims to guide the counselling researcher to incorporate Strauss and Corbin's model into the main arena of qualitative counselling research. In addition, this paper draws on a multiple case study that adopted Strauss and Corbin's method and identified various phases in the GT process. The aim is to inform the reader how to put the iterative process and pragmatic theoretical sampling into practice to produce a robust theory from clinical case study data
Using found poetry to explore creativity in the professional lives of English teachers
Get PDFThis is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in Teachers and Teaching: Theory and Practice on 26/04/2023, available online: https://doi.org/10.1080/13540602.2023.2201422This arts-based research considers creativity in the professional lives of English teachers in a school in England within the context of a progressively performative education system. In addition, it explores how found poetry can represent participants' voices in an illuminating and authentic manner. The teachers who participated in the study were able to scrutinise, reflect and comment upon the content of poems created from the words found in an initial interview transcript. This recursive process supports a credible way of seeing and knowing the teachers’ voices in a representation that gives a deeper understanding of the participants' creative experiences. The construction, interrogation, and presentation of the found poems reveal that the teachers of English believe they have reduced freedom to be creative or to act with agency in their professional lives. The reduced freedom to be creative stems from the normalising practices of working within a culture of performance. The restrictions are both tangible and self-imposed by the participants
Developing Techniques to Support Technological Solutions to Disinformation by Analysing Four Conspiracy Networks During COVID-19
Get PDF© 2024 IEEE. Personal use of this material is permitted. Permission from IEEE must be obtained for all other uses, in any current or future media, including reprinting/republishing this material for advertising or promotional purposes, creating new collective works, for resale or redistribution to servers or lists, or reuse of any copyrighted component of this work in other works.Given the role of technology and social media during the COVID-19 pandemic, the aim of this paper is to conduct a social network analysis of four COVID-19 conspiracy theories that were spread during the pandemic between March to June 2020. Specifically, the paper examines the 5G, Film Your Hospital, Expose Bill Gates, and the Plandemic conspiracy theories. Identifying disinformation campaigns on social media and studying their tactics and composition is an essential step toward counteracting such campaigns. The current study draws upon data from the Twitter Search API and uses social network analysis to examine patterns of disinformation that may be shared across social networks with sabotaging ramifications. The findings are used to generate the Framework of Disinformation Seeding and Information Diffusion for understanding disinformation and the ideological nature of conspiracy networks that can support and inform future pandemic preparedness and counteracting disinformation. Furthermore, a Digital Mindfulness Toolbox (DigiAware) is developed to support individuals and organisations with their information management and decision-making both in times of crisis and as strategic tools for potential crisis preparation
Nano‐delivery systems as a promising therapeutic potential for epilepsy: Current status and future perspectives
Get PDFEpilepsy is a common chronic neurological disorder caused by aberrant neuronal electrical activity. Antiseizure medications (ASMs) are the first line of treatment for people with epilepsy (PWE). However, their effectiveness may be limited by their inability to cross the blood–brain barrier (BBB), among many other potential underpinnings for drug resistance in epilepsy. Therefore, there is a need to overcome this issue and, hopefully, improve the effectiveness of ASMs. Recently, synthetic nanoparticle‐based drug delivery systems have received attention for improving the effectiveness of ASMs due to their ability to cross the BBB. Furthermore, exosomes have emerged as a promising generation of drug delivery systems because of their potential benefits over synthetic nanoparticles. In this narrative review, we focus on various synthetic nanoparticles that have been studied to deliver ASMs. Furthermore, the benefits and limitations of each nano‐delivery system have been discussed. Finally, we discuss exosomes as potentially promising delivery tools for treating epilepsy
Evaluation of the NHS England ‘Op COURAGE’ High Intensity Service for military veterans with significant mental health problems
Get PDFIn November 2020, The NHS for England launched a pilot High Intensity Service (HIS) programme for treating military veterans complex mental health problems. Seven regional grants were awarded to manage the HIS, including NHS Solent, in South East England. This paper details an evaluation of the HIS, which was conducted from February 2021 to August 2022. Methods: This mixed-methods study gained quantitative data from a specifically designed questionnaire that included a number of validated psychometric questionnaires. These were completed by either HIS staff or beneficiaries at entry and exit from the HIS, and qualitative data were gained from semi-structured interviews with the HIS staff. Results: Data were sourced from 45 pre-questionnaires, 25 post programme questionnaires and 11 interviews. This evaluation identified reductions in situational stressors, symptoms and reported illnesses for veterans in crisis. There were reductions in depression, anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder following programme exit. Staff reported that there was no notable changes in stress levels which appeared to remain high at programme exit. Staff interviews highlighted the importance of simultaneously understanding the social and psychological needs of veterans in mental health crisis. The benefits of integrating veteran staff members into military veteran health services were identified, demonstrating improvements in education around military culture in civilian services. Conclusions: The importance of collaboration between clinical and veteran staff members in veteran health services was noted, demonstrating the positive impact social care provision has on veteran’s overall health and well-being. Veteran engagement with the service was advocated as a result of veterans accessing the service feeling understood. This first independent evaluation of the HIS provides a positive reflection, and adds to the limited empirical evidence exploring veteran engagement in health services.Acknowledgements: The authors would like to thank Tamsyn Howells, Talking Change Psychological Services, Solent NHS Trust
An evaluation of supervisees’ perceptions of the benefits and limitations of pastoral/reflective supervision among Christian clergy in the UK
Get PDFThe Accepted Manuscript is of an article published by Taylor & Francis in Mental Health, Religion and Culture on 26/07/2023, available online: https://doi.org/10.1080/13674676.2023.2231365Clergy from several Christian denominations in the UK were invited to participate in an online survey which explored their experience of pastoral/reflective supervision. The research question was, “How has the practice of pastoral supervision within Christian denominations in the UK been beneficial, and what have been its limitations?” The aims of the research were: to explore what has been helpful to supervisees in the provision of pastoral supervision; and to determine what has not been helpful to supervisees in the provision of pastoral supervision. 173 clergy respondents took part. The data show that pastoral/reflective supervision is mostly beneficial to respondents, and that pastoral/reflective supervision enables clergy to self-perceive feelings of: support; lessening isolation; increased insight into personal process; affirmation of their ministry; and to have a better sense of wellbeing. Some hindrances to effective supervision are identified, and some recommendations for training and denominational support are made
Prevalence and risk factors of suicide and suicidal ideation in veterans who served in the British Armed Forces: a systematic review
Get PDFResearch into the factors resulting in suicide in the military veteran population has yet to reach a consensus. Available research is concentrated on a small number of countries, and there is a lack of consistency with contradictory conclusions. The USA has produced a significant amount of research in a country where suicide is identified as a national health crisis, but in the UK, there is little research regarding veterans from the British Armed Forces. This systematic review was conducted according to Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines. Corresponding literature searches were conducted in PsychINFO, MEDLINE and CINAHL. Articles that discussed suicide, suicidal ideation, prevalence or risk factors among British Armed Forces veterans were eligible for review. A total of 10 articles met the inclusion criteria and were analysed. Veterans' suicide rates were found to be comparable to those of the general UK population. The method of suicide used was most commonly found to be hanging and strangulation. Firearms was recorded in 2% of suicide cases. Demographic risk factors were often contradictory with some research stating that there was risk in older veterans and some in younger. However, female veterans were found to be at higher risk than female civilians. Those who had deployed on combat operations were at lower risk of suicide, with research finding that veterans who took longer to seek help for mental health (MH) difficulties reported more suicidal ideation. Peer-reviewed research publications have revealed that UK veteran suicide prevalence is broadly comparable to the general population while highlighting differences across international armed forces. Veteran demographics, service history, transition and MH have all been identified as potential risk factors of suicide and suicidal ideation. Research has also indicated that female veterans are at higher risk than that of their civilian counterparts due to veterans being predominantly male; this could skew results and requires investigation. Current research is limited and further exploration of suicide prevalence and risk factors in the UK veteran population is required. [Abstract copyright: © Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2023. Re-use permitted under CC BY-NC. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ.
Analysing Metaphor in Religious Discourse in Literature
Get PDFThis is an Accepted Manuscript of a book chapter published by Routledge in [Religious Language in Literature] on [14/12-2023], available online: http://www.routledge.com/The-Routledge-Handbook-of-Language-and-Religion/Pihlaja-Ringrow/p/book/9781032293530Religious language is everywhere, “embedded in unexpected places like advertising, politics, news media, popular culture and even healthcare, to name a few” (Hobbs, 2021, p. 2). Belief construction and reconstruction also underpins much literary endeavour. However, consideration of the presence of religious language in literary texts is missing from Hobbs’ (2021) otherwise comprehensive coverage of the nature and functions of religious language across religious and non-religious text types and discourse situations. This chapter aims to redress this critical lacuna by sketching the ways in which metaphor and its analysis can be used to both identify and explicate the religious discourse underpinning literary texts. As Dorst notes, “[m]etaphor and religion go hand in hand, given the fact that our religious and spiritual experiences are highly personal, emotional, and abstract” (2021, p. 251). As a by-product, this chapter hopes to illustrate that the presence of explicitly religious language should not be a prerequisite for work in this area, particularly because, as van Noppen asserts, “almost any word, phrase, or sentence may take on ‘religious’ meaning when set in a ‘religious’ situation” (1981, p. 5)
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