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Stigma, Silence and Strength: A Co-produced Inquiry into Mental Health Conversations in Black African Communities in the UK
No full textIn Black African communities, communication and discussions about mental health challenges and concerns are often limited, avoided or difficult to initiate and maintain as a regular part of wellbeing conversations. Therefore, using a co-production approach as a means of generating new knowledge, our study sought to identify the barriers young people and parents from Black African backgrounds face, in expressing their feelings/emotions and having conversations about mental health and wellbeing. Two Focus Group Discussions involving 19 young people (aged 11–19 years) and 12 in-depth interviews (IDIs) with parents and/community leaders was conducted. Data were analysed using Braun and Clark’s thematic analysis approach. Our analysis revealed shared barriers across both groups, presented under four themes: understanding of mental health and source of support; lack of good communication in families; beliefs about societal perceptions; and response to racism incidents. Differences emerged on both groups shared expectations when dealing with issues of emotional concerns. Also, there is a sharp distinction in how young people and adults made sense of the cause of these barriers. While young people associated the cause to their parents’ ‘immigrant’ aspiration for success, adults on the other hand attributed them to factors like a lack of close parent–child relationships and their own past childhood experiences. Furthermore, some parents’ efforts to build resilience against racism, often through acculturation were found to inadvertently limit open conversations about mental health. Understanding these perceptions can help improve mental health literacy and inform culturally appropriate strategies for supporting mental health communication within Black African families and communities
How researchers refer to individuals with schizophrenia: person-first and identity-first language in academic papers
No full textStigma associated with schizophrenia has been well-documented in both society and healthcare settings. However, the use of stigmatizing language in research papers remains largely unexplored. This study examined how researchers refer to schizophrenia in peer-reviewed articles, aiming to characterize the descriptive terms used to refer to individuals with schizophrenia and assess the adoption of person-first language. We conducted an electronic search on PubMed using the MeSH term “schizophrenia” and randomly selected 500 articles. Descriptive terminology was categorized as neutral (e.g., “schizophrenia patients”), person-first (e.g., “person with schizophrenia”), or identity-first (e.g., “schizophrenic patient”). Reference terms were assessed based on their alignment with a person-first perspective. Of the 500 studies, 475 (95%) included at least one term referring to people affected by schizophrenia. Among them, 238 (50.1%) used identity-first terms, 228 (48%) used person-first terms, and 91 (18.2%) employed both. Over time, the use of identity-first terms decreased. The decline in identity-first terms over time suggests a positive impact of the person-first movement. Despite these encouraging findings, our data also indicate that there is still room for improvement in reducing the use of identity-first terms. We propose recommendations for researchers to promote less stigmatizing language
Identification of high blanchability donors, candidate genes and markers in groundnut
Get PDFBlanchability is the ability of seeds to shed their seed coat (testa) and is a trait of economic importance in the food processing industry, yet remains underexplored in breeding programs. In this study, blanchability was evaluated in 184 groundnut accessions from the ICRISAT minicore collection to identify associated genomic regions, candidate genes, and molecular markers. Significant variability was observed over two seasons, with values ranging from 3.98 to 70.08%. Ten genotypes, including ICG10890, ICG9507, ICG13982, and ICG297, showed high blanchability, with ICG297 emerging as a promising donor based on cluster analysis of blanchability and agronomic traits. Genome-wide associations study (GWAS) using the 58 K ‘Axiom_Arachis’ SNP array revealed 58 significant SNP-trait associations, highlighting important genes such as isocitrate dehydrogenase and ubiquitin ligase, which influence seed coat structure and cell wall integrity thereby affecting blanchability. Further, nine SNPs were selected via allele mining, among these four SNPs, on chromosomes A01 (snpAH00551, AhBL01), A06 (snpAH00554, AhBL02), B04 (snpAH00558, AhBL03), and B07 (snpAH00559, AhBL04), effectively distinguishing between high and low blanchability genotypes. These validated SNPs present valuable tools for genomics-assisted breeding. Overall, the finding contributes towards better understanding of the genetic basis of blanchability in groundnut, providing key genomic resources for improving processing-related traits
Identification of novel molecular drivers, prognostic and diagnostic biomarkers for Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD): protocol for the Nottingham/AstraZeneca prospective IBD observational cohort study
No full textIntroduction Crohn’s disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC) are chronic, inflammatory bowel diseases (IBDs) of unknown origin, affecting the gastrointestinal tract and often causing extraintestinal symptoms. Conventional treatments (eg, glucocorticosteroids, immunomodulators) and targeted advanced treatments, including anti-TNFα, antibodies to p40 subunit of IL-12/23, antibodies to p19 subunit of IL-23, anti-α4β7 integrin, Janus kinase inhibitors (JAKis) and sphingosine-1-phosphate receptor (S1PR) modulators, do not achieve sustained responses for all patients, leaving significant unmet therapeutic needs. Methods and analysis This prospective, multi-centre observational study will follow a cohort of 240 patients across multiple study centres within NHS trusts in the UK who are initiating or switching biologics, specifically anti-TNFα and anti-α4β7 integrin for UC, and anti-TNFα, antibodies to p40 subunit of IL-12/2 and JAKi for CD. Through comprehensive profiling of immunological, transcriptional, microbiome, genetic and proteomic markers at baseline, week 12, and week 52, this study aims to uncover non-invasive biomarkers that predict response to these drug classes, ultimately advancing personalised medicine in IBD. Ethics and dissemination Ethical approval for the Nottingham/AstraZeneca study was granted by the West of Scotland Research Ethics Committee. Recruitment began in December 2022 and is currently ongoing at 10 NHS Trust sites across the UK. Study findings will be disseminated by publication in peer-reviewed journals and presentations at relevant national and international conferences
Trajectories of child emotional and behavioural difficulties before and during the COVID-19 pandemic in a longitudinal UK cohort
Get PDFBackground: There are substantial age-related changes in emotional and behavioural problems over childhood. In order to establish the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on child emotional and behavioural problems, longitudinal designs which take into account age-related trends are needed. This study examined trajectories of children's emotional and behavioural difficulties both before and during the pandemic in a prospective birth cohort. Methods: Data were from 708 children from the third generation of a birth cohort study; the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children in England. The study population comprised of 708 children (median age at COVID data collection was 2.75years [interquartile range 0.8, 4.4]) whose parents provided pre-pandemic surveys and a survey between 26 May and 5 July 2020. Multi-level mixed effects models with random intercepts and slopes examined whether children's trajectories of emotional and behavioural difficulties during the pandemic differ from those expected pre-pandemic. Results: Children's emotional and behavioural difficulties trajectories pre-pandemic increased during infancy peaking around the age of 2 and then declined throughout the rest of childhood. Pre-pandemic, decline in difficulties scores after age 2 was 0.6 points per month; but reduced by 35% during the pandemic. This slower decline in scores translated to older children having difficulty scores higher than would be expected, during the pandemic. By age 8.5, there is a 9.5-point difference in pre- and during-pandemic scores (95% CI: 4.5–14.5). This represents an average 48% increase from scores expected at this age (pre-pandemic mean score=20; 95% CI: [15–25]). Results remained similar although somewhat attenuated after adjusting for parental anxiety. Conclusion: The COVID-19 pandemic may be associated with greater persistence of emotional and behavioural difficulties after the age of 2years
The form and function of education fiction: a design heuristic to foster convivial forms of inquiry
No full textThe production of education fiction fosters social inquiry to imagine more equitable and socially just education futures. To support these claims, we reflect on our work developing character-based stories representing aspects of what it might mean to become an academic of working-class heritage and propose a design heuristic for creators and analysts of education fiction. We consider the relationship between form and function; encoding (making) and decoding (interpreting) to explore the affordances of education fiction as both process and material product. The design heuristic is conceptually grounded in our own projects, and is informed by media and cultural studies, the broader humanities and education. Our work illustrates how the design heuristic can be used as a prompting device in both the analysis and creation of education fiction. We argue that the design heuristic supports people to convivially work and live with difference to imagine more inclusive education futures through education fiction projects
The challenges of rehabilitation and delirium trials in the current NHS landscape: learning from the RecoverED feasibility trial
Get PDFThere is a great need for more high-quality rehabilitation and delirium research and the National Health Service (NHS) should be well placed to deliver such research. This commentary discusses the challenges we faced in delivering a feasibility trial of a rehabilitation intervention aimed at supporting recovery from delirium. We found a number of challenges including identifying therapy teams, delays in study set up, difficulty in identification and recruitment of participants, staff capacity to undertake the research and site selection. As a result of identifying these challenges we propose some recommendations as opportunities to improve the delivery of rehabilitation research in the future. These are: development of research capacity amongst therapy staff; optimising delirium screening to improve patient care and research opportunities; and greater creativity and innovation between funders and researchers to improve recruitment of frail older people with cognitive impairment to research
Characterisation of dynamic changes in nutritional components and aroma compound formation in natto during fermentation and post-ripening
No full textFermentation and post-ripening plays a significant role in shaping the nutritional value, taste, and aroma of natto. This study aimed to analyse nutritional trends in natto during fermentation and ripening, identify its characteristic volatile organic compounds (VOCs), and elucidate their formation pathways. VOCs were detected using HS-GC-IMS combined with sensory evaluation in the study. Dynamic changes in key nutritional components, protein secondary structure, and texture characteristics were also examined and correlated. During the fermentation phase observed every 4 h till 20 h, peptide and amino acid content increased due to proteolysis, accompanied by a continuous decrease in hardness, springiness, and chewiness, and an increase in adhesion. During the post-ripening stage over 20 h, the overall nutrient composition and textural properties remained relatively stable, except hardness, which continued to decrease. The study identified 41 VOCs and based on the calculated relative odour activity value (ROAV), 7 compounds had ROAVs above 1 throughout the process. Moreover, compared to the fermentation stage, the concentrations of 2,3-dimethylpyrazine and 2-ethyl-3-methylpyrazine were significantly increased (p < 0.05) in the post-ripening. Furthermore, the study revealed that the distinctive aroma compounds in natto, which were significantly correlated with the contents of Phe, Tyr, Val, Ile, and Thr, included butyl acetate, 2-methoxy-3-methylpyrazine, 2-pentylfuran, ethyl propanoate, and 2,3-butanedione (p < 0.05). In conclusion, this study provides valuable insights into the formation of diverse aroma compounds in natto and lays a theoretical foundation for producing high-quality natto with enhanced nutritional value, a soft texture and a rich, mellow aroma
Microbial Primer: Agr-mediated quorum sensing in Gram-positive pathogens
Get PDFGram-positive bacteria commonly employ autoinducing peptide (AIP) signal molecules to co-ordinate gene expression at the population level. This primer provides a basic overview of agr-dependent quorum sensing systems and outlines how AIPs are produced and sensed, what they control and the importance of agr for both inter-bacterial andhost-pathogen interactions
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