Exploring clinical teachers' beliefs about teaching in a newly established medical school in Southern Switzerland.

Academic social contexts and educational beliefs may influence teaching practices and teaching intentions. Insight into such beliefs represents an important source of information for medical schools to improve the quality of teaching and to guide content of faculty development programs. The aim of this study was to explore beliefs about teaching among prospective clinical teachers at a newly established medical school in Southern Switzerland and to estimate the relationship between these beliefs and intention to commit to teaching in the newly established medical curriculum using Fishbein's integrative model of behaviour prediction. We targeted a purposive sample of physicians working in hospital departments potentially involved in the clinical immersion of medical students enrolled in the program. We designed a cross-sectional quantitative study using an online questionnaire. The questionnaire included both items developed by the authors and items belonging to a previously validated questionnaire. Participants showed a high intention to commit to teaching in the newly established curriculum. We found that self-efficacy beliefs and two sets of behavioural beliefs, namely perceived importance and expectations, had a positive correlation with the intention to commit. On the other hand, we pointed out a number of normative beliefs that in the long run could hinder the maintenance of this commitment, which should be addressed both at the levels of both faculty development and institutional policy rules. Our study also highlights the importance of reinforcing teachers' perceived self-efficacy in providing clinical supervision, strengthening their perceived importance of the clinical supervision, and incentivising the commitment of teachers by ensuring they have protected time to devote to this activity.

Mental health challenges and digital platform opportunities in patients and families affected by pediatric neuromuscular diseases - experiences from Switzerland.

Receiving the diagnosis of a severe disease may present a traumatic event for patients and their families. To cope with the related challenges, digital interventions can be combined with traditional psychological support to help meet respective needs. We aimed to 1) discuss the most common consequences and challenges for resilience in Neuro Muscular Disease patients and family members and 2) elicit practical needs, concerns, and opportunities for digital platform use. We draw from findings of a transdisciplinary workshop and conference with participants ranging from the fields of clinical practice to patient representatives. Reported consequences of the severe diseases were related to psychosocial challenges, living in the nexus between physical development and disease progression, social exclusion, care-related challenges, structural and financial challenges, and non-inclusive urban design. Practical needs and concerns regarding digital platform use included social and professional support through these platforms, credibility and trust in online information, and concerns about privacy and informed consent. Furthermore, the need for safe, reliable, and expert-guided information on digital platforms and psychosocial and relationship-based digital interventions was expressed. There is a need to focus on a family-centered approach in digital health and social care and a further need in researching the suitability of digital platforms to promote resilience in the affected population. Our results can also inform city councils regarding investments in inclusive urban design allowing for disability affected groups to enjoy a better quality of life.

Biodegradable Zein-Based Biocomposite Films for Underwater Delivery of Curcumin Reduce Thermal Stress Effects in Corals.

Massive coral bleaching episodes induced by thermal stress are one of the first causes of coral death worldwide. Overproduction of reactive oxygen species (ROS) has been identified as one of the potential causes of symbiosis breakdown between polyps and algae in corals during extreme heat wave events. Here, we propose a new strategy for mitigating heat effects by delivering underwater an antioxidant to the corals. We fabricated zein/polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP)-based biocomposite films laden with the strong and natural antioxidant curcumin as an advanced coral bleaching remediation tool. Biocomposites' mechanical, water contact angle (WCA), swelling, and release properties can be tuned thanks to different supramolecular rearrangements that occur by varying the zein/PVP weight ratio. Following immersion in seawater, the biocomposites became soft hydrogels that did not affect the coral's health in the short (24 h) and long periods (15 days). Laboratory bleaching experiments at 29 and 33 °C showed that coral colonies of Stylophora pistillata coated with the biocomposites had ameliorated conditions in terms of morphological aspects, chlorophyll content, and enzymatic activity compared to untreated colonies and did not bleach. Finally, biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) confirmed the full biodegradability of the biocomposites, showing a low potential environmental impact in the case of open-field application. These insights may pave the way for new frontiers in mitigating extreme coral bleaching events by combining natural antioxidants and biocomposites.

Factors Associated With COVID-19 Non-Vaccination in Switzerland: A Nationwide Study.

Objectives: We compared socio-demographic characteristics, health-related variables, vaccination-related beliefs and attitudes, vaccination acceptance, and personality traits of individuals who vaccinated against COVID-19 and who did not vaccinate by December 2021. Methods: This cross-sectional study used data of 10,642 adult participants from the Corona Immunitas eCohort, an age-stratified random sample of the population of several cantons in Switzerland. We used multivariable logistic regression models to explore associations of vaccination status with socio-demographic, health, and behavioral factors. Results: Non-vaccinated individuals represented 12.4% of the sample. Compared to vaccinated individuals, non-vaccinated individuals were more likely to be younger, healthier, employed, have lower income, not worried about their health, have previously tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 infection, express lower vaccination acceptance, and/or report higher conscientiousness. Among non-vaccinated individuals, 19.9% and 21.3% had low confidence in the safety and effectiveness of SARS-CoV-2 vaccine, respectively. However, 29.1% and 26.7% of individuals with concerns about vaccine effectiveness and side effects at baseline, respectively vaccinated during the study period. Conclusion: In addition to known socio-demographic and health-related factors, non-vaccination was associated with concerns regarding vaccine safety and effectiveness.

Childhood fever and medical students: A multicentre, educational intervention.

AIM: Misconceptions and non-evidence-based practices toward childhood fever are reported worldwide. Medical students might be ideal candidates to introduce long-lasting changes in clinical practice. However, no study has gauged the effectiveness of an educational intervention to improve fever management in this population. We conducted an educational, interventional study on childhood fever among final-year medical students. METHODS: We conducted a prospective, multicentre interventional study employing a pre/post-test design. Participants from three Italian Universities filled in a questionnaire just before the intervention (T0), immediately after (T1) and 6 months later (T2) in 2022. The intervention was a two-hour lecture focused on the pathophysiology of fever, recommendations for its treatment and risks associated with improper management. RESULTS: 188 final-year medical students (median age of 26 years, 67% females) were enrolled. Relevant improvements in the criterion for treating fever and conceptions about the beneficial effects of fever were observed at T1 and T2. Similar data were found for the reduction of physical methods advice to decrease body temperature and concerns for brain damage from fever. CONCLUSION: This study shows for the first time that an educational intervention is effective in changing students' conceptions and attitudes toward fever both in the short and medium term.

Approach to fever in children among final-year nursing students: a multicenter survey.

BACKGROUND: Unfounded concerns regarding fever are increasingly observed among nurses worldwide. However, no study has so far explored the preferred approach towards pediatric fever among nursing students. Therefore, we aimed to investigate the attitude towards pediatric fever among final-year nursing students. METHODS: Between February and June 2022, final-year nursing students of 5 Italian university hospitals were asked to answer an online survey on their approach to fever in children. Both quantitative and qualitative methods were utilized. Multiple regression models were employed to explore the existence of moderators on fever conceptions. RESULTS: The survey was filled in by 121 nursing students (response rate 50%). Although most students (98%) do not consider discomfort to treat fever in children, only a minority would administer a second dose of the same antipyretic in nonresponsive cases (5.8%) or would alternate antipyretic drugs (13%). Most students would use physical methods to decrease fever (84%) and do not think that fever has mainly beneficial effects in children (72%). The own know-how adequacy on fever was inversely associated (OR 0.33, 95% CI 0.13-0.81) with the beliefs that high fever might lead to brain damage. No further predictive variable was significantly associated with the concern that fever might be associated with brain damage, the advice of physical methods use, and the assumption that fever has mostly positive effects. DISCUSSION: This study shows for the first time that misconceptions and inappropriate attitudes towards fever in children are common among final-year nursing students. Nursing students could potentially be ideal candidates for improving fever management within clinical practice and amongst caregivers.

Physician-reported characteristics, representations, and ethical justifications of shared decision-making practices in the care of paediatric patients with prolonged disorders of consciousness.

BACKGROUND: Despite consensus about the importance of implementing shared decision-making (SDM) in clinical practice, this ideal is inconsistently enacted today. Evidence shows that SDM practices differ in the degree of involvement of patients or family members, or in the amount of medical information disclosed to patients in order to "share" meaningfully in treatment decisions. Little is known on which representations and moral justifications physicians hold when realizing SDM. This study explored physicians' experiences of SDM in the management of paediatric patients with prolonged disorders of consciousness (PDOC). Specifically, we focused on physicians' SDM approaches, representations, and ethical justifications for engaging in SDM. METHODS: We used a qualitative approach to explore the SDM experiences of 13 ICU physicians, paediatricians, and neurologists based in Switzerland who have been or were involved in the care of paediatric patients living with PDOC. A semi-structured interview format was used and interviews were audio-recorded and transcribed. Data were analysed through thematic analysis. RESULTS: We found that participants followed three main decision-making approaches: the "brakes" approach, characterized by maximized family's decisional freedom, though conditional to physician's judgment regarding the medical appropriateness of a treatment; the "orchestra director" approach, characterized by a multi-step decision-making process led by the main physician aimed at eliciting the voices of the care team members and of the family; and the "sunbeams" approach, characterized by a process oriented to reach consensus with family members through dialogue, where the virtues of the physician are key to guide the process. We also found that participants differed in the moral justifications sustaining each approach, citing the duty to respect parental autonomy, to invest in an ethics of care, and to employ physicians' virtues to guide the decision-making process. CONCLUSION: Our results show that physicians come to perform SDM in different ways, with several representations, and distinct ethical justifications. SDM training among health care providers should clarify the ductility of SDM and the several ethical motivations underpinning it, rather than insisting on the principle of respect for patient's autonomy as its only moral foundation.

Obstacles to patient inclusion in CPR/DNAR decisions and challenging conversations: A qualitative study with internal medicine physicians in Southern Switzerland.

Despite cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and do-not-attempt-resuscitation (DNAR) decisions are increasingly considered an essential component of hospital practice and patient inclusion in these conversations an ethical imperative in most cases, there is evidence that such discussions between physicians and patients/surrogate decision-makers (the person or people providing direction in decision making if a person is unable to make decisions about personal health care, e.g., family members or friends) are often inadequate, excessively delayed, or absent. We conducted a study to qualitatively explore physician-reported CPR/DNAR decision-making approaches and CPR/DNAR conversations with patients hospitalized in the internal medicine wards of the four main hospitals in Ticino, Southern Switzerland. We conducted four focus groups with 19 resident and staff physicians employed in the internal medicine unit of the four public hospitals in Ticino. Questions aimed to elicit participants' specific experiences in deciding on and discussing CPR/DNAR with patients and their families, the stakeholders (ideally) involved in the discussion, and their responsibilities. We found that participants experienced two main tensions. On the one side, CPR/DNAR decisions were dominated by the belief that patient involvement is often pointless, even though participants favored a shared decision-making approach. On the other, despite aiming at a non-manipulative conversation, participants were aware that most CPR/DNAR conversations are characterized by a nudging communicative approach where the physician gently pushes patients towards his/her recommendation. Participants identified structural cause to the previous two tensions that go beyond the patient-physician relationship. CPR/DNAR decisions are examples of best interests assessments at the end of life. Such assessments represent value judgments that cannot be validly ascertained without patient input. CPR/DNAR conversations should be regarded as complex interventions that need to be thoroughly and regularly taught, in a manner similar to technical interventions.

Trajectories of Seroprevalence and Neutralizing Activity of Antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 in Southern Switzerland between July 2020 and July 2021: An Ongoing, Prospective Population-Based Cohort Study.

OBJECTIVES: The COVID-19 pandemic continues, and evidence on infection- and vaccine-induced immunity is key. We assessed COVID-19 immunity and the neutralizing antibody response to virus variants across age groups in the Swiss population. STUDY DESIGN: We conducted a cohort study in representative community-dwelling residents aged five years or older in southern Switzerland (total population 353,343), and we collected blood samples in July 2020 (in adults only, N = 646), November-December 2020 (N = 1457), and June-July 2021 (N = 885). METHODS: We used a previously validated Luminex assay to measure antibodies targeting the spike (S) and the nucleocapsid (N) proteins of the virus and a high-throughput cell-free neutralization assay optimized for multiple spike protein variants. We calculated seroprevalence with a Bayesian logistic regression model accounting for the population's sociodemographic structure and the test performance, and we compared the neutralizing activity between vaccinated and convalescent participants across virus variants. RESULTS: The overall seroprevalence was 7.8% (95% CI: 5.4-10.4) by July 2020 and 20.2% (16.4-24.4) by December 2020. By July 2021, the overall seroprevalence increased substantially to 72.5% (69.1-76.4), with the highest estimates of 95.6% (92.8-97.8) among older adults, who developed up to 10.3 more antibodies via vaccination than after infection compared to 3.7 times more in adults. The neutralizing activity was significantly higher for vaccine-induced than infection-induced antibodies for all virus variants (all p values < 0.037). CONCLUSIONS: Vaccination chiefly contributed to the reduction in immunonaive individuals, particularly those in older age groups. Our findings on the greater neutralizing activity of vaccine-induced antibodies than infection-induced antibodies are greatly informative for future vaccination campaigns.

Reproducibility and Scientific Integrity of Big Data Research in Urban Public Health and Digital Epidemiology: A Call to Action.

The emergence of big data science presents a unique opportunity to improve public-health research practices. Because working with big data is inherently complex, big data research must be clear and transparent to avoid reproducibility issues and positively impact population health. Timely implementation of solution-focused approaches is critical as new data sources and methods take root in public-health research, including urban public health and digital epidemiology. This commentary highlights methodological and analytic approaches that can reduce research waste and improve the reproducibility and replicability of big data research in public health. The recommendations described in this commentary, including a focus on practices, publication norms, and education, are neither exhaustive nor unique to big data, but, nonetheless, implementing them can broadly improve public-health research. Clearly defined and openly shared guidelines will not only improve the quality of current research practices but also initiate change at multiple levels: the individual level, the institutional level, and the international level.

New insights into fever phobia: a pilot qualitative study with caregivers and their healthcare providers.

Despite the availability of clinical guidelines on the correct symptomatic management of fever in children, several studies have reported inaccurate knowledge about this symptom and inappropriate management behaviours among caregivers. There is evidence that caregivers' management of fever is largely influenced by unrealistic and unwarranted concerns about the potential harm that elevated body temperature can cause, a phenomenon commonly referred to as fever phobia. Research on fever phobia has predominantly focused on the role of fever misconceptions in triggering anxiety and impeding a proper fever management, in terms of both concept and operationalization, with little attention to the influence of the relationship between caregivers and the healthcare team. The aim of this pilot study was to explore and describe fever-related knowledge, experience and behaviour among a sample of caregivers, paediatricians and their medical assistants in the Canton of Ticino, Switzerland. We used a qualitative study design with semi-structured, one-to-one interviews with paediatricians employed in private healthcare facilities, their medical assistants and caregivers with at least one child between the ages of 0 and 3 years. We conducted individual interviews either in person or by phone, according to participants' preferences, between October 2020 and February 2021. We performed an inductive-deductive analysis of the transcripts to identify the most meaningful themes from participants' reports. The analysis of the transcripts yielded three main themes. The first theme refers to participants' awareness of the emotional component in managing the child's fever and the challenges this component presents. The second theme refers to the risk of overtreating when the child's right to be sick is not recognized and respected. The third theme refers to the importance of the relational component, showing how a solid therapeutic alliance with the healthcare team helps caregivers develop self-confidence in managing the child's fever. This study contributes to advance our understanding of fever phobia and to a better conceptualization and operationalization of this phenomenon. CONCLUSION: Our results point out to the importance of going beyond a knowledge gap paradigm and recognizing both the emotional and the relational component of fever phobia, the former being entrenched in latter, that is, the unique relationship caregivers establish with their child's paediatrician and the medical assistant. WHAT IS KNOWN: • Research on fever phobia has predominantly focused on the role of fever misconceptions in triggering anxiety and impeding a proper fever management, in terms of both concept and operationalization, with little attention to the relational component of this phenomenon. WHAT IS NEW: • Our results point out to the importance of recognizing the emotional component of fever phobia, beyond its declarative and procedural knowledge dimensions. They also suggest that overtreating is not necessarily and not only the result of a phobia but also of a particular conception of health and the relational component of this phenomenon, which is entrenched in the unique relationship caregivers establish with their child's paediatrician and the medical assistant.

Perception, knowledge and attitude towards childhood fever: A survey among final-year medical students.

AIMS: Undue concerns about the consequences of fever and its inappropriate management have been documented worldwide among physicians. However, no data exist on medical students. We investigated the perception, knowledge and attitude towards childhood fever among final-year medical students. METHODS: Between June and September 2021, final-year medical students of six Italian universities were invited to complete an online survey on their conceptions and attitude towards pharmacological and non-pharmacological management of childhood fever. History of relevant personal or second-hand experience with childhood fever was also addressed. Both quantitative and qualitative approaches were used. RESULTS: Of 1095 (69%) final-year medical students, 756 completed the survey. Many students believe that high fever might cause brain damage, would recommend physical methods and alternate two drugs for fever. Most students do not think that fever has mainly beneficial effects. In Northern Italy, students are less likely to believe that fever might lead to brain damage (OR 0.55, 95% CI 0.33-0.94), and in Southern Italy students are more likely to advise physical methods (OR 1.77, 95% CI 1.22-2.57) and less likely to believe that fever has mainly beneficial effects (OR 0.55, 95% CI 0.39-0.77). History of a relevant personal episode of fever during childhood was not associated with these outcomes. CONCLUSIONS: Misconceptions about fever are common among final-year medical students in Italy. Cultural factors rather than individually learned traits might underlie these beliefs. Medical students are a promising target for educational interventions to improve childhood fever management.

Digital Platform Uses for Help and Support Seeking of Parents With Children Affected by Disabilities: Scoping Review.

BACKGROUND: Receiving a diagnosis that leads to severe disability in childhood can cause a traumatic experience with long-lasting emotional stress for patients and family members. In recent decades, emerging digital technologies have transformed how patients or caregivers of persons with disabilities manage their health conditions. As a result, information (eg, on treatment and resources) has become widely available to patients and their families. Parents and other caregivers can use digital platforms such as websites or social media to derive social support, usually from other patients and caregivers who share their lived experiences, challenges, and successes on these platforms. However, gaps remain in our understanding of platforms that are most frequently used or preferred among parents and caregivers of children with disabilities. In particular, it is not clear what factors primarily drive or discourage engagement with these digital tools and what the main ethical considerations are in relation to these tools. OBJECTIVE: We aimed to (1) identify prominent digital platforms used by parents or caregivers of children with disabilities; (2) explore the theoretical contexts and reasons for digital platform use, as well as the experiences made with using these platforms reported in the included studies; and (3) identify any privacy and ethical concerns emerging in the available literature in relation to the use of these platforms. METHODS: We conducted a scoping review of 5 academic databases of English-language articles published within the last 10 years for diseases with childhood onset disability and self-help or parent/caregiver-led digital platforms. RESULTS: We identified 17 papers in which digital platforms used by parents of affected children predominantly included social media elements but also search engines, health-related apps, and medical websites. Information retrieval and social support were the main reasons for their utilization. Nearly all studies were exploratory and applied either quantitative, qualitative, or mixed methods. The main ethical concerns for digital platform users included hampered access due to language barriers, privacy issues, and perceived suboptimal advice (eg, due to missing empathy of medical professionals). Older and non-college-educated individuals and ethnic minorities appeared less likely to access information online. CONCLUSIONS: This review showed that limited scientifically sound knowledge exists on digital platform use and needs in the context of disabling conditions in children, as the evidence consists mostly of exploratory studies. We could highlight that affected families seek information and support from digital platforms, as health care systems seem to be insufficient for satisfying knowledge and support needs through traditional channels.

Tick-Talk: Parental online discourse about TBE vaccination.

This study aimed to understand parental discourse about vaccination, and to provide guidance for communication that addresses the needs of parents. We analyzed parental discourse on child vaccination in general and tick-borne encephalitis (TBE) specifically in a Swiss parental online community. For this purpose, a data set containing 105k posts written by parents between 2007 and 2019 was analyzed using a combination of linguistic discourse analysis and qualitative content analysis. Results show that parents enter into a multidimensional decision-making process, characterized by elaborate practices of negotiation, consideration of vaccination recommendations as well as six distinct influencing thematic factors (vaccination safety, development and control, effectiveness, epidemiology, necessity, alternatives or additional prevention methods). The study shows a clear pattern of seasonality, with parents talking about TBE vaccination mostly triggered by events such as tick bites in spring and summer. From a public health perspective, the study emphasizes the need for sufficient, balanced, and tailored information about TBE vaccination. Online forums provide valuable information about what matters to parents and when, which can help public health authorities and practitioners provide information according to these concerns and enhance health literacy among parents.

Dementia is (not) a natural part of ageing: a cross-sectional study on dementia knowledge and misconceptions in Swiss and Italian young adults, adults, and older adults.

BACKGROUND: Increasing public awareness and understanding of dementia is the second key action area of the 2017 WHO Global action plan on a public health response to dementia. To achieve this aim, the first indispensable step is to understand the average level of dementia knowledge and to identify areas of low dementia knowledge. We aimed to quantify dementia knowledge in the general population, and to explore the extent to which it differs by age, sex, education, and indirect experience with dementia. METHODS: We conducted an online cross-sectional survey in two Italian-speaking sites, south Switzerland (Ticino) and northern Italy (Piedmont). The survey was distributed between September and December 2019. We registered socio-demographic characteristics including whether the participant had contact with a person living with dementia, and measured dementia knowledge with the Dementia Knowledge Assessment Survey (DKAS). RESULTS: Misconceptions about dementia were common among respondents, and lack of knowledge has been identified in dementia causes, characteristics, risk factors, and health promotion. Our results point out the lack of knowledge about how to communicate and relate with, and take care of a person living with dementia. The overall DKAS score was significantly and positively associated with female sex (ß = 0.21; p < 0.001), educational level (ß = 0.15; p < 0.001) and contact with a person living with dementia (ß = 0.17; p < 0.001), but not with age (ß = -0.01; p = 0.57). CONCLUSION: Our results confirmed that general population's knowledge of dementia is thin. Interventional studies that rely on participatory action research methods are warranted to co-design interventions aimed at improving dementia knowledge and understanding in the public.

Decision-making on COVID-19 vaccination: A qualitative study among health care and social workers caring for vulnerable individuals.

In January 2021, the Swiss government introduced the first COVID-19 vaccines and prioritized allocation to at-risk individuals and professionals working with them. Despite this opportunity, vaccine uptake among staff employed in retirement homes and institutes for people with disabilities was suboptimal. This study aimed to capture real-time decision-making about COVID-19 vaccine among staff employed in nursing homes and institutes for people with disabilities in Southern Switzerland. We conducted semi-structured phone-interviews with 25 staff employed in retirement homes and institutes for people with disabilities between February and May 2021, i.e., when participants had to decide whether they wanted to adhere to the priority vaccination programme. Among participants, 21 either signed up for the COVID-19 vaccination or were fully or partly vaccinated at the time of the interview. For most participants, the vaccination choice was a challenging process: information appeared to be lacking and conflicting; numerous moral principles were at stake and contradictory; the way vaccination was organized clashed with the health values to which respondents had been previously exposed; finally, the fear of discrimination for those who decided not to get vaccinated loomed over the vaccination choice. Participants decided for or against vaccination based on principles, traditions, emotions, and a reflexive assessment of the personal vs. collective benefit of the vaccination, the latter being the most common within the investigated sample. This study shows that deciding to get vaccinated against COVID-19 is a nuanced process and that individuals cannot simply be categorized as "novax" or "provax" based on their vaccination decision.

Opportunities and challenges of using social media big data to assess mental health consequences of the COVID-19 crisis and future major events.

The present commentary discusses how social media big data could be used in mental health research to assess the impact of major global crises such as the COVID-19 pandemic. We first provide a brief overview of the COVID-19 situation and the challenges associated with the assessment of its global impact on mental health using conventional methods. We then propose social media big data as a possible unconventional data source, provide illustrative examples of previous studies, and discuss the advantages and challenges associated with their use for mental health research. We conclude that social media big data represent a valuable resource for mental health research, however, several methodological limitations and ethical concerns need to be addressed to ensure safe use.

Self-Adhesive and Antioxidant Poly(vinylpyrrolidone)/Alginate-Based Bilayer Films Loaded with Malva sylvestris Extracts as Potential Skin Dressings.

Malva sylvestris (MS) is a medicinal herb known worldwide for its beneficial effects due to the several active molecules present in its leaves and flowers. These compounds have shown antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties and thus can be helpful in treatments of burns and chronic wounds, characterized mainly by high levels of free radicals and impairments of the inflammatory response. In this work, we propose bilayer films as wound dressings, based on poly(vinylpyrrolidone) (PVP) and sodium alginate loaded with M. sylvestris extracts from leaves and flowers and fabricated by combining solvent-casting and rod-coating methods. The top layer is produced in two different PVP/alginate ratios and loaded with the MS flowers' extract, while the bottom layer is composed of PVP and MS leaves' extract. The bilayers were characterized morphologically, chemically, and mechanically, while they showed superior self-adhesive properties on human skin compared to a commercial skin patch. The materials showed antioxidant activity, release of the bioactive compounds, and water uptake property. Moreover, the anthocyanin content of the flower extract provided the films with the ability to change color when immersed in buffers of different pH levels. In vitro tests using primary keratinocytes demonstrated the biocompatibility of the MS bilayer materials and their capacity to enhance the proliferation of the cells in a wound scratch model. Finally, the best performing MS bilayer sample with a PVP/alginate ratio of 70:30 was evaluated in mice models, showing suitable resorption properties and the capacity to reduce the level of inflammatory mediators in UVB-induced burns when applied to an open wound. These outcomes suggest that the fabricated bilayer films loaded with M. sylvestris extracts are promising formulations as active and multifunctional dressings for treating skin disorders.

Detecting Suicide Ideation in the Era of Social Media: The Population Neuroscience Perspective.

Social media platforms are increasingly used across many population groups not only to communicate and consume information, but also to express symptoms of psychological distress and suicidal thoughts. The detection of suicidal ideation (SI) can contribute to suicide prevention. Twitter data suggesting SI have been associated with negative emotions (e.g., shame, sadness) and a number of geographical and ecological variables (e.g., geographic location, environmental stress). Other important research contributions on SI come from studies in neuroscience. To date, very few research studies have been conducted that combine different disciplines (epidemiology, health geography, neurosciences, psychology, and social media big data science), to build innovative research directions on this topic. This article aims to offer a new interdisciplinary perspective, that is, a Population Neuroscience perspective on SI in order to highlight new ways in which multiple scientific fields interact to successfully investigate emotions and stress in social media to detect SI in the population. We argue that a Population Neuroscience perspective may help to better understand the mechanisms underpinning SI and to promote more effective strategies to prevent suicide timely and at scale.