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The purpose of this systematic review is to assess if there is a relationship between literacy abilities and mental health outcomes as reported in global literature. Fourteen percent of the global population has little or no literacy. Literacy skills impact on daily functioning and have been shown to impact on social outcomes. Whilst there has been research examining the potential association between literacy and mental health outcomes in specific populations, there has been no systematic review of this literature to date.

A systematic review was carried out using Embase, PsycINFO and PubMed to identify relevant papers that measured both literacy and mental health. Data relating to the association between literacy and mental health were extracted. The papers included were assessed for quality using a bespoke quality rating tool. A narrative synthesis describes the findings.

Nineteen studies from across nine countries were included in the analysis. Seventeen studies showed a significant association between literacy and mental health, those with lower literacy had greater mental health difficulties. Some papers reported factors that interacted with this association, such as age, gender, poverty and years of education.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first systematic review to look at the global picture of literacy and mental health. It suggests there is a relationship between literacy abilities and mental health outcomes, highlighting the importance of healthcare professionals and services including identification of literacy needs within routine mental health practice.

Seaweeds are gaining broader interest in Western societies through their use in product development and the health-food industry. High nutritional value, low carbon footprint and sustainability are key drivers for seaweed uptake in Europe; yet high iodine intake from seaweed remains a concern. This study seeks to identify seaweed food products available on the UK retail market between 2018 and 2021 and assess their safety in the context of iodine exposure.

Here, a market survey (n = 37–40 retailers) was conducted in three annual waves to evaluate seaweed food product availability in the UK. The iodine dose of products was estimated based on a comprehensive literature review of seaweed iodine content.

This study shows a young, dynamic market with 2.3-fold increase in seaweed food product availability since the last available published data (2015). Specific iodine content labelling remains uncommon, and median iodine doses in a single serving of food exceeded 400 µg in all years. Some products, especially seaweed supplements, provide iodine doses above the tolerable upper limit and upper level of tolerance.

This study presents the most contemporary and comprehensive overview of the market for seaweed food products in the UK. With increasing popularisation of seaweed as a food, this study highlights the need for improved dialogue amongst producers, retailers, legislators and public health specialists to address the risk of iodine excess, and the concurrent scope for processing methods to reduce the iodine content in seaweeds.

This study aims to determine whether or not fashion retail brands can maintain their essence by providing personalized care through conventional face-to-face interactions or the use of e-services.

An exploratory investigation is being conducted to attain this goal. According to the findings of this research, Chatbots have an impact on consumer loyalty. The quality of a Chatbot’s system, service and information are all critical to providing a positive consumer experience.

The study concluded that Chatbot e-services might potentially enable dynamic and fascinating interactions between firms and their consumers. To personalize a Chatbot, firms might change the tone of the language used. Customers are more likely to use a Chatbot if it resembles a real person, which increases their pleasure and confidence in the product.

More precisely, the emphasis of the inquiry was on Chatbot, a relatively new digital tool that offers user-friendly, personalized and one-of-a-kind support to customers. Using information supplied by consumers, the authors examine a five-dimensional model that gauges how customers feel about Chatbots in terms of their ability to communicate with users, offer amusement, be trendy, personalize interactions and solve problems.