Panoràmica

-Els “altres”, el gran repte global. Ressenya del llibre de Ryszard Kapuscinski Kapuscinski, la voz del otro: entrevista de Iñaki Gabilondo a Ryszard Kapuscinski y otros textos, a càrrec d’Eduard Sanjuán -La ciutat, el gran aparador. Ressenya de Antonio J. Baladrón Pazos; Esther Martínez Pastor; Marta Pacheco Rueda (coords.) Publicidad y ciudad: la comunicación publicitaria y lo urbano: perspectivas y aportaciones. A càrrec de Miquel Altarriba -Per un (veritable) estat plurinacional. Ressenya dels llibres de Fernando Pessoa Escrits sobre Catalunya i Ibèria i de Josep Maria Puigjaner ¿Una Cataluña sin España?: carta de un escritor catalán a sus amigos españoles. A càrrec de Neus Contreras -Mirando atentamente las noticias. Ressenya del llibre de Amparo Moreno, Florencia Rovetto i Alfonso Buitrago ¿De quién hablan las noticias? Guía para humanizar la información, a càrrec Francesc Barata -La lliure circulació del coneixement a la informàtica. Ressenya del llibre de Meritxell Roca Software libre. Empresa y administración en España y Cataluña. A càrrec d’Ester Clos -Per una memòria justa. Ressenya del llibre de Francesc-Marc Álvaro (coord.). Memòria històrica, entre la ideologia i la justícia, a càrrec de Elena Yeste -Lingüísticament interessant, periodísticament amb matisos. Ressenya del llibre de Daniel Casals Ràdio en català: contribució de Catalunya Ràdio a la creació d’un llenguatge radiofònic. A càrrec de Neus Bonet -El somni d’un espot televisiu. Ressenya del llibre de Belén López Vázquez Publicidad emocional: estrategias creativas, a càrrec de Sandra Vilajoana -El placer del viajero-cinéfilo. Ressenya del llibre de Rafael Dalmau i Albert Galera Ciudades del cine, a càrrec de Álex Lor

Psychological distress, burnout, and academic performance in first year college students

Background: The first years of university can be very challenging for students. Previous research has focused on the study of the prevalence of burnout and of psychological distress in medical students. The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence of psychological symptoms and burnout reported by first-year students, the relationship between these variables and their academic performance, and the differences between health and non-health sciences students. Methods: An observational study with a cross-sectional design was performed. Students of health sciences (medicine, nursing, physiotherapy, psychology), and non-health sciences (biology, social sciences, business management, and engineering) undergraduate programs completed the Brief Symptom Inventory (BSI-18) and the Maslach Burnout Inventory-Student Survey (MBI-SS). Students' grades for the first semester were collected. Results: A sample of 506 students participated. Prevalence of psychological distress was 27.1% and burnout was 7.3%. Academic performance was unaffected in relation to either psychological distress or burnout. Non-health sciences students showed a greater risk of depression. Conclusions: This study provides evidence of the high prevalence of psychological distress in the first year of college. Even when burnout prevalence was low, the results suggest the need to introduce prevention programs to improve the psychological wellbeing of these students. Keywords: burnout; psychological distress; academic performance; mental health; university students; medical student

Retòrica i publicitat. Apunts sobre criteris comuns

Aristotelian pragmatics recommends that, in the exordia, one should expose the facts, while in the epilogue, one should summarize the arguments. Here we can recognize tools that are clearly those of advertising. The headline and the slogan, each with its own function, are normally the synthesis of what one wants to communicate. Like a brief and clear exordium, then, we want to point out that there are rhetorical criteria which are not only valid but in fact necessary for advertising, inasmuch as not everyone who knows advertising knows how to communicate. As in the past, advertising must study, first, the subject, which includes the topic, its pertinence and its meaning; and secondly, the elaboration, which deals with the question of the treatment which it must receive. Certainly, the advertising professional today, in addition to being familiar with the marketing of companies and institutions, with conventional media and below the line marketing, must demonstrate talent and expertise and practice authentic engineering in finding criteria, method and culmination in classical rhetoric, which considers above all the audience, topic, cause and circumstances as well as the arguments that are necessary or pertinent in each case

On the influence of water conductivity, Ph and climate on bryophyte assemblages in Catalan semi-natural springs

Bryophytes are some of the most sensitive biological indicators of environmental change. Springs have a significant presence of bryophytes and so are ideal habitats for studying their relationship with the environment. We tested whether bryophyte assemblages can be explained with macro-, meso- and micro-ecological variables (i.e. seasonal climate, altitude, water pH and conductivity) sampling bryophytes from 198 semi-natural springs distributed along montane regions in the north-eastern Iberian Peninsula. We tested the influence of environmental variables on bryophyte assemblages in springs using sparse Partial Least Squares. Our results show that variability in bryophyte assemblages is explained by seasonal climate (temperature and precipitation from winter, spring, summer and autumn and temperature and precipitation seasonality), altitude and water conductivity. The results obtained by the present study will be useful for predicting bryophyte diversity in springs using simple and easy to obtain variables such as climate, water pH and conductivit

Psychological Distress, Burnout, and Academic Performance in First Year College Students

Background: The first years of university can be very challenging for students. Previous research has focused on the study of the prevalence of burnout and of psychological distress in medical students. The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence of psychological symptoms and burnout reported by first-year students, the relationship between these variables and their academic performance, and the differences between health and non-health sciences students. Methods: An observational study with a cross-sectional design was performed. Students of health sciences (medicine, nursing, physiotherapy, psychology), and non-health sciences (biology, social sciences, business management, and engineering) undergraduate programs completed the Brief Symptom Inventory (BSI-18) and the Maslach Burnout Inventory-Student Survey (MBI-SS). Students’ grades for the first semester were collected. Results: A sample of 506 students participated. Prevalence of psychological distress was 27.1% and burnout was 7.3%. Academic performance was unaffected in relation to either psychological distress or burnout. Non-health sciences students showed a greater risk of depression. Conclusions: This study provides evidence of the high prevalence of psychological distress in the first year of college. Even when burnout prevalence was low, the results suggest the need to introduce prevention programs to improve the psychological wellbeing of these students