Young people attitude towards vitrtual comunities and their relationship with brands. (An approach through the college students of communication & marketing in Nebrija University)

Las comunidades virtuales (CV) son formas de relación bastante asentadas desde hace tiempo, principalmente en las redes sociales. Para algunos, es debido al debilitamiento de los vínculos sociales en la vida real y para otros es una nueva forma de relación social. En medio de estas polémicas, las marcas han visto en ellas una oportunidad para relacionarse con sus consumidores, aprovechando el auge de los medios sociales, el interés de los consumidores convertidos en prosumidores y a que el foco de la comunicación publicitaria se ha puesto en los contenidos de marca y el marketing de influencia. En este contexto, las marcas están desplegando su arsenal de estrategias para crear contenidos ya sea para alimentar sus propias comunidades, las de sus influencers contratados o las comunidades de sus usuarios. Esta investigación se propone explorar las actitudes y motivaciones de los jóvenes universitarios de comunicación y marketing de la Universidad Nebrija hacia la forma de socialidad que representan las comunidades virtuales y cómo entienden el papel de las marcas en este escenario. La metodología utilizada es cualitativa a partir de grupos de discusión con estudiantes universitarios de titulaciones relacionadas con la comunicación y el marketing. Los resultados confirman que los vínculos comunitarios están muy arraigados en los jóvenes pero que, cuando se trata de comunidades de marca, la implicación no es tan intensa como para despertar un auténtico sentimiento de pertenencia, de compromiso y solidaridad tanto con los valores encarnados por la marca como con las personas que conforman esa comunidad virtual.Virtual communities are a new way of relationship quite steady for some time, mainly in the social networks. For some this is due to the weakening of the social links in real life; for others, it´s just a newer form of social relationship. In the middle of this controversy, brands have found an opportunity to interact with their users, taking the advantage of the growth of social media, interest of consumers who have become prosumers and also due to the interest of publicity communication in branded content and the influence marketing. In this context, brands are deploying their strategies in order to create contents to feed their communities, their paid influencers’ communities or their users’ communities. This investigation aims to explore the attitudes and motivations of the young students in communication and marketing courses at Nebrija University towards this way of sociability through virtual communities and how they understand the role of the brands in this context. The applied qualitative methodology is based on discussion groups with young university students related with marketing and communication studies. The results confirm that communal links are truly ingrained into young people but, regarding brand communities, the feeling is not as intense to wake an authentic sense of belonging, commitment, and solidarity with both the embodied brand values and with the people which form this type of virtual community

Impacts of multiple stressors on bumblebee queens

OBJECTIVE: The aim of the study was to assess the effect of a topical decongestant on eustachian tube function in children with ventilation tubes because of persistent otitis media with effusion. STUDY DESIGN: A randomized, double-blinded, placebo-controlled study. METHODS: At the outpatient departments of a secondary referral hospital and a tertiary referral hospital, eustachian tube function was measured before and after intranasal administration of five drops of 0.05% xylometazoline hydrochloride or placebo in 80 randomly selected children with ventilation tubes because of otitis media with effusion. RESULTS: Xylometazoline nose drops had no effect on the ventilatory or the protective function of the eustachian tube. CONCLUSIONS: Topical decongestants do not have a positive effect on eustachian tube function in children. Therefore, the use of topical decongestants to prevent or treat otitis media with effusion in children is not justified and should be discouraged

Does ‘mentoring’ offer effective support to autistic adults?: a mixed methods pilot study

The Research Autism Cygnet Mentoring project was a two-year pilot study, completed in 2016, which aimed to develop, trial and evaluate a mentoring scheme designed with input from autistic people, their families and supporters. The mentoring scheme involved 12 matched pairs (mentor/mentee) meeting once per week for one hour, over a six month period. All mentors attended a training day, led by the principles of Personal Construct Theory (PCT) and an emancipatory research ethos. The project and training involved significant involvement of autistic people in both its design and delivery. Participants on the autism spectrum found their mentoring experience very helpful in enabling them to progress toward self-identified goals, and mentees felt empowered by the person-centred ethos and methods employed on the project. However, a number of aspects of the mentoring project have been identified for requiring further investigation, including: caution over offering mentoring without formal structures, boundary setting, supervision, flexibility, and the matching of mentees with mentors. The project has highlighted the potential benefits of time-limited goal-orientated mentoring and the negligible evidence base underpinning current mentoring practice with adults on the autism spectrum. In order for the project to realise its emancipatory aim, there is a need for a large-scale quantitative study and a health-economics analysis to provide the necessary evidence base for mentoring to be recommended as a cost-effective intervention with clear benefits for individual wellbeing

Executive Summary: Research Autism Cygnet Mentoring Project

The support requirements of intellectually able adults with autism can be just as nuanced as those for people who have significant learning difficulties/disabilities. Intellectual ability can often mask this, leaving individuals without the backup they require in order to thrive. At the 2007 forum ‘Successful Futures for Adults with Autism’ participants’ highlighted challenges around navigating social life, managing practical and financial affairs, accessing education and training opportunities, securing and maintaining employment, and good physical and mental health. Participants deemed existing models of support, often involving being part of a large group, stressful and inadequate. Many expressed preference for a one-to-one relationship (which could then be broadened over time), based on time-limited goal-oriented, specialist mentoring or life coaching

Deconstructing superorganisms and societies to address big questions in biology

Social insect societies are long-standing models for understanding social behaviour and evolution. Unlike other advanced biological societies (such as the multicellular body), the component parts of social insect societies can be easily deconstructed and manipulated. Recent methodological and theoretical innovations have exploited this trait to address an expanded range of biological questions. We illustrate the broadening range of biological insight coming from social insect biology with four examples. These new frontiers promote open-minded, interdisciplinary exploration of one of the richest and most complex of biological phenomena: sociality

Exploring What Factors Mediate Treatment Effect: Example of the STarT Back Study High-Risk Intervention

Interventions developed to improve disability outcomes for low back pain (LBP) often show only small effects. Mediation analysis was used to investigate what led to the effectiveness of the STarT Back trial, a large primary care-based trial that treated patients consulting with LBP according to their risk of a poor outcome. The high-risk subgroup, randomized to receive either psychologically-informed physiotherapy (n = 93) or current best care (n = 45), was investigated to explore pain-related distress and pain intensity as potential mediators of the relationship between treatment allocation and change in disability. Structural equation modeling was used to generate latent variables of pain-related distress and pain intensity from measures used to identify patients at high risk (fear-avoidance beliefs, depression, anxiety, and catastrophizing thoughts). Outcome was measured using the Roland–Morris Disability Questionnaire. Change in pain-related distress and pain intensity were found to have a significant mediating effect of .25 (standardized estimate, bootstrapped 95% confidence interval, .09–.39) on the relationship between treatment group allocation and change in disability outcome. This study adds to the evidence base of treatment mediation studies in pain research and the role of distress in influencing disability outcome in those with complex LBP. Perspective Mediation analysis using structural equation modeling found that change in pain-related distress and pain intensity mediated treatment effect in the STarT Back trial. This type of analysis can be used to gain further insight into how interventions work, and lead to the design of more effective interventions in future

Clinical outcomes and response to treatment of patients receiving topical treatments for pyoderma gangrenosum: a prospective cohort study

Background: pyoderma gangrenosum (PG) is an uncommon dermatosis with a limited evidence base for treatment. Objective: to estimate the effectiveness of topical therapies in the treatment of PG. Methods: prospective cohort study of UK secondary care patients with a clinical diagnosis of PG suitable for topical treatment (recruited July 2009 to June 2012). Participants received topical therapy following normal clinical practice (mainly Class I-III topical corticosteroids, tacrolimus 0.03% or 0.1%). Primary outcome: speed of healing at 6 weeks. Secondary outcomes: proportion healed by 6 months; time to healing; global assessment; inflammation; pain; quality-of-life; treatment failure and recurrence. Results: Sixty-six patients (22 to 85 years) were enrolled. Clobetasol propionate 0.05% was the most commonly prescribed therapy. Overall, 28/66 (43.8%) of ulcers healed by 6 months. Median time-to-healing was 145 days (95% CI: 96 days, ∞). Initial ulcer size was a significant predictor of time-to-healing (hazard ratio 0.94 (0.88;80 1.00); p = 0.043). Four patients (15%) had a recurrence. Limitations: No randomised comparator Conclusion: Topical therapy is potentially an effective first-line treatment for PG that avoids possible side effects associated with systemic therapy. It remains unclear whether more severe disease will respond adequately to topical therapy alone