Social capital from online discussion forums: Differences between online and blended modes of delivery

© 2015. This study explored the concept of social capital in higher education contexts by investigating student discussion forum activity and academic performance. To address these aims online discussion forum logs, student marks and teaching delivery method (blended or fully online) data were extracted from the universities learning management system (LMS). Student social network centrality measures were then calculated from the course discussion activity and correlated against student academic performance for each delivery mode. Drawing on social capital and social network theories the analyses identified that in comparison to low performing students the high-performing group held more central positions in their networks and tended to establish dense social connections with students of a similar academic ability. It was also observed that the relationships formed in blended teaching units were of a greater intensity and reciprocity than those established in fully online teaching units indicating a higher level of social capital was reached. This difference in the amount of available social capital between the two teaching modes suggests that students in blended units have comparatively greater access to resources embedded within the network, which in turn can be mobilised to assist them in their academic endeavours

Checklist for the Multidisciplinary Approach to United Airway in Patients with Chronic Rhinosinusitis with Nasal Polyps (CRSwNP) and asthma

Dear Editor, The united airways concept calls for a multidisciplinary approach to asthma and/or chronic rhinitis/rhinosinusitis (CRS), aimed at integral airway treatment1, 2 and better coordination among specialists.3 Failure to treat rhinitis/rhinosinusitis is associated with poor asthma control, especially of severe asthma.4, 5 Biological treatments targeting type 2 (T2) inflammatory mediators in severe respiratory diseases offer a new therapeutic option directed against the pathophysiological mechanism of these difficult-to-control united airways diseases (UAD)..

Indoor/outdoor relationships and mass closure of quasi-ultrafine, accumulation and coarse particles in Barcelona schools

Altres ajuts: MAGRAMA/CGL2011-26574Altres ajuts: MAGRAMA/UCA2009020083The mass concentration, chemical composition and sources of quasi-ultrafine (quasi-UFP, PM0.25), accumulation (PM0.25−2.5) and coarse mode (PM2.5−10) particles were determined in indoor and outdoor air at 39 schools in Barcelona (Spain). Quasi-UFP mass concentrations measured (25.6 μgm−3 outdoors, 23.4 μgm−3 indoors) are significantly higher than those reported in other studies, and characterised by higher carbonaceous and mineral matter contents and a lower proportion of secondary inorganic ions. Results suggest that quasi-UFPs in Barcelona are affected by local sources in the schools, mainly human activity (e.g. organic material from textiles, etc., contributing 23-46% to total quasi-UFP mass) and playgrounds (in the form of mineral matter, contributing about 9% to the quasi-UFP mass). The particle size distribution patterns of toxicologically relevant metals and major aerosol components was characterised, displaying two modes for most elements and components, and one mode for inorganic salts (ammonium nitrate and sulfate)and elemental carbon (EC). Regarding metals, Ni and Cr were partitioned mainly in quasi-UFPs and could thus be of interest for epidemiological studies, given their high redox properties. Exposure of children to quasi-UFP mass and chemical species was assessed by comparing the concentrations measured at urban background and traffic areas schools. Finally, three main indoor sources across all size fractions were identified by assessing indoor / outdoor ratios (I / O) of PM species used as their tracers: human activity (organic material), cleaning products, paints and plastics (Cl− source), and a metallic mixed source (comprising combinations of Cu, Zn, Co, Cd, Pb, As, V and Cr). Our results support the need to enforce targeted legislation to determine a minimum "safe" distance between major roads and newly built schools to reduce exposure to traffic-derived metals in quasi-UFPs

Niveles de vitamina D en pacientes recién diagnosticados de cáncer

Introducción: aparte de los conocidos efectos de la vitamina D sobre la homeostasis fosfo-cálcica, en los últimos años están cobrando gran relevancia sus efectos extraóseos. Objetivos: conocer la concentración de 25(OH) vitamina D en pacientes recién diagnosticados de cáncer y comprobar si existen diferencias entre los distintos tipos de cáncer. Material y métodos: estudio transversal de una cohorte de pacientes recién diagnosticados de cáncer que fueron remitidos a Consultas Externas de Endocrinología para una valoración nutricional preoperatoria. Se revisaron 139 historias clínicas y se obtuvieron los datos sociodemográficos, biométricos y la concentración de 25(OH) vitamina D de los pacientes. Resultados: de los 139 pacientes, 71 padecían cáncer urológico; 27, cáncer colorrectal (CCR); 35, cáncer de cabeza y cuello (C y C); y seis, cáncer de otro tipo. La concentración media de 25(OH) vitamina D fue de 50, 41 nmol/l (IC 95% = 46, 68-54, 14). El 57, 97% presentó déficit de vitamina D (< 50 nmol/l) y un 21, 74%, insuficiencia (50-75 nmol/l). Hallamos una mayor prevalencia de déficit estadísticamente significativa (p < 0, 01) en el C y C frente al cáncer urológico: 68, 57% y 49, 29% respectivamente. La estación del año modifica de manera significativa la concentración de 25(OH) vitamina D (p < 0, 01). Conclusiones: hay una alta prevalencia de déficit de vitamina D en los pacientes recién diagnosticados de cáncer (sobre todo en CCR y C y C); por ello, se debe priorizar la corrección de los niveles de 25(OH) vitamina D en estos pacientes. La utilización de valores de referencia ajustados según la estación del año podría mejorar la interpretación de resultados. Introduction: apart from the known effects of vitamin D on phospho-calcium homeostasis, in recent years there is great interest in its extra-bone effects. Objectives: to know the concentration of 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25[OH] D) in newly diagnosed patients of cancer and to verify if there are differences between the different types of cancer. Material and methods: cross-sectional study of a cohort of recent diagnosed cancer patients who were referred to Endocrinology consultation for a nutritional pre-surgery evaluation. One hundred and thirty-nine medical histories were reviewed. The socio-demographic and biometric data and 25(OH) D concentration were collected. Results: seventy-one of 139 patients had urological cancer, 27 had colorectal cancer (CRC), 35 had head and neck cancer and six, other types of cancer. The mean concentration of 25(OH) D was 50.41 nmol/l (95% CI = 46.67-54.14); 57.97% of patients showed vitamin D deficiency (< 50 nmol/l) and 21.74%, insufficiency (50-75 nmol/l). We found a statistically significant higher prevalence of deficiency (p < 0.01) in head and neck cancer compared to urological cancer: 68.57% and 49.29%, respectively. Year season significantly modifies 25(OH) D concentration (p < 0.01). Conclusions: there is a high prevalence of vitamin D deficiency among recent diagnosed cancer patients (especially in CRC and head and neck cancer). The use of reference values adjusted by year season could improve the study of 25(OH) D concentrations

Gut microbiota, innate immune pathways, and inflammatory control mechanisms in patients with major depressive disorder

Although alterations in the gut microbiota have been linked to the pathophysiology of major depressive disorder (MDD), including through effects on the immune response, our understanding is deficient about the straight connection patterns among microbiota and MDD in patients. Male and female MDD patients were recruited: 46 patients with a current active MDD (a-MDD) and 22 in remission or with only mild symptoms (r-MDD). Forty-five healthy controls (HC) were also recruited. Psychopathological states were assessed, and fecal and blood samples were collected. Results indicated that the inducible nitric oxide synthase expression was higher in MDD patients compared with HC and the oxidative stress levels were greater in the a-MDD group. Furthermore, the lipopolysaccharide (an indirect marker of bacterial translocation) was higher in a-MDD patients compared with the other groups. Fecal samples did not cluster according to the presence or the absence of MDD. There were bacterial genera whose relative abundance was altered in MDD: Bilophila (2-fold) and Alistipes (1.5-fold) were higher, while Anaerostipes (1.5-fold) and Dialister (15-fold) were lower in MDD patients compared with HC. Patients with a-MDD presented higher relative abundance of Alistipes and Anaerostipes (1.5-fold) and a complete depletion of Dialister compared with HC. Patients with r-MDD presented higher abundance of Bilophila (2.5-fold) compared with HC. Thus, the abundance of bacterial genera and some immune pathways, both with potential implications in the pathophysiology of depression, appear to be altered in MDD, with the most noticeable changes occurring in patients with the worse clinical condition, the a-MDD group. © 2021, The Author(s)

Differences in the signaling pathways of α1A- and α1B-adrenoceptors are related to different endosomal targeting

Aims: To compare the constitutive and agonist-dependent endosomal trafficking of α1A- and α1B-adrenoceptors (ARs) and to establish if the internalization pattern determines the signaling pathways of each subtype. Methods: Using CypHer5 technology and VSV-G epitope tagged α1A- and α1B-ARs stably and transiently expressed in HEK 293 cells, we analyzed by confocal microscopy the constitutive and agonist-induced internalization of each subtype, and the temporal relationship between agonist induced internalization and the increase in intracellular calcium (determined by FLUO-3 flouorescence), or the phosphorylation of ERK1/2 and p38 MAP kinases (determined by Western blot). Results and Conclusions: Constitutive as well as agonist-induced trafficking of α1A and α1B ARs maintain two different endosomal pools of receptors: one located close to the plasma membrane and the other deeper into the cytosol. Each subtype exhibited specific characteristics of internalization and distribution between these pools that determines their signaling pathways: α1A-ARs, when located in the plasma membrane, signal through calcium and ERK1/2 pathways but, when translocated to deeper endosomes, through a mechanism sensitive to β-arrestin and concanavalin A, continue signaling through ERK1/2 and also activate the p38 pathway. α1B-ARs signal through calcium and ERK1/2 only when located in the membrane and the signals disappear after endocytosis and by disruption of the membrane lipid rafts by methyl-β-cyclodextrin

Climatological assessment of the vertically resolved optical and microphysical aerosol properties by lidar measurements, sun photometer, and in situ observations over 17 years at Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC) Barcelona

Aerosols are one of the most important pollutants in the atmosphere and have been monitored for the past few decades by remote sensing and in situ observation platforms to assess the effectiveness of government-managed reduction emission policies and assess their impact on the radiative budget of the Earth's atmosphere. In fact, aerosols can directly modulate incoming short-wave solar radiation and outgoing long-wave radiation and indirectly influence cloud formation, lifetime, and precipitation. In this study, we quantitatively evaluated long-term temporal trends and seasonal variability from a climatological point of view of the optical and microphysical properties of atmospheric particulate matter at the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC), Barcelona, Spain, over the past 17 years, through a synergy of lidar, sun photometer, and in situ concentration measurements. Interannual temporal changes in aerosol optical and microphysical properties are evaluated through the seasonal Mann–Kendall test. Long-term trends in the optical depth of the recovered aerosol; the Ångström exponent (AE); and the concentrations of PM10, PM2.5, and PM1 reveal that emission reduction policies implemented in the past decades were effective in improving air quality, with consistent drops in PM concentrations and optical depth of aerosols. The seasonal analysis of the 17-year average vertically resolved aerosol profiles obtained from lidar observations shows that during summer the aerosol layer can be found up to an altitude of 5 km, after a sharp decay in the first kilometer. In contrast, during the other seasons, the backscatter profiles fit a pronounced exponential decay well with a well-defined scale height. Long-range transport, especially dust outbreaks from the Sahara, is likely to occur throughout the year. During winter, the dust aerosol layers are floating above the boundary layer, while during the other seasons they can penetrate the layer. The analysis also revealed that intense, short-duration pollution events during winter, associated with dust outbreaks, have become more frequent and intense since 2016. This study sheds some light on the meteorological processes and conditions that can lead to the formation of haze and helps decision makers adopt mitigation strategies to preserve large metropolitan areas in the Mediterranean basin.This research has been supported by the European Union through NextgenerationEU funds and by the following projects along the years: FP5 EARLINET project (grant no. ID EVR1-CT-1999-40003), FP6 EARLINET-ASOS (ID: 25991), FP7 ACTRIS (ID: 262254), H2020 ACTRIS-2 (ID: 654109), ACTRIS-PPP (ID: 739530), ACTRIS IMP (ID: 871115) and ATMO-ACCESS (ID: 101008004), projects of the Spanish National Research programs (grant nos. TIC 431/93, AMB96-1144-C02-01, REN2000-1907-CE, REN2000-1754- C02-02/CLI, REN2003-09753-C02-C02/CLI, REN2003-09753- C02-C CGL2008-01330-E/CLI 02/CLI, REN2002-12784-E, CGL2005-5131-E, CGL2006-27108-E/CLI, CGL2006-26149- E/CLI, CGL2007-28871-/CLI, CTM2006-27154-E/TECNO, TEC2006-07850/TCM, TEC2009-09106, TEC2012-34575, TEC2015-63832-P and PID2019-103886RB-I00), the project of the Catalan Regional Government IMMPACTE, and the ESA project (grant no. 21487/08/NL/HE)Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version

New considerations for PM, black carbon and particle number concentration for air quality monitoring across different European cities

In many large cities of Europe standard air quality limit values of particulate matter (PM) are exceeded. Emissions from road traffic and biomass burning are frequently reported to be the major causes. As a consequence of these exceedances a large number of air quality plans, most of them focusing on traffic emissions reductions, have been implemented in the last decade. In spite of this implementation, a number of cities did not record a decrease of PM levels. Thus, is the efficiency of air quality plans overestimated? Do the road traffic emissions contribute less than expected to ambient air PM levels in urban areas? Or do we need a more specific metric to evaluate the impact of the above emissions on the levels of urban aerosols? This study shows the results of the interpretation of the variability of levels of PM, Black Carbon (BC), aerosol number concentration (N) and a number of gaseous pollutants in seven selected urban areas covering road traffic, urban background, urban-industrial, and urban-shipping environments from southern, central and northern Europe. The results showed that variations of PM and N levels do not always reflect the variation of the impact of road traffic emissions on urban aerosols. However, BC levels vary proportionally with those of traffic related gaseous pollutants, such as CO, NO₂ and NO. Due to this high correlation, one may suppose that monitoring the levels of these gaseous pollutants would be enough to extrapolate exposure to traffic-derived BC levels. However, the BC/CO, BC/NO₂ and BC/NO ratios vary widely among the cities studied, as a function of distance to traffic emissions, vehicle fleet composition and the influence of other emission sources such as biomass burning. Thus, levels of BC should be measured at air quality monitoring sites. During morning traffic rush hours, a narrow variation in the N/BC ratio was evidenced, but a wide variation of this ratio was determined for the noon period. Although in central and northern Europe N and BC levels tend to vary simultaneously, not only during the traffic rush hours but also during the whole day, in urban background stations in southern Europe maximum N levels coinciding with minimum BC levels are recorded at midday in all seasons. These N maxima recorded in southern European urban background environments are attributed to midday nucleation episodes occurring when gaseous pollutants are diluted and maximum insolation and O₃ levels occur. The occurrence of SO₂ peaks may also contribute to the occurrence of midday nucleation bursts in specific industrial or shipping-influenced areas, although at several central European sites similar levels of SO₂ are recorded without yielding nucleation episodes. Accordingly, it is clearly evidenced that N variability in different European urban environments is not equally influenced by the same emission sources and atmospheric processes. We conclude that N variability does not always reflect the impact of road traffic on air quality, whereas BC is a more consistent tracer of such an influence. However, N should be measured since ultrafine particles (<100 nm) may have large impacts on human health. The combination of PM₁₀ and BC monitoring in urban areas potentially constitutes a useful approach for air quality monitoring. BC is mostly governed by vehicle exhaust emissions, while PM₁₀ concentrations at these sites are also governed by non-exhaust particulate emissions resuspended by traffic, by midday atmospheric dilution and by other nontraffic emissions

New considerations for PM, Black Carbon and particle number concentration for air quality monitoring across different European cities

In many large cities of Europe standard air quality limit values of particulate matter (PM) are exceeded. Emissions from road traffic and biomass burning are frequently reported to be the major causes. As a consequence of these exceedances a large number of air quality plans, most of them focusing on traffic emissions reductions, have been implemented in the last decade. In spite of this implementation, a number of cities did not record a decrease of PM levels. Thus, is the efficiency of air quality plans overestimated? Do the road traffic emissions contribute less than expected to ambient air PM levels in urban areas? Or do we need a more specific metric to evaluate the impact of the above emissions on the levels of urban aerosols? This study shows the results of the interpretation of the 2009 variability of levels of PM, Black Carbon (BC), aerosol number concentration (N) and a number of gaseous pollutants in seven selected urban areas covering road traffic, urban background, urban-industrial, and urban-shipping environments from southern, central and northern Europe. The results showed that variations of PM and N levels do not always reflect the variation of the impact of road traffic emissions on urban aerosols. However, BC levels vary proportionally with those of traffic related gaseous pollutants, such as CO, NO2 and NO. Due to this high correlation, one may suppose that monitoring the levels of these gaseous pollutants would be enough to extrapolate exposure to traffic-derived BC levels. However, the BC/CO, BC/NO2 and BC/NO ratios vary widely among the cities studied, as a function of distance to traffic emissions, vehicle fleet composition and the influence of other emission sources such as biomass burning. Thus, levels of BC should be measured at air quality monitoring sites. During morning traffic rush hours, a narrow variation in the N/BC ratio was evidenced, but a wide variation of this ratio was determined for the noon period. Although in central and northern Europe N and BC levels tend to vary simultaneously, not only during the traffic rush hours but also during the whole day, in urban background stations in southern Europe maximum N levels coinciding with minimum BC levels are recorded at midday in all seasons. These N maxima recorded in southern European urban background environments are attributed to midday nucleation episodes occurring when gaseous pollutants are diluted and maximum insolation and O3 levels occur. The occurrence of SO2 peaks may also contribute to the occurrence of midday nucleation bursts in specific industrial or shipping-influenced areas, although at several central European sites similar levels of SO2 are recorded without yielding nucleation episodes. Accordingly, it is clearly evidenced that N variability in different European urban environments is not equally influenced by the same emission sources and atmospheric processes. We conclude that N variability does not always reflect the impact of road traffic on air quality, whereas BC is a more consistent tracer of such an influence. However, N should be measured since ultrafine particles (<100 nm) may have large impacts on human health. The combination of PM10 and BC monitoring in urban areas potentially constitutes a useful approach for air quality monitoring. BC is mostly governed by vehicle exhaust emissions, while PM10 concentrations at these sites are also governed by non-exhaust particulate emissions resuspended by traffic, by midday atmospheric dilution and by other non-traffic emissions