Interuniversity Style Guide: for Writing Institutional Texts in English

[EN] The Interuniversity Style Guide for Writing Institutional Texts in English is designed for use by the administrative, teaching and research staff and language professionals who are responsible for writing institutional texts in English. Although one section focuses on how to write clearly, the word style in the title refers not to literary style but to those linguistic conventions concerning spelling, punctuation, typographical display and other editorial issues that are essential for consistent, clear and precise language and layout. Consistency in these areas leads to clarity and cohesion which, in turn, makes documents more straightforward for readers. As transmitters of knowledge, universities have to be rigorous in their use of language so that they can fulfil the scientific purpose of describing reality and making the complexity of this reality more readily understandable.[CA] El Manual d’estil interuniversitari per a la redacció de textos institucionals en anglès està pensat per als docents, els investigadors, el personal d’administració i serveis, i els professionals de la llengua que han de redactar documentació institucional en anglès. Tot i que una de les seccions recull criteris generals de redacció, la paraula estil del títol fa referència a les convencions lingüístiques relatives a l’ortografia, la puntuació, la tipografia i altres aspectes editorials: tot és essencial per garantir textos coherents, clars i precisos en termes lingüístics i formals. La coherència en aquests aspectes dóna claredat i cohesió als textos, cosa que, al seu torn, en facilita i simplifica la comprensió. Com a transmissores de coneixement, és essencial que les universitats siguin rigoroses en l’ús de la llengua per aconseguir l’objectiu científic de descriure la realitat i la seva complexitat de manera clara i assequible.Bain, M.; Bates, J.; Berman, G.; Cullen, D.; Herrero, J.; Noone, B.; Owen, D.... (2018). Manual d’estil interuniversitari: per a la redacció de textos institucionals en anglès. Xarxa Vives d’Universitats. http://hdl.handle.net/10251/9776

Chronic Mycobacterium abscessus infection and lung function decline in cystic fibrosis

Although nontuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) are recognized pathogens in cystic fibrosis (CF), associations with clinical outcomes remain unclear

Arctic system on trajectory to new state

The Arctic system is moving toward a new state that falls outside the envelope of glacial-interglacial fluctuations that prevailed during recent Earth history. This future Arctic is likely to have dramatically less permanent ice than exists at present. At the present rate of change, a summer ice-free Arctic Ocean within a century is a real possibility, a state not witnessed for at least a million years. The change appears to be driven largely by feedback-enhanced global climate warming, and there seem to be few, if any processes or feedbacks within the Arctic system that are capable of altering the trajectory toward this “super interglacial” state

Ultrathin Tropical Tropopause Clouds (UTTCs) : I. Cloud morphology and occurrence

Subvisible cirrus clouds (SVCs) may contribute to dehydration close to the tropical tropopause. The higher and colder SVCs and the larger their ice crystals, the more likely they represent the last efficient point of contact of the gas phase with the ice phase and, hence, the last dehydrating step, before the air enters the stratosphere. The first simultaneous in situ and remote sensing measurements of SVCs were taken during the APE-THESEO campaign in the western Indian ocean in February/March 1999. The observed clouds, termed Ultrathin Tropical Tropopause Clouds (UTTCs), belong to the geometrically and optically thinnest large-scale clouds in the Earth´s atmosphere. Individual UTTCs may exist for many hours as an only 200--300 m thick cloud layer just a few hundred meters below the tropical cold point tropopause, covering up to 105 km2. With temperatures as low as 181 K these clouds are prime representatives for defining the water mixing ratio of air entering the lower stratosphere

Multi-century trends to wetter winters and drier summers in the England and Wales precipitation series explained by observational and sampling bias in early records

Globally, few precipitation records extend to the 18th century. The England Wales Precipitation (EWP) series is a notable exception with continuous monthly records from 1766. EWP has found widespread use across diverse fields of research including trend detection, evaluation of climate model simulations, as a proxy for mid-latitude atmospheric circulation, a predictor in long-term European gridded precipitation data sets, the assessment of drought and extremes, tree-ring reconstructions and as a benchmark for other regional series. A key finding from EWP has been the multi-centennial trends towards wetter winters and drier summers. We statistically reconstruct seasonal EWP using independent, quality-assured temperature, pressure and circulation indices. Using a sleet and snow series for the UK derived by Profs. Gordon Manley and Elizabeth Shaw to examine winter reconstructions, we show that precipitation totals for pre-1870 winters are likely biased low due to gauge under-catch of snowfall and a higher incidence of snowfall during this period. When these factors are accounted for in our reconstructions, the observed trend to wetter winters in EWP is no longer evident. For summer, we find that pre-1820 precipitation totals are too high, likely due to decreasing network density and less certain data at key stations. A significant trend to drier summers is not robustly present in our reconstructions of the EWP series. While our findings are more certain for winter than summer, we highlight (a) that extreme caution should be exercised when using EWP to make inferences about multi-centennial trends, and; (b) that assessments of 18th and 19th Century winter precipitation should be aware of potential snow biases in early records. Our findings underline the importance of continual re-appraisal of established long-term climate data sets as new evidence becomes available. It is also likely that the identified biases in winter EWP have distorted many other long-term European precipitation series

Potential alcohol use disorder among MSM in Ireland - Findings from the European MSM internet survey (EMIS 2017)

Background Alcohol consumption is a major public health concern in Ireland. Alcohol use disorder (AUD) disproportionately affects men who have sex with men (MSM). However, little is known about the prevalence of AUD in this group in Ireland specifically, and the characteristics of MSM who may struggle with this. Methods The European MSM Internet Survey 2017 was an online, self-completed, anonymous questionnaire among MSM in Ireland. Standardised questions were used to explore a variety of topics. The validated CAGE-4 questionnaire was used to screen for potential AUD, defined as a CAGE-4 score of ≥2 out of 4. Multivariable-adjusted logistic regression analysis was used to identify factors associated with potential AUD. Results In total, 1793 MSM met inclusion criteria. 31 % screened positive for AUD. We observed higher odds of possible AUD among MSM who were bisexual (vs. gay/homosexual) (aOR 1.48 95 %CI 1.01-2.18), native to Ireland (vs. non-native) (aOR 1.49 95 %CI 1.12-1.96), unemployed (vs. employed) (aOR 1.80 95 %CI 1.02-3.16), had used illicit drugs in the previous year (vs. none) (cannabis only, aOR 1.74 95 %CI 1.14-2.63) (other illicit drugs, aOR 2.28 95 %CI 1.67-3.09), reported anxiety/depression (vs. none) (aOR 1.73 95 %CI 1.12-2.66), and MSM who experienced homophobic abuse (vs. never) (aOR 1.55 95 %CI 1.09-2.22). Student MSM were less likely to screen positive for AUD (vs. employed) (aOR 0.65 95 %CI 0.46-0.93). Conclusions The prevalence of AUD appears to be higher in the MSM population compared to the general male population in Ireland. Targeted interventions may be warranted to reduce the burden of AUD among MSM