Social capital and students’ health: results of the splash study

Background

Universities around the world are challenged with rising rates of mental health problems among their students. Cumulative evidence demonstrated that aspects of the social environment, including social capital, play an important role in mental health. This study aimed to determine the prevalence of depressive symptoms among university students from across the globe and to investigate whether social capital was associated with depressive symptoms in university students.

Methods

A cross-sectional study was conducted in Albania, Brazil, Germany, Italy, Malaysia Oman, South Korea, Switzerland, Taiwan and the USA in 2018/2019. Data were obtained through self-administered questionnaire, including questions on sociodemographic characteristics and depressive symptoms. The BDI-S was used to assess the presence of depressive symptoms. Multilevel analyses were conducted to assess the relationship between social capital and depressive, adjusting for individual covariates (e.g. perceived stress and health behaviours) and country-level characteristics (e.g. democracy type).

Results

A total 3894 students participated. Out of all participants almost 47% presented clinically relevant depressive symptoms. The prevalence of depressive symptoms was highest among students identifying as other than male or female (48.7%), among students with low socioeconomic status (59.5%) and among students with low levels of cognitive (65.3%) and behavioural social capital (57.0%). Even after adjustment in multilevel logistic regression analyses, depressive symptoms remained significantly associated with low levels of cognitive social capital (OR = 1.49, 95% CI: 1.06 to 2.10) and low level of behavioural social capital (OR = 1.36, 95% CI: 1.08 to 1.71).

Conclusions

Social capital may play an important role in mental health problems in the university setting. The study identified significant opportunities for future research and health promotion strategies among students.

Key messages

Key factors associated with depressive symptoms among university students were low levels of behavioural and cognitive social capital. Health promotion programs targeting young persons with depressive symptoms should include effective components of social epidemiology such as social capital.

Impacts of climate change on snow accumulation and melting processes over mountainous regions in Northern California during the 21st century

A point-location-based analysis of future climate change impacts on snow accumulation and melting processes was conducted over three study watersheds in Northern California during a 90-year future period by means of snow regime projections. The snow regime projections were obtained by means of a physically-based snow model with dynamically downscaled future climate projections. Then, atmospheric and snow-related variables, and their interrelations during the 21st century were investigated to reveal future climate change impacts on snow accumulation and melting processes. The analysis shows large reductions in snow water equivalent (SWE), snowfall to precipitation (S/P) ratio, and snowmelt through the 21st century. Timing of the peak of the SWE and snowmelt will also change in the future. Meanwhile, the analysis in this study shows that air temperature rise will affect, but will not dominate the future change in snowmelt over the study watersheds. This result implies the importance of considering atmospheric variables other than air temperature, such as precipitation, shortwave radiation, relative humidity, and wind speed even if these variables will not clearly change during the 21st century.

Differential role for phosphorylation in alternative polyadenylation function versus nuclear import of SR-like protein CPSF6

Cleavage factor I mammalian (CFIm) complex, composed of cleavage and polyadenylation specificity factor 5 (CPSF5) and serine/arginine-like protein CPSF6, regulates alternative polyadenylation (APA). Loss of CFIm function results in proximal polyadenylation site usage, shortening mRNA 3' untranslated regions (UTRs). Although CPSF6 plays additional roles in human disease, its nuclear translocation mechanism remains unresolved. Two β-karyopherins, transportin (TNPO) 1 and TNPO3, can bind CPSF6 in vitro, and we demonstrate here that while the TNPO1 binding site is dispensable for CPSF6 nuclear import, the arginine/serine (RS)-like domain (RSLD) that mediates TNPO3 binding is critical. The crystal structure of the RSLD-TNPO3 complex revealed potential CPSF6 interaction residues, which were confirmed to mediate TNPO3 binding and CPSF6 nuclear import. Both binding and nuclear import were independent of RSLD phosphorylation, though a hyperphosphorylated mimetic mutant failed to bind TNPO3 and mislocalized to the cell cytoplasm. Although hypophosphorylated CPSF6 largely supported normal polyadenylation site usage, a significant number of mRNAs harbored unnaturally extended 3' UTRs, similar to what is observed when other APA regulators, such as CFIIm component proteins, are depleted. Our results clarify the mechanism of CPSF6 nuclear import and highlight differential roles for RSLD phosphorylation in nuclear translocation versus regulation of APA.

BIODOSIMETRY AND BIODOSIMETRY NETWORKS FOR MANAGING RADIATION EMERGENCY

Biological dosimetry enables individual dose reconstruction in the case of unclear or inconsistent radiation exposure situations, especially when a direct measurement of ionizing radiation is not or is no longer possible. To be prepared for large-scale radiological incidents, networking between well-trained laboratories has been identified as a useful approach for provision of the fast and trustworthy dose assessments needed in such circumstances. To this end, various biodosimetry laboratories worldwide have joined forces and set up regional and/or nationwide networks either on a formal or informal basis. Many of these laboratories are also a part of global networks such as those organized by World Health Organization, International Atomic Energy Agency or Global Health Security Initiative. In the present report, biodosimetry networks from different parts of the world are presented, and the partners, activities and cooperation actions are detailed. Moreover, guidance for situational application of tools used for individual dosimetry is given.

Inpatient burden of esophageal cancer and analysis of factors affecting in-hospital mortality and length of stay

Esophageal cancer (EC) continues to be a major source of morbidity and mortality in the United States. However, there has been a relative dearth of research into hospital utilization in patients with EC. This study examines temporal trends in hospital admissions, length of stay (LOS), mortality, and costs associated with EC. In addition, we also analyzed factors associated with inpatient mortality and LOS. We interrogated National Inpatient Sample (NIS), a large registry of inpatient data, to retrieve information about various demographic and factors associated with hospital stay in patients who were admitted for EC between the years 1998 and 2013 in the United States. After examining trends over time, multivariate analysis was performed to identify factors associated with LOS and mortality. During 1998-2013, 538,776 hospital stays with principal diagnosis of EC were reviewed. Number of hospital stays and inpatient charges increased by 397 per year (±67.8; P < 0.0001) and $3,033 per patient per year (±135; <0.0001) respectively. Mortality and LOS decreased by 0.23% per year (±0.03; P < 0.0001) and 0.07 days per year (±0.006; P < 0.0001) respectively. Multiple factors associated with LOS and mortality were outlined. Despite overall increase in hospital utilization with respect to number of admissions and inpatient charges, inpatient mortality and LOS associated with EC declined. Factors associated with inpatient mortality and LOS may help drive clinical decision-making and influence healthcare or hospital policy.