Background The most susceptible population group to critical and fatal coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is older adults. In SARS-CoV-2 infection, the host immune response is thought to play a key role in the pathophysiological effects of lung damage. Therefore, corticosteroid therapy could modulate inflammation-mediated pulmonary injury and thereby reduce progression to severe respiratory failure and death. The aim of this study was to analyse the safety and clinical efficacy of corticosteroid therapy in older adults with severe COVID-19 pneumonia. Method We reviewed the clinical records of confirmed COVID-19 patients aged 75 years or older admitted to our hospital over a three months period (March 1, to May 31, 2020). A total of 143 patients were included in the study cohort. From 2 April, 2020, in accordance with World Health Organization (WHO) guidance on COVID-19, our hospital protocol added corticosteroid for COVID-19 treatment. We compared in-hospital mortality among patients with critical COVID-19 who received corticosteroids therapy and those who did not. Results 88 patients (61.5%) were treated with corticosteroids, and 55 patients (38.4%) were not. Both groups were similar in baseline characteristics. The median age was 85 years (IQR, 82–89), and 61.5% (88/143) were male. In-hospital mortality was lower in the corticosteroid group (68.2%) compared with patients in the non-corticosteroid group (81.8%). Treatment with corticosteroids was an independent survival factor (HR=0.61; 95% CI, 0.41–0.93; P=0.006). Conclusions In critically ill older adults with COVID-19 pneumonia, the use of corticosteroid treatment resulted in lower mortality without severe adverse events.

In this article, I will explore some of the emotional and educational consequences of (im)politeness in teacher-student interaction (T-S interaction, henceforth) at higher education, with reference to their influence in motivation and learning. Politeness theory (Brown and Levinson in Questions and politeness: strategies in social interaction, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1978, Politeness: some universals in language usage, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1987) will be extended to include a discursive approach to the 123Corpus Pragmatics (2017) 1:233-255 DOI 10.1007/s41701-017-0010-2 many rapport sensitive discourse acts and that their face-aggravating potential increases when conveying negative evaluative language and when students present a challenging orientation to rapport due to different reasons, being lack of intrinsic motivation an important one. Other aspects which can result in face aggravation such as different expectations regarding sociality rights and obligations will be discussed. As T-S interaction has effects not only on the relations reated among teachers and students but also on the teaching-learning process, it seems essential that the involved parties become aware of the impact of rapport management and of the fact that learning is facilitated by good interpersonal rapport but can be seriously undermined by its absence.

No abstract

No abstract

The present article reviews theoretical concepts that can contribute to the analysis of the construction of gender identity in interaction, moving on from heteronormativity, understood as the normalization of heterosexuality as the only, or more, legitimate form of sexuality. Identity is discussed together with the concepts of face, rapport and (im)politeness from a discursive approach (van der Bom & Mills, 2015). It is argued that gender identity face builds on attributes of both respectability and identity faces with differing strengths and saliency depending on the individuals and the context. Analysis is limited to the construction of hetero and gay male gender identities in interaction with women in academic contexts and draws on data from a corpus of naturally occurring interactions compiled by the author. Gay males seem to differ from hetero males in in their choice of resources for doing face-enhancing positive politeness and rapport with their female colleagues. Despite the limited size of the sample, the study hopes to contribute to a better understanding of the construction of gender identity from a discursive approach.