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The Latin American academic production is analyzed relating to its visibility, internationalization, and the ecology of knowledges and languages. Bibliometric tools were used to form a corpus of 2,939 studies in the Scopus database between 2010-2019, analyzed in two dimensions: the output/editorial dimension, and the input/epistemological dimension, focusing on three aspects: (1) evolution per year and per country; (2) most used languages and journals; and (3) international collaborations. The results of the epistemological dimension showed a greater collaboration with authors from the Global North, especially with Spain, the United States and England (in the case of Mexico and Chile) and Portugal (in the case of Brazil). Regarding the quantitative evolution, a steady growth was observed in Latin America, with Brazil occupying the first position. Spanish predominated as the language of publication, although a trend towards English was observed in the second five-year period analyzed, surpassing Portuguese. Taken together, the results of the study suggest that the patterns of academic production in Latin America do not show an ecology of knowledges and languages.

Nowadays, the lack of quantitative criteria to resolve the diagnostic heterogeneity of psychotic onsets limits the development of safer and more effective treatments. Therefore, the hypothesis to integrate multimodal data to uncover biological subtypes of psychosis has risen [1,2]. Here we explored the existence of subgroups of patients affected by first episode psychosis (FEP) with a possible immunopathogenic basis.To do this, we designed a computational model that use unsupervised machine learning to cluster a sample of 127 FEP patients and 117 healthy controls (HC), based on the peripheral blood concentrations of 12 immune gene transcripts which demonstrated to classify with high accuracy between FEP patients and healthy subjects in a previous study [3]. To validate the model, we applied a resampling strategy based on the half-splitting of the total sample. Further, we tested the correlation between the subgroups and clinical, neuropsychological and brain structural variables.In both the discovery and validation samples, the model identified a FEP cluster characterized by the high expression of inflammatory and immune-activating genes (IL1b, CCR7 and IL12a) and of a single immune counterregulatory gene (CCR3)[4] and a further cluster consisting of equal number of FEP and HC subjects, which did not show a relative over or under expression of any immune marker (balanced subgroup). Also, none of the subgroups were related to specific symptoms dimensions or longitudinal diagnosis. FEP patients included in the balanced immune subgroup showed a reduced left hippocampal volume and a left supramarginal and lateroccipital cortexes’ thinning. These correlations seem to support an opposite pattern in the correspondent brain area of the inflammatory subgroup [5].Our results demonstrated the existence of a FEP patients’ subgroup that present a prominent activation of the inflammatory response. This evidence may pave the way to sample stratification in future trials aiming to develop personalized diagnostic tools and therapies targeting specific immunopathogenic pathways of psychosis onsets.

ABSTRACT Background: Brazil has the second largest number of leprosy cases worldwide, and the state of São Paulo has been considered non-endemic since 2006. Methods: We analyzed 16 variable number tandem repeats loci and three single nucleotide polymorphisms loci of Mycobacterium leprae (M. leprae) in 125 clinical isolates from patients in different municipalities in the state. Results: The clustering pattern of M. leprae indicated that the transmission of leprosy persisted in the state and included scenarios of intra-extra-familial transmission in areas with low endemicity. Conclusions: A significantly active circulation of M. leprae was observed. Therefore, surveillance and control measures must be implemented.

In the current scenario of dispersed knowledge authorities and uncertainty brought by the COVID-19 pandemic, a critical reflection on the nationalist and anti-global climate is necessary to support the promotion of alternative ways of Global Citizenship Education (GCE). This paper addresses some of the criticism raised at the concept of GCE to discuss Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL) as an alternative Thirdspace for promoting intercultural encounters in the internationalisation of higher education, in order to cope with local, national and global tensions in this process, with a 'glonacal' view that accounts for the role of individuals, local/national governments and higher education in it.

This study discusses agency in language policy and planning (LPP) development from the perspective of Brazilian national language policies reflected in the local LPP programme/initiative of a public university in the Southeast region of the country. With that goal, national and local (institutional) documents are analysed and contrasted with the perceptions of local agents -- or people with interest in Baldauf's terminology -- comprised of students of a Brazilian government-funded programme called Languages without Borders (LwB) at that university. The perceptions of the academic community (students, lecturers and administrative staff) were obtained through an online questionnaire. The results show that top-down national policies had a great impact on the development of local policies, leaving little room for bottom-up local agency. The study concludes that the university lacked a coherent language approach that connected the macro, meso and micro levels and the four categories of agents, namely, people with power, people with expertise, people with influence and people with interest.

This review provides a community's perspective on air quality research focusing mainly on developments over the past decade. The article provides perspectives on current and future challenges as well as research needs for selected key topics. While this paper is not an exhaustive review of all research areas in the field of air quality, we have selected key topics that we feel are important from air quality research and policy perspectives. After providing a short historical overview, this review focuses on improvements in characterizing sources and emissions of air pollution, new air quality observations and instrumentation, advances in air quality prediction and forecasting, understanding interactions of air quality with meteorology and climate, exposure and health assessment, and air quality management and policy. In conducting the review, specific objectives were (i) to address current developments that push the boundaries of air quality research forward, (ii) to highlight the emerging prominent gaps of knowledge in air quality research, and (iii) to make recommendations to guide the direction for future research within the wider community. This review also identifies areas of particular importance for air quality policy. The original concept of this review was borne at the International Conference on Air Quality 2020 (held online due to the COVID 19 restrictions during 18–26 May 2020), but the article incorporates a wider landscape of research literature within the field of air quality science. On air pollution emissions the review highlights, in particular, the need to reduce uncertainties in emissions from diffuse sources, particulate matter chemical components, shipping emissions, and the importance of considering both indoor and outdoor sources. There is a growing need to have integrated air pollution and related observations from both ground-based and remote sensing instruments, including in particular those on satellites. The research should also capitalize on the growing area of low-cost sensors, while ensuring a quality of the measurements which are regulated by guidelines. Connecting various physical scales in air quality modelling is still a continual issue, with cities being affected by air pollution gradients at local scales and by long-range transport. At the same time, one should allow for the impacts from climate change on a longer timescale. Earth system modelling offers considerable potential by providing a consistent framework for treating scales and processes, especially where there are significant feedbacks, such as those related to aerosols, chemistry, and meteorology. Assessment of exposure to air pollution should consider the impacts of both indoor and outdoor emissions, as well as application of more sophisticated, dynamic modelling approaches to predict concentrations of air pollutants in both environments. With particulate matter being one of the most important pollutants for health, research is indicating the urgent need to understand, in particular, the role of particle number and chemical components in terms of health impact, which in turn requires improved emission inventories and models for predicting high-resolution distributions of these metrics over cities. The review also examines how air pollution management needs to adapt to the above-mentioned new challenges and briefly considers the implications from the COVID-19 pandemic for air quality. Finally, we provide recommendations for air quality research and support for policy.

Proinflammatory cytokines are implicated in promoting neurodegeneration in multiple sclerosis (MS) by affecting excitatory and inhibitory transmission at central synapses. Conversely, the synaptic effects of anti-inflammatory molecules remain underexplored, despite their potential neuroprotective properties and their presence in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of patients. In a study involving 184 newly diagnosed relapsing-remitting (RR)-MS patients, we investigated whether CSF levels of the anti-inflammatory interleukin (IL)-10 were linked to disease severity and neurodegeneration measures. Additionally, we examined IL-10 impact on synaptic transmission in striatal medium spiny neurons and its role in counteracting inflammatory synaptopathy induced by IL-1β in female C57BL/6 mice with experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE). Our findings revealed a significant positive correlation between IL-10 CSF levels and changes in EDSS (Expanded Disability Status Scale) scores one year after MS diagnosis. Moreover, IL-10 levels in the CSF were positively correlated with volumes of specific subcortical brain structures, such as the nucleus caudate. In both MS patients' CSF and EAE mice striatum, IL-10 and IL-1β expressions were upregulated, suggesting possible antagonistic effects of these cytokines. Notably, IL-10 exhibited the ability to decrease glutamate transmission, increase GABA transmission in the striatum, and reverse IL-1β-induced abnormal synaptic transmission in EAE. In conclusion, our data suggest that IL-10 exerts direct neuroprotective effects in MS patients by modulating both excitatory and inhibitory transmission and attenuating IL-1β-induced inflammatory synaptopathy. These findings underscore the potential therapeutic significance of IL-10 in mitigating neurodegeneration in MS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

(1) Multiple sclerosis (MS) is identified by a complex interaction between central inflammation and neurodegeneration. Genetic individual variability could play a significative role in clinical presentation. The interleukin-5 (IL-5) rs2069812 single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) seems to define the clinical course of Th2 autoimmune diseases, while its role in MS has never been investigated. (2) In a group of 230 patients diagnosed with relapsing–remitting MS (RR-MS) or progressive MS (P-MS) and controls (IC), rs2069812 polymorphism, cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) levels of inflammatory mediators, and clinical and demographic characteristics were determined. In RR-MS patients, No Evidence of Disease Activity (NEDA-3) at three years of follow-up was detected. (3) We identified higher levels of proinflammatory cytokines, particularly IL-2 (median [IQR], RR-MS = 0.2 [0–0.7]; P-MS = 0.1 [0–1.6]; IC = 0.1 [0.0–0.1]; p < 0.005), IL-6 (RR-MS = 0.9 [0.3–2.3]; P-MS = 0.8 [0.1–2.7]; IC = 0.1 [0.0–0.5]; p < 0.005), IL-12 (RR-MS = 0.5 [0–1.1]; P-MS = 0.5 [0–1.1]; IC = 0.0 [0.0–0.3]; p < 0.005), and GM-CSF (RR-MS = 15.6 [4.8–26.4]; P-MS = 14 [3.3–29.7]; IC = 8.9 [4.7–11.7]; p < 0.005) in MS patients compared with IC. Conversely, anti-inflammatory cytokines, specifically IL-5 (RR-MS = 0.65 [0–2.4]; P-MS = 0.1 [0–0.8]; IC = 1.7 [0.6–2.8]; p < 0.005) and IL-1ra (RR-MS = 14.7 [4.9–26.4]; P-MS = 13.1 [4.7–22.2]; IC = 27.8 [17.7–37.6]; p < 0.005) were higher in controls. According to rs2069812, in MS patients, the T-allele was associated with higher concentrations of proinflammatory mediators (IL-2, CT/TT = 0.2 [0.0–2.0]; CC = 0.1 [0.0–0.4], p = 0.015; IL-6, CT/TT = 1.2 [0.4–3.2] vs. CC = 0.7 [0.1–1.7], p = 0.007; IL-15, CT/TT = 0.1 [0.0–9.5] vs. CC = 0.0 [0.0–0.1], p = 0.019; and GM-CSF, CT/TT = 0.1 [0.0–0.6] vs. CC = 0.05 [0.0–0.1], p < 0.001), and CC was associated with anti-inflammatory mediators (IL-5, CT/TT = 0.03 [0.0–1.9] vs. CC = 1.28 [0.0–2.7], p = 0.001; IL-1ra, CT/TT = 12.1 [4.1–25.9] vs. CC = 18.1 [12.1–26.9], p = 0.006). We found the same differences in RR-MS patients (IL-2, T-allele median [IQR] = 0.3 [0.0–2.0] vs. C-allele, median [IQR] = 0.04 [0.0–0.3]; p = 0.005; IL-6, T-allele, median [IQR] = 1.3 [0.4–3.3] vs. C-allele, median [IQR] = 0.6 [0.03–1.5]; p = 0.001; IL-15, T-allele, median [IQR] = 0.1 [0.0–9.5] vs. C-allele, median [IQR] = 0.0 [0.0–0.1]; p = 0.008; GM-CSF, T-allele, median [IQR] = 0.1 [0.0–97.9] vs. C-allele, median [IQR] = 0.0 [0.0–0.001]; p < 0.001; IL-5, T-allele, median [IQR] = 0.02 [0.0–2.2] vs. C-allele, median [IQR] = 1.5 [0.0–2.9]; p = 0.016; and IL-1ra, T-allele, median [IQR] = 12.1 [4.3–26.4] vs. C-allele, median [IQR] = 18.5 [12.7–28.3]; p = 0.006) but not in P-MS, except for IL-5 (T-allele, median [IQR] = 0.1 [0–0.23] vs. C-allele, median [IQR] = 0.6 [0.0–2.5]; p = 0.022). Finally, we identified an association between CC in RR-MS patients and NEDA-3 after three years of follow-up (p = 0.007). (4) We describe, for the first time, the role of an SNP of the IL-5 gene in regulating central neuroinflammation and influencing clinical course in MS patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Acute coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is paralleled by a rise in the peripheral levels of neurofilament light chain (NfL), suggesting early nervous system damage. In a cohort of 103 COVID-19 patients, we studied the relationship between the NfL and peripheral inflammatory markers. We found that the NfL levels are significantly predicted by a panel of circulating cytokines/chemokines, including CRP, IL-4, IL-8, IL-9, Eotaxin, and MIP-1ß, which are highly up-regulated during COVID-19 and are associated with clinical outcomes. Our findings show that peripheral cytokines influence the plasma levels of the NfL, suggesting a potential role of the NfL as a marker of neuronal damage associated with COVID-19 inflammation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The researchers designed, implemented and analyze a project to teach the contents of First Aid and Waves in English as a foreign language in Brazil using the Content and Language Integrated (CLIL) approach. Seventy participants belonging to two intact classes in a Navy Boarding School took part in the study. Both content and language teachers collaborated to plan and teach the contents. Data collection was carried out through questionnaires, class observation, and entries to teachers' diary. Overall results of the analysis of participants' perceptions on the approach used show that CLIL may be a relevant possibility in that context if certain aspects are considered carefully. Regarding the aspects related to the language of instruction, the study showed that CLIL should be implemented gradually and after students develop a certain level of proficiency in the foreign language. Regarding the aspects related to the content, it was found that participants' perception on CLIL in the First Aid class was much better than in the Waves class because the latter is perceived as being a more difficult content. This finding suggests that difficult contents might not be taught through CLIL depending on participants' language proficiency level. Finally, the study suggests that the implementation of CLIL poses many challenges for teacher practice and education that might be partially overcome through teacher collaboration.

This article reflects on the experiences of language teachers from Brazil, Spain, France, Cyprus, Costa Rica and Taiwan during the pivot to emergency remote/online instruction during the 2020 pandemic. The research question motivating the study was what language teachers’ perceptions regarding online teaching during the pandemic were. Data were analyzed qualitatively, contrasting data from a questionnaire shared in an asynchronous online form with data from focus group interviews carried out via videoconferencing. The analysis of the questionnaire data showed that the vast majority of respondents used different digital technologies to teach online, both synchronously and asynchronously, but felt unprepared to work in this modality, mostly because of lack of institutional support and training. The analysis of the focus group interviews suggested that most teachers expressed concerns as to the limitations of online teaching for interaction and exams. In addition, some teachers displayed negative attitudes towards online teaching due to the lack of preparation and institutional support. This was aggravated by political implications of migrating to online education that could result in precariousness of the teacher profession. The positive aspects highlighted were the possibility of developing more self-directed and autonomous learning, as well as experimenting with different technologies and approaches. Overall, the analysis of the data suggests that, after the pandemic and with due preparation and support, some of the digital technologies and approaches experimented with will be incorporated into pedagogical practices in blended approaches, which represent a real trend and possibility for language teaching in the post-pandemic context.

Light-Emitting Diodes (LEDs) and Ultraviolet Light-Emitting Diodes (UV LEDs) consist in a semiconductor of light, that are emerging in the market, due to their singular characteristics, as being a solid-state cold source of light, which has potential application in food preservation. For this reason, this study lens to provide a review of the effects of LED and UV LED application in fresh fruits and vegetables, under refrigeration storage. Analyzing the LED role, in extending the shelf-life of postharvest food, these present the capability of improving the quality physicochemical and microbiological of fruits and vegetables, such as: color (chlorophyll), weight loss, total phenolic and flavonoid content, phenylalanine ammonia-lyase activity and total soluble solids. In addition, it’s able to stop chemical reactions and increasing the activity of fruits and vegetable defenses. UV LED light, on the other hand, operates in an effective and straightway in the inactivation the food pathogens, such as Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas fluorescens and Salmonella spp, for example. Therefore, UV LED light can be applied to delay the senescence of foods, however, the wavelength must match the target organism, depending on the food.

Background: Elevated levels of specific proinflammatory molecules in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) have been associated with disability progression, enhanced neurodegeneration and higher incidence of mood disorders in people with multiple sclerosis (MS). Studies in animal models of MS suggest that preventive exercise may play an immunomodulatory activity, with beneficial effects on both motor deficits and behavioral alterations. Here we explored the impact of lifestyle physical activity on clinical presentation and associated central inflammation in a large group of newly diagnosed patients with MS. Furthermore, we addressed the causal link between exercise-mediated immunomodulation and mood symptoms in the animal setting. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted on 235 relapsing-remitting MS patients at the time of the diagnosis. Patients were divided into 3 groups (“sedentary”, “lifestyle physical activity” and “exercise”) according to the level of physical activity in the six months preceding the evaluation. Patients underwent clinical, neuropsychological and psychiatric evaluation, magnetic resonance imaging and lumbar puncture for diagnostic purposes. The CSF levels of proinflammatory and anti-inflammatory cytokines were analyzed and compared with a group of 80 individuals with non-inflammatory and non-degenerative diseases. Behavioral and electrophysiological studies were carried out in control mice receiving intracerebral injection of IL-2 or vehicle. Behavior was also assessed in mice with experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE), animal model of MS, reared in standard (sedentary group) or running wheel-equipped (exercise group) cages. Results: In exercising MS patients, depression and anxiety were reduced compared to sedentary patients. The CSF levels of the interleukin-2 and 6 (IL-2, IL-6) were increased in MS patients compared with control individuals. In MS subjects exercise was associated with normalized CSF levels of IL-2. In EAE mice exercise started before disease onset reduced both behavioral alterations and striatal IL-2 expression. Notably, a causal role of IL-2 in mood disorders was shown. IL-2 administration in control healthy mice induced anxious- and depressive-like behaviors and impaired type-1 cannabinoid (CB1) receptor-mediated neurotransmission at GABAergic synapses, mimicking EAE-induced synaptic dysfunction. Conclusions: Our results indicate an immunomodulatory effect of exercise in MS patients, associated with reduced CSF expression of IL-2, which might result in reduced mood disorders. These data suggest that exercise in the early stages may act as a disease-modifying therapy in MS although further longitudinal studies are needed to clarify this issue.

bARPA Lazio, 00187 Rome, ItalycARIANET, 20159 Milan, ItalydIndependent Scientific Consultant, 20126 MilanOdour nuisance impacting residents' life comfort is the result of the presence in air of numerous species, mainly gaseous, negatively interacting with the human olfactory system. It is well known that odour nuisance does not depend on the mean gas concentrations over long averaging times (of the order of one hour), but on their turbulent fluctuations, that can be some orders of magnitude greater than hourly averaged values. Currently, the direct measure of intensity and frequency concentration peaks can be carried out only for a few species and requires high-cost instruments, representing a serious challenge for Environmental Protection Agencies responsible for public health and environmental protection. This paper describes the intermediate-cost methodology developed by ARPA Lazio, the environmental agency responsible for the Italian administrative region which includes Rome, to monitor and assess the presence of odorous gases. It is based on mobile vehicles equipped with intermediate-cost analyzers for some of the main odorous gases, successfully deployed in more than fifteen field campaigns carried out all over the region in the last five years. As an example, results from one of the campaigns are also reported briefly. Such an effort is mainly motivated by the need to fulfil institutional duties, but it also supports the possibility of building a network of affordable instruments capable of routinely monitor odour nuisance impact over relatively large regions.

One of the recent developments in the field of internationalization of higher education (IHE) is a greater recognition that, alongside the opportunities offered by this process, there are several political and ethical issues that are complex, contradictory, and contestable (Stein, 2017; Leal, 2020). In this regard, Chiappa and Finardi (2021) claim that even though the process of IHE is usually portrayed as an intrinsically beneficial process, its “darker side” (e.g. Archanjo & Barbosa, 2019) – a reference to Walter Mignolo’s thought on coloniality – hides mechanisms that maintain and reinforce power asymmetries and hierarchies between knowledges and people (Vavrus & Pekol, 2015), accordingly with their positioning within the historical worldsystem (Wallerstein, 2006).

Critical race theory (CRT) questions social practices that have perpetuated discrimination and social inequality. Decolonial studies coincide with these efforts to deracialise elt practices, explaining racialisation as dominant structures constituted in whiteness-centred practices that situate some in disadvantage (usually non-white) while privileging others (usually white). In the context of English language teaching (ELT), that colonisation/racialisation can take the form of some hierarchisation of English native speakers from the Global North while otherising non-native speakers of English and native speakers of English from the Global South. Therefore, coloniality/racialisation are useful terms to explain practices that value foreign over local identities alienating regional/local views and languages. In this article, the links between CRT and decolonial theories are explored and colonisation/racialisation of ELT are approached through the analysis of macro and micro practices developed in two public universities, one in Colombia and one in Brazil. The aim is to disrupt those practices by making evident decolonisation/deracialisation efforts in undergraduate and graduate students’ proposals.

The purpose of this article is to discuss the possible directions that the process of internationalization of higher education in Brazil can take in a post-pandemic scenario of COVID-19 based on institutional self-assessment as proposed in the Amorim (2020) matrix. Inspired by Robert Frost's poem and the bifurcation metaphor on the way, we approach two guidelines for the internationalization of higher education, namely: cooperation and competition. The literature review in the area points to a possible paradigm shift (from competition to cooperation) and the discussion proposed here concludes that this change can be amplified/accelerated in the post-pandemic context. The study is reflective and uses the GPS metaphor to assist the self-assessment of Brazilian higher education institutions (HEIs) on the two roads of the poem, in the context of internationalization, in order to guide HEIs on roads that have not yet been traced in the face of the unprecedented context imposed by the pandemic. We conclude that the change of route/paradigm can be done more safely with the use of a(n) GPS/institutional self-analysis of the internationalization process.

O crescimento urbano acelerado e desordenado na ocupação das bacias hidrográficas resulta em efeitos no ciclo hidrológico natural e, consequentemente, problemas como enchentes e inundações, principalmente devido às altas taxas de impermeabilização. O presente estudo teve por objetivo estimar o volume de água precipitada na bacia hidrográfica do rio Belém, localizada na cidade de Curitiba (PR), bem como apresentar soluções individuais para minimização das enchentes e inundações. O método de pesquisa utilizado pelo presente estudo foi documental e bibliográfico, com dados primários e secundários. Os dados de registros de volume de chuva foram obtidos junto ao Instituto Água e Terra (IAT). Também foram analisadas, comparadas e estimadas a precipitação na área total da bacia do rio Belém onde se tomou como base o atípico ano de 2020, considerando um grau de impermeabilização da bacia de 87%. Conclui-se que em períodos de intensa precipitação pluviométrica, fatalmente ocorrem enchentes e inundações resultando em prejuízos materiais e ambientais, como impacto direto na qualidade de vidas as populações locais.

This study quantifies the vegetation impact on urban meteorology by means of the numerical model WRF (Weather Research and Forecasting model). The assessment was made for two months: July and January. These were considered as representative for the summer and winter seasons, for the reference year 2015 in three European cities: Bologna, Milano, and Madrid. Two simulations at 1 km resolution were conducted over the cities with and without the actual urban vegetation, called VEG and NOVEG, respectively, in the model input. Then, the impact of vegetation was evaluated as the difference between the two simulations (VEG-NOVEG) for temperature, relative humidity, and wind speed fields. In general, we found that, as can be expected, urban vegetation tends to cool the atmosphere, enhance the humidity, and reduce the wind speed. However, in some cases, areas with the opposite behaviour exist, so that no a priori results can be attributed to the presence of urban vegetation. Moreover, even when major impact is confined around grid cells where urban vegetation is present, changes in meteorological quantities can be observed elsewhere in the city’s area. The magnitude of urban vegetation impact is higher in summer than in winter and it depends on the city’s morphological peculiarities, such as urban texture and vegetation types and distribution: average July temperature variations due to the presence of urban vegetation reach peaks of −0.8 °C in Milano, −0.6 °C Madrid, and −0.4 °C in Bologna, while in January, the values range between −0.3 and −0.1 °C. An average heating effect of ca. +0.2 °C is found in some parts of Madrid in January. For relative humidity, we found increments of 2%–3% in July and 0.5%–0.8% in January, while a decrease in wind speed was found between 0.1 and 0.5 m/s, with the highest occurring in Madrid during July.

This is the first study that quantifies explicitly the impact of present vegetation on concentrations and depositions, considering simultaneously its effects on meteorology, biogenic emissions, dispersion, and dry deposition in three European cities: Bologna, Milan, and Madrid. The behaviour of three pollutants (O3, NO2, and PM10) was investigated considering two different scenarios, with the actual vegetation (VEG) and without it (NOVEG) for two months, representative of summer and winter seasons: July and January. The evaluation is based on simulations performed with two state-of-the-art atmospheric modelling systems (AMS) that use similar but not identical descriptions of physical and chemical atmospheric processes: AMS-MINNI for the two Italian cities and WRF-CMAQ for the Spanish city. The choice of using two AMS and applying one of them in two cities has been made to ensure the robustness of the results needed for their further generalization. The analysis of the spatial distribution of the vegetation effects on air concentrations and depositions shows that they are highly variable from one grid cell to another in the city area, with positive/negative effects or high/low effects in adjacent cells being observed for the three pollutants investigated in all cities. According to the pollutant, on a monthly basis, the highest differences in concentrations (VEG-NOVEG) produced by vegetation were estimated in July for O3 (−7.40 μg/m3 in Madrid and +2.67 μg/m3 in Milan) and NO2 (−3.01 μg/m3 in Milan and +7.17 μg/m3 in Madrid) and in January for PM10 (−3.14 μg/m3 in Milan +2.01 μg/m3 in Madrid). Thus, in some parts of the cities, the presence of vegetation had produced an increase in pollutant concentrations despite its efficient removal action that ranges from ca. 17% for O3 in Bologna (January) to ca. 77% for NO2 in Madrid (July).