The effects of synthetic cannabinoids on executive function.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: There is a growing use of novel psychoactive substances (NPSs) including synthetic cannabinoids. Synthetic cannabinoid products have effects similar to those of natural cannabis but the new synthetic cannabinoids are more potent and dangerous and their use has resulted in various adverse effects. The purpose of the study was to assess whether persistent use of synthetic cannabinoids is associating with impairments of executive function in chronic users. METHODS: A total of 38 synthetic cannabinoids users, 43 recreational cannabis users, and 41 non-user subjects were studied in two centers in Hungary and Israel. Computerized cognitive function tests, the classical Stroop word-color task, n-back task, and a free-recall memory task were used. RESULTS: Synthetic cannabinoid users performed significantly worse than both recreational and non-cannabis users on the n-back task (less accuracy), the Stroop task (overall slow responses and less accuracy), and the long-term memory task (less word recall). Additionally, they have also shown higher ratings of depression and anxiety compared with both recreational and non-users groups. DISCUSSION: This study showed impairment of executive function in synthetic cannabinoid users compared with recreational users of cannabis and non-users. This may have major implications for our understanding of the long-term consequences of synthetic cannabinoid based drugs.

Microlepidogaster negomata, a new hypoptopomatine catfish (Loricariidae: Hypoptopomatinae) from Rio São Francisco basin, southeastern Brazil.

The number of species of Microlepidogaster recently increased considerably, the genus presently comprises six species distributed in the Paraná, São Francisco, and Jequitinhonha river basins. A new species of Microlepidogaster is herein described from the upper Rio São Francisco basin, which can be distinguished from all congeners by having two exclusive features within the genus: skin over swimbladder opening with two to five reduced unperforated platelets, and ventral laminar expansion of coracoid enclosing completely or almost completely the arrector fossa of the pectoral girdle. In addition, other features to recognize this species are: snout covered by many small plates bearing slender pointed odontodes; presence of iris operculum; exposure of pectoral girdle restricted to the lateral portion; presence of pectoral axillary slit only in juveniles; anterior portion of compound supraneural plus first dorsal-fin proximal radial contacting the neural spine of the eighth or ninth vertebra; first anal-fin pterygiophore covered only by skin; and uninterrupted, long median and mid-dorsal series of lateral plates.

Residential schools as powerful environments.

This article attempts to make a preliminary classification of some of the theoretical material published in the last two decades which led to the emergence of a new area in educational research, that of residential education. This has come in response to the increasing frequency of placement in residential settings as a means of educating adolescents.

Adaptive respiratory variation in 4 chromosomal species of mole rats.

Oxygen and carbon dioxide pressures were measured in subcutaneous gas pockets of 4 chromosomal species of the Spalax ehrenbergi complex. Oxygen pressures of 11.8, 13.6, 16.9, and 17.2 torr and CO2 pressures of 84.2, 82.9, 80.1, and 64.1 torr were measured for the chromosomal species 2n = 52, 54, 58, and 60, respectively. The differences between the 4 chromosomal species in their subcutaneous gas tension appear to reflect adaptive respiratory variation associated with geographic variation in climate. It underlies an important respiratory physiological correlate of ecological speciation in the extremely hypoxic and hypercapnic subterranean environment.