Schizotypal dimensions are associated with current but not former tobacco consumption.

OBJECTIVES: We aimed to study the relationship between tobacco smoking and attenuated psychosis measures taking into account several aspects of tobacco consumption that to date have not been explored and that could help understand this association, such as age of onset, the influence of former consumption and the duration of abstinence. METHODS: We investigated, in a sample of 580 students, the relationship between schizotypy (using the schizotypal personality questionnaire-brief in a Likert format) and smoking status, nicotine dependence (measured with the Fagerström test for nicotine dependence), age of onset of smoking and in former smokers, duration of smoking abstinence. RESULTS: 35.2% of the students were current smokers and 13.4% were former smokers. We found that current but not former smokers had higher scores of schizotypy (total, positive and disorganized) than non-smokers. We found no association between schizotypy scores and nicotine dependence or earlier age of onset of smoking. The duration of smoking abstinence, in former smokers, was inversely correlated to the score of positive and total schizotypy. CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggest that tobacco has a reversible effect on schizotypy, but more studies with a different design (controlled, longitudinal) and a more thorough exploration of potential confounders (e.g. cannabis) are needed before a firm conclusion can be reached.

Schizotypal Personality Questionnaire-Brief: Effect of invalid responding on factor structure analysis and scores of schizotypy.

OBJECTIVES: We assessed the effect of invalid responding on factor structure and on scores of schizotypy through the factor analysis of the Schizotypal Personality Questionnaire-Brief (SPQ-B) in a sample of 580 Romanian students using 3 validity items and 5 social desirability items. METHODS: We examined the factor structure of the SPQ-B, we compared the mean SPQ-B scores between reliable and unreliable responders and between high vs. low social desirability responders, and we re-run the factor analysis restricting the sample to the reliable or low social desirability responders. RESULTS: Factor analysis resulted in a 3-factor solution: Cognitive-perceptual, Interpersonal and Disorganized dimensions. Unreliable responders had lower scores of positive, negative and total schizotypy. Subjects with high social desirability scores had lower scores of disorganized schizotypy. Factor analyses in the samples of "good" responders showed minor differences in reliable responders, whereas, after taking into account the effect of social desirability, 2 items correctly loaded on expected dimensions. CONCLUSIONS: Random responding and social desirability could influence scores of schizotypy and factor structure. Simple methods could be used to identify invalid responses. The effect of social desirability could be linked to the phrasing of items.

Cantharellus y Craterellus en Guatemala; diversidad y análisis microscópico de siete especies representativas en el país / Cantharellus y Craterellus in Guatemala; diversity and microscopic analysis of seven representative species in the country

En este estudio se citan las diferentes especies del género Cantharellus que se han encontrado en Guatemala desde hace ya algunas décadas así como los resultados de análisis microscópicos obtenidos de siete especies particulares que fructifican en Guatemala: Cantharellus lateritius, C. cibarius, C. atrolilacinus, C. cinnabarinus, Craterellus ignicolor, C.tubaeformis y C. calyculus, con el fin de determinar si existen diferencias en las medidas reportadas en Europa o Norteamérica, donde han sido descritas la mayor parte de las especies de este importante género...

Toxoplasmosis congénita y adquirida / Congenita and acquired Toxoplasmosis

Expone una revisión etiopatogénica; y de los cuadros clínicos de las formas congénita y adquirida de la toxoplasmosis. Se enfatiza sobre la precisión de los criterios aportados por las pruebas de laboratorio y se resume el tratamiento que debe instaurarse...

Respiratory drive and ventilatory pattern during exercise in interstitial lung disease.

Ventilation was analysed during a maximal and progressive exercise in 12 patients suffering from interstitial lung disease (ILD) and in 15 healthy subjects. "Rapid shallowing breathing" pattern was observed in patients with ILD. Both normals and patients showed a linear relationship between VE, VT/TI (mean inspiratory flow) and VCO2. The relationship between P0.1, the occlusion pressure at 0.1 S, and VCO2 exponential in both groups and significantly steeper in patients with ILD. P0.1/VE and P0.1/(VT/TI) ratios, indexes of thoracopulmonary impedance, and P0.1/VCO2 ratio, an index of respiratory drive per unit of CO2 output, were all inversely correlated in patients with VC% (vital capacity) and CLstat (static compliance). These results strongly suggest that in patients suffering from ILD the higher respiratory drive observed during exercise could be attributed to increased afferent reflexes originating from the lung and/or chest wall.