[Evaluation of the psychometric properties of the French version of the Tridimensional Personality Questionnaire (TPQ)]. / Evaluation des propriétés psychométriques de la version française du questionnaire tridimensionnel de la personnalité (TPQ).

The Tridimensional Personality Questionnaire (TPQ) is a 100-item true-false self-questionnaire proposed by R. Cloninger and based on a three independent dimensions model of personality. These three dimensions, each with four sub-scales, are Novelty Seeking (NS), Harm Avoidance (HA) and Reward Dependence (RD). Recently, several groups have used the TPQ to study clinical samples, and other have reported normative data in the general population but, up to date, no result has been published on the French TPQ version. The aims of this study were therefore to assess the psychometric properties of this questionnaire and also to research an eventual relationship between dimensions of personality and anxiety and depression mood, measured by mood and anxiety scales in out-patients. A population of 165 subjects was included in this study and assessed with the TPQ. In this sample, 119 patients completed also the Hospital Anxiety and Depression (HAD) scale. The factor analysis with a Varimax rotation suggests three possible solutions with 3, 4 or 5 factors for the TPQ. These all three analysis indicate that the dimensions NS and HA load consistently unto the first two factors, and seem therefore two robust and independent dimensions. Contrastly, the RD dimension seems definitely heterogeneous, even if the RD2 sub-scale (persistence) is treated separately from the other as proposed by Cloninger. Analysis of correlations between TPQ dimensions and HAD sub-score show that only the HA dimension is related to anxiety sub-score (r = 0.34), depression subscore (r = 0.52) and total HAD score (r = 0.47).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Autoregressive time series analysis via representatives.

In any realization of an autoregressive time series there exist a few observations having a noticeable feature: they express the useful properties of the time series and, therefore, they represent the entire process. Such representative observations (or, simply, representatives) can be determined by an optimization procedure, provided that the absolute value criterion is used instead of the customary least squares. To achieve this, a special kind of optimization operator (optimator) which generate the parameters of the time series is considered. The concepts of strong and weak similarity of the time series are defined in terms of the representatives and sufficient conditions for both strong and weak similarity are derived. It is shown that there exists a subclass of strongly similar processes, say X such that ordinary addition is a binary operation in X. An analogous result is shown to hold for weakly similar autoregressive processes. Some examples illustrating these results are given.

[Immunopathological circumstances in the structure of complications appearing after smallpox vaccination]. / Circumstante imunopatologice în structura accidentelor survenite dupa vaccinarea antivariolica

Investigations were carried out concerning the dynamics of antivaccinal antibodies and the structure of serum proteins in relation to the clinical manifestations following upon smallpox vaccination. In general, immunity is not apparently influenced by postvaccinal complications may be associated with immunoprotein perturbations, manifested by an increase in the alpha2-globulin fraction and, inconstantly, in the gamma-globulin fraction. Immunoelectrophoretic determinations revealed a relatively constant IgM and IgG deficiency. Postvaccinal dysglobulinemia may accompany various clinical forms, suggesting a temporary deficient immunological response. In one case of agammaglobulinemia, revaccination produced a deep vaccinal ulcer, with extensive necrosis (giant necrotic vaccinia). In order to decipher the substrate of the reaction in the clinical forms with distal manifestations or generalized vaccinia, skin biopsies were performed. The lesional vasculoallergic substrate of the skin lesions does not exclude the local aggression of the vaccinal virus, which was isolated by viral determinations.

[Clinical and biological aspects of chronic brucellosis]. / Delimitari clinice si biologice în bruceloza cronica

The present study refers to 53 cases of chronic brucellosis admitted to the clinic or followed up in an out-patient unit for ten years (1962-1971). There was a total of 946 days in hospital and 1688 days of occupational disability, about 40% of the patients necessitating repeated hospitalization because of the relapsing course of the disease. This group of cases presented the classical dominant features of an occupational anthropozoonoses (90.5%). Elements of visceral and tissular pathology, obviously conditioned in their structure by the stage of the disease, were found in cardiovascular, hepatic, nervous, osteoarticular, orchitic, ocular, cutaneous localizations, etc. Their associated character particularize the polyvisceral forms. The immunopathology of chronic brucellosis is marked by its dynamics and frequently dissociated character of the sero-allergic diagnostic reactions. Blood proteins behave unequally (hypoalbuminemia, hyperalpha1-, hyperalpha2- and hypergammaglobulinemia). There is still debate about the terapeutic attempts, although sigmamycin associated with cortisone derivatives reduce or temporize the relapsing evolution, opening up new therapeutical perspectives.