Propiedades psicométricas del Inventario de Situaciones y Respuestas de Ansiedad Breve (ISRA-B)

Introducción y objetivos La ansiedad es la reacción emocional más estudiada, que nos pone en alerta ante la posibilidad de obtener un resultado negativo, por lo que resulta adaptativa en la gran mayoría de las ocasiones, aunque también está en la base de los trastornos emocionales más prevalentes. Por ello, su evaluación ha generado mucha investigación y transferencia. El Inventario de Situaciones y Respuestas de Ansiedad (ISRA) fue desarrollado en España, incluye 22 situaciones (S) y 24 respuestas (R) de ansiedad, que al cruzarlas se forman 224 reactivos (del tipo «en tal S, experimento esta R»). Desde hace más de tres décadas ha sido ampliamente utilizado en la investigación, así como en la práctica, y se han publicado estudios sobre sus propiedades psicométricas en diferentes países. Una versión más breve (ISRA-B) de 46 ítems, sin contenidos cruzados S × R, sino una escala de 22 S y otra de 24 R, con las que evalúan las mismas ocho facetas de la ansiedad, ha mostrado buenas propiedades psicométricas también; sin embargo, existen menos publicaciones psicométricas en población española. El objetivo de este estudio fue analizar las propiedades psicométricas del ISRA-B en España. Método Para ello se contó con 3, 346 voluntarios (36.4% hombres), con edades de 15 a 94 años (media: 30.3; DE: 14.6). Resultados Los resultados confirmaron excelente consistencia interna para Total (.94) y subescala R (.91), buena para S (.89) y sistemas de respuesta Fisiológico (.86) y Cognitivo (.84), y aceptable para Motor (.70). También se encontró buena estabilidad test-retest al cabo de un mes (.78) y buena validez externa al correlacionar .87 con el ISRA original. La estructura factorial del ISRA-B obtenida se adecuó al modelo de Lang de tres sistemas de R y al modelo de Endler de interacción S × R, en los que se basa. Asimismo, se presentan los datos normativos, por sexo y grupo. Conclusión Se concluye que el ISRA-B es válido y confiable, mejora su aplicabilidad respecto al ISRA original, conservando sus propiedades psicométricas. Introduction and objectives: Anxiety is the most studied emotional reaction, which alerts us of the possibility of obtaining a negative result, making it adaptive in the vast majority of cases, although it is also one of the underlying factors of the most prevalent emotional disorders. Therefore, its assessment has generated a lot of research and transfer. The Inventory of Situations and Responses of Anxiety (ISRA) was developed in Spain and it includes 22 situations (S) and 24 responses (R) of anxiety, by which 224 items are formed by crossing them (i.e., «in such Situation, I experience this Reaction»). For more than three decades, it has been widely used in research and practice, and its psychometric properties have been published in different countries. A shorter, 46-item version (ISRA-B), with a 22 S scale plus another of 24 R was developed. The same eight facets of anxiety were assessed, showing good psychometric properties as well. However, there are few publications on the psychometric data using Spanish population. The objective of this study was to analyze the psychometric properties of ISRA-B in Spain. Methods: Three thousand three hundred and forty six volunteers (36.4% men), aged 15 to 94 years (mean: 30.3; SD: 14.6) were included. Results: The results confirmed excellent internal consistency for the Total (.94) and the Responses subscale (0.91), good for the Situations (0.89), as well as the Physiological (, 86) and Cognitive (0.84) response systems, and acceptable for the Motor (0.70). Good test-retest stability was also found after two months (0.78) and good external validity when correlated with the original ISRA (0.87). The results confirm the factor structure of the ISRA-B, adjusted to Lang''s triple response system model and to Endler''s S × R interaction model, on which it is based. Likewise, the normative data are presented, differentiated by sex and group. Conclusions: It is concluded that the ISRA-B is a valid and reliable instrument, which improves its applicability compared to the original ISRA by simplifying its format and number of items, while preserving its psychometric properties

Metabolomics demonstrates divergent responses of two Eucalyptus species to water stress

Past studies of water stress in Eucalyptus spp. generally highlighted the role of fewer than five “important” metabolites, whereas recent metabolomic studies on other genera have shown tens of compounds are affected. There are currently no metabolite profiling data for responses of stress-tolerant species to water stress. We used GC–MS metabolite profiling to examine the response of leaf metabolites to a long (2 month) and severe (Ψpredawn < −2 MPa) water stress in two species of the perennial tree genus Eucalyptus (the mesic Eucalyptus pauciflora and the semi-arid Eucalyptus dumosa). Polar metabolites in leaves were analysed by GC–MS and inorganic ions by capillary electrophoresis. Pressure–volume curves and metabolite measurements showed that water stress led to more negative osmotic potential and increased total osmotically active solutes in leaves of both species. Water stress affected around 30–40% of measured metabolites in E. dumosa and 10–15% in E. pauciflora. There were many metabolites that were affected in E. dumosa but not E. pauciflora, and some that had opposite responses in the two species. For example, in E. dumosa there were increases in five acyclic sugar alcohols and four low-abundance carbohydrates that were unaffected by water stress in E. pauciflora. Re-watering increased osmotic potential and decreased total osmotically active solutes in E. pauciflora, whereas in E. dumosa re-watering led to further decreases in osmotic potential and increases in total osmotically active solutes. This experiment has added several extra dimensions to previous targeted analyses of water stress responses in Eucalyptus, and highlights that even species that are closely related (e.g. congeners) may respond differently to water stress and re-waterin

Pseudoprogression and hyperprogression secondary to immunotherapy in lung cancer

BACKGROUND: The treatment of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) has undergone changes that have improved the prognosis of patients. With the advent of immunotherapy, it has been possible to prolong significantly the overall and progression-free survival as well as quality of life. Nevertheless, its use represents clinical challenges which may turn into adverse events, such as progression and pseudo-progression, which are uncontrolled and often deleterious immune responses that simulate tumoral progression, generate worsening of symptoms and performance status of patients and even may lead to non-cancer related death of patients. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We assessed 128 records (clinical trials, reports, meta-analyses) in order to provide an updated review of the treatment of NSCLC, current definitions proposed for pseudo and hyperprogression (which are not homogeneous so far), incidence, theories about their physiopathogenesis, importance of making a judicious diagnostic workup, imaging criteria as well as biochemical markers in order to predict their appearance, concluding with a brief discussion about the topic addressed. CONCLUSIONS: Since there is no definition or standardized diagnostic and imaging criteria, these entities are a topic of major interest in the area of oncologic immunotherapy, for which the following review has been generated

Towards the Physical Map of the Trypanosoma cruzi Nuclear Genome: Construction of YAC and BAC Libraries of the Reference Clone T. cruzi CL-Brener

Strategies to construct the physical map of the Trypanosoma cruzi nuclear genome have to capitalize on three main advantages of the parasite genome, namely (a) its small size, (b) the fact that all chromosomes can be defined, and many of them can be isolated by pulse field gel electrophoresis, and (c) the fact that simple Southern blots of electrophoretic karyotypes can be used to map sequence tagged sites and expressed sequence tags to chromosomal bands. A major drawback to cope with is the complexity of T. cruzi genetics, that hinders the construction of a comprehensive genetic map. As a first step towards physical mapping, we report the construction and partial characterization of a T. cruzi CL-Brener genomic library in yeast artificial chromosomes (YACs) that consists of 2,770 individual YACs with a mean insert size of 365 kb encompassing around 10 genomic equivalents. Two libraries in bacterial artificial chromosomes (BACs) have been constructed, BACI and BACII. Both libraries represent about three genome equivalents. A third BAC library (BAC III) is being constructed. YACs and BACs are invaluable tools for physical mapping. More generally, they have to be considered as a common resource for research in Chagas diseaseInstituto de Investigaciones en Ingeniería Genética y Biología MolecularEscola Paulista de MedicinaCBMUniversidade de São PauloUniversidade Federal do Rio de JaneiroIPBUniversidad Central de VenezuelaUSBInstituto Oswaldo CruzCEPHUNIFESP, EPMSciEL

Factor structure and measurement invariance across various demographic groups and over time for the phq-9 in primary care patients in spain

The Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) is a widely-used screening tool for depression in primary care settings. The purpose of the present study is to identify the factor structure of the PHQ-9 and to examine the measurement invariance of this instrument across different sociodemographic groups and over time in a sample of primary care patients in Spain. Data came from 836 primary care patients enrolled in a randomized controlled trial (PsicAP study) and a subsample of 218 patients who participated in a follow-up assessment at 3 months. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was used to test one- and two-factor structures identified in previous studies. Analyses of multiple-group invariance were conducted to determine the extent to which the factor structure is comparable across various demo- graphic groups (i.e., gender, age, marital status, level of education, and employment situa- tion) and over time. Both one-factor and two-factor re-specified models met all the pre- established fit criteria. However, because the factors identified in the two-factor model were highly correlated (r = .86), the one-factor model was preferred for its parsimony. Multi-group CFA indicated measurement invariance across different demographic groups and across time. The present findings suggest that physicians in Spain can use the PHQ-9 to obtain a global score for depression severity in different demographic groups and to reliably monitor changes over time in the primary care setting

Cluster illumination differentially affects growth of fruits along their ontogeny in highbush blueberry (Vaccinium corymbosum L.).

Shading highbush blueberry plants generally leads to a delayed fruit development. Experiments have been performed to study the effects of light on fruit growth independently from the rest of the canopy. Clusters were shaded during different fruit growth periods. The equatorial diameter of the fruits as a function of days after full bloom followed a double-sigmoidal growth pattern, being fitted using a Gompertz II nonlinear mixed model, and absolute growth rates were obtained from each fitted model. Both whole-cycle shaded and second-stage shaded fruits showed a delayed peak in absolute growth curves with respect to both first-stage shaded and whole-cycle unshaded controls. Our results suggest that deficiency of light during the last stage of highbush blueberry fruits may lead to a substantial delay (of about 10–16 days) in harvest as compared with well-illuminated fruits. In order to estimate the contribution of intrinsic fruit photosynthesis to its own growth at different stages, clusters were subjected to girdling on their peduncles at different times. Girdling just before the second-stage resulted in fruits gaining between 35 and 40% of dry weight in comparison with the controls. This suggests that fruit photosynthesis may play a relevant role in fruit growth during the second sigmoidal stage, which in turn may contribute to explain the delayed growth observed in shaded fruits

Screening for generalized anxiety disorder in Spanish primary care centers with the GAD-7

[eng] The aim of the study was to determine the criterion validity of a computerized version of the General Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7) questionnaire to detect general anxiety disorder in Spanish primary care centers. A total of 178 patients completed the GAD-7 and were administered the Composite International Diagnostic Interview (CIDI) for DSM-IV Axis I Disorders, which was used as a reference standard. Sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive values, and positive and negative likelihood ratios were calculated. A cut-off of 10 yielded a sensitivity of .87, a specificity of .78, a positive predictive value of .93, a negative predictive value of .64, a positive likelihood ratio of 3.96 a negative likelihood ratio of .17 and Younden's Index of .65. The GAD-7 performed very well with a cut-off value of 10, the most frequently used cut-off point. Thus, a computerized version of the GAD-7 is an excellent screening tool for detecting general anxiety disorder in Spanish primary care settings