Jailhouse rock: health status, patterns of use, and subjective benefits of cannabis use in a sample of inmates in Spanish prisons.

OBJECTIVES: To assess the perceived health and quality of life, perceived social support, prison life, and cannabis use among a sample of inmates in Spanish prisons. MATERIAL AND METHODS: We hosted a discussion with inmates in order to learn their reasons for using cannabis (phase 1). Then, a questionnaire was prepared specifically for this study (phase 2), containing indicators from the Catalan Health Survey and other items regarding patterns of cannabis use and life in prison. The questionnaire was administered by the authors to a sample of Catalan inmates. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION: A sample of 63 inmates completed the questionnaire. Cannabis was used mainly for therapeutic purposes, which can be interpreted as a coping strategy related to the stress associated with prison life. Nearly half of the subjects used cannabis as a substitute for prescription medications and illicit drugs. It was found that the only variable that predicted self-perceived health status was the number of visits inmates received. This suggests that social support is a key factor for improving the health and well-being of inmates. Cannabis use in prison seems to be related to coping with a challenging context. The benefits and risks of this practice need to be further researched.

Jailhouse rock: Estado de salud, patrones de consumo y beneficios subjetivos del uso de cannabis en una muestra de reclusos en prisiones españolas / Jailhouse rock: health status, patterns of use, and subjective benefits of cannabis use in a sample of inmates in Spanish prisons

Objetivos: Caracterizar el estado de salud percibido, la calidad de vida, apoyo social percibido, vida en prisión y uso decannabis en una muestra de reclusos españoles.Material y método: Se organizó una serie de conversaciones con los reclusos con el objetivo de conocer las motivacionesque les llevaban a consumir cannabis (fase 1). En la fase 2 del proyecto, se desarrolló un cuestionario principalmente a partir de indicadores de salud de la Encuesta Catalana de Salud. También se incluyeron otros ítems en relación a los patronesde consumo de cannabis o la vida en prisión. El cuestionario se administró por parte de los autores a población reclusa deCataluña.Resultados y discusión: Un total de 63 reclusos respondieron el cuestionario. La principal motivación para el uso de cannabis fue por razones terapéuticas, lo cual puede interpretarse como una estrategia de afrontamiento ante el estrés generado porlas condiciones en prisión. Cerca de la mitad de los sujetos informaron de utilizar el cannabis como sustituto de medicacionesde prescripción u otras drogas de abuso. Se encontró que la única variable predictora de la salud auto-percibida era el númerode visitas que los reclusos recibían. Esto sugiere que el apoyo social es un factor clave para la mejora de la salud y el bienestarde los reclusos. El uso de cannabis en prisión parece estar relacionado con el afrontamiento de un contexto desafiante. Losbeneficios y riesgos de esta práctica tendrán que evaluarse en futuros estudios. (AU)

Objectives: To assess the perceived health and quality of life, perceived social support, prison life, and cannabis use among asample inmates in Spanish prisons.Material and method: We hosted a discussion with inmates in order to learn their reasons for using cannabis (phase 1). Then,a questionnaire was developed specifically for this study (phase 2) containing indicators from the Catalan Health Survey andother items regarding patterns of cannabis use and life in prison. The questionnaire was administered by the authors to a sampleof Catalan inmates.Results and discussion: A sample of 63 inmates completed the questionnaire. Cannabis was used mainly for therapeutic purposes, which can be interpreted as a coping strategy related to the stress associated with prison life. Nearly half of the subjectsused cannabis as a substitution for prescription medications and illicit drugs. It was found that the only variable that predictedself-perceived health status was the number of visits inmates received. This suggests that social support is a key factor for improving the health and well-being of inmates. Cannabis use in prison seems to be related to coping with a challenging context.The benefits and risks of this practice need to be further researched. (AU)

Bsn-t alleles from french field strains of agaricus bisporus

In the Agaricus bisporus desert population in California, the dominant Bsn-t allele determines the production of tetrasporic basidia and homokaryotic spores (n) that characterize a heterothallic life cycle. Strains belonging to a French population have the Bsn-b/b genotype that results in bisporic basidia that produce heterokaryotic spores (n + n) which characterize a pseudohomothallic life cycle. More recombination occurs in the tetrasporic population than in the bisporic population. In France, tetrasporic strains are rare. For two such isolates, Bs 261 and Bs 423, we determined the life cycle, the heritability of the tetrasporic trait, the amount of variation in the recombination rate, and the haploid fruiting ability. We found that (i) Bs 261 was heterothallic, (ii) Bs 423 was homokaryotic and homothallic, (iii) Bs 261 was Bsn-t/b, (iv) recombination on a segment of chromosome I depended on the genotype at BSN, (v) some of the homokaryotic offspring of Bs 261 and all of the progeny of Bs 423 were able to fruit, (vi) Bs 261 and Bs 423 were closely related, and (vii) Bs 423 was partially intersterile with other strains of the species.

Evidence for PPC1, a determinant of the pilei-pellis color of Agaricus bisporus fruitbodies.

In the present study, we investigated the genetic basis of mushroom cap color. In first generation hybrids between a brown isolate and the white commercial hybrid U 1, the white trait was recessive. Color was determined using color meter technology in second generation hybrids obtained by crossing the homokaryotic progeny of a first generation hybrid with a homokaryon from U 1. Statistical analysis revealed a bimodal distribution describing two classes of white and not-white hybrids. We postulate that a recessive allele at a single locus (PPC1) encodes the white pilei-pellis color. Joint segregation analyses indicated that PPC1 was linked to the ADH (alcohol dehydrogenase) locus. Through the analysis of the heterokaryotic progeny of the first generation hybrid, a recombination model is proposed in which PPC1 is located between the centromere and the ADH locus.

Conservation of genetic linkage with map expansion in distantly related crosses of Agaricus bisporus.

A previous map of the genome of a hybrid strain which had European parents belonging to the secondarily homothallic fungus Agaricus bisporus var. bisporus appeared to be unusually compact, with a particularly recombophobic segment in the central part of chromosome I. A new map of this segment was constructed based on allelic segregations among 103 homokaryotic offspring of an A. bisporus hybrid between a European parent of the var. bisporus and a Californian parent of the heterothallic var. burnettii. Markers completely linked on the previous map were distributed along 28 cM in the new map. These results suggest that the greater recombination rate could be correlated with the outbreeding behaviour of the var. burnettii.