Negative aging stereotypes and their relation with psychosocial variables in the elderly population.

This study explores whether there is a relationship between the level of belief in negative aging stereotypes in 65-year-old people and their results concerning some psychosocial variables. These were selected for their relevance for health and well being in elderly people. These were: living situation, responsibilities toward others, subjective health, frequency of medical appointments, subjective age, participation in community social activities and regular physical activity. The sample consisted of 757 people of low educational level, ranged from 65 to 96 years. Age and gender were homogeneously distributed. Participants were non-institutionalized people. Firstly, the psychosocial variables under focus were assessed by means of seven questions. Secondly, a questionnaire about negative aging stereotypes (CENVE) was administered. It was composed of three factors: health, motivational-social and character-personality. Results show that a high score in negative stereotypes is significantly associated to the studied variables, except for living situation, showing a worse quality of life (QoL) profile. Results are discussed in terms of their utility for assessment and psychosocial intervention, which is meant to improve health in the elderly.

Hidatidosis en la provincia de Ñuble: estudio descriptivo sobre egresos hospitalarios entre los años 1993 y 1997 / Hidatidosis at the Ñuble province: descriptive study of hospital discharges from 1993 to 1997

La hidatidosis es un importante problema de salud pública que se encuentra subestimado por la dificultad de su vigilancia epidemiológica. Para estimar la magnitud de la subnotificación de esta patología, se analizaron los egresos hospitalarios en comparación con las notificaciones realizadas en el formulario RMC 14 (Registro Mensual Consolidado de Enfermedades de Notificación Obligatoria), entre los años 1993 y 1997 en la provincia de Ñuble. Se observó que el porcentaje de subnotificación alcanzó un 73 por ciento. Las tasas de morbilidad y mortalidad por esta enfermedad son mayores en la provincia de Ñuble, con relación al país, con una tendencia estable en el tiempo. Esta patología presenta su sintomatología preferentemente en edades productivas, con largas estadías hospitalarias, con intervenciones quirúrgicas importantes y licencias laborales prolongadas; además de la repercusión sobre la producción animal, lo cual hace necesario realizar programas preventivos focalizados en los lugares de mayor riesgo

Melanoptysis as a complication of fibreoptic bronchoscopy.

The case is presented of a coal miner with bilateral masses of progressive massive fibrosis, who developed acute cavitation following fibreoptic bronchoscopy and biopsies. Indeed, immediately upon bronchoscopy with transbronchial biopsy, there was expectoration of abundant melanoptysis. Three days later, the chest radiograph showed a cavity and the patient again coughed up black material, in the context of pulmonary infection. One week later, there was complete emptying of the conglomerate mass. To the authors' knowledge, this is the first reported case of a conglomerate mass of progressive massive fibrosis which cavitated as a result of bronchoscopy.

Can certain stimulus characteristics influence the hemispheric differences in global and local processing?

Hemispheric processing of global and local form was examined in two experiments in which the size of hierarchical visual stimuli was manipulated in divided-attention tasks. In experiment 1, the subjects were instructed to decide whether or not a symmetrical target (T) was in the visual object presented. In experiment 2, the target to be detected was nonsymmetrical (L). In both studies, global precedence was found depending on stimulus size. When the stimuli subtended about 3 degrees vertically, global dominance was found, but it was not detected when the stimuli subtended about 10 degrees. Experiments 1 and 2 provided evidence against the analytic/holistic dichotomy, presenting the same performance for both hemispheres: the global analysis was much better than the local analysis. When the target was in the global form, both the LH and the RH analyzed the 3 degrees stimuli more efficiently, while both analyzed the 10 degrees stimuli with greater efficiency when the target was in the local form.