Neurological soft signs and schizophrenia.

Neurological soft signs (NSS) are likely to represent abnormal neurodevelopment and aberration in neural maturation and connectivity. They may not be unique to schizophrenia, but they appear to be a trait characteristic in psychosis and therefore could serve as an objective measure for the assessment of serious psychiatric disorder in the prodromal phase, at onset, and along the course of the disease. Evidence so far proposes that NSS are independent of antipsychotic treatment and therefore constitute a trait symptom, independent of the illness stage and medication. Somatomotor and somatosensory regions, spatial orientation, and visual processing areas, cerebellum, and basal ganglia are implicated as possible structural substrates of NSS. Several studies have examined the relationship between NSS and schizophrenia positive, negative symptoms and deficit syndrome; however, results have been so far ambiguous. Neurocognitive symptoms have been moderately related to NSS suggesting that neurocognitive deficits may contribute to the construct of NSS. Regardless of the fact that NSS are not unique to schizophrenia but extend across to the schizotypy continuum, they may help identify individuals at risk of developing schizophrenia later in life.

Adherence to facemask use in public places during the autumn-winter 2020 COVID-19 lockdown in Greece: observational data.

BACKGROUND: Wearing facemasks is of proven efficacy as a public health protective measure against COVID-19. Currently there are no observational data concerning the wearing of facemasks and the adherence to guidelines concerning their handling. METHODS: Registration of the way passers-by were wearing facemasks at 26 different locations of five major cities in Greece. The results were correlated with the rate of COVID-19 deaths in the region. RESULTS: In total, 119,433 passers-by were registered, 57,043 females (47.8%) and 62,390 males (52.2%). From the total sample, 81.1% were wearing the mask properly, 10.8% had their nose out, 6.2% were wearing it under the jaw, and 1.9% had no mask at all . There was a significant difference between males and females concerning any use of mask. Inappropriate use of was correlated with COVID-19 death rate in the studied region. CONCLUSION: Our findings suggest that under conditions of mandatory wearing and in central locations of major cities, during walking, proper use of masks is suboptimal, but still contributes with some protection. Fear and risk perception seem to be strong factors contributing to adherence to proper mask wearing.