Sexual Assistance in Italy: An Explorative Study on the Opinions of People with Disabilities and Would-Be Assistants

Providing assistance services for sexual activity is becoming of increasing importance to the community of people with disabilities and to mental health professionals. Nevertheless, the literature on this topic is sparse. The aim of this study is to explore potential clients’ and assistants’ views, needs, experiences, opinions, and concerns about sexual assistance (SA) in Italy. Twenty-two semi-structured interviews were conducted with 12 people with a congenital physical disability and 10 would-be assistants. A Grounded Theory approach was used to analyze data. Participants with disabilities considered SA useful. Despite most of them having unfulfilled sexual needs, they would prefer to have their sexual needs met within a romantic relationship. Would-be assistants constructed themselves as people who have a “natural aptitude to being useful”. Results suggest that SA services might represent an opportunity for people with disabilities to discover new ways to satisfy their personal needs and to live more autonomously while, at the same time, allowing would-be sexual assistants to fulfill their desire to be helpful. Nevertheless, the use of SA is likely to only be a part of the answer to fulfilling the sexual needs of people with disabilities.     

Presentation of floating mass transducer and Vibroplasty Couplers on CT and Cone Beam CT

Various titanium coupling elements, Vibroplasty Couplers, maintaining the attachment of the Floating Mass Transducer (FMT) of the active middle ear implant Vibrant Soundbridge (VSB) to the round window, the stapes suprastructure or the stapes footplate are in use to optimally transfer energy from the FMT to the inner ear fluids. In certain cases it is of interest to radiologically verify the correct position of the FMT coupler assembly. The imaging appearance of FMT connected to these couplers, however, is not well known. The aim of this study was to present the radiological appearance of correctly positioned Vibroplasty Couplers together with the FMT using two different imaging techniques. Vibroplasty Couplers were attached to the FMT of a Vibrant Soundbridge and implanted in formalin fixed human temporal bones. Five FMT coupler assemblies were implanted in different positions: conventionally to the incus, a Bell-Coupler, a CliP-Coupler, a Round Window-Coupler and an Oval Window-Coupler. High spatial resolution imaging with Multi-Detector CT (MDCT) and Cone Beam CT (CBCT) was performed in each specimen. Images were blind evaluated by two radiologists on a visual basis. Middle ear details, identification of FMT and coupler, position of FMT coupler assembly and artefacts were assessed. CBCT showed a better spatial resolution and a higher visual image quality than MDCT, but there was no significant advantage over MDCT in delineating the structures or the temporal bone of the FMT Coupler assemblies. The FMT with its coupler element could be clearly identified in the two imaging techniques. The correct positioning of the FMT and all types of couplers could be demonstrated. Both methods, MDCT and CBCT, are appropriate methods for postoperative localization of FMT in combination with Vibroplasty Couplers and for verifying their correct position. If CBCT is available, this method is recommended due to the better spatial resolution and less metal artifacts.     

Veal Calves Produce Less Antibodies against C. Perfringens Alpha Toxin Compared to Beef Calves

Enterotoxaemia is a disease with a high associated mortality rate, affecting beef and veal calves worldwide, caused by C. perfringens alpha toxin and perfringolysin. A longitudinal study was conducted to determine the dynamics of antibodies against these toxins in 528 calves on 4 beef and 15 veal farms. The second study aimed to determine the effect of solid feed intake on the production of antibodies against alpha toxin and perfringolysin. The control group only received milk replacer, whereas in the test group solid feed was provided. Maternal antibodies for alpha toxin were present in 45% of the veal calves and 66% of the beef calves. In beef calves a fluent transition from maternal to active immunity was observed for alpha toxin, whereas almost no veal calves developed active immunity. Perfringolysin antibodies significantly declined both in veal and beef calves. In the second study all calves were seropositive for alpha toxin throughout the experiment and solid feed intake did not alter the dynamics of alpha and perfringolysin antibodies. In conclusion, the present study showed that veal calves on a traditional milk replacer diet had significantly lower alpha toxin antibodies compared to beef calves in the risk period for enterotoxaemia, whereas no differences were noticed for perfringolysin.     

Sodium oleate induced rapid gelation of silk fibroin

Silk fibroin has acquired increasing interest in the last years for application in medicine and namely in tissue engineering. Several methods have been developed to process fibroin and for the fabrication of nets, sponges, films and gels. This paper deals with the fabrication and characterization of fibroin hydrogels obtained by using sodium oleate as gelation agent. Gels have been prepared by mixing Silk fibroin (SF) and Sodium oleate (SO) water solutions in different concentrations, and a quite wide frame of compositions have been explored. Rheological tests have been performed to determine the gelation times, scanning electron microscopies have been made to evaluate morphologies, FTIR analysis has been done to determine the conformation of the starting materials and of the resulting gels, water content has been measured and cytotoxicity tests have been performed to validate the potential biomedical use of the hydrogels. Depending on the SF and SO different gelation times have been obtained thanks to the formation of intermolecular bonds between the fibroin chains. The obtained fastest gelation of about 80 s could make this specific formulation compatible with in situ gelation. By changing composition, gels with different morphologies, rheological properties and water contents have been prepared.     

Circulating Fibronectin Controls Tumor Growth

Fibronectin is ubiquitously expressed in the extracellular matrix, and experimental evidence has shown that it modulates blood vessel formation. The relative contribution of local and circulating fibronectin to blood vessel formation in vivo remains unknown despite evidence for unexpected roles of circulating fibronectin in various diseases. Using transgenic mouse models, we established that circulating fibronectin facilitates the growth of bone metastases by enhancing blood vessel formation and maturation. This effect is more relevant than that of fibronectin produced by endothelial cells and pericytes, which only exert a small additive effect on vessel maturation. Circulating fibronectin enhances its local production in tumors through a positive feedback loop and increases the amount of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) retained in the matrix. Both fibronectin and VEGF then cooperate to stimulate blood vessel formation. Fibronectin content in the tumor correlates with the number of blood vessels and tumor growth in the mouse models. Consistent with these results, examination of three separate arrays from patients with breast and prostate cancers revealed that a high staining intensity for fibronectin in tumors is associated with increased mortality. These results establish that circulating fibronectin modulates blood vessel formation and tumor growth by modifying the amount of and the response to VEGF. Furthermore, determination of the fibronectin content can serve as a prognostic biomarker for breast and prostate cancers and possibly other cancers.     

Juvenile hyaline fibromatosis: focus on radiographic features in adulthood

Juvenile hyaline fibromatosis (JHF) is a rare autosomal recessive hereditary disorder (less than 80 cases reported), characterized by multiple nodular lesions on the skin and musculoskeletal involvement, very debilitating because most adolescents and adults become bedridden. Only 10 cases have been reported on JHF in adulthood. We report the case of a 34-year-old male patient in whom clinical and histological findings were consistent with a mild JHF and focus on the radiographic features. The main purpose of this report is to increase the information available related to the radiographic manifestations and prognosis of JHF.