prevalence of phimosis and foreskin sliding abnormalities in male adolescents and their correlation with later onset of first sexual intercourse

Introduction and objectives: The aim of the study is to evaluate the prevalence of andrological abnormalities, such as phimosis and foreskin sliding abnormalities among male adolescents, and if these might interfere with sexuality, leading to a later onset of sexual experiences. Material and methods: Between April and May 2015 a prevention campaign in andrology was conducted in an area surrounding Rome, Ostia and the Ladispoli area, among 15-19 year-old students. The screening consisted of a frontal lesson with the students in order to explain and raise the awareness of the most common andrological abnormalities and diseases. Among the routine anamnestic questions, three additional questions were submitted to 18-year-old boys: "Have you ever had sexual intercourse?", "How old were you when you had your first sexual intercourse?" and "Have you consulted a health professional about your genitals?" Finally a detailed clinical examination was performed and the outcome sent to the family and to the General Practitioner (GP). Results: A total of 552 high school students were evaluated. Out of them 131 (23.7%) were at least 18 years old. Among these, 79 (60.3%) said that they had already had full sexual intercourse. The phimosis and foreskin sliding abnormalities had a prevalence of 12.9% within the 18-year-old students, with a significant prevalence among those who hadn't had any sexual intercourse at all, 21.1% vs 7.5% p = 0.023. The age of the complete first sexual experience in the circumcised young men was the same as those without phimosis; 89% of the boys with phimosis hadn't had an andrological examination in the previous years. Conclusions: Male adolescents with phimosis or preputial sliding abnormalities tend to have a late onset of sexual experiences compared to same aged boys without phimosis. These data support the urgent need of an andrological consultation for all boys at the beginning of, and during, their adolescent period because genital abnormalities may interfere with sexuality. Finally, in order not to confuse effects with causes, we suggest matching a routine genital physical examination in all studies dealing with sexual psychological aspects of male adolescents

Diagnostic accuracy of the primary care screener for affective disorder (PC-SAD) in primary care

Background: Depression goes often unrecognised and untreated in non-psychiatric medical settings. Screening has recently gained acceptance as a first step towards improving depression recognition and management. The Primary Care Screener for Affective Disorders (PC-SAD) is a self-administered questionnaire to screen for Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) and Dysthymic Disorder (Dys) which has a sophisticated scoring algorithm that confers several advantages. This study tested its performance against a ‘gold standard’ diagnostic interview in primary care. Methods: A total of 416 adults attending 13 urban general internal medicine primary care practices completed the PC-SAD. Of 409 who returned a valid PC-SAD, all those scoring positive (N=151) and a random sample (N=106) of those scoring negative were selected for a 3-month telephone follow-up assessment including the administration of the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV-TR Axis I Disorders (SCID-I) by a psychiatrist who was masked to PC-SAD results. Results: Most selected patients (N=212) took part in the follow-up assessment. After adjustment for partial verification bias the sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive value for MDD were 90%, 83%, 51%, and 98%. For Dys, the corresponding figures were 78%, 79%, 8%, and 88%. Conclusions: While some study limitations suggest caution in interpreting our results, this study corroborated the diagnostic validity of the PC-SAD, although the low PPV may limit its usefulness with regard to Dys. Given its good psychometric properties and the short average administration time, the PC-SAD might be the screening instrument of choice in settings where the technology for computer automated scoring is available

Phase equilibria and thermodynamic modeling of systems CO2 – bergamot oil and CO2 – linalyl acetate

In this paper experimental equilibrium data of the system CO2– bergamot essential oil are reported at323 K and 343 K, in the pressure range 7.8–13.1 MPa. Furthermore equilibrium data for the subsystemCO2– linalyl acetate at 323 K are reported in the pressure range 7.0–10.3 MPa. The equilibrium data arepredicted by means of two thermodynamic models based on Peng – Robinson and PC-SAFT equations ofstate. In particular the bergamot essential oil is described as a mixture of four components: limonene,linalool, linalyl acetate and beta-caryophyllene. In the models regression parameters are calculated fromdata of binary subsystems, CO2– limonene, CO2– linalool and CO2-beta-caryophyllene, and CO2– linalylacetate. Therefore both of the models are predictive with regard to the bergamot oil and show quite agood agreement (especially the Peng Robinson one) with respect to the experimental data

Amodal Completion in the Visula Perception of Mouse.

The question of whether phenomena of human perception such as amodal completion are also present in visual percetion was investigate

Comparison between gravity cavernometry and traditional cavernometry of the pharmacological infusion [CONFRONTO FRA CAVERNOMETRIA PER GRAVITA E CAVERNOMETRIA CON CAVERNOPOMPA]

A group of twenty-seven patients with impotence have been studied with gravity cavernometry and with traditional cavernometry of the pharmacological infusion. Aim of the study was to compare the clinical outcome of these two techniques. Gravity cavernometry seems to be a useful and cost-effective tool to evaluate venous erectile dysfunctions