Sexuality Among Adults with Congenital Deafblindness: A Cross-Sectional Survey Study Among Primary Carers

Research investigating the sexuality of individuals with physical or intellectual disabilities is increasing. However, little is known about the sexuality of people with congenital deafblindness (CDB). The aim of the current study was to create a profile of the sexuality of adults with CDB in Denmark. Data was collected from the primary carers of 95 adults with CDB by use of a survey with questions about sexual behavior, the object of sexual behavior, level of sexual frustration, and pedagogical support for sexual satisfaction. The data were analysed with regard to gender, age, severity of deafblindness, communication, activities of daily living (ADL), cognitive abilities, and carer characteristics. The results revealed that approximately half the number of participants showed sexual behavior while the other half did not. In the majority of cases, sexual behavior was self-stimulation, while, for the rest, sexual behavior was directed towards other people and/or objects. Around one out of ten participants was provided with pedagogical support to help satisfy their sexual needs. Sexual behavior was significantly associated with high scores for communication skills, ADL, and cognitive abilities. Further, high ADL and cognitive abilities were associated with the provision of pedagogical support for sexual satisfaction. Around one out of ten participants, all of whom were men, experienced sexual frustrations. The findings of the current study—the first quantitative study on sexuality among individuals with CDB—are comparable to the findings of studies among individuals with developmental disorders and underline the need for sexuality-related support for individuals with disabilities including those with CDB

Control Using Genetically Modified Insects Poses Problems for Regulators

Insects are the pre-eminent form of metazoan life on land, with as many as 10 18 individuals alive at any one instant and over three-quarters of a million species described. Although it is estimated that there are as many as 14,000 species that are blood feeders [1], only three to 400 species regularly attract our attention [2]. Some of these are of immense importance to us, as vector-borne diseases still form a huge burden on both the human population (Table 1) and our domesticated animals. Much progress has been achieved in the control of some of these vector-born

The phospholipids of corynebacteria

The phospholipids ofCorynebacterium diphtheriae, Corynebacterium xerosis, Corynebacterium equi andCorynebacterium ovis were examined, largely by chromatographic procedures. In all of these, lipids of the phosphoinositide and mannophosphoinositide type were prominent. In contrast to the mycobacteria, the mannophosphoinositides of the corynebacteria were all dimannophosphoinositides; however, as in mycobacteria, these dimannophosphoinositides apparently occurred in the diacylated and triacylated forms—the tetraacylated component prominent in mycobacteria was absent. Phosphatidylethanolamine and phosphatidylserine were also absent. InCorynebacterium diphtheriae the major single phospholipid corresponded to phosphatidylglycerol: cardiolipin also appeared to be a major lipid. The fatty acids of the corynebacterial phospholipids were distinguished by the presence of branched chain isomers of medium chain length. The importance of phospholipids in the taxonomy of the actinomycetes and related eubacteria is discussed.Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/141170/1/lipd0401.pd

Scientific Standards and the Regulation of Genetically Modified Insects

Experimental releases of genetically modified (GM) insects are reportedly being evaluated in various countries, including Brazil, the Cayman Islands (United Kingdom), France, Guatemala, India, Malaysia, Mexico, Panama, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, the United States of America, and Vietnam. GM mosquitoes (Aedes aegypti) have already been released for field trials into inhabited areas in the Cayman Islands (2009–?), Malaysia (2010–2011), and Brazil (2011–2012). Here, we assess the regulatory process in the first three countries permitting releases (Malaysia, US, and the Cayman Islands) in terms of pre-release transparency and scientific quality. We find that, despite 14 US government–funded field trials over the last 9 years (on a moth pest of cotton), there has been no scientific publication of experimental data, and in only two instances have permit applications been published. The world's first environmental impact statement (EIS) on GM insects, produced by US authorities in 2008, is found to be scientifically deficient on the basis that (1) most consideration of environmental risk is too generic to be scientifically meaningful; (2) it relies on unpublished data to establish central scientific points; and (3) of the approximately 170 scientific publications cited, the endorsement of the majority of novel transgenic approaches is based on just two laboratory studies in only one of the four species covered by the document. We find that it is not possible to determine from documents publically available prior to the start of releases if obvious hazards of the particular GM mosquitoes released in Malaysia, the Cayman Islands, and Brazil received expert examination. Simple regulatory measures are proposed that would build public confidence and stimulate the independent experimental studies that environmental risk assessments require. Finally, a checklist is provided to assist the general public, journalists, and lawmakers in determining, from documents issued by regulators prior to the start of releases, whether permit approval is likely to have a scientifically high quality basi

How to Lose a Reader in 10 Pages

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Adult midgut expressed sequence tags from the tsetse fly Glossina morsitans morsitans and expression analysis of putative immune response genes

BACKGROUND: Tsetse flies transmit African trypanosomiasis leading to half a million cases annually. Trypanosomiasis in animals (nagana) remains a massive brake on African agricultural development. While trypanosome biology is widely studied, knowledge of tsetse flies is very limited, particularly at the molecular level. This is a serious impediment to investigations of tsetse-trypanosome interactions. We have undertaken an expressed sequence tag (EST) project on the adult tsetse midgut, the major organ system for establishment and early development of trypanosomes. RESULTS: A total of 21,427 ESTs were produced from the midgut of adult Glossina morsitans morsitans and grouped into 8,876 clusters or singletons potentially representing unique genes. Putative functions were ascribed to 4,035 of these by homology. Of these, a remarkable 3,884 had their most significant matches in the Drosophila protein database. We selected 68 genes with putative immune-related functions, macroarrayed them and determined their expression profiles following bacterial or trypanosome challenge. In both infections many genes are downregulated, suggesting a malaise response in the midgut. Trypanosome and bacterial challenge result in upregulation of different genes, suggesting that different recognition pathways are involved in the two responses. The most notable block of genes upregulated in response to trypanosome challenge are a series of Toll and Imd genes and a series of genes involved in oxidative stress responses. CONCLUSIONS: The project increases the number of known Glossina genes by two orders of magnitude. Identification of putative immunity genes and their preliminary characterization provides a resource for the experimental dissection of tsetse-trypanosome interactions

Bearing Capacity and Load-Displacement Behavior of Rigid Pads on Soft, Sensitive, Clay

The paper describes tests on rigid square pads at the UK national soft clay research site at Bothkennar, Scotland. The work was performed as a low cost adjunct to the instrumented pile research described by Lehane and Jardine (1992). Its aims were to investigate (i} bearing capacity, (ii) load-displacement response to short and long term loading, (iii) the applicability of relevant theories and (iv) relationships between soil properties determined in-situ and those measured in high quality laboratory tests

Development of a Novel Biological Intervertebral Disc Scaffold

Back pain is a major public health issue in our society, and is strongly correlated with the degeneration of intervertebral discs (IVDs). Current therapies are conservative or surgical, and no attempt to regenerate the IVD. The first goal of our project is to create a fully decellularized bovine caudal IVD to be used as a scaffold on which to seed adult human stem cells in an attempt to engineer a healthy, replacement IVD for patients suffering from IVD degeneration and lower back pain. The goal of decellularization is to eliminate DNA content while retaining glycosaminoglycan (GAG) content. Eliminating DNA content will prevent a foreign body response by the host\u27s immune system once the IVD is implanted. GAG is responsible for forming interfibrillar bridges with collagen fibrils and thus assisting in resisting compressive and tensile forces. By retaining GAG content in our decellularized IVDs we will maintain structural integrity of the extracellular matrix. The IVDs closest to the base of the bovine tail were targeted, because they are similar in size and biochemistry to the human IVD. We use a mix of conventional methods including freeze thaw, sonication and agitation in a solution of sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) and ethylene diamine tetraacetic acid (EDTA). After decellularization, half of each IVD was placed in a tissue cassette and put formalin in preparation for histological analysis, and the other half was frozen prior to biochemical analysis (DMMB and PicoGreen assay). Our results thus far are promising in eliminating DNA content but show we have a large room for improvement in retaining GAG content