Intervention Services for Autistic Adults: An ASDEU Study of Autistic Adults, Carers, and Professionals' Experiences

The Autism Spectrum Disorders in the European Union (ASDEU) survey investigated local services' use experiences of autistic adults, carers and professionals with interventions for autistic adults. The majority of the 697 participants experienced recommended considerations prior to deciding on intervention and during the intervention plan and implementation. Psychosocial interventions were the most commonly experienced interventions, while pharmacological interventions NOT recommended for core autistic symptoms were reported by fairly large proportions of participants. Family interventions were experienced slightly more commonly by carers than adults or professionals. Less than the 26% of autistic adult responders who had experienced challenging behaviors reported receiving an intervention to change them. These results provide insights for improving gaps in service provision of interventions among autistic adults.Peer reviewe

Early Diagnosis, Treatment and Follow-Up of Cystic Echinococcosis in Remote Rural Areas in Patagonia: Impact of Ultrasound Training of Non-Specialists

Cystic echinococcosis (CE) is an important and widespread disease that affects sheep, cattle, and humans living in areas where sheep and cattle are raised. CE is highly endemic in rural sections of Rio Negro, Argentina, where our group is based. However, it requires continuous monitoring of both populations with human disease best assessed by means of ultrasound (US) screening. This is challenging in remote rural areas due to the shortage of imaging specialists. To overcome this hurdle, we set up a two-day training program of Focused Assessment with Sonography for Echinococcosis (FASE) on CE for family medicine practitioners with no previous experience in US. After the course, they were equipped with portable US scanners and dispatched to remote rural areas in Rio Negro where they screened patients, located and staged the cysts and decided on the treatment with the help of surgeons and radiologists in local tertiary care centers

Autistic Adult Services Availability, Preferences, and User Experiences: Results From the Autism Spectrum Disorder in the European Union Survey

There is very little knowledge regarding autistic adult services, practices, and delivery. The study objective was to improve understanding of current services and practices for autistic adults and opportunities for improvement as part of the Autism Spectrum Disorder in the European Union (ASDEU) project. Separate survey versions were created for autistic adults, carers of autistic adults, and professionals in adult services. 2,009 persons responded to the survey and 1,085 (54%) of them completed at least one of the services sections: 469 autistic adults (65% female; 55% 50% responded "don't know"). Five of seven residential services features recommended for autistic adults were experienced by <50% of adults. The knowledge of good local services models that work well for autistic adults was generally low across all services areas. The variation in services experiences and perceptions reported by autistic adults, carers, or professionals underscore the need to query all groups for a complete picture of community services availability and needs. The results showed areas for potential improvement in autistic adult services delivery in the EU to achieve recommended standards

Autistic Adult Health and Professional Perceptions of It: Evidence From the ASDEU Project

The Autism Spectrum Disorders in the European Union (ASDEU) survey investigated the knowledge and health service experiences of users and providers to generate new hypotheses and scientific investigations that would contribute to improvement in health care for autistic adults. An online survey designed for autistic adults, carers of autistic adults, and professionals in adult services was translated into 11 languages and distributed electronically by organizations and in-country adult service facilities in 2017; 522 autistic adults, 442 carers, and 113 professionals provided answers to the health questions. Professionals, the majority in non-medical services, appeared to be poorly informed about whether certain co-occurring conditions were more frequent in autistic adults than typical adults-especially some medical conditions, suicide attempts, accidents, and pain. A minority of autistic adults reported preventive health behaviors such as routine health check-ups. The majority of users and providers expressed the desire to make health care services more user-friendly for autistic adults. Among the three groups,Peer reviewe

LOOPS-M project: structural and bioregenerative systems for a sustainable lunar greenhouse

In the forthcoming years mankind is at long last going to establish a lunar base for long-Term presence of human beings on the moon with the Artemis program. Due to the necessity of an autonomous production of nutrients, the presence of a greenhouse will be an optimal solution, this vision will require extreme optimisation of all the processes regarding the settlement and its subsystems. The hereby proposed designs and prototypes are part of a student project called LOOPS-M (Lunar Operative Outpost for the Production and Storage of Microgreens). The project was created by students of "Sapienza" University of Rome in partnership with ENEA (Italian National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and Sustainable Economic Development) and MarsPlanet for IGLUNA 2021, an interdisciplinary student project coordinated by Space Innovation as part of the ESA-Lab@ initiative. The main designs consist of a shield for protection from the micrometeorite environment, an autonomous cultivation system called "HORT3 MKII" to lower the astronauts workload and a bioconversion system for waste management and recovery, all of which will be represented in a virtual reality environment to allow better insight. The micrometeorite shield is based on the stuffed Whipple layout, refined and adapted to the hypervelocity impacts typical on the lunar soil. A prototype 10x10 cm2 will be created and it will undergo tests that recreate the lunar environment such as a thermal vacuum test and irradiation tests, to ensure its functionality in such a critical environment. The autonomous cultivation system is based on the previous version "HORT3". This unit was developed for the HORTSPACE project, financed by ASI, during the AMADEE-18 analogue mission held in the Oman desert in February 2018, and consisted in a highly efficient hydroponic system for the growth of microgreens. The new version is fully automated to make the cultivation autonomous from seeding to harvesting. To manage the waste a natural degradation process has been chosen. After the cultivation, the main waste consisting of roots, substrate and hypocotyl is introduced to the recovery system where larvae of Black Soldier Fly use it as a food source. Once in the form of pupae, they could be used as a valuable protein source for crew members. In this work designs and prototypes of the autonomous cultivation unit, the bioconversion system and the micrometeorite shield will be presented, together with their layout in a virtual reality environment

Intervention Services for Autistic Adults: An ASDEU Study of Autistic Adults, Carers, and Professionals' Experiences

The Autism Spectrum Disorders in the European Union (ASDEU) survey investigated local services' use experiences of autistic adults, carers and professionals with interventions for autistic adults. The majority of the 697 participants experienced recommended considerations prior to deciding on intervention and during the intervention plan and implementation. Psychosocial interventions were the most commonly experienced interventions, while pharmacological interventions NOT recommended for core autistic symptoms were reported by fairly large proportions of participants. Family interventions were experienced slightly more commonly by carers than adults or professionals. Less than the 26% of autistic adult responders who had experienced challenging behaviors reported receiving an intervention to change them. These results provide insights for improving gaps in service provision of interventions among autistic adults.Peer reviewe

Autistic adult diagnosis, co-occurring conditions and interventions: good practices, services gaps, areas for improvement

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