Prejudices towards people with intellectual disabilities: reliability and validity of the Italian Modern and Classical Prejudices Scale.

BACKGROUND: Prejudices and negative attitudes towards intellectual disabilities (IDs) may hinder social inclusion of ID individuals, limiting their well-being. This study investigated the psychometric characteristics of the Italian Modern and Classical Prejudices Scale (MCPS-IT) towards people with ID and the effects of gender, age and socio-economic status (SES) on prejudices. METHOD: The MCPS-IT was administered to 474 adults (69% women, age range 18-70 years, M = 33.13) in conjunction with a questionnaire evaluating socio-demographic information (SES), the contact and the education about ID people and the social dominance orientation. RESULTS: Results confirmed that Italian MCPS has a two-factor structure that measures in a reliable and valid way prejudice towards people with ID. Multivariate analyses of variance confirmed a weak gender difference in both scales and age differences in modern scale. No SES differences were found. CONCLUSION: The Italian MCPS represents a valid scale that can be used to monitor the social context of people with ID.

On the differential nature of induced and incidental echolalia in autism.

BACKGROUND: Echolalia is a verbal disorder, defined as 'a meaningless repetition of the words of others'. It is pathological, automatic and non-intentional behaviour, often observed in a variety of neurological and psychiatric disorders and above all in autism. We assume that echolalia is an imitative behaviour that is due to difficulties in inhibiting automatic repetition as seen in patients with frontal lobe damage. Our aim is to study the occurrence of echolalia under experimental conditions to investigate the nature of the phenomenon and its relationship with the severity of autism. METHODS: Eighteen participants with autism from 17 to 36 years old were recruited; they were administrated the Vineland scale, the Observational Rating Scale of Basic Functions and the Echolalia Questionnaire. In the Echolalia Questionnaire, questions were directly addressed to the autistic subject (induced procedure) or to the subject's caregiver while the subject was free to do what he wanted (incidental procedure). The data were analysed by multivariate regressions and Pearson's correlations. RESULTS: The results showed that echolalia occurred in both experimental situations; the mean value was significantly higher in the induced procedure, but results did not support the correlation with Vineland's score in the incidental procedure. It is likely that the two situations activated different processes. In particular, echolalia was statistically higher in the induced procedure as compared with the incidental one only for subjects with low score on Vineland, but in the incidental procedure, the presence of echolalia appeared to be uninfluenced by the functional capacity of subjects. CONCLUSIONS: The two experimental conditions require different monitoring systems to control this verbal behaviour. The echolalic phenomenon is an expression of dependence on the environment and may occur in a situation in which the autistic person is participating in a communicative act and, lacking inhibitory control, repeats the other's communication rather than selecting an answer. The deficit in inhibitory control in this situation does not seem to be present in subjects with higher efficiency. Incidental echolalia reflects the inability of the subject to filter out background environmental noise, which occasionally results in environmental dependency.

Potencial do MTA e sealapex agregado ao MTA no selamento apical / Potential of the MTA and sealapex added to the MTA in the apical sealing

Objetivo: O objetivo deste trabalho foi avaliar a capacidade de selamento apical do MTA- Angelus® e a combinação do Sealapex agregado ao pó do MTA- Ângelus® em retrobturações. Metodologia: Os canais de incisivos centrais de humanos foram instrumentados e em seguida obturados pela técnica da condensação lateral usando o cimento endodôntico Sealer 26. Os dentes foram divididos aleatoriamente em 2 grupos experimentais (n= 40) e dois controles (n= 4). Em seguida foram realizados apicectomia das raízes a 3 mm do ápice e preparo da cavidade com pontas lisas de ultrassom com 3 mm de profundidade, seguindo-se a obturação retrógrada da seguinte maneira: grupo 1, as retrocavidades foram preenchidas com MTA-Angelus® e o grupo 2, as retrocavidades foram preenchidas com Sealapex agregado ao pó do MTA- Angelus®. Depois de serem corados com solução de azul de metileno 1% por 24 horas, lavados por 24 horas, os dentes foram seccionados longitudinalmente no sentido vestíbulo-palatino, com um disco diamantado em duas metades, e analisados com uma lupa esteroscópica. Resultados: Os resultados obtidos foram submetidos à análise estatística e mostraram que, o grupo 2 apresentou menor infiltração que o grupo 1 (p<0,01). Conclusão: Concluiu-se então, que o pó MTA agregado ao Sealapex apresenta potencial para serem usados como materiais retrobturadores.

The purpose of this study was to examine the ability of sealing the root end cavities filled with MTA- Angelus® or Sealapex increased a powder MTA- Angelus®. Forty single-rooted extracted human teeth were cleaned, shaped and filled by the lateral condensation technique using Sealer 26. The specimens were divided randomly into two groups of 20. Folowing root-end resection and cavity preparation with ultrassonic, the root-end cavities were filled with: Group 1: MTA- Angelus® and group 2: Sealapex plus power MTA- Angelus®. The teeth were then submerged in solution methilene blue 1% dye for 24 hours, washed for 24 hours, and using a slow-speed diamond saw, the teeth were longitudinally sectioned into two halves and the quantitative analysis of leakage was performed using light microscopy. The results showed that the specimens of group 2 had significantley less leakage than group 1 (p< 0,01). The results of this study indicated that Sealapex plus power MTA presents the potential to be used as a root end filling material.

Assessment of feline fetal viability by conceptus echobiometry and triplex Doppler ultrasonography of uterine and umbilical arteries.

The aims of the present study were to: (1) evaluate blood flow in the uterine (UA) and umbilical arteries (Uma) in the pregnant queen, by measuring the resistive index (RI) and pulsatility index (PI); (2) to note the presence or absence of the early diastolic notch and diastolic flow in the UA and Uma flow waveforms, respectively; and (3) perform conceptus echobiometry for fetal growth assessment during pregnancy. Eight healthy pregnant domestic Brazilian Shorthair queens were examined from Days 10 to 50 after mating (mating=Day 0). Triplex Doppler and B-mode ultrasonography were used to assess blood flow and conceptus echobiometry. All pregnancies ended with a normal parturition and birth of live kittens. Prior to parturition, all conceptus dimensions increased significantly, whereas RI and PI peaked between Days 33 and 43 followed by a decrease (P<0.05). The PI least on Day 50. The RI and PI of Uma decreased (P<0.05) during two periods in the fetal development, i.e. from Days 22 to 40 (0.79 ± 0.01 and 1.64 ± 0.04), and from Days 41 to 50 (0.75 ± 0.01 and 1.39 ± 0.05), representing the increased Uma perfusion. Both the complete disappearance of the early diastolic notch in the UA, and the appearance of diastolic flow in the Uma occurred on Day 42 ± 1. It was concluded fetal echobiometry, UA and Uma perfusion, were important end points to assess fetal viability in queens. Furthermore, the current reference values provided a baseline for monitoring normal and abnormal pregnancies in queens.

Evaluation of periapical repair following retrograde filling with different root-end filling materials in dog teeth with periapical lesions.

OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to evaluate periapical repair following retrograde filling using different root-end filling materials. STUDY DESIGN: After induction of periapical lesions, 48 root canals from dog teeth were partially filled. Endodontic surgery was performed and 3 different materials were used for root-end filling: Sealer 26, Sealapex plus zinc oxide, or mineral trioxide aggregate (MTA). No additional procedures were performed in the control group after partial filling of the root canal. After 180 days, the animals were killed, the maxillas and mandibles were removed, and specimens were submitted for histologic processing. RESULTS: Histopathologic analysis revealed similar periapical repair for the groups in which Sealer 26, Sealapex plus zinc oxide, and MTA were used (P > .05). The control group showed unsatisfactory periapical repair (P < .05). CONCLUSION: There was no difference in periapical tissue healing after retrograde filling with the tested materials, which indicates that these 3 root-end filling materials are equally useful.

[Men and home environment: when the wife exercises an extra-familial activity]. / Uomo e ambiente domestico: quando la donna esercita una attività extra-familiare.

The study examines the views of men towards the division of household duties when the female partner is employed outside the home. A variety of behaviour ranging from a complete refusal to participate in domestic activity to an equal division of household tasks is demonstrated. The main determining factors seem to be: socio-cultural level and age group. The woman's right to persue a career was recognized mainly by men in middle to upper social class in the 25-30 age group who participate in household duties. It is evident that, even in the case of domestic collaboration, women have the ultimate responsibility for household tasks. In that men tend to choose the more gratifying duties (es. cooking, child care).