Our goal was to identify the treatment, personal, interpersonal, and hormonal (testosterone) factors in breast cancer survivors (BCSs) that determine sexual dysfunction. The treatment variables studied were type of surgery, chemotherapy, radiation, and tamoxifen. The personal, interpersonal, and physiologic factors were depression, body image, age, relationship distress, and testosterone levels...

Objective: There is an urgent need for safe, effective and acceptable vaginal barrier methods for the prevention of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), including HIV. A variety of existing spermicides have the potential to be used both for prevention of STDs and unwanted pregnancy. Unfortunately, very little is known about formulation preferences and the desirable characteristics of vaginal p...

OBJECTIVE To describe sexual function and satisfaction after laparoscopic Davydov vaginoplasty in patients with an absent vagina due to Mayer-Rokitansky-Kuster-Hauser syndrome or androgen insensitivity syndrome compared with a control female population. DESIGN A descriptive study of standardized, validated psychosexual and functional outcomes using a self-report questionnaire. SETTING Two t...

PURPOSE Current medical training recommends obtaining cervical cytological specimens without the use of lubricating gel. The purpose of this study was to determine whether water-soluble lubricant gel affects cytologic outcomes in the screening Papanicolaou smear and patient comfort during vaginal speculum examination. METHODS The study was a randomized controlled trial performed at David Gran...

INTRODUCTION Urinary incontinence (UI) is often associated with sexual dysfunction. We present our preliminary experience with a combined rehabilitative approach consisting of biofeedback, functional electrical stimulation, pelvic floor muscle exercises, and vaginal cones. AIM The potential impact of such practice on UI and sexual function was analyzed in our case series and discussed. MAIN...

Increased machine efficiency is a requirement in today’s world and geared transmissions are no exception. A back-toback gear test rig was used to compare dip lubrication with spray lubrication regarding gearbox efficiency, mesh efficiency, gear temperature and surface roughness. Gears lubricated at the inlet of the mesh show a lower measured temperature when compared to spray lubrication at the...

Abstract Introduction The path toward standardized assessment of sexual function and satisfaction (SFS) in women has progressed significantly since it was forged the 1970s. There are many current reliable options such as FSFI PROMIS Sexual Function & Satisfaction v2.0, which have been validated North American English speakers to assess SFS a clinical setting. However, these questionnaires i...

Bio-inspired lubrication has gained great interest among researchers due to the fact that there are several examples in nature where biomolecules can enhance lubrication and provide low friction and low wear properties. VTT is currently running two projects on bio-based lubrication (“New Bioinspired and Bio-based Solutions for Lubrication (NEWLUB)” and “Biomimetic Water Lubrication” (BIOWAL)) t...