Young adults' qualitative self-reports of their outcomes of online sexual activities

Online sexual activities (OSA) refer to Internet-based activities, behaviours, and materials that are sexual in nature. Many young adults engage in OSA, but report doing so infrequently. Most OSA outcome research has focused on negative effects of only some types of OSA (e.g., viewing pornography online). The goal of this study was to enhance knowledge on the range of OSA outcomes by qualitatively exploring young adults' self-reported negative and positive outcomes from OSA experiences generally. University/College students from Canada (n = 246), Germany (n = 411), Sweden (n = 299), and the USA (n = 123) completed an online survey that included open-ended questions about "one of the most positive/negative effects that engaging in online sexual activities has had on your life". More participants provided positive outcome responses than negative outcome responses. Qualitative analysis of the responses suggested a wide range of positive and negative outcome content that fit into seven bi-polar, higher-order themes: No Outcomes, Relationship Outcomes, Sexual Experience, Emotional Outcomes, Knowledge, Personal Outcomes, and Security. We found no variations in themes or their respective codes across the four countries. The findings suggests that researchers, educators, health care and psychology providers need to include multiple dimensions of positive and negative, personal and interpersonal, sexual and non-sexual OSA outcomes in their work

Capturing tumor complexity in vitro : Comparative analysis of 2D and 3D tumor models for drug discovery

Two-dimensional (2D) cell cultures growing on plastic do not recapitulate the three dimensional (3D) architecture and complexity of human tumors. More representative models are required for drug discovery and validation. Here, 2D culture and 3D mono-and stromal co-culture models of increasing complexity have been established and cross-comparisons made using three standard cell carcinoma lines: MCF7, LNCaP, NCI-H1437. Fluorescence-based growth curves, 3D image analysis, immunohistochemistry and treatment responses showed that end points differed according to cell type, stromal co-culture and culture format. The adaptable methodologies described here should guide the choice of appropriate simple and complex in vitro models.Peer reviewe

Two Cellular Protein Kinases, DNA-PK and PKA, Phosphorylate the Adenoviral L4-33K Protein and Have Opposite Effects on L1 Alternative RNA Splicing

Accumulation of the complex set of alternatively processed mRNA from the adenovirus major late transcription unit (MLTU) is subjected to a temporal regulation involving both changes in poly (A) site choice and alternative 3′ splice site usage. We have previously shown that the adenovirus L4-33K protein functions as an alternative splicing factor involved in activating the shift from L1-52,55K to L1-IIIa mRNA. Here we show that L4-33K specifically associates with the catalytic subunit of the DNA-dependent protein kinase (DNA-PK) in uninfected and adenovirus-infected nuclear extracts. Further, we show that L4-33K is highly phosphorylated by DNA-PK in vitro in a double stranded DNA-independent manner. Importantly, DNA-PK deficient cells show an enhanced production of the L1-IIIa mRNA suggesting an inhibitory role of DNA-PK on the temporal switch in L1 alternative RNA splicing. Moreover, we show that L4-33K also is phosphorylated by protein kinase A (PKA), and that PKA has an enhancer effect on L4-33K-stimulated L1-IIIa splicing. Hence, we demonstrate that these kinases have opposite effects on L4-33K function; DNA-PK as an inhibitor and PKA as an activator of L1-IIIa mRNA splicing. Taken together, this is the first report identifying protein kinases that phosphorylate L4-33K and to suggest novel regulatory roles for DNA-PK and PKA in adenovirus alternative RNA splicing

Om sättet att tillhopa gå, en kvalitativ studie om ungdomars tankar kring sex och relationer

Young people of today have a much wider access to information on sex and relationships, and they receive this information from a variety of different sources. This information can sometimes paint a diverse and inconsistent picture. School constitutes one of these sources, and one of the few places were young people can discuss and reflect on these issues together with their peers as well as adults. The purpose of this essay is to gain insight on what adolescents between the age of 15 to 18 think about sex and relationships and their thoughts about sex education in school. It’s a qualitative study based on discussions with adolescents divided in four focus groups, two groups of girls and two groups of boys. This method yielded a body of empirical material that was later analyzed from a sociological starting point and gender perspective. We used John Gagnon and William Simon’s theories regarding sexual scripts, in which society’s views on sexuality and what kind of sexual behavior is accepted, is discussed. We also used Zygmunt Bauman’s theories on ”the liquid society”. Bauman discusses issues regarding the modern consumer society and sexuality, and states that even relationships are an article of consumption. The essay will show that the participants consider sex and relationships to be important and interesting matters, and believe that the amount of education in school regarding these issues isn’t enough. Past positive experiences in their contact with adults have given some a sense of confidence when talking openly about sex, but they were ambivalent in their views on relationships. Sex without love is relatively accepted but the final goal is still a lifelong, monogamous relationship. Also, the accepted sexual behavior is different for girls and boys. A majority of the results in our study are in accordance with previous research

Den sexuella gråzonen En studie om sexuella berättelser från ett gränsland utan språk

Hur kan man tala om erfarenheter från ett gränsland som inte riktigt har ett språk? Det under-söker jag i denna uppsats som är baserad på 53 berättelser som publicerats på internetsajten Prata om det. Majoriteten av berättelserna handlar om händelser som utspelade sig när berättarna var ungdomar, varför ungdomstiden är i fokus även i min uppsats. Syftet är att undersöka gråzonen mellan en negativ sexuell upplevelse och våldtäkt. Om det är möjligt att förstå detta område utifrån identitet och relationer, föreställningar kring kön samt sexuella skript har avhandlats. Det är också de begrepp som analysen baseras på. Resultaten visar att det finns ett stort behov av att berätta om sina negativa sexuella erfarenheter och att det behövs ett språk med mer nyanser när det gäller dessa. Föreställningar om relationer, identitet och kontexter inverkar på förståelsen av en sexuell situation, oavsett om det leder till att man har sex eller inte. Detta ger konsekvenser, inte nödvändigtvis positiva sådana bara för att man säger nej till sex när man inte vill. Diskurser står ofta i konflikt med varandra vilket kan skapa oförståelse inför en sexuell situation och berättarens upplevelse och tolkning av den. De sexuella skript som präglar vår samtid, enligt berättelserna, är att det inte finns några restriktioner kring sexuella kontakter utanför ett förhållande. Något som dessutom framkommer är att de sexuella skript som råder när man är vuxen kan se annorlunda ut när man är ung. Detta kan också påverka tolkningen av den sexuella situationen, och den kan upplevas mer smärtsam i efterhand än vad den i realiteten var. Behov av bekräftelse, närhet, ömsesidighet, att få känna sig sedd, åtråvärd, värdefull och att slippa vara ensam framkommer som motiv till sexuella kontakter. Detta kan ibland stå i motsats till ett mer individuellt sexuellt skript, baserat på individens rätt till lust och njutning. Detta kan bli en framtida utmaning för vår sexuella praktik

Living conditions among immigrants in Norway 2005/2006

© Statistics Norway. When using material from this publication, please cite Statistics Norway as the source.The sample consists of people who have lived in Norway for at least two years with a background from Bosnia-Herzegovina, Serbia-Montenegro, Turkey, Iraq, Iran, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Vietnam, Somalia and Chile. A little over half of them have been granted residence in Norway as refugees, most of them on humanitarian grounds. Median length of residence in Norway is 12 years, but this figure varies considerably among the national groups, with shortest residence among Iraqis and Somalis, and longest residence among Pakistanis. A little under one in ten are persons born in Norway to immigrant parents. The percentage in the national group is largest among Pakistanis, Vietnamese and Turks. Immigrants and persons born in Norway to immigrant parents are nearly always treated as a single group in this repor