COVID Sex Lives: Age in Focus

Age was an important factor that shaped the experiences of men who have sex with men (MSM) in the United Kingdom during the pandemic. This Covid Sex Lives In Focus Report delves deeper into social aspects that emerged from our findings. The Covid Sex Lives project, funded by UKRI/AHRC, involved methods of surveys, discourse analysis, and media walkthroughs. It was conducted across 4 surveys from 2021-2022, with 1409 total participants

Covid Sex Lives: How the Pandemic Impacted the Sex Lives of Men Who Have Sex With Men

During the COVID-19 pandemic, messages from the government and public health organizations aimed at stopping the spread of the coronavirus were turned into media campaigns targeting different groups. The COVID Sex Lives project sought to understand how these messages affected the experiences Men Who Have Sex with Men (MSM) in the United Kingdom when it came to their sex lives and using digital platforms for sexual purposes. Over the past two decades, dating and hookup apps have become popular ways for people to meet and connect, even during the pandemic, and MSM have been early adopters of these technologies for dating, hooking up, and combating loneliness. The research project, a collaboration between the University of Salford, Newcastle University, King's College London, and Birmingham City University, was funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council and aimed to understand how health messages during the pandemic affected the sex lives of MSM, their sexual health and overall well-being during and after this challenging time.The research team conducted four online surveys between April 2021 and January 2022 with a total of 1,409 responses from MSM, as well as analysis of relevant topics in the media, on health organisation websites and on Twitter. In the surveys, participants gave brutally honest and vibrant answers about their experiences, these were sometimeshilarious and sometimes heart-breaking. This zine aims to show some of the key themes that came from the research, whilst giving space to the variety of voices of UK MSM thatappeared in our data. They demonstrate the frustration, challenges, and spirit of a community navigating an unprecedented period of global uncertainty in their personal and intimate lives

The Covid Sex Lives Project: Health Messaging, Hooking Up And Dating Among Men Who Have Sex With Men During The UK COVID-19 Pandemic

In the context of the pandemic, government and public health measures to mitigate the spread of coronavirus have been translated into media messaging by organisations that target the health of different groups. Engaging experiences of the minority group, men who have sex with men (MSM), we provide evidence on the approaches and responses to these messages in relation to using digital platforms to connect for sexual purposes.Dating and hookup applications, or apps, are a key area where sex and romance has been negotiated over the past two decades, a trend which continued during the pandemic. MSM are an ideal group to look atthe challenges posed here as they have been early adopters of these technologies for a variety of purposes, including the obvious ones related to dating and hooking up as well as for increasing more general sociality and reducing loneliness.Due to this culture of engagement with digital media by MSM, and whatis known about their sexual cultures, digital platforms have been engaged by health educators in an attempt to improve the sexual health and wellbeing of this group. The question in the context of a pandemic therefore becomes: how are these sexual cultures affected, and how might health messaging be engaged with, or not

The Covid Sex Lives Project: Health Messaging, Hooking Up And Dating Among Men Who Have Sex With Men During The UK COVID-19 Pandemic

In the context of the pandemic, government and public health measures to mitigate the spread of coronavirus have been translated into media messaging by organisations that target the health of different groups. Engaging experiences of the minority group, men who have sex with men (MSM), we provide evidence on the approaches and responses to these messages in relation to using digital platforms to connect for sexual purposes. Dating and hookup applications, or apps, are a key area where sex and romance has been negotiated over the past two decades, a trend which continued during the pandemic. MSM are an ideal group to look at the challenges posed here as they have been early adopters of these technologies for a variety of purposes, including the obvious ones related to dating and hooking up as well as for increasing more general sociality and reducing loneliness. Due to this culture of engagement with digital media by MSM, and what is known about their sexual cultures, digital platforms have been engaged by health educators in an attempt to improve the sexual health and wellbeing of this group. The question in the context of a pandemic therefore becomes: how are these sexual cultures affected, and how might health messaging be engaged with, or not

Prevalence and architecture of de novo mutations in developmental disorders.

The genomes of individuals with severe, undiagnosed developmental disorders are enriched in damaging de novo mutations (DNMs) in developmentally important genes. Here we have sequenced the exomes of 4,293 families containing individuals with developmental disorders, and meta-analysed these data with data from another 3,287 individuals with similar disorders. We show that the most important factors influencing the diagnostic yield of DNMs are the sex of the affected individual, the relatedness of their parents, whether close relatives are affected and the parental ages. We identified 94 genes enriched in damaging DNMs, including 14 that previously lacked compelling evidence of involvement in developmental disorders. We have also characterized the phenotypic diversity among these disorders. We estimate that 42% of our cohort carry pathogenic DNMs in coding sequences; approximately half of these DNMs disrupt gene function and the remainder result in altered protein function. We estimate that developmental disorders caused by DNMs have an average prevalence of 1 in 213 to 1 in 448 births, depending on parental age. Given current global demographics, this equates to almost 400,000 children born per year

Heterozygous Variants in KMT2E Cause a Spectrum of Neurodevelopmental Disorders and Epilepsy.

We delineate a KMT2E-related neurodevelopmental disorder on the basis of 38 individuals in 36 families. This study includes 31 distinct heterozygous variants in KMT2E (28 ascertained from Matchmaker Exchange and three previously reported), and four individuals with chromosome 7q22.2-22.23 microdeletions encompassing KMT2E (one previously reported). Almost all variants occurred de novo, and most were truncating. Most affected individuals with protein-truncating variants presented with mild intellectual disability. One-quarter of individuals met criteria for autism. Additional common features include macrocephaly, hypotonia, functional gastrointestinal abnormalities, and a subtle facial gestalt. Epilepsy was present in about one-fifth of individuals with truncating variants and was responsive to treatment with anti-epileptic medications in almost all. More than 70% of the individuals were male, and expressivity was variable by sex; epilepsy was more common in females and autism more common in males. The four individuals with microdeletions encompassing KMT2E generally presented similarly to those with truncating variants, but the degree of developmental delay was greater. The group of four individuals with missense variants in KMT2E presented with the most severe developmental delays. Epilepsy was present in all individuals with missense variants, often manifesting as treatment-resistant infantile epileptic encephalopathy. Microcephaly was also common in this group. Haploinsufficiency versus gain-of-function or dominant-negative effects specific to these missense variants in KMT2E might explain this divergence in phenotype, but requires independent validation. Disruptive variants in KMT2E are an under-recognized cause of neurodevelopmental abnormalities

Bi-allelic Loss-of-Function CACNA1B Mutations in Progressive Epilepsy-Dyskinesia.

The occurrence of non-epileptic hyperkinetic movements in the context of developmental epileptic encephalopathies is an increasingly recognized phenomenon. Identification of causative mutations provides an important insight into common pathogenic mechanisms that cause both seizures and abnormal motor control. We report bi-allelic loss-of-function CACNA1B variants in six children from three unrelated families whose affected members present with a complex and progressive neurological syndrome. All affected individuals presented with epileptic encephalopathy, severe neurodevelopmental delay (often with regression), and a hyperkinetic movement disorder. Additional neurological features included postnatal microcephaly and hypotonia. Five children died in childhood or adolescence (mean age of death: 9 years), mainly as a result of secondary respiratory complications. CACNA1B encodes the pore-forming subunit of the pre-synaptic neuronal voltage-gated calcium channel Cav2.2/N-type, crucial for SNARE-mediated neurotransmission, particularly in the early postnatal period. Bi-allelic loss-of-function variants in CACNA1B are predicted to cause disruption of Ca2+ influx, leading to impaired synaptic neurotransmission. The resultant effect on neuronal function is likely to be important in the development of involuntary movements and epilepsy. Overall, our findings provide further evidence for the key role of Cav2.2 in normal human neurodevelopment.MAK is funded by an NIHR Research Professorship and receives funding from the Wellcome Trust, Great Ormond Street Children's Hospital Charity, and Rosetrees Trust. E.M. received funding from the Rosetrees Trust (CD-A53) and Great Ormond Street Hospital Children's Charity. K.G. received funding from Temple Street Foundation. A.M. is funded by Great Ormond Street Hospital, the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR), and Biomedical Research Centre. F.L.R. and D.G. are funded by Cambridge Biomedical Research Centre. K.C. and A.S.J. are funded by NIHR Bioresource for Rare Diseases. The DDD Study presents independent research commissioned by the Health Innovation Challenge Fund (grant number HICF-1009-003), a parallel funding partnership between the Wellcome Trust and the Department of Health, and the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute (grant number WT098051). We acknowledge support from the UK Department of Health via the NIHR comprehensive Biomedical Research Centre award to Guy's and St. Thomas' National Health Service (NHS) Foundation Trust in partnership with King's College London. This research was also supported by the NIHR Great Ormond Street Hospital Biomedical Research Centre. J.H.C. is in receipt of an NIHR Senior Investigator Award. The research team acknowledges the support of the NIHR through the Comprehensive Clinical Research Network. The views expressed are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of the NHS, the NIHR, Department of Health, or Wellcome Trust. E.R.M. acknowledges support from NIHR Cambridge Biomedical Research Centre, an NIHR Senior Investigator Award, and the University of Cambridge has received salary support in respect of E.R.M. from the NHS in the East of England through the Clinical Academic Reserve. I.E.S. is supported by the National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia (Program Grant and Practitioner Fellowship)

MDMA Powder, Pills and Crystal: The persistance of ecstasy and the poverty of policy.

Commonly known as ecstasy, MDMA has been central to the British acid house, rave and dance club scene over the last 20 years. Figures from the annual national British Crime Survey suggest that ecstasy use has declined since 2001. This apparent decline is considered here alongside the concurrent emergence of a ‘new’ form of ecstasy - MDMA powder or crystal - and the extent to which this can be seen as a successful rebranding of MDMA as a ‘premium’ product in the wake of user disenchantment with cheap and easily available but poor quality pills. These changes have occurred within a policy context, which in the last decade has increasingly prioritised the drugs-crime relationship through coercive treatment of problem drug users within criminal justice-based interventions, alongside a focus on binge drinking and alcohol-related harm. This has resulted in a significant reduction in the information, support and treatment available to ecstasy users since the height of dance drug harm reduction service provision pioneered by the Safer Dancing model in the mid-1990s