Self-Esteem, Spiritual Well-Being, and Intimacy: A Comparison among Couples Using NFP and Oral Contraceptives

The purpose of this study was to compare the intimacy, spiritual well being (SWB), and self-esteem of couples using natural family planning (NFP) with those couples using oral contraceptives (OCs). 22 couples who were using the Creighton Model Ovulation Method of NFP for 1 year to avoid pregnancy were matched with 22 couples who were using OCs for a least a 1-year period and administered a SWB, self-esteem, and intimacy inventory. Student t-tests were calculated to determine differences in the mean scores of the 3 inventories between the 2 groups. The results showed that the NFP couples had statistically higher self-esteem (T=3.15, p0.01), SWB (T=4.25. p0.001), and intellectual intimacy (T=2.53, p0.05) than the OC couples. There were no differences in emotional, social, recreational, and sexual intimacy between the groups. Although the results provide some evidence that NFP can enhance a couple\u27s relationship, other factors such as a sampling bias and educational levels could explain the difference

SARS-CoV-2 susceptibility and COVID-19 disease severity are associated with genetic variants affecting gene expression in a variety of tissues

Variability in SARS-CoV-2 susceptibility and COVID-19 disease severity between individuals is partly due to genetic factors. Here, we identify 4 genomic loci with suggestive associations for SARS-CoV-2 susceptibility and 19 for COVID-19 disease severity. Four of these 23 loci likely have an ethnicity-specific component. Genome-wide association study (GWAS) signals in 11 loci colocalize with expression quantitative trait loci (eQTLs) associated with the expression of 20 genes in 62 tissues/cell types (range: 1:43 tissues/gene), including lung, brain, heart, muscle, and skin as well as the digestive system and immune system. We perform genetic fine mapping to compute 99% credible SNP sets, which identify 10 GWAS loci that have eight or fewer SNPs in the credible set, including three loci with one single likely causal SNP. Our study suggests that the diverse symptoms and disease severity of COVID-19 observed between individuals is associated with variants across the genome, affecting gene expression levels in a wide variety of tissue types

A first update on mapping the human genetic architecture of COVID-19

peer reviewe

Evaluation of ACE-FTS and OSIRIS satellite retrievals of ozone and nitric acid in the upper troposphere: Application to ozone production efficiency

info:eu-repo/semantics/publishe