Exploring the etiological pathways of Problematic Pornography Use in NoFap/PornFree rebooting communities: A critical narrative analysis of Internet forum data

Objective: Problematic pornography use (PPU) has been extensively studied in terms of its negative implications for various life domains. The empirical literature reveals measured outcomes of interpersonal and intrapersonal dysfunction in participants’ everyday living, supporting its classification as a disorder. The increasing number of complaints around PPU opens the door to the creation of online self-help rebooting communities. Method: This qualitative study aims to provide a better understanding of this behavior by investigating potential etiological pathways contributing to the onset of PPU, as they were expressed by members of the online NoFap/PornFree self-help communities with self-perceived PPU. Results: The critical narrative analysis reveals a complex web of mutually informing causal connections. The dialectical relationship between situational resources, material conditions and an embodied spectator gives rise to an online persona with motivations of self-exploration, experimentation and socializing. A sense of vulnerability, also, renders the use of pornography as a means of escape and validation. Furthermore, commitment to abstinence, framed by the notions of recovery and relapse, is found to be a major factor for maintaining distress. Conclusions: The study highlighted the need for a thorough understanding of the etiological pathways of PPU for a more effective and targeted intervention. Moving beyond biomedical conceptualizations suggests an intervention whereby PPU is placed in a context of a crisis of meaning

A technique for subcutaneous abdominal adipose tissue biopsy via a nondiathermy method

Adipose tissue biopsies offer tissue samples that, upon analysis, may provide insightful overviews of mechanisms relating to metabolism and disease. To obtain subcutaneous adipose tissue biopsies in the abdominal area, researchers and physicians use either a surgical or a needlebased technique. However, surgical subcutaneous fat biopsies can offer tissue samples that may provide a more comprehensive overview of the complexities of biological indices in white adipose tissue. Usually, a surgical adipose tissue biopsy includes a diathermy treatment for cauterizing blood vessels to prevent excessive bleeding. Nevertheless, side effects, such as flash fires and skin lesions in the tissue, have been reported after diathermy. Therefore, we aimed to standardize a surgical abdominal adipose tissue biopsy performed under local anesthesia using a nondiathermy method. We conducted 115 subcutaneous adipose tissue biopsies in healthy men using a non-diathermy abdominal surgical biopsy method. Our results showed three cases of excessive post-operation bleeding out of 115 operations (2.61%).In conclusion, our standardized subcutaneous abdominal adipose tissue surgical biopsy using a non-diathermy method can be safely applied to healthy men at the bedside, with minimal side effects

Nasal carriage and antimicrobial susceptibility of Coagulase - Negative Staphylococci (CoNS) among healthy veterinary students in Greece

During last decades CoNS and especially the methicillin-resistant (MRCoNS) ones have become important pathogens and their infections are usually associated with healthcare settings. CoNS are considered as source of antimicrobial resistance traits for other bacteria and thus the evaluation of their prevalence in the community contributes significantly to the risk assessment in relation to public health. The aim of the present study was the investigation of the nasal carriage and antimicrobial susceptibly of CoNS among healthy veterinary students. From 81 healthy students of the School of Veterinary Medicine, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece, 24 strains were isolated from 22 (27.16%) students. Of them 54% were identified as Staphylococcus haemolyticus, 45.8% as Staphylococcus warneri, 16.6% as Staphylococcus epidermidis, 4.2% as Staphylococcus pasteuri and 4.2% as Staphylococcus capitis. All isolates were resistant to penicillin, 33.3% were resistant to amoxicillin/clavulanic acid, 29.2% to erythromycin, 4.2% to oxacillin, 4.2% to gentamycin and 4.2% to trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole. The resistant to oxacillin isolate belonged to the S. epidermidis species and proved to carry the mecA gene. This study showed that the rate of nasal carriage of CoNS among veterinary students in Greece was low. The analysis of the standardised questionnaire, that was completed for each participating student during sampling, showed that pet owners tested positive for the coagulase-negative staphylococci were at a significantly lower rate (p-value=0.007) compared to non-pet owners. Moreover, among the participants who had visited a hospital over the last six months, the percentage of positive results in coagulase-negative staphylococci was significantly lower compared to that of the other participants (p-value=0.048). Although only one student found to carry methicillin-resistant S. epidermidis, its presence is evidence that this pathogen may circulate among veterinarians and the personnel of veterinary health establishments. Surveillance programs should also be performed in veterinary units because the emergence resistant bacteria in this environment may represent a risk to public health. © 2018 E Malissiova, M Chasioti, T Papadopoulos, D Komodromos, C Hadjichristodoulou, D Sergelidis

Consumers’ Attitude and Perception Toward Traditional Foods of Northwest Greece during the COVID-19 Pandemic.

 Traditional foods (TFs) have a significant impact on the society and the economy of the  areas where they are produced. The COVID‐19 crisis, with the restrictions on daily living, is ex‐ pected to cause a long‐term influence on peoples’ lives worldwide. This paper investigates the con‐ sumers’ attitude and perception of TFs of northwest Greece in order to assess the possible impact of  the pandemic toward the consumption of this kind of food. A questionnaire survey of self‐response  was carried out in fall 2020 on a sample of 510 participants through the Google platform. To analyze  the data, basic descriptive statistical tools were used, combined with crosstabs and chi‐square tests.  The results revealed that the participants know the regional TFs well, continue to choose them due  to a number of reasons, which include: the quality to price ratio, being local products with local raw  materials, the nutritional properties, the social impact, as well as their positive impact to the regional  economy and promotion. They buy them primarily from the supermarkets. They would recom‐ mend them to others, and they have increased their consumption during the pandemic, even though  they consider their marketing inadequate, and they do not purchase them through the Internet yet.  They believe that consumers in other regions of Greece would buy them if they had access to them.  The foods of choice are traditional cheese and other dairy products, followed by wines, and aro‐ matic herbs, which are the main regional TFs. These results indicate that the COVID‐19 crisis has  not interfered in consumers’ attitudes and perceptions regarding TFs; therefore, they have the po‐ tential to expand and grow further in the future. In fact, they can play a vital role as major economic  drivers in the post‐COVID‐19 era for the regional and local economies of Europe and elsewhere. info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Prediction criteria of promising F-3 populations in durum wheat: A comparative study

Effective selection of parental material and promising segregating populations is an essential requirement for breeding success. There are many contradictive reports about the best parent selection criterion for the development of promising crosses. For the clarification of this problem field experiments were conducted for four consecutive years to compare the effectiveness of six criteria for the prediction of the most promising F-3 populations in durum wheat (Triticum durum L.): the mid-parent value, the F-1, the F-2, the (F-1 + F-2)/2, and the genetic distance among the parents as it is calculated using the SSR and RAPD molecular markers. During the first growing season (2003-2004) nine commercial cultivars of durum wheat and four landraces were crossed. The following growing season (2004-2005), 17 crosses (F-1 generation) were evaluated under low plant density (1.15 plants m(-2)) in a replicated (R-21) honeycomb design. During the third growing season (2005-2006), the four highest yielding crosses, one cross with an intermediate yield, and the three crosses with the lowest yield (172 generation) were evaluated under low plant density in a R-9 honeycomb design. Finally, in the fourth growing season (2006-2007) progeny of the aforementioned eight crosses (173 generation) and the ten parents were evaluated in a randomized complete block design in two locations. Furthermore, the genetic distance among the parents was determined using the SSR and RAPD molecular markers. It was observed that the three F-3 populations with the lowest yielding ability were the ones with the lowest mid-parental value. In addition, one of the two top F-3 populations was second in the rank according to the mid-parental value. Furthermore, the two top F-3 populations were also the highest yielding in the F-1 and F-2 generations. On the contrary, none of these crosses were predicted by the genetic distance as it was calculated using the SSR and RAPID molecular markers. It was concluded that parental pairs with high mid-parental value and high combined yield (F-1 + F-2)/2 obtained after evaluation of their F-1 and F-2 at low plant density was the most effective way to predict promising F3 populations. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved