A literature review of studies into the prevalence and frequency of men's pornography use

This review aims to provide information on the prevalence and frequency of adult males' pornography use. It appears, the majority (> 80%) of adult men have accessed pornography at some point, and in the past year (40–70%). Around half of younger men (25 or under) are weekly consumers. Pornography use tapers-off with age. Relatively few (<10%) younger men have accessed violent pornography in the past year. The Internet is the primary method of access. Pornography use is associated with masturbation; use during partnered sex is less common. Differences in consumption rates between heterosexual and gay and bisexual men are discussed

Transmission Grid Decongestion Management in Deregulated Power Sector

Nigeria as a nation has suffered from epileptic power supply which has affected negatively the economic activities of the citizen. For a sustained development, a constant power supply is needed. Available and reliable electric power supply promised as one of the major benefits of unbundling of nations‟ own utility is yet to be realised, five years after privatisation of the power sector. This paper presents an approach that considers the Nigeria power sector in three models: power sector before privatisation, Current power sector during privatisation. The recommended model that consider the reduction of transmission grid congestion. This model supports helpful technologies such as micro-hydro in rural community, solar power and photovoltaic in regions endowed with sun shines, wind farm in coastal region and energy efficient appliances. This technology when developed in these regions, is capable of reducing system load, site generation close to load centres, and thereby expands effective grid capacity to more rural community. A common indicator of an economically inadequate grid is congestion, which by definition implies the cheapest availably supply cannot be used; therefore a less-congested system can lead to lower electricity prices and less frequent power outages. This model offers significant benefits such as reduced transmission cost, lower congestion and generation costs, increased economic activities of the people and create a sustainable pollution free environment

An experimental investigation into pornography's effect on men's perceptions of the likelihood of women engaging in porn-like sex

This experimental study investigates whether exposure to pornography affects men's perceptions of the likelihood of women engaging in, and enjoying, "porn-like" sex. Participants (N = 418) were either exposed to nonpornographic control videos or pornographic videos in which a male taxi driver has sex with a female passenger. Participants' perceptions of the likelihood of women engaging in various sexual practices commonly depicted in pornography (e.g., unprotected sex with a stranger and rough sex) were then assessed across 2 vignettes. In the first vignette, a male taxi driver propositions a female passenger. In the second, a male boss propositions a female employee. The study was administered online to maximize ecological validity. No effect was found for experimental exposure. However, an effect was detected for past exposure. Men who had viewed taxi-themed pornography in the past 6 months rated the female taxi vignette character as being more likely to engage in porn-like sex with a male taxi driver. Similarly, those who had viewed workplace-themed pornography in the past 6 months judged the female workplace vignette character as being more likely to engage in porn-like sex with a male boss. The implications of these findings for theoretical models of sexual media socialization are discussed

Comparison of oral prednisolone/paracetamol and oral indomethacin/paracetamol combination therapy in the treatment of acute goutlike arthritis: A double-blind, randomized, controlled trial

Study objective We compare the analgesic efficacy and adverse effects of oral prednisolone/acetaminophen and oral indomethacin/acetaminophen combination therapy in the treatment of acute goutlike arthritis in patients presenting to an emergency department (ED). Methods This is a double-blind, randomized, controlled study in a university hospital emergency department (ED) in the New Territories of Hong Kong. Patients older than 17 years and presenting between February 1, 2003, and June 30, 2004, with a clinical diagnosis of goutlike arthritis were randomized to receive either oral prednisolone/acetaminophen or oral indomethacin/acetaminophen combination therapy. Primary outcome measures were pain scores, time to resolution of symptoms and signs, and adverse effects. Secondary outcome measures were the need for additional acetaminophen and relapse rate. Results There were 90 patients randomized: 46 patients to the indomethacin group and 44 patients to the prednisolone group. Baseline characteristics, including pain scores, were similar in the 2 groups. Both treatment groups had a similar decrease in pain score in the ED. The mean rate of decrease in pain score with activity for indomethacin was −1.7±1.6 (SD) mm per day and for prednisolone was −2.9±2.0 (SD) mm per day (mean difference 1.2 mm/day; 95% confidence interval 0.4 to 2.0 mm/day; P=.0026). Although these differences were statistically significant, at no time was the difference in mean pain score greater than 13 mm. Therefore, it is unclear whether these differences are clinically significant. The mean total dose of acetaminophen consumed by the prednisolone group was significantly more than in the indomethacin group (mean 10.3 g, range 1 to 21 g versus mean 6.4 g, range 1 to 21 g). Twenty-nine patients in the indomethacin group and 12 patients in the prednisolone group experienced adverse effects (P<.05). The commonest adverse effects in the indomethacin group were nausea, indigestion, epigastric pain, dizziness, and gastrointestinal bleeding (N=5; 11%). None of the patients in the prednisolone group developed gastrointestinal bleeding. The relapse rate for both groups was similar. Conclusion In the treatment of acute goutlike arthritis, oral prednisolone/acetaminophen combination is as effective as oral indomethacin/acetaminophen combination in relieving pain but is associated with fewer adverse effects

Cerebrovascular risk factors and subsequent depression in older general practice patients

Background: This general practice-based case-control study tested the association between cerebrovascular risk factors (CVRFs) and the development of later-life depression by focusing on the impact of exposure duration to CVRFs and the modifying influence of age at depression onset. Methods: Cases were 286 patients aged >/=50 years with a first diagnosis of depression at age >/=50 years. Nondepressed controls (N=832) were individually matched for age, gender and practice. CVRF diagnoses (hypertension, diabetes mellitus, cardiovascular conditions) prior to depression were determined. Analyses controlled for education, somatic and nondepressive psychiatric disease. Results: No CVRF variable examined was significantly associated with subsequent depression in the total sample. An unexpected impact of age at onset of depression was observed: the odds ratio associated with having any CVRF was smaller for patients with age at onset >/=70 years than for patients with onset between ages 50-59 years (p=.002) and 60-69 years (p=.067). Subsequent analyses excluding patients with onset at age >/=70 years revealed that CVRF variables, including long-term exposure to CVRFs, significantly increased the odds of subsequent depression with onset between ages 50 and 69 years. Limitations: Reliance on GPs' records of morbidity may have resulted in bias towards underestimation in patients with depression onset at age >/=70 years. Conclusions: Our findings suggest that CVRFs play a relevant role in the development of depression with onset between ages 50 and 69 years, but no evidence was found that they contribute to the occurrence of depression with onset at age >/=70 years. Replication is warranted to exclude the possibility of bias. (aut. ref.

Design and Implementation of a Single-Phase Energy Meter with SMS Controlled and Monitored Recharge Capability

The Nigerian power sector is faced with poorly organized billing and consumer relations management. Tariff billing and collection has been a big problem in some community in Nigeria even with the introduction of prepaid meters. The process of payment is cumbersome and stressful as consumers have to go and pay in banks and then take tellers to power utility office to confirm their power bills payment before they can recharge their cards. The major purpose of this work is to design and implement a convenient, cashless, automated and transparent electricity metering, billing and payment system. This project combines the power electronic meter with a communications network which in this case is a GSM (global system for mobile) network. Remote electricity billing is a unique concept, in which the electricity board can collect the consumed units’ data from consumer on mobile phone using GSM network. A unique property of this system is that, the electricity board can disconnect or reconnect consumers from remote location through the mobile phone. As this project works on GSM network, the system can be controlled from any part of the countr

A Model for the Mitigation of Energy Scarcity for a Sustainable Market in Africa

A sustainable environment is one with advancement in science and technology, but an ingredient that can foster this drive is the availability of power supply within all sector of the economy. The scarcity of electrical power in Africa particularly in the Sub-Sahara region has been a major setback towards attaining a sustainable technology infrastructure, as a result of this most business that requires electrical power for their daily operation are forced to run their generators during working hours thereby placing the electric power supply authority on standby. The result of this anomaly is an increase in price of goods and services hence, Potential investors who cannot meet up with the huge amount required in running generators tends to look out for where the electrical power is cheap, readily available and not scarce to cite their industries. In this paper, a model has been proposed for the improvement of energy scarcity in Nigeria. The merits of the model if implemented will bring back investors to the country, reduce energy poverty and improve on the reliability of the power system network. The model is also seen as one that will ease the trace of failure within a decentralized power networ

A Model for Transmission Grid Decongestion

Nigeria as a nation has suffered from epileptic power supply which has affected negatively the economic activities of the citizen. For a sustained development, a constant power supply is needed. Available and reliable electric power supply promised as one of the major benefits of unbundling of nations’ own utility is yet to be realized, five years after privatization of the power sector. This paper presents an approach that consider the Nigeria power sector in three models: power sector before privatization, current power sector during privatization, the recommended model that consider the reduction of transmission grid congestion. This model supports helpful technologies such as micro-hydro in rural community, solar power and photovoltaic in regions endowed with sun shines, wind farm in coastal region and energy efficient appliances. These technologies when developed in these regions, is capable of reducing system load, site generation close to load centers, and thereby expand effective grid capacity to more rural community. A common indicator of an economically inadequate grid is congestion, which by definition implies the cheapest availably supply cannot be used; therefore a less-congested system can lead to lower electricity prices and less frequent power outages. This model offers significant benefits such as reduced transmission cost, lower congestion and generation costs, increased economic activities of the people and create a sustainable pollution free environment

Thermotolerance Requires Refolding of Aggregated Proteins by Substrate Translocation through the Central Pore of ClpB

AbstractCell survival under severe thermal stress requires the activity of the ClpB (Hsp104) AAA+ chaperone that solubilizes and reactivates aggregated proteins in concert with the DnaK (Hsp70) chaperone system. How protein disaggregation is achieved and whether survival is solely dependent on ClpB-mediated elimination of aggregates or also on reactivation of aggregated proteins has been unclear. We engineered a ClpB variant, BAP, which associates with the ClpP peptidase and thereby is converted into a degrading disaggregase. BAP translocates substrates through its central pore directly into ClpP for degradation. ClpB-dependent translocation is demonstrated to be an integral part of the disaggregation mechanism. Protein disaggregation by the BAP/ClpP complex remains dependent on DnaK, defining a role for DnaK at early stages of the disaggregation reaction. The activity switch of BAP to a degrading disaggregase does not support thermotolerance development, demonstrating that cell survival during severe thermal stress requires reactivation of aggregated proteins