Impact of COVID-19 on pornography use: evidence from big data analyses (Preprint)

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Way K.W. Lau ◽  
Randolph C.H. Chan ◽  
Lionel H.M. Ngan ◽  
Willian K.K. Wu ◽  
Benson W.M. Lau
Keyword(s):  
Big Data ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Self Report ◽  
Google Trends ◽  
World Health ◽  
Social Distancing ◽  
Search Volume ◽  
Pornography Use ◽  
Health Organization ◽  
Relative Search Volume

BACKGROUND Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has led to radical changes in social distancing awareness and affected social relationship. Due to the large-scale lockdown, home quarantine and maintaining social distance, it was anticipated that sexual activities would be severely impacted. In contrast, retrospective self-report studies showed that pornography use and autoerotism increased during the pandemic. OBJECTIVE The current study used big-data databases available on internet to investigate factors that modulated the pornography use under the pandemic. METHODS Daily relative search volume (RSV) data from Google Trends spanning from 24th Feb, 2020 to 13th Jul, 2020 were extracted. Traffic data of Pornhub was extracted from the website Pornhub Insights, spanning from 24th Feb, 2020 to 13th Jul, 2020. The parameter is defined as ‘percent change in traffic compared to an average day in 2019’. Number of daily new case of COVID-19 was extracted from database on Our World in Data. RESULTS Google Trends showed that the relative search volume (RSV) for pornography increased after late March 2020, which was dated close to the announcement of the pandemic by the World Health Organization. The number of daily new cases of COVID-19 was positively correlated with the traffic of Pornhub, a popular pornography website, and the RSV of ‘pornography’. Moderation analysis demonstrated a significant main effect of daily new case of COVID-19 and the RSV of ‘social distancing’ in predicting Pornhub traffic / RSV of ‘pornography’. Furthermore, the RSV of ‘social distancing’ significantly moderated the relationship between daily new cases and Pornhub traffic / RSV of ‘pornography’. A stronger COVID-pornography use association was observed in heightened social distancing awareness. CONCLUSIONS To conclude, increased pornography consumption during the pandemic was identified, which was associated with the severity of the pandemic. Social distancing awareness may be a key factor influencing interest and use of pornography. Further studies on the changes in sexual desire, and birth-rate control are worthwhile since the long-term public health may be affected by the changes in sexual behaviour during the pandemic.

scholarly journals Impact of COVID-19 on pornography use: Evidence from big data analyses

PLoS ONE ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (12) ◽  
pp. e0260386
Author(s):  
Way Kwok-Wai Lau ◽  
Lionel Ho-Man Ngan ◽  
Randolph Chun-Ho Chan ◽  
William Ka-Kei Wu ◽  
Benson Wui-Man Lau
Keyword(s):  
Big Data ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Self Report ◽  
Google Trends ◽  
World Health ◽  
Social Distancing ◽  
Search Volume ◽  
Pornography Use ◽  
Health Organization ◽  
Relative Search Volume

Introduction Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has led to radical changes in social distancing awareness and affected social relationships. Owing to large-scale lockdown, home quarantine and social distancing requirements, it was anticipated that sexual activities would be severely impacted. However, retrospective self-report studies showed that pornography use and autoerotism increased during the pandemic. Aim This study used big-data databases available on the Internet to investigate factors that modulated pornography use during the pandemic. Methods Daily relative search volume (RSV) data from Google Trends for the period from 24 February 2020 to 13 July 2020 were extracted. Pornhub traffic data were extracted from the Pornhub Insights website, for the period from 24 February 2020 to 13 July 2020. The parameter was defined as ‘percent change in traffic compared to an average day in 2019’. The number of daily new cases of COVID-19 was extracted from the database on Our World in Data. Outcome measures The normality of the data was examined using the Shapiro-Wilk test. All variables included in this study were non-normally distributed. Therefore, non-parametric tests or parametric tests with bootstrapping were adopted where appropriate. Results According to Google Trends, the RSV for ‘pornography’ increased after late March 2020, which is close to the date when the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a global pandemic. The number of daily new cases of COVID-19 was positively correlated with the traffic of Pornhub, a popular pornography website, and the RSV for ‘pornography’. Moderation analysis demonstrated a significant main effect of daily new cases of COVID-19 and the RSV for ‘social distancing’ in predicting Pornhub traffic/RSV for ‘pornography’. Furthermore, the RSV for ‘social distancing’ significantly moderated the relationship between daily new cases and Pornhub traffic/RSV for ‘pornography’. A stronger COVID-pornography use association was observed with increased social distancing awareness. Conclusion Increased pornography consumption during the pandemic was observed, and it was associated with the severity of the pandemic. Social distancing awareness could be a key factor influencing interest in and use of pornography. Further studies on the changes in sexual desire and birth-rate control are worthwhile because long-term public health may be affected by the changes in sexual behaviour during the pandemic.

scholarly journals BERBAGAI UPAYA PENCEGAHAN COVID-19

2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 527
Author(s):  
Yuggo Afrianto ◽  
Novita Br Ginting ◽  
Indriyawati Indriyawati ◽  
Kalih Puspita Dewi ◽  
Muhamad Rizky Fahrezi
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
Virus Disease ◽  
Medical Science ◽  
Google Scholar ◽  
World Health ◽  
Social Distancing ◽  
Work From Home ◽  
Literature Reviews ◽  
The Face ◽  
Health Organization

Covid-19 is a new type of virus that was discovered in Wuhan, Hubei, China, in 2019. The new kind of virus was given the name coronavirus disease-2019, shortened to Covid-19. WHO declared this virus a pandemic on March 11, 2020. Various parties tried to in the prevention and control of COVID-19. However, the number of references offered and the variance of a policy in a study create problems again. People are confused to understand what efforts are suitable or recommended with trustworthy truths. Hence, this study uses Systematic Literature Reviews to find the most recommended efforts with reliable study sources, namely the Scopus journal and Google Scholar. The results of this study provide recommendations to the public about the efforts to prevent Covid-19, to reduce the spread of Covid-19, especially in Indonesia. 125 relevant journals were successfully reviewed, resulting in 37 Covid-19 prevention efforts. Based on the ranking method, 10 efforts are widely recommended in journals, namely: Social distancing, Quarantine/lockdown/LSSR (Large-scale social restrictions), WFH (Work From Home), Washing hands, Self-isolation, Wearing masks, Using handsanitizer, Spraying disinfectants, Maintaining immunity, and Not touch the face. The exciting thing that was also found in the research was that there were efforts that were not only built based on medical science but were also associated with beliefs such as Sawen Installation and Religious Ceremonies. Keywords: Covid-19; SLR; prevention of Covid-19. AbstrakCovid-19 merupakan virus jenis baru yang ditemukan di Wuhan, Hubei, China pada tahun 2019, virus ini diberi nama corona virus disease-2019 yang disingkat menjadi Covid-19, WHO (World Health Organization) menyatakan virus ini sebagai suatu pandemi pada 11 Maret 2020. Berbagai pihak berupaya dalam pencegahan dan penanggulangan Covid-19. Namun banyaknya referensi yang ditawarkan dan ketidak selarasan suatu kebijakkan dalam suatu studi, membuat permasalahan kembali di mana masyarakat bingung untuk mengerti upaya apa saja yang baik atau direkomendasikan dengan kebenaran yang dapat dipercaya.  Untuk menangani masalah tersebut maka dalam penelitian ini menggunakan Systematic Literature Reviews untuk mencari upaya yang paling banyak direkomendasikan dengan sumber studi yang terpercaya, yaitu jurnal Scopus dan Google Scholar. Hasil penelitian ini memberikan rekomendasi kepada masyarakat tentang apa saja upaya pencegahan Covid-19, untuk mengurangi penyebaran Covid-19 khususnya di Indonesia. 125 jurnal yang relevan berhasil direview, menghasilkan 37 Upaya pencegahan Covid-19. Berdasarkan metode pemeringkatan mendapatkan 10 upaya yang banyak direkomendasi dalam jurnal, yaitu: Social distancing, Karantina/lockdown/PSBB (Pembatasan Sosial Berskala Besar), WFH (Work From Home), Mencuci tangan, Isolasi diri, Memakai masker, Memakai handsanitizer, Menyemprotkan disenfektan, Menjaga imun, dan Tidak menyentuh wajah. Hal menarik yang didapatkan juga dalam penelitian ternyata terdapat upaya yang tidak hanya dibangun berdasarkan ilmu medis, namun juga dikaitkan dengan kepercayaan seperti, Pemasangan Sawen dan Upacara Keagamaan.

scholarly journals Assessing global COPD awareness with Google Trends

2019 ◽  
Vol 53 (6) ◽  
pp. 1900351 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anna Boehm ◽  
Alex Pizzini ◽  
Thomas Sonnweber ◽  
Judith Loeffler-Ragg ◽  
Claudia Lamina ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease ◽  
Pulmonary Disease ◽  
Public Interest ◽  
Google Trends ◽  
World Health ◽  
Chronic Obstructive ◽  
Analysis Tool ◽  
Obstructive Pulmonary Disease ◽  
Search Volume ◽  
Relative Search Volume

Although chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) prevalence and mortality rates rise continuously, patients often remain undiagnosed, probably due to a lack of disease-related awareness. The aim of this study was to quantify public interest in COPD by analysing the frequency of web queries via Google.Data from 2004 to 2018 were collected using the search engine query data analysis tool Google Trends. The relative search volume of the topic “chronic obstructive pulmonary disease” was compared with the relative search volume of nine topics representing the major causes of death in high-income countries according to the World Health Organization.Our analysis showed highest relative search volumes for the topics “diabetes mellitus”, followed by “stroke” and “breast cancer”. The topic “chronic obstructive pulmonary disease” ranked eighth and its relative search volume clearly displayed a seasonal variation, with peaks in the first and the fourth quarter of the year.This analysis reveals that COPD is highly under-represented in the public interest, while real-world prevalence constantly rises, indicating that there is still an urgent need to raise the levels of awareness for COPD.

scholarly journals Effectiveness of Face Masks in Reducing the Spread of COVID-19: A Model-Based Analysis

2021 ◽  
pp. 0272989X2110190
Author(s):  
Isabelle J. Rao ◽  
Jacqueline J. Vallon ◽  
Margaret L. Brandeau
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
Infected Individual ◽  
Disease Model ◽  
World Health ◽  
Sensitivity Analyses ◽  
Reproductive Number ◽  
Social Distancing ◽  
Health Organization ◽  
Almost All ◽  
Mask Effectiveness

Background The World Health Organization and US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommend that both infected and susceptible people wear face masks to protect against COVID-19. Methods We develop a dynamic disease model to assess the effectiveness of face masks in reducing the spread of COVID-19, during an initial outbreak and a later resurgence, as a function of mask effectiveness, coverage, intervention timing, and time horizon. We instantiate the model for the COVID-19 outbreak in New York, with sensitivity analyses on key natural history parameters. Results During the initial epidemic outbreak, with no social distancing, only 100% coverage of masks with high effectiveness can reduce the effective reproductive number [Formula: see text] below 1. During a resurgence, with lowered transmission rates due to social distancing measures, masks with medium effectiveness at 80% coverage can reduce [Formula: see text] below 1 but cannot do so if individuals relax social distancing efforts. Full mask coverage could significantly improve outcomes during a resurgence: with social distancing, masks with at least medium effectiveness could reduce [Formula: see text] below 1 and avert almost all infections, even with intervention fatigue. For coverage levels below 100%, prioritizing masks that reduce the risk of an infected individual from spreading the infection rather than the risk of a susceptible individual from getting infected yields the greatest benefit. Limitations Data regarding COVID-19 transmission are uncertain, and empirical evidence on mask effectiveness is limited. Our analyses assume homogeneous mixing, providing an upper bound on mask effectiveness. Conclusions Even moderately effective face masks can play a role in reducing the spread of COVID-19, particularly with full coverage, but should be combined with social distancing measures to reduce [Formula: see text] below 1. [Box: see text]

scholarly journals Impact on refractive surgery due to increasing use of personal protection equipment: Insights from EUROCOVCAT group

2021 ◽  
pp. 112067212110186
Author(s):  
Arthur B Cummings ◽  
Cian Gildea ◽  
Antoine P Brézin ◽  
Boris E Malyugin ◽  
Ozlem Evren Kemer ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Refractive Surgery ◽  
Unmet Need ◽  
World Health ◽  
Eye Care ◽  
Personal Protection Equipment ◽  
Social Distancing ◽  
Vision Correction ◽  
Emerging Issues ◽  
Health Organization ◽  
Motivating Factor

Since the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 to be a pandemic on 11th March 2020, changes to social and sanitary practices have included significant issues in access and management of eye care during the COVID-19 pandemic. Additionally, the fear of loss, coupled with social distancing, lockdown, economic instability, and uncertainty, have led to a significant psychosocial impact that will have to be addressed. In the current COVID-19 pandemic, personal protective equipment such as face masks or face coverings have become a daily necessity. While “mass masking” along with hand hygiene and social distancing became more widespread, new issues began to emerge – particularly in those who wore spectacles as a means of vision correction. As we began to see routine patients again after the first lockdown had been lifted, many patients visited our clinics for refractive surgery consultations with a primary motivating factor of wanting spectacle independence due to the fogging of their spectacles as a result of wearing a mask. In this article, we report on new emerging issues in eye care due to the widespread use of masks and on the new unmet need in the corneal and cataract refractive surgery fields.

Development of Herbal Ayurvedic Formulation as Digestive Tablets, Evaluation of it’s Pharmaceutical, Pharmacognostic Parameters and Screening of its Antioxidant Potential

2021 ◽  
pp. 5849-5855
Author(s):  
Vikas Sharma ◽  
Chandana Majee ◽  
Rahul Kaushik ◽  
Shivani Saxena ◽  
Salahuddin Salahuddin ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
Volatile Oil ◽  
Antioxidant Potential ◽  
World Health ◽  
Wet Granulation ◽  
Scale Production ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
Weight Variation ◽  
Health Organization ◽  
Average Size

Herbal digestive tablets are meant for treating indigestion problems. The indigestion problem is one of the major problems of all (the) ages of human beings. As trends for eating fast foods is increasing, simultaneously the improper digestion also tends to increase. There are a number of digestive tablets in the market but in attempt to improve their taste the actual motto behind their use is masked. To combat the indigestion problems, in the present study an attempt has been made to formulate, develop and evaluate herbal digestive tablets. The formula of the digestive tablet has been decided after deep review of Ayurvedic formulary of India. The ingredients of this formulation have been procured from authentic sources. The wet granulation method was used to prepare the granules for punching the tablets. After preparation, the herbal digestive tablets were subjected to various pharmaceutical evaluations and quality control evaluations as per the guidelines from World Health Organization (WHO). The formulation was also subjected to antioxidant screening using Phosphomolybdenum method. The digestive tablets are obtained as light brown-colored round tablets with pleasant odour and spicy taste with an average size of 8mm and smooth edges. Maximum extractive value was observed as 34% in methanol with a total ash value of 10.16%. Other parameters reported as bitterness value- 0.69 units, volatile oil content-8%, loss on drying- 12.3%, swelling and foaming index of 0.27 and less than 100 respectively. The tablets showed a total antioxidant potential of 0.51mg/mg as Ascorbic acid equivalent. Tablets also pass various pharmaceutical evaluation parameters like hardness, friability, weight variation, and disintegration test. Herbal digestive tablets have very excellent taste due to less bitter drugs. The tablet formula can be applied to prepare large scale production of digestive tablets.

scholarly journals 2-Methyl-pentanoyl-carnitine (2-MPC): a urine biomarker for patent Ascaris lumbricoides infection

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ole Lagatie ◽  
Ann Verheyen ◽  
Stijn Van Asten ◽  
Maurice R. Odiere ◽  
Yenny Djuardi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Ascaris Lumbricoides ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Infection Intensity ◽  
World Health ◽  
Infection Model ◽  
Metabolome Analysis ◽  
Control Programs ◽  
Urine Biomarker ◽  
Intestinal Worms ◽  
Health Organization

Abstract Infections with intestinal worms, such as Ascaris lumbricoides, affect hundreds of millions of people in all tropical and subtropical regions of the world. Through large-scale deworming programs, World Health Organization aims to reduce moderate-to-heavy intensity infections below 1%. Current diagnosis and monitoring of these control programs are solely based on the detection of worm eggs in stool. Here we describe how metabolome analysis was used to identify the A. lumbricoides-specific urine biomarker 2-methyl pentanoyl carnitine (2-MPC). This biomarker was found to be 85.7% accurate in determining infection and 90.5% accurate in determining a moderate-to-heavy infection. Our results also demonstrate that there is a correlation between 2-MPC levels in urine and A. lumbricoides DNA detected in stool. Furthermore, the levels of 2-MPC in urine were shown to rapidly and strongly decrease upon administration of a standard treatment (single oral dose of 400 mg albendazole). In an Ascaris suum infection model in pigs, it was found that, although 2-MPC levels were much lower compared to humans, there was a significant association between urinary 2-MPC levels and both worm counts (p = 0.023) and the number of eggs per gram (epg) counts (p < 0.001). This report demonstrates that urinary 2-MPC can be considered an A. lumbricoides-specific biomarker that can be used to monitor infection intensity.

scholarly journals Modelling and Simulating the Novel Coronavirus with Implications of Asymptomatic Carriers

2020 ◽  
Vol 2020 ◽  
pp. 1-9
Author(s):  
Ghassane Benrhmach ◽  
Khalil Namir ◽  
Jamal Bouyaghroumni
Keyword(s):  
Control Strategies ◽  
World Health ◽  
Contact Tracing ◽  
Effective Control ◽  
Public Authorities ◽  
Asymptomatic Carriers ◽  
Social Distancing ◽  
Infected People ◽  
Novel Coronavirus ◽  
Health Organization

The World Health Organization declared that the total number of confirmed cases tested positive for SARS‐CoV‐2, affecting 210 countries, exceeded 3 million on 29 April 2020, with more than 207,973 deaths. In order to end the global COVID‐19 pandemic, public authorities have put in place multiple strategies like testing, contact tracing, and social distancing. Predictive mathematical models for epidemics are fundamental to understand the development of the epidemic and to plan effective control strategies. Some hosts may carry SARS‐CoV‐2 and transmit it to others, yet display no symptoms themselves. We propose applying a model (SELIAHRD) taking in consideration the number of asymptomatic infected people. The SELIAHRD model consists of eight stages: Susceptible, Exposed, Latent, Symptomatic Infected, Asymptomatic Infected, Hospitalized, Recovered, and Dead. The asymptomatic carriers contribute to the spread of disease, but go largely undetected and can therefore undermine efforts to control transmission. The simulation of possible scenarios of the implementation of social distancing shows that if we rigorously follow the social distancing rule then the healthcare system will not be overloaded.

Seasonal variations and public search interests in Toxoplasma: a 16-year retrospective analysis of big data on Google Trends

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lei Liu ◽  
Peng Wang ◽  
Su-Qin Jiang ◽  
Zi-Rong Zhong ◽  
Ting-Zheng Zhan ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Google Trends ◽  
Seasonal Patterns ◽  
Search Term ◽  
Internet Search ◽  
Search Volume ◽  
The Usa ◽  
Search Data ◽  
Relative Search Volume ◽  
The Uk

Abstract Background This study aims to understand whether there is a seasonal change in the internet search interest for Toxoplasma by using the data derived from Google Trends (GT). Methods The present study searched for the relative search volume (RSV) for the search term ‘Toxoplasma’ in GT within six major English-speaking countries (Australia, New Zealand [Southern Hemisphere] and Canada, Ireland, the UK and the USA [Northern Hemisphere] from 1 January 2004 to 31 December 2019, utilizing the category of ‘health’. Data regarding the RSV of Toxoplasma was obtained and further statistical analysis was performed in R software using the ‘season’ package. Results There were significantly seasonal patterns for the RSV of the search term ‘Toxoplasma’ in five countries (all p&lt;0.05), except for the UK. A peak in December–March and a trough in July–September (Canada, Ireland, the UK and the USA) were observed, while a peak in June/August and a trough in December/February (Australia, New Zealand) were also found. Moreover, the presence of seasonal patterns regarding RSV for ‘Toxoplasma’ between the Southern and Northern Hemispheres was also found (both p&lt;0.05), with a reversed meteorological month. Conclusions Overall, our study revealed the seasonal variation for Toxoplasma in using internet search data from GT, providing additional evidence on seasonal patterns in Toxoplasma.

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