University of New Mexico

Pornography use is common in the United States, and a subset of individuals develop problematic pornography use (PPU). Previous research often excluded abstainers, leading to potentially biased conclusions on the overall role of religion and moral beliefs in pornography research. This study tested whether religious identification and moral disapproval of pornography function as risk factors for PPU or resources for well-being when the full population is considered. We analyzed data from a census-matched sample of U.S. adults (n=2,806), using correlations, group comparisons, and hierarchical regressions to examine associations of religious identification and moral disapproval of pornography with sexual, romantic, and general life satisfaction, and suicidality. When including pornography-abstainers in analyses, moral disapproval and Judeo-Christian religious identification were unassociated with PPU, but linked to higher sexual, romantic, and general life satisfaction, and less suicidality. In contrast, PPU and pornography frequency were linked to lower satisfaction and more suicidality. Expanding analyses on the general population reframes the role of religion and morality in pornography research. Findings suggest that religion and moral disapproval may serve as protective resources for well-being and mental health. Further studies are needed to clarify the underlying mechanisms.

Stress contributes to neuropsychiatric disorders by altering brain circuits and neurotransmitter signaling, often in a sex-dependent manner. The specifics of these stress-induced changes and their role in the development and perseverance of conditions like depression are largely unknown. We examined how context discrimination and neurotransmitter co-expression in the medial septum (MS) changes in response to unpredictable chronic mild stress (uCMS). Female mice subjected to uCMS showed significant context discrimination impairments compared to female controls, while male mice showed no differences in context discrimination as a result of uCMS. We conducted immunolabeling in the MS and found that in females, uCMS reduced the number of cholinergic (ChAT+) neurons while increasing the percent of neurons co-expressing ChAT & GAD67 (marker for GABAergic neurons). These changes suggest a link between chronic stress, neurotransmitter phenotype plasticity in the MS, and hippocampal dysfunction. These differences were observed in the absence of changes to apoptosis and overall neuron number and were specific to female mice; no significant changes to MS neurotransmitter expression was observed in males. Our future work will focus on further dissecting the specific molecular mechanisms behind these changes.

Although most imaging assessments are made qualitatively, quantitative measurements in orthopedic imaging are becoming more important in detecting subtle findings and assessing degrees of abnormality, which can help direct surgical management. In the knee, patellofemoral maltracking is a common cause of anterior pain, particularly in younger patients. Failure to recognize this pathophysiology may result in accelerated chondral loss and osteoarthritis (OA), and the imaging findings may be subtle. As a result, clinicians and radiologists have developed numerous measurements to detect and quantify patellofemoral alignment. Additional entities, such as femorotibial subluxation or angular abnormalities, may only be detected by using standardized measurements and can help detect ligamentous insufficiency or developmental malalignment, which can lead to instability and OA in the medial and lateral femorotibial compartments. Finally, the proper positioning and hardware selection for knee arthroplasty are critical to preventing early hardware failure and postsurgical pain. This review, which focuses on the knee, is the second in a three-part series discussing the appropriate imaging modalities on which to obtain specific lower extremity measurements as well as proper measurement techniques, grouped by pathology. Furthermore, the normal value or range of values according to current literature is reported, along with the significance of abnormal measurements.

To evaluate whether operative irrigation and debridement (I&D) is necessary for the treatment of pediatric traumatic arthrotomies (TAs) secondary to gunshot wounds (GSWs) to prevent joint infections. Retrospective cohort study. US Academic Level I Trauma Center. Pediatric patients (age 0-17) with TAs secondary to GSW between 2016 and 2023 with at least 1-month follow-up were included. Arthrotomies included shoulder, elbow, wrist, hand, sacroiliac, hip, knee, ankle, or foot joints. The primary outcome was rate of joint infection between those who received acute operative I&D versus those who received nonoperative management. A subanalysis was completed only comparing "major joints." Within the cohorts, length of antibiotic treatment was compared. Fifty seven cases of ballistic TA (50 subjects, 82% male, mean age 14.6 years) were included. In total, 31 of 57 joints (54.4%) underwent formal operative I&D with or without fixation, while 26 joints (45.6%) did not. In the operative I&D cohort, 85% were male with a mean age 14.8 years versus 79% male with mean age of 14.3 years in the nonoperative group. Mean follow-up duration was 10.8 months (range 1-56 months) for both cohorts. No joint infections were documented between either group, regardless of treatment ( P = 1.0). In total, 38 TAs were major joints: 23 of 38 (60.5%) received I&D, while 15 of 38 (39.5%) did not. All joints received at least 1 dose of intravenous (IV) antibiotics. Among the operative group, 54.8% of joints received ≤72 hours of IV antibiotics (45.2% received >72 hours), compared with 46.2% of joints in the nonoperative group (53.8% received >72 hours). Formal operative I&D was not found to be necessary to prevent joint infection after TA secondary to GSW. Prolonged antibiotic use did not affect rates of infection. Therapeutic Level III. See Instructions for Authors for a complete description of levels of evidence.