Steder smitter: hiv, aids-medicin og tavshedens sociale liv i Khayelitsha

Denne artikel undersøger, hvordan tavshed udspiller sig i hverdagslivet i Khayelitsha township i Cape Town, Sydafrika, og hvad der driver dens udbredelse. I Sydafrika lever 5,6 millioner mennesker med hiv, og landet har verdens største aids- behandlingsprogram. Et udbredt fravær af mellemmenneskelig kommunikation om hiv og aids har ført til, at aids-epidemien i Sydafrika har været beskrevet som en epidemi af tavshed. Mens tidligere studier har fokuseret på smittevejen mellem tavshed og den sociale betydning af hiv og aids som en dødelig og stigmatiserende sygdom, belyser artiklen, hvordan tavshed også skal forstås i dens forbindelse til Khayelitsha som et specifikt sted, der intensiverer særlige vilkår for tavshed som en form for socialitet, der ikke er særlig for hiv og aids. Med et perspektiv på social smitte er det således artiklens argument, at det også er selve stedet - et hverdagsliv i tvungen intimitet – der smitter. Place is Contagious: hiv, aids medicine and the social life of silence in KhayelitshaThis article explores practices of silence in Khayelitsha township in Cape Town, South Africa, and seeks to investigate what drives silence as a widespread phenomenon. In South Africa, 5,6 million people are currently living with hiv and the country has the largest aids treatment programme in the world. The aids epidemic has often been paralleled to an epidemic of silence with reference to a significant absence of direct verbal communication about the disease. While previous studies have focused on the connection between silence and the association of hiv with death and stigma, the article argues that the spread of silence cannot be understood disconnected from Khayelitsha as a particular place that intensifies silence as a form of sociality not specific to hiv and aids. From a perspective on social contagion, the article argues that it is also the place itself – an everyday life in enforced intimacy – that is contagious.

Bioethanol from Germinated Grains.

The most well-known way to produce bioethanol is by the enzymatic hydrolysis and fermentation of starch. In a new project “BioConcens” (2007) sponsored by DARCOF (DAnish Research Center for Organic Food and farming) one aim is to develop a combined ethanol and biogas production for use in organic farming using starch containing biomass. Natural enzymes from cereals will be used for hydrolysis of starch to glucose in accordance with technology in brewing technology. Commercial enzymes are often produced from gene-modified organisms and will therefore not be used in the suggested organic context or process. A preliminary study was performed in which grains of wheat, rye, and barley were germinated using traditional methods applied in malting for beer production. During malting the amylase enzymes present in the grain are activated (autoamylolytic effect). Three steps were applied in the malting process; steeping, germination, and drying of the grains. After malting the grains were milled and mixed with water to 13% DM, cooked at 57.5C for 2 hours (to activate the enzymes), and cooled to 30C before adding Bakers Yeast. The results of this study indicate that efficient hydrolysis of starch can be achieved by activation of autoamylolytic enzymes in cereal grains after a malting process. The ethanol yields obtained in the autoamylolytic hydrolysis was comparable (or slightly higher) to that of reference experiments using commercial enzymes (amylases). The highest ethanol yield was obtained with wheat (0.34 g/g DM grain), followed by barley (0.31 g/g DM grain), and rye (0.29 g/g DM grain)

“Efter du var taget afsted, fortalte jeg aldrig nogen noget som helst”

Aphiwe skriver til mig i foråret 2019. Det er nu 8 år siden vi lærte hinanden at kende i Khayelitsha township, i udkanten af Cape Town i Sydafrika; den- gang Aphiwe var 19 år gammel, og jeg lavede feltarbejde i forbindelse med min ph.d. omkring HIV-positive familier i AIDS-behandling. Aphiwes far var HIV-positiv, han døde, da hun var 13 år gammel. Senere testede hen- des mor også positiv og kom i behandling, ligesom 20.000 andre beboere i Khayelitsha, der modtager statsfinansieret AIDS-medicin i bydelens klinik- ker. Da jeg mødte Aphiwe havde hun aldrig før talt med nogen om farens død eller morens HIV-positive status. Det var ikke fordi moren holdt sin status hemmelig; hun var åben over for familien, og det var ofte Aphiwes lillesøster, der hjalp med at administrere medicinen. Det var bare ikke no- get, de talte om

Mavefornemmelser og dårlige lugte: Pædagogers sansninger af familien i et socialt udsat boligområde

Denne artikel omhandler sansninger som en integreret del af den pædagogiske praksis i en børnehave beliggende i et socialt udsat boligområde. Med afsæt i den fænomenologiske antropologi og en orientering mod sanser og sanselighed udforsker artiklen, hvordan pædagogerne i børnehaven erfarer og søger at skabe viden om ’familien’, samt peger på de dilemmaer og potentialer, denne form for vidensskabelse indebærer. Med et perspektiv på det sanselige som politisk såvel som et begreb om atmosfære, argumenteres der for en større faglig opmærksomhed på det sanselige og en bevægelse henimod et fokus på, hvordan der vides i det pædagogiske arbejde og ikke kun, hvad der vides om børn og deres familier. Artiklen bygger på empiri fra et etnografisk feltarbejde.   [Abstract – UK]Gut feelings and bad smells – How pedagogues sense the family in a social housing area. This article addresses the sensorial as an integral part of the pedagogical practices in a Danish kindergarten located in a social housing area. Drawing on phenomenological anthropology and an orientation towards sensations, the article explores how the pedagogues in the kindergarten experience and come to know ‘the family’ as well as the dilemmas and potentials that this involves. With a perspective on sensations as political as well as by drawing on the notion of atmosphere, the article argues for greater attention to the sensorial within the pedagogical profession and a move towards exploring how pedagogues come to know as opposed to what they know about children and their families. The article builds on ethnographic fieldwork

Action spectroscopy of chlorophyll and other coordination complexes

Action spectroscopy provides key insights into the nature of electronic transitions of coordination complexes such as porhyrin-containing biochromophores like chlorophyll or transition metal complexes such as tris(bipyridine)ruthenium

Value Propositions of Public Adult Hearing Rehabilitation in Denmark

Objective: To obtain and evaluate detailed descriptions of potential value propositions as seen by adults undergoing hearing rehabilitation with hearing aids. Design: Semi-structured interviews with patients and audiologists, a literature search, and the inclusion of domain knowledge from experts and scientists were used to derive value propositions. A two-alternative forced-choice paradigm and probabilistic choice models were used to investigate hearing aid users’ preferences for the value propositions through an online platform. Study sample: Twelve hearing aid users (mean age 70, range 59–70) and eleven clinicians were interviewed. A total of 173 experienced hearing aid users evaluated the value propositions. Results: Twenty-nine value propositions as described by patients, clinicians, and hearing care experts where identified, from which twenty-one value propositions were evaluated. Results of the pair-wise evaluation method show that the value propositions judged to be the most important for the hearing aid users were: “13. To solve the hearing problem you have”, “09. Thorough diagnosis of the hearing”, and “16. The hearing aid solution is adapted to individual needs”, which are related to finding the correct hearing solution and to be considered in the process. The value propositions judged to be least important were: “04 Next of kin and others involved in the process”, “26. To be in the same room as the practitioner”, and “29. The practitioner’s human characteristics”, related to the involvement of others in the process and the proximity and personal manner of the practitioners.</p