Genetic determinants of glucose levels in pregnancy: genetic risk scores analysis and GWAS in the Norwegian STORK cohort

Objective: Hyperglycaemia during pregnancy increases the risk of adverse health outcomes in mother and child, but the genetic aetiology is scarcely studied. Our aims were to (1) assess the overlapping genetic aetiology between the pregnant and non-pregnant population and (2) assess the importance of genome-wide polygenic contributions to glucose traits during pregnancy, by exploring whether genetic risk scores (GRSs) for fasting glucose (FG), 2-h glucose (2hG), type 2 diabetes (T2D) and BMI in non-pregnant individuals were associated with glucose measures in pregnant women. Methods: We genotyped 529 Norwegian pregnant women and constructed GRS from known genome-wide significant variants and SNPs weakly associated (p>5×10−) with FG, 2hG, BMI and T2D from external genome-wide association studies (GWAS) and examined the association between these scores and glucose measures at gestational weeks 14-16 and 30-32. We also performed GWAS of FG, 2hG and shape information from the glucose curve during an oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT). Results: GRS explained similar variance during pregnancy as in the non-pregnant population (~5%). GRS and GRS explained up to 1.3% of the variation in the glucose traits in pregnancy. If we included variants more weakly associated with these traits, GRS and GRS explained up to 2.4% of the variation in the glucose traits in pregnancy, highlighting the importance of polygenic contributions. Conclusions: Our results suggest overlap in the genetic aetiology of FG in pregnant and non-pregnant individuals. This was less apparent with 2hG, suggesting potential differences in postprandial glucose metabolism inside and outside of pregnancy

Hyperoxic Treatment Induces Mesenchymal-to-Epithelial Transition in a Rat Adenocarcinoma Model

Tumor hypoxia is relevant for tumor growth, metabolism and epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT). We report that hyperbaric oxygen (HBO) treatment induced mesenchymal-to-epithelial transition (MET) in a dimetyl-α-benzantracene induced mammary rat adenocarcinoma model, and the MET was associated with extensive coordinated gene expression changes and less aggressive tumors. One group of tumor bearing rats was exposed to HBO (2 bar, pO2 = 2 bar, 4 exposures à 90 minutes), whereas the control group was housed under normal atmosphere (1 bar, pO2 = 0.2 bar). Treatment effects were determined by assessment of tumor growth, tumor vascularisation, tumor cell proliferation, cell death, collagen fibrils and gene expression profile. Tumor growth was significantly reduced (∼16%) after HBO treatment compared to day 1 levels, whereas control tumors increased almost 100% in volume. Significant decreases in tumor cell proliferation, tumor blood vessels and collagen fibrils, together with an increase in cell death, are consistent with tumor growth reduction and tumor stroma influence after hyperoxic treatment. Gene expression profiling showed that HBO induced MET. In conclusion, hyperoxia induced MET with coordinated expression of gene modules involved in cell junctions and attachments together with a shift towards non-tumorigenic metabolism. This leads to more differentiated and less aggressive tumors, and indicates that oxygen per se might be an important factor in the “switches” of EMT and MET in vivo. HBO treatment also attenuated tumor growth and changed tumor stroma, by targeting the vascular system, having anti-proliferative and pro-apoptotic effects

Community-based organizing against HIV and for rights among same-sex attracted men in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, 2018

Despite the disproportionate burden of HIV being carried by same-sex practicing men in many African countries, HIV prevention programming targeting such men is still scant. However, in Dar es Salaam a nascent grassroots organizing against HIV and for health and rights is currently emerging. If successful, this kind of organizing may have the potential to play a significant role for HIV prevention. Building on previous research among MSM in Dar es Salaam and using a set of complementary qualitative research methods, this project generated new knowledge about the ongoing evolvement of community-based HIV- and rights-related work among MSM. The study focused on how community-based groups strategize and work, the ways in which they manage to engage and involve a diverse population of MSM in HIV prevention, the ways in which they may achieve contact and collaboration with the 'mainstream HIV establishment', and the ways in which the ongoing work may lead to adjustment or adoption of practices that provide added protection or harm reduction with respect to HIV. The postdoctoral candidate joined one or more of the mentioned groups as a participant, and at the same time, with group members as co-investigators, studied the processes community-based actors go through as they debate, formulate, implement and evaluate community-based activities. The study also employed dialogical interviews (with MSM, 'mainstream' HIV actors and other key informants), group discussions, and media monitoring. The project was carried out in collaboration between the University of Oslo and the Muhimbili University. It contributed to a strengthening of research capacity and competence both in a Norwegian and a Tanzanian university. A third institution with an exceptional international standing also joined the collaboration: the National Centre in HIV Social Research in Sydney, where the postdoctoral candidate was a visiting researcher for 6 months. Data based on participating observations and qualitative interviews. For further information about "Community-based organizing against HIV and for rights among same-sex attracted men in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, 2018" please contact the principal investigator

The push of stigma: a qualitative study on the experiences and consequences of sexuality stigma among same-sex attracted men in Harare, Zimbabwe

This paper describes experiences of sexuality stigma among same-sex attracted men in Zimbabwe and analyses the consequences of such experiences for healthcare seeking. It draws on qualitative research carried out in Harare in 2017, which included in-depth interviews with sixteen gay and bisexual men, and key informant interviews with three representatives of organisations that work with gay men. There were numerous stories about sexuality stigma in the study participants´ social environments, including at home, in local communities and in healthcare facilities. We first offer a description of these and then go on to trace the implications of stigma on the relations between men who have sex with men on the one hand and the healthcare sector on the other. We conceive of stigma as a pushing force that exerts pressure on and in these relations, and identify five types of consequences of this. Stigma works to (1) produce geographical shifts in healthcare, (2) promote private over public care, (3) compartmentalise healthcare (with dedicated providers for queer persons), (4) deprofessionalise care, and (5) block access to appropriate healthcare altogether for some same-sex attracted men. Most of these consequences have negative implications for preventive or treatment-focused HIV programming

Gender, letters, relatives, and God: mediating actors in mammographic screening among Pakistani women in Norway.

Background Pakistani immigrant women in Norway have lower attendance rates in the national breast cancer screening program (BreastScreen Norway) compared to non-immigrants and immigrants from most other countries. Purpose To identify and explore human and non-human actors that play a role for Pakistani immigrant women’s attendance in the program. Material and Methods Qualitative interviews with 16 Norwegian-Pakistani women in 2017 and 2018. Inspired by Latour, we explored how human and non-human actors act and interact when Pakistani immigrant women consider attendance in BreastScreen Norway. Results Among the actors found to play a significant role in the relationship between Pakistani immigrant women and the screening program were trust in the healthcare system and breast cancer screening, the gender of the screening radiographer, the written information received from the screening program, family life, daughters, general practitioners, non-governmental organizations, religious beliefs, private service providers, monetary expenses, accessibility, worries, and digital tools. Conclusion Many human and non-human actors work to shape and influence Pakistani immigrant women’s screening attendance, or lack thereof, for instance by creating thoughts, promoting opportunities, raising doubts and generating worries, thus variously encouraging, enabling, facilitating, discouraging or preventing attendance in organized breast cancer screening

Gender, letters, relatives, and God: mediating actors in mammographic screening among Pakistani women in Norway.

Background: Pakistani immigrant women in Norway have lower attendance rates in the national breast cancer screening program (BreastScreen Norway) compared to non-immigrants and immigrants from most other countries. Purpose: To identify and explore human and non-human actors that play a role for Pakistani immigrant women’s attendance in the program. Material and Methods: Qualitative interviews with 16 Norwegian-Pakistani women in 2017 and 2018. Inspired by Latour, we explored how human and non-human actors act and interact when Pakistani immigrant women consider attendance in BreastScreen Norway. Results: Among the actors found to play a significant role in the relationship between Pakistani immigrant women and the screening program were trust in the healthcare system and breast cancer screening, the gender of the screening radiographer, the written information received from the screening program, family life, daughters, general practitioners, non-governmental organizations, religious beliefs, private service providers, monetary expenses, accessibility, worries, and digital tools. Conclusion: Many human and non-human actors work to shape and influence Pakistani immigrant women’s screening attendance, or lack thereof, for instance by creating thoughts, promoting opportunities, raising doubts and generating worries, thus variously encouraging, enabling, facilitating, discouraging or preventing attendance in organized breast cancer screening

Non-disabled Ableism: An Autoethnography of Cultural Encounters between a Non-disabled Researcher and Disabled People in the Field

This article describes situations where preconceptions about disabled people were made apparent in a non-disabled researcher’s thoughts, words and actions in the course of fieldwork for a qualitative study into the lives of disabled young adults. The article uses these experiences as entry points to discovery and analysis of cultural ableism. It draws on critical theory and insights from the social model of disability and takes an autoethnographic approach to highlight the researcher’s preconceptions and her process towards a more nuanced understanding of disability

Ethnography of texts: a literature review of health and female homosexuality in Brazil

This paper reviews the literature on health and female homosexuality in Brazil and, along the way, outlines an alternative approach to reviewing academic literature. Rather than summarising the contents of previously published papers, we relate to these publications primarily as partakers in the creation of knowledge. Inspired by Actor-Network Theory (ANT), we apply ethnographic methods to understand the papers as study participants endowed with action. We also draw on the notions of inscription and intertextuality to trace the complex relationship between the findings in the articles and the realities outside of them. We claim that ‘evidence’ is the product of translational processes in which original events, such as experiments, blood tests and interviews, are changed into textual entities. In addition, text production is seen as an absorption of everything else surrounding its creation. When events are turned into articles, the text incorporates the political environment to which original events once belonged. We thus observe a political text inscribed into the written evidence of sexually transmitted infections, and the practice of publishing about scientific vulnerabilities emerges as political action. In contrast with traditional ways of reviewing literature in medical scholarship, this article offers a reminder that although there is a connection between textual evidence and the reality outside publications, these dimensions are not neutrally interchangeable

The language of percentages: Ranking Bodies, Shaping Realities, and Limiting Opportunities

Purpose: This exploratory study is situated in a critical tradition. It aims to describe and analyse the reliance on percentage assessments of functional capacity among a group of young adults in rehabilitation after serious motor vehicle accidents. Methods: Qualitative interviews and participant observation. Thematic and theoretically informed analysis was carried out. Results: The concept of percentages played a significant role in the study participants’ meaning-making processes as they went through rehabilitation. Percentage scores below 100 made a strong impression on them and were associated with strong emotions. They also strove to prove their scores wrong, often by attempting to function in full time (100%) employment positions. Significantly, many talked as if they “were” their percentage scores. Conclusions: The utility of percentage logics is to describe parts of that which is full and whole, and we argue that this logic provides for specific and problematic ways of seeing and understanding impairment and disability. When scored on hierarchical scales, functional tests by necessity rank bodies and bodily functions as better or worse while precluding alternative understandings of affected function. The final version of this research has been published in Disability and Rehabilitation. © 2017 Taylor & Franci

Non-disabled ableism: An autoethnography of cultural encounters between a non-disabled researcher and disabled people in the field

This article describes situations where preconceptions about disabled people were made apparent in a non-disabled researcher’s thoughts, words and actions in the course of fieldwork for a qualitative study into the lives of disabled young adults. The article uses these experiences as entry points to discovery and analysis of cultural ableism. It draws on critical theory and insights from the social model of disability, and takes an autoethnographic approach to highlight the researcher’s preconceptions and her process towards a more nuanced understanding of disability