Confronting Death: Co-infection with HIV/AIDS and Hepatitis C

This paper discusses a qualitative study completed by the researcher revealing the need for assistance for people living with a co-infection of HIV/AIDS and hepatitis C. It is the role of a social worker to assist this at-risk population. Services must be made available to those co-infected, including courses on end of life coping skills, substance abuse, stigma, and depression and anxiety. Included in this article is a study that documents qualitative data from clients at a Drop-in Center in Providence, Rhode Island for people living with HIV/AIDS. The data proved inconclusive with regards to co-infection and death and dying, but demonstrates that death and dying still play a large role in persons diagnosed with HIV. Within the excerpts, the following 5 themes were identified: initial shock and references to dying, drug use as a method for coping with death, perseverance after initial diagnosis, hepatitis C adding additional worry and stress to HIV diagnosis, and the inability to cope with death and dying. Implications suggest that further data be collected on this topic and that death and dying needs to be addressed by social workers in a therapeutic setting when working with this population

Recording single-channel activity of inositol trisphosphate receptors in intact cells with a microscope, not a patch clamp.

Optical single-channel recording is a novel tool for the study of individual Ca2+-permeable channels within intact cells under minimally perturbed physiological conditions. As applied to the functioning and spatial organization of IP3Rs, this approach complements our existing knowledge, which derives largely from reduced systems - such as reconstitution into lipid bilayers and patch clamping of IP3Rs on the membrane of excised nuclei - where the spatial arrangement and interactions among IP3Rs via CICR are disrupted. The ability to image the activity of single IP3R channels with millisecond resolution together with localization of their positions with a precision of a few tens of nanometers both raises several intriguing questions and holds promise of answers. In particular, what mechanism underlies the anchoring of puffs and blips to static locations; why do these Ca2+ release events appear to involve only a very small fraction of the IP3Rs within a cell; and how can we reconcile the relative immotility of functional IP3Rs with numerous studies reporting free diffusion of IP3R protein in the ER membrane

Groundwater data management by water service providers in peri-urban areas of Lusaka

Groundwater management by water service providers in Lusaka, Zambia, includes borehole siting, drilling and on-going monitoring. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with Lusaka Water and Sewerage Company (LWSC) and devolved Water Trust managers, in order to assess their needs and collect their suggestions to improve data management. The research found that both the Water Trusts and LWSC lacked the capacity to fully utilize hydrogeological information. Prior to the research, none of the ten Water Trusts collected water level data. Four have started to collect data recently and another four have plans to, and they would like to share this data more widely

‘Manchester calling’ ¿Por qué?

Manchester’s ‘northern quarter’, an area targeted for regeneration – cheap hostels, clubs, old textile businesses and new cafe bars – was, on the Tuesday evening, rapidly shutting up shop. There had been rumours from late afternoon that Salford about a mile away had seen trouble, and restaurant owners round here were taking no chances. We took refuge in a Lebanese place off Oldham Street while the kids set off on their bikes to see what was happening a block or two south and reported back from time to time on events in Piccadilly gardens. An occasional flash of blue light, people sprinting from one alleyway to the other, stories of stones thrown, and all this in a growing atmosphere of tense, expectant, unusual silence. The trams and bus system closed down by mid-evening, music venues were told by the authorities to stop early, so by now there was a different mix; city centre workers and customers were moving out, anxious about how to get home, some locals were working their way down to the centre to see what was what, and small huddles of youth hung around the corners with nowhere to go. Everyone looked suspicious, looking suspiciously at each other, made objects of suspicion, and already separation was at work, division of each from the other, and no place in this for solidarity, just disorganisation and uncertainty about what would happen next.El “barrio norte” de Manchester, una zona objetivo de rehabilitación –hoteles baratos, clubs, viejos negocios textiles y modernos cafés– se convirtió aquel martes por la tarde en una tienda que cerraba sus puertas apresuradamente. A última hora de la tarde circulaban rumores de que en Salford, a escasa distancia de allí, se había armado. Los dueños de los restaurantes no estaban para correr ningún riesgo. Nos refugiamos en un libanés de una bocacalle de Oldham Street mientras los niños marchaban en bici a echar un vistazo un par de edificios hacia el sur; venían de tanto en cuando a dar el parte sobre los acontecimientos, del parque de Piccadilly. Podíamos ver algún que otro destello azul, personas que pasaban corriendo de un callejón a otro, relatos de piedras lanzadas; todo transcurría en medio de un silencio cada vez más tenso, expectante, inusual. Los tranvías y autobuses habían dejado de funcionar a media tarde, las autoridades pidieron que los locales de conciertos cerraran pronto, de modo que a esas horas el ambiente era distinto a otros días. Los trabajadores y clientes del centro de la ciudad empezaban a marcharse, inquietos por cómo volver a sus casas, algunos bajaban al centro para ver qué pasaba, y pequeños grupos de jóvenes permanecían en las esquinas sin lugar al que ir. Todos parecían sospechosos, todos se miraban, todos se habían convertido en objeto de sospecha; se iniciaba el proceso de separación, de división entre unos y otros, que no dejaba espacio a la solidaridad; un escenario de desorganización e incertidumbre sobre lo estaba por veni

Desafío total: psicología, psicoanálisis y virtualidad

Algunas de las especulaciones acerca de la relación entre tecnología y la naturaleza humana que se encuentran en los escritos de Ciencia Ficción del último medio siglo han pasado a formar parte del lenguaje y la cotidianidad de los sujetos post-industriales. Los futuros que se dibujan en los textos de Ciencia Ficción ayudan a entender en qué nos hemos convertido. Las nuevas formas de experiencia, las relaciones sociales y las formas de subjetividad que se hallan en la Ciencia Ficción pueden considerarse como recursos legítimos para el examen del presente. Y, en la medida que el pasado se reproduce a partir de nuevos sistemas dominantes de significados, lo que entendemos como realidad a partir de la tecnología y la naturaleza empieza a desaparecer. A menudo se llega a esta situación cuando no se sabe qué realidad es la correcta entre la miríada de realidades alternativas. Este artículo explora el modo en que el discurso psicoanalítico, tan enraizado en la cultura popular, encuentra en la psicología uno de sus máximos exponentes para fomentar subjetividades en armonía con la sociedad contemporánea

Short communications: Honeyguides and beeswax: preferences and support for olfaction in locating it

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Does facial physiognomy in the context of anoccupational safety and health message predict outcomes?

Physiognomy, the practice of looking to another person’s outward facial appearance to unmask the inner character of that person, has had a diverse historical impact within art, medicine, theology, anthropology, law, criminology, political history, psychology, psychiatry, and popular culture, since it was conceptualised in Greece during the 5th and 4th centuries B.C (Physiognomy, 1999-2009, 2009a). Aristotle, the prominent Greek philosopher, penned many chapters on physiognomic properties and touched upon strength/weakness, genius/stupidity, and other trait characteristics and their opposites in so far as such characteristics were associated with facial form (Physiognomy, 2006, 2009b). In more modern times, facial recognition and evaluation of faces is seen as a function of evolution that has significance with regard to approach/avoidance behaviour (Oosterhof & Todorov, 2008). These authors found that evaluation of emotionally neutral faces can be explained by judgements of two traits, facial trustworthiness and facial dominance, and that these traits can be related to the facial expressions for happy and angry, respectively. Evidence from advertising, psychological, and neurobiological experiments show that facial physiognomy, the concept that a person’s character can be revealed from their facial features, influences cognitive and emotional judgements. The belief is that people possess the ability to read the character of another person from facial expressions and facial appearance. People make trait judgements based on facial physiognomy (Highfield, Wiseman, & Jenkins, 2009). The exploration of facial physiognomy is an ever increasing endeavour, particularly when people make social judgements to infer another person’s ability to harm or the ability to cause harm (Oosterhof & Toderov, 2009; Oosterhof & Todorov, 2008). In this mixed method study, computer software was used to morph the facial physiognomy of an endorser, actor, model or spokesperson as shown in the context of an occupational safety and health promotional message. This study endeavoured to establish to what extent facial presentation, and the evaluation thereof, influences the effectiveness of health promotional images. Five versions of facial physiognomy were explored along trustworthy/untrustworthy and dominant/passive dimensions. The advertising believability scale was utilised as a primary measure of advertisement validity (Beltramini, 1988). For comparison purposes Ohanian’s (1990) source-credibility scale for evaluating endorser attractiveness, trustworthiness, and expertise was also utilised as a measuring instrument. Endorser dominance was measured with the perceived dominance scale (Manusov, 2005). Qualitative data was collected using semi-structured in-depth interviews to analyse the process of endorser selection. Transcribed interviews were coded and thematically analysed. These data were considered particularly useful to inform the creative strategy of marketing professionals in the development of visual domain advertising. Quantitative data was collected with the aid of a structured questionnaire designed to measure recall of a safety message, agreement with the message, the likelihood of practicing the behaviours presented in the message, and belief of the information presented in the message. Quantitative data were analysed utilising descriptive statistics, advanced parametric statistics, tables, figures and graphs. Data from both qualitative and quantitative sources were compared and interpreted as a whole; juxtaposed against underlying theory. This study contributes new knowledge to occupational safety and health promotion by examining endorser facial graphics in creative artwork and gauging messages effectiveness in light of the facial representation. The research has utility for academics, advertising, marketing, health promotion, and occupational safety and health practitioners involved in the development of promotional materials through evidence-based practices, endorser selection, image enhancement, and advertising awareness. An original and significant contribution will be made to the occupational safety and health literature

Short communications: On birds and bees

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