The Biomedical Closet? Undetectability among HIV-positive Gay Men in India

The discourse of Undetectability, referring to the effect of HIV viral suppression on forward sexual transmission, is at the heart of the current paradigm of Treatment-as-Prevention and is invested with hopes of eliminating stigma. But ethnographic examination of the way HIV-positive gay and bisexual men in four major Indian cities experience Undetectability reveals a more complicated picture. Rather than resolve the problem of HIV stigma, Undetectability enables new ways of managing it, including ethical non-disclosure in the face of social danger. This reveals three paradoxes inherent in the universalism of Treatment-as-Prevention and its reliance on biomedical solutions

High fun: An ethnography of HIV risk and stigma among gay and bisexual men in urban India

This thesis is an ethnography of HIV risk and stigma among gay and bisexual men in urban India, a demographic that is underrepresented in HIV/Aids research. It explores the effects of the biomedicalization of the HIV/Aids epidemic over the past decade (Kenworthy, Thomann, and Parker 2018) at both the policy and personal level, and asks what an anthropology of the treatment-as-prevention era might look like. I begin by offering an anthropological account of “high fun”, as sexualized drug use is known among gay and bisexual men India, attending closely to the some of its “organizing logics” (Race 2015) and the way in which interlocutors make sense of and navigate a variety of risks in these contexts. In doing so, I problematize some of the tendencies of both traditional and critical “chemsex” research, almost all of which refers to gay communities in Europe, North-America, and Australia (Møller & Hakim 2021). I then suggest the failure to reach men who are into high fun is symptomatic of the decline of India’s celebrated strategy of targeted intervention, and exposes several tensions in the conceptualization and mobilization of “community” in Indian HIV/Aids governance. Moving beyond prevention, the final part of this thesis focuses on gay and bisexual men living with HIV, some of whom trace their infection to high fun. Challenging the assumption that treatment-as-prevention technologies and discourses will reduce stigma, I argue the discourse of Undetectability, referring to the impact of viral suppression on forward sexual transmission, instead contributes to the closeting of HIV among gay and bisexual men in the face of intense social risk. I then ask how a more thoroughly intersectional approach to HIV stigma might help us understand its persistence despite the medical normalization of HIV/Aids. All this attests to the continued importance of anthropological engagement with HIV/Aids at a time when biomedical triumphalism (Kenworthy, Thomann, and Parker 2018) threatens to marginalize social approaches to the epidemic

Waar halen ze het vandaan? Onderzoek naar motivatie van docenten in het voortgezet onderwijs

Een baan in het middelbaar onderwijs: blijkbaar een hele opgave als we onze omgeving moeten geloven. Ook de literatuur stelt dit beroep in een kwaad daglicht. Docent worden? De demotivatie zou bij voorbaat al toeslaan! Toch bestaan er genoeg docenten die zich, zelfs na jaren, met plezier inzetten voor hun vak. Hoe komt dit? Dit artikel probeert antwoord te geven op de vraag ‘Waardoor worden docenten in het middelbaar onderwijs gemotiveerd?’. Kenmerken van motivatie worden vanuit theorie en praktijk onder de loep genomen, evenals factoren die van invloed zijn op motivatie en welke rol leservaring speelt. Het artikel eindigt met een lijstje met motivatietips voor startende docenten

Adolescents and Young Adults Living With an Uncertain or Poor Cancer Prognosis:The "New" Lost Tribe

Historically, adolescent and young adult (AYA) patients with cancer, diagnosed for the first time at age 15 through 39 years, have often been identified as a "lost tribe" without a medical "home"; neither pediatric nor adult oncology services were able to provide ageappropriate care to this specific group. Internationally, AYA care programs are being established to bridge the gap between the age-defined healthcare worlds and to address the specific needs of AYAs with cancer. However, AYA care programs mostly focus on improving cure rates and addressing survivorship issues, and direct less attention to the unique needs of those living with an uncertain and/or poor cancer prognosis. Additionally, palliative care services are typically poorly equipped to address the age-specific needs of this group. Given that increasingly more AYAs with an uncertain and/or poor cancer prognosis are gaining life years because of novel treatments, and sometimes even face the prospect of longterm disease control, AYA care programs should address the unique palliative care needs of this "new" lost tribe within AYA oncology. This report provides a definition and description of the AYA population living with an uncertain and/or poor cancer prognosis in terms of epidemiologic, clinical, and psychosocial characteristics and challenges, and provides perspectives for future research and care initiatives. It also highlights the need to comprehensively examine the experience of AYAs who are living with uncertain and/or poor cancer prognosis to adjust best care practices for this unique group

Inhalation of β2 agonists impairs the clearance of nontypable Haemophilus influenzae from the murine respiratory tract

BACKGROUND: Nontypable Haemophilus influenzae (NTHi) is a common bacterial pathogen causing human respiratory tract infections under permissive conditions such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Inhalation of β2-receptor agonists is a widely used treatment in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. The aim of this study was to determine the effect of inhalation of β2 agonists on the host immune response to respiratory tract infection with NTHi. METHODS: Mouse alveolar macrophages were stimulated in vitro with NTHi in the presence or absence of the β2 receptor agonists salmeterol or salbutamol. In addition, mice received salmeterol or salbutamol by inhalation and were intranasally infected with NTHi. End points were pulmonary inflammation and bacterial loads. RESULTS: Both salmeterol and salbutamol inhibited NTHi induced tumor necrosis factor-α (TNFα) release by mouse alveolar macrophages in vitro by a β receptor dependent mechanism. In line, inhalation of either salmeterol or salbutamol was associated with a reduced early TNFα production in lungs of mice infected intranasally with NTHi, an effect that was reversed by concurrent treatment with the β blocker propranolol. The clearance of NTHi from the lungs was impaired in mice treated with salmeterol or salbutamol, an adverse effect that was prevented by propranolol and independent of the reduction in TNFα. CONCLUSION: These data suggest that inhalation of salmeterol or salbutamol may negatively influence an effective clearance of NTHi from the airways

No effect of topical digoxin and furosemide gel for patients with external anogenital warts

Drug Delivery Technolog