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Work exploring inter-species relating has offered a critique of the anthropocentrism evident within much social sciences research and also suggested that the coming together of the human and animal- Other may offer up potential for an opening-up of human existence. In this article we explore this theoretical move and push it to the limits by examining the relationship between the human and a very particular animal- Other, the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV). Thus we move the focus from an analysis of companionate human-animal relating (Haraway, 2003, 2008) to what appears to be antagonistic species relating. This is empirically grounded through the story of one man living with this virus and how he has come to find a way to accommodate the animal- Other. This article aims to not only advance theory but also provide insights into how it might be possible to find new ways of living with a viral- Other.

Highly Active Anti-Retroviral Treatment (HAART) has reduced death and morbidity among people with HIV. However, HAART is not always effective, can produce serious side-effects and implies uncertainty for patients. To address HAART-related uncertainty, 20 qualitative interviews were conducted with gay men with HIV in Glasgow and London. The interviewees were purposively selected to reflect diversity in terms of year of diagnosis, experiences of illness and treatment-related side-effects. The interviews were analysed using the constant comparison method to derive themes. Among those using HAART, analysis identified themes of 'good health', 'illness' and 'loss of confidence'. Uncertainty was managed through a discourse of 'technological horizon' that combined the ongoing innovations of HAART and biographical time. These themes are discussed in terms of the implications for HIV care. In particular, technological horizon provides a basis for the management of uncertainty in the prescribing relationship between patient and clinician.

Chemistry: Atoms First 2e is a peer-reviewed, openly licensed introductory textbook produced through a collaborative publishing partnership between OpenStax and the University of Connecticut and UConn Undergraduate Student Government Association.This text is an atoms-first adaptation of OpenStax Chemistry 2e. The intention of "atoms-first" involves a few basic principles: first, it introduces atomic and molecular structure much earlier than the traditional approach, and it threads these themes through subsequent chapters. This approach may be chosen as a way to delay the introduction of material such as stoichiometry that students traditionally find abstract and difficult, thereby allowing students time to acclimate their study skills to chemistry. Additionally, it gives students a basis for understanding the application of quantitative principles to the chemistry that underlies the entire course. It also aims to center the study of chemistry on the atomic foundation that many will expand upon in a later course covering organic chemistry, easing that transition when the time arrives. The second edition has been revised to incorporate clearer, more current, and more dynamic explanations, while maintaining the same organization as the first edition. Substantial improvements have been made in the figures, illustrations, and example exercises that support the text narrative. The first edition of Chemistry: Atoms First by OpenStax is available in web view here.

This article examines discourse on immunity in general public engagements with pandemic influenza in light of critical theory on immuno-politics and bodily integrity. Interview and focus group discussions on influenza with members of the general public reveal that, despite endorsement of government advice on how to avoid infection, influenza is seen as, ultimately, unavoidable. In place of prevention, members of the general public speak of immunity as the means of coping with influenza infection. Such talk on corporeal life under microbial threat is informed by self/not-self, network and 'choice' immunity, and therefore makes considerable allowance for cosmopolitan traffic with others, microbes, 'dirt' and immune-boosting consumer products. The immuno-political orientation of members of the general public, therefore, appears to trend towards a productive cosmopolitanism that contrasts with more orthodox bioscientific and governmental approaches to pandemic influenza. We reflect on the implications of the immuno-cosmopolitanism of everyday life for the advent of global public health emergency and for biopolitical rule in general.

Hook-up websites and apps are said to be transforming the sexual lives of gay men and have been linked with the apparent erosion of gay publics as the basis for identity politics and social action. This article examines these dynamics in the interview and focus-group talk of gay men living on the economic and geographical margins of metropolitan gay culture. It offers perspectives on the importance of location – class, generation and space – for the experience of digital media, the negotiation of safety, and the new codifications and elaborations on sex with the (non) stranger; a figure who is not alien, yet not familiar, in sexual sociality. Reflecting on these situated perspectives in connection with debates on the erosion of gay publics, this article argues against monolithic framings of gay men's sexual lives after digital media.

In this article, we examine the apparent resistance of publics to messages regarding pandemic influenza. The 2009 H1N1 pandemic was addressed through media: governments used print, broadcast, and digital media to advise publics to enact hygiene practices and comply with social isolation; news media took up the pandemic as a lead story. Publics, however, rated the pandemic as not serious, even before it was widely known that it was mild for most. This problem is presently constructed as complacency: where individuals are seen to lack appropriate motivation to avoid risk. We combine perspectives on media reflexivity on the part of audiences with general public interviews and focus groups in Australia and the UK, to offer an alternative explanation for complacency. Publics endorse public health advice, but are skeptical of pandemic risk communication. They exhibit critical awareness of outbreak narrative and concomitant emotions, such as fear, which are coded into media stories. We, therefore, challenge the view that publics are complacent. Instead, governments must navigate an emerging terrain of ramified and critical media consumption to shape effective risk communication in time of global health emergency.

Chemistry: Atoms First is a peer-reviewed, openly licensed introductory textbook produced through a collaborative publishing partnership between OpenStax and the University of Connecticut and UConn Undergraduate Student Government Association. This title is an adaptation of the OpenStax Chemistry text and covers scope and sequence requirements of the two-semester general chemistry course. Reordered to fit an atoms first approach, this title introduces atomic and molecular structure much earlier than the traditional approach, delaying the introduction of more abstract material so students have time to acclimate to the study of chemistry. Chemistry: Atoms First also provides a basis for understanding the application of quantitative principles to the chemistry that underlies the entire course.

News media can be an important source of information about emerging health threats. They are also significant sites for the production of narrative on threats to life that help to condition and reflect the responses of governments and publics. Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is one such health threat with particular significance because it represents the failure to manage the risks to antibiotics and other antimicrobials, health technologies that have provided the basis for modern medicine. Knowledge of how news media address this situation is an important element for an effective public health response to AMR and helps to extend the social analysis of health and media. Based on an analysis of television, printed and digital news for 2017 in Australia, this paper examines the patterns and meanings of AMR news. It shows that AMR is a fragmented story mainly framed by scientific discovery. These stories reassure audiences that science is seeking out the means of arresting AMR and, therefore, also constructs lay publics as passive witnesses to the AMR story. This pattern of AMR story-telling furthers the social standing of science and scientists, but it also neglects deliberation on collective action, important lacunae in the social response to AMR.

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) imperils health for people across the world. This enormous challenge is being met with the rationalisation of prescription, dispensing and consumption of antimicrobials in clinical settings and in the everyday lives of members of the general population. Individuals need to be reached outside clinical settings to prepare them for the necessary changes to the pharmaceutical management of infections; efforts that depend on media and communications and, therefore, how the AMR message is mediated, received and applied. In 2016, the UK Review on Antimicrobial Resistance called on governments to support intense, worldwide media activity to promote public awareness and to further efforts to rationalise the use of antimicrobial pharmaceuticals. In this article, we consider this communications challenge in light of contemporary currents of thought on media publics, including: the tendency of health communications to cast experts and lay individuals in opposition; the blaming of individuals who appear to 'resist' expert advice; the challenges presented by negative stories of AMR and their circulation in public life, and; the problems of public trust tied to the construction and mediation of expert knowledge on the effective management of AMR.

AbstractThis paper investigates One Health (OH) applied to antimicrobial resistance (AMR) to deepen and nuance its conceptual underpinnings and inform effective implementation. We consider how models of OH and AMR wedded to bioscience assumptions of life obscure biosocial complexity and reinforce the misleading assumption that scientific knowledge of AMR is generated outside social systems. With reference to in-depth interviews with medical practitioners, scientists and policy-makers working on AMR in Australia and the UK, we explore accounts of OH action on AMR. We show that the implementation of OH is subject to some fragmentation due to workforce organisation, funding arrangements and the absence of detailed guidance for translating OH into practice. Despite OH aspirations for transdisciplinary cooperation and innovation, human-centrism and somewhat incommensurable professional and scientific views on OH constrain trust in the policy approach and limit effective action. We discuss how, in some settings, OH action on AMR does resemble policy aspirations when emphasis is placed on collaborative humility, a finding that underlines OH's biosocial character. We argue for the development of more robust biosocial models of OH to guide its application to AMR in real world settings.

COVID-19 lockdown presented a novel opportunity to study the experiences of people attempting to maintain friendships in the context of worldwide, government-enforced physical distancing and lockdown. Here we report on an experiential, idiographic qualitative project with a purposive sample of Scottish students. Data was collected via one-to-one on-line interviews with nine student participants (N = 9). Data was transcribed and analyzed using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA). Analysis highlighted three group-level experiential themes (GETs) and associated subthemes. Participants' shared experiences of maintaining friendships were reflected in a dynamic process by which (1) 'changes to communication' were associated with experiences of (2) 'effort and balance' across friendships. Participants reported becoming particularly aware of the psychological processes involved in maintaining friendships, in turn, this was associated with (3) 'reflection and growth.' These experiential findings resonate well with several longstanding classic theories; however, they also speak to the particularities of the context in which the study was conducted. They suggest the need for a pandemic psychology that moves beyond the typical focus on the direct impacts of infectious disease to address the wider psychosocial impacts with equal vigor.

Background: Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a growing public health problem across the world. As the negative consequences of AMR become apparent at local, national and international levels, more attention is being focussed on the variety of mechanisms by which AMR is potentiated. We explore how interactions between pet owners and veterinarians represent a key arena in which AMR-related behaviours can be shaped. Methods: In depth semi-structured interviews were carried out with pet owners (n=23) and vets (n=16) across the UK in 2017. A thematic analysis approach was taken, with inductively gathered data analysed deductively using a behavioural framework to identified key behaviours emerging from participant accounts which were amenable to change. Results: Interactions between vets and pet owners were characterised by misunderstandings and misconceptions around antibiotics by pet owners, and a lack of clarity about the positions and intentions of the other party. Vets and pet owners had differing perceptions of where pressure to prescribe antibiotics inappropriately originated. Vets perceived it was mostly pet owners who pushed for inappropriate antibiotics, whereas pet owners reported they felt it was vets that overprescribed. Low levels of understanding of AMR in general were apparent amongst pet owners and understandings with regard to AMR in pets specifically were almost non-existent in the sample. Conclusions: Improved use of antibiotics could be assisted by educating the pet owning public and by guideline development for companion animal vets, concurrent development of mandatory legislation, increased consultation time to facilitate better communication, development of vet training on antimicrobial therapy and stewardship led interactions with pet owners, and increased levels of knowledge of pet-related AMR amongst pet owners.