Queer theory has been a key player on the academic scene for over ten years and looks set to continue for many years to come. The aim of this paper is to present an overview of the key elements that shape this body of work and to point to its potential usefulness for group analysis. Some of the influences in the emergence of queer theory will be discussed followed by some prominent critiques centering around queer theory’s link with practice, the commodification of ‘queerness’ and its implications for diversity. Queer theory poses some important questions about the status of gender/sexuality categories and, in particular, throws into focus the relational constitution of identities, that could, potentially, be used in tandem with other critical theories, in the arena of group analysis.

In the context of a growing adolescent population globally, it is imperative to understand which interventions will most effectively advance their sexual and reproductive health (SRH). In India and globally, peer education is often utilised as an intervention for promoting the SRH of young people. Globally, the evidence of its effectiveness is mixed. A systematic review of the literature from the Indian context gave insight into the knowledge, attitudinal, and behavioural (KAB) outcomes affected by peer education, as well as the inputs, coverage, content, and context of such interventions. Out of the over 1500 publications initially identified through the database and bibliographic searches, 13 were included in the review; no quality assessment was done, given the dearth of publications matching the inclusion criteria. Analysis of the included publications highlights the multiple ways that peer education is implemented in the Indian context, as part of multi-component programmes and as a stand-alone intervention. The KAB outcomes from these initiatives are mixed, with some multi-component and some stand-alone initiatives affecting statistically significant outcomes and others not–a finding consistent with global literature reviewed for this paper. Despite the mixed results and the limited effects of behaviour relative to knowledge, this paper proposes that peer education has a place in an overall response to improving the SRH of young people. It calls for better research on peer education in India, and for research in relation to the optimal conditions for peer education to succeed in affecting KAB and other outcomes.

Background: Recognizing the potential of the country's large youth population and the importance of protecting and supporting its health and well-being, the Government of India committed to strengthening its programmes and systems for adolescents, initially through the Adolescent Reproductive and Sexual Health Strategy (ARSH) launched in 2005 and, subsequently, through the National Adolescent Health Programme (Rashtriya Kishore Swaasthya Karyakram or RKSK) launched in 2014. In 2016, in response to a request from the Government of India, the World Health Organisation undertook a rapid programme review of ARSH and RKSK at the national level and in four states (Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Uttarakhand) to identify and document lessons learnt in relation to four domains of the programmes (governance, implementation, monitoring and linkages) that could be used to enhance current and future adolescent health programming in India. Methodology and findings: A rapid programme review methodology was utilised to gain an overview of the successes and challenges of the two adolescent health programmes. A desk review of policy statements, Program Implementation Plans (PIPs) (Program Implementation Plan (PIP) is an annual process of planning, approval and allocation of budgets of various programmes under the National Health Mission (NHM). It is also used for monitoring of physical and financial progress made against the approved activities and budget.), reports and data provided by the four State governments was conducted alongside 70 semi-structured interviews with health, education and NGO officials at national, state, district and block levels. Data showed that the ARSH Strategy put adolescent health on the agenda for the first time in India, though insufficient human and financial resources were mobilised to ensure maximum impact. Further, the Strategy's focus on clinical service provision in a limited number of health facilities with a complementary focus on promoting community support and adolescent demand for them meant that services were not as easily accessible to adolescents in their communities, and in addition many were not even aware of them. Under RKSK, significant investment has been made in adequate management structures, as well as in community engagement and clinical service delivery at all levels of the health system. Monitoring the quality of service delivery remains a challenge in all four of the states, as does training of counsellors, nodal officers and other implementing partners. Additionally, further thought and action are required to ensure that peer educators are properly trained, supported and retained for the programme. Conclusions: India's RKSK clearly integrated learning from the earlier ARSH Strategy. The findings of this review present an opportunity for the government and its partners to ensure that future investment in adolescent health programming continues to be framed around lessons learnt across India.

To provide a continuous and prolonged delivery of the substrate D-luciferin for bioluminescence imaging in vivo, luciferin was encapsulated into liposomes using either the pH-gradient or acetategradient method. Under optimum loading conditions, 0.17 mg luciferin was loaded per mg of lipid with 90-95% encapsulation efficiency, where active loading was 6 to 18-fold higher than obtained with passive loading. Liposomal luciferin in a long-circulating formulation had good shelf stability, with 10% release over 3-month storage at 4°C. Pharmacokinetic profiles of free and liposomal luciferin were then evaluated in transgenic mice expressing luciferase. In contrast to rapid in vivo clearance of free luciferin (t 1/2 =3.54 min), luciferin encapsulated into long-circulating liposomes showed a prolonged release over 24 hours. The first order release rate constant of luciferin from longcirculating liposomes, as estimated from the best fit of the analytical model to the experimental data, was 0.01 h −1 . Insonation of luciferin-loaded temperature sensitive liposomes directly injected into one tumor of Met1-luc tumor-bearing mice resulted in immediate emission of light. Systemic injection of luciferin-loaded long-circulating liposomes into Met1-luc tumor-bearing mice, followed by unilateral ultrasound-induced hyperthermia, produced a gradual increase in radiance over time, reaching a peak 4-7 h post-ultrasound.

The rights of adolescents and young people in international law and agreements have evolved significantly from a focus on protection to a recognition of "evolving capacities" and decision-making ability. Unclear policies and regulations and variations in actual practice may leave providers with little clarity on how to support adolescent decision-making and instead create unintended barriers. This study in Mexico City in 2009 explored whether regulations and clinical attitudes and practice were supporting or hindering the access of adolescent girls aged 12-17 to information regarding abortion and to abortion services. We surveyed abortion clinic directors and staff, and adolescents arranging or just having had an abortion, and sent mystery clients to clinics to ask for information. While providers were generally positive about adolescents' ability to decide on abortion, they had different understandings about the need for adult accompaniment and who that adult should be, and mystery clients seeking information were more likely to receive complete information if accompanied by an adult. Clarification of consent and accompaniment requirements is needed, and providers need to be made aware of them; adolescents should have access to information and counselling without accompaniment; and improvements in privacy and confidentiality in public sector clinics are also needed. These all support complementary concepts of protection and autonomy in adolescent decision-making on abortion.

This article traces how the language of the authors’ students jolted them into questioning their teaching of qualitative research. The authors discuss many of the inherent difficulties in trying to learn how to be a qualitative researcher as well as how to teach for qualitative research within a technical and academic structure. The authors argue that academic control of research has tamed desire and removed reality from everyday experience into a classroom conceived of and assessed by the maxims of modernity. Mindful of these constraints, the authors believe that there are things that can be done to disrupt the effects of disciplinary power, emphasizing an emotional engagement involving desire, passion, and eros when teaching and learning for qualitative research.

This article considers how knowledge about lesbians and gay men is produced in health and social welfare texts. It looks at the consequences of a reliance upon the liberal 'ethnic model' of sexuality. The authors provide a critique of 'anti-discriminatory practice' versions of sexuality categories which, in their view, assert the liberal model at the expense of ideas found in the sociological traditions of gay liberation, lesbian feminist, interactionist and queer/postmodern theories. Through a queer reading of health and social welfare texts specifically addressed to sexuality, the article considers the hierarchy of sexual knowledges which promote heteronormativity; the reliance upon fixed identity models of sexuality; the functionalist view of a "gay culture"; the silencing of lesbian feminism; and the traditionally gendered and fetishistic versions of 'the lesbian' produced. The authors argue against merely 'adding in' lesbians and gay men, and in terms of practice, encourage a reflexive engagement by all practitioners with the ways in which these dominant discourses concerning sexuality populate and discipline knowledges within health and social welfare.

This study provides insight into the extent to which public commitment to reduce teenage pregnancy made by the President of Sierra Leone made the issue a political priority and the factors that facilitated and hindered this. Using historical observations from government and civil society actors who were involved in the formulation and implementation of the country’s National Strategy for the Reduction of Teenage Pregnancy (NSRTP), the study presents lessons learnt, with a particular focus on advocacy. It does not examine the extent to which the NSRTP was operationalised and its objectives fulfilled. Findings indicate that the availability of locally relevant data as well as advocacy from international and national NGOs were factors that led to the President’s commitment and the development of a national strategy. Whilst continued verbal support from political leaders and administrative mechanisms for implementation assured that teenage pregnancy reduction stayed on the political agenda, the scarcity of resources as well as the necessary diversion of efforts and resources to the Ebola epidemic impeded implementation. Overall, the findings demonstrate that public commitments made by political leaders – starting with President Ernest Bai Koroma’s public declaration in 2012 – kick-started efforts to reduce teenage pregnancy in Sierra Leone; and that despite inadequate human and financial resources for the implementation of the NSRTP, actions taken by both the government and partners over time have contributed to tangible progress.