Sociological self images : paradigms and pluralisms in sociological theory, 1960s-1990s : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Philosophy in Sociology at Massey University

This thesis explores the identity and self-understanding of sociology as expressed chiefly in discourses of sociological theory. It takes as its starting point the 'identity crisis' of sociology that began in the 1960s with the demise of structural-functionalism, and continues into the present day. The thesis consists of three main parts. In the first chapter I discuss the methods by which the history of sociology can be reconstructed. I argue that the issues raised by these historical methodologies shed light on wider issues of sociological identity. In particular, the question of the coherence and openness/closure of sociological approaches is considered. In the next three chapters, I engage in a close reading of a number of substantive 'manifestos' for sociology, that attempt to delineate an epistemologically privileged space for sociological analysis. These are chosen to exemplify recent trends in sociological analysis including reflexive sociology, structural Marxism, neofunctionalism, structuration theory, sociology of postmodernity, and postmodern feminism. Each manifesto is considered with regard to its own particular merits and difficulties, but is also analysed in terms of a wider pattern of theoretical development. This pattern is termed the dialectic of openness and closure, a process whereby theories construct their arguments by criticising the closures and one-sidedness of previous approaches, only to create new closures themselves, in order to provide compelling explanations of important social phenomena. I argue that even though the emphasis on openness has become greater in recent times, closures are still effected by many sociologically-inspired theorists. In the concluding chapter, I examine pragmatic philosophies of social science as the logical end-point of the increasing openness of sociological approaches. I argue that these philosophies, if fully accepted, could lead in effect to a liberal approach that contains few critical resources. As an alternative, I suggest that the continuing operation of the dialectic of openness and closure is a good thing for sociology, allowing continued development, whilst still focusing explanatory power

Results of Aortocoronary Bypass Surgery for Angina Pectoris

To determine the relative risks and benefits of coronary bypass surgery for angina pectoris, we examined the results in our first consecutive 360 patients operated upon between May 1970 and December 1975. The age range was 27 to 75 years; there were 309 males and 51 females. The patients were classified clinically as having stable angina in 119 cases (33%), unstable angina in 205 cases (57%) and preinfarction angina in 36 cases (10%). Unstable angina was defined as a definite recent increase in severity or frequency of chest pain, angina at rest or nocturnal angina. Preinfarction angina was defined as a syndrome of prolonged angina, poorly controlled by nitrites, occurring at rest with typical ECG changes of ischemia. Such patients underwent observation in the Coronary Intensive Care Unit followed by emergency arteriography and surgery, usually within 24 hours

LOCOMOOR : a LOw-COst MOORing for the measurement of internal solitary waves

Presented at the ONR/MTS Buoy Workshop, May 9-11, 2000, Clark Laboratory, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, MAIn order to supplement the ASIAEX field effort to measure the temporal and spatial structure of the internal solitary wave field in relationship to acoustic propagation and scattering studies, an array of low-cost temperature moorings (LOCOMOOR) has been developed. The basic concept is to provide spatial coverage as opposed to dense vertical resolution in temperature. Three temperature sensors on each mooring will adequately measure the time of passage of the internal solitary waves. A horizontal array of 20 of these moorings deployed for about three weeks will allow the internal solitary wave front geometry (curvature) and velocity to be measured as they propagate through the experiment region. The arrival time of each pulse within the packet of internal waves will be easily resolved, but the wave amplitude less exactly estimated. However, the amplitude will be very well measured by the velocity and density observations on the more heavily instrumented environmental moorings associated with the acoustic experiment

Does masking matter? Shipping noise and fish vocalizations

Shipping creates large near-field background noises at levels similar to or higher than fish vocalizations and in the same critical bandwidths. This noise has the potential to "mask" biologically important signals and prevent fish from hearing them; any interference with the detection and recognition of sounds may impact fish survival. The Lombard effect, whereby vocalizations are altered to reduce or exclude masking effects, is an adaptation that has been observed in mammals and birds. Research is needed to establish whether the Lombard effect occurs in fish to gain a better understanding of the implications of noise pollution on fish populations

Cerebral blood flow links insulin resistance and baroreflex sensitivity

Insulin resistance confers risk for diabetes mellitus and associates with a reduced capacity of the arterial baroreflex to regulate blood pressure. Importantly, several brain regions that comprise the central autonomic network, which controls the baroreflex, are also sensitive to the neuromodulatory effects of insulin. However, it is unknown whether peripheral insulin resistance relates to activity within central autonomic network regions, which may in turn relate to reduced baroreflex regulation. Accordingly, we tested whether resting cerebral blood flow within central autonomic regions statistically mediated the relationship between insulin resistance and an indirect indicator of baroreflex regulation; namely, baroreflex sensitivity. Subjects were 92 community-dwelling adults free of confounding medical illnesses (48 men, 30-50 years old) who completed protocols to assess fasting insulin and glucose levels, resting baroreflex sensitivity, and resting cerebral blood flow. Baroreflex sensitivity was quantified by measuring the magnitude of spontaneous and sequential associations between beat-by-beat systolic blood pressure and heart rate changes. Individuals with greater insulin resistance, as measured by the homeostatic model assessment, exhibited reduced baroreflex sensitivity (b = -0.16, p < .05). Moreover, the relationship between insulin resistance and baroreflex sensitivity was statistically mediated by cerebral blood flow in central autonomic regions, including the insula and cingulate cortex (mediation coefficients < -0.06, p-values < .01). Activity within the central autonomic network may link insulin resistance to reduced baroreflex sensitivity. Our observations may help to characterize the neural pathways by which insulin resistance, and possibly diabetes mellitus, relates to adverse cardiovascular outcomes. © 2013 Ryan et al

Temporal regulation of expression of immediate early and second phase transcripts by endothelin-1 in cardiomyocytes

Background: Endothelin-1 stimulates Gq protein-coupled receptors to promote proliferation in dividing cells or hypertrophy in terminally differentiated cardiomyocytes. In cardiomyocytes, endothelin-1 rapidly (within minutes) stimulates protein kinase signaling, including extracellular-signal regulated kinases 1/2 (ERK1/2; though not ERK5), with phenotypic/physiological changes developing from approximately 12 h. Hypertrophy is associated with changes in mRNA/protein expression, presumably consequent to protein kinase signaling, but the connections between early, transient signaling events and developed hypertrophy are unknown. Results: Using microarrays, we defined the early transcriptional responses of neonatal rat cardiomyocytes to endothelin-1 over 4 h, differentiating between immediate early gene (IEG) and second phase RNAs with cycloheximide. IEGs exhibited differential temporal and transient regulation, with expression of second phase RNAs within 1 h. Of transcripts upregulated at 30 minutes encoding established proteins, 28 were inhibited >50% by U0126 (which inhibits ERK1/2/5 signaling), with 9 inhibited 25-50%. Expression of only four transcripts was not inhibited. At 1 h, most RNAs (approximately 67%) were equally changed in total and polysomal RNA with approximately 17% of transcripts increased to a greater extent in polysomes. Thus, changes in expression of most protein-coding RNAs should be reflected in protein synthesis. However, approximately 16% of transcripts were essentially excluded from the polysomes, including some protein-coding mRNAs, presumably inefficiently translated. Conclusion: The phasic, temporal regulation of early transcriptional responses induced by endothelin-1 in cardiomyocytes indicates that, even in terminally differentiated cells, signals are propagated beyond the primary signaling pathways through transcriptional networks leading to phenotypic changes (that is, hypertrophy). Furthermore, ERK1/2 signaling plays a major role in this response

HST Observations of Chromospheres in Metal Deficient Field Giants

HST high resolution spectra of metal-deficient field giants more than double the stars in previous studies, span about 3 magnitudes on the red giant branch, and sample an abundance range [Fe/H]= -1 to -3. These stars, in spite of their age and low metallicity, possess chromospheric fluxes of Mg II (2800 Angstrom) that are within a factor of 4 of Population I stars, and give signs of a dependence on the metal abundance at the lowest metallicities. The Mg II k-line widths depend on luminosity and correlate with metallicity. Line profile asymmetries reveal outflows that occur at lower luminosities (M_V = -0.8) than detected in Ca K and H-alpha lines in metal-poor giants, suggesting mass outflow occurs over a larger span of the red giant branch than previously thought, and confirming that the Mg II lines are good wind diagnostics. These results do not support a magnetically dominated chromosphere, but appear more consistent with some sort of hydrodynamic, or acoustic heating of the outer atmospheres.Comment: 36 pages, 12 figures, 7 tables, and accepted for publication in The Astronomical Journa

Monocytes regulate the mechanism of T-cell death by inducing Fas-mediated apoptosis during bacterial infection.

Monocytes and T-cells are critical to the host response to acute bacterial infection but monocytes are primarily viewed as amplifying the inflammatory signal. The mechanisms of cell death regulating T-cell numbers at sites of infection are incompletely characterized. T-cell death in cultures of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) showed 'classic' features of apoptosis following exposure to pneumococci. Conversely, purified CD3(+) T-cells cultured with pneumococci demonstrated necrosis with membrane permeabilization. The death of purified CD3(+) T-cells was not inhibited by necrostatin, but required the bacterial toxin pneumolysin. Apoptosis of CD3(+) T-cells in PBMC cultures required 'classical' CD14(+) monocytes, which enhanced T-cell activation. CD3(+) T-cell death was enhanced in HIV-seropositive individuals. Monocyte-mediated CD3(+) T-cell apoptotic death was Fas-dependent both in vitro and in vivo. In the early stages of the T-cell dependent host response to pneumococci reduced Fas ligand mediated T-cell apoptosis was associated with decreased bacterial clearance in the lung and increased bacteremia. In summary monocytes converted pathogen-associated necrosis into Fas-dependent apoptosis and regulated levels of activated T-cells at sites of acute bacterial infection. These changes were associated with enhanced bacterial clearance in the lung and reduced levels of invasive pneumococcal disease

Tuberculosis diagnostics and biomarkers: needs, challenges, recent advances, and opportunities

Tuberculosis is unique among the major infectious diseases in that it lacks accurate rapid point-of-care diagnostic tests. Failure to control the spread of tuberculosis is largely due to our inability to detect and treat all infectious cases of pulmonary tuberculosis in a timely fashion, allowing continued Mycobacterium tuberculosis transmission within communities. Currently recommended gold-standard diagnostic tests for tuberculosis are laboratory based, and multiple investigations may be necessary over a period of weeks or months before a diagnosis is made. Several new diagnostic tests have recently become available for detecting active tuberculosis disease, screening for latent M. tuberculosis infection, and identifying drug-resistant strains of M. tuberculosis. However, progress toward a robust point-of-care test has been limited, and novel biomarker discovery remains challenging. In the absence of effective prevention strategies, high rates of early case detection and subsequent cure are required for global tuberculosis control. Early case detection is dependent on test accuracy, accessibility, cost, and complexity, but also depends on the political will and funder investment to deliver optimal, sustainable care to those worst affected by the tuberculosis and human immunodeficiency virus epidemics. This review highlights unanswered questions, challenges, recent advances, unresolved operational and technical issues, needs, and opportunities related to tuberculosis diagnostics

The influence of community factors on the engagement of residents in place promotion: Empirical evidence from an Italian heritage site

The engagement of community residents in place promotion is increasingly recognized as desirable for ensuring effective and reliable communication with tourists. The study investigated the effects of community factors on residents' engagement in the promotion of an Italian heritage site. Community commitment, environmental attitudes, and perceptions of the effectiveness of existing place marketing communications were found to be decisive in influencing residents' engagement in the promotion of the Amalfi Coast. The paper helps to shed light on collaboration in place promotion, thus enriching the debate on the ambassadorship role of residents and suggesting useful insights for policy makers/destination management organization