A sample of religious understanding and beliefs of an urban church congregation

Thesis (M.S.)--Boston Universit

Human Lymphocyte Apoptosis after Exposure to Influenza A Virus

Infection of humans with influenza A virus (IAV) results in a severe transient leukopenia. The goal of these studies was to analyze possible mechanisms behind this IAV-induced leukopenia with emphasis on the potential induction of apoptosis of lymphocytes by the virus. Analysis of lymphocyte subpopulations after exposure to IAV showed that a portion of CD3(+), CD4(+), CD8(+), and CD19(+) lymphocytes became apoptotic (terminal deoxynucleotidyltransferase-mediated dUTP-biotin nick end labeling positive). The percentage of cells that are infected was shown to be less than the percentage of apoptotic cells, suggesting that direct effects of cell infection by the virus cannot account fully for the high level of cell death. Removal of monocytes-macrophages after IAV exposure reduced the percent of lymphocytes that were apoptotic. Treatment of virus-exposed cultures with anti-tumor necrosis factor alpha did not reduce the percentage of lymphocytes that were apoptotic. In virus-exposed cultures treated with anti-FasL antibody, recombinant soluble human Fas, Ac-DEVD-CHO (caspase-3 inhibitor), or Z-VAD-FMK (general caspase inhibitor), apoptosis and production of the active form of caspase-3 was reduced. The apoptotic cells were Fas-high-density cells while the nonapoptotic cells expressed a low density of Fas. The present studies showed that Fas-FasL signaling plays a major role in the induction of apoptosis in lymphocytes after exposure to IAV. Since the host response to influenza virus commonly results in recovery from the infection, with residual disease uncommon, lymphocyte apoptosis likely represents a part of an overall beneficial immune response but could be a possible mechanism of disease pathogenesis

Law and Inequality: Race, Gender…and, of course, Class

This chapter discusses the concept of class in an important subfield, the sociology of law. Class, a pivotal institution of society, was central to the earliest studies of legal institutions and of law and inequality in particular. More recently, class has played a less important role. This chapter argues for the continuing importance of class and provides examples of its potential use in contemporary sociolegal research. The first part reviews early work that employed class and instrumental models of the state. Grounded, anti-formal models of law provided a contrasting view. Following wider trends in the discipline, sociology of law turned from structural models to theories oflaw as an ideology, and most recently, as reviewed in the second part, to law as an element of consciousness and experience. While acknowledging the value of contemporary research that documents a deeply textured, paradoxical, and nuanced analysis of the role of law in society, the third part argues for theorizing the link between experience and context, including the role of social class, and presents a research agenda for a sociology of law, where the relationship between law and class is considered both as institution and experience