Tradition and Innovation in Classical Sociology: Tenth Anniversary Report of JCS

Perhaps the very idea of ‘classical sociology’ is a contradiction in terms; sociology was originally that social science peculiarly concerned with the study of the processes of modernization and the condition of modernity, that is, with the critical examination of ‘post-traditional’ developments and hence ‘post-classical’ forms of social organization. Its concerns have broadened subsequently, but the focus of sociology remains on the exploration of the nature and development of social structure and social action in the post-traditional world. In the nineteenth century, sociologists invented new concepts and experimented with new methods to study the emergence of unprecedented social phenomena and the rise of a type of society that was variously called ‘modern society’, ‘industrial society’, and ‘capitalist society’. In the twentieth century, there was a further elaboration of key sociological concepts, and it became increasingly popular to proclaim the rise of yet another form of society, described as ‘post-industrial society’, ‘late modern society’, ‘post-modern society’, or ‘network society’. In the current century, the idea of globalization has swept everything before it, leading to the notion that ‘society’ has now been replaced by flows and networks of people, objects, and ideas. With the transition from traditional to modern societies, the integrative power of Gemeinschaft began to compete with the systemic power of Gesellschaft; with the transition from modern to late modern societies, the local horizons of our Lebenswelt appear to be increasingly shaped by the deterritorialized networks of the Weltgesellschaft. If we are ‘post-traditional’, surely we are also ‘post-classical’. It is hardly surprising, therefore, that many contemporary sociologists have some difficulty accepting the very idea of classical sociology

Molecular and cellular mechanisms underlying the evolution of form and function in the amniote jaw.

The amniote jaw complex is a remarkable amalgamation of derivatives from distinct embryonic cell lineages. During development, the cells in these lineages experience concerted movements, migrations, and signaling interactions that take them from their initial origins to their final destinations and imbue their derivatives with aspects of form including their axial orientation, anatomical identity, size, and shape. Perturbations along the way can produce defects and disease, but also generate the variation necessary for jaw evolution and adaptation. We focus on molecular and cellular mechanisms that regulate form in the amniote jaw complex, and that enable structural and functional integration. Special emphasis is placed on the role of cranial neural crest mesenchyme (NCM) during the species-specific patterning of bone, cartilage, tendon, muscle, and other jaw tissues. We also address the effects of biomechanical forces during jaw development and discuss ways in which certain molecular and cellular responses add adaptive and evolutionary plasticity to jaw morphology. Overall, we highlight how variation in molecular and cellular programs can promote the phenomenal diversity and functional morphology achieved during amniote jaw evolution or lead to the range of jaw defects and disease that affect the human condition

An increased fraction of circulating miR-363 and miR-16 is particle bound in patients with chronic lymphocytic leukaemia as compared to normal subjects.

In vitro culture studies have shown that miR-363 is enriched in extracellular vesicles from chronic lymphocytic leukaemia cells. We wondered whether miR-363 was detectable in plasma, which is an essential precondition for further studies to assess its usefulness as a biomarker. Using samples from two clinical trials: one enrolling patients with advanced disease and the other asymptomatic patients with early stage disease, we determined plasma miR-363 levels and secondly investigated the distribution of this miRNA between plasma and particle bound fractions in patients and normal subjects.Advanced disease (n = 95) was associated with higher levels of miR-363 than early stage disease (n = 45) or normal subjects (n = 11) but there was no association with markers of prognosis. The distribution of specific miRNA between particle bound and plasma protein fractions was investigated using size exclusion chromatography on plasma from patients (n = 4) and normal subjects (n = 3). ~ 20% of total miR-16 and miR-363 is particle bound in patients while there was no detectable particle bound material in normal subjects. Our work demonstrates that miR-363 levels are raised in chronic lymphocytic leukaemia patients and raises the possibility that distribution of circulating miRNA between plasma fractions differs in health and disease

Haloperidol differentially modulates prepulse inhibition and p50 suppression in healthy humans stratified for low and high gating levels

Schizophrenia patients exhibit deficits in sensory gating as indexed by reduced prepulse inhibition (PPI) and P50 suppression, which have been linked to psychotic symptom formation and cognitive deficits. Although recent evidence suggests that atypical antipsychotics might be superior over typical antipsychotics in reversing PPI and P50 suppression deficits not only in schizophrenia patients, but also in healthy volunteers exhibiting low levels of PPI, the impact of typical antipsychotics on these gating measures is less clear. To explore the impact of the dopamine D2-like receptor system on gating and cognition, the acute effects of haloperidol on PPI, P50 suppression, and cognition were assessed in 26 healthy male volunteers split into subgroups having low vs high PPI or P50 suppression levels using a placebo-controlled within-subject design. Haloperidol failed to increase PPI in subjects exhibiting low levels of PPI, but attenuated PPI in those subjects with high sensorimotor gating levels. Furthermore, haloperidol increased P50 suppression in subjects exhibiting low P50 gating and disrupted P50 suppression in individuals expressing high P50 gating levels. Independently of drug condition, high PPI levels were associated with superior strategy formation and execution times in a subset of cognitive tests. Moreover, haloperidol impaired spatial working memory performance and planning ability. These findings suggest that dopamine D2-like receptors are critically involved in the modulation of P50 suppression in healthy volunteers, and to a lesser extent also in PPI among subjects expressing high sensorimotor gating levels. Furthermore, the results suggest a relation between sensorimotor gating and working memory performance

Supervolcanoes Within an Ancient Volcanic Province in Arabia Terra, Mars

Several irregularly shaped craters located within Arabia Terra, Mars represent a new type of highland volcanic construct and together constitute a previously unrecognized martian igneous province. Similar to terrestrial supervolcanoes, these low-relief paterae display a range of geomorphic features related to structural collapse, effusive volcanism, and explosive eruptions. Extruded lavas contributed to the formation of enigmatic highland ridged plains in Arabia Terra. Outgassed sulfur and erupted fine-grained pyroclastics from these calderas likely fed the formation of altered, layered sedimentary rocks and fretted terrain found throughout the equatorial region. Discovery of a new type of volcanic construct in the Arabia volcanic province fundamentally changes the picture of ancient volcanism and climate evolution on Mars. Other eroded topographic basins in the ancient Martian highlands that have been dismissed as degraded impact craters should be reconsidered as possible volcanic constructs formed in an early phase of widespread, disseminated magmatism on Mars

Measurement of the Bottom-Strange Meson Mixing Phase in the Full CDF Data Set

We report a measurement of the bottom-strange meson mixing phase \beta_s using the time evolution of B0_s -> J/\psi (->\mu+\mu-) \phi (-> K+ K-) decays in which the quark-flavor content of the bottom-strange meson is identified at production. This measurement uses the full data set of proton-antiproton collisions at sqrt(s)= 1.96 TeV collected by the Collider Detector experiment at the Fermilab Tevatron, corresponding to 9.6 fb-1 of integrated luminosity. We report confidence regions in the two-dimensional space of \beta_s and the B0_s decay-width difference \Delta\Gamma_s, and measure \beta_s in [-\pi/2, -1.51] U [-0.06, 0.30] U [1.26, \pi/2] at the 68% confidence level, in agreement with the standard model expectation. Assuming the standard model value of \beta_s, we also determine \Delta\Gamma_s = 0.068 +- 0.026 (stat) +- 0.009 (syst) ps-1 and the mean B0_s lifetime, \tau_s = 1.528 +- 0.019 (stat) +- 0.009 (syst) ps, which are consistent and competitive with determinations by other experiments.Comment: 8 pages, 2 figures, Phys. Rev. Lett 109, 171802 (2012

Effective health care for older people living and dying in care homes: A realist review

Background: Care home residents in England have variable access to health care services. There is currently no coherent policy or consensus about the best arrangements to meet these needs. The purpose of this review was to explore the evidence for how different service delivery models for care home residents support and/or improve wellbeing and health-related outcomes in older people living and dying in care homes. Methods: We conceptualised models of health care provision to care homes as complex interventions. We used a realist review approach to develop a preliminary understanding of what supported good health care provision to care homes. We completed a scoping of the literature and interviewed National Health Service and Local Authority commissioners, providers of services to care homes, representatives from the Regulator, care home managers, residents and their families. We used these data to develop theoretical propositions to be tested in the literature to explain why an intervention may be effective in some situations and not others. We searched electronic databases and related grey literature. Finally the findings were reviewed with an external advisory group. Results: Strategies that support and sustain relational working between care home staff and visiting health care professionals explained the observed differences in how health care interventions were accepted and embedded into care home practice. Actions that encouraged visiting health care professionals and care home staff jointly to identify, plan and implement care home appropriate protocols for care, when supported by ongoing facilitation from visiting clinicians, were important. Contextual factors such as financial incentives or sanctions, agreed protocols, clinical expertise and structured approaches to assessment and care planning could support relational working to occur, but of themselves appeared insufficient to achieve change. Conclusion: How relational working is structured between health and care home staff is key to whether health service interventions achieve health related outcomes for residents and their respective organisations. The belief that either paying clinicians to do more in care homes and/or investing in training of care home staff is sufficient for better outcomes was not supported.This research was funded by National Institute of Health Research Health Service Delivery and Research programme (HSDR 11/021/02)

High performing hospitals: a qualitative systematic review of associated factors and practical strategies for improvement.

BACKGROUND: High performing hospitals attain excellence across multiple measures of performance and multiple departments. Studying high performing hospitals can be valuable if factors associated with high performance can be identified and applied. Factors leading to high performance are complex and an exclusive quantitative approach may fail to identify richly descriptive or relevant contextual factors. The objective of this study was to undertake a systematic review of qualitative literature to identify methods used to identify high performing hospitals, the factors associated with high performers, and practical strategies for improvement. METHODS: Methods used to collect and summarise the evidence contributing to this review followed the 'enhancing transparency in reporting the synthesis of qualitative research' protocol. Peer reviewed studies were identified through Medline, Embase and Cinahl (Jan 2000-Feb 2014) using specified key words, subject terms, and medical subject headings. Eligible studies required the use of a quantitative method to identify high performing hospitals, and qualitative methods or tools to identify factors associated with high performing hospitals or hospital departments. Title, abstract, and full text screening was undertaken by four reviewers, and inter-rater reliability statistics were calculated for each review phase. Risk of bias was assessed. Following data extraction, thematic syntheses identified contextual factors important for explaining success. Practical strategies for achieving high performance were then mapped against the identified themes. RESULTS: A total of 19 studies from a possible 11,428 were included in the review. A range of process, output, outcome and other indicators were used to identify high performing hospitals. Seven themes representing factors associated with high performance (and 25 sub-themes) emerged from the thematic syntheses: positive organisational culture, senior management support, effective performance monitoring, building and maintaining a proficient workforce, effective leaders across the organisation, expertise-driven practice, and interdisciplinary teamwork. Fifty six practical strategies for achieving high performance were catalogued. CONCLUSIONS: This review provides insights into methods used to identify high performing hospitals, and yields ideas about the factors important for success. It highlights the need to advance approaches for understanding what constitutes high performance and how to harness factors associated with high performance

Palpable pediatric thyroid abnormalities – diagnostic pitfalls necessitate a high index of clinical suspicion: a case report

A 12-year-old girl presented with a 4 year history of an enlarged, firm thyroid gland. On exam, her thyroid was firm and fixed and an enlarged cervical lymph node was palpable as well. Though a thyroid ultrasound prior to referral was read as thyroiditis, clinical suspicion for thyroid carcinoma mandated continued investigation. The diagnosis of papillary thyroid cancer was established and her workup revealed lymph node metastases as well as a tremendous burden of pulmonary metastases. Pediatric thyroid cancer is extremely rare, but often presents with aggressive disease. Palpable thyroid abnormalities in an individual under 20-years-old should be viewed with suspicion and should be thoroughly investigated to rule out malignancy even in the face of negative diagnostic procedures. Though pediatric papillary thyroid cancer often presents with loco-regional and even distant metastatic disease, mortality rates in follow-up for as long as 20 years are very favorable

Single-cell analysis tools for drug discovery and development

The genetic, functional or compositional heterogeneity of healthy and diseased tissues presents major challenges in drug discovery and development. Such heterogeneity hinders the design of accurate disease models and can confound the interpretation of biomarker levels and of patient responses to specific therapies. The complex nature of virtually all tissues has motivated the development of tools for single-cell genomic, transcriptomic and multiplex proteomic analyses. Here, we review these tools and assess their advantages and limitations. Emerging applications of single cell analysis tools in drug discovery and development, particularly in the field of oncology, are discussed