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

Torsions, low-frequency vibrations, and vibration–torsion (“vibtor”) levels in the m-chlorotoluene cation

Zero-electron-kinetic-energy (ZEKE) spectra are presented for m-chlorotoluene (mClT), employing different low-lying torsional and vibration–torsional (“vibtor”) levels of the S1 state as intermediates. The adiabatic ionization energy is determined to be 71 319 cm−1 ± 5 cm−1 (8.8424 ± 0.0006 eV). It is found that the activity in the ZEKE spectra varies greatly for different levels and is consistent with the assignments of the S1 levels of m-fluorotoluene (mFT) deduced in the recent fluorescence study of Stewart et al. [J. Chem. Phys. 150, 174303 (2019)] and the ZEKE study from Kemp et al. [J. Chem. Phys. 151, 084311 (2019)]. As with mFT, the intensities in the ZEKE spectra of mClT are consistent with a phase change in the torsional potential upon ionization, allowing a large number of torsions and vibtor levels to be observed for the cation. Vibration-induced modifications of the torsional potential are discussed. Calculated vibrational wavenumbers for the S0, S1, and D0+ states are also presented

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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

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

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

Community structure of soil fungi in a novel perennial crop monoculture, annual agriculture, and native prairie reconstruction

The use of perennial crop species in agricultural systems may increase ecosystem services and sustainability. Because soil microbial communities play a major role in many processes on which ecosystem services and sustainability depend, characterization of soil community structure in novel perennial crop systems is necessary to understand potential shifts in function and crop responses. Here, we characterized soil fungal community composition at two depths (0–10 and 10–30 cm) in replicated, long-term plots containing one of three different cropping systems: a tilled three-crop rotation of annual crops, a novel perennial crop monoculture (Intermediate wheatgrass, which produces the grain Kernza®), and a native prairie reconstruction. The overall fungal community was similar under the perennial monoculture and native vegetation, but both were distinct from those in annual agriculture. The mutualist and saprotrophic community subsets mirrored differences of the overall community, but pathogens were similar among cropping systems. Depth structured overall communities as well as each functional group subset. These results reinforce studies showing strong effects of tillage and sampling depth on soil community structure and suggest plant species diversity may play a weaker role. Similarities in the overall and functional fungal communities between the perennial monoculture and native vegetation suggest Kernza® cropping systems have the potential to mimic reconstructed natural systems

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

Unravelling overlaps and torsion-facilitated coupling using two-dimensional laser-induced fluorescence

Two-dimensional laser-induced fluorescence (2D-LIF) spectroscopy is employed to identify contributions to fluorescence excitation spectra that arise from both overlapping bands and coupling between zero-order states (ZOSs). Evidence is found for the role of torsional motion in facilitating the coupling between vibrations that particularly involves the lowest-wavenumber out-of-plane vibrational modes. The experiments are carried out on jet-cooled p-fluorotoluene, where the molecules are initially in the lowest two torsional levels. Here we concentrate on the 390–420 cm−1 features in the S1 ← S0 excitation spectrum, assigning the features seen in the 2D-LIF spectrum, aided by separate dispersed fluorescence spectra. The 2D-LIF spectra allow the overlapping contributions to be cleanly separated, including some that arise from vibrational-torsional coupling. Various coupling routes open up because of the different symmetries of the lowest two torsional modes; these combine with the vibrational symmetry to provide new symmetry-allowed vibration-torsion (‘vibtor’) interactions, and the role of the excited m = 1 torsional level is found to be significant

Group behavioural responses of cyprinids to artificial acoustic stimuli: implications for fisheries management

Physical screens are considered a necessary mitigation strategy, restricting access to hazardous areas (e.g. turbine intakes or extraction points) and guiding fish to safer preferred routes. Whilst this precautionary approach is considered fit for purpose, fish interactions at such interfaces have been observed to cause stress, injury and mortalities where high sweeping approach velocities exist. Alternative or collaborative systems may allow for improvements where effectiveness of physical screens alone are limited (e.g. repelling small sized larval/ juvenile stages). A number of acoustic guidance systems have been deployed to date, however efficiencies of such devices are measured using relatively simplistic metrics (e.g.percentage deflection or attraction). Results are highly variable, with some systems observing little to no deflection. Current approaches testing efficiencies are based on methods which provide limited information surrounding the wild behaviour of migratory fish. Furthermore, many studies investigating fish bioacoustics pay limited attention to the entirety of the acoustic field to which fish are exposed. The auditory system is exceptionally important to most aquatic species due to its information provisioning, however various challenges need addressed to extrapolate useful informative data which could develop working behavioural deterrents. Life-history strategies, life-stages, species specific hearing capabilities (i.e. directivity index, sensitivity, and critical ratio), and the propensity for a sound to elicit a repeatedly effective behavioural response (i.e. signal detection theory and effects of habituation) are all areas that require thorough investigation. Utilising model cyprinid species (in possession of morphological hearing specialisations), groups of fish were video recorded under controlled conditions and exposed to differing acoustic stimuli. Behaviours were quantified and analysed, alongside appropriate mapping of tested acoustic fields. This talk summarises past and ongoing experiments of a PhD project investigating group behavioural responses to sound. Results may better inform fisheries engineering design of acoustic behavioural deterrents for conservation and control purposes