Comparative historical sociology and the State : problems of method

Historical sociology can be understood both as a specific sub-field of sociology and as providing general conceptual underpinnings of the discipline, to the extent that it provides an understanding of the specificity of the modern state and the perceived emergence of modernity within Europe. The association of modernity with Europe (and with a European history limited to the self-identified boundaries of the continent) is commonplace and pervasive within the social sciences and humanities. What such an understanding fails to take into consideration, however, are the connections between Europe and the rest of the world that constitute the broader context for the emergence of what is understood to be the modern world and its institutions, such as the state and market. In this article, I suggest that integral to this misunderstanding, and its reproduction over time, is the methodology of comparative historical sociology as represented by ideal types. In contrast, I argue for ‘connected sociologies’ as a more appropriate way to understand our shared past and its continuing impact upon the present. I examine these issues in the context of historical sociological understandings of nation-state formation

Caplacizumab reduces the frequency of major thromboembolic events, exacerbations, and death in patients with acquired thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura.

BACKGROUND Acquired thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura (aTTP) is a life-threatening autoimmune thrombotic microangiopathy. In spite of treatment with plasma exchange and immunosuppression, patients remain at risk for thrombotic complications, exacerbations and death. In the Phase II TITAN study, treatment with caplacizumab, an anti-vWF Nanobody(®) , was shown to reduce the time to confirmed platelet count normalization and exacerbations during treatment. OBJECTIVE The clinical benefit of caplacizumab was further investigated in a post-hoc analysis of the incidence of major thromboembolic events and exacerbations during the study drug treatment period and TTP-related death during the study. METHODS The Standardized MedDRA Query (SMQ) for 'embolic and thrombotic events' was run to investigate the occurrence of major thromboembolic events and exacerbations in the safety population of the TITAN study, which consisted of 72 patients of whom 35 received caplacizumab and 37 received placebo. RESULTS Four events (1 pulmonary embolism and 3 aTTP exacerbations) were reported in 4 patients in the caplacizumab group, while 20 such events were reported in 14 patients in the placebo group (2 acute myocardial infarctions, 1 ischemic and 1 hemorrhagic stroke, 1 pulmonary embolism, 1 deep vein thrombosis, 1 venous thrombosis and 13 aTTP exacerbations). Two of the placebo-treated patients died from aTTP during the study. CONCLUSION In total, 11.4% of caplacizumab-treated patients versus 43.2% of placebo-treated patients experienced one or more major thromboembolic event, an exacerbation or died. This analysis shows the potential for caplacizumab to reduce the risk of major thromboembolic morbidities and mortality associated with aTTP. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved

Virulence and molecular aspects of Bordetella avium isolated from cockatiel chicks (Nymphicus hollandicus) in Brazil

Bordetella avium is an opportunistic pathogen that presents tropism for ciliated epithelia, leading to upper respiratory tract disease in turkeys. This agent has also been associated with Lockjaw Syndrome in psittacine birds, but literatures describing the importance of this agent in such species are rare. The purpose of the present study was to report the first outbreak of B. avium infection in juvenile cockatiels demonstrating the Lockjaw Syndrome in Brazil and to investigate the antimicrobial resistance profile and phenotypic and genotypic characteristics of these strains. Surprising, the strains obtained from five infected cockatiel chicks from three different breeders from different Brazilian states showed a clonal relationship using the Pulsed Field Gel Electrophoresis and Single Enzyme Amplified Fragment Length Polymorphism techniques. The virulence potentials of the B. avium strains were assessed using tracheal adherence and cytotoxic effects on a VERO cell monolayer. (C) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

Phylogenetic Group of Escherichia coli

The aim of the study was to determine the phylogenetic groups of E. coli strains isolated from seemingly healthy broiler and broiler condemned suspected of colibacillosis in a Brazilian slaughterhouse. Samples from respiratory tract and edible giblets (liver and heart) of broilers with and without macroscopic lesions of colibacillosis were collected at slaughter. There were 84 strains isolated from broilers condemned of which 11 were obtained from swabs of the heart, 7 from the liver, and 66 from the respiratory tract. Of the 53 E. coli strains isolated from broilers not condemned, 5 were isolated from the heart, 4 from the liver, and 44 from the respiratory tract. E coli strains were tested via PCR for phylogenetic groups A, B1, B2, C, D, E, and F. Phylogroups A and B1 were the most common phylogroups of E. coli obtained from healthy and sick-appearing broiler carcasses. The results of the study showed that phylogroups B2 and E were associated with the heart samples and phylogroup A was associated with respiratory tract samples, phylogroup B1 with not condemned carcass, and phylogroup D with liver samples

Somatic mutations and progressive monosomy modify SAMD9-related phenotypes in humans

It is well established that somatic genomic changes can influence phenotypes in cancer, but the role of adaptive changes in developmental disorders is less well understood. Here we have used next-generation sequencing approaches to identify de novo heterozygous mutations in sterile α motif domain–containing protein 9 (SAMD9, located on chromosome 7q21.2) in 8 children with a multisystem disorder termed MIRAGE syndrome that is characterized by intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR) with gonadal, adrenal, and bone marrow failure, predisposition to infections, and high mortality. These mutations result in gain of function of the growth repressor product SAMD9. Progressive loss of mutated SAMD9 through the development of monosomy 7 (–7), deletions of 7q (7q–), and secondary somatic loss-of-function (nonsense and frameshift) mutations in SAMD9 rescued the growth-restricting effects of mutant SAMD9 proteins in bone marrow and was associated with increased length of survival. However, 2 patients with –7 and 7q– developed myelodysplastic syndrome, most likely due to haploinsufficiency of related 7q21.2 genes. Taken together, these findings provide strong evidence that progressive somatic changes can occur in specific tissues and can subsequently modify disease phenotype and influence survival. Such tissue-specific adaptability may be a more common mechanism modifying the expression of human genetic conditions than is currently recognized