Reflexivity, the picturing of selves, the forging of methods

This paper addresses alternative models for a reflexive methodology and examines the ways in which doctoral students have appropriated these texts in their theses. It then considers the indeterminate qualities of those appropriations. The paper offers a new account of reflexivity as 'picturing', drawing analogies from the interpretation of two very different pictures, by Velázquez and Tshibumba. It concludes with a more open and fluid account of reflexivity, offering the notion of 'signature', and drawing on the work of Gell and also Deleuze and Guattari in relation to the inherently specific nature of 'concepts' situated in space and time

Structure and organization of the human TRKA gene encoding a high affinity receptor for nerve growth factor

Nerve growth factor (NGF) induces neurite outgrowth and promotes survival of embryonic sensory and sympathetic neurons. TRKA, a receptor tyrosine kinase cloned from a human colon cancer was later found to be expressed in the nervous system and phosphorylated in response to NGF. Somatic rearrangement(s) of the TRKA gene (also designated NTRK1) are responsible for formation of some oncogenes. Genetic defects in TRKA are responsible for a human disorder, congenital insensitivity to pain with anhidrosis (CIPA). We report here isolation and characterization of the TRKA gene which spans at least 23 kb and is split into 17 exons. Exon sizes range from 18 to 394 bp and intron sizes range from 170 bp to at least 3.3 kb. Sizes and boundaries of the exons were determined, and all the splice donor and acceptor sites conformed to the GT/AG rule. Approximately 1.2 kb of the 5\u27-flanking regions was sequenced, and putative regulatory elements were identified. These results will be useful for studies on the developmental and biological regulation of the TRKA gene and for further characterization of mutations in CIPA patients as well as elucidation of mechanisms responsible for rearrangement(s) observed in human tumors

The Dynamics of Impersonal Trust and Distrust in Surveillance Systems

Empirical research concerned with the trust that individuals may or may not have in surveillance systems has largely been gauged through opinion poll and survey type research. Although these may be useful in augmenting broad patterns of trust based attitudes, this article argues that they tend to harbour theoretically weak conceptualisations of trust which may produce misleading results. We draw on relevant concepts related to notions of 'impersonal trust' (for example, 'access points', 'facework' and 'suspension') to facilitate a qualitative analysis of semi-structured interviews which concerned Londoners' trust related experiences, perceptions and understandings of living in a so called 'surveillance society'. We form a number of preliminary conclusions which are of interest to sociological research on trust and surveillance studies: contrary to prior research on trust and surveillance, trust related positions may be neither static nor polarised, but processual and situational; the suspension of certainty bridged by impersonal trust is particularly problematic in surveillance systems as they especially lack access points; and impersonal trust related positions are likely to be considerably weak as information about the systems requires specialist information. © Sociological Research Online, 1996-2013