A sociological dilemma: race, segregation, and US sociology

US sociology has been historically segregated in that, at least until the 1960s, there were two distinct institutionally organized traditions of sociological thought – one black and one white. For the most part, however, dominant historiographies have been silent on that segregation and, at best, reproduce it when addressing the US sociological tradition. This is evident in the rarity with which scholars such as WEB Du Bois, E Franklin Frazier, Oliver Cromwell Cox, or other ‘African American Pioneers of Sociology’, as Saint-Arnaud calls them, are presented as core sociological voices within histories of the discipline. This article addresses the absence of African American sociologists from the US sociological canon and, further, discusses the implications of this absence for our understanding of core sociological concepts. With regard to the latter, the article focuses in particular on the debates around equality and emancipation and discusses the ways in which our understanding of these concepts could be extended by taking into account the work of African American sociologists and their different interpretations of core themes

Rapid progress on the vertebrate tree of life

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Among the greatest challenges for biology in the 21st century is inference of the tree of life. Interest in, and progress toward, this goal has increased dramatically with the growing availability of molecular sequence data. However, we have very little sense, for any major clade, of how much progress has been made in resolving a full tree of life and the scope of work that remains. A series of challenges stand in the way of completing this task but, at the most basic level, progress is limited by data: a limited fraction of the world's biodiversity has been incorporated into a phylogenetic analysis. More troubling is our poor understanding of what fraction of the tree of life is understood and how quickly research is adding to this knowledge. Here we measure the rate of progress on the tree of life for one clade of particular research interest, the vertebrates.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Using an automated phylogenetic approach, we analyse all available molecular data for a large sample of vertebrate diversity, comprising nearly 12,000 species and 210,000 sequences. Our results indicate that progress has been rapid, increasing polynomially during the age of molecular systematics. It is also skewed, with birds and mammals receiving the most attention and marine organisms accumulating far fewer data and a slower rate of increase in phylogenetic resolution than terrestrial taxa. We analyse the contributors to this phylogenetic progress and make recommendations for future work.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Our analyses suggest that a large majority of the vertebrate tree of life will: (1) be resolved within the next few decades; (2) identify specific data collection strategies that may help to spur future progress; and (3) identify branches of the vertebrate tree of life in need of increased research effort.</p

Community pharmacy teams’ experiences of general practice-based pharmacists: an exploratory qualitative study

Background: In England, since 2015, there has been a formal drive to integrate pharmacists into general practice as a new healthcare service. Research efforts have offered insights into how general practice-based professionals and patients view the service, however, they took no account of community pharmacy teams’ opinions. There have been anecdotal statements about opposition from community pharmacies to the service, due to fears of losing business. The aim of the current study was to identify the experiences and perceptions of community pharmacy teams regarding pharmacists’ presence in general practice. Methods: The National Health Service Choices website was used to identify community pharmacies within a radius of two miles from eight West London general practices. The search resulted in 104 community pharmacies which were all contacted via telephone. Pharmacy staff who verbally expressed their interest to participate were then provided with the study’s documents. Qualitative, face-to-face, semi-structured interviews were conducted inside the pharmacy from which each participant was recruited. Interviews lasted 30 to 45 minutes and were audio-recorded. Audio-recordings were transcribed verbatim and transcripts analysed thematically. Results: Forty-eight community pharmacy staff participated. Four themes were discerned: awareness (“I knew that [pharmacists] have already been implemented [in general practice] but I haven’t really followed it…where does the pharmacist role come?”); interactions (“I’m just so pleased that there’s a pharmacist professional in the general practice…because we speak the same language!”); patient care (“if I was a patient knowing that there is a general practitioner and a pharmacist [in general practice], I would…think ‘nothing can go wrong at the moment’”); and funding challenges (“if general practices take on the extra responsibility of stop smoking or flu vaccination campaigns…financially, this would affect this pharmacy”). Conclusions: The current study revealed the perceived impact of general practice-based pharmacists on community pharmacies would be improved communication between pharmacies and practices. Findings will inform policy so that any future framing of pharmacists’ presence in general practice considers the needs of community pharmacies

How do pharmacists in English general practices identify their impact? An exploratory qualitative study of measurement problems

Background: In England, there is an ongoing national pilot to expand pharmacists’ presence in general practice. Evaluation of the pilot includes numerical and survey-based Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and requires pharmacists to electronically record their activities, possibly by using activity codes. At the time of the study (2016), no national evaluation of pharmacists’ impact in this environment had been formally announced. The aim of this qualitative study was to identify problems that English pharmacists face when measuring and recording their impact in general practice. Methods: All pharmacists, general practitioners (GPs) and practice managers working across two West London pilot sites were invited, via e-mail, to participate in a focus group study. Appropriately trained facilitators conducted two audio-recorded, semi-structured focus groups, each lasting approximately one hour, to explore experiences and perceptions associated with the KPIs. Audio-recordings were transcribed verbatim and the data analysed thematically. Results: In total, 13 pharmacists, one GP and one practice manager took part in the study. Four major themes were discerned: inappropriateness of the numerical national KPIs (“whether or not we actually have positive impact on KPIs is beyond our control”); depth and breadth of pharmacists’ activity (“we see a huge plethora of different patients and go through this holistic approach - everything is looked at”); awareness of practice based pharmacists’ roles (“I think the really important [thing] is that everyone knows what pharmacists in general practice are doing”); and central evaluation versus local initiatives (“the KPIs will be measured by National Health Service England regardless of what we think” versus “what I think is more pertinent, are there some local things we’re going to measure?”). Conclusions: Measures that will effectively capture pharmacists’ impact in general practice should be developed, along with a set of codes reflecting the whole spectrum of pharmacists’ activities. Our study also points out the significance of a transparent, robust national evaluation, including exploring the needs/expectations of practice staff and patients regarding pharmacists’ presence in general practice

Extrinsic primary afferent signalling in the gut

Visceral sensory neurons activate reflex pathways that control gut function and also give rise to important sensations, such as fullness, bloating, nausea, discomfort, urgency and pain. Sensory neurons are organised into three distinct anatomical pathways to the central nervous system (vagal, thoracolumbar and lumbosacral). Although remarkable progress has been made in characterizing the roles of many ion channels, receptors and second messengers in visceral sensory neurons, the basic aim of understanding how many classes there are, and how they differ, has proven difficult to achieve. We suggest that just five structurally distinct types of sensory endings are present in the gut wall that account for essentially all of the primary afferent neurons in the three pathways. Each of these five major structural types of endings seems to show distinctive combinations of physiological responses. These types are: 'intraganglionic laminar' endings in myenteric ganglia; 'mucosal' endings located in the subepithelial layer; 'muscular–mucosal' afferents, with mechanosensitive endings close to the muscularis mucosae; 'intramuscular' endings, with endings within the smooth muscle layers; and 'vascular' afferents, with sensitive endings primarily on blood vessels. 'Silent' afferents might be a subset of inexcitable 'vascular' afferents, which can be switched on by inflammatory mediators. Extrinsic sensory neurons comprise an attractive focus for targeted therapeutic intervention in a range of gastrointestinal disorders.Australian National Health and Medical Research Counci

Analysis of Technical Approaches (ATA)

Studies &amp; Prototyping This JSB ATA Study Paper is the author&apos;s work product and does not reflec

Part V Planning Part 5 – Overview

the problem