Placing Research: 'City Publics' and the 'Public Sociologist'

This article raises questions about who becomes the proper subject for (non)academic attention in a time when 'city publics' might be positioned as democratising and open or, conversely, as curtailed and shaped through specific and pre-determined economies of value and use. The use of the city and its residents are echoed in regeneration politics and objectives, attached to and brought forward by specific 'regenerative' subjects, now deemed 'resilient' and capacitated. Such rhetorics of inclusion and measurable impact are echoed within ideas of a 'public sociology', which the engaged researcher should practice as she re-engages differently located spaces and subjects. Here, questions are raised about the place of a 'public sociology' as part of a 'city publics', where understanding local disseminations and disparities is important in considering where different users, interviewees and indeed researchers are coming from. Having situated the fieldwork site, we initially focus on the expert advisory group and their constructions of the project's 'use-value'. We then consider the background 'shadows' in and out of 'expert' space, as a trailing presence of research intentions and trajectories. Ideas of public sociology – as with an open 'city publics' often assumes that all users are interested, willing to hear and appear as equal members of a 'community'. In contrast, the experience of engaging a user group may involve dis-engaging the research-researcher-researched and here we provide disruptions to a straightforward 'travelling through' research space as we walk through our research methodologies. This article presents professional and personal reflections on research experience as well as interpretative accounts of navigating fieldwork and city space.Public Sociology, Use, Impact, City Publics, Class, Gender

Quantification of Maceration Changes using Post Mortem MRI in Fetuses

BACKGROUND: Post mortem imaging is playing an increasingly important role in perinatal autopsy, and correct interpretation of imaging changes is paramount. This is particularly important following intra-uterine fetal death, where there may be fetal maceration. The aim of this study was to investigate whether any changes seen on a whole body fetal post mortem magnetic resonance imaging (PMMR) correspond to maceration at conventional autopsy. METHODS: We performed pre-autopsy PMMR in 75 fetuses using a 1.5 Tesla Siemens Avanto MR scanner (Erlangen, Germany). PMMR images were reported blinded to the clinical history and autopsy data using a numerical severity scale (0 = no maceration changes to 2 = severe maceration changes) for 6 different visceral organs (total 12). The degree of maceration at autopsy was categorized according to severity on a numerical scale (1 = no maceration to 4 = severe maceration). We also generated quantitative maps to measure the liver and lung T2. RESULTS: The mean PMMR maceration score correlated well with the autopsy maceration score (R(2) = 0.93). A PMMR score of ≥4.5 had a sensitivity of 91%, specificity of 64%, for detecting moderate or severe maceration at autopsy. Liver and lung T2 were increased in fetuses with maceration scores of 3-4 in comparison to those with 1-2 (liver p = 0.03, lung p = 0.02). CONCLUSIONS: There was a good correlation between PMMR maceration score and the extent of maceration seen at conventional autopsy. This score may be useful in interpretation of fetal PMMR

Psychometric Evaluation of a Coping Strategies Inventory Short-Form (CSI-SF) in the Jackson Heart Study Cohort

This study sought to establish the psychometric properties of a Coping Strategies Inventory Short Form (CSISF) by examining coping skills in the Jackson Heart Study cohort. We used exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis, Pearson’s correlation, and Cronbach Alpha to examine reliability and validity in the CSI-SF that solicited responses from 5302 African American men and women between the ages of 35 and 84. One item was dropped from the 16-item CSI-SF, making it a 15-item survey. No significant effects were found for age and gender, strengthening the generalizability of the CSI-SF. The internal consistency reliability analysis revealed reliability between alpha = 0.58-0.72 for all of the scales, and all of the fit indices used to examine the CSI-SF provided support for its use as an adequate measure of coping. This study provides empirical support for utilizing this instrument in future efforts to understand the role of coping in moderating health outcomes

Foreign capital in a growth model

Within an endogenous growth framework, this paper empirically investigates the impact of financial capital on economic growth for a panel of 60 developing countries, through the channel of domestic capital formation. By estimating the model for different income groups, it is found that while private FDI flows exert beneficial complementarity effects on the domestic capital formation across all income-group countries, the official financial flows contribute to increasing investment in the middle income economies, but not in the low income countries. The latter appears to demonstrate that the aid-growth nexus is supported in the middle income countries, whereas the misallocation of official inflows is more likely to exist in the low income countries, suggesting that aid effectiveness remains conditional on the domestic policy environment

The sixth giant? Environmental policy and the Labour government, 1945–51

The connections between social and environmental policies have a longer and more fertile history than is often appreciated. Ignoring that history is not just unfortunate in its own terms but may mean that we deprive ourselves of resources that could be useful in the future. Unfortunately, social policy histories avoid discussion of the natural environment, just as environmental histories avoid discussion of welfare services. This article therefore seeks to open up new debates and a new field of research. It focuses upon one of the key periods in the development of UK state welfare, the Labour government of 1945–51. It argues that Labour displayed an ambivalence toward the natural environment. Land nationalisation had long been an aspiration, but Labour drew back from its more radical ambitions. In policy terms, this gave rise to a dualism. Town and country planning became one of its enduring legacies, but more socialistic, redistributive measures fell by the wayside

Diagnostic accuracy of post-mortem MRI for thoracic abnormalities in fetuses and children

OBJECTIVES: To compare the diagnostic accuracy of post-mortem magnetic resonance imaging (PMMR) specifically for non-cardiac thoracic pathology in fetuses and children, compared with conventional autopsy. METHODS: Institutional ethics approval and parental consent was obtained. A total of 400 unselected fetuses and children underwent PMMR before conventional autopsy, reported blinded to the other dataset. RESULTS: Of 400 non-cardiac thoracic abnormalities, 113 (28 %) were found at autopsy. Overall sensitivity and specificity (95 % confidence interval) of PMMR for any thoracic pathology was poor at 39.6 % (31.0, 48.9) and 85.5 % (80.7, 89.2) respectively, with positive predictive value (PPV) 53.7 % (42.9, 64.0) and negative predictive value (NPV) 77.0 % (71.8, 81.4). Overall agreement was 71.8 % (67.1, 76.2). PMMR was most sensitive at detecting anatomical abnormalities, including pleural effusions and lung or thoracic hypoplasia, but particularly poor at detecting infection. CONCLUSIONS: PMMR currently has relatively poor diagnostic detection rates for the commonest intra-thoracic pathologies identified at autopsy in fetuses and children, including respiratory tract infection and diffuse alveolar haemorrhage. The reasonable NPV suggests that normal thoracic appearances at PMMR exclude the majority of important thoracic lesions at autopsy, and so could be useful in the context of minimally invasive autopsy for detecting non-cardiac thoracic abnormalities. KEY POINTS: • PMMR has relatively poor diagnostic detection rates for common intrathoracic pathology • The moderate NPV suggests that normal PMMR appearances exclude most important abnormalities • Lung sampling at autopsy remains the "gold standard" for pulmonary pathology

Three in one: safety, efficacy, and patient acceptability of triple fixed-dose combination medicine in the management of hypertension

Hypertensive patients whose blood pressures are more than 20 mmHg above their goal will often require three or more medications. Careful selection of medications whose actions are complementary or have an improved adverse effect profile when combined can affect not only the blood pressure but also patient acceptance, thus improving persistence in taking the medications as prescribed. This review will highlight the three single-pill three-drug combinations currently available in the US and will address their efficacy, safety, and tolerability. All three include the dihydropyridine calcium-channel blocker, amlodipine, and the thiazide diuretic, hydrochlorothiazide. They each contain a different renin–angiotensin system blocker. One includes the angiotensin-receptor blocker, olmesartan, while another contains valsartan. The third combination includes the direct renin inhibitor, aliskiren. All three fixed-dose combinations (FDC) at maximum doses of each component lowers the blood pressure of patients with stage II hypertension by 37 to 40 mmHg systolic and 21 to 25 mmHg diastolic, which is superior to any two of the components that comprise the three-drug FDC. These drugs are effective in males and females, the elderly, diabetics, minority populations, and patients with metabolic syndrome. Triple-drug FDCs are well tolerated with a low incidence of adverse effects, the most common being peripheral edema related to amlodipine. Extrapolation of data from two-drug FDC suggests that medication compliance (adherence and persistence) should be better with these FDCs than with the individual components taken as separate medications, although additional studies are necessary to confirm this

Reflections of the Angiotensin Receptor Blocker Recall by the FDA and Repercussions on Healthcare

PURPOSE: Beginning in July of 2018, the FDA issued a voluntary recall regarding the presence of a contaminant found in the manufacturing of valsartan. What would ensue has become a largely unprecedented sequence of alarming events since the FDA began reporting public recalls, withdrawals and safety alerts on their website in 2016. Since then, the United States has been significantly impacted by drug recalls affecting angiotensin receptor blockers. This report arms clinicians with additional guidance and provides a framework for responding appropriately to future similar incidents and includes an overview of the angiotensin receptor blockers, and their effects and safety profiles. METHODS: This report includes a review of data from all pertinent clinical and scientific sources including information from the FDA\u27s inspection documents and recall website. Additional information is provided on the specific bottles including all lot numbers, expiration dates, etc. RESULTS: The recalls/withdrawals are attributable to the presence of cancer-causing contaminants identified during the manufacturing process from drug manufacturers abroad. The root causes behind the recalls and subsequent shortage appear multifactorial, and stem to a certain extent from the outsourcing of medication manufacturing overseas and lack of quality checks and appropriate oversight. CONCLUSIONS: This inherent issue is not likely to resolve soon and has eroded the public trust of/in the healthcare system and the pharmaceutical industry. Patients and healthcare providers are significantly affected and should have a full understanding of the matter in order to guide appropriate response and actions