Broader Theory Research Articles

The symbolic economy of drugs.

This essay reviews four recent studies representing a new direction in the history of pharmaceuticals and pharmaceutical science. To this end, it introduces the notion of a symbolic economy of drugs, defined as the production, circulation, and reception of signs that convey information about drugs and establish trust in them. Each of the studies under review focuses on one key signifier in this symbolic economy, namely the brand, the patent, the clinical trial, and the drug itself. Drawing on Pierre Bourdieu's theory of the economy of symbolic goods, I conceptualize these signifiers as symbolic assets, that is, as instruments of communication and credit, delivering knowledge, carrying value, and producing authority. The notion of a symbolic economy is offered with a threefold intention. First, I introduce it in order to highlight the implications of historical and anthropological work for a broader theory of the economy of drugs, thus suggesting a language for interdisciplinary conversations in the study of pharmaceuticals. Second, I deploy it in an attempt to emphasize the contributions of the recent scholarship on drugs to a critical understanding of our own contemporary ways of organizing access to drugs and information about drugs. Finally, I suggest ways in which it might be of use to scholars of other commodities and technologies.

Transatlantic Influences on American Corporate Jurisprudence: Theorizing the Corporation in the United States

In interpreting and evaluating the history of the Supreme Court’s corporate jurisprudence, legal scholars have deployed three broad theories of corporate legal personality: the aggregate entity theory, the artificial entity theory, and the real entity theory. While these theories are powerful ways of conceptualizing the corporation, this article shows that they have not been as central to the Supreme Court’s corporate jurisprudence as recent scholarship suggests. It instead argues that historic transformations in the high court’s corporate jurisprudence are best understood in light of contemporary intellectual currents rather than through an ex post facto application of the aggregate, artificial, and real entity theories. This article revisits the Supreme Court’s early corporate jurisprudence, focusing on the Court’s reception of English and continental theories of corporation during the antebellum period. It argues that the Marshall Court’s approach to corporate legal personality was deeply reliant on early modern English precedents, which were preoccupied with the nature of the corporation as a locus of political authority bounded by constitutional constraints. It further suggests that the Taney Court’s transformative decision in Louisville, Cincinnati & Charleston Railroad v. Letson (1844)—that a corporation is a citizen of the United States—was directly influenced by the writings of the German jurist Friedrich von Savigny. Here, the article bridges a significant gap in the history of American legal thought by illustrating the role that Attorney General Hugh Legare played in presenting to the court a compelling and novel synthesis of English precedent and contemporary continental theory. The article concludes by considering the long shadow these rulings have cast on recent Supreme Court decisions regarding the rights of corporations as citizens of the United States.

Application of Human Immunophenotyping Consortium Panels to Early Childhood Leukaemia; From Diagnosis to End of Induction Chemotherapy

Perturbations in haematopoiesis are characteristic in acute leukaemia. The disturbed bone marrow (BM) microenvironment that results from high concentrations of tumour cells can cause reduced erythro-, leuko- and thrombo-poiesis. Lymphocyte recovery during remission induction chemotherapy has been linked with improved prognosis. However, correlations between recovery of other haematopoietic features (myelopoeisis and thrombopoiesis) and improved prognosis have been less frequently demonstrated, leading to postulation that selective lymphocyte expansion may occur as an immune response against tumour cells. In this study, we aimed to identify the immune phenotype of paediatric B cell acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL) patients at diagnosis and throughout remission induction chemotherapy, including detailed characterisation of recovering lymphocyte subsets.17 paediatric patients diagnosed with precursor B cell ALL at Alder Hey Children's Hospital between August 2014 and February 2015 were enrolled in this study. Diagnosis, risk group assignment and treatment were performed according to the UKALL2011 multicentre trials. Philadelphia chromosome positive B-ALL or ALL in patients with Down syndrome were excluded. This study was approved by Norfolk Research Ethics Committee (REC 14/EE/0211) and informed consent was obtained from patients and/or their legal guardians in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki. 87 paediatric BM and peripheral blood (PB) tissue samples were collected from enrolled patients at time points co-ordinating with treatment protocol (diagnosis, and induction days 8 and/or 15 and 29).Dendritic cells (DCs), monocytes, natural killer (NK) cells and T cells were stained with fluorochrome conjugated monoclonal antibody panels as proposed by the Human Immunophenotyping Consortium (Maecker et al., 2012 Nat. Rev. Immunol.) to allow comprehensive subset analysis and activation state determination, although panels used in this study were modified to allow data acquisition by six-colour flow cytometry. To include analysis of invariant natural killer T cells, cytokine induced killer cells, γd T Cells, B cells and characterisation of leukaemic blast phenotype a further 4 monoclonal antibody panels were used.Precise definition of the normal lymphocyte subpopulations against the background of the malignant clone was possible by six-colour flow cytometry in all patients. Excluding tumour cells, the relative frequencies of all major cell populations; B cells, DCs, monocytes, NK cells and T cells, were similar in PB and BM aspirate at diagnosis (Figure 1A). T cells dominated the immune phenotype accounting for >60% of isolated mononuclear cells in PB and >70% in BM. B cells accounted for approximately 17% in PB and 9% in BM, DCs accounted for approximately 1.5% in PB and 4% in BM, monocytes accounted for approximately 1% in PB and 0.1% in BM and NK cells accounted for approximately 8% in PB and 7% in BM. No significant changes to this gross immune phenotype were observed through induction days 8 and 15. The immune phenotype of PB at day 29 was consistent with that recorded at diagnosis and earlier time points, but that of BM at day 29 was significantly altered compared to PB (p = 0.0087; Figure 1A). The relative frequency of DCs was significantly higher in BM compared to PB (p = 0.0007; Figure 1B), this was matched with a corresponding decrease in T cell frequency in BM compared to PB (p = 0.0020; Figure 1C).The biological relevance of lymphocyte recovery following induction chemotherapy has yet to be elucidated with two broad theories emerging; (1) that lymphocytes constitute an important arm of cancer immune surveillance and function to promote the maintenance of remission once leukaemia burden has been reduced to minimal residual disease levels. And (2) that the rapid regeneration of normal haematopoiesis reflects a deeper leukaemia cytoreduction and consequently a better haematopoietic microenvironment facilitating recovery of blood counts. In this study, high numbers of T lymphocytes were recorded in the BM tumour microenvironment and their presence confirms the potential for generation of a tumour specific immune response. Further understanding of immune system reconstitution will provide insight into the immune response to childhood leukaemia and the potential of chemotherapy to favourably adjust immune-leukaemia equilibrium. [Display omitted] DisclosuresNo relevant conflicts of interest to declare.

Saints Run Mad 2.0: Further Deliberations on Recovery from Addictions Through a Transpersonal Lens

This article examines major inconsistencies that arise between the broad theories, spirit, and ideals of transpersonal psychology and its support of twelve-step programs. In place of this alliance, an alternative spiritual framework for recovery is proposed that is construed from the critical application of both contemporary transpersonal theory and addictions research. It is noted in conclusion that, although the transpersonal field has gone to great lengths to promote intrapsychic forms of healing from addiction, additional research pertaining to the socio-cultural dimensions of a distinct transpersonal recovery is imperative.

Preservice Social Studies Teachers' Perspectives and Understandings of Teaching in the Twenty-First Century Classroom: A Meta-Ethnography

This meta-ethnography explores the conceptions preservice social studies teachers have toward broad theories of democratic education. The author synthesizes and analyzes empirical research to find a consensus on preservice teachers' conceptions of the social studies. Findings suggest that social studies teacher candidates enter teacher education programs with limited understandings of the broad aims of education and often exit programs unable to make proper associations between the classroom and theories of social justice, democratic education, and equality and equity. The author calls for more research exploring the extent to which preservice teachers internalize theories advocated for within teacher education.

Epiphenomenology of the closet: Feeling and fashioning sexuality in everyday life

Clothing is an essential means through which social actors construct, perform, and negotiate their sexualities in their everyday lives. Existing research about dress and sexual performance suggests that social actors carefully balance institutional demands, their sexual identities, and their erotic desires when determining what to wear. Yet broader theories of culture and cognition point out that the majority of everyday social action is much more rapid and automatic than cautiously and deliberately considered. How can these accounts be reconciled? Drawing from interviews with young adults comprising a variety of sexual identities about the contents of their closets, I find that my respondents are sometimes strategic about how they present their sexual identities and desires with their clothes. But much more often, they articulate connections between emotions and temporalities: how particular items have made them feel in the past, how they expect certain outfits will make them feel in the future, and what sorts of feelings emerge when they wear clothing in the present. Moreover, they link those affective understandings to specific recollections of face-to-face interaction. Their memories of previous interactions drive their anticipations about future face-to-face interactions, and those same memories further imbue particular articles of clothing with an emotional charge that innervates affective states for them in the present moment. Thus, I argue that the intersection of emotion, interaction, and temporality crucially informs how social actors use their clothing to manage their sexualities, and more importantly, how they experience their sexual desires and identities in the first place.

Abstract CN03-01: Dissemination and implementation of cancer prevention policies: The example of smoke-free public housing

Abstract Second and third hand smoke exposure increases risk for a number of cancers and other adverse health effects in smokers and non- smokers. Public health campaigns have reduced smoking in many types of public enclosed spaces, but the residential environment remains an important area for risk reduction. In multi-unit housing, significant exposure due to drift between units has led to market and policy efforts to promote smoke-free multi-unit housing options. Public housing authorities have implemented smoke-free policies in greater numbers since the 2009 HUD Healthy Homes Strategic Plan, but the implementation of smoke-free policies in public housing, which must serve diverse communities of low income families, disabled, and elderly residents, presents ethical and logistical challenges. The Philadelphia Housing Authority is the fourth largest housing authority in the US, serving over 80,000 residents, and is among the largest to implement smoke-free policies. The Drexel School of Public Health, in partnership with the Philadelphia Department of Public Health and with funding from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, has conducted a longitudinal mixed methods evaluation of the implementation process. Our formative evaluation began with in-depth interviews and focus groups with residents, including smokers and non-smokers, as well as PHA staff, policy leaders, and local tobacco control stakeholders, as well as ethnographic observations of the tobacco use culture in diverse housing communities in Philadelphia. We then conducted baseline interviews with a sample of residents in four communities, and conducted air nicotine monitoring in both residents' homes and in public areas, including elevators, laundry rooms, hallways, and lobbies. During implementation, we will continue to monitor resident knowledge, attitudes and tobacco related behaviors, as well as tobacco use in public and home environments. Results will be discussed in the context of community behavior change, and tobacco control policies for high risk, low resource communities. As well, the Philadelphia example will be compared to other cities and communities, and to the broader theory of implementation science for public health. Citation Format: Ann Carroll Klassen. Dissemination and implementation of cancer prevention policies: The example of smoke-free public housing. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the Thirteenth Annual AACR International Conference on Frontiers in Cancer Prevention Research; 2014 Sep 27-Oct 1; New Orleans, LA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Can Prev Res 2015;8(10 Suppl): Abstract nr CN03-01.

Error Parsing: An alternative method of implementing social judgment theory

AbstractWe present a novel method of judgment analysis called Error Parsing, based upon an alternative method of implementing Social Judgment Theory (SJT). SJT and Error Parsing both posit the same three components of error in human judgment: error due to noise, error due to cue weighting, and error due to inconsistency. In that sense, the broad theory and framework are the same. However, SJT and Error Parsing were developed to answer different questions, and thus use different methodological approaches in the analysis of error. While SJT makes use of correlational methods, Error Parsing uses absolute differences. We discuss the similarities and differences between the methodologies and provide empirical evidence for the utility of the Error Parsing technique. Keywords: Social Judgment Theory, judgment, error.

DEVELOPING MULTIPLICATION FACT FLUENCY

Using specific components of three broad learning theories—cognitive, social-interactional, and behavioral—students in 3 rd , 4 th and 5 th grade classrooms were given multiplication fact fluency instruction over a period of five weeks for 10-15 minutes each day. Two different approaches were utilized with two distinct groups of students for the purpose of comparing different approaches to fluency development. Results indicate that students using a strategy-based approach for fluency development by means of instructional tasks emphasizing social-interactional and cognitive theories (particularly Bruner’s theory of Modes of Representation) increased multiplication fact fluency, with a greater degree of consistency, than students using a drill-based approach emphasizing behavioristic techniques such as repetition and memorization.

A dynamic model for health screening: misperceptions, feedback and long term trends in screening mammography

Implications of widespread mammography screening remain controversial, and major health organizations in the US adopt different guidelines reflecting significant variations in actual practice. Literature suggests that implementation of routine screening over the past 30 years has incurred less benefit and more harms than is formerly believed. The classical approach to setting guidelines is based on the statistical paradigm of Type-I and Type-II errors, seeking to find an evidence-based balance between sensitivity (and thus the risk of false positives) and specificity (and the risk of false negatives), given the costs and benefits of different outcomes. Clearly, however, a wide range of other considerations play important roles in determining both the formal guidelines and how these are implemented, interpreted and acted upon by providers, payers, patient advocacy groups, and other stakeholders and actors. Science and scientific evidence, including the processes that generate evidence, are embedded in and not independent of a social, economic and political system. In this study we develop the first explicit and integrated, broad boundary feedback theory around the dynamics of health screening. The theory we develop includes a decision-theoretic core around the costs and benefits of screening including the fundamental tradeoff between sensitivity and specificity. It also includes some of the sociopolitical feedbacks that condition formal guidelines, public perception, and the actual practice. To provide context, we use the mammography case as the motivating example, but our model is generic enough to be applicable to other contexts of population health screening, such as the prostate-specific antigen (PSA) screening. Our model is tightly grounded in empirical evidence base, and we use a mix of qualitative/quantitative methods and mainly system dynamics to explain the dynamic nature of the medical screening problem within the US context. This study is part of my PhD dissertation and funded by MIT.

Afterschool Youth Program Design and Structural Quality: Implications for Quality Improvement

This study examined quality and afterschool program designs with a focus on conditions of persistent low quality. Using an action science case study method, data from a quality-improvement project were examined to explore circumstances and reasons for low quality. Four identified program designs varied by emphasis on academics, school alignment, physical space, resources, and grouping strategies, as well as by the operationalization of youth choice. These program design features were found to be dynamically interrelated and key elements of structural quality yet were not found to be targets of state, funder, or agency quality improvement interventions guided by the current broad theory of change for quality initiatives. Structural quality, conceptualized as dynamic and interdependent, may be a prerequisite condition for self-directed quality improvement or a focus of targeted quality interventions.

The Etiology and Pathogenesis of Chronic Rhinosinusitis: a Review of Current Hypotheses.

Chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS) is a broad clinical syndrome that is characterized by prolonged mucosal inflammation of the nose and paranasal sinuses, and is typically divided into two subtypes based on the presence or absence of nasal polyps. The etiology and pathogenesis of both forms remain areas of active research. Over the last 15 years, a number of hypotheses have been proposed to explain all or part of the clinical CRS spectrum. These hypotheses reflect the concept that CRS results from a dysfunctional interplay between individual host characteristics and factors exogenous to the host. Six broad theories on CRS etiology and pathogenesis are discussed as follows: (1) the "fungal hypothesis," (2) the "superantigen hypothesis," (3) the "biofilm hypothesis," and (4) the "microbiome hypothesis," all of which emphasize key environmental factors, and (5) the "eicosanoid hypothesis" and (6) the "immune barrier hypothesis," which describe specific host factors. These theories are reviewed, and the evidence supporting them is critically appraised.

Justice, Fairness, and Employee Reactions

Of all the issues that employees consider in organizational life, justice and fairness are among the most salient. Justice reflects the perceived adherence to rules that represent appropriateness in decision contexts (e.g., equity, consistency, respect, truthfulness). Fairness reflects a more global perception of appropriateness that lies downstream of justice. Our review integrates justice theories (fairness heuristic theory, the relational model, the group engagement model, fairness theory, deonance theory, uncertainty management theory) and broader theories (social exchange theory, affective events theory) to examine three questions: (a) Why do employees think about justice issues in the first place? (b) how do employees form fairness perceptions? and (c) how do employees react to those perceptions? We close by describing how justice and fairness can be managed in organizations, especially given new technological trends in how people work.

Emerging Sensitivity to Socially Complex Expressions: A Unique Role for Adolescence?

AbstractComplex facial expressions provide signals about emotions that are related to nuanced social behavior (e.g., shame, desire) and inner thoughts (e.g., pensive). In this article, we review the empirical evidence evaluating whether the ability to recognize these complex expressions changes during adolescence, given the increasing evidence of heightened sensitivity to social signals during this time. We propose considerations for interpreting findings from this work and shaping research. Finally, we offer a new hypothesis about the influences of age and pubertal maturation on the development of processing complex facial expressions during adolescence, and propose that puberty influences the emergence of sensitivity to particular kinds of complex expressions, namely social sexual expressions. This hypothesis is embedded in a broader theory about how age‐appropriate social developmental tasks, like forming loyal peer friendships and exploring romantic and sexual relationships in adolescence, influence face‐processing behavior.

Introduction to double issue 41.1–2 on Features

<p>This special double issue (41.1 and 41.2) contains 11 articles on the formal properties of linguistic feature systems, all of which were presented at a conference in Tromsø in the fall of 2013.</p><p>The issue was jointly edited by Martin Krämer, Sandra Ronai, and Peter Svenonius.</p><p>A version of the original call for papers posted in 2013 follows.</p><p>All formal models of linguistics assume sets of features in terms of which generalizations can be stated. But the nature of the features themselves is often not explicitly addressed. In this special double issue of <em>Nordlyd</em> we focus on the nature of features across phonology and syntax and related domains of linguistics. </p><p>One group of questions concerns the ‘grounding’ of features in substance or content. For example, phonological features may be grounded in phonetics, and syntactic features may be grounded in semantics. Innatist traditions have sometimes posited innate universal inventories of grounded features. The ‘substance-free’ movement in phonology argues instead that the formal properties of features can and should be radically dissociated from their grounding in content. Sign language phonology would seem to support this position, as the featural system of sign language phonology operates with a completely different set of articulators from those used in spoken languages. Minimalist syntax also frequently promotes the dissociation of formal properties of features from their content (as in the proposal that tense is simply one of a variety of ways in which Infl may be ‘grounded,’ favored in Indo-European languages but with various other languages opting for other content for Infl). Such proposals raise many questions concerning how feature systems are constrained to be uniform across languages and to what extent they are free to vary. The radically opposing view in phonology denies the existence of categorical features altogether and attempts to model phonological patterns as statistical computation of phonetic data.</p><p>The formal structure of features raises another set of questions. Complex patterns of feature locality gave rise to feature geometries in phonology, and these have been developed further to account for dependencies among features, not only in phonology but also in syntax. Cartographic work typically assumes linear hierarchies. To what extent are the various geometries and hierarchies motivated, and how might they be grounded in a broader explanatory theory?</p><p>Interacting with these questions about the “geometric” relations among features is the algebraic structure of the features. For example, it is often assumed that privativity, in which opposition is marked by presence versus absence, is conceptually simplest and therefore the zero hypothesis. While in phonology the pendulum currently swings towards privativity, recently arguments have come from morphosyntax that features have binary values. While apparent ternary patterns in phonology have been taken as arguments in favor of binarity, such patterns have more recently been accounted for by reference to class nodes. Theories such as HPSG or Government Phonology assume much more complex relations among features (with HPSG even allowing feature-value matrices in which the values are feature-value matrices, extending to a kind of feature recursion, and GP positing government and licensing relations between features and positions).</p><p>In this volume, a selection of researchers address these and other questions about the nature of features in linguistic theory.</p>

Environmentally Responsible Value Orientations: Perspectives from Public Assembly Facility Managers

ABSTRACTDrawing on the theories of stakeholder salience and the value‐belief norm (VBN) theory, this study examined managerial value orientations for supporting environmental responsibility. This purpose was accomplished by testing a dichotomized model of managerial value orientations, conceptualized as 'self‐interested' (performance focused) and 'other‐interested' (community focused). The hypotheses were tested among a sample of Public Assembly Facility (PAF) managers who support ER policies in this industry. The results demonstrated how the managerial value orientations influenced the hypothesized outcomes. For example, a performance‐focused stance influenced image and economic ends, while a community‐focused stance more concerned with moral obligations and localized impact. Implications are discussed in terms of how internal and external stakeholder considerations, performance concerns, community issues, and personal values toward ER are perceived by PAF managers. Accordingly, the results have implications for broad organizational theory and add to the debate over whether economic factors, social factors, or both influence ER decision‐making. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment

Contructivism, instrumentalism and the rise of Acholi ethnic identity in northern Uganda

Worldwide, two broad theories have been used to explain the rise of ethnic identities. These are the natural/biological theory of primordialism and the man-made/situational theory of constructivism. Overtime, each of the two theories has been split into several sub-theories. This research sets out to determine the relevance of the theories of constructivism and instrumentalism in the rise and metamorphosis of the Acholi ethnic identity in northern Uganda. Using ethnography and grounded theory, the researcher established that the Acholi ethnic identity, which has occupied a centre stage in the national politics of Uganda since independence in 1962 [Atkinson, R. R. (1994). The roots of ethnicity. The origins of the Acholi of Uganda. Kampala: Fountain Publishers], emerged due to extraneous factors and some teleological choices making the theories of constructivism and instrumentalism quite relevant to its evolution.

Understanding the practices behind money laundering – A rational choice interpretation

The adoption of broad criminological theories has enriched understanding as to why people commit crime. Often integrated to create clear understanding, criminological theories have become instrumental in supporting the development of tactical and strategic preventative activities aligned beside a myriad of crime types. Although theoretically diverse and seemingly universally applicable, recent research indicates the most appropriate theoretical criminological perspective for increasing understanding surrounding the process of money laundering is the rational choice theory. By understanding the rational decisions made by the criminals involved in money laundering, rational choice theory uncovers the association between everyday circumstances and explicit driven activities. Accordingly, the application of rational choice theory when applied to money laundering reveals how at this, the uppermost level of organised criminality, a risk diverse process strictly exists in which every decision made is consistently rational.

HLA-B27.

Possession of the human leukocyte antigen (HLA) class I molecule B27 is strongly associated with ankylosing spondylitis (AS), but the pathogenic role of HLA-B27 is unknown. Two broad theories most likely explain the role of HLA-B27 in AS pathogenesis. The first is based on the natural immunological function of HLA-B27 of presenting antigenic peptides to cytotoxic T cells. Thus, HLA-B27-restricted immune responses to self-antigens, or arthritogenic peptides, might drive immunopathology. B27 can also "behave badly," misfolding during assembly and leading to endoplasmic reticulum stress and autophagy responses. β2m-free B27 heavy chain structures including homodimers (B272) can also be expressed at the cell surface following endosomal recycling of cell surface heterotrimers. Cell surface free heavy chains and B272 bind to innate immune receptors on T, NK, and myeloid cells with proinflammatory effects. This review describes the natural function of HLA-B27, its disease associations, and the current theories as to its pathogenic role.

Isolating Trust Outcomes from Exchange Relationships: Social Exchange and Learning Benefits of Prior Ties in Alliances

Social exchange theory is a broad theory that has been used to explain trust as an outcome of various exchange relationships, and research commonly presumes trust exists between exchange partners t...