Is DNA cut out for a long life?

Much attention has been focused on the DNA repair hypothesis of aging. Studies in mammals that seek to test the validity of this model are complicated by both the functional redundancy and the essential nature of genes involved in the repair process. Compared to mammals, the study of DNA repair and aging in yeast has considerably fewer complicating factors. In this Perspective, I discuss results presented in this month's issue of Aging Cell that address whether the types of DNA damage repaired by the base excision repair pathway cause aging in yeast.     

Empirically supported ethical research practice: the costs and benefits of research from the participants' view

Researchers and institutional review boards are routinely called upon to evaluate the cost-benefit status of proposed research protocols that involve human participants. Often these assessments are based on subjective judgments in the absence of empirical data. This reliance on subjective judgments is of particular concern for studies involving clinical samples where unfounded assumptions may adversely affect research progress or clinical outcomes. The Reactions to Research Participation Questionnaire (RRPQ) was designed to address this shortcoming and to help promote ethical decision making about research practice. The present study describes development of the RRPQ and presents a series of exploratory and confirmatory analyses investigating its structure. Based on these findings, a revised version of the instrument and suggestions for future research are presented. This approach provides a foundation for scientifically informed protection of human subjects.     

We've been framed: visualising methodology1

This paper explores the reasons why video, and other visual representations have been largely ignored in sociology, whilst the possibilities of video as an empirical source have been sidelined by cultural studies. Discussions of methodology have raised doubts about notions such as objectivity and scientific knowledge, and about the power relationships involved in the research and writing processes, and techniques that one might employ in order to avoid such problems have been suggested. Yet the aims of such techniques are misguided if they serve only to further legitimate the 'truth' of the research itself. In this context I explore some of the possibilities of visual methods, such as video and photography, whilst also examining some of the ethical issues raised by them. In this respect, the paper explores the notion of a 'queer methodology'. This approach is indebted to the legacy of its predecessor, feminist methodology, but departs from this in several important ways. I will explore these differences and examine the possibility that a place for the visual within sociology is an inherently queer conception.     

License Mapping for ERM Systems: Existing Practices and Initiatives for Support

In the process of analyzing and/or mapping license agreements into their electronic resource management (ERM) systems or in developing services to support the license mapping process, library professionals were interviewed to provide a status report of license mapping in academic libraries. Areas discussed include existing practices, challenges, and support for and benefits of the mapping process. These conversations from the trenches should help professionals in the early stages of ERM implementation better conceptualize resource needs and effective practices for license mapping.     

THE SYMBOLIC CONSTRUCTION OF RUSSIA AND THE UNITED STATES ON RUSSIAN NATIONAL TELEVISION

Analysis of 1995 Vremya (Russian national television) newscasts reveals few traces of the cold-war framework that dominated news media discourse throughout the world for almost four decades. The ability of Vremya to reconstruct its images of Russia and the United States reaffirms the contention of Edelman, Hall, and others that media news accounts evoke a spectacle that is an ideological product, not a set of facts. The spectacle of politics is a fetish, a creation that then dominates the thought and action of its creators.     

The trouble with foster care: the impact of stressful 'events' on foster carers

Summary The article draws on the first stages of a large-scale longitudinalstudy into foster care with 'looked after' children. It usesdata supplied by 950 foster carers in response to a postal questionnairedesigned to document the proportions who had experienced oneor more of six potentially stressful 'events': breakdowns ordisruptions, allegations, relationship with birth parents, familytensions, 'tug of love' cases, and other disagreements withsocial services. The article uses carers' comments to describetheir reaction to the 'events'. It then examines the relationshipbetween the 'events' and measures of carer stress, satisfactionwith fostering, and intentions to continue fostering. Overall,two-thirds of the sample had experienced one or more of these'events' and these were associated with a measure of mentalill-health and with attitudes towards continuing fostering.