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A reinvigorated social theory based on the social philosophy of John Dewey, George Herbert Mead, William James, and others has begun to make significant contributions to the study of human societies. The so-called “Pragmatic Turn” in philosophy and social theory, associated especially with Richard Rorty and Hans Joas, has drawn our attention to the role of habit and creativity in social action. This chapter reviews some of these trends, but argues that the modern revival of neopragmatism sidesteps many of the core insights of the classical pragmatists. Relating the issue to Michael Burawoy's call for “public sociology,” and drawing on the pragmatism of C. Wright Mills, a critical public pragmatism would seek to provide the preconditions for democracy via the cultivation of a public that valued what Dewey called “creative intelligence,” and what Mills called “the sociological imagination.”

Currently there is no research that explores professionals’ perspectives in supporting carers of a person with an intellectual disability during their relatives admission to a specialist in-patient setting. The purpose of this paper is to report the findings from the second stage of a study that explored the experiences of family carers whose relative was admitted to a specialist National Health Service assessment and treatment unit (ATU) in Wales, UK (James, 2016).

Aim: to obtain the views of professionals in relation to what they consider are the barriers and facilitators to addressing some of the experiences discussed by carers. Methods: nine professionals working in intellectual disability-specific services participated in four semi-structured interviews and one focus group (n=5) and the data were analysed using a descriptive thematic analysis process.

Three major themes were developed to represent what professionals identified as a number of individual, organisational and practical facilitators and barriers to the provision of support to carers at this time. Professionals recognised the important role they have in developing relationships with carers during the admission. Key to this relationship is effective communication, collaboration, involvement and the need to be consistently open and honest.

The small sample size could be said to be a weakness and unrepresentative and practice of other professionals. However, what professionals reported had similarities to the findings from other related research. Importantly, the findings have a practical significance in that they can be used to raise awareness and be used to inform the development of future research and practice. The sample could also be criticised for not having representation from a wider range of professionals from across the multi-disciplinary team. However, a strength of the sample is that it did have representation from three different professional disciplines with different roles and responsibilities.

Currently there is very limited research exploring the experiences of professionals in respect of supporting carers during the admission of a relative to a specialist in-patient setting. Professionals demonstrated an understanding of the impact that the additional needs and admission of their relative to an ATU could have on carers. Accordingly, they were able to recognise the important role that they, and other professionals, play in developing relationships as part of providing support to them during this time. Key to these relationships was effective communication and in particular the need to be consistently open and honest.

The findings from this study illustrate a gap between the rhetoric of policy, legislation and carer strategies, and practice of valuing and respecting the role that carers. Of particular concern is that some of the relationships that carers have had with professionals have threatened rather than positively endorsed and augmented their role and identity. These engagements with professionals therefore have had a profound effect on the way in which they have understood their value as a carer and their own sense of self. Significantly, the actions and behaviours of professionals play a key role in shaping carers views of themselves and their identity.

Currently there is no research that has explored the views of professionals in respect of support and relationships with carers at this time. The synthesis of findings from stage one of this study with professionals’ perspectives of resulted in the identification of similarities and differences in experiences as well as facilitators and barriers to support provision. In so doing, it has given clear application of the studies findings to practice. This study therefore provides an original contribution to the understanding of this area of carer experience, from the perspectives of professionals and adds to the wider literature exploring the family carer experience.

The paper is targeted to health service management teams as an aid to understanding the relationship between investment in process redesign in a clinical laboratory environment and improved quality of service/increased clinical activity.

An audit of the unit's serum screening capability was performed against the standards of the current UK allocation scheme for cadaveric kidneys. Based on findings of this audit the laboratory's serum screening protocol was redesigned involving development of a new testing strategy and introduction of novel methods. A concurrent review of the effects of this initiative in terms of cadaveric kidney offers received/transplant numbers was undertaken and a cost‐benefit analysis made.

An improved eligibility of the patient cohort for cadaveric kidney offers was obtained together with a reduced unexpected positive crossmatch rate. These factors have together contributed to an increase in transplant numbers at the centre. Significant cost benefits have been achieved

The relevance of the findings relating to patient eligibility for available cadaveric grafts is limited to organ‐sharing schemes in which recipient sensitisation is considered as part of the allocation process.

The experience reported demonstrates the necessity of assessing the clinical impact of changes in practice when judgements are being made regarding the costs of laboratory services. In this respect the paper is the first from within this discipline to make this association.

Month after month we bring forward additional evidence of the injury resulting from the use of chemical “preservatives” in food, while the Authorities feebly hesitate to give specific legal effect to the recommendations of the Departmental Committee which made such a complete inquiry into this question. The evidence upon which those recommendations were based has been fully corroborated by a number of different observers. FERE and others have shown that, as regards boric acid and borax, even when administered in the smallest medicinal doses, there is always the risk that these drugs may aggravate, or even produce, renal diseases. These observations have been confirmed by the work of Dr. CHARLES HARRINGTON, an account of which has been recently published. Twelve cats were fed on the same food; six were treated with borax, one had no preservative, and five were given a preservative which had no apparent effect. The experiment extended over a period of 133 days, the quantity of borax given averaging about 0.5 grms, per diem. Three of the borated cats soon became ill, and one died at the end of six weeks. On the termination of the experiment the cats were all killed, and upon examination it was found that the organs of the six cats which had not taken borax were in perfectly sound and healthy condition, while the others, with one exception, were all suffering from nephritis. Of course, instances are recorded in which patients have been treated with borax and boracic acid with apparently no injurious result, but as a general rule these experiments have been of too short duration to allow of the desired information being arrived at, and the results must therefore be regarded as inconclusive and unreliable. It is perfectly evident that the kidneys may be for a short time quite capable of eliminating many objectionable substances, but the long‐continued use of such bodies, as Dr. HARRINGTON'S researches clearly indicate, sets up an inflammatory condition of the kidneys which, of course, interferes with the effective performance of their proper functions, and lays the foundations for complications of the most serious nature.

This paper aims to address the mechanisms of, and barriers to, knowledge transfer between Australia and China in the tertiary sector.

Individual focused interviews are conducted with one Chinese and ten Australian senior academics engaged in supervisory roles at all levels of knowledge transfer. Content and sociolinguistics analysis is conducted on the questions: How is knowledge transferred between key academic/research staff? What is the potential for commercialization of research findings between Australia and China? What role does information and communication technology (ICT) play in knowledge transfer?

Knowledge transfer between Chinese and Australian universities consists of research partnerships, collective publications, and joint degree programs. One‐way transfer of knowledge from Australia to China, rather than the desired reciprocal transfer of knowledge, appears to be most common. Barriers to bi‐directional knowledge sharing include misunderstandings surround intellectual property and cultural differences, which undermine trust between China and Australia. The participants overwhelmingly hold optimistic views about the potential of commercialization of research findings between China and Australia and report that ICT enhances communications assisted in successful knowledge transfer. However, ICT is reported to be under‐utilized because of unequal access to hardware and broadband in China as well as blocking and censorship of communication by China.

This paper contributes to the discourse on international, intercultural and bi‐directional knowledge transfer in the tertiary sector and has implications for enhanced academic and research excellence between China and Australia. Moreover, insight into the mechanisms of successful knowledge transfer may be applicable to improve knowledge transfer between Australia and other countries.

The research of lobbying within public relations scholarship is a small but emerging field, having hitherto been largely the reserve of political science. While there is rightly interaction between the two disciplines, lobbying is a communicative act with a clear human element, usually involving (and in some cases, required by law before it is deemed to be lobbying) face to face interactions between actors, namely lobbying practitioners and those with influence and power such as politicians. This chapter contains the findings of a survey of professional lobbyists working in Scotland. The survey seeks to gain a better understanding of the profile of Scottish lobbyists, and to understand if there is any change in their practice as a result of the lobbying transparency legislation which was introduced shortly before the study commenced. The survey was conducted by online questionnaire and completed by 71 respondents between September 2019 and February 2020. The study finds that lobbyists in Scotland are predominantly male, have at some point been active in party politics and that there has been little behaviour change since the introduction of lobbying transparency regulation. It also finds that non-commercial interest groups are the largest group in Scottish lobbying, but only slightly. This study adds to the literature of lobbying practice and lobbying regulation and aims to create a better understanding of the relatively young Scottish lobbying sector. It therefore provides a basis from which to conduct further studies in Scotland and other jurisdictions.

The following classified, annotated list of titles is intended to provide reference librarians with a current checklist of new reference books, and is designed to supplement the RSR review column, “Recent Reference Books,” by Frances Neel Cheney. “Reference Books in Print” includes all additional books received prior to the inclusion deadline established for this issue. Appearance in this column does not preclude a later review in RSR. Publishers are urged to send a copy of all new reference books directly to RSR as soon as published, for immediate listing in “Reference Books in Print.” Reference books with imprints older than two years will not be included (with the exception of current reprints or older books newly acquired for distribution by another publisher). The column shall also occasionally include library science or other library related publications of other than a reference character.

This paper attempts to assess the economic growth prospects of the BRICS countries and their potential ability to challenge and overtake the G7 countries. Specifically, the purpose of this paper is to answer the following question: Do the BRICS represent a tangible economic threat to surpass the G7, and if so, how?

The authors adopt a qualitative research method based on secondary data sources, such as journal publications, reports published by international organizations, and newspaper and magazine articles. Data from these different sources is compiled and presented in tabular form to provide logical support to the arguments.

Based on the data analysis, the authors conclude that the BRICS have the potential to overtake the G7 in the long run. However, this objective is not likely to be as easy as presumed by economists, since a number of factors and uncertainties may deter the growing economic power and influence of the BRICS.

At present, there is hardly any study or research in the available literature that compares these two blocs of countries. Hence, this comparative study will contribute significantly toward the advancement of future comparative economic studies.

The people of this country are frequently described, more or less correctly, as “long suffering,” and there is possibly no question in regard to which they have suffered so much and so long as that of the national food supply. Now and again some more thoughtful member of the Legislature addresses a question on the subject to some responsible Minister of the Crown, possibly on the sufficiency, or sometimes even on the purity of some article of food, and receives an answer which, as a general rule, is a mere feeble evasion of the particular point on which information is desired.