From Religion Class to Religion Classification and Back Again

This article addresses the gap between recent scholarly critiques of the broader categorization of religion and the persistence of those categories in the LC classification system. On one hand, since recent scholarly critiques of the category of religion have generally not escaped the ivory tower, the application of these critiques to LC classification functions as a helpful test of the practical viability of these critiques. On the other hand, these critiques expose significant bias in the LC classification of religion that needs to be addressed. Through this novel conversation, this article articulates two possible revision suggestions to the B class and subclasses that would distance the system of categorization from those troubling politics and better reflect the full diversity of human cultural expressions.

What Every Neuropathologist Needs to Know: Peripheral Nerve Biopsy

Peripheral neuropathy is a common disorder with many possible etiologies including metabolic diseases, inflammatory conditions, infections, malignancy, inherited diseases, drugs, and toxins. In most instances, diagnosis and treatment plan can be established based on clinical presentation, family history, laboratory results, genetic testing, and electrophysiological studies. But in some situations, a peripheral nerve biopsy remains a valuable tool. This is especially true in patients with rapidly progressive disease, with atypical presentation or for whom other approaches fail to yield a definitive diagnosis. The pathologic examination starts with basic decisions about specimen triage. A few basic questions help to provide an initial framework for the assessment of a nerve biopsy—is the specimen adequate; are there inflammatory changes; are there vascular changes; is there amyloid; are there changes to axonal density and the Schwann cell-myelin-axon unit. In the appropriate context and with such an approach peripheral nerve biopsies can still represent a clinically helpful test.