Social solidarity and Herbert Spencer: Not the oxymoron that might be assumed.

This article attempts to retrieve important aspects of Spencer's sociology from the general neglect and misrepresentation which threatens to overwhelm it all. It does touch in passing on many such highly dubious contentions as that he was a “social Darwinist,” but the prime focus is to deal with three linked themes. First, the article examines the significance of his attribution to individuals of “social self-consciousness” as part of sociality, thus distancing it from Durkheim's influential but suspect reading of Spencer's individuals as egoistic. Second, it rescues his concept of “the social organism” from misinterpretation. His own writings show it to be a more rigorous and suggestive attempt to configure the morphology of “the social” than commonly assumed. Third, it reconstructs the status of his contrast between “militant” and “industrial” social forms as a contrast between different but more general forms of social life that those descriptions in fact register. With the focus on these three linked themes the article improves the historical accuracy of our understanding of Spencer's sociology. It also repositions key aspects of it as not alien, quaint and a spent force, but ontologically challenging and possibly prescient for debates about the meaning of “the social” today

Cold heteromolecular dipolar collisions

We present the first experimental observation of cold collisions between two different species of neutral polar molecules, each prepared in a single internal quantum state. Combining for the first time the techniques of Stark deceleration, magnetic trapping, and cryogenic buffer gas cooling allows the enhancement of molecular interaction time by 10$^5$. This has enabled an absolute measurement of the total trap loss cross sections between OH and ND$_3$ at a mean collision energy of 3.6 cm$^{-1}$ (5 K). Due to the dipolar interaction, the total cross section increases upon application of an external polarizing electric field. Cross sections computed from \emph{ab initio} potential energy surfaces are in excellent agreement with the measured value at zero external electric field. The theory presented here represents the first such analysis of collisions between a $^2\Pi$ radical and a closed-shell polyatomic molecule.Comment: 7 pages, 5 figure

The Regeneration Games: Commodities, Gifts and the Economics of London 2012

This paper considers contradictions between two concurrent and tacit conceptions of the Olympic ‘legacy’, setting out one conception that understands the games and their legacies as gifts alongside and as counterpoint to the prevailing discourse, which conceives Olympic assets as commodities. The paper critically examines press and governmental discussion of legacy, in order to locate these in the context of a wider perspective contrasting ‘gift’ and ‘commodity’ Olympics – setting anthropological conceptions of gift-based sociality as a necessary supplement to contractual and dis-embedded socioeconomic organizational assumptions underpinning the commodity Olympics. Costbenefit planning is central to modern city building and mega-event delivery. The paper considers the insufficiency of this approach as the exclusive paradigm within which to frame and manage a dynamic socio-economic and cultural legacy arising from the 2012 games

On welfare pluralism, social policy and the contribution of sociology: Revisiting Robert Pinker

On occasion it makes sound sense to undertake a retrospective review of a late colleague's contribution to his or her subject area. This applies to Robert Pinker, Professor of Social Administration at the London School of Economics, who died at the age of 89 in February 2021. Over a long life he made a major impact on working for press freedom and to social work studies, but this article concerns his work on social policy, and particularly on the idea of welfare pluralism, a many-faceted idea the exploration of which powered two pathbreaking books Social Theory and Social Policy (1971) and The Idea of Welfare (1979). In the twentieth century many states including the United Kingdom had greatly expanded their welfare provisions for their citizens, and, in some, an academic subject area, often called social administration or social policy had grown in response. Pinker started writing in the 1960s, dissatisfied with the conventional approach of Richard Titmuss and others, almost exclusively concerned with the state and welfare. He made the case for a radical rebalance toward including everyday experiences of obligations and how familial informal welfare practices are strengthened, weakened or modified by formal social services. However, ahead of his time, Pinker was arguing for an enhanced sociological imagination in the study of social policy and on the very idea of “welfare”. This article has sections reflecting the facets of Pinker's thinking about welfare pluralism, including “social policy's past”, “exchange and stigma”, “taking informal welfare seriously”, “divergent views of altruism”, “comparative studies”, “on a mixture of means to welfare” and “aspects of Pinker's legacy”. The idea of welfare pluralism is now familiar. But Pinker's crucial pioneering role, depth of understanding of the issues and grasp of their intertwining is seldom recalled. This article should help to meet the need for his contribution to be reinserted into the mainstream of sociological thought on welfare, so enriching new research

What is an endangered species?: judgments about acceptable risk

Judgments about acceptable risk in the context of policy may be influenced by law makers, policy makers, experts and the general public. While significant effort has been made to understand public attitudes on acceptable risk of environmental pollution, little is known about such attitudes in the context of species\u27 endangerment. We present survey results on these attitudes in the context of United States\u27 legal-political apparatus intended to mitigate species endangerment. The results suggest that the general public exhibit lower tolerance for risk than policy makers and experts. Results also suggest that attitudes about acceptable risk for species endangerment are importantly influenced by one\u27s knowledge about the environment and social identity. That result is consistent with notions that risk judgments are a synthesis of facts and values and that knowledge is associated with one\u27s social identity. We explain the implications of these findings for understanding species endangerment across the planet

Support for the US Endangered Species Act Is High and Steady Over the Past Three Decades

Conservation professionals expect increased attempts to weaken the US Endangered Species Act (ESA) during the second Trump administration. As such, it is important to understand Americans’ level of support for the ESA. Prior research indicates that support for the ESA remained consistently strong across four studies conducted over a two-decade period, 1996–2015. The research presented here extends those observations to six studies conducted over a three-decade period, 1996–2025. We find that support of the ESA over that period has remained consistently high, at about 84%, and opposition has remained consistently low, at about 12%. We also report on other trends and patterns in support for the ESA, highlighting high and growing support for the ESA among politically conservative people and the absence of any rural–urban divide in support for the ESA

Six provocations on the origins and impacts of the UK housing emergency

British housing systems seem trapped in a ‘perfect storm’ of rising costs, declining choice, affordability stress, and unmet need. Housing outcomes are increasingly polarised, with implications for intergenerational conflict, economic and social inequalities, and environmental sustainability. There is no easy explanation, and no quick fix. These six short reflections, shared during an interdisciplinary meeting of Fellows of the British Academy, on the origins, impacts, and future of the present housing ‘crisis’ are thus timely provocations adding momentum to key debates. This article accompanies another in this issue, ‘The UK housing emergency: personal reflections’, by Shani Dhanda, Susan J. Smith, and Jessie Speer

The influence of different lipid environments on the structure and function of the hepatitis C virus p7 ion channel protein

The hepatitis C virus (HCV) encodes the p7 protein that oligomerizes to form an ion channel. The 63 amino acid long p7 monomer is an integral membrane protein predominantly found in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER). Although it is currently unknown whether p7 is incorporated into secreted virions, its presence is crucial for the release of infectious virus. The molecular and biophysical mechanism employed by the p7 ion channel is largely unknown, but in vivo it is likely to be embedded in membranes undergoing changes in lipid composition. In this study we analyze the influence of the lipid environment on p7 ion channel structure and function using electrophysiology and synchrotron radiation circular dichroism (SRCD) spectroscopy. We incorporated chemically synthesized p7 polypeptides into artificial planar membranes of various lipid compositions. A lipid bilayer composition comprising phosphatidylcholine (PC) and phosphatidylethanolamine (PE) (4:1 PC:PE) led to burst-like patterns in the channel recordings with channel openings lasting up to 0.5 s. The reverse ratio of PC:PE (1:4) gave rise to individual channels continuously opening for up to 8 s. SRCD spectroscopy of p7 embedded into liposomes of corresponding lipid compositions suggests there is a structural effect of the lipid composition on the p7 protein

Vaginal Progesterone is as Effective as Cervical Cerclage to Prevent Preterm Birth in Women with a Singleton Gestation, Previous Spontaneous Preterm Birth and a Short Cervix:Updated Indirect Comparison Meta-Analysis

BackgroundAn indirect comparison meta-analysis published in 2013 reported that both vaginal progesterone and cerclage are equally efficacious for preventing preterm birth and adverse perinatal outcomes in women with a singleton gestation, previous spontaneous preterm birth and a sonographic short cervix. The efficacy of vaginal progesterone has been disputed after publication of the OPPTIMUM study.ObjectiveTo compare the efficacy of vaginal progesterone and cerclage in preventing preterm birth and adverse perinatal outcomes in women with a singleton gestation, previous spontaneous preterm birth and a midtrimester sonographic short cervix.Data SourcesMEDLINE, EMBASE, LILACS, and CINAHL (from their inception to March 2018); Cochrane databases, bibliographies, and conference proceedings.Study Eligibility CriteriaRandomized controlled trials comparing vaginal progesterone with placebo/no treatment or cerclage with no cerclage in women with a singleton gestation, previous spontaneous preterm birth and a sonographic cervical length &lt;25 mm.Study Appraisal and Synthesis MethodsUpdated systematic review and adjusted indirect comparison meta-analysis of vaginal progesterone versus cerclage using placebo/no cerclage as the common comparator. The primary outcomes were preterm birth &lt;35 weeks of gestation and perinatal mortality. Pooled relative risks (RRs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated.ResultsFive trials comparing vaginal progesterone versus placebo (265 women) and 5 comparing cerclage versus no cerclage (504 women) were included. Vaginal progesterone, compared with placebo, significantly reduced the risk of preterm birth &lt;35 and &lt;32 weeks of gestation, composite perinatal morbidity/mortality, neonatal sepsis, composite neonatal morbidity, and admission to the neonatal intensive care unit (RRs from 0.29-0.68). Cerclage, compared with no cerclage, significantly decreased the risk of preterm birth &lt;35, &lt;37, &lt;32, and &lt;28 weeks of gestation, composite perinatal morbidity/mortality, and birthweigth &lt;1500 g (RRs from 0.64-0.70). Adjusted indirect comparison meta-analyses did not show statistically significant differences between vaginal progesterone and cerclage in the reduction of preterm birth or adverse perinatal outcomes.ConclusionsVaginal progesterone and cerclage are equally effective for preventing preterm birth and improving perinatal outcomes in women with a singleton gestation, previous spontaneous preterm birth, and a midtrimester sonographic short cervix. The choice of treatment will depend on adverse events and cost-effectiveness of interventions, and patient/physician’s preferences.</p