Trends in social capital: Membership of associations in Great Britain, 1991–98

This Note uses the British Household Panel Study (BHPS) to consider the changing volume and distribution of voluntary association membership (and hence social capital) in Great Britain. We aim to supplement Hall's study of trends in social capital published in this Journal with more recent and longitudinal data. This allows us to show that whilst the volume of social capital is not declining, it is becoming increasingly class specific, and that its relative aggregate stability masks considerable turnover at the individual level. These findings are significant for current debates on social capital

Prediction of plasma properties in mercury ion thrusters

A simplified theoretical model was developed which obtains to first order the plasma properties in the discharge chamber of a mercury ion thruster from basic thruster design and controllable operating parameters. The basic operation and design of ion thrusters is discussed, and the important processes which influence the plasma properties are described in terms of the design and control parameters. The conservation for mass, charge and energy were applied to the ion production region, which was defined as the region of the discharge chamber having as its outer boundary the surface of revolution of the innermost field line to intersect the anode. Mass conservation and the equations describing the various processes involved with mass addition and removal from the ion production region are satisfied by a Maxwellian electron density spatial distribution in that region

Investigating Human Impact in the Environment With Faded Scaffolded Inquiry Supported by Technologies

Teaching science as inquiry is advocated in all national science education documents and by leading science and science teaching organizations. In addition to teaching science as inquiry, we recognize that learning experiences need to connect to students’ lives. This article details how we use a sequence of faded scaffolded inquiry supported by technologies to engage students meaningfully in science connected to their lives and schoolyards. In this approach, more teacher guidance is provided earlier in the inquiry experiences before this is faded later in the sequence, as students are better prepared to complete successful inquiries. The sequence of inquiry experiences shared in this article offers one possible mechanism for science teaching supported by technologies as an exemplar for translating teaching “science as inquiry” into practice

Bilateral reversed palmaris longus muscle: a case report and systematic literature review.

PURPOSE: We present a case of a bilateral reversed palmaris longus muscle and a systematic review of the literature on this anatomical variation. METHODS: Routine dissection of a 90-year-old male cadaver revealed a rare bilateral reversed palmaris longus. This was documented photographically, and length and relation to anatomical landmarks were recorded. This finding stimulated a systematic review of the literature on the reversed palmaris longus variation, from which measurements were collated and statistical analysis performed to determine the prevalence, average length, relationship to side and sex, and to discuss its clinical and evolutionary implications. RESULTS: The average length of the muscle belly and tendon of reversed palmaris longus was 135 mm and 126 mm, respectively. Statistical analysis revealed no disparity in presentation due to sex and side; however, bilateral reversed palmaris longus has only been reported in males. A high proportion (70.8%) of reversed palmaris longus were discovered in the right upper limb compared to the left. CONCLUSION: Variations in palmaris longus are purported to be as a result of phylogenetic regression. Clinically, patients with this variant may present with pain or swelling of the distal forearm, often as a result of intense physical exertion related to occupation or sport. Clinicians should be aware of this muscle variant as its presence could lead to confusion during tendon allograft harvesting procedures in reconstructive and tendon grafting surgery

Recent developments in the application of risk analysis to waste technologies.

The European waste sector is undergoing a period of unprecedented change driven by business consolidation, new legislation and heightened public and government scrutiny. One feature is the transition of the sector towards a process industry with increased pre-treatment of wastes prior to the disposal of residues and the co-location of technologies at single sites, often also for resource recovery and residuals management. Waste technologies such as in-vessel composting, the thermal treatment of clinical waste, the stabilisation of hazardous wastes, biomass gasification, sludge combustion and the use of wastes as fuel, present operators and regulators with new challenges as to their safe and environmentally responsible operation. A second feature of recent change is an increased regulatory emphasis on public and ecosystem health and the need for assessments of risk to and from waste installations. Public confidence in waste management, secured in part through enforcement of the planning and permitting regimes and sound operational performance, is central to establishing the infrastructure of new waste technologies. Well-informed risk management plays a critical role. We discuss recent developments in risk analysis within the sector and the future needs of risk analysis that are required to respond to the new waste and resource management agenda

What Influences the Diffusion of Grassroots Innovations for Sustainability? Investigating Community Currency Niches

Community action for sustainability is a promising site of socio-technical innovation. Here we test the applicability of co-evolutionary niche theories of innovation diffusion (Strategic Niche Management, SNM) to the context of ‘grassroots innovations’. We present new empirical findings from an international study of 12 community currency niches (such as LETS, time banks, local currencies). These are parallel systems of exchange, designed to operate alongside mainstream money, meeting additional sustainability needs. Our findings confirm SNM predictions that niche-level activity correlates with diffusion success, but we highlight additional or confounding factors, and how niche theories might be adapted to better fit civil-society innovations. In so doing, we develop a model of grassroots innovation niche diffusion which builds on existing work and tailors it to this specific context. The paper concludes with a series of theoretically-informed recommendations for practitioners and policymakers to support the development and potential of grassroots innovations

Air pollution, deprivation and health: Understanding relationships to add value to local air quality management policy and practice in Wales, UK

© The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Faculty of Public Health. All rights reserved. Background Air pollution exposure reduces life expectancy. Air pollution, deprivation and poor-health status combinations can create increased and disproportionate disease burdens. Problems and solutions are rarely considered in a broad public health context, but doing so can add value to air quality management efforts by reducing air pollution risks, impacts and inequalities. Methods An ecological study assessed small-area associations between air pollution (nitrogen dioxide and particulate matter), deprivation status and health outcomes in Wales, UK. Results Air pollution concentrations were highest in 'most' deprived areas. When considered separately, deprivation-health associations were stronger than air pollution-health associations. Considered simultaneously, air pollution added to deprivation-health associations; interactions between air pollution and deprivation modified and strengthened associations with all-cause and respiratory disease mortality, especially in 'most' deprived areas where most-vulnerable people lived and where health needs were greatest. Conclusion There is a need to reduce air pollution-related risks for all. However, it is also the case that greater health gains can result from considering local air pollution problems and solutions in the context of wider health-determinants and acting on a better understanding of relationships. Informed and co-ordinated air pollution mitigation and public health action in high deprivation and pollution areas can reduce risks and inequalities. To achieve this, greater public health integration and collaboration in local air quality management policy and practice is needed

Keep it simple: three indicators to deal with overfishing

Three simple fisheries indicators are presented: (i) percentage of mature fish in catch, with 100% as target; (ii) percent of specimens with optimum length in catch, with 100% as target; and (iii) percentage of ‘mega-spawners‘ in catch, with 0% as target, and 30–40% as representative of reasonable stock structure if no upper size limit exists. Application of these indicators to stocks of Gadus morhua, Sardinella aurita and Epinephelus aeneus demonstrate their usefulness. It is argued that such simple indicators have the potential to allow more stakeholders such as fishers, fish dealers, supermarket managers, consumers and politicians to participate in fisheries management and eventually hold and reverse the global pattern of convenience overfishing, which is defined here as deliberate overfishing sanctioned by official bodies who find it more convenient to risk eventual collapse of fish stocks than to risk social and political conflicts

Desperately seeking niches: Grassroots innovations and niche development in the community currency field

The sustainability transitions literature seeks to explain the conditions under which technological innovations can diffuse and disrupt existing socio-technical systems through the successful scaling up of experimental ‘niches’; but recent research on ‘grassroots innovations’ argues that civil society is a promising but under-researched site of innovation for sustainability, albeit one with very different characteristics to the market-based innovation normally considered in the literature. This paper aims to address that research gap by exploring the relevance of niche development theories in a civil society context. To do this, we examine a growing grassroots innovation – the international field of community currencies – which comprises a range of new socio-technical configurations of systems of exchange which have emerged from civil society over the last 30 years, intended to provide more environmentally and socially sustainable forms of money and finance. We draw on new empirical research from an international study of these initiatives comprising primary and secondary data and documentary sources, elite interviews and participant observation in the field. We describe the global diffusion of community currencies, and then conduct a niche analysis to evaluate the utility of niche theories for explaining the development of the community currency movement. We find that some niche-building processes identified in the existing literature are relevant in a grassroots context: the importance of building networks, managing expectations and the significance of external ‘landscape’ pressures, particularly at the level of national-type. However, our findings suggest that existing theories do not fully capture the complexity of this type of innovation: we find a diverse field addressing a range of societal systems (money, welfare, education, health, consumerism), and showing increasing fragmentation (as opposed to consolidation and standardisation); furthermore, there is little evidence of formalised learning taking place but this has not hampered movement growth. We conclude that grassroots innovations develop and diffuse in quite different ways to conventional innovations, and that niche theories require adaptation to the civil society context