Bishops in parliament: the Lords Spiritual, c. 1903-1974

Twenty-six Anglican bishops and archbishops – the ‘Lords Spiritual’ – are members of the House of Lords by right of their position within the established Church of England. They retain a place of symbolic and practical significance in parliament despite the widespread ‘secularisation’ of British (especially English) society and the ‘institutional marginalisation’ of the Church from the state during the twentieth century. How has the Church of England’s direct influence in parliament survived, and what purpose has it served? In answering these questions, new perspectives are given on the reciprocal influence of political and religious debates, the role of the House of Lords, the dynamics of ‘secularisation’, and the function of the religious establishment. Study of the Lords Spiritual acts as an ‘institutional’ corrective to the ‘social’ and ‘cultural’ approaches which, since the late 1950s, have come to characterise studies of the relationship between church and state. Between c. 1903 and 1974, the role of the Lords Spiritual changed significantly. While once they claimed a role in the balance of constitutional ‘estates’, they came to place themselves within the chamber’s balance of expertise. Though at times the bishops attained temporary political importance, their conduct responded to ecclesiastical influences – chiefly, the perception of the Church’s and Christianity’s declining place in national life. In their efforts to influence parliamentary debates, they were constrained by the need to relate to the prevailing political and parliamentary discourses. This entailed compromises which became greater as the identities of Church and state diverged, and as social practices departed from traditional Christian standards

Expert players accurately detect an opponent's movement intentions through sound alone

Sounds offer a rich source of information about events taking place in our physical and social environment. However, outside the domains of speech and music, little is known about whether humans can recognize and act upon the intentions of another agent's actions detected through auditory information alone. In this study we assessed whether intention can be inferred from the sound an action makes, and in turn, whether this information can be used to prospectively guide movement. In 2 experiments experienced and novice basketball players had to virtually intercept an attacker by listening to audio recordings of that player's movements. In the first experiment participants had to move a slider, while in the second one their body, to block the perceived passage of the attacker as they would in a real basketball game. Combinations of deceptive and nondeceptive movements were used to see if novice and/or experienced listeners could perceive the attacker's intentions through sound alone. We showed that basketball players were able to more accurately predict final running direction compared to nonplayers, particularly in the second experiment when the interceptive action was more basketball specific. We suggest that athletes present better action anticipation by being able to pick up and use the relevant kinematic features of deceptive movement from event-related sounds alone. This result suggests that action intention can be perceived through the sound a movement makes and that the ability to determine another person's action intention from the information conveyed through sound is honed through practice. (PsycINFO Database Recor

Oral β-hydroxybutyrate salt fails to improve 4-minute cycling performance following submaximal exercise

The purpose of the present study was to examine the effects of an oral β-hydroxybutyrate (BHB) supplement on cycling performance. Using a double-blind, placebo-controlled, crossover design, 12 highly-trained cyclists (mean ± SD: age; 35 ± 8 y, mass; 74.5 ± 7.6 kg, VO₂ₚₑₐₖ; 68.0 ± 6.7 ml.min⁻¹kg⁻¹) were supplemented with two 30 ml servings of an oral BHB supplement or placebo formula (PLA) prior to and during exercise. Participants cycled at a submaximal intensity (80% of second ventilatory threshold) for 90-min, followed by a 4-min maximal cycling performance test (4PT). The difference in 4PT power output between trials was not statistically significant (p > 0.05) and was associated with a trivial effect (ES ±90%CI = 0.19 ±0.37). Ingestion of the BHB supplement was associated with a large increase in blood BHB concentrations when compared to PLA for the 4PT (ES = 1.75 ±0.50, p 0.05) and a moderate increase during the 4PT (ES = 0.78 ±0.57, p = 0.03). Submaximal VO₂ did not differ between trials, however, VO₂ was higher during the 4PT phase in the BHB trial (ES = 0.28 ±0.32; small). In conclusion, BHB supplementation altered blood BHB concentrations, RER and VO₂ values during steady state sub-maximal exercise, but did not improve 4-minute cycling performance