Ulrich Beck's cosmopolitanisation thesis : a philosophical critique

For Ulrich Beck, the Enlightenment project aimed to subordinate religious truth to the authority of reason in questions of the true and the good, and thus to replace religious conflict with peace. Although the ‘First Modernity’ delivered risks like climate change rather than progress like peace, Beck discerns signs of hope for the Enlightenment project in the processes of individualisation and cosmopolitanisation. I argue, first, that Beck exaggerates his claims about the relative influence of tradition on religion and reason; second, that his cosmopolitanisation thesis fails to identify triggers for a paradigm conversion; third, that the thesis relies upon essentialist commitments of the kind he condemns; and finally, that only the classicist view of essentialism is vulnerable to his attack.

Using manipulated photographs to identify features of streetscapes that may encourage older adults to walk for transport

Experimental evidence of environmental features important for physical activity is challenging to procure in real world settings. The current study aimed to investigate the causal effects of environmental modifications on a photographed street's appeal for older adults' walking for transport. Secondly, we examined whether these effects differed according to gender, functional limitations, and current level of walking for transport. Thirdly, we examined whether different environmental modifications interacted with each other. Qualitative responses were also reported to gain deeper insight into the observed quantitative relationships. Two sets of 16 panoramic photographs of a streetscape were created, in which six environmental factors were manipulated (sidewalk evenness, traffic level, general upkeep, vegetation, separation from traffic, and benches). Sixty older adults sorted these photographs on appeal for walking for transport on a 7-point scale and reported qualitative information on the reasons for their rankings. Sidewalk evenness appeared to have the strongest influence on a street's appeal for transport-related walking. The effect of sidewalk evenness was even stronger when the street's overall upkeep was good and when traffic was absent. Absence of traffic, presence of vegetation, and separation from traffic also increased a street's appeal for walking for transport. There were no moderating effects by gender or functional limitations. The presence of benches increased the streetscape's appeal among participants who already walked for transport at least an hour/week. The protocols and methods used in the current study carry the potential to further our understanding of environment-PA relationships. Our findings indicated sidewalk evenness as the most important environmental factor influencing a street's appeal for walking for transport among older adults. However, future research in larger samples and in real-life settings is needed to confirm current findings.

Writing scientific papers, with special reference to evolutionary ecology

© 2015, Springer International Publishing Switzerland. The advancement of science, as well as scientific careers, depends upon good and clear scientific writing. Science is the most democratic of human endeavours because, in principle, anyone can replicate a scientific discovery. In order for this to continue, writing must be clear enough to be understood well enough to allow replication, either in principle or in fact. In this paper I will present data on the publication process in Evolutionary Ecology, use it to illustrate some of the problems in scientific papers, make some general remarks about writing scientific papers, summarise two new paper categories in the journal which will fill gaps that appear to be expanding in the literature, and summarise new journal policies to help mitigate existing problems. Most of the suggestions about writing would apply to any scientific journal.

Subjective sleep impairment in adults with type 1 or type 2 diabetes: results from Diabetes MILES - the Netherlands

AIMS: Despite growing recognition of the impact of sleep on diabetes, a clear profile of people with diabetes regarding subjective sleep impairment has yet to be established. This study examines: (1) subjective sleep characteristics in adults with type 1 and type 2 diabetes; (2) the relationship of poor subjective sleep quality with glycaemic control, self-care and daytime functioning; (3) possible risk markers for poor sleep quality. METHODS: In a cross-sectional study, Dutch adults with type 1 (n=267) or type 2 diabetes (n=361) completed an online survey, including the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), socio-demographic, clinical, self-care and psychological measures. RESULTS: Poor sleep quality (PSQI-score >5) was reported by 31% of adults with type 1 and 42% of adults with type 2 diabetes. Participants with good and poor sleep quality did not differ in self-reported HbA1c or the frequency of meeting lifestyle recommendations. Poor sleep quality was related to a higher self-care burden and higher levels of daytime sleepiness, fatigue, depressive and anxiety symptoms, and diabetes-specific distress. In multivariable logistic regression analyses examining risk markers, poor sleep quality was associated with depressive symptoms in adults with type 1 (OR=1.39, 95% CI 1.25-1.54) and type 2 diabetes (OR=1.31, 1.16-1.47), and with being female in those with type 2 diabetes (OR=2.72, 1.42-5.20). CONCLUSIONS: Poor subjective sleep quality is prevalent both in adults with type 1 and type 2 diabetes, and is related to poor daytime functioning and higher self-care burden. The temporal relation with depression and merits of therapy should be explored.

Is change in global self-rated health associated with change in affiliation with a primary care provider? Findings from a longitudinal study from New Zealand

To investigate the association of self-rated health and affiliation with a primary care provider (PCP) in New Zealand.
Methods

We used data from a New Zealand panel study of 22,000 adults. The main exposure was self-rated health, and the main outcome measure was affiliation with a PCP. Fixed effects conditional logistic models were used to control for observed time-varying and unobserved time-invariant confounding.
Results

In any given wave, the odds of being affiliated with a PCP were higher for those in good and fair/poor health relative to those in excellent health. While affiliation for Europeans increased as reported health declined, the odds of being affiliated were lower for Māori respondents reporting very good or good health relative to those in excellent health. No significant differences in the association by age or gender were observed.
Conclusions

Our data support the hypothesis that those in poorer health are more likely to be affiliated with a PCP. Variations in affiliation for Māori could arise for several reasons, including differences in care-seeking behaviour and perceived need of care. It may also mean that the message about the benefits of primary health care is not getting through equally to all population groups.

Dynamic price dispersion in Bertrand–Edgeworth competition

This paper studies a dynamic oligopoly model of price competition under demand uncertainty. Sellers are endowed with one unit of the good and compete by posting prices in every period. Buyers each demand one unit of the good and have a common reservation price. They have full information regarding the prices posted by each firm in the market; hence, search is costless. The number of buyers coming to the market in each period is random. Demand uncertainty is said to be high if there are at least two non-zero demand states that give a seller different option values of waiting to sell. Our model features a unique symmetric Markov perfect equilibrium in which price dispersion prevails if and only if the degree of demand uncertainty is high. Several testable theoretical implications on the distribution of market prices are derived.

Exploring the suburban ideal: Residents' experiences of photo elicitation interviewing (PEI)

This article reports on how photo elicitation interviewing (PEI) was experienced by eight participants in a qualitative phenom- enological study of suburban lived experiences. Adopting a respondent-controlled approach, participants were required to photograph at least 10 aspects of their suburb that they perceived to be good and problematical and then explain the meaning of their images as part of a follow-up interview. This discussion also involved in-depth reflection on the photography exercise itself, with analysis revealing that taking photographs was perceived to be a purposeful exercise that offered a range of benefits. It gave a new perspective and appreciation for the community, while also helping to ensure their meanings were conveyed to the inter- viewers. The photography task was not without challenges. While some of these challenges influenced the images captured, the findings of this study highlight the importance for qualitative researchers who use PEI to not only consider the benefits and limitations for the research but also give due consideration to the experiences of the participant photographers.

Setting the record straight: assessing the reliability of retrospective accounts of change

Conservation Letters published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Ecological degradation is accelerating, reducing our ability to detect and reverse declines. Resource user accounts have the potential to provide critical information on past change but their reliability can rarely be tested, hence they are often perceived as less valid than other forms of scientific data. We compared individual fishers' catch records, recorded 1-50 years ago, with their memories of past good, typical and poor catches for the corresponding time period. Good and poor catches were recalled with reasonable accuracy, matching variability in recorded catch with no significant change observed over time. Typical recalled catches were overestimated and became significantly more exaggerated over time, but were more comparable to mean than median recorded values. While accuracy of resource users' memory varied with the type of information recalled, our results suggest that carefully structured interview questions can produce reliable quantitative data to inform resource management, even after several decades have elapsed.

Confronting the horror of natural evil: An exchange between Peter Coghlan and Nick Trakakis

In this exchange, Peter Coghlan and Nick Trakakis discuss the problem of natural evil in the light of the recent Asian tsunami disaster. The exchange begins with an extract from a newspaper article written by Coghlan on the tsunami, followed by three rounds of replies and counter-replies, and ending with some final comments from Trakakis. While critical of any attempt to show that human life is good overall despite its natural evils, Coghlan argues that instances of natural evil, even horrific ones, can be justified as the unavoidable by-product of a natural system on which human life and culture depends. Trakakis, however, rejects this view, counselling instead a degree of skepticism about our ability to construct a plausible theodicy for horrific evil.

God, gratuitous evil, and van Inwagen's attempt to reconcile the two

Both critics and advocates of evidential arguments from evil often assume that theistic belief is not compatible with gratuitous evil. It is often assumed, in other words, that an omniscient, omnipotent, perfectly good being would not permit an evil unless he had a morally sufcient reason to permit it. However, this cornerstone of evidential arguments from evil has come under increasing re of late, in particular by Peter van Inwagen. The aim of this paper is to outline and then assess van Inwagen's attempt to reconcile theism with gratuitous evil.

Mediating the good life: prostitution and the Japanese Woman's Christian Temperance Union, 1880s–1920s

This article examines how the Japanese Woman's Christian Temperance Union, in the name of promoting liberty and rights of women in their relations with men, constructed hierarchies to ascribe value to themselves through moral condemnation. The JWCTU used extramarital sex as a political issue to strengthen the position of the legal wife in the household as opposed to the concubine and prostitute. Their efforts to prohibit Japanese women from going abroad as prostitutes, while understood as an attempt to end a system of slavery that violated the inherent rights of Japanese womanhood, was actually a desire to regulate the behaviour of the poor. The JWCTU based its moral reform agenda on the importance of premarital chastity, strict monogamy and the obligation to work for the good of the nation. Its construction of prostitution as evil represents an important strand in the history of the relationship between prostitution and family as a socio-political issue in modern Japan.