People prefer their own initials to other letters, influencing preferences in many domains. The “name letter effect” (Nuttin, 1987) may not apply to negatively valenced targets if people are motivated to downplay or distance themselves from negative targets associated with the self, as previous research has shown (e.g., Finch & Cialdini, 1989). In the current research we examine the relationship between same initial preferences and negatively valenced stimuli. Specifically, we examined donations to disaster relief after seven major hurricanes to test the influence of the name letter effect with negatively valenced targets. Individuals who shared an initial with the hurricane name were overrepresented among hurricane relief donors relative to the baseline distribution of initials in the donor population. This finding suggests that people may seek to ameliorate the negative effects of a disaster when there are shared characteristics between the disaster and the self.

Wittgenstein expounds his notion of a family resemblance in two important passages. The first is from The Blue Book:

In a recent paper M.R. Ayers attacks two widely held doctrines:

• (I) Non-arbitary individuation requires principles of individuation and these are supplies only by sortal general terms.

• (R) It is possible for an item a to be the same as b but not the same as b.

I shall follow Ayers in calling a theory which includes both (I) and (R) ‘conceptualist’ or ‘sortalist’ (although I shall also use the more familiar label ‘relative identity theory’), but I shall not allow him to appropriate the honorific term ‘realist’ for his own theory, which I shall term ‘absolutist’. My sole purpose here is to defend (I) and (R) in turn against Ayers’ attacks on them. Thus I shall ignore intermediate positions which accept (R) but reject (I) or vice-versa.

Ayers’ paper is long and in many respects obscure; there are many points in it which require discussion but which can't receive it here for lack of space. In particular, I shall ignore his lengthy comments on the constitutive ‘is’, and also the wider metaphysical remarks in his conclusion and the postscript on Dummett.

Evidence from randomised controlled trials supports beneficial effects of total dairy products on body weight, fat and lean mass, but evidence on associations of dairy types with distributions of body fat and lean mass is limited. We aimed to investigate associations of total and different types of dairy products with markers of adiposity, and body fat and lean mass distribution. We evaluated cross-sectional data from 12 065 adults aged 30–65 years recruited to the Fenland Study between 2005 and 2015 in Cambridgeshire, UK. Diet was assessed with an FFQ. We estimated regression coefficients (or percentage differences) and their 95 % CI using multiple linear regression models. The medians of milk, yogurt and cheese consumption were 293 (interquartile range (IQR) 146–439), 35·3 (IQR 8·8–71·8) and 14·6 (IQR 4·8–26·9) g/d, respectively. Low-fat dairy consumption was inversely associated with visceral:subcutaneous fat ratio estimated with dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (–2·58 % (95 % CI –3·91, –1·23 %) per serving/d). Habitual consumption per serving/d (200 g) of milk was associated with 0·33 (95 % CI 0·19, 0·46) kg higher lean mass. Other associations were not significant after false discovery correction. Our findings suggest that the influence of milk consumption on lean mass and of low-fat dairy consumption on fat mass distribution may be potential pathways for the link between dairy consumption and metabolic risk. Our cross-sectional findings warrant further research in prospective and experimental studies in diverse populations.

High cost of healthy foods could be a barrier to healthy eating. We aimed to examine the association between dietary cost and adherence to the Mediterranean diet in a non-Mediterranean country. We evaluated cross-sectional data from 12 417 adults in the UK Fenland Study. Responses to 130-item FFQ were used to calculate a Mediterranean diet score (MDS). Dietary cost was estimated by matching food consumption data with retail prices of five major supermarkets. Using multivariable-adjusted linear regression, we examined the association of MDS and individual foods with dietary cost in absolute and relative scales. Subsequently, we assessed how much the association was explained by education, income, marital status and occupation, by conducting mediation analysis and testing interaction by these variables. High compared with low MDS (top to bottom third) was associated with marginally higher cost by 5·4 % (95 % CI 4·4, 6·4) or £0·20/d (95 % CI 0·16, 0·25). Participants with high adherence had higher cost associated with the healthier components (e.g. vegetables, fruits and fish), and lower cost associated with the unhealthy components (e.g. red meat, processed meat and sweets) (Pfor trend<0·001 each). In total, 20·7 % (95 % CI 14·3, 27·0) of the MDS-cost association was explained by the selected socio-economic factors, and the MDS-cost association was of greater magnitude in lower socio-economic groups (Pinteraction<0·005). Overall, greater adherence to the Mediterranean diet was associated with marginally higher dietary cost, partly modified and explained by socio-economic status, but the potential economic barriers of high adherence might be offset by cost saving from reducing unhealthy food consumption.

Artificial Roman ponds present in various guises, but they are relatively rarely found in the service of rural agriculture. This article focuses on a possible example of this type from Worcestershire, where extensive excavation has been carried out. The results demonstrate the potential of a pond for the reconstruction of wider landscape usage, while the considerable quantity of associated finds potentially sheds some light on social practice. A review of similar sites across Roman Britain suggests there may be practical (in essence curatorial) issues about the fuller investigation of such features once identified, in order that a similarly high level of data can be achieved more regularly, and suggests a need for prospection/mapping for the better management of this resource, especially employing newly available LiDAR data.

Evidence suggests that diets meeting recommendations for fruit and vegetable (F&V) intake are more costly. Dietary costs may be a greater constraint on the diet quality of people of lower socioeconomic position (SEP). The aim of this study was to examine whether dietary costs are more strongly associated with F&V intake in lower-SEP groups than in higher-SEP groups. Data on individual participants’ education and income were available from a population-based, cross-sectional study of 10 020 British adults. F&V intake and dietary costs (GBP/d) were derived from a semi-quantitative FFQ. Dietary cost estimates were based on UK food prices. General linear models were used to assess associations between SEP, quartiles of dietary costs and F&V intake. Effect modification of SEP gradients by dietary costs was examined with interaction terms. Analysis demonstrated that individuals with lowest quartile dietary costs, low income and low education consumed less F&V than individuals with higher dietary costs, high income and high education. Significant interaction between SEP and dietary costs indicated that the association between dietary costs and F&V intake was stronger for less-educated and lower-income groups. That is, socioeconomic differences in F&V intake were magnified among individuals who consumed lowest-cost diets. Such amplification of socioeconomic inequalities in diet among those consuming low-cost diets indicates the need to address food costs in strategies to promote healthy diets. In addition, the absence of socioeconomic inequalities for individuals with high dietary costs suggests that high dietary costs can compensate for lack of other material, or psychosocial resources.

Unhealthy dietary behaviours may contribute to obesity along with energy imbalance. Both positive and null associations of snacking and BMI have been reported, but the association between snacking and total adiposity or pattern of fat deposition remains unevaluated. The objective of this study was to investigate the associations between snacking frequency and detailed adiposity measurements. A total of 10 092 adults residing in Cambridgeshire, England, self-completed eating pattern snacking frequency, FFQ and physical activity questionnaires. Measurements included anthropometry, body composition using dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry scan and ultrasound and assessment of physical activity energy expenditure using heart rate and movement sensing. Linear regression analyses were conducted adjusted for age, socio-demographics, dietary quality, energy intake, PAEE and screen time by sex and BMI status. Among normal-weight individuals (BMI<25 kg/m2), each additional snack was inversely associated with obesity measures: lower total body fat in men and women (−0·41 (95 % CI −0·74, −0·07) %, −0·41 (−0·67, −0·15) %, respectively) and waist circumference (−0·52 (−0·90, −0·14) cm) in men. In contrast, among the overweight/obese (BMI≥25 kg/m2), there were positive associations: higher waist circumference (0·80 (0·34, 0·28) cm) and subcutaneous fat (0·06 (0·01, 0·110) cm) in women and waist circumference (0·37 (0·00, 0·73) cm) in men. Comparing intakes of snack-type foods showed that participants with BMI≥25 kg/m2 had higher intakes of crisps, sweets, chocolates and ice-creams and lower intakes of yoghurt and nuts compared with normal-weight participants. Adjusting for these foods in a model that included a BMI–snacking interaction term attenuated all the associations to null. Snacking frequency may be associated with higher or lower adiposity, with the direction of association being differential by BMI status and dependent on snack food choice. Improving snack choices could contribute to anti-obesity public health interventions.

In a recent review David Gauthier presents two arguments designed to support the eminently comforting belief that, while recognizing aboriginal rights in Canada will entail some costs for the dominant European community, these costs will be of a comparatively modest nature, and certainly far less than the sort of compensation currently claimed by the indigenous peoples themselves. Unfortunately for the Europeans, but fortunately for the indigenes, there seems to be no moral justification whatsoever for the arguments he adduces. In fact, the only way his arguments can be made to work is by assuming that radically different sets of moral principles operate for different peoples. As usually happens in such cases, the Europeans get better protection from the moral principles designed for them, than the aborigines do from the principles designed (as it happens, by the Europeans) for them.

In recent papers Fred Sommers and Michael Lockwood have independently argued that the distinction between the ‘is’ of predication and the ‘is’ of identity (henceforth: the IP-distinction) is not well-founded. This claim is somewhat obscure since, on the theories they advocate, it is not only still possible to distinguish between the ‘is’ of predication and the ‘is’ of identity, but important to do so on pain of turning good arguments bad. Sommers' way of putting it, namely that we don't need identity, is no better. Of course we don't need identity since, in second-order quantification logic, identity is definable in terms of predication. Perhaps the best way of putting their point is by means of Sommers' claim (op. cit. p. 500) that identity statements can be formalized by monadic relations. We can therefore mark the IP-distinction by the essentially polyadic nature of identity.

In his critical notice of Russell's Theory of Knowledge, R. E. Tully takes issue with my interpretation of Wittgenstein's criticism of Russell's theory of judgment. Against it he raises two objections and also sketches an alternative interpretation. On Tully's characterization, I believe that Russell was shot out of the tree by a subtle but devastating argument, while Tully believes that he was shaken out of the tree by a much broader but non-lethal attack on his conception of a proposition. The metaphor is not inappropriate. I certainly believe that Wittgenstein's attack was lethal to Russell's theory of judgment and shows extraordinary marksmanship. But I do not want to deny that there was a lot of tree shaking going on at the same time—concerning, in particular, the logical constants and the concept of a proposition, both of which were topics closely related to the theory of judgment. Thus, while I maintain that Russell was shot, I do not subscribe to a single-bullet theory (although it must be admitted that, in such cases, the individuation of bullets is far from precise).