German sociologist Ulrich Beck writes that Japan has become part of the ‘World Risk Society’ as a result of the 2011 nuclear accident in Fukushima. By World Risk Society he means a society threatened by such things as nuclear accidents, climate change, and the global financial crisis, presenting a catastrophic risk beyond geographical, temporal, national and social boundaries. According to Beck, such risk is an unfortunate by-product of modernity, and poses entirely new challenges to our existing institutions, which attempt to control it using current, known means. As Gavan McCormack points out, ‘Japan, as one of the most successful capitalist countries in history, represents in concentrated form problems facing contemporary industrial civilization as a whole’. The nuclear, social, and institutional predicaments it now faces epitomise the negative consequences of intensive modernisation.

The 2011 tsunami and nuclear disaster at Fukushima has encouraged comparisons in many quarters with the tragic experience of Minamata more than 55 years earlier, when mercury-poisoned industrial runoff caused widespread illness and death in the human and animal populations. Rather than viewing these disasters as the unfortunate side effects of modern industrial capitalism (to be addressed, in the capitalist view, with financial compensation) Yoneyama Shoko draws on Minamata victim's advocate Ogata Masato to imagine a more humane and life-affirming vision of our obligations to one another. In crafting his response to the Chisso Corporation and the Japanese government, Ogata (who eschewed financial compensation) drew on elements of the popular Japanese religious heritage to affirm an ethos of interdependence and the responsibility that follows. This can be seen, for example, in Ogata's use of the term tsumi, an indigenous Japanese category of ritual impurity that encompasses both physical pollution and moral transgression. Combining notions of “defilement” and of “sin,” tsumi is a principle that (as Brian Victoria notes) has justified some in shunning the victims of chemical or radioactive contamination. Ogata, however, employs the traditional imagery of tsumi to describe, not the victims of pollution but its perpetrators, thereby presenting ecological damage as a profoundly moral matter, one that cannot be reduced to economic impacts or financial compensation.

The Inclusion of Other in the Self (IOS) scale is a popular tool to measure interpersonal closeness that is increasingly being used in economics. We develop and validate a continuous version of the IOS scale. This Continuous IOS scale gives a finer measure and addresses the reluctance of subjects to report low scores on the standard IOS scale. We also propose a version of the standard IOS scale that meets its original design features. Our IOS scales are easy-to-use, well-documented, standardised, and available at https://github.com/geoffreycastillo/ios-js.

Positively experienced relationships with family, partners and friends are the most important source of meaning in life for older persons. At the same time, Western countries are confronted with a growing number of socially isolated older adults who lack those relationships. This study aims to explore whether and how older adults who live in social isolation experience meaning in life. Data were collected via in-depth, semi-structured interviews with 24 socially isolated older adults, ranging in age from 62 to 94, all living in Rotterdam, The Netherlands. The criterion-based sampling of participants took place in close consultation with social workers of a mentoring project for socially isolated older adults. Follow-up interviews with 22 participants improved the credibility of findings and contributed to the breadth and depth of the researched casuistry. Data were analysed using an analytical framework based on seven needs of meaning identified by Baumeister (purpose, values, efficacy, self-worth) and Derkx (coherence, excitement, connectedness). The study demonstrates that isolated older adults may find anchors for meaning in life, although not all needs for meaning are satisfied, and there can also be tension between different needs. The needs-based model provides concrete distinctions for enabling care-givers to recognise elements of meaning.

Several instruments have been developed to measure the human beings-nature relationship, one of which is the Love and Care for Nature Scale. Three studies were conducted with the aim of analyzing to what extent the construct of love and care for nature, responds to two empirically different dimensions, as well as conducting a psychometric study of the scale. The analysis of construct components showed a large cluster formed by two others (connectedness and well-being), considered “love for nature”, and one two-items cluster referring to “care” (Study 1, n = 51). Considering the “love” items, it was found that ten of the items present adequate psychometric properties (Study 2, n = 1071), and adequate levels of reliability and validity (Study 3, n = 151). Consequently, an appropriate measure of love of nature is established, while an interesting future research line would be to separately study the scale’s two components.

Supported playgroups are a common form of intervention offered in Australian early childhood education. This study used interviews and quantitative measures to examine whether attending supported playgroups benefits culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) parents’ or carers’ social support, connectedness, and parental self-efficacy (PSE). Thirty-five playgroup attendees completed three validated measures assessing social support, isolation, and PSE. Seven mothers, two carers, and two playgroup staff participated in semistructured interviews. The quantitative and qualitative data indicated that CALD parents and carers show high levels of isolation and low social support. The qualitative data indicated that most parents or carers felt more supported and connected as a result of attending the playgroup, and just over half stated that the playgroup had improved their confidence. This study highlights the need to consider the social resources of CALD families when planning and delivering services, and calls for future longitudinal studies of the benefits of playgroups.

Les interventions visant à réduire la morbidité et la mortalité après une tentative de suicide et qui s’avèrent efficaces restent peu nombreuses et parfois difficiles à mettre en œuvre, alors qu’une grande majorité de patients quitte l’hôpital après un temps de séjour relativement court et que l’adhésion aux soins proposés est de l’ordre d’un compromis qui reste fragile. Le psychiatre Jérôme Motto a été un précurseur dans un nouveau type d’approche visant à proposer le maintien d’un contact avec ces patients au moyen de l’envoi réguliers de lettre s’inquiétant de leur santé, de leur devenir, et ce de manière personnalisée. Par la suite, de nouvelles modalités de recontact ont été testées, et chacune s’est avérée avoir des propriétés intrinsèques qui semblent les rendre plus opérantes sur certains patients cibles, que ce soit par la mise à disposition de cartes ressources, d’envoi de cartes postales ou d’appels téléphoniques. Depuis, des stratégies visant à combiner ces approches complémentaires en s’appuyant sur des algorithmes définissant le meilleur type de « recontact » ont été testées avec des résultats encourageants. L’intérêt de l’algorithme est qu’il peut être complété au fur et à mesure des avancées scientifiques et intégrer de nouvelles modalités de veille, par SMS par exemple. Ce type de programme a l’avantage d’être peu coûteux et facile à déployer, il ne se substitue pas aux soins classiques et cherche d’ailleurs au contraire à les compléter, tandis que les enquêtes qualitatives montrent qu’ils sont très bien acceptés par les patients auxquels ils s’adressent.

We consider the possible disentanglements of holomorphic map germs f: (ℂn, 0) → (ℂN, 0), 0 < n < N, with nonisolated locus of instability Inst (f). The aim is to achieve lower bounds for their (homological) connectivity in terms of dim Inst (f). Our methods apply in the case of corank 1.

We construct a family of self-affine tiles in $\mathbb{R}^{d}$ ($d\geqslant 2$) with noncollinear digit sets, which naturally generalizes a class studied originally by Q.-R. Deng and K.-S. Lau in $\mathbb{R}^{2}$, and its extension to $\mathbb{R}^{3}$ by the authors. We obtain necessary and sufficient conditions for the tiles to be connected and for their interiors to be contractible.

The current study examines the interaction between mobility limitations and social networks in relation to activity in later life. Although the importance of activity participation to successful ageing has been well established, it is still unclear what contributes to higher levels of activity. This research addresses this issue, using data from the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe. The analysis focuses on a sub-sample of respondents aged 60 and older, from 13 countries, who participated in two specific waves, in 2011 and 2013. Multivariate analysis of the longitudinal data was conducted using hierarchical generalised Poisson regression and incorporating a new comprehensive social network scale. The inquiry found that having multiple mobility limitations is associated with less activity and that having a resourceful social network contributes to more activity. The research further revealed that social network is particularly beneficial to those with multiple mobility limitations because it mitigates the negative association with activity. This conclusion furthers the understanding of the relationship between different key dimensions in the successful ageing paradigm. Specifically, the findings imply the significance of having a social network among those who are functionally challenged. This finding has important implications for active ageing policies.

We analysed the supportive social networks associated with the conservation of six threatened Australian bird taxa, in one of the first network analyses of threatened species conservation programmes. Each example showed contrasting vulnerabilities. The Alligator Rivers yellow chat Epthianura crocea tunneyi had the smallest social network and no real action was supported. For the Capricorn yellow chat Epthianura crocea macgregori the network was centred on one knowledgeable and committed actor. The orange-bellied parrot Neophema chrysogaster had a strongly connected recovery team but gaps in the overall network could limit communication. The recovery teams for the swift parrot Lathamus discolor and Baudin's black-cockatoo Calyptorhynchus baudinii had strong links among most stakeholders but had weak ties to the timber industry and orchardists, respectively, limiting their capacity to manage threatening processes. Carnaby's black cockatoo Calyptorhynchus latirostris seemed to have the most effective social network of any of the taxa studied but may be vulnerable to skill shortages. In each case the network analysis pointed to gaps that could be filled to enhance the conservation effort, and highlighted the importance of recovery teams. The research suggests that formal network analysis could assist in the design of more effective support mechanisms for the conservation of threatened species.

We show that the space of actions of every finitely generated, nilpotent group by $C^1$ orientation-preserving diffeomorphisms of the circle is path-connected. This is done via a general result that allows any given action on the interval to be connected to the trivial one by a continuous path of topological conjugates.

During the transition from primary to secondary school, students typically experience a new social environment, moving from primary school with small intact classes throughout the day with one main teacher, to a larger secondary school with teachers, classrooms and often classmates changing throughout the day. During this time, students report a reduced sense of connectedness, which has been associated with symptoms of depression and anxiety. This study investigated the temporal association between feeling connected to school and mental health prior to and over the transition period. Data were obtained from 3,459 students in a longitudinal study of adolescents’ knowledge, attitudes and experiences of bullying victimisation and perpetration during the transition from primary school to secondary school. Students completed a questionnaire at four time points from Grade 7 to the end of Grade 9. Path analysis was used to model relationships between school connectedness, depression and anxiety. The findings suggest reciprocal relationships between connectedness and mental health where increased connectedness to school is associated with decreased depression and anxiety; conversely, increased depression and anxiety is associated with decreased connectedness to school. The significant reciprocal associations found in the cross-lag models in the first two years of secondary school indicate the need to intervene during the transition period to improve students’ social and mental health outcomes.