London School Research Articles

Reflections on women’s activism in twentieth-century Britain

ABSTRACT This article is based on a talk I gave at the London School of Economics in March 2023. The talk was structured in a way to give me the freedom to reflect upon some of the key themes in my book Women’s Activism in Twentith Century Britain; making a difference across the political spectrum. I wrote the book during the pandemic. Archives were closed and even when they opened I could not use them as I had to shield because of health issues. Consequently, the material I relied on was what I could access on-line and on people who I could interview on Zoom. My book drew on my own experiences as an activist and my own theoretical development as a feminist. History and activism intertwined: my story as a former activist and my view that feminist historical scholarship is itself a type of activism came together to give direction and meaning both to my research and to my writing. In my talk, and in this Viewpoint, I want to show the heterogeneous nature of activism, of how individuals and groups from a range of different class and racial background sought to make a difference to their locality, their country and sometimes the world. I argue that women are not a homogenous group but are united—and divided—by class, ethnicity, gender and so on. For instance, not all female activists campaigned for progressive measures, indeed many promoted reactionary agendas.

Why We Explain.

Since its initial publication in 2018, Professor Anya Plutynski's Explaining Cancer: Finding Order in Disorder has garnered a great deal of accolades.1 In 2021, The London School of Economics and Political Science conferred Professor Plutynski the Lakatos Award, recognizing the book's significant contribution to the philosophy of science. On the heels of its recent reissuing as a paperback, it is an ideal time to revisit this remarkable work.

Journey towards a dental career: the career decision-making journey and perceived obstacles to studying dentistry identified by London's secondary school pupils and teachers.

Objective To explore the career decision-making journey towards dentistry and identify possible challenges and supports in this process as perceived by academically able, science-minded, London school pupils and their careers teachers.Methods A mixed-methods study was conducted using a purposive sample of London schools. Focus groups (n = 13) with 91 pupils aged 14-18 years and a survey of career teachers (n = 12) were conducted at a range of school-types. A topic guide, informed by the literature and previous research, guided discussions. Ethical approval was obtained from King's College London Research Ethics Committee (BDM/10/11-17 and 14/15-40). School, teacher, parental and pupil written informed consent were obtained. Data were transcribed and analysed thematically using framework methodology.Results Four distinct phases of the career decision-making journey were identified: 1) initiation of aspiration, with wider influences promoting medicine as a primary aspirational career option; 2) exposure to dentistry as a career, leading to recognition of dentistry as an alternative; 3) exploration of the career; and 4) the application process. Dentistry received little early consideration in this process. Greater representation of dental professionals within the school, access to work experience, and support in the student application process were identified as possible supports.Conclusions The findings suggest a four-phase journey towards a dental career, which may be enhanced by engagement of dental professionals at each stage. This may be particularly helpful in widening participation from under-represented groups.

Vision and practice: the 1967 Robson Report on the Tokyo Metropolitan Government

ABSTRACT This article critically evaluates a 1967 consultancy report on the Tokyo Metropolitan Government (TMG) by Professor William A. Robson. Robson, a pioneer of public administration science based at the London School of Economics his whole academic life, provided an in-depth analysis of the state of the Japanese capital during its high-speed growth spurt and at the beginning of the socialist Minobe prefectural administration. While many of Robson's assessments and criticisms were poignant, his report failed to appreciate contextual intricacies as well as Tokyo's distinctive path of urban development. A re-reading of the report with this in mind expands our understanding of the Japanese capital's postwar history more than 50 years after the report's publication. Its critical assessment also contributes to our understanding of how urban knowledge ‘travels’ across geographies.

Developing an integrated model of care for vulnerable populations living with non-communicable diseases in Lebanon: an online theory of change workshop

IntroductionThe Syrian crisis, followed by a financial crisis, port explosion, and COVID-19, have put enormous strain on Lebanon’s health system. Syrian refugees and the vulnerable host population have a high burden of Non-communicable Diseases (NCD) morbidity and unmet mental health, psychosocial and rehabilitation needs. The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) recently introduced integrated NCD services within its package of primary care in Lebanon, which includes NCD primary health care, rehabilitation, and mental health and psychosocial support services. We aimed to identify relevant outcomes for people living with NCDs from refugee and host communities in northern Lebanon, as well as to define the processes needed to achieve them through an integrated model of care. Given the complexity of the health system in which the interventions are delivered, and the limited practical guidance on integration, we considered systems thinking to be the most appropriate methodological approach.MethodsA Theory of Change (ToC) workshop and follow-up meetings were held online by the ICRC, the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and the American University of Beirut in 2021. ToC is a participatory and iterative planning process involving key stakeholders, and seeks to understand a process of change by mapping out intermediate and long-term outcomes along hypothesised causal pathways. Participants included academics, and ICRC regional, coordination, and headquarters staff.ResultsWe identified two distinct pathways to integrated NCD primary care: a multidisciplinary service pathway and a patient and family support pathway. These were interdependent and linked via an essential social worker role and a robust information system. We also defined a list of key assumptions and interventions to achieve integration, and developed a list of monitoring indicators.DiscussionToC is a useful tool to deconstruct the complexity of integrating NCD services. We highlight that integrated care rests on multidisciplinary and patient-centred approaches, which depend on a well-trained and resourced team, strong leadership, and adequate information systems. This paper provides the first theory-driven road map of implementation pathways, to help support the integration of NCD care for crises-affected populations in Lebanon and globally.

Challenges of Chemsex in Health, Justice, and Social Care Settings: Developing a Coordinated Response

AimsChemsex refers to the use of specific drugs before or during sex to sustain, enhance, disinhibit, or facilitate the sexual experience, primarily amongst gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men. The main drugs associated with Chemsex are crystal methamphetamine, gamma-hydroxybutyrate/gamma-butyrolactone, mephedrone and ketamine. There are complex biological, psychological, and social factors that influence why someone may choose to engage in Chemsex that are yet to be fully elucidated. However, there are global concerns that such harm is increasing both in prevalence and complexity, including interfaces between the health, social care and criminal justice systems. Chemsex has been identified as a priority for the UK Home Office Drug Strategy since 2017; however, the response to date has lacked a coordinated approach between the multiple services and agencies where Chemsex can present.MethodsWest London NHS Trust hosted a day-long meeting of the Chemsex Expert Reference Group (ERG) on 27th July 2022 at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. This comprised of a group of clinicians and academics across the NHS, criminal justice system and third sector, with the meeting focused on three main clinical questions: what do we need to know about working with this complex and vulnerable group of people?; What is the research needed to improve this?; What are the aspiration clinical pathways that should be developed?ResultsThe ERG identified several gaps in our knowledge including a paucity of epidemiological data, the importance of cultural competency around the health needs of LGBTQ+ people, inconsistencies in the knowledge of healthcare professionals on how to manage emergency presentations such as methamphetamine-induced psychosis, GHB withdrawal and GHB overdose and risk assessment and risk management for those who may also be a victim and/or a perpetrator of a criminal offence in the Chemsex context. The group's core values for service and pathway development were identified as to be authentic, competent, non-judgemental and that lived experience should be at the centre of service development, as well as being evidence-based and supported by national clinical guidelines.ConclusionWhat was apparent was the ambition and interest from across so many clinical specialities, and some incredibly positive work that is already ongoing. It is hoped that the outcomes of this ERG can help progress this to a more cohesive set of responses, and the development of an evidence-based, multi-agency approach to assessment and treatment for this complex group.

Back Cover Image

ON THE BACK COVER: Septin‐caged Published online 7 September 2023 Shigella flexneri in infected HEK293 cells. Bacteria and actin are labelled in red, SEPT7 in green, and DNA in blue.Credit: Gizem Ozbaykal‐Guler and Serge Mostowy, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicineimage

Inner Front Cover Image

ON THE INNER FRONT COVER: Septin‐caged Shigella flexneri in infected HEK293 cells. Bacteria and actin are labelled in red, SEPT7 in green, and DNA in blue.Credit: Gizem Ozbaykal‐Guler and Serge Mostowy, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicineimage

O capítulo da moeda baseada em reservas de commodities: Friedrich A. Hayek, John Maynard Keynes e a Ordem Monetária Internacional

ABSTRACT The frontal clash in the pages of Economica between Friedrich A. Hayek and John Maynard Keynes in 1931 was unique in scale and influence. Although this event had intense repercussions on the profession as a whole, in 1943 occurred a less discussed episode involving both men. Hayek and Keynes entered into controversy regarding the re-foundations of the international monetary order post-Second World War and the commodity reserve currency proposal. This round was somewhat neglected but is historiographically relevant since it was the only public debate with the active engagement of both sides in a professional journal after 1931. Moreover, it epitomized the personal and intellectual mature relationship of Hayek and Keynes, marked by convergence, dialogue, and friendship. This collaboration was particularly developed when the London School of Economics (LSE) evacuated to Cambridge during the Second World War and Keynes found rooms for Hayek in King’s College, Cambridge.

Protocol for a cluster randomised placebo-controlled trial of adjunctive ivermectin mass drug administration for malaria control on the Bijagós Archipelago of Guinea-Bissau: the MATAMAL trial

IntroductionAs malaria declines, innovative tools are required to further reduce transmission and achieve elimination. Mass drug administration (MDA) of artemisinin-based combination therapy (ACT) is capable of reducing malaria transmission where...

Modeling vaccination coverage during the 2022 central Ohio measles outbreak: a cross-sectional study

Of the eight large (>50 cases) US postelimination outbreaks, the first and last occurred in Ohio. Ohio's vaccination registry is incomplete. Community-level immunity gaps threaten more than two decades of measles elimination in the US. We developed a statistical model, VaxEstim, to rapidly estimate the early-phase vaccination coverage and immunity gap in the exposed population during the 2022 Central Ohio outbreak. We used reconstructed daily incidence (from publicly available data) and assumptions about the distribution of the serial interval, or the time between symptom onset in successive measles cases, to estimate the effective reproduction number (i.e., the average number of secondary infections caused by an infected individual in a partially immune population). We estimated early-phase measles vaccination coverage by comparing the effective reproduction number to the basic reproduction number (i.e., the average number of secondary infections caused by an infected individual in a fully susceptible population) while accounting for vaccine effectiveness. Finally, we estimated the early-phase immunity gap as the difference between the estimated critical vaccination threshold and vaccination coverage. VaxEstim estimated the early-phase vaccination coverage as 53% (95% credible interval, 21%-77%), the critical vaccination threshold as 93%, and the immunity gap as 42% (95% credible interval, 18%-74%). This study estimates a significant immunity gap in the exposed population during the early phase of the 2022 Central Ohio measles outbreak, suggesting a robust public health response is needed to identify the susceptible community and develop community-specific strategies to close the immunity gap. This work was supported in part by the National Institute of General Medical Sciences, National Institutes of Health; the UK Medical Research Council (MRC); the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office; the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Health Protection Research Unit in Modelling Methodology; Imperial College London, and the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, Community Jameel; the EDCTP2 programme, supported by the EU; and the Sergei Brin Foundation.

Bibliometric and visual analysis of vaccination hesitancy research from 2013 to 2022

ABSTRACT Although vaccination is regarded as one of the most significant achievements of public health, there also exists the phenomenon of vaccination hesitancy which refers to delay in acceptance or refusal of vaccination despite availability of vaccination services. In this study, we conducted a bibliometric analysis to provide a comprehensive overview of vaccination hesitancy research from 2013 to 2022. All related publications were retrieved from the Web of Science Core Collection Database. Information on annual publications, countries, organizations, journals, authors, keywords, and documents was analyzed adopting the bibliometix R-package, VOSviewer, and CiteSpace software. A total of 4042 publications were enrolled. The annual publications increased slightly before 2020 but had an extremely dramatic increase from 2020 to 2022. The United States contributed the most articles and had the greatest collaboration with other countries and organizations. The London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine was the most active institution. Vaccine was the most cited and influential journal while Vaccines was the most productive journal. It was Dube E who was the most productive authors with the highest h-index. The most frequent keywords were “vaccine hesitancy,” “COVID-19,” “SARS-CoV2,” “immunization,” “attitudes,” and “willingness.” Vaccination hesitancy to some extent hinders the achievement of global public health. The influencing factors vary across time, space, and vaccines. The COVID-19 pandemic and the development of COVID-19 vaccines have made this issue the focus of interest. The complexity and specific contexts of influencing factors of vaccination hesitancy require further study and will potentially be the focus of future research direction.

Climate Finance: An Overview

Climate Finance: An Overview

Dr. B.R. Ambedkar on the Development of Currency System During British India: Problems and Suggestions

Dr. B.R. Ambedkar's approach to economics was significant and founded on his expertise in comprehending issues at their most fundamental level. He had a profound awareness of both the British financial system and the pattern of the Indian rupee's exchange value. He explains the importance of the "medium of exchange" in stabilising any currency through its supply and demand networks. He was a first-generation Indian economist who earned degrees from the London School of Economics and Columbia University in the United States. He was the first to advocate for monetary and fiscal reform in India. In my paper, I will try to understand his analysis of the growth of Indian modern currency and the financial weaknesses during British India.

Julia Wedgwood, a Victorian feminist and female intellectual. Who was she and why has she been forgotten?

ABSTRACT Julia Wedgwood (1833–1913) was a non-fiction writer who chose an unusually wide range of subjects, including theology, the Classical world and German Biblical criticism. She was also a leading feminist who wrote several influential pieces on female enfranchisement, campaigned in the 1870 elections to the London School Board and taught informally at what became Girton College. She was the niece of Charles Darwin, the great scientist, and had a short but intense relationship with Robert Browning, the poet. She was also close to many other leading Victorian cultural figures. Yet her achievements as a writer are now largely forgotten as is her role as a feminist. This article re-examines her life and career before considering why she has fallen out of the record and what that suggests about the influence of misleading stereotypes in our approach to nineteenth century women’s non-fiction writing and the study of first wave feminism.

Precision Public Health Opportunity: Heat-Associated Mortality Greater among Pilgrims during Hajj

Precision Public Health Opportunity: Heat-Associated Mortality Greater among Pilgrims during Hajj

Correction to: EVA1A (Eva-1 Homolog A) Promotes Endothelial Apoptosis and Inflammatory Activation Under Disturbed Flow Via Regulation of Autophagy.

HomeArteriosclerosis, Thrombosis, and Vascular BiologyVol. 43, No. 6Correction to: EVA1A (Eva-1 Homolog A) Promotes Endothelial Apoptosis and Inflammatory Activation Under Disturbed Flow Via Regulation of Autophagy Free AccessCorrectionPDF/EPUBAboutView PDFView EPUBSections ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload citationsTrack citationsPermissions ShareShare onFacebookTwitterLinked InMendeleyReddit Jump toFree AccessCorrectionPDF/EPUBCorrection to: EVA1A (Eva-1 Homolog A) Promotes Endothelial Apoptosis and Inflammatory Activation Under Disturbed Flow Via Regulation of Autophagy Originally published24 May 2023https://doi.org/10.1161/ATV.0000000000000163Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis, and Vascular Biology. 2023;43:e230This article corrects the followingEVA1A (Eva-1 Homolog A) Promotes Endothelial Apoptosis and Inflammatory Activation Under Disturbed Flow Via Regulation of AutophagyIn the article by Canham et al, “EVA1A (Eva-1 Homolog A) Promotes Endothelial Apoptosis and Inflammatory Activation Under Disturbed Flow Via Regulation of Autophagy,” which published in the April 2023 issue of the journal (Arterioscler Thromb Vasc Biol. 2023;43:547–561. doi: 10.1161/ATVBAHA.122.318110), a correction was needed.An additional affiliation was added for Paul C. Evans: William Harvey Research Institute, Barts and the London School of Medicine and Dentistry, Queen Mary University of London, United Kingdom.This correction has been made to the current online version of the article, which is available at www.ahajournals.org/doi/10.1161/ATVBAHA.122.318110. Previous Back to top Next FiguresReferencesRelatedDetailsRelated articlesEVA1A (Eva-1 Homolog A) Promotes Endothelial Apoptosis and Inflammatory Activation Under Disturbed Flow Via Regulation of AutophagyLindsay Canham, et al. Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis, and Vascular Biology. 2023;43:547-561 June 2023Vol 43, Issue 6 Advertisement Article InformationMetrics © 2023 American Heart Association, Inc.https://doi.org/10.1161/ATV.0000000000000163 Originally publishedMay 24, 2023 PDF download Advertisement

Coinfections of malaria and sexually transmitted and reproductive tract infections in pregnancy in sub-Saharan Africa: a systematic review and individual participant data meta-analysis protocol

IntroductionMalaria infection and curable sexually transmitted infections and reproductive tract infections (STIs/RTIs) adversely impact pregnancy outcomes. In sub-Saharan Africa, the prevalence of malaria and curable STIs/RTIs is high and, where...

Are target trial emulations the gold standard for observational studies?

1 Department of Medical Statistics London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, UK 2 Leiden University Medical Center Dept. Clinical Epidemiology PO Box 9600 2300 RC Leiden, The Netherlands 3 Department of Clinical Epidemiology, Aarhus University, Denmark. Editor’s Note: Related articles can be found on pp. XXX, XXX, and XXX. Conflicts of interest: None declared Acknowledgments: We thank Matt Fox and Elizabeth Williamson for comments on the draft manuscript, and George Davey Smith for useful discussions of these issues. Correspondence to: Professor Neil Pearce Department of Medical Statistics London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, UK Email: [email protected] Phone: 020-79588151

The Family Life of Peter and Ruth Townsend: Social Science and Methods in 1950s and Early 1960s Britain.

Peter Townsend (1928-2009) was one of the most important British social scientists of the twentieth century, best known for pioneering and innovative research on poverty, as well as his political campaigning, most notably for the Child Poverty Action Group. This article returns to Townsend's influential work on ageing, for which he first became widely known, during the 1950s and early 1960s. It does so to recover the ways in which his research, first in Bethnal Green at the Institute of Community Studies (ICS), and then at the London School of Economics, as well as the professional and political networks he built during this period, were rooted in and shaped by his home life in Hampstead. As will be shown, the most important figure in the interconnecting spheres of Townsend's career was his wife, Ruth (1927-2011), who not only was central to the construction of a way of life in which the boundaries between research, the domestic sphere, and politics were often so blurred as to be non-existent, but also made significant and underappreciated contributions to her husband's research.