An interesting issue is raised by Steve Fuller's ‘Will Sociology Find Some New Concepts’ in the previous issue of this journal. This is the extent to which the research programmes of sociologists are or should be influenced by particular, significant events. If this is a call for scientific open-mindedness in the interpretation of violent forms of terrorism and their causes, then it is good advice for us all. However, there is a danger that the interpretation of ‘significance’ will be shaped by the specific reception of events in the relatively rich nations, thus paradoxically tying sociological work to the vagaries of contemporary politics in similar ways to some of those contributions that Fuller rightly criticises. The main issue here we suggest, is not that of failing to see that real world events can confound our expectations, but of understanding and explaining events of many different kinds within ongoing research programmes, as this is what constitutes the real value of the sociological contribution to knowledge.

Commentaries on September's acts of terrorism have tended to rely upon secular accounts to explain both the terrorism and the wider, less violent Islamic resurgence. This has meant that the explanatory focus has been upon threats to Muslims, the negative impact of globalization and interrelated modernization and the role of America within global relations and the Middle East in particular. These generalisations are problematic because they fail to explain the broader appeal of Islam, the character and contemporary nature of Islamic movements and in the instance of the terrorists and al-Qa'ida, the relatively wealthy and educated backgrounds of a significant number of the terrorists. As a corrective, the paper expands the focus to include the awareness of contemporary problems and the historical origins and successes of Islam that are both seen to legitimise the need for a radical form of Islam, interpreted as a comprehensive way of life. This awareness has been significantly aided through contemporary developments in technology, mass communications and transport networks allied to the rapid growth of education across Muslim countries. These factors, rather than diminishing the appeal of religion, as secularists have argued, are instrumental in the Islamic resurgence generally and specifically in facilitating terrorist activity.

Purpose: To evaluate, preclinically, the potential for dose escalation of continuous, hyperfractionated, accelerated radiation therapy (CHART) for non small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC), we examined the strategy of omission of elective nodal irradiation with and without the application of three-dimensional conformal radiation technology (3DCRT).Methods and Materials: 2D, conventional therapy plans were designed according to the specifications of CHART for 18 patients with NSCLC (Stages Ib, IIb, IIIa, and IIIb). Further plans were generated with the omission of elective nodal irradiation (ENI) from the treatment portals (2D minus ENI plans [2D-ENI plans]). Both sets were inserted in the patient's planning computed tomographies (CTs). These reconstructed plans were then compared to alternative, three dimensional treatment plans which had been generated de novo, with the omission of ENI: 3D minus elective nodal irradiation (3D-ENI plans). Dose delivery to the planning target volumes (PTVs) and to the organs at risk were compared between the 3 sets of corresponding plans. The potential for dose escalation of each patient's 2D-ENI and 3D-ENI plan beyond 54 Gy, standard to CHART, was also determined.Results: PTV coverage was suboptimal in the 2D CHART and the 2D-ENI plans. Only in the 3D-ENI plans did 100% of the PTV get greater than or equal to 95% of the dose-prescribed (i.e., 51.5 Gy [51.3-52.2]). Using 3D-ENI plans significantly reduced the dose received by the spinal cord, the mean and median doses to the esophagus and the heart. It did not significantly reduce the lung dose when compared to 2D-ENI plans. Escalation of the dose (minimum greater than or equal to 1 Gy) with optimal PTV coverage was possible in 55.5% of patients using 3D-ENI, but was possible only in 16.6% when using the 2D-ENI planning strategy.Conclusions: 3DCRT is fundamental to achieving optimal PTV coverage in NSCLC. A policy of omission of elective nodal irradiation alone (and using 2D technology) will not achieve optimal PTV coverage or dose escalation. 3DCRT with omission of ENI can achieve true escalation of CHART in 55.5% of tumors, depending on their site and N-stage. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science Inc.

This article is concerned with the extent to which recent environmental campaigns against GM food trials are likely to be successful, and whether the symbolic protests that have typically characterised environmental activism will remain effective in the future. Although the recent direct actions have highlighted the continuing salience of ‘nature’ as a major source and symbol of political protest, the paper also considers whether the development of genetic technologies is creating new opportunities for collaborative collective actions across diverse new social movements. Following Beck's theory of the emergence of a ‘risk society’, sociologists have begun to see environmentalism and issues of ‘life’ politics (including genetic research and its commercialisation) as increasingly important in shaping the future direction of modern development, and the paper concludes with some thoughts on the convergence of the new ‘life politics’ with the nature politics of environmentalism.