Physical inactivity remains the greatest public health problem of the 21st century : evidence, improved methods and solutions using the '7 investments that work' as a framework

In 2009, BJSM's first editorial argued that ‘Physical inactivity is the greatest public health problem of the 21st century’.1 The data supporting that claim have not yet been challenged. Now, 5 years after BJSM published its first dedicated ‘Physical Activity is Medicine’ theme issue (http://bjsm.bmj.com/content/43/1.toc) we are pleased to highlight 23 new contributions from six countries. This issue contains an analysis of the cost of physical inactivity from the US Centre for Diseases Control.2 We also report the cost-effectiveness of one particular physical activity intervention for adults.3

The impact of flood and post-flood cleaning on airborne microbiological and particle contamination in residential houses

In January 2011, Brisbane, Australia, experienced a major river flooding event. We aimed to investigate its effects on air quality and assess the role of prompt cleaning activities in reducing the airborne exposure risk. A comprehensive, multi-parameter indoor and outdoor measurement campaign was conducted in 41 residential houses, 2 and 6 months after the flood. The median indoor air concentrations of supermicrometer particle number (PN), PM10, fungi and bacteria 2 months after the flood were comparable to those previously measured in Brisbane. These were 2.88 p cm-3, 15 µg m-3, 804 cfu m-3 and 177 cfu m-3 for flood-affected houses (AFH), and 2.74 p cm-3, 15 µg m-3, 547 cfu m-3 and 167 cfu m-3 for non-affected houses (NFH), respectively. The I/O (indoor/outdoor) ratios of these pollutants were 1.08, 1.38, 0.74 and 1.76 for AFH and 1.03, 1.32, 0.83 and 2.17 for NFH, respectively. The average of total elements (together with transition metals) in indoor dust was 2296 ± 1328 µg m-2 for AFH and 1454 ± 678 µg m-2 for NFH, respectively. In general, the differences between AFH and NFH were not statistically significant, implying the absence of a measureable effect on air quality from the flood. We postulate that this was due to the very swift and effective cleaning of the flooded houses by 60,000 volunteers. Among the various cleaning methods, the use of both detergent and bleach was the most efficient at controlling indoor bacteria. All cleaning methods were equally effective for indoor fungi. This study provides quantitative evidence of the significant impact of immediate post-flood cleaning on mitigating the effects of flooding on indoor bioaerosol contamination and other pollutants.

The French polisher and the unsentimental interior

In January 2011 a swollen Brisbane River broke its banks flooding riverside houses and buildings. The river’s water spread and rose up through storm water drains inundating some 20 000 houses in low-lying land. As the water receded those residents affected by the floods returned to their homes to assess the damage. While some people breathed a sigh of relief others were devastated by the overwhelming damage to their homes and personal belongings. Over the next few weeks the landscape of Brisbane was altered not merely by the mud and debris left by the torrent of water, but by the piles of domestic contents occupying Brisbane streets. Beds, toys, cabinets, plasterboard, tiles and household furniture lined curbsides waiting for collection. Later they would accumulate in public parks and sports centres to await disposal, momentarily creating an unsettling landscape of discarded domestic interiors. While most houses remained standing the heart breaking repercussions were evident in their interiority. Thousands of volunteers flocked to help those affected by the floods to purge the damage left by the water – removing wall and floor linings, discarding furniture and spoilt belongings. In her paper on Hurricane Katrina, Julieanna Preston wrote, ‘What anthropological evidence would we find as we followed their migration – heaps left by the side of the road, the physical weight overcoming the personal value…’ For many of the post flood restored homes and buildings entire interiors have been replaced, eradicating any trace of the significant event that disturbed them only months earlier. There were artifacts that would have survived the floods - furniture of solid timber – these were discarded and with them the patina that marked an important event in history. The patina is beyond technological reproducibility, and as Walter Benjamin writes, this being the whole premise of genuineness. It is the role of the French Polisher to maintain the true wear of the artefact for it is the patina that is most valuable in its ability to narrate the history of a piece. In 2012 two separate exhibitions in Brisbane will take place to display a selected collection of flood-damaged artefacts. This orchestrated way to commemorate the damage left by floods may be a method to compensate for the haste in which the damage was purged from the city. This need for exhibiting damaged artifacts illustrates Andreas Huyssen’s point that "…today memory is understood as a mode of re-presentation and as belonging to the present." This research looks at the dying trade of the French Polisher through conversations and a visual study of flood damaged furniture. The research also investigates the personal loss of artifacts through intimate stories shared by flood victims. This paper seeks to understand why so much was discarded and celebrate what remains.

Travelling bones: The repatriation of Indigenous ancestral remains

In the album Journey, Archie Roach -- the Australian Indigenous singer-songwriter hailing from Mooroopna in Victoria - has a melancholy song called ‘Travell’n Bones.' It is about the repatriation of Indigenous ancestral remains to their rightful home. This Chapter considers the legal, ethical, and cultural conflicts over Australian indigenous remains being held in museums, in Australia, the United Kingdom, the European Union, and the United States. James Nason comments: ‘The explosion of legal and extra legal attention on issues of cultural property and heritage was born of the frustration and anger of indigenous peoples whose rights and perspectives about cultural property and heritage issues had been largely absent and essentially unwanted by the museum of community.' Part I focuses upon disputes in Australia involving the repatriation of Indigenous Australian remains. In Bropho v HREOC, there was controversy over a cartoon, mocking the repatriation of the remains of Yagan, an Indigenous warrior, to Western Australia. There was a discussion about the operation of the Racial Discrimination Act 1975 (Cth), and the exemptions available from the operation of the regime. Part II considers the efforts by The Te Papa Tongarewa - the Museum of New Zealand - to repatriate Maori and Moriori ancestral remains to New Zealand, and to iwi communities of origin. The conclusion considers the relevance of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Persons 2007, and issues raised by ventures such as the Genographic Project.

Life cycle energy analysis of eight residential houses in Brisbane, Australia

Life cycle energy analysis (LCEA) of eight residential buildings in and around Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, is undertaken in this study. Energy used in all three phases of construction, operation and demolition are considered. It is found that the main contribution to the operational energy in residential buildings is from use of general appliance. The choice of building materials is shown to have significant effects on the embodied energy for the production, construction, maintenance and demolition phases. From this study, it is shown that the embodied energy may vary from 10% to 30%, while the operational energy may vary from 65% to 90%. The demolition energy generally accounts for less than 4% of life cycle energy.

Pull factors attracting residents to Finnish senior houses

Most elderly Finnish residents prefer to age in place, but some relocate because of push factors that create stress in their current homes and pull factors that attract them to a new dwelling. This survey examines the important pull factors that attract seniors to senior houses. Grocery nearby is the strongest pull factor followed by hospital or medical center and public transportation. A factor analysis reveals that attributes can be grouped into three factors: onsite services that allow the residents to maintain an active lifestyle with some luxury, everyday services and facilities that would enable aging in place, and physical activity facilities. Residents have chosen the type of senior housing that supports their lifestyle. Meanwhile, socioeconomic characteristics do not explain the differences in the types of features that attract residents.

The Edge of Danger: artificial lighting and the dialectics of domestic occupation in Philip Johnson's Glass and Guest Houses

In the first half of the twentieth century the dematerializing of boundaries between enclosure and exposure problematized traditional acts of “occupation” and understandings of the domestic environment. As a space of escalating technological control, the modern domestic interior offered new potential to re-define the meaning and means of habitation. This shift is clearly expressed in the transformation of electric lighting technology and applications for the modern interior in the mid-twentieth century. Addressing these issues, this paper examines the critical role of electric lighting in regulating and framing both the public and private occupation of Philip Johnson’s New Canaan estate. Exploring the dialectically paired transparent Glass House and opaque Guest House (both 1949), this study illustrates how Johnson employed artificial light to control the visual environment of the estate as well as to aestheticize the performance of domestic space. Looking closely at the use of artificial light to create emotive effects as well as to intensify the experience of occupation, this revisiting of the iconic Glass House and lesser-known Guest House provides a more complex understanding of Johnson’s work and the means with which he inhabited his own architecture. Calling attention to the importance of Johnson serving as both architect and client, and his particular interest in exploring the new potential of architectural lighting in this period, this paper investigates Johnson’s use of electric light to support architectural narratives, maintain visual order and control, and to suit the nuanced desires of domestic occupation.

The'cave' mineral oxammite: a high resolution thermogravimetry and Raman spectroscopic study

The thermal decomposition of natural ammonium oxalate known as oxammite has been studied using a combination of high resolution thermogravimetry coupled to an evolved gas mass spectrometer and Raman spectroscopy coupled to a thermal stage. Three mass loss steps were found at 57, 175 and 188°C attributed to dehydration, ammonia evolution and carbon dioxide evolution respectively. Raman spectroscopy shows two bands at 3235 and 3030 cm-1 attributed to the OH stretching vibrations and three bands at 2995, 2900 and 2879 cm-1, attributed to the NH vibrational modes. The thermal degradation of oxammite may be followed by the loss of intensity of these bands. No intensity remains in the OH stretching bands at 100°C and the NH stretching bands show no intensity at 200°C. Multiple CO symmetric stretching bands are observed at 1473, 1454, 1447 and 1431cm-1, suggesting that the mineral oxammite is composed of a mixture of chemicals including ammonium oxalate dihydrate, ammonium oxalate monohydrate and anhydrous ammonium oxalate.

Raman spectroscopy of the molybdate minerals chillagite (tungsteinian wulfenite-I4), stolzite, scheelite, wolframite and wulfenite

Raman spectra of chillagite, wulfenite, stolzite, scheelite and wolframite were obtained at 298 and 77 K using a Raman microprobe in combination with a thermal stage. Chillagite is a solid solution of wulfenite and stolzite. The spectra of these molybdate minerals are orientation dependent. The band at 695 cm-1 is interpreted as an antisymmetric bridging mode associated with the tungstate chain. The bands at 790 and 881 cm-1 are associated with the antisymmetric and symmetric Ag modes of terminal WO2 whereas the origin of the 806 cm-1 band remains unclear. The 4(Eg) band was absent for scheelite. The bands at 353 and 401 cm-1 are assigned as either deformation modes or as r(Bg) and (Ag) modes of terminal WO2. The band at 462 cm-1 has an equivalent band in the infrared at 455 cm-1 assigned as as(Au) of the (W2O4)n chain. The band at 508 cm-1 is assigned as sym(Bg) of the (W2O4)n chain.

Foil rolling : a new interpretation of experimental results

This paper explores a new interpretation of experiments on foil rolling. The assumption that the roll remains convex is relaxed so that the strip profile may become concave, or thicken in the roll gap. However, we conjecture that the concave profile is associated with phenomena which occur after the rolls have stopped. We argue that the yield criterion must be satisfied in a nonconventional manner if such a phenomenon is caused plastically. Finite element analysis on an extrusion problem appears to confirm this conjecture.

Relationship between indoor/outdoor concentrations of particles : a critical review

The relationship between indoor and outdoor concentration levels of particles in the absence and in the presence of indoor sources has been attracting an increasing level of attention. Understanding of the relationship and the mechanisms driving it, as well as the ability to quantify it, are of importance for assessment of source contribution, assessment of human exposure and for control and management of particles. It became particularly important to address this topic when evidence came from epidemiological studies on the close association between outdoor concentration levels of particles and health effects, yet with many studies showing that indoor concentrations could be significantly higher than those outdoors. This paper presents a summary of an extensive literature review on this topic conducted with an aim to identify general trends in relation to the I/O relationship emerging from studies conducted worldwide. The review considered separately a larger body of papers published on PM10, PM2.5, as well as the smaller database on particle number and number or volume size distribution. A specific focus of this paper is on naturally ventilated houses. The conclusion from the review is that despite the multiplicity of factors that play role in affecting the relationship, there are clear trends emerging in relation to the I/O relationship for particle mass concentration, enabling more general predictions to be made about the relationship. However, more research is still needed on particle number concentration and size distribution.

Why fundamentalism?

Why Fundamentalism? was an exhibition proposal and critical writing project developed from concept phase through to detailed proposal. It included an edited video document that lay out its core ideas and presented the diverse voices of each collaborator. A number of key themes were engaged around the hot-button (and much misunderstood) concept of Fundamentalism. The proposal included an exhibition layout, developed test imagery, ideas and animations, proposed forms for future works and a process whereby design briefs would lead to subsequent commissions. Two major grant applications were submitted to the Australia Council and Arts Queensland, with the support of State Library of Queensland, the University of Adelaide and numerous others. The project remains at the developed proposal stage awaiting suitable funding----- Critically the show became an active vehicle for drawing and exploring a line of distinction between ideas of ‘what is fundamental’ and ‘fundamentalism’ as it rested in the popular imagination, as well as in political and philosophical debates. It teased out and engaged with a number of key questions that included The Problem of Ungroundedness, A Politics of Finitude, The Post-modern/Pluralist Problem, Silent Fundamentalisms (Voices of Reason and Neo-con Religions), Fundamentalism as a Media Construct, The Pre and Post Cold-war Other, The Pressing Need for Foundations in the West and Islam as Foundationalism (rather than fundamentalism).

Whisper our futures

Whisper Our Futures was an invited design proposal to produce a major public artwork for the State of Queensland’s 150th Anniversary Celebrations. It involved a network of 100 individual scrolling digital text boxes each with individual audio systems arranged together in a tessellated format. This form (specified by the originating brief) both mimicked the soaring gothic arches typical of Queensland cathedrals and was also suggestive of their stained glass windows. Each text module presented a message in both visual and audible forms for Queenslanders living 150 years hence - spoken both by the general public aw well as prominent figures. In this way the work was designed as a focus of future hope, historical reflection and inspiration to visitors to Queensland cathedrals throughout the entire year of celebrations (2009). The work was planned to premiere at Brisbane’s main Anglican Cathedral and then tour to nine other state cathedrals throughout 2009.---- Two staged proposals and budgets were invited throughout 2007. After the second successful proposal stage the State Premier and cabinet changed, ultimately leading the public art components to be dropped from the program. The proposal currently remains on file at the Queensland Premiers Office.

A natural model for architecture : the nature of the evolutionary model 1995

John Frazer's architectural work is inspired by living and generative processes. Both evolutionary and revolutionary, it explores informatin ecologies and the dynamics of the spaces between objects. Fuelled by an interest in the cybernetic work of Gordon Pask and Norbert Wiener, and the possibilities of the computer and the "new science" it has facilitated, Frazer and his team of collaborators have conducted a series of experiments that utilize genetic algorithms, cellular automata, emergent behaviour, complexity and feedback loops to create a truly dynamic architecture. Frazer studied at the Architectural Association (AA) in London from 1963 to 1969, and later became unit master of Diploma Unit 11 there. He was subsequently Director of Computer-Aided Design at the University of Ulter - a post he held while writing An Evolutionary Architecture in 1995 - and a lecturer at the University of Cambridge. In 1983 he co-founded Autographics Software Ltd, which pioneered microprocessor graphics. Frazer was awarded a person chair at the University of Ulster in 1984. In Frazer's hands, architecture becomes machine-readable, formally open-ended and responsive. His work as computer consultant to Cedric Price's Generator Project of 1976 (see P84)led to the development of a series of tools and processes; these have resulted in projects such as the Calbuild Kit (1985) and the Universal Constructor (1990). These subsequent computer-orientated architectural machines are makers of architectural form beyond the full control of the architect-programmer. Frazer makes much reference to the multi-celled relationships found in nature, and their ongoing morphosis in response to continually changing contextual criteria. He defines the elements that describe his evolutionary architectural model thus: "A genetic code script, rules for the development of the code, mapping of the code to a virtual model, the nature of the environment for the development of the model and, most importantly, the criteria for selection. In setting out these parameters for designing evolutionary architectures, Frazer goes beyond the usual notions of architectural beauty and aesthetics. Nevertheless his work is not without an aesthetic: some pieces are a frenzy of mad wire, while others have a modularity that is reminiscent of biological form. Algorithms form the basis of Frazer's designs. These algorithms determine a variety of formal results dependent on the nature of the information they are given. His work, therefore, is always dynamic, always evolving and always different. Designing with algorithms is also critical to other architects featured in this book, such as Marcos Novak (see p150). Frazer has made an unparalleled contribution to defining architectural possibilities for the twenty-first century, and remains an inspiration to architects seeking to create responsive environments. Architects were initially slow to pick up on the opportunities that the computer provides. These opportunities are both representational and spatial: computers can help architects draw buildings and, more importantly, they can help architects create varied spaces, both virtual and actual. Frazer's work was groundbreaking in this respect, and well before its time.