Weissenhof siedlung exhibition

UK sound-artist Scanner (whom we met on the program earlier this year) has been Artist-in-Residence for BBC Radio 4's 'Front Row' arts program where he's been experimenting with the medium of broadcasting. We heard one piece which explores the idea of social spaces in the city - associated with the visionary architectural ideas of Buckminster Fuller.

This morning we are staying with ideas of housing for the modern world.

Stuttgart, Germany, is our place of disembarkation - where in 1927 a modern housing estate - the Weissenhof Seidlung - was built to showcase the very latest work from the biggest names in modern architecture. 33 houses and apartments of all shapes and sizes - unified by their white, cubic streamlined forms.

The Estate is now a national monument and is a site of pilgrimage for architecture fans the world over.

Melbourne's Span Gallery is showing photographs of the Weissenhof Seidlung - and waiting in the wings to take us through it is historian Judith Trimble, joined by our own Rhiannon Brown, and - making a few guest appearances - the master of the modern movement, Le Corbusier, caught on tape here in the late 1950s.

Investigations into the parallel synthesis of novel pyrrole-oxazole analogues of the insecticide pirate

Investigations into the parallel synthesis of selected analogues of a structurally unique pyrrole-oxazole analogue of the pyrrole insecticide pirate, are reported. Acylaminoketone salts were obtained from ketobromides in moderate to high yields and excellent purity. A number of N-tosyl pyrroles were obtained; however, formation of the target acyl tosyl pyrroles was thwarted by the stereoelectronic effects of the pyrrole substituents. During the pyrrole subunit chemistry, an interesting pyrrole derivative, vinyl pyrrole, was isolated. By restricting diversity to the aryl subunit, the parallel synthesis of selected pyrrole-oxazoles in moderate purity, was achieved when electron-donating or no groups were present on the aryl ring.

Vibration or balance training on neuromuscular performance in osteopenic women

Maintaining neuromuscular function in older age is an important topic for aging societies, especially for older women with low bone density who may be at risk of falls and bone fracture. This randomized controlled trial investigated the effect of resistive exercise with either whole-body vibration training (VIB) or coordination/balance training (BAL) on neuromuscular function (countermovement jump, multiple 1-leg hopping, sit-to-stand test). 68 postmenopausal women with osteopenia or osteoporosis were recruited for the study. 57 subjects completed the 9-month, twice weekly, intervention period. All subjects conducted 30 min of resistance exercise each training day. The VIB-group performed additional training on the Galileo vibration exercise device. The BAL-group performed balance training. An "intent-to-treat" analysis showed greater improvement in the VIB-group for peak countermovement power (p=0.004). The mean [95% confidence interval] effect size for this parameter was a  + 0.9[0.3 to 1.5] W/kg greater change in VIB than BAL after 9 months. In multiple 1-leg hopping, a significantly better performance in the VIB-group after the intervention period was seen on a "per-protocol" analysis only. Both groups improved in the sit-to-stand test. The current study provides evidence that short-duration whole-body vibration exercise can have a greater impact on some aspects of neuromuscular function in post-menopausal women with low bone density than proprioceptive training.