Welcome from the policies, socio-economic aspects, and health systems research section

At BMC Obesity, the Policies, Socio-economic Aspects, and Health Systems Research Section provides an opportunity to submit research focussed on what we need to know to support implementation of obesity policies most likely to achieve substantial, sustainable and equitable reductions in the prevalence of obesity globally. Here, we present the aims and objectives of this section, hearing from each of the Associate Editors in turn. The ambition of the Policies, Socio-economic Aspects, and Health Systems Research Section is to foster innovative research combining scientific quality with real world experience. We envisage this will include research addressing the structural drivers of obesity, solution oriented research, research addressing socio-economic inequalities in obesity and obesity prevention in low and middle income countries. We look forward to stimulating research to advance both the methods and substance required to drive uptake of effective and equitable obesity reduction policies globally.

Internal Architecture and Population Size of Acromyrmex subterraneus molestans (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) Nests: Comparison Between a Rural and an Urban Area

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

The preparation of inventories and balance sheets of the natural and cultural heritage

Includes bibliography

The preparation of natural and cultural heritage inventories and accounts

Includes bibliography

Informe del Seminario Regional sobre Inventarios y Cuentas del Patrimonio Natural y Cultural: Avances y Perspectivas en América Latina y el Caribe = Report of the Regional Seminar on Natural and Cultural Heritage Inventories and Accounts: Progress and Prospects in Latin America and the Caribbean

Contiene los antecedentes básicos y resumen de los debates del Seminario que tuvo por objetivo presentar el estado actual de los conocimientos en metodologías de cuentas del patrimonio natural, las metodologías de clasificación y jerarquización de los recursos naturales que se han de incorporar en las cuentas patrimoniales, los conflictos sobre la valoración económica, economía política e indicadores económico-ambientales en las cuentas patrimoniales, los sistemas de información geográfica.

Book Review of Archaeological Theory and the Politics of Cultural Heritage</i> by Laurajane Smith

The passage of the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) in 1991 significantly changed the way archaeology would be done in the United States. This act was presaged by growing complaints and resentment directed at the scientific community by Native Americans over the treatment of their ancestral remains. Many of the underlying issues came to a head with the discovery and subsequent court battles over the 9,200-year-old individual commonly known as Kennewick Man. This had a galvanizing effect on the discipline, not only perpetuating the sometimes adversarial relationship between archaeologists and Native Americans, but also creating a rift between those archaeologists who understood Native American concerns and those who saw their ancestral skeletal remains representing the legacy of humankind and thus belonging to everyone. Similar scenarios have emerged in Australia.

STATE INSTITUTIONS, POWER, AND SOCIAL NETWORKS IN BRAZILIAN URBAN POLICIES

A large historiographic tradition has studied the Brazilian state, yet we know relatively little about its internal dynamics and particularities. The role of informal, personal, and unintentional ties has remained underexplored in most policy network studies, mainly because of the pluralist origin of that tradition. It is possible to use network analysis to expand this knowledge by developing mesolevel analysis of those processes. This article proposes an analytical framework for studying networks inside policy communities. This framework considers the stable and resilient patterns that characterize state institutions, especially in contexts of low institutionalization, particularly those found in Latin America and Brazil. The article builds on research on urban policies in Brazil to suggest that networks made of institutional and personal ties structure state organizations internally and insert them,into broader political scenarios. These networks, which I call state fabric, frame politics, influence public policies, and introduce more stability and predictability than the majority of the literature usually considers. They also form a specific power resource-positional power, associated with the positions that political actors occupy-that influences politics inside and around the state.

Digital library of historical cartography: open access to cultural heritage and public good

This paper describes the integration of information between Digital Library of Historical Cartography and Bibliographical Database (DEDALUS), both of the University of São Paulo (USP), to guarantee open, public access by Internet to the maps in the collection and make them available to users everywhere. This digital library was designed by Historical Cartography Studies Laboratory team (LECH/USP), and provides maps images on the Web, of high resolution, as well as such information on these maps as technical-scientific data (projection, scale, coordinates), printing techniques and material support that have made their circulation and cultural consumption possible. The Digital Library of Historical Cartography is accessible not only to the historical cartography researchers, but also to students and the general public. Beyond being a source of information about maps, the Digital Library of Historical Cartography seeks to be interactive, exchanging information and seeking dialogue with different branches of knowledge

Multi-pollutants impact on modern cement built heritage

It is well known that the deposition of gaseous pollutants and aerosols plays a major role in causing the deterioration of monuments and built cultural heritage in European cities. Despite of many studies dedicated to the environmental damage of cultural heritage, in case of cement mortars, commonly used in the 20th century architecture, the deterioration due to air multipollutants impact, especially the formation of black crusts, is still not well explored making this issue a challenging area of research. This work centers on cement mortars – environment interactions, focusing on the diagnosis of the damage on the modern built heritage due to air multi-pollutants. For this purpose three sites, exposed to different urban areas in Europe, were selected for sampling and subsequent laboratory analyses: Centennial Hall, Wroclaw (Poland), Chiesa dell'Autostrada del Sole, Florence (Italy), Casa Galleria Vichi, Florence (Italy). The sampling sessions were performed taking into account the height from the ground level and protection from rain run off (sheltered, partly sheltered and exposed areas). The complete characterization of collected damage layer and underlying materials was performed using a range of analytical techniques: optical and scanning electron microscopy, X ray diffractometry, differential and gravimetric thermal analysis, ion chromatography, flash combustion/gas chromatographic analysis, inductively coupled plasma-optical emission spectrometer. The data were elaborated using statistical methods (i.e. principal components analyses) and enrichment factor for cement mortars was calculated for the first time. The results obtained from the experimental activity performed on the damage layers indicate that gypsum, due to the deposition of atmospheric sulphur compounds, is the main damage product at surfaces sheltered from rain run-off at Centennial Hall and Casa Galleria Vichi. By contrast, gypsum has not been identified in the samples collected at Chiesa dell'Autostrada del Sole. This is connected to the restoration works, particularly surface cleaning, regularly performed for the maintenance of the building. Moreover, the results obtained demonstrated the correlation between the location of the building and the composition of the damage layer: Centennial Hall is mainly undergoing to the impact of pollutants emitted from the close coal power stations, whilst Casa Galleria Vichi is principally affected by pollutants from vehicular exhaust in front of the building.

Trasmission and Reflection (ATR)Far-Infrared Spectroscopy Applied in the Analysis of Cultural Heritage Materials

FIR spectroscopy is an alternative way of collecting spectra of many inorganic pigments and corrosion products found on art objects, which is not normally observed in the MIR region. Most FIR spectra are traditionally collected in transmission mode but as a real novelty it is now also possible to record FIR spectra in ATR (Attenuated Total Reflectance) mode. In FIR transmission we employ polyethylene (PE) for preparation of pellets by embedding the sample in PE. Unfortunately, the preparation requires heating of the PE in order to produces at transparent pellet. This will affect compounds with low melting points, especially those with structurally incorporated water. Another option in FIR transmission is the use of thin films. We test the use of polyethylene thin film (PETF), both commercial and laboratory-made PETF. ATR collection of samples is possible in both the MIR and FIR region on solid, powdery or liquid samples. Changing from the MIR to the FIR region is easy as it simply requires the change of detector and beamsplitter (which can be performed within a few minutes). No preparation of the sample is necessary, which is a huge advantage over the PE transmission method. The most obvious difference, when comparing transmission with ATR, is the distortion of band shape (which appears asymmetrical in the lower wavenumber region) and intensity differences. However, the biggest difference can be the shift of strong absorbing bands moving to lower wavenumbers in ATR mode. The sometimes huge band shift necessitates the collection of standard library spectra in both FIR transmission and ATR modes, provided these two methods of collecting are to be employed for analyses of unknown samples. Standard samples of 150 pigment and corrosion compounds are thus collected in both FIR transmission and ATR mode in order to build up a digital library of spectra for comparison with unknown samples. XRD, XRF and Raman spectroscopy assists us in confirming the purity or impurity of our standard samples. 24 didactic test tables, with known pigment and binder painted on the surface of a limestone tablet, are used for testing the established library and different ways of collecting in ATR and transmission mode. In ATR, micro samples are scratched from the surface and examined in both the MIR and FIR region. Additionally, direct surface contact of the didactic tablets with the ATR crystal are tested together with water enhanced surface contact. In FIR transmission we compare the powder from our test tablet on the laboratory PETF and embedded in PE. We also compare the PE pellets collected using a 4x beam condenser, focusing the IR beam area from 8 mm to 2 mm. A few samples collected from a mural painting in a Nepalese temple, corrosion products collected from archaeological Chinese bronze objects and samples from a mural paintings in an Italian abbey, are examined by ATR or transmission spectroscopy.