City of Details: Interpreting the Personality of London

This article investigates the ways in which a group of enthusiasts for London constitute their city. The 'personality' attributed to London is described, as well as the interpretive acts that reveal it. These people, who also lead walking tours across the city, privilege 'detail' as their term of analysis. The article examines the identified qualities of that category, in particular its perceived capacity to animate the plural time-spaces of the city. This sensitivity to detail is presented as part of a sensing of place, which allows people to regard themselves as uniquely able to see the city. The article is intended as a contribution to the ethnography of London.     

Distribution, habitat utilization and age structure of a suburban fox (Vulpes vulpes) population

The occurrence of wild foxes in suburbia is discussed. It is shown that in London breeding populations of foxes are found 5 km from the city centre, and in the last 3 years foxes have been recorded in the very centre of the city. The fox population in London is shown to be heavily dependent on residential habitats for both daytime harbourage and when selecting sites for natal earths. The fox population is unevenly distributed in London, with a marked clumping of the adult population during most of the year. The age structure of the population is presented, and these data are compared with data for other canid populations. Conclusions are drawn as to the effects of conventional control techniques on the age structure of a fox population.     

Nigerian London: re-mapping space and ethnicity in superdiverse cities

This paper explores the idea of ‘superdiversity’ at the city level through two churches with different approaches to architectural visibility: the hypervisible Universal Church of the Kingdom of God and the invisible Igbo Catholic Church, both in North London, guide our exploration of invisible Nigerian London. Although Nigerians have lived in London for over 200 years, they live beneath the radar of policy and public recognition rather than as a vital and visible element of superdiversity. This paper argues that we can trace the journeys composing Nigerian London in the deep textures of the city thus making it visible, but this involves re-mapping space and ethnicity. It argues that visibility is vital in generating more open forms of urban encounter and, ultimately, citizenship.     

Super-diverse street: a ‘trans-ethnography’ across migrant localities

This paper emerges from an ethnography of the economic and cultural life of Rye Lane, an intensely multi-ethnic street in Peckham, South London. The effects of accelerated migration into London are explored through the reshaping and diversification of its interior, street and city spaces. A ‘trans-ethnography’ is pursued across the compendium of micro-, meso- and macro-urban spaces, without reifying one above the other. The ethnographic stretch across intimate, collective and symbolic city spaces serves to connect how the restrictions and circuits of urban migration have different impacts and expressions in these distinctive but interrelated urban localities. The paper argues for a trans-ethnography that engages within and across a compendium of urban localities, to understand how accelerated migration and urban ‘super-diversity’ transform the contemporary global city.     

A Century of Tuberculosis Epidemiology in the Northern and Southern Hemisphere: The Differential Impact of Control Interventions

Background

Cape Town has one of the highest TB burdens of any city in the world. In 1900 the City of Cape Town, New York City and London had high mortality of tuberculosis (TB). Throughout the 20th century contemporaneous public health measures including screening, diagnosis and treatment were implemented in all three settings. Mandatory notification of TB and vital status enabled comparison of disease burden trajectories.

Methods

TB mortality, notification and case fatality rates were calculated from 1912 to 2012 using annual TB notifications, TB death certifications and population estimates. Notification rates were stratified by age and in Cape Town by HIV status (from 2009 onwards).

Results

Pre-chemotherapy, TB mortality and notification rates declined steadily in New York and London but remained high in Cape Town. Following introduction of combination chemotherapy, mean annual case fatality dropped from 45–60% to below 10% in all three settings. Mortality and notification rates subsequently declined, although Cape Town notifications did not decline as far as those in New York or London and returned to pre-chemotherapy levels by 1980. The proportional contribution of childhood TB diminished in New York and London but remained high in Cape Town. The advent of the Cape Town HIV-epidemic in the 1990s was associated with a further two-fold increase in incidence. In 2012, notification rates among HIV-negatives remained at pre-chemotherapy levels.

Conclusions

TB control was achieved in New York and London but failed in Cape Town. The TB disease burden trajectories started diverging before the availability of combination chemotherapy in 1952 and further diverged following the HIV epidemic in 1990. Chemotherapy impacted case fatality but not transmission, evidenced by on-going high childhood TB rates. Currently endemic TB results from high on-going transmission, which has been exacerbated by the HIV epidemic. TB control will require reducing transmission, which is inexorably linked to prevailing socio-economic factors.     

The Well London program - a cluster randomized trial of community engagement for improving health behaviors and mental wellbeing: baseline survey results

Background

The Well London program used community engagement, complemented by changes to the physical and social neighborhood environment, to improve physical activity levels, healthy eating, and mental wellbeing in the most deprived communities in London. The effectiveness of Well London is being evaluated in a pair-matched cluster randomized trial (CRT). The baseline survey data are reported here.

Methods

The CRT involved 20 matched pairs of intervention and control communities (defined as UK census lower super output areas (LSOAs); ranked in the 11% most deprived LSOAs in London by the English Indices of Multiple Deprivation) across 20 London boroughs. The primary trial outcomes, sociodemographic information, and environmental neighbourhood characteristics were assessed in three quantitative components within the Well London CRT at baseline: a cross-sectional, interviewer-administered adult household survey; a self-completed, school-based adolescent questionnaire; a fieldworker completed neighborhood environmental audit. Baseline data collection occurred in 2008. Physical activity, healthy eating, and mental wellbeing were assessed using standardized, validated questionnaire tools. Multiple imputation was used to account for missing data in the outcomes and other variables in the adult and adolescent surveys.

Results

There were 4,107 adults and 1,214 adolescent respondents in the baseline surveys. The intervention and control areas were broadly comparable with respect to the primary outcomes and key sociodemographic characteristics. The environmental characteristics of the intervention and control neighborhoods were broadly similar. There was greater between-cluster variation in the primary outcomes in the adult population compared to the adolescent population. Levels of healthy eating, smoking, and self-reported anxiety/depression were similar in the Well London adult population and the national Health Survey for England. Levels of physical activity were higher in the Well London adult population but this is likely to be due to the different measurement tools used in the two surveys.

Conclusions

Randomization of social interventions such as Well London is acceptable and feasible and in this study the intervention and control arms are well-balanced with respect to the primary outcomes and key sociodemographic characteristics. The matched design has improved the statistical efficiency of the study amongst adults but less so amongst adolescents. Follow-up data collection will be completed 2012.

Trial registration

Current Controlled Trials ISRCTN68175121     

Recent advances in DNA repair and mutation: a report of the meeting of the British Photobiology Society and the DNA Repair Network.

The 1991 joint meeting of the British Photobiology Society and the DNA Repair Network was held in London on the 16th of December at the Polytechnic of East London. Despite the best efforts of the IRA to disrupt transport in London, a full programme of eighteen talks were presented on the theme of "Recent Advances in DNA Repair and Mutation".     

Primary health care in London--changes since the Acheson report.

OBJECTIVE--To examine changes in primary care in London in the 11 years since the Acheson report on primary health care in inner London. DESIGN--Analysis of key data from the family health services authority performance indicators and from the Department of Health; study of trends since the time of the Acheson report; examination of the provision of primary care in 1990-1 and its relation to health and social factors. SETTING--Comparisons between the family health services authorities of inner London, outer London, and England as a whole, with a special study of Birmingham, Liverpool, and Manchester. SUBJECTS--The family health services authorities of England. RESULTS--There has been an improvement in the provision of primary care in inner London as judged by the criteria of the Acheson report, but these improvements have occurred only as part of an overall improvement in the provision of primary care in the country as a whole. None of the recommendations of the Acheson report specifically oriented to London have been implemented. There are some worrying trends in inner London, such as the increasing proportion of practices with more than 2500 patients. The problems faced by practitioners in inner London resemble those in other large inner city areas, but the primary care provision to deal with them is relatively poor.     

'Blog This': surfing the metropolis and the method of London

This article examines the ways in which a group of London webloggers or on-line journal keepers constitute their city. They claim that their strategies for knowing London are derived from techniques for knowing the Internet. In particular, webloggers adapt the activity and culture of on-line surfing. The article investigates the method of 'blogging' alongside and against the interpretative strategies deployed by urban theorists and sketch writers. It is intended as a contribution to urban anthropology, anthropology of the Internet, the anthropology of knowledge, and the ethnography of London.  

Résumé

L'auteur examine la manière dont un groupe de blogueurs ou d'auteurs de journaux en ligne londoniens constituent leur ville. Il affirme que leurs stratégies pour connaître Londres s'inspirent des techniques employées pour connaître Internet. En particulier, les webloggers ont adapté l'activité et la culture de la navigation en ligne. L'article étudie la méthode de « blogging >> parallèlement et en comparaison avec les stratégies interprétatives déployées par les théoriciens de l'urbanisme et les planificateurs. Cet article se veut une contribution à l'anthropologie urbaine, à l'anthropologie de l'Internet, à l'anthropologie de la connaissance et à l'ethnographie de Londres.     

What would have happened if Darwin had known Mendel (or Mendel's work)?

The question posed by the title is usually answered by saying that the "synthesis" between the theory of evolution by natural selection and classical genetics, which took place in 1930s-40s, would have taken place much earlier if Darwin had been aware of Mendel and his work. What is more, it nearly happened: it would have been enough if Darwin had cut the pages of the offprint of Mendel's work that was in his library and read them! Or, if Mendel had come across Darwin in London or paid him a visit at his house in the outskirts! (on occasion of Mendel's trip in 1862 to that city). The aim of the present paper is to provide elements for quite a different answer, based on further historical evidence, especially on Mendel's works, some of which mention Darwins's studies.     

Vocational training for general practice in inner London. Is there a dearth? And if so what's to be done?

OBJECTIVE--To identify the nature and extent of any vocational training deficit within the London initiative zone and investigate the reasons. DESIGN--Collation of statistics and postal questionnaire surveys. SETTING--Thames regions inside and outside the London initiative zone. SUBJECTS--General practice registrars, trainers, principals from non-training practices, and vocational training course organisers. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES--Trends in numbers of general practice registrars, proportions of trainers, views on current vocational training in inner London. RESULTS--Numbers of general practice registrars fell significantly between 1988 and 1993 within the London initiative zone and in England overall. The number of registrars within the zone fell by more than in the rest of the Thames regions, where the decline was not statistically significant. A lower proportion of principals were approved as trainers within the zone than in the rest of the Thames regions and England overall. In their responses to the survey (88% of inner London registrars responded and 81% of outer Thames registrars) registrars suggested that improving remuneration and personal safety would make training in London more attractive. Trainers and non-trainers (response rates 89% and 66% respectively) also suggested increasing remuneration for trainers together with more protected time for training. CONCLUSIONS--Less vocational training takes place within the London initiative zone than in the rest of the Thames regions and England overall, although there are discrepancies in official statistics. As well as specific recommendations for improving recruitment to vocational training in inner London, measures to tackle inner city deprivation should also remain high on the political agenda.     

Are the birch trees in Southern England a source of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Betula</Emphasis> pollen for North London?

Birch pollen is highly allergenic. Knowledge of daily variations, atmospheric transport and source areas of birch pollen is important for exposure studies and for warnings to the public, especially for large cities such as London. Our results show that broad-leaved forests with high birch tree densities are located to the south and west of London. Bi-hourly Betula pollen concentrations for all the days included in the study, and for all available days with high birch pollen counts (daily average birch pollen counts >80 grains/m³), show that, on average, there is a peak between 1400 hours and 1600 hours. Back-trajectory analysis showed that, on days with high birch pollen counts (n = 60), 80% of air masses arriving at the time of peak diurnal birch pollen count approached North London from the south in a 180 degree arc from due east to due west. Detailed investigations of three Betula pollen episodes, with distinctly different diurnal patterns compared to the mean daily cycle, were used to illustrate how night-time maxima (2200–0400 hours) in Betula pollen counts could be the result of transport from distant sources or long transport times caused by slow moving air masses. We conclude that the Betula pollen recorded in North London could originate from sources found to the west and south of the city and not just trees within London itself. Possible sources outside the city include Continental Europe and the Betula trees within the broad-leaved forests of Southern England.     

Ethnic diversity,segregation and the social cohesion of neighbourhoods in London

The question of whether and how ethnic diversity affects the social cohesion of communities has become an increasingly prominent and contested topic of academic and political debate. In this paper we focus on a single city: London. As possibly the most ethnically diverse conurbation on the planet, London serves as a particularly suitable test-bed for theories about the effects of ethnic heterogeneity on prosocial attitudes. We find neighbourhood ethnic diversity in London to be positively related to the perceived social cohesion of neighbourhood residents, once the level of economic deprivation is accounted for. Ethnic segregation within neighbourhoods, on the other hand, is associated with lower levels of perceived social cohesion. Both effects are strongly moderated by the age of individual residents: diversity has a positive effect on social cohesion for young people but this effect dissipates in older age groups; the reverse pattern is found for ethnic segregation.     

Resilience of Self-Organised and Top-Down Planned Cities—A Case Study on London and Beijing Street Networks

The success or failure of the street network depends on its reliability. In this article, using resilience analysis, the author studies how the shape and appearance of street networks in self-organised and top-down planned cities influences urban transport. Considering London and Beijing as proxies for self-organised and top-down planned cities, the structural properties of London and Beijing networks first are investigated based on their primal and dual representations of planar graphs. The robustness of street networks then is evaluated in primal space and dual space by deactivating road links under random and intentional attack scenarios. The results show that the reliability of London street network differs from that of Beijing, which seems to rely more on its architecture and connectivity. It is found that top-down planned Beijing with its higher average degree in the dual space and assortativity in the primal space is more robust than self-organised London using the measures of maximum and second largest cluster size and network efficiency. The article offers an insight, from a network perspective, into the reliability of street patterns in self-organised and top-down planned city systems.     

Public health in inner London.

One of Sir Bernard Tomlinson''s aims in his inquiry into London''s health services was to advise the secretary of state for health on the future balance of primary and secondary health care "taking account of the health needs of Londoners." Sir Bernard, however, also made it clear that "we have not seen it as part of our remit to carry out a comprehensive needs assessment for the whole of London," but concluded that the extremes of health need found in London were "unparalleled in the rest of England." Dr Jacobson highlights some of the major determinants of health inequality in inner London and assesses the extent to which the proposed solutions are likely to meet these needs.     

Do clinical guidelines introduced with practice based education improve care of asthmatic and diabetic patients? A randomised controlled trial in general practices in east London.

OBJECTIVE--To determine whether locally developed guidelines on asthma and diabetes disseminated through practice based education improve quality of care in non-training, inner city general practices. DESIGN--Randomised controlled trial with each practice receiving one set of guidelines but providing data on the management of both conditions. SUBJECTS--24 inner city, non-training general practices. SETTING--East London. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES--Recording of key variables in patient records (asthma: peak flow rate, review of inhaler technique, review of asthma symptoms, prophylaxis, occupation, and smoking habit; diabetes: blood glucose concentration, glycaemic control, funduscopy, feet examination, weight, and smoking habit); size of practice disease registers; prescribing in asthma; and use of structured consultation "prompts." RESULTS--In practices receiving diabetes guidelines, significant improvements in recording were seen for all seven diabetes variables. Both groups of practices showed improved recording of review of inhaler technique, smoking habit, and review of asthma symptoms. In practices receiving asthma guidelines, further improvement was seen only in recording of review of inhaler technique and quality of prescribing in asthma. Sizes of disease registers were unchanged. The use of structured prompts was associated with improved recording of four of seven variables on diabetes and all six variables on asthma. CONCLUSIONS--Local guidelines disseminated via practice based education improve the management of diabetes and possibly of asthma in inner city, non-training practices. The use of simple prompts may enhance this improvement.     

Do urban canyons influence street level grass pollen concentrations?

In epidemiological studies, outdoor exposure to pollen is typically estimated using rooftop monitoring station data, whilst exposure overwhelmingly occurs at street level. In this study the relationship between street level and roof level grass pollen concentrations was investigated for city centre street canyon environments in Aarhus, Denmark, and London, UK, during the grass pollen seasons of 2010 and 2011 respectively. For the period mid-day to late evening, street level concentrations in both cities tended to be lower than roof-level concentrations, though this difference was found to be statistically significant only in London. The ratio of street/roof level concentrations was compared with temperature, relative humidity, wind speed and direction, and solar radiation. Results indicated that the concentration ratio responds to wind direction with respect to relative canyon orientation and local source distribution. In the London study, an increase in relative humidity was linked to a significant decrease in street/roof level concentration ratio, and a possible causative mechanism involving moisture mediated pollen grain buoyancy is proposed. Relationships with the other weather variables were not found to be significant in either location. These results suggest a tendency for monitoring station data to overestimate exposure in the canyon environment.     

Variability in Regularity: Mining Temporal Mobility Patterns in London,Singapore and Beijing Using Smart-Card Data

To discover regularities in human mobility is of fundamental importance to our understanding of urban dynamics, and essential to city and transport planning, urban management and policymaking. Previous research has revealed universal regularities at mainly aggregated spatio-temporal scales but when we zoom into finer scales, considerable heterogeneity and diversity is observed instead. The fundamental question we address in this paper is at what scales are the regularities we detect stable, explicable, and sustainable. This paper thus proposes a basic measure of variability to assess the stability of such regularities focusing mainly on changes over a range of temporal scales. We demonstrate this by comparing regularities in the urban mobility patterns in three world cities, namely London, Singapore and Beijing using one-week of smart-card data. The results show that variations in regularity scale as non-linear functions of the temporal resolution, which we measure over a scale from 1 minute to 24 hours thus reflecting the diurnal cycle of human mobility. A particularly dramatic increase in variability occurs up to the temporal scale of about 15 minutes in all three cities and this implies that limits exist when we look forward or backward with respect to making short-term predictions. The degree of regularity varies in fact from city to city with Beijing and Singapore showing higher regularity in comparison to London across all temporal scales. A detailed discussion is provided, which relates the analysis to various characteristics of the three cities. In summary, this work contributes to a deeper understanding of regularities in patterns of transit use from variations in volumes of travellers entering subway stations, it establishes a generic analytical framework for comparative studies using urban mobility data, and it provides key points for the management of variability by policy-makers intent on for making the travel experience more amenable.     

Uncovering SARS-COV-2 vaccine uptake and COVID-19 impacts among First Nations,Inuit and Métis Peoples living in Toronto and London,Ontario

Background:First Nations, Inuit and Métis Peoples across geographies are at higher risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection and COVID-19 because of high rates of chronic disease, inadequate housing and barriers to accessing health services. Most Indigenous Peoples in Canada live in cities, where SARS-CoV-2 infection is concentrated. To address gaps in SARS-CoV-2 information for these urban populations, we partnered with Indigenous agencies and sought to generate rates of SARS-CoV-2 testing and vaccination, and incidence of infection for First Nations, Inuit and Métis living in 2 Ontario cities.Methods:We drew on existing cohorts of First Nations, Inuit and Métis adults in Toronto (n = 723) and London (n = 364), Ontario, who were recruited using respondent-driven sampling. We linked to ICES SARS-CoV-2 databases and prospectively monitored rates of SARS-CoV-2 testing, diagnosis and vaccination for First Nations, Inuit and Métis, and comparator city and Ontario populations.Results:We found that SARS-CoV-2 testing rates among First Nations, Inuit and Métis were higher in Toronto (54.7%, 95% confidence interval [CI] 48.1% to 61.3%) and similar in London (44.5%, 95% CI 36.0% to 53.1%) compared with local and provincial rates. We determined that cumulative incidence of SARS-CoV-2 infection was not significantly different among First Nations, Inuit and Métis in Toronto (7364/100 000, 95% CI 2882 to 11 847) or London (7707/100 000, 95% CI 2215 to 13 200) compared with city rates. We found that rates of vaccination among First Nations, Inuit and Métis in Toronto (58.2%, 95% CI 51.4% to 64.9%) and London (61.5%, 95% CI 52.9% to 70.0%) were lower than the rates for the 2 cities and Ontario.Interpretation:Although Ontario government policies prioritized Indigenous populations for SARS-CoV-2 vaccination, vaccine uptake was lower than in the general population for First Nations, Inuit and Métis Peoples in Toronto and London. Ongoing access to culturally safe testing and vaccinations is urgently required to avoid disproportionate hospital admisson and mortality related to COVID-19 in these communities.

Multigenerational colonial policies that aimed to assimilate First Nations, Inuit and Métis Peoples and appropriate land and resources have led to inequities across most major health outcomes for First Nations, Inuit and Métis living in urban, rural and remote geographies compared with non-Indigenous people in Canada, as well as striking gaps in access to equitable and culturally safe health care.^1,2More than half of Indigenous Peoples in Canada live in urban areas.³ In cities, jurisdictional complexities, including structured exclusion from potentially beneficial government programs, combined with persistent and growing inequities in the distribution of urban health and social resources, have exacerbated pre-existing Indigenous compared to non-Indigenous health inequities during the COVID-19 pandemic.⁴ Dense and multigenerational social networks; barriers in access to culturally safe health care; and a disproportionate burden of poverty, chronic disease and inadequate housing^5–7 create conditions for the spread of SARS-CoV-2 among First Nations, Inuit and Métis living in urban areas in Canada.The quality, comprehensiveness and accessibility of First Nations, Inuit and Métis health and social statistics in Canada, particularly for those living in urban and related homelands, is a critical problem.^4,8 A lack of accurate, inclusive and culturally safe identification processes for First Nations, Inuit and Métis in health service and public health data systems,⁸ and inadequate engagement of Indigenous leadership in the governance and management of their health information, which is essential,^8,9 contribute to this problem. As a result, Indigenous health policy and service responses are commonly implemented without accurate and reliable population-based sociodemographic and health outcomes data.Although First Nations health authorities mobilized quickly to document SARS-CoV-2 incidence and COVID-19 morbidity and mortality in First Nations communities in the early pandemic period, and vaccination campaigns led by First Nations were successful,^10,11 published reports of SARS-CoV-2 outcomes for First Nations, Inuit and Métis living in urban and related homelands remain unavailable more than 2 years into the COVID-19 pandemic.Since 2008, our research team has partnered with urban Indigenous health service providers to address gaps in health and social information for First Nations, Inuit and Métis living in urban and related homelands to produce representative, population-based, community-controlled health information for urban First Nations, Inuit and Métis,^5,6,12 by successfully applying respondentdriven sampling (RDS) methods to generate valid, population-representative cohorts of First Nations, Inuit and Métis adults.¹³ Drawing on 2 of these cohorts (Our Health Counts Toronto and Our Health Counts London), which had existing linkages to health care databases at ICES, we sought to generate accurate and valid rates of SARS-CoV-2 testing and vaccination, and incidence of infection for First Nations, Inuit and Métis living in Toronto and London, Ontario, and to compare these rates with those in the general populations in each city and Ontario.     

Cervical screening in an inner city area: response to a call system in general practice.

To determine whether a cervical screening call system based in general practice in a deprived inner city area would increase the numbers of women who came forward for cervical smears the response to letters of invitation for screening was monitored for one year in one general practice in the Paddington and North Kensington district of London. Women aged 20-64 were identified from the computerised age-sex register. Only 16% of these women had had a smear test. A total of 750 call letters was sent out. Initially the response was poor (57 women; 22%), and 85 (32%) letters were returned marked "address unknown." After the age-sex register was updated the response to call was 330 women (44%). The response of women aged over 35 was better than the response of women aged 35 and under (229 (53%) v 101 (32%)). In the year of the study the number of women aged 20-64 on the revised register who had been screened rose by 330 (14%). A general practice based call system can improve uptake of cervical screening even in a highly mobile, socially underprivileged population.